ISLAMABAD, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Three terrorists including two high-value targets were killed in a military operation in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, an army statement said on Friday.

The security forces carried out the operation in Kech area in a follow-up clearance operation linked with recent terrorist activities in Panjgur district which left three soldiers and four terrorists killed in a gun battle, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.

The security forces raided a makeshift hideout of terrorists by acting on an intelligence tip-off, the statement added.

"The terrorists' hideout was surrounded... and in an intense exchange of fire killed all three terrorists hiding there," the statement added.

The killed insurgents were involved in terrorist activities against security forces in Panjgur district and across Balochistan, said the ISPR.

Security forces also recovered arms and ammunition from the hideout. 
The fourth day of the Chinese New Year is called the Sheep Day, which means all gods in the sky return to the world. So it is the day for Chinese people to welcome gods. On this day, most Chinese people choose fruits, lamb and beef as sacrifices to welcome gods. According to the old sayings, the fifth day of the Spring Festival is the birthday of the god of wealth. In order to get a good omen in advance, some business people will place offerings and light firecrackers on the fourth day to welcome the god of wealth. Eating Zheluo is also one of the traditions on this day. Zheluo means the leftovers during the Spring Festival. After the meal, the whole family cleans the house together, collects the rubbish, and throws it away. In the north, there is a saying that the Kitchen God would check the household registration on the fourth day, so it is not suitable to leave home. Although these sayings are superstitious, they are in line with the need that people need one day to rest at home during the festival. Therefore, many places also have the custom of avoiding going out on the fourth day. The fried sticky rice ball plays an important role in Anhui during the New Year. Undoubtedly, people in Anqing will eat the fried rice ball. They usually choose sticky rice, yolk, minced meat, bruised ginger, chopped scallion, soy sauce, salt and sugar as the ingredients. After mixing and stirring the whole ingredients together, the mixture is rolled into a ball. And the final step is frying the balls for five minutes. The fried sticky rice balls have crispy surface and are filled with soft stuffing. It is popular among all age groups. Because of the round shape of the fried rice ball, it means reunion and being together for the whole families in the Spring Festival.


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The Navys newest boat, USS Savannah, will officially be brought to life during a commissioning ceremony Saturday at the Port of Brunswick.

The Independence-class littoral combat ship is described as a huge step forward from the Navy's more conventional surface vessels, said Cmdr. Kevin Ray, the ships commanding officer.

Ray, who has served in the Navy 17 years, said its the first time he has served aboard a vessel for its commissioning. He said the crew is as excited as he is.

The Savannah is described as a fast, agile, and focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments, yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric anti-access threats, such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft.

Ray said the Savannah will be home ported in San Diego after it leaves Brunswick.

The ship is new, but Ray said the crew has trained hard and they are prepared for the new duty assignment.

Our sailors know what to do and how the ship will react, he said.

The boat will have two crews that will alternate deployments lasting around six months, Ray said.

When his crew is not at sea, they will be training and taking leave time.

Some of the crew of 70 sailors will also have earn their Naval Surface Warfare Specialist pin, a process that takes about 18 months. The designation shows a sailor is familiar enough with most of the ships systems they can take over in an emergency. One of the important skills everyone trains on is firefighting because of the threat a fire poses to a vessel at sea.

During a tour of the boat Thursday, Ray explained how the high-tech equipment makes the Savannah a formidable platform at sea.

The 127-meter high-speed trimaran hull warship integrates new technology to support current and future mission capability from deep water to the littoral zone.

The boat also has a flight deck larger than those on Navy destroyers. There is room inside the ship to house a helicopter.

The ship has a top speed of more than 40 knots and can serve in a strike group or on its own in different environments across the world.

The original plan was for the commissioning ceremony to be held in the ships namesake city, but the Port of Savannah has a backlog of cargo ships so the ceremony was relocate to Brunswick. But that doesnt mean the city is being ignored.

Ray said members of his crew have attended events in Savannah to commemorate the commissioning, and the city will be well represented at Saturdays ceremony. Unfortunately, the ceremony is by invitation only.

But the ceremony, which begins at 9:45 a.m., will be shown live online at dvidshub.net/webcast/27899.
Northeast residents were urged to stay off the roads with temperatures beginning to drop Friday evening as a major winter storm turned already slippery roads and sidewalks into ice-covered hazards.

The storm spread misery from the Deep South, where tree limbs snapped and a tornado claimed a life, to the nations northeastern tip where snow and ice made travel treacherous Friday.

Massachusetts State Police responded to more than 200 crashes with property damage or injuries, including one fatal crash, starting Thursday evening, officials said. New Hampshire State Police reported at least 70 crashes Friday morning.

This number is most definitely low because reports are still being written and entered, state police in Massachusetts tweeted.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned residents as the snow blows out to sea late Friday and Saturday to stay home if possible to avoid ice-coated roadways and the threat of falling tree limbs in the Hudson Valley and Capital regions.

Were not out of the danger zone yet, Hochul said. The weather is wildly unpredictable.

More than a foot of snow fell in parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Utility crews were making progress in an area stretching from Texas to Ohio after about 350,000 homes and businesses were in the dark at one point.

In Texas, the return of subfreezing weather brought heightened anxiety nearly a year after February 2021s catastrophic freeze that buckled the states power grid for days, leading to hundreds of deaths in one of the worst blackouts in U.S. history.

But Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursdays power outages were due to high winds or downed power lines, not grid failures. About 13,000 homes and businesses in Texas remained without power Friday afternoon.

Airlines scrubbed about 3,400 flights by midday Friday, with the highest numbers of cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth and airports in the New York City area and Boston, according to tracking service FlightAware.

One of the hardest-hit places was Memphis, where more than 100,000 customers remained without power Friday night in Shelby County alone, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.

Memphis resident Michael LaRosa described cracking and banging as the tree limbs fell, and the dull hum and pop of transformers blowing out in his tree-lined Midtown neighborhood. A fire started at the end of his street, caused by a live wire on Thursday.

It was pretty surreal for a little while, LaRosa, a professor at Rhodes College and a book editor, said Friday. There were people walking in the streets, and I was worried that limbs were going to fall on them. The neighborhood sort of collapsed pretty quickly and pretty spectacularly.

Crews worked to remove trees and downed power lines from city streets, while those who lost electricity spent a cold night at home, or sought refuge at hotels or homes of friends and family. Utility officials said it could take days for power to be restored.

Its also going to take days to clear 225 downed trees on city streets, and crews were working 16-hour shifts to get it done, Robert Knecht, Memphis public works director, said Thursday night.

In Oklahoma, police in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow said they were investigating a hit-and-run crash that killed a 12-year-old boy who was struck while sledding.

Tragedy also struck western Alabama, where a tornado on Thursday killed one person and critically injured three others, Hale County Emergency Management Director Russell Weeden told local news outlets.

The storm represented a highly energized system with waves of low pressure riding along like a train from Texas, where there was snowfall and subfreezing temperatures, to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, said Hunter Tubbs, meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Maine.

Slippery roads caused scores of vehicles to slide off roads, even before anticipated deteriorating conditions during the evening rush hour.

In Tennessee, a man was killed when his truck crashed into a tree that had fallen on a highway, causing the vehicle to spin into a ditch Thursday night in Haywood County, the highway patrol said.

In the Pittsburgh area, commuter rail service was halted when a power line went down, trapping cars at a Port Authority of Allegheny County rail yard.

In New Yorks Hudson Valley, the Catskill Animal Sanctuary was relying on generators for power Friday after the overnight ice storm.

We had trees down all over the property and trees down on our road, said Kathy Stevens, founder of the refuge for rescued farm animals.

But the roughly 250 animals in Saugerties were OK, she said. Large animals took shelter in barns and smaller animals were taken to offices, the infirmary and other places to keep safe from falling trees.

In New England, some places welcomed the winter weather, which was a boon for skiers and snowmobilers.

In Vermont, no one was complaining at Stowe Mountain Resort where skiers and snowboarders reported some of the best conditions of the season, with more than 10 inches of snow overnight, and snow continuing to fall.

Were just having a blast, the sauce is flowing, said Jared Marshall, of Denmark, Maine, a member of the ski team of New Hampshires Colby Sawyer College in town for a ski meet.
Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy has enlisted the advice of one of his best-known GOP predecessors in mapping plans for the campaign he hopes will make him the next speaker of the House: Newt Gingrich.

Thats unfortunate. No American politician besides Donald Trump is more responsible for the partisan acrimony pervading todays politics than the former Georgia congressman, whose dictatorial style and flouting of House rules brought him down in less than four years.

When he sought a political comeback in the 2012 presidential race, fellow Republicans rejected him.

More recently, Gingrich showed again why he is the last person whose advice McCarthy should seek. In an interview with Fox News, he suggested leaders of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection face a real risk of jail for the kinds of laws theyre breaking if the GOP wins control of the House.

While Republican leaders said they would shutter the probe if they gained power, following the former speakers advice would be an unprecedented move that could only widen the existing partisan chasm in Washington.

Gingrichs comments came shortly after The Washington Post disclosed he is working with McCarthy and other House GOP leaders on a campaign platform modeled after his 1994 Contract with America. That helped the Republicans win the House for the first time in 40 years and made Gingrich its speaker.

The contract was far more effective as a campaign document than as a governing blueprint. Featuring such popular poll-tested proposals like a balanced budget amendment and term limits with little chance of enactment, few of its 10 items ever became law.

Though Gingrich started as a moderate reformer, he became a symbol of heightened partisanship when he forced Texas Democrat Jim Wright to resign as speaker over a questionable financial arrangement from a book bought mainly by friends.

As speaker, Gingrich abandoned long-established procedures to divide his Republican majority from the Democratic minority and turned the House into more of a political battleground than previously.

He refused to let Republican freshmen participate in Harvards traditional bipartisan orientation sessions. He encouraged new members to solidify their political bases by not moving their families to Washington. That limited their time there, reducing opportunities to get to know Democratic colleagues as fellow lawmakers, rather than political rivals.

Past House Democratic leaders maintained good working relations with leaders of the Republican minority, but Gingrich stopped that. Six months after he became speaker, House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt told me he had only spoken twice with Gingrich.

He precipitated two budget showdowns with the White House, shutting the federal government for five and 21 days, respectively. He became something of a laughingstock by complaining President Bill Clinton snubbed him on a flight to Israel for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabins funeral. The budget tussle helped President Bill Clinton rebuild his political standing for the 1996 presidential election.

At times, Gingrich abandoned his confrontational tactics, cooperating with Clinton on a 1996 welfare reform law and a 1997 budget agreement that cut taxes and produced the governments first balanced budgets in three decades. But when the Monica Lewinsky scandal involving Clintons affair with a White House intern broke in early 1998, Gingrich abandoned the more cooperative course.

He soon wore out his welcome with fellow GOP leaders. Though their 1997 coup against his leadership failed, they forced him out after his focus on impeaching Clinton led to a poor Republican midterm election showing.

Personal improprieties also dogged him. The House reprimanded Gingrich and fined him $300,000 for an ethics violation like the one against Wright. He also acknowledged an affair with a House committee aide (whom he later married) while pushing to impeach Clinton over his affair with Lewinsky.

Though Wright was admittedly more partisan than his predecessors, Gingrich took that to new heights, setting a pattern his successors have unfortunately maintained. Bringing him in as an adviser is but the latest signal from McCarthy that the next GOP majority plans more of the same.

McCarthy said last month that top House Republican priorities would be investigating Biden administration decisions and trying to block its policies. He has talked about retaliating against Democratic ouster of several right-wing GOP members from committees. But a platform would enable Republicans to stress popular issues like immigration and parental control of schools where they would hope to reverse current course.

The House GOPs plans contrast sharply with the decision by Senate Republicans to avoid proposing possible policy options to focus on the Biden administrations missteps.

In a revealing recent interview with the Washington Examiner, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said he decided against running for the Senate after talking with GOP senators.

They were all, for the most part, content with the speed at which they werent doing anything, the Republican governor said. It was very clear that we just have to hold the line for two years. OK, so Im just going to be a roadblock for two years. Thats not what I do.

In reality, congressional Republicans will have difficulty achieving anything positive except in cooperation with the Biden White House. Even if they win both houses, they wont have a veto-proof majority in either.

Consulting Gingrich is another sign theyre mainly interested in continued confrontation.
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CEDAR FALLS  A Tuesday night shooting in Cedar Falls happened after a person attempted to pass counterfeit money during a drug deal, according to court records.

No injuries were reported, but the teen accused of firing the shots was arrested when he apparently dropped his cell phone at the scene and later went to police in an attempt to retrieve it.

Residents called authorities after hearing multiple gunshots in the area of West 15th and Franklin streets around 11:48 p.m. Tuesday.

Police found an iPhone and five spent shell casings in the street. Investigators also recovered surveillance video showing the incident.

Officers determined the victim had climbed into a vehicle for a drug deal, but the seller realized he was being paid with two counterfeit $100 bills. The buyer exited the vehicle and fled to his own car, and the teen in the front passenger seat of the sellers vehicle fired a gun, hitting the buyers vehicle three times as it drove off, according to court records.

Shawntelly Cortez Johnson, 17, later arrived at the police station to report his lost phone. Officers also searched a vehicle and found a bag of marijuana and two bogus $100 bills, records state.

Johnson, of Cedar Falls, was arrested for intimidation with a weapon and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute while armed. He is charged as an adult.

Court records show Johnson also is awaiting trial for drug charges stemming from a December raid by Violent Crime Apprehension Team and Tri-County Drug Task Force. Officers found marijuana and scales at his home along with two Glock pistols and a Smith and Wesson handgun. In January, a relative asked the court to have the weapons returned, and a seizure hearing is scheduled for March.
JEFFERSON CITY  Does the next director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services need to be a Christian?

That is the question after Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement Tuesday that he would only choose someone for the job who shared the same Christian values as him.

Parson, a Republican, was blasting conservative hard-liners in the Missouri Senate who had just jettisoned his pick for state health director, Donald Kauerauf, a pro-vaccine and pro-mask public health professional with 35 years of experience.

But in defending his pick, Parsons statement, which his office also shared on social media, prompted a whole new round of criticism.

Im curious Governor, is this a standard you traditionally use? state Rep. Adam Schwadron, a St. Charles Republican, asked on Twitter. Article VI of the US Constitution strictly prohibits a religious test as a qualification to any office or public trust. Considering that, I then must ask the question. Would someone who is Jewish, such as myself, be considered for nomination?

In his statement, Parson said, Don is a public health expert that is on record opposing masking requirements and COVID-19 vaccine mandates. He is outspokenly pro-life and morally opposed to abortion. Missourians know that I share these beliefs and would not have nominated someone who does not share the same Christian values.

Brian Kaylor, the editor of Word&Way, a Jefferson City-based publication founded in 1896 and focused on the Baptist faith and other topics, said in an interview he found Parsons statement inappropriate but also not surprising.

Its a little shocking just to see the governor make such an explicitly sectarian claim about who he would pick for this type of position, said Kaylor, who is a board member of the St. Louis chapter of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, according to his online biography.

Kaylor also referenced a news release Parson had sent earlier defending Kauerauf, saying he is guided by our Missouri principles: Christian values, family values, and love for this nation.

He was already kind of framing this as a you all should just vote for my guy because Im a Christian, hes a Christian, were all Christians, Kaylor said.

The only religious reference in the United States Constitution is that there be no religious test for office, Article VI, Kaylor said. This is a public office. So it is unconstitutional to suggest that someone should be a Christian to be the director of the states DHSS.

This is a state where this director is going to be serving people of many faiths and no faith, Kaylor said, and so I think thats very concerning that a governor would send a message that only Christians need to apply to this type of position, which not only impacts any applicants, or people who might be chosen, but also sends a message to the rest of the state that maybe youre a second-class citizen.

Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City attorney who has worked in state government, said Parsons use of Christian values instead of plainly saying he would only hire a Christian could be the states saving grace if and when jilted job applicants start filing employment discrimination lawsuits because of the statement.

Religious discrimination in employment is illegal under both federal and state law.

He pulled up just short of saying, Im not going to hire someone  whos not a Christian, Hatfield said. But by saying Im only going to hire people who share my Christian values, as opposed to my values, I think he does open the state up (to lawsuits) if there are folks out there who, you know, do not share the Christian religion whove not been hired for jobs.

Theyve got a plausible claim that perhaps Missouri discriminates against folks who arent Christians, Hatfield said.

Asked if saying he would hire someone with Christian values instead of saying he would only hire a Christian would save the state from legal liability, Kaylor said he wasnt a lawyer but thought the message was pretty clear.

Who shares Christian values thats not a Christian? Kaylor asked. If hes talking about some generic nonsectarian values, those arent Christian values, right? If hes talking about being pro-life, well, there are non-Christians who are pro-life and there are some Christians who are not pro-life.

As a minister, I would suggest that you really cant hold Christian values and not be a Christian, Kaylor said. The chief of all Christian values from the early church, and for 2,000 years, is that declaration, the foundational declaration, that Jesus is Lord.

Kelli Jones, a spokeswoman for Parson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday regarding the governors remarks.

The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which says it works as an umbrella for those who are free from religion and are committed to the cherished principle of separation of state and church, on Wednesday called on Parson to delete his tweet.

The ban on religious tests in the United States Constitution is one of the truly great and original bulwarks for freedom of thought and expression, Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker, co-presidents of the foundation, wrote in a letter to Parson dated Wednesday. Our Constitution is godless, omitting any mention of god or Jesus  a unique contribution of our founders.

The group also linked to a Pew Research Center article that said according to telephone surveys in 2018 and 2019, the number of American adults who said they were Christians had dropped 12% over the past decade, to 65%.

A March 2021 Pew survey found most U.S. adults support the separation between church and state but that many Americans supported more Christian influence within public institutions.

The survey found 19% of respondents wanted the federal government to stop enforcing separation of church and state, for example.

Kaylor said the episode is the same type of Christian nationalism that we saw helping storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 (2021).

Its dangerous, Kaylor said. As a Christian myself, I speak up against (it) because its dangerous politically. I also think its a heresy of the Christian faith.

Jack Suntrup  573-556-6186 @JackSuntrup on Twitter jsuntrup@post-dispatch.com
For the first time in weeks, COVID-19 cases in prisons operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections are beginning to decline.

Transfers to the prisons are allowed to continue.

Cases in state prisons reached nearly 4,000 last week, but now there are 3,096 combined cases among staff and inmates. Of those, 794 of these are among staff and 2,302 are among inmates.

This compares to 200 cases reported on Dec. 6; 703 reported the week of Dec. 31; 1,623 the week of Jan. 7 and 4,189 cases within the system Jan 24.

Last week, IDOC resumed the intake of transfers from county jails after pausing this due to the rapid rise in cases in the system beginning Jan. 11.

Sheriffs around the state complained the move to pause transfers to IDOC put more strain on county jails that continued to house, feed, clothe and provide medical attention for offenders awaiting transfer to IDOC. Before a transfer to IDOC, inmates are held in isolation for 14 days as a quarantine measure to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

This is the second time IDOC halted intakes from county jails during the pandemic. The Illinois Sheriffs Association filed suit against IDOC in March 2020. An appellate court sided with the agency and the Pritzker administration in August 2020, finding that the governor has the authority to control the movement of persons within a disaster area under the authority of a disaster proclamation.

A new executive order resumed the transfer of inmates to IDOC, but stated the scheduling of inmates from county jails was under the sole discretion of the director of IDOC. The director must ensure the health and safety of the transferring individuals and the inmates and staff of the facilities receiving them.

IDOC resumed county jail intakes on Aug. 3, 2020.

Alan Mills, executive director of the Uptown Peoples Law Center, told The Southern in past interviews he believes the rise in case numbers can be attributed to low vaccination rates among staff.

Camile Lindsay, chief of staff for IDOC, said 67% of staff members are fully vaccinated and 73% have received one or more shots as of Feb 4.

In a previous statement to the Southern, DOC said 75% of inmates were vaccinated as of Dec. 28.

On Aug. 26, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order requiring the vaccine for all IDOC employees. These workers were required to have the vaccine no later than Oct. 4, 2021, subject to bargaining.

AFSCME, the main union supporting guards working for the Department of Corrections, has opposed any mandate for a vaccine and entered into arbitration regarding the order.

Since July 1, correctional facilities have accounted for 18.6% of COVID-19 cases statewide, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health data. The facilities were one of the highest sources of outbreaks next to daycares, factories and group homes.

Facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are placed on medical quarantine with restricted movement depending on the scope and place of the outbreak.

Case counts are updated daily Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. on IDOCs website.

Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.

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The week-to-week numbers of new COVID-19 cases are falling in most counties in Southern Illinois.

Alexander, Hardin, Massac, Pope and Union counties saw their new cases decline Thursday for the first time since Dec. 30, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Alexander had 56 new cases, down from 109 new cases last week. Hardin saw 121 new cases, down from 141. Massac logged 176 new cases from last weeks 319. Union had 325 new cases after 441 last week.

Franklin, Hamilton, Jackson, Johnson, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Washington, White and Williamson counties all saw a second week of declining numbers of new COVID cases.

In Jackson County, the number of new cases fell to 747 from last weeks 1,178. Franklin County saw 593 new cases, down from 868. Williamson County dropped to 1,148 new cases from the previous weeks total of 1,848. Saline County also dropped to 397 from 572. Pulaski logged 68 new cases after 125 the prior week.

Both Jefferson and Perry counties, which saw their numbers decline Jan. 27, saw a rise this week.

Jefferson County had 766 new cases this week. They had 680 new cases for the week ending Jan. 27 and 747 the week ending Jan. 20.

Perry County had 551 new cases for the week ending Feb. 3. Their total for the week ending Jan. 27 was 492, with 590 new cases Jan. 20.

Positivity rates in both counties fell even though new case numbers were up. Jefferson Countys positivity rate for Feb. 3 was 11.16%, down from 14.38% on Jan. 27. Perry Countys positivity rate fell to 14.88% Feb. 3, from 25.35% on Jan. 27.

Positivity rates fell in Alexander, Franklin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Massac, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Union, Washington and Williamson counties also fell.

The positivity rates in Johnson, Pope and White counties continued to rise this week even though the numbers of new cases fell in these counties.

Johnson County landed at an 11.36% positivity rate after a rate of 10.03% Jan. 27.

In Pope County, the current positivity rate rose slightly to 27.83% for the current week after a rate of 27.55% on Jan. 27.

White County reached a 21.07% positivity rate after the previous weeks 19.88% positivity rate.

The state of Illinois is reporting a significant decrease in the number of new COVID-19 cases statewide. They reported 60,389 new cases in the week ending Feb. 3. That number is less than half of the previous weeks 123,812 new cases.

The state also confirmed an additional 608 deaths since Jan. 28.

The states preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from for the week ending Feb. 3 is 8%.

SIH officials confirmed Friday that the number of people seeking tests has decreased with the winter weather. The staff doing those tests has been dedicated and shown up to make them available.

The numbers of tests for this week will not be available until Monday afternoon.

As always, health officials remind everyone the best way to help prevent the coronavirus disease is still wearing a mask, watching your social distance and washing your hands.

More case numbers and positivity rates are available in The Southerns COVID chart, available at www.thesouthern.com.

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CARBONDALE  The National African American Read-In first began in California in 1989.

Carbondale began participating last year.

The event is sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English and endorsed by the International Literacy Association. Read-Ins typically take place one day, each week of the month of February.

Jerrie Cobb Scott, founder of the read-in, was an active member of NCTE and the Black Caucus in 1989. He brought the idea forward, it was adopted in 1990 and promotion has continued for the event ever since, according to NCTEs website.

It is important for all of us to see ourselves in books, Cobb Scott said.

Walter Green, a teacher for 34 years and coordinator for the event in Carbondale, said people meet and read excerpts of works published by African American authors and poets.

Green said the most important thing participants can take away from the read-in is what the founders intended.

And that is to infuse African American literature into African American History Month, Green said.

In addition to the readings, Green said the Race Unity Coalition has hosted guests for the read-ins.

Our guests have been notable folks who have left an impact on communities that they have touched or where they lived, Green said.

This past Monday during the read-in the group hosted 10 guests, Green said. They represented, along with their spouses, HBCUs throughout the U.S., a Tuskegee Airman, an individual who knew the four schoolgirls who were killed in the Birmingham church bombing and others who were able to speak to Carbondale and National Black history.

Green said the read-in is an opportunity to learn and to teach others.

The information that's shared in those two hours is probably one-tenth of what I learn, Green said. Doing this, you know, you learn something new every day.

Classroom resources and materials one can access to participate virtually can be found here: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/take-part-african-american

The next read-in events will be hosted on Feb. 7, 14 and 21 at 7 p.m. via Zoom, according to CK Mays, another member of the Race Unity group.

To attend, contact Mays at giftoflovecharity@live.com

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One man was killed and another man was injured in a shooting incident in Bowman on Thursday night, according to S.C. Law Enforcement Division spokesman Ryan Alphin.

Stephan D. Harley, 42, of Chinaberry Street, Bowman, was pronounced dead at the scene, Orangeburg County Chief Deputy Coroner Sean Fogle said.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 7.

SLED is investigating the case as a homicide, Alphin said.

SLED crime scene agents processed the crime scene to collect any potential evidence related to the shooting. SLED regional agents were requested to lead the investigation by the Bowman Police Department, he said.

No additional information is available from SLED at this time while our agents continue to investigate, he added.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.

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At age 81, a bed-bound mother wants answers in the death of her 19-year-old son, Mike.

She finds relief for her chronic back pain using ice packs, but there seems to be no cure for the ache of losing her son.

He was a good person, easy-going and never gave me any trouble whatsoever, Frances Cooper said.

On Aug. 29, 1980, Coopers son, U.S. Airman Robert Michael Mike Salmon, was killed in a hit-and-run collision on Interstate 26 in Orangeburg County.

To date, no one has been arrested or charged in the incident.

Ive been trying to find somebody for 42 years, Cooper said.

I dont think this will be solved before I die, because no one cares, she said, her voice choked with emotion.

Cooper is offering a $30,000 reward to the person who can provide a tip to law enforcement officers resulting in the arrest of the unknown driver.

The Delaware mother stipulates that the reward will only be given if the person responsible for her sons death is alive and charged.

The collision occurred as Salmon was driving a 1970 orange Maverick westbound on I-26 between S.C. Highway 33 and U.S. Highway 301.

Witnesses said they saw a green car hit the Maverick around 5:30 p.m., causing it to overturn in the road several times.

After taking pieces of the wreckage to local car dealerships, law enforcement officers determined that a 1978 medium metallic green Chevrolet Impala struck Salmons Maverick.

Police used local media to ask for the publics help in finding the driver of the Chevrolet.

No one came forth.

Cooper said her beloved son was on the way to visit his grandfather and uncle for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

His grandmother died earlier that year, she said.

We have received some information in 1981, but are begging anyone to come forward with any truthful information about this hit-and-run car crash. We love and miss Mike so much, Cooper said.

Cooper was 39 at the time.

Cooper also sought the help of a psychic, who told her that the driver of the Chevrolet would never be caught unless someone who knew the driver came forth.

Cooper took out an advertisement in The Times and Democrat in 1981 offering $5,000 to the person who could provide a tip that would lead to an arrest.

In January 1982, someone wrote Cooper a letter saying they had information about the unidentified driver. The informant didnt want the reward.

The informant said her entire family heard a phone conversation over a scanner-type radio.

In the letter, the informant claimed she heard a female caller ask an operator to dial a 247 prefix number in the Norway or North area. An older man answered her call.

A hysterical female voice stated, Honey, I didn't mean to do it.

Did you kill him? the man said.

I think so. There's some green paint on the back of the car.

The man instructed the woman to get off the interstate, and drive through Orangeburg and Neeses to a particular farm that was named.

She was told to continue carrying a box to the farm and throw it out as you're going around the curve, the man said.

I enjoyed being with you this weekend. Maybe we can do it again sometime, the female caller said.

The information led to no arrest.

As the years tick away and the case has grown cold, Cooper is offering $30,000 for the arrest of the person suspected of driving the 1978 medium metallic green Chevrolet Impala that killed her son.

Dont worry about the money, you will get it. I am bed-bound but I will be more than happy and pain wont matter. I want to meet you and give you the money, Cooper said.

I just want to see Mike get justice, she added.

Anyone who has any information on the hit-and-run is asked to contact Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.

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NORWAY  Newly elected Norway District 1 Councilwoman Almanda Holiday and newly elected District 4 Norway Councilwoman Shirley Spires were sworn in during the Facebook live meeting of the Norway Town Council which was held on and recorded on the evening of Monday, Jan. 10.

The meeting was moved from Monday, Jan. 3, because the Town Hall was given the day as a New Year holiday.

Mayor Tracie Clemons, earlier in the meeting, announced the receipt of the first half of the towns American Rescue Act funds, $77,073.25. Two days of business meetings on Jan. 14-15 will be held for the mayor, council members and other officials to discuss how to utilize the funds. Some updates may be provided during the next Facebook live council meeting on Monday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. A recording will also be available on the Town of Norway Facebook page.

The Town of Norway, after approval from council during the middle of the meeting, also signed an agreement with the S.C. Low Income Assistance program.

Clemons said, "This is through OCAB. What this is similar to is OCAB already has their energy program where customers will fill out an application, and OCAB will approve it. Of course, it is based upon income. This is the same for the water assistance program."

They have to fill out their application and submit it to OCAB. OCAB then checks to see if they meet the eligibility requirements, Clemons added.

Clemons said, OCAB will then look at our water system database, and they will write a check to the Town of Norway, and those citizens bills will be paid.

Council approved the agreement.

Clemons gave the water and sewer report earlier in the meeting, We are in compliance with the wastewater department for DHEC. However, we do have some maintenance issues at the wastewater treatment plant."

She mentioned a pump at the plant has been tripping the breaker and that they are ordering a pump.

The mayor next stated that citizens still need to stop flushing wipes and other materials such as cotton balls, rags, and dental floss down their toilets which has been an issue for a number of years there and that they need to just throw items which are not toilet paper in their trash. The wipes are not biodegradable. The wipes get clogged up in our pumps, she added.

Clemons said the town has to hire a company to pump the sewer water out of the lift station when the pumps are clogged. Every time that happens, it costs us anywhere from $800 to $1,000. Please don't flush wipes or paper-towels. We have also found toys and T-shirts in the system," she added.

She mentioned other municipalities are having this same issue throughout the state.

Clemons stated, Water and wastewater are our biggest expenses.

The Town of Norway had a Dec. 30 visit from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control which showed they were compliant.

Clemons said, however, The Town of Norway has some of the oldest pipes in S.C. She mentioned that this causes discolored water at times but that the water is still safe according to DHEC.

Clemons next mentioned a major water leak in town. She stated they will be doing an engineering study on the water and sewer system once the funding is available and want to make additional plans for the water system.

She also added there was a problem with radio communication with the water tower and that it was overflowing. She said this issue has been resolved.

Clemons said they are looking into some new technology with a cell phone app that will alert officials about the water tank and its water level.

In other business:

 Clemons said they are looking into a grant for improvements at the park and that they put a repair list in for SCDOT in October for sidewalks and signs. She mentioned most of the work has been completed.

 Police Chief Edgar Williams gave his report during the meeting. He mentioned 25 traffic citations were given in the past month, and two traffic collisions occurred. Williams also mentioned five warrants were produced and issued and that eight incident reports were written up, including: 1 for assault and battery, first degree; 1 for assault and battery, third degree; attempted armed robbery; contributing to delinquency of a minor; conspiracy; financial credit card transaction fraud; grand larceny; and pointing and presenting of a firearm.

 Council gave a second reading of a business license ordinance, and it was first and seconded. This was done, as previously reported, to make the ordinance in compliance with state law. Contact the Norway Town Hall for more information.

TheTandD.com: $5.99 for the first month Support local journalism by becoming a member at www.TheTandD.com Get the first month for only $5.99. https://go.thetandd.com/nov5

 COVID-19 testing will be held at the Old Willow School on 2750 Cope Road Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Contact the Norway Town Hall for more information.

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Recently, I was approached by Dr. Barbara Williams Jenkins to share with the people of Orangeburg County the life and times of the Rev. John Benjamin Taylor. From the research that I have conducted on Taylor, it very well appears that he is in the top three Blacks to serve the people of Orangeburg that I have written about over the years.

As a local historian, I must note at this time and period, discussions are going on about what we call, the Railroad Corner and its future. For nearly 100 years, a somewhat large section of this area was constructed and paid for by none other than the Rev. John Benjamin (J.B.) Taylor.

Special Note: The South Carolina Railroad operated a passenger and freight train service that was stationed at the corner of Russell Street and Railroad Avenue. That area became known as the Railroad Corner and can be traced back to the year of 1880.

The Orangeburg Times printed an article on April 23, 1880, and mentioned the Railroad Corner. Dr. J.W. Patricks new drug store by the Railroad corner is as neat as a pin.

This business along with others on this stretch of Railroad Avenue would become known as Boulevard Street. At that time, the area consisted of local white businesses.

In 1929, a large section of Railroad Corner was constructed by Taylor, known as the Taylor Building. Today, this building continues to stand in its place but very few have ever known or heard of the name.

Whatever plans that are finalized by the City of Orangeburg on the Railroad Corner," the name of the Rev. J. B. Taylor and the Taylor Building should never be forgotten as we make these changes.

Taylor was born in 1869 in Orangeburg to Andrew and Beulah Taylor. According to his death certificate, his mother was not known. He was educated in the Brown Freedmens Bureau School and Claflin University.

At the age of 17, he moved his life forward in October 1886 when he submitted his paperwork to become a teacher in the city. His major concentration of learning was in the field of religion.

The Times and Democrat printed on Oct. 21, 1886, The Teachers  The work of examining the papers of applicants to teach has now been finished by the Board of Examiners.

Taylor graduated from Claflin University in 1894. He was known for being an outstanding student.

After completing his work, Taylor took on a position as a teacher in the Sterling School, which was an all-Black school in Orangeburg. At that time, the Rev. Daniel M. Minus served the school as the principal.

Then in 1896, Minus departed Orangeburg for a pastoral position and the setting up of a school in Greenville. When he settled, Minus was responsible for naming the school.

For some reason, Minus followed the same procedure as he did while he was here in Orangeburg in starting the Sterling School in Greenville. He named the school after Mrs. E.R. Sterling, a white Northern lady who gave him great assistance while he was in both towns.

When Minus departed Orangeburg, Taylor took over the position as principal of the Sterling School.

The T&D reported on June 7, 1899, The report also spoke in complimentary terms of Rev. J. B. Taylor, principal of the Sterling School. Rev. Taylor is a man of fine education, and has shown much tact to the management of the school.

The people of the community thought very highly of him and the work that he was conducting with the black children of the school.

On March 28, 1900, Taylor led a list of names for a charter incorporating the Edisto Lodge No. 39, Free and Accepted Masons, of South Carolina. This organization was approved Feb. 19, 1900.

Then, on May 2, 1900, The T&D printed, School Closing  The colored graded school, of which Rev. J.B. Taylor is the principal, closed last week with an entertaining program. It consisted of recitations, dialogues and music. It was admirably carried out and the children who took part in the exercises showed that they had been carefully trained. Since the present principal was put at the head of the school it has made wonderful progress. He is a thorough, safe teacher, and the colored people are fortunate in having a man and teacher at the head of their school.

Taylor in his works exhibited a sense of pure dedication to his field and position. On April 24, 1901, The T&D printed, The Sterling Graded School will have their closing exercises on next Thursday afternoon in Trinity M.E. Church at 3 oclock. The exercises will consist of recitations, drills, dialogues and pantomimes.

"Rev. J. B. Taylor the principal is ably assisted with three competent assistant teachers. The student body is composed of 511 male and female children.

The T&D also gave Rev. Taylor high praise for his work. On May 1, 1901, they printed, The colored graded school closed last Thursday. Rev. J.B. Taylor, the principal, has brought this school up to a high state of perfection.

On Oct. 15, 1902, The T&D reported, Rev. J. B. Taylor, the efficient principal of the colored graded school in this city, will be married next Wednesday to Hattie Dibble, of Camden, S.C. He is a good man and has the best wishes of his many white friends of a long and happy married life.

Later in the year, in December 1902, Taylor garnered the position of pastor of the Trinity M.E. Church in Orangeburg.

On June 10, 1903, The T&D printed, Rev. J. B. Taylor has been re-elected principal of the colored graded school. He has done good work in this school, and the patrons of the school will be pleased to hear of his re-election.

Then, on Nov. 25, 1903, The T&D reported, The congregation of Trinity M.E. Church, which is the largest and most influential colored church in the city, is anxious for the return of their Pastor, the Rev. J.B. Taylor, for the next year. At their last quarterly conference, they passed most complimentary resolutions concerning the manner in which he has conducted the affairs of the church during the past year, requesting the Bishop to return him to the charge for another year. Rev. J. B. Taylor is a good, useful man among his people, and we are glad to see that his services are appreciated by his congregation.

On Dec. 2, 1903, The T&D wrote, We understand that Rev. J.B. Taylor, who has been Pastor of the colored Methodist church here for the past year, and principal of the colored graded school for several years, has been removed from this place to Camden. His removal at this time from Orangeburg is a big loss to the colored people. He has done much for his church here, and was the best principal the colored graded school ever had.

The T&D then printed on July 6, 1904, The petition of J.B. Taylor and others asking that the Council open, layout and extend Oak street in the said City of Orangeburg, beginning at its present terminus on Railroad Avenue and extending the same across the South Carolina or Southern Railroad until said street shall intersect with Goff avenue on the eastern side of said railroad."

A man of deep conviction, Taylor played a vital role for the Black community in Orangeburg. On Aug. 24, 1904, The T&D reported, the colored summer school, which has been conducted in this city for the past few weeks with Rev. J.B. Taylor, as principal, and J.L. Cain, as assistant, has been a marked success. The enrollment was 121, which certainly shows that the colored teachers of this section are interested in their high calling.

Special Note: J.L. Cain was the son of the first Black sheriff of Orangeburg County, Edward I. Cain.

During the 1910 Census, The T&D printed on April 2, 1910, Census Takers -- Enumerators For Calhoun and Orangeburg  Names of the Men Who Will Do the Work in the Two Counties Named Above  Orangeburg City  C. H. Glaze, whites only; J. B. Taylor, negroes only and Geo. A. Schiffley, whites only.

In the appointments of the South Carolina Conference in December 1910, Taylor was appointed to serve at St. George.

After his St. George appointment, The T&D printed on Dec. 10, 1914, Going to Florence  Since I was appointed at the recent session of the Conference of the M.E. church to the pastorate at Florence Station, I take this opportunity to thank the good people of Orangeburg for all that they have done for me. I hope and pray that the peaceful relation of the races in this, my home town, may continue in the future as in the past. Respectfully, J.B. Taylor.

From that article, one can readily see how much Taylor loved his people and all of the people of Orangeburg County. Surely the move to Florence would expand him into greater works for South Carolina. He pastored the Cumberland Methodist Episcopal Church and played a vital role replacing the old wooden church to a modern brick building. He served from 1914 until 1918.

On September 24, 1918, the Rev. Taylor lost his wife Harriett Catherine Dibble while he was serving in Florence. She was born in Camden in 1873 and was the youngest child of Ellie Naomi Naudin and Andrew Henry Dibble Sr.

The loss of Harriett was devastating to Taylor and the family. They were the proud parents of three children, two girls and a boy.

From that point, Taylor became very instrumental in the construction of the Saint Michael Methodist Episcopal Church in Bennettsville. He served that church from 1918 until 1924. The church was designed by the former president of South Carolina State College, Miller F. Whittaker.

While serving as a member of the board of trustees at Claflin in 1919, Taylor authored a resolution to make the school better in working with the students.

In 1924, he became the district superintendent for the Orangeburg Methodist Episcopal in the Southern Conference.

Then, after nearly eight years of being without the support of a wife and having to raise his children alone, Taylor made a decision to remarry. Strangely enough, he married another woman from Camden.

The T&D reported on Feb. 27, 1926, Rev. John B. Taylor, D.D. district superintendent of the Orangeburg district well and favorable known here for many years, was recently joined in marriage to Mrs. Daisy McClain Bulkley of Camden, S.C. The latter has been a prominent worker and speaker for the Womens Home Missionary Society and has recently returned from an extensive missionary tour from California and the West.

Then, in 1927, Taylor came back to Orangeburg as the presiding elder of the Colored Methodist Church. At that time, The T&D printed an article on a project that would relocate Trinity M.E. Church to North Boulevard and Amelia Street. The church was then located where our current Orangeburg County Courthouse stands and across from St. Paul Methodist Church.

The article on May 19 of that same year stated, Trinity Starts Bldg. Project -- Presiding Elder Rev. J.B. Taylor Announces Campaign for Colored Methodist Church in City  A sum of $1,335 was pledged towards the building fund of Trinity Methodist Church for colored, in a thirty-minute period Monday night at 9 oclock at the regular quarterly conference meeting presided over by Rev. J.B. Taylor, presiding elder of the colored Methodist Church.

"The church has launched a 90-day campaign for the raising of funds for the new church. A temporary tabernacle has been erected on the grounds recently acquired near the corner of North Boulevard and Amelia street at the former State College Practice Home, where services will be held until the new edifice is completed.

"The church project calls for the erection of a $60,000 building, meaning that it will require around 300,000 bricks.

:Rev. Taylor said he felt that a number of citizens of Orangeburg and probably elsewhere, would be interested in making contributions to the building fund.

In the latter part of 1927, Taylor started working on a plan that included a portion of the Railroad Corner for the construction of a large area for new Black-owned businesses. His efforts gave start for other Blacks to open shops and businesses in this area of Orangeburg. This venture probably was the beginning of the Railroad Corner as we know it today with it becoming a location for Blacks who would eventually own the properties.

The T&D reported on Jan. 19, 1928, The Rev. J.B. Taylor conferred with the council relative to proposals to tear down a building on North Boulevard, almost opposite from the Southern Passenger station and erect thereon a modern six or eight-story brick building.

Then, on May 5, 1928, The T&D printed, Much Building Now Under Way in Edisto City  Largest Permit  The largest permit was issued to the Rev. J.B. Taylor, colored presiding elder, who has started tearing down several buildings on North Boulevard preparatory to erecting six stores, which will be of brick, two stories high. This property is located just opposite from the Southern railway station.

"Wilkins and Whitaker are architects and L.C. Lewis and D.M. Richardson are the contractors. The building will cost $8,000.00 according to the permit.

With those plans in place, on May 19, 1928, The T&D printed, Salley Brothers Furnishing Brick  Salley Brothers have secured the contract to supply the series of store buildings on North Broughton street with face brick.

"The building is being undertaken by Rev. J. B. Taylor, colored presiding elder of the Methodist district here.

"These stores, which will face the Southern railway station at E. Russell and North Boulevard, will be excellent in design and in appointments for modern and up-to date stores. They will be two stories high and the top floors will be used for offices and for places for the colored Boy Scouts to meet etc.

In August of that year, Taylor was continuing his work for the church as his new building was getting ready for occupancy.

During the 22nd annual session of the Orangeburg district conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, The T&D reported on Aug. 14, 1928, Our proficient and sagacious district superintendent Dr. J.B. Taylor, has the district in his grip and heart. Every minute interest of the district and of the church has been carefully considered and represented by Dr. Taylor.

On Sept. 11, 1928, The T&D printed an article, Several Deaths Occur Among Colored Folk  West Taylor, prominent planter at North and a brother of Dr. J.B. Taylor, died Friday and was buried Monday.

Later on Sept. 22, 1928, The T&D printed, Business Improvements  A new building for stores and offices has recently been completed by the Rev. J.B. Taylor. This building is housing an expert shoe repair business whose work has given him a wide reputation among both races.

"Brownlee Tonsorial Parlor, perhaps our most modernly equipped and sanitary barber shop will open its doors for business September 26th, in this new building. We hear unofficially that another enterprising merchant and sanitary restaurant will go into this building soon. More than that, we have several reports the business block on Railroad Avenue will soon be brick in construction and owned by our group.

A man of great insight and vision, Taylor expanded his role in the Orangeburg community by opening the Taylor Building in 1929.

He posted an ad in The T&D on April 23, 1929, Offices and Apartments for Rent  Taylors New Building  Railroad Ave.  In front of Southern R.R. Station All Modern Improvements  For Information  See or Call  Rev. J.B. Taylor  Phone 457.

In the same issue, The T&D printed, Taylor Building  Elsewhere in todays paper you will see an advertisement calling your attention to office and apartments in the new Taylor building, owned by the Rev. J.B. Taylor. It is on Railroad Avenue.

This venture for a building being constructed on the Railroad Corner by a Black man became the beginning of where we are today. After the development of the Taylor Building, then came other properties that were owned and developed by several Blacks in our community.

As Taylor became older, his health situation would sometimes go up and down. In an article in The T&D, "News Among Colored Folk" by O. Blasingame on March 25, 1930, he printed, The District Superintendent Dr. J.B. Taylor being ill and confined to his bed, the Rev. O. Blasingame preached in his place at St. Michael in Bowman Sunday night.

On May 6, 1930, Bishop in Car Wreck  Three miles east of Cope Saturday afternoon, Rev. Frederick T. Keeney, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, accompanied by Rev. J.B. Taylor of Orangeburg, received slight but not serious injuries in a car wreck.

"Rev. Taylor received several bruises which necessitated medical attention, but is resting nicely at present.

He made a recovery from this accident and continued his works all the way until he took ill in 1936 when his health began to fail.

Then on Jan. 2, 1937, The Times and Democrat printed an article on the death of Reverend J. B. Taylor. News Of Interest To Colored People -- By Odis Blasingame  Dr. J.B. Taylor of this city died Thursday night at his residence on North Boulevard. He was a native of Orangeburg county, born several years after the Emancipation.

"After great struggles and sacrifices, he received a Bachelors Degree from Claflin University. He practically educated himself, working and teaching school to meet his expenses.

"Dr. Taylor entered the ministry two years before his graduation from college. He was a successful minister, an eloquent speaker and held several of the best charges in the South Carolina Conference. He served two terms as District Superintendent. In point of service, he was the oldest Trustee of Claflin College and was treasurer of the South Carolina Conference at the time of his death. The principalship of the city public school was successfully held by him for several years. Dr. Taylor was twice married.

"He leaves his widow, Mrs. Daisy B. Taylor and three children, a son John Briggman, Jr., two daughters, Mrs. Catherin Humphrey and Miss Hattie Louise Taylor, and one sister, Mrs. Donnie Jackson.

"The funeral will be conducted in the Claflin College Auditorium at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 4.

The Black newspaper in South Carolina, The Palmetto Leader, wrote an article on the passing of Taylor. On Jan. 9, 1937, the paper noted, Dr. J.B. Taylor, Outstanding Minister Laid to Rest by M. Pearson. Progressive and active, he kept himself informed on current events and current literature and possessed a deep concern in every movement that affected the interest of his school, church and state.

"A great orator, a convincing speaker, a sympathetic pastor, a democrat in spirit, a friend to all, a man of firm conviction, undaunted courage, and lofty ideals, he left a record of which his school and church are justly proud.

"In the forty-two years of his ministry, he led only ten appointments, an average of four years to each appointment. Two terms as District Superintendent are included in the forty-two years.

On Jan. 14, 1937, the Taylor family posted a notice in The T&D. Expression of Thanks  We wish to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to our friends for their kind expressions of sympathy during the recent illness and death of our father and husband. Mrs. J.B. Taylor and Family."

Sad to say, but not long after the death of Rev. Taylor, his daughter Hattie Louise Taylor suffered from a medical situation that took her life at the age of 26. She departed this life on April 14, 1937, about four months after the death of her father.

Taylors wife Daisy lived an outstanding life filled with zest and fire that only a few among us can do in the Orangeburg community. Throughout the remainder of her life, she played a vital role in the growth and development of Orangeburg. She even took charge of the Orangeburg Sunlight Center on Treadwell Street.

Simply put, the wife of the Rev. J.B. Taylor took charge and made a great difference for the good of mankind in many many areas of living in the Orangeburg community.

On Sept. 1, 1963, her mission as a servant for the people of Orangeburg came to an end. The T&D on Sept. 4, 1963, said, Mrs. Taylor was active in community affairs and was in demand as a public speaker. She served as president of the Sunlight Club of Orangeburg, and made significant contributions to the Womans Society of Christian Service of her church and to the Claflin College Alumni Association of which she was a member.

Out of the many Blacks that I have written about, the Rev. John Benjamin Taylor was one of the most outstanding individuals that I have covered with his contributions to our county.

His education and training led him to become a teacher, a principal, a pastor, a District Superintendent of the Colored Methodist Church, a civic leader, and finally a businessman here in Orangeburg.

From the time that he graduated from Claflin, he displayed his love for all of the people in Orangeburg both Black and white. While serving the ministry in other areas of South Carolina, Taylor would always return to his hometown to live and work to improve life for the people.

He led Trinity United Methodist Episcopal Church to its present location and then made provisions to help the growth and development of several of the buildings on Railroad Corner.

The Taylor Building, which he constructed in 1929, still sits in its place today on Railroad Corner.

Throughout his lifetime, Taylor became one of Orangeburgs most outstanding citizens in the services that he gave to the people. His accomplishments and works are still in our community and they play a vital role in the life we live today.

The name of the Rev. J.B. Taylor will be forever remembered for the works that were started during the Separate But Equal Period of our history. No matter where he was assigned to be in America, he would always return home to Orangeburg.

He was born in Orangeburg, lived in Orangeburg, worked in Orangeburg, provided a building for people to work and live in Orangeburg and, finally, he died in Orangeburg.

For all of the contributions that were given to the people of Orangeburg, South Carolina by the Rev. John Benjamin Taylor, we give you thanks.

Richard Reid is president of the Orangeburg Historical and Genealogical Society. His mission is researching Orangeburg history, with a particular emphasis on the role of African Americans in that history.

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A statue of the late civil rights leader John Lewis was presented at South Carolina State University on Friday, almost six years after the congressman visited the campus.

Lewis dedicated his life to fighting for freedom and equality and set an example for others to follow, Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler said.

The congressman died at age 80 in July 2020 amid his 17th term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As a leader in the civil rights movement, Lewis challenged segregation through nonviolent protest. In 1965, Alabama state troopers in the town of Selma attacked Lewis and other demonstrators with clubs and tear gas during a march for voting rights.

In 1986, Lewis was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from an Atlanta district.

Georgia voters reelected Lewis to office 17 times, said Dr. Frank Martin, director of S.C. States I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium.

John Lewis met the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the impressionable age of just 18, Martin said. He was often jailed, beaten, seriously injured, attacked and humiliated in the struggle with his peers in pursuit of justice.

The seven-foot, 800-pound statue depicts Lewis as a person in action with his hand raised, Martin said.

The statue also shows Lewis wearing his Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President Barack Obama conferred to him in 2011.

The statue is a replica of one in Atlantas Peace Park. It will remain in Orangeburg until Feb. 11, when it will be taken to Washington, D.C.

This is a very, very special day for S.C. State University and this community. Were honored to host the statue of the great John Lewis, S.C. State Interim President Col. Alexander Conyers said.

Conyers noted Lewis participation in the commemoration of the Orangeburg Massacre six years ago.

On Feb. 8, 1968, three young men  South Carolina State College students Samuel Hammond and Henry Smith and Wilkinson High School student Delano Middleton  were killed and 28 others were injured when S.C. Highway Patrol troopers opened fire on a crowd of protesters following three nights of escalating racial tension over efforts to desegregate the All-Star Triangle Bowl.

The event became known as the Orangeburg Massacre.

When I think about John Lewis, I certainly known that John Lewis possessed the same bulldog tenacity that we do, here on this campus. Not only that bulldog tenacity, but courage and intestinal fortitude. When I think about what John Lewis persevered through and against and the age at which he did it, I cannot help but think that in 1963, he went and marched in Washington with Martin Luther King Jr., and then in 1968, witnessing college students, not much younger than himself, being killed on this campus, I can image his parents saying, John, its not worth it. Lets not do it, but John marched on, Conyers said.

Congressman James Clyburn helped facilitate the statues stop on the S.C. State campus.

The statues benefactor, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., also made remarks at the event. Cook spearheaded the efforts to have the statue of Lewis placed in Peace Park, which is also known as the Rodney Cook Sr. Park.

If the Georgia Assembly gives final approval, the statue will be displayed in the U.S. Capitols Statuary Hall, according to the Associated Press.

Each state is represented by two statues inside the U.S. Capitol Building.

The public may visit the statue at S.C. State Monday, Feb. 7 through Friday, Feb. 11 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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(TBTCO) - Tai ai hoi co ong nam 2022 uoc Vinamilk to chuc ngay 26/4 vua qua, Hoi ong quan tri Cong ty a ua ra nhung inh huong va muc tieu cho nam nay va giai oan 5 nam. Voi nhan inh nganh sua chua bao hoa, Vinamilk van tiep tuc tap trung cho mang nay, song song voi tim kiem cac co hoi moi.
Today

Mostly sunny. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow

Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High near 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
Former state Sen. Leland Christensen died Friday of complications from COVID-19. He was 62.

At the time he contracted COVID, he was undergoing chemotherapy for non-hodgkins lymphoma, according to the GoFundMe set up by his family. Chemotherapy patients are particularly susceptible to severe cases of COVID because their immune systems is often weaker.

Christensen was admitted to a local hospital in mid-December. He was moved to a regional hospital on Christmas Eve and then admitted to the ICU on Dec. 29, the GoFundMe said.

Christensen assumed his role as state director for Sen. Cynthia Lummis roughly a year before his passing. Before working at the federal level, Christensen served in the state senate from 2011 to 2018 and worked in the Teton County and Lincoln County sheriffs offices. He also ran for House in 2016, finishing second in the GOP primary to the eventual winner, Rep. Liz Cheney.

He was succeeded in the Wyoming Legislature by Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson.

As a soldier, a peace officer, or an elected or appointed official, Leland was a person who ran toward the challenges no matter what, Gierau said. He always gave 100%. Paty and I are heartbroken. Our prayers are with his family.

Lummis issued a somber statement Friday.

Lelands death cuts me to the depths of my heart, Lummis said in a statement. Leland was all Wyoming. He was tough as nails, endlessly patient, unwaveringly kind.

When I was elected to the US Senate, I knew I needed Leland on my team because he loved Wyoming people, she continued. He loved to help his fellow man. He cared about the challenges our state and its people face. His smile would light up every room and his laugh was infectious. He was a joy to be around. He was my dear friend.

Two days before Christensen died, his son, Hunter, posted an update on the GoFundMe page.

After a tough week fighting the infection, and some severe side effects, Leland appears to be making some baby steps forward in some areas, and others are holding the same level currently. Definitely not out of the woods yet, but that is the update for today. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Christensen is survived by his wife, Anita, and their five children.

Before he was admitted to the ICU, Christensen was asked what the biggest life lesson he had learned was.

The love and support from friends and family and neighbors is humbling, he said.

Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis

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SHERIDAN  The ongoing conversation about a Convention of States is likely to continue this legislative session, with Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Parkman, again leading the charge.

Biteman said, during last weeks Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce Eggs and Issues breakfast, he intended to bring forward legislation calling for a Convention of States to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Were going to keep fighting for it, Biteman said. I think its the only way to stop Washington, D.C.Its up to the states to assert our sovereignty.

The Convention of States is one method of proposing constitutional amendments outlined in Article V, Biteman said. The other  requiring the vote of two-thirds of the houses of Congress  has been responsible for the 27 constitutional amendments approved thus far in the nations history.

According to Article V, more than two-thirds of states  a minimum of 34  must call for a convention before one can move forward. Currently, 17 states have passed Convention of States resolutions starting with Georgia in 2014. The project has gained momentum recently, with both Wisconsin and Nebraska passing COS legislation in the last week-and-a-half.

Clint Stussi, a Sheridan resident and supporter of the convention, said the convention has three primary goals: limiting federal government power, encouraging fiscal responsibility and imposing term limits on elected officials.

Biteman said he hopes the convention could also approve an amendment requiring bills to have only a single subject, as is done in the Wyoming Legislature.

In Wyoming, we cant bring a huge omnibus bill with a hundred different things in it that has to pass or else the government shuts down, Biteman said. That would be stupid. But thats what Washington does every yearThey throw everything into one omnibus has-to-pass bill, and they take it to the wire. Everyone throws pork into it, its a big mess and thats why we have the government we have.

This isnt the first time Biteman has proposed Convention of States legislation. During the 2021 session, the Wyoming State Senate narrowly voted down Bitemans resolution on a 14-16 vote.

Convention of States in Wyoming has always had a tough road, Biteman said. It pretty much splits the conservatives right down the middle. Some support it. Some dont. I dont know if it will pass this year, honestly.

During the discussion in 2021, Biteman argued the legislation provided a way to drain the swamp of federal government. However, others like Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, said a convention was not necessarily a solution to the countrys problems.

We know what a majority here would want to do but were a very divided country, Scott said during the debate on the Senate floor in 2021. If you want to get something done at a constitutional convention, youre going to have to make some compromises. And what I ask you to think about is what compromises will be madeI ask you to think about that as you vote on this.

While Convention of States Action, the nonprofit pursuing the passage of Convention of States legislation across the country, has described the proposed legislation as a nonpartisan solution to a bipartisan problem, the project has been primarily supported by Republican states thus far. Of the 17 states that have passed legislation so far, only Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin were blue states in the 2020 presidential election.

The project  described by Convention of States Action as a fast-growing liberty movement against the tyranny of Washington elite and bureaucratic swamp  has been supported by prominent Republican politicians including Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush.

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Justice Oliver Wendell Holmess iconic dissenting opinion in Abrams v. United States (1919) transformed the Clear and Present Danger Test from its status as an apology for the repression of speech to protection of the right, in times of peace and war, to criticize governmental conduct and authority. With his dissent, Holmes changed the horizons of protected speech.

Seldom in the annals of Supreme Court decisions has a dissenting opinion attained landmark status and pointed the way for a commitment to freedom and liberty. In an about-face, just nine months after his trail-blazing opinion in Schenck v. United States setting forth the danger test that all but denied protection for wartime challenges to governmental authority, Justice Holmes declared in Abrams that even during a war, the principle of the right to free speech is always the same. For Holmes, only the present danger of immediate evil, or the intent to bring it about, warrants restriction. Holmess reformulation of the danger test became a fundamental tenet of libertarianism.

The facts in Abrams were very similar to those in Schenck. While the United States was still engaged in World War I against Germany, Abrams and three colleagues distributed leaflets that called for a general strike and made special appeals to workers in munitions factories. Abrams was protesting Americas deployment of troops to White Russia in the context of the Russian revolution. He argued that the expeditionary force violated international law.

The Court upheld the conviction of Abrams for violating the Espionage Act of 1917, for the same reason that it had upheld the Espionage Act conviction of Schenck. The Court concluded that the purpose of Abrams' leaflets was to undermine and obstruct the general war effort. Justice John Clarke wrote the Courts opinion, which drew heavily upon Holmess reasoning in Schenck and declared that Abrams assertion of a First Amendment right to distribute the leaflets was negatived by Schenck.

Holmes could have written the majority opinion in Abrams, utilizing the danger test to limit, rather than protect speech, as he had in Schenck, but a summer of reading, reflection and dialogue with his critics, had changed his thinking about the formulation of the standard.

Joined in dissent by Justice Louis Brandeis, Holmess revised test in determining protected from unprotected speech was to identify a specific attempt to produce an unlawful act. The danger of an unlawful act, moreover, could not be remote, but must be immediate. Speech should be protected, Holmes held, unless an immediate check is required to save the country. Abramss leaflets, Holmes concluded, lacked the necessary elements of specificity and immediacy. Any connection between Abramss leaflets and illegal activity was simply too remote to justify conviction under the Espionage Act.

There was another decisive factor in Holmess reasoning, one borrowed from a critic of his opinion in Schenck that would resonate for decades in scholarly critiques. Abrams, Holmes declared, could not possibly have presented a Clear and Present Danger to the United States since he was but a puny anonymity, an unknown man -- too inarticulate, uninfluential and unpersuasive  who wrote a silly leaflet that could not possibly rally the masses to obstruct Americas wartime campaign.

Holmess final paragraph accounts for the iconic status of his dissenting opinion. He focused there on the connection between free speech, the search for truth and the value of experimentation in the marketplace of ideas. His language stirred memories of the eloquent defense of freedom of speech supplied by John Milton and John Stuart Mill.

Persecution for the expression of opinions seems to me perfectly logical, Holmes wrote, but when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by the free trade in ideas. The best test of the truth of an idea, he asserted, is ability to get itself accepted in the competition of the marketand that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution. It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment.

Holmess appeal to the tolerance of ideas, even those that we loathe, precisely because time has upset many fighting faiths, has been characterized as a document of liberty. Premature governmental interference with speech will prevent the circulation, consideration and public scrutiny of opinions that power the engine of democracy and the formation of governing majorities.

Of course, there is no guarantee that the best ideas will emerge. It is possible that destructive ideas may gain prominence in the minds of Americans and dominate the marketplace. It is possible that a majority may form that temporarily imposes authoritarianism and censorship and closes the competition of the marketplace. There is no failsafe mechanism that affords protection from dangerous ideas, except for more speech, speech to counteract speech, as Justice Brandeis famously wrote in 1927, in Whitney v. California.

In the end, we place our trust in freedom of speech as a means of guiding and governing our nation. That is the theory of our Constitution, as Holmes wrote. There may be a better alternative, but it has yet to be suggested.

David Adler, PHD, is a noted author who lectures nationally and internationally on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Presidential power. His scholarly writings have been cited by the US Supreme Court and lower courts by both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress. Adlers column is supported in part through a grant from Wyoming Humanities funded by the Why it Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Adler can be reached at david.adler@alturasinstitute.com

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NIDCO (the National Infrastructure Development Company) says it has not initiated any tender or award of contract process with regard to the Toco Port.

In a news release, the company said the issuance of any letters of award or contracts relating to the Toco Port project is fraudulent and not authorised by Nidco.
A pregnant mother and her family affected by the Quarry Street New Years Day fire say they felt pressured to accept an Oropune Gardens apartment as a permanent home after their years long efforts to find secure housing.

The family, who had previously spent months surrounded by debris and without electricity, told the Express they felt as though they were being pushed to mortgage the apartment as a quick fix to their problem.
The fact that 106 police killings dating from January 2019 to now are under investigation by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) is staggering.

Whether the number reflects an actual increase in fatal police shootings, or is the result of greater public willingness to file complaints, growing public confidence in the PCA or the PCAs own willingness to initiate investigations, would require more than bald figures. However, it underscores the PCAs importance as an independent authority with the power to hold the police to account.
A crackdown Thursday on a violent criminal street gang in Tucson was years in the making, with police attributing various armed robberies, aggravated assaults, shootings and drug crimes to the group.

Nine people were arrested by the FBIs Southern Arizona Violent Crime and Gang Task Force after 11 search warrants were served throughout Pima and Santa Cruz counties.

The gang, believed to have originated in Tucson, is known to distribute fentanyl and other drugs, officials said.

In a press conference on Friday, FBI Assistant Special Agent In Charge Steven Patterson said the investigation into the gang began 18 months ago, though the city of Tucson has been aware of the group for a number of years.

Capt. James Wakefield, who oversees the Tucson Police Departments criminal investigation division, said they started to see a series of armed robberies, aggravated assaults specifically with guns and shootings that brought the gang to their attention.

During the 18-month period, the task force and TPD seized over 40,000 fentanyl-laced pills, 20 weapons, thousands of dollars in cash and other illegal narcotics, Patterson said.

Authorities would not name the individuals arrested or provide information on the charges they are facing, citing the ongoing investigation.

Along with TPD and the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations; the Drug Enforcement Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Pima County Sheriffs Department; and the Sierra Vista Police Department helped with Thursdays operation

Tucson police Chief Chad Kasmar said that it is absolutely critical that the community works with law enforcement to be good witnesses and provide them with information to solve crimes in a timely fashion.

Were all driven by data investigations, but that comes with the community either calling in a crime, or theres a variety of different means that the community can communicate with us and say, Hey, Im, seeing a trend or Somebody moved in and somethings not right, Kasmar said. They know their neighborhoods. They know when theres a change or difference.

Assistant Chief John Strader said that moving forward, the community can expect to see the same level of teamwork and engagement with federal partners like the FBI to go after violent groups that intend to do harm.

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The Rosemont Mine needs a federal Clean Water Act permit to start construction, an agency decided last month, in a reversal.

But a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn that requirement  not only for the mine, but for thousands of other commercial and housing developments across the United States.

The high court agreed late last month to hear a Clean Water Act case involving home construction near a lake in Idaho.

Given the courts 6-3 conservative majority, legal experts on both sides of this issue say it could undercut the Army Corps of Engineers authority to regulate the effects of developments on many wetlands and non-perennial streams, particularly in the arid Southwest.

This could include not only Rosemonts proposed discharges of dredge and fill material into washes in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson, but also a Phoenix developers 28,000-home Villages at Vigneto development in Benson.

Construction along washes

On Jan. 5, the Army Corps told Rosemonts owner, Hudbay Minerals Inc., that it was overturning its previous decision that the agency lacked authority to regulate construction along 100 acres of washes running through the mine property.

The previous decision, in March 2021, was due mainly to the dominance of ephemeral streams  those that carry water only after rains  at the mine site.

Those are streams the Corps once regulated but did no longer under rules issued by the Trump administration.

The Trump rules, however, were tossed out in August 2021 by a federal judge in Tucson, an action that restored the Corps ability to regulate ephemeral streams.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez found that the Trump rule contained fundamental flaws that cannot be cured and that allowing it to stand risked triggering environmental harm across the United States.

That decision led directly to the Corps January 2022 policy reversal that affected not only Rosemont but numerous other pending Clean Water Act permits across the United States.

This is an important step forward for the Army Corps, an acknowledgement that their earlier determination was flawed and improperly granted, said Stu Gillespie, an attorney who represented tribes who were plaintiffs in the lawsuit Marquez ruled on. Its a big step forward for Arizona, an indication the waterways of Arizona will be protected. Nobody gets a free pass.

Hudbay, however, noted that it had asked the Corps to determine it had no jurisdiction over the mine site before the Trump administration issued its rule in 2020.

We strongly believed then, as we do now, that there was no jurisdiction under the rules, even before the Trump administration changed them, Hudbay said in a statement.

The legal issues

On Jan. 24, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Idaho case, which could again wipe out federal authority to lessen developments effects on ephemeral streams, as well as on intermittent streams that run part of the year.

The case involves a couples 14-year effort to build a single-family home near Priest Lake, a large, pristine mountain lake in the northern Idaho panhandle.

The feds authority over the homes construction is based on many of the same legal theories underscoring federal control of the Rosemont Mine site.

The Sackett vs. the EPA Supreme Court case involves the Idaho couples effort to overturn an EPA decision in 2007 that their home construction needed a Clean Water Act permit because it would be on a navigable waters wetland the EPA said required regulation.

A U.S. District Court judge and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Michael and Chantell Sacketts challenge to the EPAs decision, which led the couple to successfully petition the high court.

At issue is whether the court will preserve the current 16-year-old Supreme Court benchmark for determining whether a wetland or wash gets federal protection. Under it, wetlands and, by inference, other waterways, must have a significant nexus, or connection, with a navigable stream.

The Sacketts and their legal counsel, the Pacific Legal Foundation, want the court to use a much more restrictive standard, saying the current standard has provoked widespread confusion and uncertainty among the regulated builders and developers as to whats legally acceptable.

Developed by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, the guidepost favored by the Sacketts would require a wash or wetland to be connected to a navigable waterway by a water body that carries surface water year-round.

As evidence of the high stakes, the Sacketts petition to the Supreme Court drew supporting legal briefs from Arizona and 20 other states, the National Association of Home Builders, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and two conservative legal foundations that promote property rights and free market economics.

One expert, Vermont Law School professor Patrick Parenteau, who is generally sympathetic to environmentalists, said he fully expects the high court to side with Sackett against the more liberal 9th U.S. Circuit.

Otherwise, he said, why would they take the case  to uphold it? No, they took the case to overturn the 9th Circuit.

Damien Schiff, a senior counsel for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the Sacketts, said, We certainly hope that the court will side with our view and believe that the court likely would not have taken the case had it been happy with the status quo, which is the significant nexus test. The nonprofit foundation says it defends Americans from government overreach and abuse.

Jonathan Adler, a law professor and legal commentator at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, is an advocate of what he calls free market environmentalism. Referring to the West and Southwest, he said the case could have big implications out there, if the court were to go in the direction of requiring a continuous or near continuous surface water connection for streams to be regulated.

He said he thinks a decision in favor of the Sacketts is likely, but a lot matters on how they do it. That will have a big impact on what degree of flexibility agencies have in drafting new regulations. It certainly creates the impression that the court is looking to clarify and narrow the scope of federal regulatory authority.

Muddled precedent

Judge Marquezs decision in Tucson, which wasnt appealed, hinged on the precedent set by the controversial Rapanos v. U.S. decision in 2006.

The Rapanos case concerned a Michigan landowner who had started construction on a shopping center in an area the EPA considered to be a wetland, without getting a Clean Water Act permit.

The case created a rare, 4-4-1 high court split that left no clear majority opinion on what kinds of streams deserve federal regulation.

Scalia and three other justices found ephemeral streams and wetlands dont warrant protection under the act unless theyre continuously connected by surface water with another regulated water body. As for tributaries, the Scalia opinion would have allowed them to be covered only if they had a relatively permanent presence of water.

Since-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy took a middle ground stance, calling for the significant nexus standard for determining federal jurisdiction over wetlands and, by inference, washes.

The other four justices took a more expansive view, arguing for combining the Scalia and Kennedy standards so a waterway could be protected if it met either one.

Courts leanings

The Sacketts, like Rapanos, were stopped by EPA from building, this time on a lot the agency said is a wetland that adjoined a navigable water body, thus qualifying for Clean Water Act protection as what the act classifies as waters of the United States.

The couple had trucked in more than 1,700 cubic yards of sand and gravel to fill in a wetland, EPA said. EPA cited them as being in violation of the Clean Water Act and ordered the couple to remove the fill and to restore the wetland. The property lies across a road and some homes from a navigable water  which EPA says qualifies for Clean Water Act regulation.

The couple sued, arguing their property isnt covered by the Clean Water Act.

The record of the case is clear that the Sacketts lot contains no surface water connection to any water body, their lawyers wrote in their petition to the Supreme Court to hear the case, harkening back to Scalias 2006 opinion.

In an article last summer for the libertarian-thinking Reason.com website, law professor Adler noted the three Supreme Court justices who sided with Scalia in 2006 remain on the court, and a fourth justice, Brett Kavanaugh, has already expressed affinity for Scalias view on another court ruling.

A fifth vote for a Scalia-like opinion would seem well within reach from Justices Neil Gorsuch or Amy Coney Barrett, both conservatives, Adler wrote.

That would eliminate almost all regulation, Parenteau said, because if the only water bodies deemed navigable were relatively permanent lakes, rivers and oceans, only 1% of all U.S. waters meet that definition.

Schiff, for his part, said some activists want regulation of virtually all wetlands by the EPA and the Corps under the Clean Water Act. Our view is that Congress did not intend, and that the Constitution would not authorize, such an outcome, he said.

Contact Tony Davis at 520-349-0350 or tdavis@tucson.com. Follow Davis on Twitter@tonydavis987.

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COVID-19 vaccines are saving an untold number of lives, but they can't stop the chaos when a hugely contagious new mutant bursts on the scene, leading people to wonder: Will we need boosters every few months? A new vaccine recipe? A new type of shot altogether?

That's far from settled, but with the shots still doing their main job many experts are cautioning against setting too high a bar.

"We need collectively to be rethinking what is the goal of vaccination," said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, infectious disease chief at Brigham & Women's Hospital. "It's unrealistic ... to believe that any kind of vaccination is going to protect people from infection, from mild symptomatic disease, forever."

If the goal is preventing serious illness, "we may not need to be doing as much fine-tuning of the vaccines every time a new variant comes."

The virus is essentially shape-shifting as it mutates, with no way to know how bad the next variant will be. Already a sub-strain of omicron bearing its own unique mutations is circulating. Research is underway to create next-generation vaccines that might offer broader protection against future mutants  but they won't be ready anytime soon.

The immediate solution: Getting today's shots into more arms will "reduce the opportunities for the virus to mutate and spawn new Greek letters that we then have to worry about," said Jennifer Nuzzo of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

The job of blocking infection falls to antibodies, which form after either vaccination or a prior bout with COVID-19, ready to fight back the next time someone's exposed.

One problem: Mutations change the appearance of the spike protein that covers the coronavirus much like a crook switches disguises to evade capture. That's why omicron was more able to slip past that first defense than earlier variants  its spike coating was harder for existing antibodies to recognize.

Also, the immune system isn't designed to be in a constant state of high alert, so the antibodies that fend off infection do wane over time. Several months after two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, people had little protection against an omicron infection  a result of both waning antibodies and the variant's mutation.

Thankfully, different immune system soldiers called T cells are key to prevent an infection from turning into severe illness  and that protection is lasting longer because T cells are recognizing other parts of the virus that don't mutate as easily.

After a booster, protection against symptomatic disease from omicron is about 70%  not as good as the 94% protection seen with earlier variants that more closely matched the vaccine yet highly effective. Importantly, the booster also further strengthened protection against serious illness.

Researchers are closely tracking if infection-fighting antibodies stick around longer after a third dose  but at some point, those levels are guaranteed to wane again. So-called memory cells can make more the next time the body senses they're needed.

Still, Israel is offering a fourth dose to some people, including those 60 and older, and mulling giving the additional booster to all adults.

The debate is whether repeated boosting really is the best approach  especially since scary new variants are less likely to form once more of the world's population gets initial vaccinations.

Endless boosting just to keep antibody levels constantly high is "not a public health strategy that works," said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Pfizer and Moderna are testing omicron-specific boosters in some American adults, although it's far from clear if authorities would abandon a vaccine recipe proven to save lives for a tweaked version in hopes of fewer breakthrough infections. Brewing a single shot with two kinds of vaccine is technically possible but, again, they'd have to prove the mixture doesn't weaken the original protection against severe illness.

Whatever happens with omicron, it's clear the coronavirus is here to stay and the U.S. National Institutes of Health is funding about $43 million in projects to develop so-called "pan-coronavirus" vaccines that promise to protect against more than one type. One possibility: Nanoparticles that carry pieces of spike proteins from four to eight different versions of the virus rather than the single type in today's vaccines.

It's a tantalizing idea, but NIH infectious diseases chief Dr. Anthony Fauci called it a years-long endeavor. "I don't want anyone to think that pan-coronavirus vaccines are literally around the corner," he said.

A possibly more direct approach: Creating COVID-19 vaccines that can be squirted into the nose to form antibodies ready to fight the virus right where we first encounter it. Nasal vaccines are harder to develop than injected versions but attempts are underway, including a large study just announced by India's Bharat Biotech.

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NEW YORK  The number of Americans looking to start their own business is on the rise, as the coronavirus pandemic creates opportunities for some would-be entrepreneurs.

People are starting businesses for a variety of reasons: some lost their job during the pandemic and decided to make their side hustle their main occupation. Others reevaluated their priorities and decided to leave the corporate world. Some took advantage of the flexibility of working remotely and lower commercial rents.

There were 5.4 million applications for business tax identification numbers filed in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, surpassing the previous peak in 2020 of 4.4 million In 2019, pre-pandemic, there were 3.5 million new business applications. The applications dont necessarily mean businesses were launched, but the numbers do show that people were considering starting companies despite the viruss impact on the economy. Some economists attribute part of the nations labor shortage to an increase in people who have recently gone to work for themselves.

Now, these new owners are also dealing with the problems the pandemic has posed for many established businesses: changing guidance from health officials, difficulty reaching customers, snags in the supply chain and general uncertainty about whats ahead.

Darin Mays of Minneapolis had been a health care software executive for 15 years when the pandemic came and the project he was working on ended. Mays could have accepted a different assignment but decided to leave instead.

While living on his severance package, he made a table that encircles a patio heater for a neighbor, who soon hosted a cookout. Everyone said this table is great, you should throw it on Etsy. He did and sold his first one about a week later.

Mays, 38, has a patent pending for his table designs, and he also sells other woodwork at his Etsy store, Urban Wing Co. The shop took in six figures in revenue in 2021, he said, and hes thinking about expanding.

The pandemic, as much as its been awful, has been an opportunity for innovation, he said.

The increase in entrepreneurship in the past two years is much different from what happened after the last downturn in 2008-2009, when weak consumer spending and the hangover from the housing bubble dragged on the economy and new business formation fell.

People who start their own companies are counted as employed by the government, lowering the jobless rate. But they arent included in the governments count of total payroll jobs. As a result, the number of new jobs added each month may be understated as more Americans have struck out on their own. The Labor Department issues its latest employment report on Feb. 4.

For Kelly Van Arsdale, 32, a pandemic-related relocation and a fortuitous stroll past a well-located storefront were keys to starting up his own business.

Van Arsdale was a freelance web developer in San Francisco when the pandemic hit. He and his wife decided to move to Seattle in August 2020, where they could afford more space and be closer to his parents.

During his time in San Francisco, Van Arsdale and his brother had been making chocolate in their garage and giving bars to friends and family. While walking in his North Seattle neighborhood last April, he happened upon an unoccupied storefront that had room for chocolate production. He leased the space, built it out and founded Spinnaker Chocolate in October.

His neighbors were early customers. But reaching a broader clientele online has been harder.

The pandemic pushed a ton of businesses online and its now more expensive than ever to run any amount of advertising, he said. Overall, the hardest challenge has been spreading awareness of our brand.

In New York City, the pandemic took a heavy toll on the restaurant industry. But it also created new opportunities for some people who had previously toiled on the fringes of the food business.

Elyssa Heller worked in the food and beverage business for 10 years, and was working for a vegan snack company at the start of the pandemic, but she wanted to try out her own concept focused on Jewish comfort food.

Heller, 32, initially had success with a bagel pop-up at the popular pizzeria Paulie Gees in Brooklyn in 2020. The pop-up concept blossomed in many states as the pandemic either forced limited seating or closed dining rooms altogether.

She eventually opened a sandwich counter in March 2021, and a full-fledged restaurant, Ediths Eatery & Grocery, in January.

Her biggest challenges are what any restaurant is facing: keeping diners safe and making them feel comfortable eating out and dealing with ever-changing pandemic rules.

Its just a day of problem-solving every single day, its just a new reality, she said.

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PHOENIX  The State Bar of Arizona will not punish Attorney General Mark Brnovich over claims he acted unethically in his representation of two state agencies.

But a bar document shows this outcome is not a finding that Brnovich did nothing wrong in his dealings with Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Board of Regents.

On Friday, Brnovichs press aide said he had reached an agreement ... to resolve the bar complaints. Katie Conner said both complaints will be dismissed with no sanctions or findings of professional conduct.

What Conner did not say, however, is that Brnovich and his attorneys have entered into a diversion agreement.

In a letter, James Lee, senior counsel for the bar, said the terms of that agreement are confidential.

But the bars document says, Diversion is intended as an alternative to disciplinary sanction. More to the point, it says the primary purpose is to identify lawyers who have violated the Rules of Professional Conduct and whose cases involve minor misconduct.

Hobbs said she believes this will prove critical to preventing the kind of problems she was having with Brnovich that caused her to file the complaint.

Diversion is designed to remedy the lawyers problem and prevent recurrence, Hobbs said in a prepared statement. Although the terms of this diversion agreement are confidential, the State Bar is helping to prevent these ethical lapses from occurring again. And that is justice.

There was no immediate response from the Board of Regents.

But Brnovich clearly was not pleased with the finding.

Conner said he will now seek a change in the ethical rules that Hobbs and the regents accused him of violating, to say that his duties as a constitutionally elected state official and the chief attorney for the state are different than for a private lawyer hired by a client.

The Brnovich spokeswoman took a swat at how Hobbs is describing the diversion agreement.

The secretary of state is once again trying to spin a story, Conner said. We entered an agreement with the State Bar today that soon will result in the dismissal of each complaint with no finding of professional misconduct.

Cooperation is always the best approach for resolving difficult issues, she added.

Lyndel Manson, chairman of the Board of Regents, made it clear she sees the resolution as does Hobbs.

The State Bar of Arizona recognized that the attorney generals professional conduct required corrective action by entering into a diversion agreement with the attorney general, Manson said in a prepared statement. Contrary to the attorney generals assertion, the bars decision is not a vindication of the attorney generals conduct.

Both cases stem from complaints that Brnovich violated ethical rules by acting on one hand as the attorney for the two agencies while also taking action contrary to their interests.

Hobbs said the Attorney Generals Office, in its role representing her agency, had received confidential attorney-client communications and provided advice.

The problem, she said, is that the AGs Office then withdrew from representing the Secretary of States Office  and then took a legal position materially adverse to the secretary of state.

In the other case, the main issue in the complaint was that Brnovich filed suit against the regents over a deal made by Arizona State University for a hotel and conference center on university property. That lawsuit, still pending, involves claims that the deal amounted to an illegal gift of public funds.

Brnovich also publicly blasted the board over what he contends are overly high, and potentially illegal, tuition increases.

He has argued all along that he is different than other attorneys by virtue of his constitutional duties and powers.

While Brnovich did not address the diversion, he declared the outcome to be in his favor, and a slap at Hobbs and the regents.

This is a victory for the rule of law and a rebuke for anyone attempting to weaponize the system for regulating lawyers for their own political purposes, Brnovich said in his prepared statement.

No one working for our office should have been subjected to these Bar complaints, which put their reputations and livelihoods in jeopardy merely for doing their jobs as public servants, he said.

The finding came days after Sen. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, introduced legislation that would financially penalize anyone who files a bar complaint that is not borne out, making that person liable not only for the attorneys legal fees but also for any damage to reputation.

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Cheryl Andrews-Maltais takes note of the heart-wrenching dates that remind Wampanoag families that they're still in the midst of the opioid drug crisis  birthdays of loved ones lost, anniversaries of their passing. Then she reaches out with a phone call to the grieving.

And then you're on the other side of it, and you're bracing for another holiday or event you can't share because of this, she said.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, which Andrews-Maltais leads in Massachusetts, was among hundreds of Native American tribes that sued drug manufacturers and distributors over the role they played in the epidemic. One study found Native Americans had the highest per capita rate of opioid overdose deaths of any population group in 2015.

Andrews-Maltais can think of 15 deaths among her tribe of about 500 alone.

Tribes settled with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the three largest U.S. drug distribution companies this week for $590 million. Lawyers representing tribes hope to reach settlements with others in the pharmaceutical industry, including remaining manufacturers and pharmacies.

Last year, the four companies announced a $26 billion settlement with state and local governments to end all suits. An overwhelming majority of governments have signed on; the companies are to decide this month whether it constitutes enough acceptance to move ahead. The agreement with tribes is to be subtracted from those deals.

Each of the 574 federally recognized tribes are eligible for a share of the settlement money made public Tuesday. It's unclear how quickly the money would flow to tribes, but it won't be much and not until 95% of tribes and tribal organizations that sued agree to the settlement.

Obviously it should have been more, Andrews-Maltais said. The ongoing, cumulative effects are generational, and this money is not going to be generational.

A special court master and the judge who oversaw the case must develop a formula for allocating the money. Three enrolled tribal members who are well-known in Indian Country will be responsible for administering the funds: former U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Secretary Kevin Washburn, former Indian Health Service acting director Mary Smith, and Kathy Hannan, chair of the National Museum of the American Indian's Board of Trustees.

Tribal leaders say they hope the funding will consider not only population but geographic diversity, access to health care, land mass and tribes' needs.

One measuring stick that does apply, unfortunately to the vast majority of tribes, is that they are disproportionately impacted by opioids, alcohol and other chemical-generating problems that they had a very difficult history dealing with," said Geoffrey Strommer, whose firm represented some tribes in the settlement.

A 236-page court document filed in the case laid out staggering statistics for tribes related to drug-related crimes and deaths, and noted a long history  including the federal government's attempts to assimilate Native Americans into white society  that has contributed to generations of trauma. Most tribes have struggled financially to address the opioid crisis through law enforcement, courts, social services and health care.

Tribal police agencies said in the court filing that theyve had to train more officers on how to deal with prescription and synthetic drugs, and arm them with tools to treat overdoses.

Tribes have turned to wellness or healing centers to treat those with opioid addictions, their families and the larger community. In Sequim, Washington, the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is building a holistic health center in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains and near the headwaters of the Duwamish River.

It will serve up to 300 people per day, both tribal and non-tribal members struggling with addiction. Shuttle services will be available for anyone who needs a ride and child care. The plans call for a water feature in the front that will reinforce a traditional story about the ability to change the path of a river by moving one rock.

The tribe also has funded a full-time social services worker who will be embedded in the police department to address concerns in the larger community about patients and any drug-related crimes.

Sometimes people, optically, think that these kind of treatment centers become a magnet to drug dealers and the underbelly of that industry, said Jamestown S'Klallam Chairman W. Ron Allen. And that's not what it is. It's a reverse of that. They're designed to be highly secure, highly safe, highly monitored and totally focused on helping those individuals become healthy."

Joshua Carver, who received services from the tribe to overcome a heroin addiction, helped install some of the center's artwork as part of his tribal construction job.

His mother, Shawna Priest, saw it as an evolution from taking oxycodone for back issues, moving on to heroin, being hospitalized on the brink of an overdose and detoxing at home for six months before recovering four years ago.

Her daughter also has struggled with addiction, including a relapse after losing a newborn, but has recovered and is working at a tribal casino. Priest herself was terrified to take medication after having ankle surgery last April, questioning whether it would cause her to become addicted. She tells her family's story to instill hope in others.

You can get through this. You can be successful, she said. It's not the end of the world.

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The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

February is Black History Month. It is a time for all Americans to better understand and appreciate the many contributions of African Americans in our society while at the same time for African Americans to take pride in their extraordinary tenacity, resilience and history.

Black History Month was initially just the second week in February to coincide with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on Feb. 12 and the birthday of Frederick Douglass on Feb. 14. It was first organized by historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926. During the United States bicentennial, President Gerald Ford expanded the week to a month, urging Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.

Black History Month should also be a time for white America to pause and contemplate the many unearned privileges that they possess and to dedicate themselves to help achieve the unfinished business that Lincoln initiated, namely equity, unity, justice and opportunity for all Americans.

It is perhaps best to review a few of the more significant privileges, in that as people of the dominant culture in America, white people do not always appreciate or realize such privileges.

The first would be that white people do not have to carry the burden of thinking about their racial identity. Though we have grown up with the romantic idea of America being a melting pot, in fact when African Americans and other minorities have wanted to culturally assimilate, the color of their skin has marked and prevented them from full integration with equal rights and opportunities.

Another important privilege is that white people do not need to know or understand the culture of minorities, while minorities often could not survive without knowing and understanding how to operate in the dominant white culture.

Though progress has been made, racism is still very much with us. White parents do not have to discuss with their children about denigrating names assigned to them because of their color or how they should react when a police officer stops their car.

White parents do not have to try to explain why earlier generations were considered second-class or no-class citizens, and why, even today, there is still a struggle to achieve parity.

Black History Month helps us understand the struggles of the past and the debt we owe to those who made our nation better. Let us not forget Black history is American history, pure and simple.

During February, read a book like The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones, attend a Black History Month event and if you are parents, attend with your children.

Phineas Anderson is a retired educator and former head of Green Fields Country Day School in Tucson.

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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. Here are the facts:

Vice president doesn't have power to 'change the outcome' of elections

CLAIM: Vice President Mike Pence "did have the right to change the outcome" of the 2020 election but chose not to use it.

THE FACTS: The vice president has no power to unilaterally "change" or overturn the presidential election results of a state under the Constitution or any law, experts say.

While former President Donald Trump is no longer directly posting on Twitter or Facebook, a statement he issued on Sunday soon swirled on social media  falsely claiming that his former vice president "did have the right to change the outcome" of the 2020 election and that he "could have overturned" it. Trump pointed to a current effort in Congress to amend the Electoral Count Act, a law enacted in 1887 and amended in 1948, as purported proof for his assertion.

The role of the vice president in the counting of Electoral College votes is largely ceremonial, as The Associated Press has explained. The Constitution directs the president of the Senate to open the certificates of the election results from the states in the presence of the Senate and House and instructs that the votes "shall then be counted," said Garrett Epps, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Oregon. He noted that the vice president is not explicitly referenced. However, the vice president serves as president of the Senate; if absent, the senior most senator from the majority party serves in that role. That language indicates Congress  not just the president of the Senate  is to count the votes, Epps said, and doesn't afford the vice president any special power to overturn them. The Electoral Count Act does allow for an objection to a state's vote in writing if it is signed by a member of the House and a member of the Senate. If there is such a request, then the House and Senate meet in separate sessions to consider it. The objection is only sustained if both chambers agree to it by a simple majority vote. Legislators are indeed in talks to update that law.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins said in an interview on Sunday that she was "hopeful that we can come up with a bipartisan bill that will make very clear that the vice president's role is simply ministerial, that he has no ability to halt the count." Michael McConell, a law professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, said there are some ambiguities within the Electoral Count Act that could be shored up, including language referring to how Congress handles competing slates of electors from a state when the law says only those that are "regularly given" shall be counted. But none of the ambiguities could be reasonably interpreted as giving the vice president the power to unilaterally overturn an election's results, said McConell, a former federal appellate judge. He said there was no serious basis for that claim. Lawmakers are also proposing changes to the Electoral Count Act regarding the threshold required for members of Congress to raise objections to a state's electoral votes, and the grounds for raising such objections.

 Associated Press writer Angelo Fichera in Philadelphia contributed this report.

Trucks, crowds at Canada anti-vaccination protest exaggerated

CLAIM: Law enforcement officials in Canada report over 100,000 trucks and millions of people showed up last weekend in Ottawa for a vaccine mandate protest.

THE FACTS: No such estimates have been provided by the law enforcement agencies named in posts circulating on social media  the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police, representatives said.

As thousands of protesters gathered in Ottawa over the weekend to rally against vaccine mandates, numerous false claims about the event spread on social media. Some cited exaggerated crowd numbers, wrongly attributed to Canadian law enforcement, while others shared miscaptioned photos to erroneously suggest they showed the trucker demonstrations.

Posts circulating Saturday and Sunday stated: "The OPP have reported over 100,000 trucks in Ottawa, an estimated 2.3 million on foot and an 'abudance' of trucks parked in fields just outside of the city. RCMP reports over 130,000 trucks in the city and more than 20,000 parked in fields outside of the city." But the claims are false, spokespersons for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police told The Associated Press. "We are able to confirm that the RCMP did not issue any numbers publicly in relation to this," Stephanie Dumoulin, a spokesperson for the agency, wrote in an email to the AP. "These numbers did not come from the Ontario Provincial Police," Bill Dickson, a spokesperson for the department, confirmed in a separate email to the AP. "We have not released any numbers." Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly estimated there were about 8,000 people at the protest in the city on Saturday, according to Amy Gagnon, a spokesperson for the agency. Some protesters parked on the grounds of the National War Memorial and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Others carried signs and flags with swastikas and some used the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox to display an anti-vaccine statement, the AP reported. Some of the demonstrators were protesting a new rule that went into effect on Jan. 15 requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully immunized against the coronavirus. The U.S. has mandated the same requirement on truckers entering the country. The Canadian Trucking Alliance said a large number of the protesters had no connection to the trucking industry, adding they have a separate agenda to push. Other social media users this week shared a video of truckers taking part in the annual Feast of San Michele event in Turin, Italy, in 2021, but falsely claimed it showed Italian truckers mobilizing in support of the anti-vaccine protests in Canada on Jan. 28. Similarly, a 2019 photo of an unrelated protest in the Netherlands was misrepresented to incorrectly suggest it showed farmers blocking a freeway in solidarity with the Canadian protests.

 Associated Press writer Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed this report with additional reporting from Beatrice Dupuy in New York and Sophia Tulp in Atlanta.

Canadian prime minister remained in Ottawa area amid protests

CLAIM: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been "hiding out" in the U.S. as a convoy of truckers and protesters demonstrate against vaccine mandates in Ottawa.

THE FACTS: The prime minister's office confirmed to The Associated Press that Trudeau has not left Canada. Trudeau was also recorded giving a press conference in the Canadian capital region on Monday, the same day that some social media users falsely claimed he was in the U.S.

Additionally, public itineraries released by the prime minister's office show that he has remained near Ottawa, the capital of Canada, for more than a week.

But as thousands of protesters gathered in Canada's capital to protest vaccine mandates, masks and lockdowns, several social media users pushed the falsehood that Trudeau fled Canada for the U.S. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, amplified the idea on Monday, tweeting to his nearly 85,000 followers: "If Justin Trudeau is hiding in the United States, we should return him to Canada and make him face his own people immediately. No safe haven for fleeing COVID tyrants. #LiveFree #DeportTrudeau." Roy's tweet came hours after Trudeau had given a public address from the Ottawa area in which he called for unity and condemned acts of violence at the protests. The prime minister has been isolating at hom e in Ottawa since Thursday, after learning he had been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. On Monday, Trudeau announced he also tested positive for the virus. Canadian rules mandate that fully-vaccinated people who test positive must isolate at home for five days and until symptoms improve. People who test positive for COVID-19 are not permitted to travel. There's no evidence that Trudeau has recently traveled outside of Canada, either. Itineraries released by his office show that he was based in the Ottawa capital region for all of last week, and for most of January. A spokesperson for the prime minister's office confirmed the daily, public itineraries accurately reflect the locations provided and that Trudeau "did not and has not left Canada." A number of protesters have remained in the capital this week.

 Sophia Tulp

False claim spreads about Japanese ivermectin study, despite correction

CLAIM: A Japanese study "says ivermectin is effective against Omicron in phase III trial."

THE FACTS: While scientists continue to conduct research into the drug's use against COVID-19, the finding being cited refers to pre-clinical research  not a "phase III trial," which involves testing the drug on humans.

Social media users are sharing the false information about a Japanese company's research into using ivermectin to treat COVID-19, after Reuters published an erroneous headline Monday that it soon corrected. The inaccurate headline stated: "Japan's Kowa says ivermectin effective against Omicron in phase III trial." The story made it appear that the results broke significant new ground.

"Phase III" clinical trials are conducted on people. But the research done by Kowa Co. Ltd. was conducted in a lab. The report was based on an announcement from Kowa that said ivermectin showed "antiviral" effects against omicron and other variants in pre-clinical research. Kowa said in a statement to the AP that "the press release announced that ivermectin was effective against Omicron strain" in an "in vitro study (i.e. non-clinical study), not in the clinical study." The company said it was currently conducting a study on volunteers to further evaluate the effectiveness of ivermectin in treating COVID-19.

Reuters soon corrected its story and acknowledged the mistake. Its current headline reads: "Ivermectin shows 'antiviral effect' against COVID, Japanese company says."

But social media accounts continue to share the falsehood. Ivermectin is approved in the U.S. in tablet form to treat parasitic worms as well as a topical solution to treat external parasites. The drug is also available for animals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not authorized ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19. And a National Institutes of Health panel on COVID-19 treatment guidelines has said there is "insufficient evidence" to "recommend either for or against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19." A 2020 study in Australia found ivermectin inhibited the replication of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in a laboratory setting. But Dr. David Fajgenbaum, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who directs a database tracking research into treatments for COVID-19, said that showing a drug to be effective in lab tests on cells is a "starting point." Fajgenbaum said there have been 25 randomized controlled trials  a gold-standard for research  studying ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. The trials have collectively involved more than 2,000 patients, he said, and the results have been mixed. "In my opinion, there's a possibility of benefit, but given that so many trials have been done, if it clearly was effective you would expect that the majority of trials would show that it was effective," Fajgenbaum said. "If something works, then it should be a rare occurrence that a trial is done and it doesn't show that it works."

 Angelo Fichera

US congressman shares neo-Nazi's quote wrongly attributed to Voltaire

CLAIM: French philosopher Voltaire said: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize."

THE FACTS: Enlightenment-era writer Voltaire did not say this. The quote, which was paraphrased, comes from a 1993 radio broadcast by Kevin Alfred Strom, who has been identified as a neo-Nazi by organizations that monitor hate groups.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, shared the incorrectly attributed quote in a tweet Sunday to his more than 320,000 followers, with a caption criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert. The tweet contained a cartoon image along with the phrase: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize - Voltaire."

Massie, who has been critical of pandemic mask and vaccine mandates, said in the caption of the post: "You mustn't question Fauci, for he is science." Many social media users quickly pointed out that the quote was wrongly attributed to Voltaire. Still, it was shared more than 7,000 times, including by many believing the attribution was correct. As of Friday, Massie's tweet remained online and the congressman had not publicly commented on the error. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

The original quote from Strom, an American white nationalist and Holocaust denier, has been used previously online and paraphrased in a variety of ways. In a 1993 radio broadcast, Strom said: "To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?" according to an internet archive containing his full remarks. Despite the quote originating more than a hundred years after Voltaire's death in 1778, it has been repurposed and incorrectly attributed to him dozens of times. In 2019, actor John Cusack tweeted the quote before deleting the post and apologizing. Strom again took credit for the quote in a 2017 blog post in which he wrote: "My statement has become the stuff of Internet memes, quote collections, graphics, and motivational posters.  Trouble is, the quote is almost always attributed to the 18th-century French writer Voltaire, and not to me."

 Associated Press writer Sophia Tulp in Atlanta contributed this report.

No plan for fourth round of federal stimulus checks, despite claims

CLAIM: The IRS will issue a fourth round of stimulus checks to Americans in February 2022.

THE FACTS: While some states have created stimulus programs for their own residents, Congress has not approved any plans to issue another round of nationwide stimulus checks.

A spokesperson for the IRS confirmed that there have been three rounds of economic impact payments in total. Posts circulating widely on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube this week shared different versions of the baseless claim that a fourth round of federal stimulus checks was coming this month. One post on Facebook falsely claimed $2,000 checks would be deposited in bank accounts nationwide on Feb. 9, while a blog headline hinted many Americans may be eligible for $1,400 in relief in the near future.

Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers approved three rounds of stimulus payments to American households, up to $1,200 per person in March 2020, up to $600 per person in December 2020 and up to $1,400 per person in March 2021. But Congress, which would have to approve any new government spending for nationwide stimulus, has not to date authorized another wave of payments from the federal government. IRS spokesman Anthony Burke confirmed in an email that there were three rounds of economic impact payments, all of which were already paid.

Some advocates have urged the federal government to issue more direct payments to American households. In March, a group of 21 Democratic senators called for President Joe Biden to include recurring payments in his "Build Back Better" long-term economic plan. In May, asked about whether one of the bills in that plan could include a fourth round of direct payments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki punted back to Congress, saying, "We'll see what members of Congress propose, but those are not free." Meanwhile, some states have taken initiative to issue economic stimulus payments to their own residents. In California, for example, residents who have filed their 2020 tax returns and made less than $75,000 that year are eligible for payments through a "Golden State Stimulus" program. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

 Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report.

___
An Owasso man who claimed he was the victim of an abusive family while growing up was sentenced to prison Friday in connection with the 2020 stabbing death of his stepfather.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell sentenced Jordan Taylor Kuykendall to six years and six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Kuykendall, 25, admitted Oct. 8 to one count of voluntary manslaughter in Indian Country after prosecutors alleged he fatally stabbed his stepfather, Charles Botts, 59, once in the heart on May 17, 2020, in Botts Owasso home.

Prior to the stabbing, Kuykendall had been arguing with his mother after being dropped off at the residence in the 8400 block of North 116th East Avenue by an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, according to court records.

Jordan Kuykendall violently assaulted his mother, and Charles Botts was forced to intervene, said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. Kuykendall then fought Mr. Botts and during the struggle stabbed him to death.

Those who commit violent criminal acts within the Northern District of Oklahoma will be brought to justice. Kuykendall will serve 78 months in federal prison for his crime.

Kuykendall, who the trooper said appeared intoxicated, had been given a ride home after he claimed he had been carjacked when he got out of his vehicle on U.S. 412 to urinate. His car, with no gas and a dead battery, was later found 1.5 miles from where he was picked up with his wallet, credit cards and iPhone still in the vehicle.

Kuykendalls mother said Botts emerged from a bedroom and began fighting her stepson after Kuykendall had placed his mother in a headlock and put his fist in her mouth, according to court records.

At some point, Kuykendall grabbed a knife and followed Botts, who had retreated to the bedroom, according to prosecutors.

The two struggled, with Kuykendall claiming Botts hit him in the head with an assault rifle once before he poked Botts with the knife.

Kuykendalls mother told police that when she went to help her husband, she saw her son beating him in the head with his fists over and over and over, describing his eyes as appearing possessed.

When police arrived, they reported finding Botts slumped over in the bedroom, covered in blood.

Kuykendall was seated on the bedroom floor, also covered in blood.

Botts died later that morning at a hospital.

Prosecutors contended that Kuykendall deserved the maximum prison term, 15 years, for the voluntary manslaughter conviction, contending that the 63-month to 78-month advisory sentence recommended by the U.S. Probation Office under federal sentencing guidelines was too lenient.

A grand jury had indicted Kuykendall on one count of second-degree murder in Indian Country.

His original state first-degree murder charge had been dropped earlier after a judge, citing Kuykendalls American Indian status and the fact that the crime occurred in Indian Country, said the state did not have jurisdiction to prosecute him under the McGirt Supreme Court ruling.

But Kuykendall, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter one day after the reduced charge was filed, requested a guideline sentence or even probation, claiming in court papers filed on his behalf, that he suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome caused by years of abuse.

In one case cited in the defense memo to the judge, Kuykendall claimed that Botts beat and strangled him in July 2010 after he heard Botts strike his mother and he tried to intervene.

Jordan is a crime victim, his federal public defender wrote in the memo after noting that prosecutors often seek higher sentences to protect crime victims.

His response is a direct consequence of these crimes against him and represent an anomaly in his life symptomatic of rage resulting from years of domestic violence, the attorney wrote. If the need to protect victims with higher sentences is sincere, then so too is the need to show compassion and kindness when a crime victim responds to a victimizer with a response that seems unusual or excessive.

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An Owasso man who claimed he was the victim of an abusive family while growing up was sentenced to prison Friday in connection with the 2020 stabbing death of his stepfather.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell sentenced Jordan Taylor Kuykendall to six years and six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Kuykendall, 25, admitted Oct. 8 to one count of voluntary manslaughter in Indian Country after prosecutors alleged he fatally stabbed his stepfather, Charles Botts, 59, once in the heart on May 17, 2020, in Botts Owasso home.

Prior to the stabbing, Kuykendall had been arguing with his mother after being dropped off at the residence in the 8400 block of North 116th East Avenue by an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, according to court records.

Jordan Kuykendall violently assaulted his mother, and Charles Botts was forced to intervene, said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. Kuykendall then fought Mr. Botts and during the struggle stabbed him to death.

Those who commit violent criminal acts within the Northern District of Oklahoma will be brought to justice. Kuykendall will serve 78 months in federal prison for his crime.

Kuykendall, who the trooper said appeared intoxicated, had been given a ride home after he claimed he had been carjacked when he got out of his vehicle on U.S. 412 to urinate. His car, with no gas and a dead battery, was later found 1.5 miles from where he was picked up with his wallet, credit cards and iPhone still in the vehicle.

Kuykendalls mother said Botts emerged from a bedroom and began fighting her stepson after Kuykendall had placed his mother in a headlock and put his fist in her mouth, according to court records.

At some point, Kuykendall grabbed a knife and followed Botts, who had retreated to the bedroom, according to prosecutors.

The two struggled, with Kuykendall claiming Botts hit him in the head with an assault rifle once before he poked Botts with the knife.

Kuykendalls mother told police that when she went to help her husband, she saw her son beating him in the head with his fists over and over and over, describing his eyes as appearing possessed.

When police arrived, they reported finding Botts slumped over in the bedroom, covered in blood.

Kuykendall was seated on the bedroom floor, also covered in blood.

Botts died later that morning at a hospital.

Prosecutors contended that Kuykendall deserved the maximum prison term, 15 years, for the voluntary manslaughter conviction, contending that the 63-month to 78-month advisory sentence recommended by the U.S. Probation Office under federal sentencing guidelines was too lenient.

A grand jury had indicted Kuykendall on one count of second-degree murder in Indian Country.

His original state first-degree murder charge had been dropped earlier after a judge, citing Kuykendalls American Indian status and the fact that the crime occurred in Indian Country, said the state did not have jurisdiction to prosecute him under the McGirt Supreme Court ruling.

But Kuykendall, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter one day after the reduced charge was filed, requested a guideline sentence or even probation, claiming in court papers filed on his behalf, that he suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome caused by years of abuse.

In one case cited in the defense memo to the judge, Kuykendall claimed that Botts beat and strangled him in July 2010 after he heard Botts strike his mother and he tried to intervene.

Jordan is a crime victim, his federal public defender wrote in the memo after noting that prosecutors often seek higher sentences to protect crime victims.

His response is a direct consequence of these crimes against him and represent an anomaly in his life symptomatic of rage resulting from years of domestic violence, the attorney wrote. If the need to protect victims with higher sentences is sincere, then so too is the need to show compassion and kindness when a crime victim responds to a victimizer with a response that seems unusual or excessive.

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A city review committee met Friday to begin evaluating proposals for a new Route 66 mixed-use development to be built on two acres of city-owned land across the street from Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza.

Four local companies responded to the citys request for proposals: Continental Overseas LLC, Hund Capital, Ross Group Development and Sharp Boulder Enterprises LLC.

Jack Blair, the citys chief operating officer, said the review committee was impressed with all of the proposals.

We talked through every proposal in some detail and all of the different aspects of it  the financial aspects, the proposed uses, the integration with the neighborhood and that sort of thing, Blair said. I think there was general consensus that we really want to follow up with two and ask them to come in and have a more thorough discussion with them.

The citys request for proposals, or RFP, requires that the proposed development include a Route 66 Interpretive Center, on-site parking, and restaurant and retail uses.

The architecture of the project should include unique features that represent an iconic-style destination rather than a replica of branded projects and should be compatible with views of the river and skyline, according to the RFP.

Development features suggested  but not required  by the city include a hotel and residential and office space.

The five-person review committee is made up of representatives of the City Council, the Tulsa Planning Office, the Tulsa Authority for Economic Opportunity and the Mayors Office.

Proposals are being scored on a 100-point system based on the following standards:

Understands and represents the RFPs goals (maximum 30 points).

Developer qualifications and experience (maximum 30 points).

Financial resources (maximum 30 points).

And conforms to submission requirements (maximum 10 points).

Continental Overseas is the parent company of Jain Hotels, which owns and operates nearly 20 hotels in the Tulsa area. The company also has a development arm.

Hund Capital is a real estate development company founded by Cody Brandt. Brandt grew up in Broken Arrow and worked in Washington, D.C., before spending five years in Dallas doing commercial appraisals.

His development work in Tulsa has been primarily in the Pearl District.

Ross Group is a Tulsa-based engineering, development and construction company that has done extensive work throughout Oklahoma and Texas as well other parts of the country. It has also been responsible for some of Tulsas largest recent redevelopment projects, including the reconstruction of the Tulsa Club.

Sharp Boulder Enterprises was founded by David Sharp, a long-time local developer. The companys investments include $6 million in buildings along Route 66 from Peoria to Yale avenues. The company has also invested $16 million in properties in the River Parks and Riverview area.

The city issued its first request for proposals for a mixed-use commercial development and Route 66 interpretive center in 2013.

The Route 66 Alliance was the sole respondent to the RFP, but the nonprofits proposed Route 66 Experience never got off the ground because of a lack of funding.

Video: Take a drone tour of roadside attractions along iconic Route 66 in Oklahoma

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Like much of Oklahoma, Tulsas infrastructure needs have been growing steadily for years. A report from the White House describes the thousands of miles of highways and bridges that are in need of repair and the hundreds of other necessary projects across the state.

Here in Tulsa, the question of what to do with Interstate 244 has been top of mind for everyone.

We are looking forward to the improvement funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill that will bring millions to our state. However, funds are just the beginning. We will have significant work to do to implement these upgrades. And we will need skilled workers like me to do that work.

I come from a family of welders. My father first learned his skills as a chemical welder in the U.S. Army. After returning to civilian life, my father continued welding, this time with Union Pacific Railroad.

I remember going with my mom to visit him at work, the excitement of seeing the trains and impressive equipment. It turned out that I wasnt the only person inspired by my father. Our job site visits were the catalyst for my mom deciding to pursue welding later in her life.

I started my career working in a ceramics plant. But ultimately my desire to earn a better living and follow the family tradition led me to Tulsa Welding School, a private career education school in my hometown.

Going to this type of school was the best decision I could have made. My instructors took welding beyond lectures and instructions, giving me hands-on experiences and in-depth explanations. This was especially helpful since I am left-handed, so I received extra instruction on how to use my dominant hand.

Despite being one of only two women in the class, I always felt supported by my peers and instructors. Thanks to career services, I had secured a job before graduation, and 10 years later I am still in the same job with more seniority and experience.

My education did not end there. Knowing that Tulsa Welding School, like many for-profit colleges, offers additional programming to advance skills for professionals, I returned to complete a retraining certificate and a pipefitting course to help me advance even further in my field.

During both of my programs, the school offered a schedule that allowed me to complete my program efficiently with a focus on what was best for my career.

I couldnt afford to get bogged down with the required courses at a traditional university. I am a hands-on learner, and I knew I wanted to pursue welding.

Now, thanks to my education, I can work alongside my father and mother as we give back to my country, my state and my city by supporting the rebuilding of our infrastructure.

Congress passed the funding. Now the welders, the builders, the engineers, the mechanics and the countless other technically-skilled workers across Oklahoma will make these improvements a reality.

Featured video:

Celia Reyes is a Tulsa resident, professional welder and graduate of the Tulsa Welding School.

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Though borders around the world are still closed due to COVID-19, a group of artists across the globe have been exchanging and promoting their country's cuisine using paintbrushes and papers.

Since May 2021, the hashtag #foodartmonthly has spread all over Instagram, creating an impromptu database of dishes representing the worlds cuisines, including delicacies from Vietnam.

The hashtag is essentially a monthly food illustration challenge initiated by a group of about a dozen artists from Indonesia, Japan, Ukraine, China, the U.S., Venezuela, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.

It has drawn attention from food illustrators throughout the social network.

Vietnams participation

One of the host artists of #foodartmonthly is Ly Tuyet Phan, an English teacher in Ho Chi Minh City.

Phan participated in the October challenge centered around 'egg dishes,' offering up an illustration of thit kho trung (caramelized pork and eggs) and the ingredients to make the dish including pork, coconut juice, garlic, and chili.

A traditional dish in Vietnam at Tet [Vietnamese Lunar New Year] and you can also see it in everyday meals in Vietnam. And rice is commonly served along with this dish, Phan wrote in the caption of the illustration posted to her @phanh_phanh_0717 handle.

An illustration of 'thit kho trung' (caramelized pork and eggs) by @phanh_phanh_0717

Foodies from around the world seemed to love Phans work.

Wow! An interesting traditional dish! The illustration is incredible! @anyta.kulyk from Ukraine commented.

I always love how you paint both the ingredients and the dish! Your style is beautiful! @kailenefalls, who is living in Japan, added.

According to Phan, every month, the group of host artists proposes a theme and calls on Instagrams art community to join them in creating food art.

After approving a theme, each host creates an illustration and sends it to Kailene Falls (@kailenefalls), an American illustrator based in Tokyo, who creates collages of their works.

About a week before the posting date (the 20th of each month), all the host artists will announce the theme on their Instagram and call on their followers to participate.

On the 20th day of each month, the host artists will post their own illustrations and tag others in the group.

Since launching, #foodartmonthly has carried on a number of topics, which feature celebration food from a country, fruit dishes/sweets, egg dishes, sandwiches, packaged snacks, street food, traditional breakfast, and sweets.

For each topic, participants are asked to illustrate a typical dish of their country, or the country they are living in.

After knowing of the theme to illustrate, Phan chooses to narrow her selection of related dishes before picking her favorite dish.

I don't find any topic too difficult, I'm just worried that Im not capable of conveying all the quintessence of the dish on the paper, Phan told Tuoi Tre News.

Fortunately, during the past topics, I have not encountered that problem."

A supplied illustrated portrait of Ly Tuyet Phan drawn by @pumknjr_illustration

According to the 28-year-old, Vietnamese cuisine deserves to be promoted more.

The unique feature of Vietnamese cuisine is the combination of many ingredients, especially vegetables, to create a dish, she commented.

When I see people commenting and expressing their love for Vietnamese food, I feel happy and a little excited as thanks to my illustrations, my friends on Instagram know more about Vietnamese cuisine.

An illustration by @phanh_ phanh_0717 featuring 'tau hu nuoc duong' (tofu topped with sugar syrup).

Diem Ngoc, a former host artist from Vietnam, also caught the eyes of her followers with illustrations of Vietnamese dishes on her @edimcatstuff handle.

Although she withdrew from the role of a host artist in October, Ngoc still partook in the challenge of 'egg dishes' with a painting of hot vit lon (balut).

It is a really popular street food here in Saigon, you can hear the legendary voice hot vit lon day [from the street vendor inviting customers to buy] everywhere, Ngoc introduced in the illustrations caption, referring to Ho Chi Minh City.

An illustration featuring 'hot vit lon' by @edimcatstuff

Before 'egg dishes,' the 27-year-old woman also participated in other #foodartmonthly challenges with dishes like roasted pork sandwiches, boiled snails with lemongrass and lemon leaves, and more.

My favorite topic, which is also the hardest one for me, was street food, Ngoc shared.

Vietnam has too many street foods, and eventually I chose boiled snails because of its uniqueness.

People were surprised and delighted because they did not think snails would be such a popular dish in Vietnam."

A famous cuisine will help encourage tourism and spread the countrys culture more widely, according to Ngoc.

For her, the most unique thing about Vietnamese food is the focus on the balance of flavors, along with the skillful combination of ingredients and spices to make the dishes fit the taste of many people.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese cuisine also sees a variety of flavors or processing methods for the same dish in different regions.

As Vietnamese cuisine is no longer strange to international friends, everyone knows about our famous dishes like banh mi or pho, so when I joined #foodartmonthly, I wanted to introduce lesser famous foods that still represent Vietnamese cuisine", Ngoc explained.

50 to 100 submissions for each challenge

#foodartmonthly was sparked from the idea of Pavan Kapoor, an Indonesian artist of Indian origin, to introduce cuisines from countries around the world and build a community of culinary artists on Instagram.

I used to save all the food illustrators I liked so when I got the idea to have my own collaborations, I just sent messages to a few artists making sure each one was from a different country, Kapoor told Tuoi Tre News.

A book author and journalist, Kapoor became active on Instagram with her handle @pavankapoor21art when COVID-19 hit the world in early 2020.

I have always been very fond of painting food and when I approached Kailene Falls with my idea, she was excited and our group was born, Kapoor recalled.

An illustrated portrait of Pavan Kapoor

According to Kapoor, #foodartmonthly saw more than 500 posts related to their topic in a few months of launching.

Meanwhile, 30-year-old American Kailene Falls shared that the host artist group usually receives somewhere between 50 and 100 submissions for each challenge, with the breakfast challenge having the most submissions, at around 120.

I think the challenge encourages people to look at food from an artistic perspective, and appreciate the foods that theyve grown up with in an entirely different way, Falls said.

Sharing international art at a time when travel is quite restricted helps us get out of our own bubbles a bit.

Wonderful food culture in Vietnam

Every month the challenge receives submissions from Vietnamese participants, Falls said.

I think there is a wonderful food culture in Vietnam, and a strong appreciation for food art," she remarked.

I love the esthetic that comes from your country, and the foods always look so delicious and amazing!

Im a huge fan of herbs, and I feel like Vietnamese food does herbs absolutely the best!

The combinations of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors alongside the bright and fresh herbs are just amazing.

Honestly, everything I ate in Vietnam was wonderful! I also loved the huge variety of amazing fruit beverages.

Kailene Falls is seen in a photo she provided Tuoi Tre News.

Once visiting her sister who taught English in Vietnam for nearly a year, Falls said she would love Vietnamese food to become even more internationally renowned.

In Japan, there are many Vietnamese restaurants but it is hard to find something with the same punchy flavors that she ate in Vietnam because herbs are so expensive there, she added.

I would love for more authentic Vietnamese foods to become more accessible around the world, because the flavors are so unique and wonderful, she said.

Currently, the #foodartmonthly creators hope to maintain this challenge for a long time so that more food cultures can be connected.

Anna Kulyk (@anyta.kulyk), a 28-year-old female host artist from Ukraine, said that she joined the challenge out of her love for food illustrations and to know more about world cuisines.

An illustrated portrait of Anna Kulyk

And indeed, she discovered a new world in Vietnamese dishes.

Vietnamese cuisine in this challenge was a discovery for me, she commented.

I have never been to Vietnam before and have no idea what kind of food they eat there, but thanks to the challenge, I got acquainted with unusual desserts with tofu, durian donuts, and interesting hearty banh mi breakfast.

Some snacks from Vietnam can be found in our country, for example, vegetable chips.

The challenge has shown how diverse the cuisines of different countries are and, at the same time, how much they have in common, Kulyk observed.

An illustration by @phanh_ phanh_0717 featuring 'com tam' (Vietnamese broken rice topped with grilled ribs and steamed egg meat loaf).

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Iceland, one of the only countries that still hunts whales commercially, said Friday it plans to end the practice from 2024 as demand for whale meat dwindles.

For the past three years, Iceland's whalers have barely taken their boats out into the North Atlantic despite the country's large quotas.

Demand for Icelandic whale meat has decreased dramatically since Japan -- Iceland's main market, especially for fin whale meat -- returned to commercial whaling in 2019 after a three-decade hiatus.

The extension of a no-fishing coastal zone, requiring whalers to go even further offshore, also made Iceland's hunt more costly.

"There are few justifications to authorise the whale hunt beyond 2024", Fisheries Minister Svandis Svavarsdottir, a member of the Left Green party, wrote in Morgunbladid newspaper.

"There is little proof that there is any economic advantage to this activity," she said.

Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only countries that authorise the commercial whale hunt, despite criticism from animal rights activists and environmentalists, concerns about toxins in the meat and a shrinking market.

Iceland's annual quotas for 2019 to 2023 allow for the hunting of 209 fin whales -- the planet's second-largest species after the blue whale and considered endangered -- and 217 minke whales, one of the smallest species.

Pandemic slowdown

But for the past three years, Iceland's two main licence holders have suspended their whale hunts, and one of them, IP-Utgerd, hung up its harpoons for good in 2020.

Only one whale has been killed in the past three years -- a Minke whale in 2021.

Other issues have also made whaling more challenging.

Safety requirements for imported meat are more stringent than for local products, rendering Icelandic exports more difficult.

Social distancing restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic also meant Icelandic whale meat processing plants were unable to carry out their tasks.

In Iceland's last full season in 2018, 146 fin whales and six Minke whales were killed.

Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2003 despite a 1986 IWC moratorium, which both it and Norway opposed.

In neighbouring Norway, whalers have had similar experiences to Iceland in recent years, struggling to fill their quotas.

The number of boats taking part in the hunt continues to shrink as well.

In 2021, 575 whales were harpooned in Norway, less than half the authorised quota, by the 14 boats still operating.

In Iceland, rather than ending up as steaks on a plate, whales have in recent years become the stars of a flourishing ecotourism scene.

More than 360,000 whale watchers flocked to the waters of the North Atlantic off Iceland to admire the majestic creatures in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic paralysed the tourism sector.
Check out the news you should not miss today:

Society

-- The National Highway No. 20 passing through the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on Friday afternoon saw congested traffic for kilometers in hours after a fatal accident occurred between a passenger bus and a motorbike, killing one person and injuring another.

-- Commuters traveling through Hanois Phap Van  Cau Gie Expressway tollgate toward the city of Hanoi met with congestion on Friday evening due to a spike in the number of people returning to the capital city after Tet holiday.

-- The number of passengers through Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City rose to a record of 97,700 on Friday, the Vietnam News Agency reported the Southern Airports Authority as saying.

Business

-- Tourism authorities in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam have set a target to welcome 9.5 million visitors in this lunar year, said Pham Ngoc Thuy, director of the provincial Department of Tourism.

-- Vietnam exported 287 tonnes of agricultural products to China via Kim Thanh Border Gate in the northern province of Lao Cai on the first three days of the Lunar New Year (February 1-3) festival, the Vietnam New Agency reported on Friday.

Lifestyle

-- Many people from Hanoi and the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh gravitated on Friday night to Yin Yang Market, or the Market of the Dead, in O Village in Bac Ninh, which opens only once a year on the fourth day of a lunar year and ends early the next morning.

-- Bac Ninh officials decided on Friday to close the Trinh and Ba Chua Kho temples in the province from Saturday to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after seeing a large number of people congregating at the place yesterday.

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Hoi An City has welcomed thousands of tourists during the past days as people came to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters saw a crowded Hoi An on Friday, with entrances to the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town in Minh An Ward sometimes partly congested and parking lots being fully booked almost all the time.

Tourist attractions around Vietnam have been crowded over the nine-day break of this years Tet, which began on January 29 and will finish at the end of Sunday.

Vehicles are seen on a street leading to the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town in Hoi An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

There is no lot available so I have to park on Tran Hung Dao Street and walk for a distance here, said Nguyen Van Ngoc, who visited the town in central Quang Nam Province with his family.

The man from Hai Chau District in nearby Da Nang City said he did not expect to see such a crowded Hoi An.

Ngocs family then decided to take some photos along the local Hoai River before moving out of the ancient town and looked for a less crowded cafe to rest.

Boats decorated with colorful lanterns line up on the Hoai River in the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town of Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

Restaurants and coffee shops, as well as boats riding along the Hoai River in the old town area, were always fully occupied.

Visitors sit at cafes in the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town of Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

According to the Center for Culture, Sports, Radio, and Television of Hoi An City, the city has since Friday offered a wide range of activities including sightseeing tours around the ancient town and craft villages, lantern dances, fashion performances, folk music, and calligraphy.

Visitors walk around the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

Tourists visit the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

A crowded area near Cau Pagoda in the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town of Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

Tourists take a 'xich lo' (cycle rickshaw) to go around the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

Boats decorated with colorful lanterns line up on the Hoai River in the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town of Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

A woman sits in front of an ancient house in the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town of Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: D.C. / Tuoi Tre

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A prolonged traffic jam took place on the Phap Van - Cau Gie Expressway section that leads to central Hanoi on Friday, as numerous people came back to the Vietnamese capital city after their Lunar New Year (Tet) vacations.

The toll station on the expressway was filled with vehicles that were inching toward the citys heart on Friday evening under the control of traffic police officers.

Among the ocean of people returning to the capital, many said they returned early to prepare to go to work again next week after their Tet celebrations in different locations including Ha Nam and Ninh Binh Provinces.

The nine-day break of this years Tet began on January 29 and will finish at the end of Sunday.

This image shows a traffic police officer regulating traffic on the Phap Van - Cau Gie Expressway part that leads to central Hanoi, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre

My family and I are on the way home after having visited Tam Chuc Pagoda in Ha Nam, which borders Hanoi, a Hanoi man who simply identified himself as Cuong told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The traffic has become denser from the late afternoon.

At 7:00 pm the same day, the toll station remained operating amid the traffic congestion.

An employee is seen working without respite at a toll booth on the Phap Van - Cau Gie Expressway section that leads to the heart of Hanoi, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre

As part of the North - South Expressway, the 30-kilometer Phap Van - Cau Gie is among the major routes leading into and out of Hanoi.

It runs from the Phap Van - Hoang Liet intersection in Hoang Mai District to Cau Gie Hamlet in Phu Xuyen District, where it connects with the 50-kilometer Cau Gie - Ninh Binh freeway that links the capital city and Ninh Binh Province.

Cars are stuck on the Phap Van - Cau Gie Expressway section that leads to the heart of Hanoi, Vietnam on February 4, 2022. Photo: Ha Quan / Tuoi Tre

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A content creator from northern Vietnam has become a hit on social media after creating a Lunar New Year (Tet)-centric cartoon using clay and wool models of traditional dishes, culture, and activities often seen during the traditional holiday.

Le Linh Chi, a Hanoi resident, has received a flood of likes and positive comments on Facebook following the release of her cartoon 'Ve Ngoai An Tet (Going Home for Tet).

Elaborating on the idea of making the Tet cartoon, Chi said that she got married this year and had to stay at her husband's house, about 180km from her parents' home, to celebrate the festival due to COVID-19 concerns.

Chi made this film by herself to mitigate homesickness, with the exception of one minor detail, which is the tree that passes the bus in the cartoon.

"As I grew older, I became frustrated with Tet because I had to get up early to cook and clean [my parents'] house," Chi explained.

"I got married all of a sudden, and it's hard to go back to that Tet that I thought was boring.

I can only make my wishes come true through this video.

A tradidtional Vietnamese meal during the Lunar New Year holiday in Le Linh Chis cartoon. Photo: Supplied

Although Chi and her husband live only 180km from her hometown, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the journey home nearly impossible.

"I took everything for granted, and now I'm paying the price," Chi shared.

"I'm now 180km away from home, but I still can't return.

"I don't need to go shopping like I did the day before. I just want to spend the New Year days with my [parents].

"It sounds mundane, but it has now become excessively luxurious this year."

This is the first time she has been away from home for so long.

Chi is homesick because she can only communicate with her parents over the phone.

Wool characters in Le Linh Chis cartoon. Photo: Supplied

Another video made by Chi last year depicting Tet activities like wrapping banh chung (sticky rice cake), showering with cilantro water, and watching Tao Quan  Gap Nhau Cuoi Nam (Year-end Gathering), an annual television comedy broadcast every Lunar New Year's Eve, also went viral on the Internet.

Chi wants to challenge herself this year by creating another better and more complicated product.

"This is also the first year I've celebrated Tet away from home, which inspired the idea for this video," Chi stated.

"Tet is an opportunity to bring us many emotions and memories.

"I created a meaningful cartoon to give as a gift to everyone, especially those who are celebrating Tet away from home."

Chi usually makes videos out of paper, but in this cartoon she used wool and clay.

She encountered various obstacles while creating the characters because wool is a novel material to her.

Because each feature in the video is so small, forming required a great deal of care and patience.

Videography was far more complex since it is in 3D, which includes depth in addition to length and height, rather than 2D, which just consists of length and height.

It took her a long time to work out the angles and arrange the outline.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I cant celebrate Tet with both my parents and my parents-in-law, Chi shared.

"This year, only my spouse and I are celebrating Tet together.

I will send this cartoon to my entire family to watch.

I hope everyone enjoys it and is moved by the film."

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Music event the Brit Awards screen this week hosted by comedian Mo Gilligan.

Replacing Jack Whitehall after 4 years, he becomes the first black UK host, donating his fee to Five X More, a grassroots charity aiming to help improve Black women and birthing peoples maternal health outcomes in the UK.

Adele, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Little Simz are the leading contenders for the 2022 Brit Awards, with four nods each. Australias own The Kid Laroi has been nominated in the Best International Song category for his collaboration on Stay with Justin Bieber.

2022 Awards Categories include Artist of the Year, Group of the Year, Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, International Artist of the Year, International Group of the Year and International Song of the Year.

8.30pm Wednesday, February 9 on UKTV
A trivia night for both Prisoner and Wentworth fans will be held in Melbourne.

Former Prisoner cast member Tottie Goldsmith, who played Gloria Payne, will host the event at ACMI on 25th February, 43 years after the show debuted.

Surprise guests and prizes are also included.

Meanwhile a Wentworth Con, originally planned for Melbourne in 2020, is yet to be rescheduled by organisers, with tentative dates set for Chicago in April and New Jersey in July.

Virtual Meet & Greets are on offer between fans and former cast later this month.

10Play recently added original Prisoner episodes for die-hard fans, with plans to upload the entire series.
Emporia, KS (66801)

Today

Rain and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High near 60F. Winds ESE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Higher wind gusts possible.
Tyler, TX (75702)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 86F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with thunderstorms becoming likely overnight. Low near 70F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
The legal regime of Diia.City is one of the best tax systems in the world, which provides five times lower tax load than the tax payment under the general system, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said.

"At a large-scale event from our team, we will launch a special legal regime for IT Diia.City. It will be one of the best tax systems in the world. Five times lower than if you now pay taxes under the general system," Fedorov wrote in his telegram channel following a meeting with representatives of the IT industry.

He said that before the launch of the "Diia.City" mode, it was important to hold a meeting with Ukrainian companies and is convinced that the project will make it possible to realize the potential of Ukraine in this direction.

"We created this project to help the IT industry, and it will continue to develop. Ukraine can become a powerful technology hub. Diia.City will make it possible to realize this potential more efficiently," Fedorov wrote.

The Deputy Prime Minister also said that the expected result from the launch of Diia.City is an increase in the income of the IT industry from $6 billion to $16.5 billion.

As reported, on Friday President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with representatives of the IT industry, where they discussed pressing issues of the industry development and the launch of a special legal and tax regime "Diia.City".
By 2023, 90% of all global electricity for Charles River will be supplied by renewable energy

WILMINGTON, Mass., February 03, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) today announced a wind energy contract with Repsol to address the entirety of the Companys European power requirements with renewable energy by 2023.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220203005176/en/

Wind turbine at a Repsol wind farm.

Charles River has entered into a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Repsol, a multi-energy company, for wind energy in Spain. The contract is for 30.5 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, which is equivalent to avoiding carbon emissions from the annual electricity consumption of more than 28,000 homes.

The VPPA is associated with a wind farm that is part of Repsol's Delta II project. Repsol continues to promote its low carbon generation business through the development of quality and profitable renewable assets. The project has already begun construction and, once completed in 2023, will have a total capacity of 860 MW distributed among 26 wind farms located in the Spanish region of Aragon. Renewable power generation is one of the pillars of Repsol's decarbonization strategy. As a result, Repsol recently raised its installed capacity targets for 2030 to 20 gigawatts (GW), an increase of 60% over the previous target. By 2025, installed capacity will increase to 6 GW.

This VPPA is the second of Charles Rivers recent sustainability announcements related to renewable electricityin June 2021, Charles River announced a solar contract to address the entirety of its North American electric power requirements. That project is also on track to begin providing Charles River with renewable energy benefits by 2023. As a result of the two VPPAs, Charles River anticipates that 90% of all its global electricity will be supplied by renewable energy by 2023.

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Schneider Electric, the leading advisor on corporate renewable energy procurement globally, supported Charles River in the selection of and negotiations for the project. To learn more about Charles Rivers sustainability efforts visit its Corporate Citizenship page.

Approved Quotes

"As a global organization, we feel a significant responsibility to care for our planet. I am proud of the progress weve made in recent years to reduce our climate impact, and look forward to this next phase of our energy strategy." Birgit Girshick, Corporate Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at Charles River

"Charles River has continued to drive down our Scope 1 and 2 GHG reductions toward our goal of a 50% reduction on an absolute basis by 2030, achieving a 26% reduction from 2018 to 2020. This European VPPA will move us significantly closer to meeting our overall goal of a 50% reduction by 2030." Gregg Belardo, Senior Director of EHS & Sustainability at Charles River

"This agreement marks yet another example of Repsol's continued development of its low-carbon generation business with assets that deliver both quality and profitability for partners and investors such as Charles River, which secures the corresponding benefits of powering its facilities with renewable energy." Joao Costeira, Executive Director of Low Carbon Generation at Repsol

"After recently executing a long-term solar energy contract in North America, were pleased to see Charles River expand its renewable energy procurement efforts into Europe. Congratulations to the company on advancing its 2030 sustainability goals." Philippe Diez, Partner Sustainability Business Division Europe for Schneider Electric

About Charles River

Charles River provides essential products and services to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and leading academic institutions around the globe accelerate their research and drug development efforts. Our dedicated employees are focused on providing clients with exactly what they need to improve and expedite the discovery, early-stage development and safe manufacture of new therapies for the patients who need them. To learn more about our unique portfolio and breadth of services, visit www.criver.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220203005176/en/

Contacts

Charles River Investor Contact:

Todd Spencer

Corporate Vice President, Investor Relations

781-222-6455

todd.spencer@crl.com



Charles River Media Contact:

Amy Cianciaruso

Corporate Vice President, Public Relations

781-222-6168

amy.cianciaruso@crl.com
The Queen, on the day she becomes Britains longest reigning monarch in 2015 (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Archive)

The Queen is set to become the first British monarch in history to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.

Elizabeth II will have reigned for 70 years, or 25,568 days, on Sunday February 6, excluding this Accession Day itself.

She is already the nations longest reigning monarch, and the longest still-serving sovereign in the world.

The Queen is the nations longest reigning monarch (Toby Melville/PA) (PA Archive)

The Queens record-breaking reign has seen her spend 73% of her life so far on the throne.

She overtook her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria as the countrys longest reigning monarch in September 2015, passing her ancestors 63 years and 216 days.

Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception, she remarked at the time.

Victoria reached her Diamond Jubilee but not her Platinum.

Queen Victoria did not reach her Platinum Jubilee (PA) (PA Archive)

The Queen became the worlds longest-reigning living monarch in October 2016 when the previous record-holder King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand died after ruling for 70 years.

But she is not the worlds longest-reigning monarch ever, King Sobhuza II of Swaziland, who died in 1982, holds this title.

He was just four months old when he became king and ruled for 82 years and 253 days.

Louis XIV of France, known as the Sun King, is the longest reigning of monarch of a large European country, ruling for 72 years and 110 days from 1643 to 1715.

In July 2020, the Queen reached 25,000 days on the throne, spending the day privately at Windsor amid the pandemic.

Her lengthy reign and advanced age has brought with it other milestones.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Belfast, during Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 (Julien Behal/PA) (PA Archive)

At the age of 95, she is the oldest British monarch in history, but is not keen on being reminded of this.

She is also the worlds oldest living head of state.

The Queen also holds the world record for the most currencies featuring the same individual, and she is the wealthiest queen, with a fortune estimated at around 365 million.
ZK438 Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 lights the afterburner for a performance takeoff RAF Coningsby. Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Royal Air Force scrambled fighter jets Thursday in response to Russian aircraft approaching a UK "area of interest."

The RAF routinely intercepts aircraft approaching the UK.

On Wednesday, British aircraft intercepted four Russian strategic bombers amid rising tensions between Putin and NATO over Ukraine.

Just one day after intercepting a handful of Russian strategic bombers, the Royal Air Force again scrambled fighter jets Thursday in response to more Russian aircraft approaching a UK "area of interest."

"Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighters from RAF Lossiemouth, supported by a Voyager Tanker from RAF Brize Norton, have been launched against aircraft approaching the UK area of interest," a Royal Air Force spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

The RAF later identified the aircraft as Russian planes, according to Voice of America. The planes were identified as a pair of Russian bombers.

Thursday's incident follows an engagement the day before with four Russian bear bombers.

A Russian Tu-95 bear bomber and its escort fighter during an event in Russia. Photo by Elizaveta Becker/ullstein bild via Getty Images

On Wednesday, the RAF quickly scrambled fighter jets to intercept four Russian military aircraft that entered a UK "area of interest," which is different from sovereign territorial airspace and is instead international airspace over which a country maintains a certain degree of responsibility.

The RAF said its "Typhoon fighters escorted the Russian aircraft out" and that the Russian strategic bombers did not enter British airspace, according to the UK Defence Journal.

The Typhoon is a fourth-generation air superiority fighter capable of supersonic speeds, and the Royal Air Forces uses it as an interceptor for unknown or hostile aircraft. Two bases in the UK have these aircraft on quick reaction alerts to rapidly respond to potential intrusions of the UK's airspace.

The Russian aircraft, according to the RAF, were two Tu-95 Bear H and two Tu-142 Bear F bombers, aircraft tht first entered service during the Cold War. Russian state media published footage of some of the bomber activity.

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The RAF routinely intercepts aircraft approaching the UK "area of interest." When Russian military aircraft enter this monitored section of international airspace, it can be dangerous because they have a tendency to not communicate with air traffic control, the Associated Press reported.

Russia also regularly flies bombers and other military aircraft past other NATO countries, and it has also flown them into the US air defense identification zone off Alaska. These maneuvers are sometimes considered drills, while others are sometimes suspected to be sending a message.

It is unclear what the intention of Wednesday's fly-by was, but it came during a time of heightened tension between the UK and Russia. Prime Minister Boris Johnson just recently returned from Kyiv and has said that Russia will face consequences, specifically sanctions, should it invade its neighbor.

Read the original article on Business Insider
PA/Getty Images.

THE levelling up policy, or rather, slogan, finally arrived in slightly extended form as a White Paper this week, but offered little for Scottish economic growth coming our of the pandemic.

This comes as key tenets of the UK Governments leaky flagship post-Brexit plan seek to erode devolved powers.

We got the promise of more mayors for English regions, and transport that would aspire to be as good as Londons.

However, concerns raised by Kate Forbes, Scottish finance secretary, over future funding in areas including schools, hospitals and transport infrastructure, have yet to be addressed and there was nothing about the expected replacement for EU structural funding, two years after Brexit.

Ms Forbes said in a BBC interview that we have already seen the UK Government making spending decisions in areas that had previously been devolved in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so they are using the Internal Markets Act to completely rewrite how funding is distributed, undermining devolution, rolling back on commitments.

At a time when the targeted build-back pound will be critical, it is imperative that Scotland is not prevented from driving forward its own economy as early as possible.

As was shown during the pandemic, greater devolved powers could be beneficial for Scottish businesses. Levelling up does offer an opportunity, as long as it is not another policy that claims to be doing one thing, yet, actually is something very different.

In response to the White Paper, the centre-right, Thatcher-founded Centre for Policy Studies think tank urged ministers to do more to put business to the fore, and questioned the existing trajectory.

Its director, Robert Colvile, said that there is a further mission, which sits above them all, which is to ensure that the private sector can create the high-productivity jobs on which levelling up will depend  the current agenda of temporary investment incentives and permanent tax rises will certainly not help deliver that.

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The subject is dissected by business editor Ian McConnell in his Called to Account column this week.

There is much which really grates in the Conservative Governments levelling up talk  the volume of which has been ramped up again this week by the Johnson administration to reach an ear-piercing crescendo, he writes.

The energy crisis was broached by Chancellor Rishi Sunak offering consumers a 200 repayable discount, AKA a loan, over five years, on energy bills, while calls for a windfall tax were rejected by one energy company, which said it would choke investment in the North Sea and exacerbate the problem of gas price volatility.

Also this week, the latest news about the smart meter scheme introduced by the UK Government to support the net zero drive raised fresh questions about what has long looked like an expensive gift that keeps on giving for international investors, says business correspondent Mark Williamson.

Business confidence in Scotland rebounded in January as the easing of Omicron-related restrictions boosted morale, reveals business correspondent Kristy Dorsey.

It comes as deputy business editor Scott Wright asks if the great return to the office is now upon us as thousands of people begin to resume business in towns and cities after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon paved the way for hybrid working.

Latest indicators at a glance from the Office of National Statistics:
British sensation Emma Raducanu hasnt had the greatest start to her first full year on the WTA Tour  she bowed out during the opening round of the Sydney Tennis Classic and only managed to make it to the second round at the Australian Open  but shes not been wallowing in self-pity, shes been exploring Singapore.

Because the 19-year-old failed to make it past the first week at the Happy Slam, her schedule was wide open and she took advantage of this and went to the Southeast Asian country to train and take in the sights.

The British No 1 posted a series of photos from the trip on her social media accounts with the caption: Singapore!! We worked, we got stuck in (literally), enjoyed the culture, improved and had so much fun here. Thank you to everyones warm welcome, you made it even more special. Ill be back!!

Singapore!! We worked, got stuck in (literally..), enjoyed the great culture, improved and had so much fun here. Thank you to everyones warm welcome, you made it even more special. Ill be back!!  pic.twitter.com/AoAknupzAz  Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) February 4, 2022

Then she followed up the English caption with a message in her mums mother tongue of Mandarin, thanking Singapore for the memories shed made there and promising that shed return to the country one day.

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Not only did she spend her time training and improving her tennis while she was in the country, but she also found time to eat chili crab at a hawker centre which isnt the easiest meal to eat as she highlighted on her twitter page, visited well known tourist spots including Haji Lane and Ion Orchard, and took a photo at the iconic Merlion Park.

She also managed to find the time to take a picture outside two of the brands shes an ambassador for  Dior and Tiffany & Co  who had their stores directly next to each other.

Raducanu will hopefully be ready and rested enough to be able to go back on the tour and show the tennis world what shes made of and prove to her doubters that the US Open wasnt just a fluke.

She will return at the Abierto Akron Zapopan in Guadalajara in Mexico on February 21, before she remains in the country to play in the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey the following week.

The article Emma Raducanu news: British No 1 got stuck in during her well earned trip to Singapore appeared first on Tennis365.com.
A High Court judge has issued an interim order suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a halt to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire)

A High Court judge has issued an interim order suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review against the DUP ministers decision can be heard in full.

DUP minister Mr Poots acted unilaterally this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots acted unilaterally to halt port checks (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Wire)

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

Mr Poots actions were challenged in two separate applications in the High Court in Belfast.

Mr Justice Colton granted leave for applications for judicial reviews against the ministers decision.

He said: There shouldnt be any confusion hanging over those in the Civil Service, so I am persuaded this is a case where there should be interim relief.

I therefore make the order to suspend the instruction given by the minister for agriculture until further order of this court or completion of these proceedings.

The judge pointed out that the checks had been ongoing for more than a year and that the order to halt them had been brought at short notice.

A barrister for the Department of Agriculture told the court that their position was that the direction by Mr Poots was entirely lawful.

He said: The minister has looked at the matter, he is not prepared to give an undertaking in the meantime.

The departments position is that the decision taken, and instructions given to officials, were entirely lawful.

The full judicial review is expected to be heard next month.

Meanwhile, the leaders of four of the main Stormont parties have met following the political crisis sparked by the resignation of DUP First Minister Paul Givan.

The meeting included DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle ONeill, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long and Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP.

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They discussed how to expedite current outstanding legislation and agreed party whips would meet on the matter next week.

Party leaders met this morning to plan ways to get bills through in a quick step way. Chief whips will now meet to progress this work 2/2  Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) February 4, 2022

Ms ONeill tweeted: Party leaders met this morning to plan ways to get bills through in a quick step way.

Sexual offences and trafficking, organ donation, welfare mitigation, integrated education, autism and climate legislation are just some of the bills to be got over the line before the end of this mandate.

The DUP would have difficulty reforming a Stormont executive after the upcoming Assembly election if issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol are not resolved, its party leader has warned.

DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP (Peter Morrison/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson expressed doubts about the prospect of a short-term return to a fully-functioning devolved administration in the wake of the resignation of his partys First Minister Mr Givan.

Sir Jeffreys decision to pull Mr Givan out of office is part of the DUPs escalating protest strategy against the post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Mr Givans resignation, which came into effect at midnight, automatically removed Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill from her position.

Other Stormont ministers can remain in post but the Executive can no longer meet and is unable to take significant policy decisions.

An Assembly election is already scheduled for May.

Mr Givans departure raises the prospect of that poll being brought forward several weeks.

A fully functioning administration could only be formed following the election if the positions of first and deputy first ministers are filled by the largest unionist and largest nationalist parties.

Sir Jeffrey suggested the DUP would only return to an executive if its concerns around the post-Brexit trading arrangements are addressed.

Ive withdrawn the First Minister on the basis that the protocol issues have not been addressed despite clear commitments and promises given by the Prime Minister that they would be addressed, and clearly if the protocol issues are not resolved by the time of the election then, of course, it is difficult for us to form a government because of the instability that the protocol creates, he told BBC Radio Ulster.

I have made my position clear  I think there is now an opportunity for the Government and the EU to step up.

The EU said consistently that the purpose of the protocol was to protect the political institutions, political stability and the Good Friday Agreement.

Well, we know that isnt happening because unionists do not consent to the protocol.

There is no consensus for the protocol.

There is now an opportunity for the UK Government and the EU to step up to the mark and to deliver an agreement that resolves these issues that can be done quickly.

First Minister of Northern Ireland Paul Givan resigned from his position on Thursday (Peter Morrison/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Jeffrey insisted there is still a point in having an Assembly poll.

I think the time has come for the people of Northern Ireland to have their say, he added.

Announcing his resignation on Thursday, Mr Givan said the protocol had undermined a cornerstone of powersharing in the region, governance with the consent of both nationalists and unionists.

Around 100 community activists held a protest outside Belfast City Hall on Friday evening to show their opposition to the DUP decision to resign the First Ministers post

Protestors gather outside Belfast City Hall (Helen Crickard/PA)

Kellie Turtle, from Reclaim the Agenda, said: We were shaken and devastated by the news that came through this week because we have so much work to do, to catch up on after the three years of no government here.

There was a lot of anger and we just felt like it is not good enough that these things are played out as issues of politics detached from the day to day issues that effect peoples lives.

We wanted to be part of the conversation.

We wanted to make sure that we were there representing all of the people who have worked so hard to progress Northern Ireland.
A Horse Slicker is Just a Horse Slicker, of Course, of Course, Unless it Can Monitor Chronic Disease

Next Hurdle: Designing for Other Large Animals, Humans

Professor Chi Hwan Lee (right) chats with large animal internal medicine specialist Laurent Couetil as they observe a cardiac, respiratory and muscular test on a horse named Leila at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. Laura Murray, RVT, LATG, Purdue Veterinary Medicine research technologist, is with Leila while graduate students Semih Akin (far left) and Taehoo Chang capture the horses vital signs on a laptop via Bluetooth technology from a specially designed horse slicker. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe)

With the exception of Mister Ed of television sitcom fame, horses cant talk with humans about health issues. Now, a first-of-its-kind horse slicker with a specially designed liner could be able to tell the horses human caregivers of increasing chronic diseases.

A new study by Purdue University engineers and veterinary medical specialists explores how to convert off-the-shelf horse slickers into e-textiles that continuously monitor equine cardiac, respiratory, and muscular systems for several hours under ambulatory conditions. The study is published in the journal Advanced Materials.

A closer look at the specially designed pre-programmed patterns of sensors on the inside of a horse slicker designed for remote health monitoring. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe)

To add the e-textile capabilities to the slicker, the Purdue team developed a dual regime spray and technique to directly embed a pre-programmed pattern of functional nanomaterials into the slickers fabrics. To enable remote monitoring, the e-textile was connected to a separate portable unit that shared vital signs to a laptop via Bluetooth. Using the e-textile means that veterinarians and their support staff wont have to shave the horses hair or use messy adhesives to place the electrode on the horses skin, which makes it more comfortable for the horse.

Dr. Chi Hwan Lee, the Leslie A. Geddes Associate Professor in Purdues Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, said continual monitoring through the e-textile patterns can be useful for long-term management of chronic health conditions in large animals and eventually humans. Dr. Lee holds a joint appointment in the School of Mechanical Engineering and a courtesy appointment in the School of Materials Engineering. He collaborated on the study with Dr. Laurent Couetil, professor of large animal internal medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

According to Dr. Lee, adding e-textile properties to existing garments helps scientists, researchers, and clinicians take advantage of garments already-existing ergonomic designs to secure a commercial grade of wearability, comfortability, air permeability, and machine washability. These specially designed e-textiles can comfortably fit to the body of humans or large animals under ambulatory conditions to collect bio-signals from the skin such as heart activity from the chest, muscle activity from the limbs, respiration rate from the abdomen, or other vital signs in an extremely slight manner, Dr. Lee said. Our technology will significantly extend the utility of e-textiles into many applications in clinical settings.

Dr. Laurent Couetil (right) talks about horse cardiac, respiratory, and muscular systems with Dr. Chi Hwan Lee, the Leslie A. Geddes Associate Professor in Purdue Universitys Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Couetil, professor of large animal internal medicine, is a collaborator with Dr. Lee on a horse slicker designed to remotely monitor chronic health diseases in horses. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe)

The teams next steps involve developing continuous 24-hour monitoring of horses with chronic disease or those receiving care in a veterinary ICU. We believe that our technology will be helpful in diagnosis or management of chronic diseases, Dr. Lee said, especially as demand increases for remote health monitoring.

Remote health monitoring under ambulatory conditions would be useful for farm and household animals, as it could potentially minimize clinic visits, especially in rural areas. It would also increase the efficiency in managing a large number of farm/household animals at once from a distance, even overnight, Dr. Lee said. A real-life example would be the ability to monitor severe equine asthma, which affects 14% of adult horses.

Continuous monitoring would allow early detection of disease flair-up before it gets serious, offering an opportunity to nip it in the bud, said Dr. Couetil. Remote monitoring opens the possibility of sending vital information to the veterinarian to help make timely and informed treatment decisions.

The Purdue research team also included Dr. Martin Byung-Guk Jun, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Taehoo Chang, of the School of Materials Engineering; Semih Akin, Dr. Bongjoong Kim, and Sengul Teke, of the School of Mechanical Engineering; Laura Murray, RVT, LATG, of the College of Veterinary Medicine; and Dr. Seungse Cho, Sena Huh, and Dr. Min Ku Kim, of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization has filed a patent for the technology. Funding came from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (1R21EB026099-01A1); the National Science Foundation Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (1928784; and the SMART Films Consortium in Purdues Birck Nanotechnology Center, located in Discovery Park.

Click here to view a complete news release.

Writer(s): Matthew Oates, Purdue News Service | pvmnews@purdue.edu
Last Sunday I lamented that HomeGoods had remained silent about when it would open its store at Central Texas Marketplace, though its sign is up, work is going on inside, and hiring notices are in plain view.

Apparently, HomeGoods stood falsely accused. A notice on its website mentions it will open Feb. 17, three days after Valentines Day.

My bad. But a mystery remains as to why the retailer that is corporate cousins to Marshalls and T.J. Maxx chose to delay its grand opening beyond the Christmas holidays and Valentines Day, though its plans for Waco have been common knowledge for quite some time. It must have its reasons.

Elsewhere on the retailing scene, Kohls has secured a permit valued at $300,000 to renovate its department store at Central Texas Marketplace.

Target on Bosque Boulevard continues remodeling that should last through late April or early May, store director Christina Ferber said.

Ferber said Target is replacing tile and carpet, installing new fixtures in the grocery department, remodeling the restrooms and the Starbucks space in the store and installing more self-checkout registers.

Target also is creating space for Ulta, the retailer of cosmetics, fragrances, skincare and beauty products, Ferber said.

Ferber said the major renovation does account for the tent-covered supplies and materials taking occupancy in the Target parking lot.

Hispanic Chamber president search

The Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is looking to hire a new president and CEO, as Alfred Solano is leaving that role.

The past three years and eight months have been a dream, and I believe that my time as the president/CEO of the Hispanic Chamber has advanced our mission, Solano said in a statement. I have been presented with a fabulous local opportunity to continue to serve the Central Texas community.

Chamber board President Jonathan Olvera said Solano took over the organization during a difficult time and exceeded expectations.

Our membership growth and engagement from the community grew because of him, Olvera said. He really put the Hispanic Chamber on the map, not just because of the visibility, but through his passion and the trust he built within the community. He really was the leader we needed.

Solano said he would soon announce details of his new opportunity.

Falls County solar

Chances are good residents of Falls County will see a sea of solar panels by 2023. Houston-based Buckeye Partners L.P. has chosen Black & Veatch to engineer, design and secure construction services for a 270-megawatt solar project there. Work will include installing 500,000 solar panels.

Buckeye announced its initial investment in Project Parker in August last year.

Our strategy is squarely focused on energy diversity and lower-carbon solutions, and we are excited to partner with Black & Veatch to advance this critical solar project, said Buckeye Vice President Todd Russo said in a press release.

According to the press release, the Solar Energy Industries Association, in conjunction with energy research consultant Wood Mackenzie, reported in March that the solar market grew by 43% in 2020. The market grew by 23% the year before, and Wood Mackenzie predicted the U.S. solar market will quadruple by 2030, meaning one in eight homes will have solar, the press release says.

Knauf Insulation update

Several executives with Knauf Insulation North America visited McGregor last week and stopped by the Tribune-Herald to chat. Knauf, a German company with U.S. headquarters in Indiana, is placing a 600,000-square-foot plant in McGregors industrial park. It will become a neighbor to SpaceX, and Knauf President and CEO Matthew Parrish said the two should get along fine.

Parrish said Knauf appreciated how they were treated by local business leaders and the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce as it pursued a site for a new manufacturing facility in the southwestern United States, one to complement others in Indiana, California, Michigan, Alabama and West Virginia. He said McGregor and Waco checked all the boxes from a logistical standpoint, but he found more appealing the culture Knauf and the community seemingly share.

Knauf will begin production in quarter three of 2023, and intends to hire about 160 people, Parrish said. Knaufs arrival means rail lines and utility service will expand, possibly making McGregor even more attractive to the next prospect.

Parrish said Knauf will pay competitive wages, and will tap into the Texas State Technical College and McLennan Community College pipeline to find qualified employees. He said Knauf produces fiberglass insulation for structures, and its process relies heavily on reclaiming used glass. He said Knauf is well aware Owens-Illinois makes glass bottles in Waco.

The contingent left the Tribune-Herald to catch a flight to Indiana. Parrish said they might escape Wacos bad weather, but faced a Midwest snowstorm.

$3-per-gallon gas

Last week, this space reported the statewide average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline had risen to slightly more than $3 a gallon. Wacos norm was pennies below that, but no longer. AAA Texas, the auto club, reported Wacos average has risen 7 cents the past week, to $3.01.

The statewide average, meanwhile, has moved up to $3.08 a gallon.

Uncertainty over Russias intentions toward Ukraine is contributing to higher crude oil prices, which were closing in on $90 per barrel earlier in the week, according to a AAA Texas press release. Russia is a member of OPEC+, and any sanctions based on their actions toward Ukraine may cause it to withhold crude oil from the global market.

AAA Texas also reported gas prices across the state began increasing at a much faster rate in the days leading up to the current winter storm.

Drivers are reminded to keep their vehicle gas tanks at least half full to avoid gas line freeze-up, which can cause costly damage to the fuel line and other internal parts, the press release says.

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Friday disclosed an urgent need of resources to respond to its emergency needs across Ethiopia.

The UNHCR said in a statement that it is currently rushing together with its partners to provide life-saving aid to more than 20,000 refugees who fled clashes in Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region, bordering Sudan and South Sudan.

The UNHCR said fighting broke out in late January in the town of Tongo, reportedly between unidentified armed groups and federal forces, and the nearby camp hosting 10,300 refugees was looted and burned.

The incident followed the looting of another camp in the area in late December. A total of 22,000 people in both camps were then cut off from access and assistance, it said.

"UNHCR's Ethiopia operation has to date only received 9 percent of the countrywide requirements of 335 million U.S. dollars for the year (2022) and is in urgent need of resources to respond to this and other emergency needs," the UN refugee agency said in the statement.

The UNHCR said all humanitarian staff had to evacuate and access to the area including the two camps of Tongo and Gure-Shembola remains impossible.

"Since December last year the situation has been very tense in the Benishangul Gumuz region, which hosts more than 70,000 Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees and over 500,000 internally displaced Ethiopians," the UNHCR said.

It said after the violence erupted, more than 20,000 refugees made their way over long distances to three different sites closer to Assosa, the regional capital of Benishangul Gumuz, arriving exhausted and in need of assistance.

UNHCR is working with the Ethiopian government's Refugee and Returnees Service (RRS) and partners to provide the most urgent assistance to the displaced refugees, including hot meals, clean water and medical care.

The UN refugee agency said it is presently working to install basic services including shelter, water points, and latrines and to begin relocating refugees to the site as soon as possible.

With the fighting continuing, UNHCR said a cessation of conflict is essential to avoid further threats to civilian lives in the region, urging for the protection of civilians, including refugees and those forcibly displaced.

"Tragically, refugees who had sought and enjoyed safety and were rebuilding their lives have now lost everything all over again," it said. 
PRESS RELEASE  The KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence (opening later this year) is excited to announce a de Havilland 98 Mosquito will soon be joining its star-studded cast of classic aircraft. Affectionately known as Mossie or the Wooden Wonder this WW2 fighter-bomber boasts an unusual wooden frame. With a track record for hitting top speeds on decisive wartime missions and flying high in Canadian skies, the Mosquito will bring audiences wing-to-wing with an action-packed icon of aviations past.

A British-designed twin-engine, two-seat, mid-wing bomber, the de Havilland Mosquito made its debut with the Royal Air Force in 1941. It was used extensively as an Allied night-fighter against the German Luftwaffe and quickly became one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world, clocking speeds over 640km per hour.

Across European, Mediterranean, and Italian theatres of war, the Mosquito proved to be exceptionally versatile. It served as a bomber, fighter, night-fighter, photo-reconnaissance plane, and even provided wartime cargo and passenger connections through enemy territory. A total of 7,781 aircraft were built.

KF Project Supervisor, DArcy Barker says it played a vital role in the Allied Victory. The Mossie was an incredibly potent aircraft. It could pack a similar bomb load as a B17 and fight in any theatre at any time of day or night, at high or low altitude. It was truly a multi-role aircraft, at home in seemingly any operation. Thats what made it so special. Without it, where would we be? Thankfully, well never know.

Of the 30 Mosquitos remaining worldwide, only a handful are still deemed airworthyand one of those is coming to the Centre for Excellence. Aircraft no. VR796 has an exceptionally Canadian connection. Not only does it have original BC Sitka Spruce running through its bones, but it was one of many Mosquitos operated by Spartan Air Services in the 1950s and 60s to conduct high altitude aerial cartography missions all over Canada.

The Mk.35 Mosquito never saw active service. Built after the war, it went directly into storage. In 1954, it was purchased by Spartan Air Services of Ottawa as one of a batch of 10 and given the civil registration CF-HML. During World War II, many Mk.35s had been converted to photo-reconnaissance aircraft, and their high speed, 43,500-foot ceiling, and enlarged bomb bay were just what Spartan needed. The Mk.35 Mosquito flew until 1963, mapping northern Canada, operating from northern Defense Early Warning line sites like Resolute and Churchill.

Disassembled by the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1966, CF-HML was purchased by Don Campbell, who intended to make it airworthy again. He had it trucked to Kapuskasing Airport in northern Ontario to teach Air Cadets aircraft construction and maintenance. But by 1979, the airplane had been sold to Ed Zalesky. Restoration resumed, but the pace dragged. In 2005, Zalesky approached Robert Jens, owner of the Million Air corporate aviation service franchise at Vancouver International Airport, who already had a Spitfire Mk.14E.Having previously labored on a P-51, Jens initially worked on the aircraft himself, but the task was too daunting so he decided to let Victoria Air Maintenance do the final assembly.

At 3 p.m. on the afternoon of June 16, 2014, a newly restored de Havilland 98 MK.35, better known as the Mosquito, fired up its Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and flew for the first time in 48 years after a long-term restoration. The flight took place at Victoria International Airport in Sidney, British Columbia, flown by Steve Hinton. Click HERE to read our article.

It tells an absolutely amazing Canadian story, says Executive Director, Paula Quinn. The aircraft flew around the country for years, mapping out the northernmost reaches of the landscape in a way that was never before possible.
DES MOINES  The U.S. secretary of defense said in a letter to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds that the federal Department of Defense has the authority to require all service members  including those in the Iowa National Guard  to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Reynolds, in a statement, said she strongly disagrees with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, calling it unconscionable to dismiss soldiers who refuse to be vaccinated.

Roughly one in five Iowa National Guard members is not vaccinated, an Iowa Guard spokeswoman said Friday.

Austins letter, dated Jan. 27, was in response to a Dec. 14 letter from Reynolds and four other Republican governors.

The governors asked the defense department to withdraw the vaccine requirement, arguing matters of discipline among Guard members are the states responsibility.

National Guard members who do not get vaccinated or submit to regular COVID-19 testing will be prohibited from participating in drills, training and other duties, and their status in the Guard will be jeopardized.

The COVID-19 vaccine is one of 10 mandatory vaccines and seven other vaccines that can be required of all service members, according to the Congressional Research Service.

In Austins response to the governors, he said the COVID vaccine requirement is his responsibility under federal law to promote the health, safety and readiness of our military personnel, regardless of duty status, to include all members of the National Guard performing any duty or training.

Austin said the COVID vaccine is required because when service members are sidelined by the virus, their absence jeopardizes the militarys ability to accomplish its missions.

Maj. Gen. Ben Corell, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, said in early January that roughly 80% of all Iowa Guard members were vaccinated. That is the most recent figure available.

When we add an additional factor in there of having to remove people from service because theyre not vaccinated, I have a big concern about it, Corell said at the time. Weve had several members that have decided to retire rather than get the vaccination.

The almost 2,000 members of the Iowa Air National Guard had until Dec. 2 to become vaccinated. The deadline for the Iowa Army National Guard is June 30.

Reynolds, in a statement, said she strongly disagrees with Austin that the U.S. Department of Defense has the authority to implement the COVID vaccine requirement for National Guard units.

These are the very men and women serving and protecting our country and our freedoms, and I believe they deserve the right to make their own health care decisions, Reynolds said in a statement.

Its unconscionable to think the government will go so far as to strip these honorable men and women of the nations top duties if they dont comply, she stated. They protect the very freedoms that the federal government apparently doesnt believe they, too, deserve.

U.S. MILITARYThe four major U.S. military branches have vaccination rates in the mid- to high 90s:

U.S. Army: 96% as of late January, according to the Army.

U.S. Navy: 95% as of mid-November, with 99% having received at least one shot, according to the Navy.

U.S. Air Force: 95% with at least one shot as of early January, according to the Air Force.

Marine Corps: 95% as of late December, according to the Marine Times.(tncms-asset)67b95cbc-2aa9-11eb-91b3-00163ec2aa77[1](/tncms-asset)

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...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...West winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 55 mph expected. Locally stronger gusts in wind prone locations. Sierra ridge wind gusts near 100 mph. Waves 2 to 4 feet on Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. * WHERE...Greater Lake Tahoe Area, Greater Reno-Carson City- Minden Area and Western Nevada Basin and Range including Pyramid Lake. * WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 8 PM PDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Choppy conditions for Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake with waves 2 to 4 feet expected. Travel restrictions for high profile vehicles are possible. Check with CalTrans and NDOT for the latest on road conditions. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Now is the time to secure loose outdoor items such as patio furniture, holiday decorations, and trash cans before winds increase which could blow these items away. The best thing to do is prepare ahead of time by making sure you have extra food and water on hand, flashlights with spare batteries and/or candles in the event of a power outage. &&
Courtesy Jennifer Causey

En espanol

Your kitchen cabinets may be filled with specialty pots and pans, but the humble Dutch oven can step in when it comes to boiling, baking, frying and braising.

"The Dutch oven is a jack-of-all-trades in the kitchen, says Matt Clifton, coauthor with his wife, Emily, of The Ultimate Dutch Oven Cookbook.

These large lidded pots  the classic versions are made of cast iron with a glazed ceramic coating  can be used on the stove or in the oven, at high or low heat, for fast or slow cooking. And they look so attractive. We usually end up bringing it to the table to serve, Clifton says.

You should know

Good cast-iron Dutch ovens are expensive but usually worth it  though in some cases, you do pay extra for the brand name. Theyll last for decades if you take care of them, so use wood or silicone tools to avoid scratches.

Prestigious brands include Le Creuset, Staub and Lodge, but other top names in kitchen gear offer them, too. Skip cheaper knockoffs from unfamiliar brands; lower-quality Dutch ovens chip easily.



The heavy iron efficiently holds heat, but it requires some core and arm strength to transfer. For safety, lift with your legs (not your back). Use quality oven mitts.

Some dishes that Clifton recommends:

1. Short ribs 



Brown meat; saute onions, garlic, flavorings; add red wine; reduce. Add soy sauce and maple syrup. Braise in oven.

2. Mac and cheese

Cook chopped kimchi in butter until soft. Fold into your favorite mac and cheese recipe before baking.

3. Mussels

Cook chopped onion and fennel. Add chorizo and beer. Simmer. Add mussels, then steam.

4. Chicken



Marinate chicken thighs in soy sauce, vinegar, chopped jalapenos and garlic. Reserve marinade to stew browned chicken.

5. Lamb



Brown marinated shanks. Saute with onions and tomato paste. Add chicken stock and cook 3 hours. Serve over couscous, with pomegranate seed garnish.

6. Farro

Cook risotto-style with vegetable stock. Stir in roasted butternut squash and toasted sage.

Bake with the lid on to create steam, then uncover at the end to crisp the crust.


Fraud is a crime that rips peoples souls apart, says Anthony Pratkanis, an authority on the topic and professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California Santa Cruz. When it happens, financial loss is compounded by psychological hurt, feelings of vulnerability and even the death of ones dreams, he says.

Its role reversal when a younger person needs to counsel an elder, so you might want to frame these safeguards as steps that you, too, will take, Pratkanis says. As there are many techniques, consider tackling one a week.

Pratkanis and AARPs Amy Nofziger took the lead in providing the anti-fraud measures below. Nofziger oversees the AARP Fraud Watch Networks free helpline, 877-908-3360.

Nofziger suggests starting out with a nonconfrontational chat about a common scam and then role playing to game out how to deter it.

Here are the 10 key steps:

1. Start the conversation, if possible, before fraud has occurred. If it has, never blame the victim  its the criminal who is at fault.

If a son or daughter has a strained relationship with a parent, they could ask a parents friend, other relative or professional to step in, Pratkanis says.

Also, an older person seeking guidance can initiate the discussion by showing this story to someone who can help, he says.

2. Speed and silence will hurt you. The ruses vary: A purported problem with Social Security benefits; a grandchild in jail and in need of cash; or a sweepstakes prize waiting to be claimed once taxes or fees are paid.

During such deception, crooks often urge you to act fast. Instead, slow down. Many times they insist on secrecy, but the last thing you should do is keep quiet. Instead, talk things over with someone you trust.

3. Safeguard your assets. Never send funds to a stranger  not cash, gift cards, wire transfers, bank payments or, as increasingly is requested, cryptocurrency, no matter how convincing the spiel.

4. Safeguard personally identifiable information (PII), such as your Social Security, Medicare and credit card numbers and information about other financial accounts.

5. Stay safe online. Use unique, complex passwords for each online account. Ensure antivirus and security software is up to date on devices.

Never click on links or attachments in unexpected texts or emails. Beware of look-alike websites with logos and language cloned from legitimate sites.

If a pop-up ad appears on your computer or an alarm sounds to warn of a supposed technical problem, take a photo or a screen shot of the warning  and turn the computer off. That alert might be phonier than a $3 bill.

Ensure your anti-malware is up to date and run a system scan. If thats a challenge, get help from an acquaintance or computer technician.

6. Stay safe on the phone. Prepare a refusal script and post it in a convenient place so youre ready if a shady person calls. It could read: No, thanks, Do not call again, or I do not send money or disclose information by phone.

Another tactic is to hang up  and save your manners for people who deserve them.

(See sidebar for more on scam calls and texts.)

7. Monitor credit card and other financial statements. Ask your card issuer for real-time alerts whenever the card is used or when card use meets specified criteria, like hitting a certain dollar amount.

8. Get free copies of your credit reports from the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Set up a credit freeze to prevent a crook from establishing accounts or borrowing in your name; you can lift the freeze at any time.

9. Be social media savvy. Check privacy settings to restrict who can view your posts  and never accept a friend request from someone you dont know.

And dont overshare: Theres no need to reveal your birthday or tell the world youre off beachcombing in Bora-Bora.

10. Report the crime. If you or a loved one has been victimized, report it to law enforcement and the Federal Trade Commission. Youll be taking a stand and, hopefully, sparing another person from suffering.

Bonus tip: Stay abreast of emerging frauds by visiting AARPs website and the Federal Trade Commissions.
iStock / Getty Images

En espanol

Nobody wants to leave money on the table, especially a stimulus payment from the U.S. government that theyre eligible for but didnt receive. In late January the Internal Revenue Service announced that all third-round stimulus checks (officially dubbed economic impact payments, or EIPs) had been sent. But the IRS also noted that not all eligible Americans received the full amount theyre entitled to.

The good news? Theres still time to get whats owed to you.

Uncle Sam  which issued 175 million third-round payments, totaling over $400 billion, through the end of 2021  reminded people that they can claim any remaining stimulus money theyre entitled to but didnt get by claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 income tax return.

The rebate, which comes as a tax credit of up to $1,400 per eligible person on your 2021 return, will either lower the amount of tax you owe or boost the size of your refund. The golden prize of a tax return is a tax credit, says Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt, a tax preparation service. The Recovery Rebate Credit is a dollar-for-dollar tax-liability offset.

Why you may not have gotten all your stimmy money

The third-round stimulus payments, authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and signed into law on March 11, 2021, were sent from March through December last year. Round 3 of the so-called stimmies (a common slang term for stimulus payments) provided a maximum credit of $1,400 per person, including all qualifying dependents claimed on a tax return.

A married couple with two qualifying dependents, for example, are eligible to receive a maximum credit of $5,600, depending on income limits. And if you brought a baby into the world last year, youll be able to file for up to $1,400 that youre owed for your new family member if you claim the child as a dependent.

The size of the credit, however, gets reduced for single filers with adjusted gross income (AGI) of more than $75,000 and for married couples filing jointly with earnings of more than $150,000. For heads of household, the credit is reduced between $120,000 and $112,500.

The credit disappears entirely for individuals with AGI above $80,000 and for married couples filing jointly who earn more than $160,000. Heads of household with incomes of more than $120,000 also dont get the stimulus check. Most eligible Americans have already received the payments, according to the IRS.

Some people may not have received all of their third-round stimulus money because the IRS based the EIPs on the income and number of dependents listed on a persons 2019 or 2020 tax return. But the full amount of the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit is based on a persons 2021 return. So if an individuals circumstances changed last year, such as by adding a baby (which means an additional dependent) or earning less money (which could result in someones becoming eligible for a stimulus payment), the IRS has not factored those changes into their payment amounts, because the agency wasnt aware of the changes before sending out the checks.

Anyone that had a baby in 2021 is eligible, as there is no way the IRS would know that, so they definitely want to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, says Lisa Greene-Lewis, a CPA and tax expert at TurboTax, the online tax preparation software provider. Similarly, if a grandparent can claim, say, a grandchild or another relative as a new dependent on their 2021 tax return, they would also be able to claim the rebate, she says.
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Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A union representing deputies sent a letter to Santa Fe County officials saying members had approved a vote of no confidence in Sheriff Adan Mendoza and listing complaints about his leadership.

The Jan. 31 letter from the Santa Fe County Deputies Association said its membership overwhelmingly approved the vote of no confidence, but did not list vote tallies.

The association is affiliated with the New Mexico Coalition of Public Safety Officers, an advocacy group for law enforcement officers.

Mendoza responded Friday that he was surprised by the letter and thought it was unfair that he wasnt made aware of the complaints before the letter was made public.

I feel like I should have been given an opportunity to address some of these issues or been notified that there were concerns, he said.

The letter listed 14 allegations against Mendoza, including retaliation, failure to update policies, unfair discipline and promotion practices, high staff turnover, and continuation of the Good Ol Boy system.

Under his leadership, the morale of the deputies within our agency has plummeted to depths that we have not seen before, the letter alleged.

The letter also alleges that Mendozas administration has provided only minimal training for deputies and forbids overtime pay, requiring deputies to leave work early.

The letter also alleges a lack of care and empathy for deputies involved in traumatic and violent events. It cites an officer-involved shooting in June 2021 in which the three deputies involved were forced to return to work after three days of leave.

Mendoza said he is currently addressing some of the complaints.

I will admit that there are some issues that were raised in the letter that we can definitely work on, Mendoza said. Work to update policies is currently underway, he said.

The letter alleges that only three policies have been updated during his administration.

Mendoza also said the letter unfairly blames him for staffing shortages and turnover in the sheriffs office.

The letter contends that 40 employees  nearly a third of the agencys staff  have quit since Mendoza took office in 2019.

That is a local, state and nationwide issue, Mendoza said of law enforcement staffing shortages. To try to single me out and state that Im the reason for some of the staffing issues, I think thats disingenuous.

Mendoza, who is running for reelection this year, suggested that the letter may have been intended to damage him politically in advance of a Democratic primary contest in June against Santa Fe police Lt. David Webb.

Im not going to let these petty political games hinder our priorities, and thats providing public safety to Santa Fe County, he said.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Officers are pleased. Police accountability advocates, not so much.

Mayor Tim Kellers administration has struck a new deal with the Albuquerque police union that raises starting officer pay to over $68,000 per year  putting the city well above regional peers like El Paso and Tucson  boosts longevity pay and adds a new incentive worth up to $5,200 annually.

Police Chief Harold Medina said the collective bargaining agreement forwarded this week to the City Council shows the administration continues to invest in competitive salaries for APD officers to attract and retain officers and improve community-oriented policing.

The CBA easily won approval from union members.

But the agreement does not include accountability provisions APD Forward  a coalition of organizations working for police reform  petitioned for in 2020. That petition garnered 2,200 signatures.

Heather Ferguson, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico and a member of APD Forwards steering committee, said the new agreement creates a culture of impunity that is toxic to good policing and it destroys the community trust.

We are asking that the mayor take a step forward to find a balance between fairness to the officers and officer accountability, she added.

The previous two-year contract was good through June of 2020, but the parties said negotiations stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

APD Forward circulated its petition to change the CBA in the summer and fall of 2020. At the time, law enforcement practices were high in the public consciousness as the country  and city  reckoned with questions about police use of force and racial injustice.

While more than a year has passed, Ferguson said the matters remain critical.

I think the constitutional policing may not be the headline news continually every single night the way it was last year, but it is still a headline issue, she said. Every citizen needs to care about it, and this CBA in particular is one of the issues that isnt as transparent and obvious to members of the public, but it is one of the most critical components.

Competitive edge

The citys rank-and-file officers voted overwhelmingly to approve the latest contract, said Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, adding that he himself was very happy with it.

He applauded the pay increases and said they would help in recruiting and retaining members of the force.

We had, I believe, over 175 officers  leave the department in 2021. We had 81 leave in 2020, Willoughby said. So we are definitely needing to continue to bring that competitive pay, and that competitive edge  so that we can compete in this region of the United States for the best and brightest that are interested in law enforcement.

An APD spokesman said 178 officers left in 2021 and 99 left in 2020.

Under the new agreement, officers get an 8% pay hike now and a 5% increase in July. By this summer, early-career officers will make $32.89 per hour  or about $68,411 per year. Those with over 14 years of service will see their base pay rise to $74,298.

Officer experience pays off in other ways too, namely longevity pay, which is also increasing by 5% in July.

Officers qualify for longevity pay in their fifth year. With the new contract terms, it starts at $2,730 per year and grows from there, topping out at $16,380 annually for those who have served more than 17 years.

The latest agreement also includes a new form of compensation called incentive pay. Officers qualify by working out of the same area command (or staying in Internal Affairs) for at least one year. Officers will get a $1,300 incentive payment per year served  up to a maximum of $5,200  each December, according to the new agreement.

Medina said the CBAs compensation package enables real community policing.

We asked a lot from our officers, especially during COVID and the political unrest in 2020. The people of Albuquerque have expressed their desire to keep public safety as a top priority and to have longer-term relationships with officers in their neighborhoods. We are doing that with this new agreement, Medina said in a statement.

City representatives were unable to answer questions about how much the officer pay raises and new incentives will increase total city spending on police.

Albuquerques starting officer salary is well above some peer cities like Tucson ($54,517) and El Paso ($47,011), according to each citys website. The new agreement would also keep APD starting wages slightly higher than the New Mexico State Police, even if state officers get a proposed 19% pay raise, according to numbers provided by APD.

Changes to protocol

Pay is just part of the 50-page agreement. The contract also outlines the internal investigation protocols and discipline.

APD Forward had sought to extend the timeline for investigations and to not carry forward two provisions in the last CBA: one that bars the citys Civilian Police Oversight Agency board members from knowing the names of the officers the agency investigates and another that requires telling officers under investigation the name of the person who complained about them.

The names of complainants were in the old contract. There is no change in this one, APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said in an email to the Journal. I realize ABQ Forward wanted to change that, but that did not happen.

Ferguson pointed out that APD has already failed to meet deadlines for investigations into use of force by officers  failures that the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys and the independent monitor overseeing the departments court-mandated reform effort have repeatedly criticized.

That has created a system where many investigations into use of force run the clock out, she said. And that hurts both the public and the officers.

The petition called for extending investigation deadlines to 180 days  a provision Ferguson said is standard to other departments around the country.

While that change was not made, the contract did extend the time period to 120 days outright  previously the APD standard was 90 days with an optional 30-day extension with the police chiefs approval. It also added a 15-day preliminary review time period.

Gallegos said the changes to the timeline should be helpful.

The new 15-day period at the front end allows the department to more quickly determine all of the potential violations, if there are any, rather than waiting toward the end of the investigation, he said. Presumably, once the 120 (day) period starts, the investigation will be more efficient and not result in surprises. And eliminating the requirement to request a 30-day extension from the Chief will also make the process more efficient.

Willoughby said the union was not interested in extending the timelines for investigations.

However, it did want  and get  more clarity on when officers can be disciplined if policy violations are found by the departments Force Review Board after the initial investigation is completed. That board is made up of command level staff who periodically review completed investigations into uses of force to catch problems or identify areas for training.

Some cases were deemed to be in-policy, and the Force Review Board brought it back and had it reinvestigated at which (point) the case changed (to) be out of policy and discipline was imposed, Willoughby said.

He said the union filed numerous complaints with the labor board and won the first case that has been heard.

The new agreement spells out the timelines more explicitly, saying if the department identifies new allegations of misconduct after the officer has already been told they are being investigated, then the review can be expanded only if the investigations into both the initial allegation and the new allegation are completed within the 120-day time frame. The department can only open new investigations into the same officers and circumstances in the most egregious cases.

In recent reports the independent monitor has applauded the Force Review Board for catching policy violations that internal affairs investigators missed, but he cautioned that cases can take many months before they are heard, which could undermine its impact.

When asked how the department will handle cases where policy violations are found by the Force Review Board that were missed by the initial investigators, Gallegos said the board was not designed to be disciplinary.

The major focus is supposed to be on supervision, tactics, training, and policy, Gallegos said. If some of those issues are identified in the first 15 days prior to the investigation, the department can pursue those, and the investigation can proceed. But the idea is to keep the (Force Review Boards) focus on those issues, and not the discipline.

City Council President Isaac Benton said Friday he was still sorting through the CBA details, as the administration did not send a copy that tracked changes from the previous agreement.

Benton said he fully supports the pay raises and, in particular, the incentive structure designed to keep officers in the same neighborhoods longer.

People in my (district) are frustrated because by the time they get to know a group of officers serving in their area, theyre gone again and theres a whole new group that comes in, said the Downtown-area councilor. Thats problematic in terms of community policing.

Though he favors the contracts financial terms, he said he would have liked more input in the contracts other details.

While the council cannot participate in labor negotiations and has little say over the final contracts beyond appropriating the funds to carry them out, Benton said the legislative body should have had a chance to weigh in before the deal-making started.

He said that did not happen in this case, as the Keller administration started negotiations before meeting with the relevant council committee. By the time such meetings occurred, Benton said, the committees influence was limited.

We found out they were commencing negotiations with APOA after the fact, Benton said.

The citys negotiations with the police union began in 2019 but stopped in March 2020 due to COVID-19 and did not resume until December 2020. The parties negotiated throughout 2021 and signed the agreement Dec. 30, 2021, according to a city spokeswoman.

The city was allowed to continue with the old contract due to a 2020 state law change that made CBAs evergreen and valid until replaced by a newer agreement, mayoral spokeswoman Ava Montoya said in emailed answers to Journal questions.
A producer for a true crime show hosted by Nancy Grace  yes, that Nancy Grace  called me early last month to ask if I was available for an upcoming show about the Hobbs teen caught on surveillance video tossing her newborn in a dumpster.

They thought of me, the producer said, because I had previously appeared on her show, predictably called Crime Stories with Nancy Grace streamed on Fox Nation in August  and because I was the only New Mexico media contact they had.

I turned them down.

To get the full ramification of this decision, you need to know the role Grace has played in my life. Years ago, I was a stringer for Court TV, a small cable channel featuring trial coverage. Grace was one of its shiniest, brashest stars.

Every autumn, the company flew us stringers to its offices in Manhattan for a little business and a lot of wining and dining. On-air talent graciously met with us, often joining us for the wining and dining.

But not Nancy Grace. Never Nancy Grace.

We asked about her, yes. But Grace was apparently too important to grace us with her presence. One year she sent down a stack of autographed glossies of herself, a strange, unrequested form of compensation for her absence.

I posted her photo on a pillar near my desk when I worked at the Albuquerque Tribune, with my vast memorabilia collection. Graces photo mysteriously disappeared. Her elusiveness, even in the guise of a photo, became legend.

Meeting her became my challenge, a bizarre bucket list item.

Last August, I finally got my chance.

Grace was doing a show on the confession of a man named Paul Apodaca to the long-unsolved slaying of Kaitlyn Arquette, the teens death in 1989 well known to millions because of the books and the persistence of her mother, author Lois Duncan.

I had covered that case almost from the start, and Kaitlyns family suggested me to Grace for the show.

Grace was just as I imagined  intense but funny when not taping, confidently and often inaccurately connecting dots in the case, repeatedly turning the discussion back to her own life, eviscerating guests when they didnt say what she wanted them to say.

Before taping, she told me that she sings that dreadful Jolene song to her twins each morning, which seems very Nancy-esque.

Now, Grace had set her sights on another New Mexico teen. Hobbs High School senior Alexis Avila is charged with attempted first-degree murder after telling police she was home alone Jan. 7 when she unexpectedly gave birth in her parents bathroom, panicked, double-bagged the newborn and threw the bags in a dumpster. She insisted to police that she had only learned she was pregnant the day before, thought she was just constipated, thought her mother would hate her if she found out she was pregnant.

Surveillance video captured a female identified as Avila casually tossing a black trash bag in the dumpster and driving off around 2 p.m. Five hours later, three people found the bag with the infant inside, still alive.

Its a hideous crime made worse with Avilas oddly flat demeanor during her interrogation and several discrepancies in her story.

It was just the perfect crime for Grace to sink her sharpened teeth into and her audience to devour.

But I saw Avila as a confused, immature, ignorant, frightened teen likely unaware of much saner, safer, merciful alternatives. She was a kid who had turned 18 just 11 weeks before. She needed support, not shame, and she needed guidance on New Mexicos safe haven law, which would have allowed her to give up her newborn to a hospital, health care worker, law enforcement officer or first responder within 90 days of birth without fear of criminal prosecution.

Every state has some version of the law. New Mexicos law has been on the books since 2006, yet it seems apparent that some folks, especially teens, arent aware of that.

Since Avilas arrest, Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase has reminded New Mexicans in a news release about the rarely used but critical law.

At the Legislature, Senate Bill 168 was introduced as a result of Avilas case and seeks to allocate $1 million for baby boxes in which newborns could be anonymously dropped off.

As for Grace, her show on Avila went just about the way I expected.

Baby in a bag! In the light of day! Without a care in the world! she exclaimed on the Jan. 13 show, her face twisted in horror.

Her voice trembled when she reflected, as she does, on the birth of her own twins when she was 48.

I just cant BELIEVE, she wailed, a mother would do that.

Dr. Alan Blotcky, an Alabama psychologist on the show, made a valiant attempt to discuss Avilas young age (described by another guest as a teen woman) only to face Graces growl.

Blotcky, Im a little repulsed by you right now, she sneered.

It was a repulsive show on a terrible tragedy. Graces soap box could have been used to better educate the public on safe haven laws, which got short shrift on her show. But her schtick feeds on horror, not help, condemnation, not compassion.

Avila deserves to be held accountable, certainly. But the public, especially teens, deserve better communication and information on safe haven laws and other alternatives to unwanted pregnancies.

I may not have gotten far with Grace, but I wish now I had accepted her invitation and tried.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Reach Joline at 730-2793, jkrueger@abqjournal.com.

Safe Haven

National Safe Haven Crisis Line: 1-866-99BABY1, shbb.org.

National Safe Haven Alliance: 1-888-510-BABY (2229), call or text, nationalsafehavenalliance.org.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexicans are likely to get at least some tax relief this year amid a record-shattering state revenue windfall.

But its still unclear exactly what that relief might end up looking like.

With less than two weeks left in this years 30-day legislative session, a House committee is cobbling together a tax package that, at least for now, includes $300 rebates for low-income state residents, a reduction in the states gross receipts tax rate  contingent on state revenue levels remaining high  and a provision aimed at reducing tax pyramiding for manufacturers.

Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, the chairwoman of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee, said provisions could be added or subtracted as the package, House Bill 163, takes shape during the sessions homestretch.

She expressed support for rebates as a way of giving some money back to state residents while limiting future impacts.

It feels good to talk about tax cuts, but you have to keep in mind the consequences, Chandler told the Journal. Right now were flying high with oil and gas revenues, but everyone knows that doesnt last forever.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has made tax cuts a priority during this years legislative session, specifically throwing her support behind proposals to reduce the gross receipts tax rate and exempt Social Security retirement income from taxation.

In Friday remarks to Albuquerque business leaders, the Democratic governor said she felt very good about the gross receipts tax cut being included in the final version of the legislation.

We are really trying to reduce the costs for businesses and reduce the costs for consumers, Lujan Grisham said in her speech to the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.

She also lauded lawmakers for their work on tax legislation, but suggested some legislators were being too risk averse in their approach to making lasting changes to the states tax code.

Lets reduce some taxes, shall we? Lujan Grisham told chamber members in her Friday speech.

Specifically, a spokeswoman for the governor said, Lujan Grisham plans to continue advocating for inclusion of the Social Security tax measure as part of the package  or as a standalone bill.

But Chandler and some other Democratic lawmakers have expressed skepticism about exempting Social Security benefits from taxation.

Such a policy change, she said, would narrow the states tax base even more  an issue legislators are trying to remedy by lowering base tax rates.

Larger reduction?

At least some lawmakers say the proposed tax changes dont go far enough.

Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, said hed like to see a bigger reduction in the states gross receipts tax rate.

The tax cut backed by the governor thats currently included in the House package would reduce the states base rate by 0.25 percentage points  from 5.125% to 4.875%. But Harper said hed like to see a tax cut of at least 0.5 percentage points.

Im worried well give up this opportunity and use it to buy votes, said Harper, who said the proposed reduction would only mean $6 in savings per month for his family.

Its not, in my mind, even a genuine tax cut, he added.

Trimming the states gross receipts tax rate, even by a little, is not cheap, however.

Even the proposed 0.25 percentage point reduction would cost the state as much as $200 million annually in foregone revenue by the 2025 budget year, according to a legislative analysis.

New Mexico lawmakers have approved multiple changes to the states tax code in recent years, including legislation last year that expanded and reshaped two tax breaks for low-income workers.

But proposals to overhaul the gross receipts tax  it functions similar to a sales tax but applies to both goods and services  by lowering the base rate and eliminating various tax credits and deductions have been unsuccessful at the Roundhouse, in part due to uncertainty about their potential cost.

This year, with revenue levels projected to exceed $9 billion due largely to a surge of oil and natural gas production, is an ideal time for such tax reform, Harper said.

Limited budget space

Even given the states robust revenue levels, this years proposed tax changes could face a set cost limit.

An $8.5 billion spending plan approved this week by the House leaves about $400 million available to absorb any tax changes approved by lawmakers.

Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, said this week the House Appropriations and Finance Committee intentionally left space in the budget for such tax changes.

Some of these tax measures would stimulate the economy, and thats what were trying to do, Lundstrom said during a news conference on the budget.

In fact, backers of the proposed tax cut argued it would help New Mexico businesses compete with out-of-state businesses, while also putting more money in state residents pockets.

However, Harper said the tax changes could be even bolder  totaling as much as $800 million  under a GOP-backed budget plan that was rejected by House Democrats this week.

I think theres a lot more we can do if wed be a little more disciplined when it comes to spending, Harper said.
MINNEAPOLIS  The death of a young Black man at the hands of a Minneapolis police SWAT team is shining new light on how police carry out no-knock warrants.

Attorneys and the family of 22-year-old Amir Locke said Friday that officers basically executed Locke, and that they were flabbergasted that Minneapolis police havent learned from the botched no-knock raid in Louisville, Kentucky, in which Breonna Taylor was killed. And they were dismayed that Locke died at police hands in the city where George Floyds killing in 2020 sparked a nationwide reckoning with racial injustice.

Body camera video shows that the SWAT team, dressed in tactical gear, used a key to enter a downtown apartment shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday. Not until after they push the door open do they shout, Police, search warrant! They also shout Hands! and Get on the ground!

The video shows an officer kick a sectional sofa, and Locke, who was wrapped in a blanket on the sofa, begins to move, holding a pistol. Three shots are heard, and the video ends.

On Friday evening, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants. While thats in place, the mayor and police leaders will work with experts who helped shape Breonnas Law, the ban that was imposed in Louisville in 2020.

WHAT ARE NO-KNOCK WARRANTS?

No-knock warrants are orders by judges that allow police to enter premises without notifying residents, such as by ringing the doorbell or banging on the door. Theyve been blamed in several killings of Black people, some of which have led to criminal prosecutions against officers, and prompted bipartisan calls across the country to curtail their use.

WAS THIS A NO-KNOCK ENTRY?

Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman said at a news conference Thursday night that the SWAT team had both a regular and a no-knock search warrant. She didnt specify whether the officers carried out a no-knock entry.

But John Baker, an assistant professor of criminal justice studies at St. Cloud State University, said the body camera video makes clear that it was indeed a no-knock entry.

Though no-knock entries have sometimes had deadly results, Baker said there are important and necessary reasons for police to have them as an option  including the possibility that they are going into a dangerous situation, or that evidence may be destroyed if an announced entry gives a person time to do so. In the Locke case, he said, authorities havent disclosed what intelligence the officers had before they went in.

WHAT WAS THE DEPARTMENT POLICY ON NO-KNOCK WARRANTS?

The Minneapolis Police Department restricted their use as part of a wide-ranging set of reforms following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Under the policy, which took effect in November 2020, officers were required in most cases to do a knock and announce by announcing their presence as they entered, making periodic announcements while inside and giving occupants reasonable time to respond.

But judges can also sign warrants in high-risk situations that allow unannounced entry, generally by SWAT teams. In the wake of Lockes death, activists said theyre still abused.

WHAT DOES THE CITYS MORATORIUM DO?

While its in effect, Minneapolis officers can only use the knock-and-announce approach and must wait a reasonable time before entering. The mayors order carved out a narrow exception for when theres an imminent threat of harm to an individual or the public, and those no-knock warrants must be specifically approved by the police chief.

Two recognized experts  prominent activist DeRay McKesson and Peter Kraska, a professor at Eastern Kentucky University  will work with the city to review and suggest revisions to the citys policy.

WHAT DOES STATE LAW SAY ON NO-KNOCK WARRANTS?

The Minnesota Legislature adopted some restrictions last June as part of its response to the killing of George Floyd, but still allowed their use when certain conditions were met. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said Friday its already time to revisit them.

The events leading to the death of Amir Locke illustrate the need for further reform, the governor said in a statement. To ensure the safety of both residents and law enforcement, we need to make additional changes to police policies and practices regarding the execution of search warrants. He made no specific proposals.

WHATS HAPPENING ACROSS THE COUNTRY?

Louisville, Kentucky, banned them following the killing of Taylor in her home in March 2020, which led to calls for change nationwide. Oregon and Florida have also outlawed such warrants. Kentucky followed Breonnas Law with a series of statewide restrictions that fell short of a total ban.

The Justice Department moved in September to curtail their use by federal agents. With limited exceptions, no-knock warrants now require approval from both federal prosecutors and ranking agency officials before seeking one from a judge. Federal agents are limited to using them in situations when an agent has reasonable grounds to believe that knocking and announcing the agents presence would create an imminent threat of physical violence to the agent and/or another person.
New Mexico has a shortage of affordable housing.

You know it, I know it and your co-worker whos looking for a new apartment certainly knows it.

But its still helpful to have data that shows the scope of the problem, and a recent report commissioned by a new coalition of housing experts helps shed some new light on the issue.

The long and short of it? New Mexico is 32,000 units short of what it needs to house its poorest residents, due to supply issues up and down the housing spectrum.

I think a lot of people dont understand how connective the housing spectrum is, said Rebecca Velarde, senior director of policy and planning for the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority.

Velarde said the MFA is spearheading the newly formed Housing New Mexico Advisory Committee, a collection of organizations doing work across the housing spectrum in New Mexico, from home builders to groups working to combat homelessness. Velarde described the coalition as a renewed effort to get a diverse set of people who are all working to address problems within New Mexicos housing ecosystem all singing off the same hymn sheet.

Theres a huge group of people who are all trying to solve the problem, but are not coordinating as well as they should, Velarde said.

Velarde said the report, assembled for internal use by the committee but shared with the Journal by a member, was a first step toward determining how big New Mexicos issues with affordable housing actually are, and thus how much money they will take to solve.

The short answer: quite a bit.

Among the reports findings are that New Mexico has a statewide shortage of 32,000 units that are affordable to the poorest New Mexicans, as defined as those making less than 30% of area median income. Statewide, 218,471 households are considered cost burdened, following the federal definition of spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Of those, 100,858 are considered severely cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than half of their income on housing.

In broad strokes, the report shows that New Mexico, which added 48,800 renting households between 2000 and 2019, did not add enough units at affordable price points during that same period. Velarde noted that the problem has gotten worse in the past decade, when building decreased significantly coming out of the Great Recession.

The supply has not kept with household formation for many years, and thats creating a supply problem, she said.

The report notes that one of the big issues is that the states available rental units are largely concentrated in the $625 to $1,250 per month range, much of which is unaffordable to many poor New Mexicans. The problem is exacerbated by a lack of supply at higher income levels, which prompts higher-income New Mexicans to rent down, competing for housing at lower price points.

If we provided more units at all the price points, it would probably have the effect of (freeing up) some of the affordable housing units for some of the lowest-income New Mexicans, Velarde said.

Of course, doing so would be very expensive for the state. Velarde estimated that building enough affordable units to meet the needs of currently underserved populations would cost more than $1 billion between now and 2025.

Given that expense, Velarde said it makes sense to take a coalition-based approach. Hank Hughes, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, one of the stakeholders in the Housing New Mexico committee, said he believes that New Mexico lawmakers are coming around to the idea that housing is a statewide issue, and the committee can play a role in spearheading that change.

New Mexicos state government has never really addressed housing head-on, Hughes said.

Velarde said the report is just a starting point, and the committee will continue to meet and conduct focus groups and stakeholder interviews about housing in New Mexico over the coming months. The plan is to complete a statewide housing strategy over the summer that could guide policy going forward.

In the meantime, the MFA is supporting a couple of bills being considered during the 2022 legislative session, including Senate Bill 134, which would create recurring funding for the New Mexico Housing Trust Fund using severance tax bonding capacity. Velarde said the proposal could produce between $15 million and $20 million annually to help the state make headway on affordable housing.

It would really go a long way toward allowing us to start tackling the problem, she said.

Stephen Hamway covers economic development for the Journal. He can be reached at shamway@abqjournal.com.
The annual gathering of New Mexicos chile ranchers typically brings together the best and the brightest in the industry to discuss the issues of the states iconic crop.

This year it also brought out the shiniest.

Im an adventurous eater, so when I started to learn more about all these chile varieties, I just got absolutely fascinated, said David Dr. Dave Baumler, a food scientist who addressed an auditorium of ranchers and academics while wearing glistening green polyester spandex, a shiny red vest, sequin gold shorts and a bedazzled broad-brimmed hat.

Originally from Wisconsin, Baumler  who has a bachelors degree in biochemistry, masters degree in food microbiology and a Ph.D. in cellular molecular biology  presented an array of studies hes made on what he unabashedly calls lifes passion for the past 10 years: the chile pepper. A former academic, Baumler is now CEO and president of Minnesota-based Seed To Gut Cannabis & Food Consulting.

His presentation, A Genomic and Phenotypic Systems Examination of 500 varieties of peppers, was one of 15 seminars organized for the 39th annual New Mexico Chile Conference held Tuesday at the Las Cruces Convention Center.

The all-day conference featured 19 presenters who spoke to about 150 participants throughout the day, covering topics from agricultural robotics to technology for weed control. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the event took place in a hybrid format, with some attendees participating remotely via Zoom.

The New Mexico Chile Conference has always been one of the most informative conferences on chile peppers, said Stephanie Walker, NMSU associate professor, extension vegetable specialist and conference co-founder. We provide growers, processors and researchers with the latest information and let them know that NMSU is on the cutting edge of chile pepper innovation.

During his opening remarks, Travis Day, executive director for the New Mexico Chile Association, laid out some of the challenges facing New Mexicos chile growers.

Back in the early 90s we were looking at 30,000 acres of harvested acreage of New Mexico chile. Fast-forward to 2020, we are at about 8,500 acres, he said. The overall 30-year trend has seen a significant decrease in production that he attributed to four conditions: a labor shortage, limited water availability, increased cost of production and increased foreign competition.

The labor shortage has always been an issue. But the coronavirus pandemic really exacerbated that issue, Day said.

State lawmakers are currently considering a measure that aims to address those labor issues by restarting a chile labor incentive program that was halted in December. The New Mexico Department of Agriculture distributed $2.8 million last year from the American Rescue Plan Act to chile farmers under a plan from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, but the program was suspended after the state Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers have the authority to allocate ARPA funds. The current measure, Senate Bill 157, is sponsored by Las Cruces Democrat Sen. Jeff Steinborn and Elephant Butte Republican Sen. Crystal Diamond, and would direct $2.2 million of federal pandemic relief funds to boost worker wages.

Day said a generational shift in the workforce is also complicating hiring efforts.

You look at baby boomers, they were the ones that were fine with physical labor, they wanted to get out, they wanted to get dirty. But now we have a majority workforce of millennials, and that is not their forte, he said. They do not want to go out, they do not want to work hard, they want more technology-driven positions. They are not getting that fulfillment in the chile fields.

Paul Bosland, the former director of the New Mexico Chile Pepper Institute and an NMSU regents professor emeritus of horticulture agreed at the conference that the chile industry is a hard way to make a living.

The chile industry is facing a lot of issues. So the university is looking at both the large farmer needs and the small farmers needs, he said. For the folks that have large farms we are looking at things like machine harvesting, machine stemming, and for the folks who have smaller farms, we are developing new cultivars with new colors, new flavors, higher nutrition, for them to use for their small acreage, Bosland said.

Jack West is a grower for a small-acreage farm in Bernalillo County. His operation, Grow the Growers, is three acres and is part of an NMSU-affiliated incubation program designed to train New Mexicans to become farmers.

He said he sees a high value on the information provided by this years conference presenters.

Its specific to where the chile industry is going  mechanization and pesticides, and also with an undertone of soil health. This is a good place where it comes together, he said about the conference, and added that another helpful element of the annual gathering was the social aspect.

You have a lot of farmers with these isolated lives who will get this chance to come here and talk to other people who spend their days thinking about this, its always on their mind, they are dreaming about it, and finally they can share it with someone who has similar stories who can really relate, West said.

The pandemic has interrupted the social component of the conference, said Danise Coon, senior research specialist for the NMSU chile breeding and genetics program.

We had lots of people calling us, making sure we were still doing it in person, she said, but noted that attendance is down about 50% from pre-pandemic conferences.

Day, who leads the association of growers, ranchers, processors and distributors, said he believes it is critical to fight what he says is bad legislation from D.C. and Santa Fe.

Its bad for business in general, and really bad for our members, specifically the Healthy Workplaces Act, he said. That is very dangerous for our members, especially considering that these are only part-time employees, seasonal employees, and now farmers would have to provide them with sick leave, paid sick leave.

The Healthy Workplaces Act  a law passed by the New Mexico Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2021  requires private employers in New Mexico, regardless of size, to provide paid sick leave to employees beginning July 1, 2022, according to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions website.

Another area of concern for the New Mexico chile industry, Day said, is the huge influx of Mexican chile coming north and dominating our chile industry, and said the statewide market is best protected by aggressively promoting New Mexico chile through the New Mexico Chile Advertising Act, which prohibits imported chile from being labeled as New Mexico chile.

Studying, protecting and promoting the states chile is an obligation that Bosland says he takes seriously. The struggle should continue, he said, despite the setbacks encountering the industry.

Chile in New Mexico, this is part of our culture, its part of our soul. It is part of our spiritual being. Thats why we try so hard to try to maintain it, he said. We may not have as many acres as we did before, but we still grow enough to satisfy the needs of our soul.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Anti-abortion centers across the country are receiving tens of millions of tax dollars to talk women out of ending their pregnancies, a nearly fivefold increase from a decade ago that resulted from an often-overlooked effort by mostly Republican-led states.

The nonprofits known as crisis pregnancy centers are typically religiously affiliated and counsel clients against having an abortion as part of their free but limited services. That practice and the fact that they generally are not licensed as medical facilities have raised questions about whether its appropriate to funnel so much tax money their way.

An Associated Press tally based on state budget figures reveals that nearly $89 million has been allocated to such centers across about a dozen states this fiscal year. A decade ago, the annual funding for the programs hovered around $17 million in about eight states.

Estimates of how many abortions have been prevented by such programs are unknown because many states only require reports of how many clients were served. Trying to pinpoint exactly how many pregnancy centers receive taxpayer dollars also is difficult because each state has a different system to distribute the money.

Its bad governing. Were supposed to be monitoring our taxpayer money and we dont know where the money is going, said Julie von Haefen, a Democratic state representative in North Carolina, which has sent millions in public money to pregnancy centers. These clinics dont provide medical care. They act like they do, but they dont.

What is clear is that taxpayer funding for the centers has spiked in recent years as more Republican-led states have passed legislation severely limiting access to abortion.

The centers have also been accused of providing misleading information about abortion and contraception  for example, suggesting that abortion leads to mental health problems or breast cancer.

Supporters hope to expand the number of centers if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns or significantly restricts abortion rights in a case to be decided later this year.

That momentum is already building in Texas, where a state law that effectively bans abortion at about six weeks  before many women know they are pregnant  has been in effect since September.

We have seen women still steadily seeking out resources and services, said Chelsey Youman, Texas state director and national legislative adviser for Human Coalition, a top contractor under the states alternatives-to-abortion program. Women are saying, All right, abortion isnt available after my child has a heartbeat, so what is out here?'

The new law, Youman said, has helped refocus the crisis pregnancy centers efforts on both women who have accepted the new restrictions and need help, as well as those who are wavering on whether to cross state lines to get an abortion.

Most centers offer pregnancy tests and pregnancy-related counseling. Some also offer limited medical services such as ultrasounds.

Last year, Tennessee lawmakers allocated money for several ultrasound machines to be placed in pregnancy centers. At a recent dedication of an ultrasound machine about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Nashville, Republican Gov. Bill Lee said the state-funded purchase was critical in swaying patients who were considering the procedure.

The first state to enact an official abortion-alternatives program was Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s.

Then-Gov. Robert P. Casey, an anti-abortion Democrat, signed the crisis pregnancy center funding into law, barely a year after his administration fought to the Supreme Court to win a landmark 1991 ruling allowing states to impose restrictions on abortion.

Under the deal, Pennsylvania began subsidizing the program to appease opponents of a preexisting program that subsidized Planned Parenthoods services for womens health. Republican majorities in the Legislature have enforced the agreement ever since.

If money for the program were cut from the budget, then we would ax that line item that goes to Planned Parenthood, as well, said state Rep. Kathy Rapp, a Republican who chairs the health committee in the House.

The Pennsylvania Health Department has contracted with a nonprofit known as Real Alternatives to oversee the program and distribute money. The Pennsylvania-based group eventually was selected to oversee similar programs in Michigan and Indiana.

The Campaign for Accountability, a Washington-based watchdog organization, has launched multiple complaints against Real Alternatives, including allegations that the group failed to meet its own goals and misspent taxpayer money.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale declared in 2017 that a lack of government oversight allowed Real Alternatives for decades to use tax dollars to expand their work in other states. The state instructed the group to change the way it pays subcontractors when its contract was renewed.

In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed the states annual $700,000 budget for abortion alternatives in 2019 following a complaint arguing Real Alternatives failed to provide services to the number of women promised in its contract.

While multiple states have funded crisis pregnancy centers for years, no state has acted as ambitiously as Texas.

In 2005, Texas created its own program with $5 million taken from its federal welfare dollars, allowing a variety of nonprofits to apply for grants. It quickly expanded under the Republican-controlled Legislature.

This year, Texas lawmakers dedicated a record $100 million to fund the project over the next two years.

State Rep. Debra Howard said the money could be better spent on state-supervised womens health programs that offer annual exams, disease screenings and family planning services.

The exponential increase in funding is unparalleled, the Austin Democrat said. Its certainly not something weve seen for other programs that are in the category for womens health.

___

Associated Press Writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  More than 600 sitting senators have died or resigned from office since the first Congress met in 1789. That doesnt mean another will happen soon, but it does underline the precarious position that President Joe Biden and Democrats reed-thin Senate majority are in following Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujans stroke.

Lujan, 49, should recover and return to the Capitol in four weeks to six weeks, barring setbacks, Democrats say. If that happens, Lujans absence could have limited impact on his partys priorities, including Bidens pending nomination to fill a Supreme Court vacancy.

If the New Mexico senators recuperation takes longer or he has setbacks, Democrats agenda would confront serious problems. And with Vice President Kamala Harris tiebreaking vote all that gives them the 50-50 Senates majority, each day presents a small chance that Democrats could abruptly lose control if something happens to any of their senators.

THE NUMBERS

According to Senate records, 301 sitting senators have died, most recently Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2018. An additional 326 have resigned; the last was Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who stepped down in ill health in 2019 and died two years later. The figures exclude senators who quit near the end of their terms, often to let a successor gain seniority in the chamber.

That means that of the 1,994 people who have served as senators over the chambers 233 years, about 3 in 10 have died in office or quit. Thats an average of 2.7 deaths and resignations annually.

Those events can come in spurts. Fifteen senators from Confederate states resigned because of the Civil War. Seven died in 1918 at the height of the Spanish flu, the most ever in one year, though all their deaths were attributed to other causes, according to Eric Ostermeier, a political research fellow at the University of Minnesota.

Life expectancy is longer today, and so far this century just seven senators have died in office, while 18 more have resigned to hold other offices or for health or personal issues  a combined average of a bit over one annually.

DEMOCRATIC SENATORS

Seventeen Democrats and the two independents who align with them  Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine  are age 70 or older. That includes Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, who turns 70 on Monday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is the chambers oldest member at 88.

The party has weathered at least two other recent health scares. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., 81, went to a hospital and was released within hours last year after not feeling well. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., 61, announced in September that she had been treated for breast cancer.

SHOULD A DEMOCRAT DIE OR LEAVE OFFICE 

 things could get dicey.

Forty-five states empower governors to appoint replacements who serve until a special election can be held. Five states give the governor no role and only a special election fills the seat. Laws vary but it can take months until voting occurs.

Most Democratic senators states have Democratic governors, who are all but certain to appoint Democrats should vacancies occur. Those include Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M.

But currently, 16 Democratic senators plus Sanders, the Vermont independent, represent nine states with Republican governors. In seven of them, the governor can name whomever he or she would like as a replacement.

Of the remaining two states in this group, Arizona and Maryland  with two Democratic senators apiece  require their GOP governor to appoint a replacement from the departed incumbents party. In addition, Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vt., has said he would replace Leahy with a Democrat or Sanders with a Democratic-leaning independent.

WHY EVERY VOTE, AND DAY, MATTERS

Republicans could capture House and Senate control in Novembers elections. That sound you hear is the dwindling days of 2022, when Democrats control the White House and Congress. The party wants accomplishments now  and definitely before autumn, when campaigning will be the priority and bipartisan cooperation will be nil.

In Lujans absence, Democrats still run the Senate but have lost their ability to muscle bills and nominations through the chamber by themselves. Any controversial legislation or nomination unanimously opposed by Republicans would lose 50-49, and worse if any Democrats defected.

Luckily for Democrats, some top items on the near-term agenda will need bipartisan agreement to reach the 60 votes that legislation usually requires. Such compromises, once reached, usually attract well over 60 votes, meaning Lujans absence might not matter.

One such effort is aimed at preventing a Feb. 18 government shutdown and financing federal agencies through September. Another would strengthen American research and manufacturing. A third would revamp how Congress certifies electoral votes in presidential elections, following former President Donald Trumps effort to undermine that normally routine ceremony on Jan. 6, 2021, amid his false claims that his reelection defeat was fraudulent.

Bipartisan talks are underway on each of those bills.

BOLDER GOALS WILL HAVE TO WAIT

Two top Democratic priorities that will likely encounter strong Republican opposition, but will need just 50 votes to pass, probably will not be ready for Senate votes for a while. That could give Lujan time to return.

One is Bidens Supreme Court selection. The president has said he will pick a Black woman; Democrats hope several Republicans will support the nominee.

Biden has said he will announce his choice this month. The Senate would likely take weeks for hearings and votes. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that Lujans absence was not expected to affect the schedule.

Many Democrats, wary of risking that nomination should they suddenly lose the majority, want faster action.

Anything they can do to speed up the process would be good, said Adam Jentleson, a progressive strategist and former top Senate aide.

The other key goal is their long-delayed, roughly $2 trillion social and environment bill. It will take weeks of negotiations at best for them to revive that effort by reaching compromise with holdout Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.

Its prospects are uncertain, with or without Lujan.
WASHINGTON  When President Bidens administration was asked for evidence to back up dramatic claims about national security developments this past week, it demurred with a simple rejoinder: Youll have to trust us on that.

No, they would not reveal what led them to say they knew that Russia was plotting a false flag operation as a pretext to invade Ukraine. No, they would not explain their confidence that civilian casualties were caused by a suicide bombing rather than U.S. special forces during a raid in Syria.

The administrations response took a particularly caustic turn as spokespeople suggested that reporters were buying into foreign propaganda by even asking such questions.

The lack of transparency strained already depleted reserves of credibility in Washington, a critical resource diminished over the decades by instances of lies, falsehoods and mistakes on everything from extramarital affairs to the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The exchanges were also a sign of increased skepticism of the Biden administration when it comes to intelligence and military matters, particularly after officials failed to anticipate how swiftly the Afghan government would fall to the Taliban last year and initially defended a U.S. missile attack in Kabul as a righteous strike before the Pentagon confirmed the action had killed several civilians but no terrorists.

This administration has made statements in the past that have not proven accurate, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Kabul wasnt secure. The drone strike did kill civilians. The press is doing its job when it asks, How do you know that?'

The latest scrutiny seemed to have struck a nerve, resulting in barbed interactions with White House press secretary Jen Psaki and State Department spokesman Ned Price that stood out even amid the typically contentious relationship between the government and the press.

Jamieson described the responses, which included insinuations that reporters were being disloyal, as completely inappropriate.

These are cases in which the reporters role is even more consequential because the matters  the use of lethal force by the U.S. military and a potential war in Europe  are so important, she said.

The first exchange took place Thursday aboard Air Force One en route to New York as Psaki fielded questions about the U.S. special forces raid in Syria, which resulted in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

U.S. officials said al-Qurayshi killed himself and his family with a suicide bomb, but NPRs Ayesha Rascoe said there may be people that are skeptical of the events that took place and what happened to the civilians.

Psaki asked whether the reporter was suggesting that ISIS is providing accurate information as opposed to the U.S. military.

I mean, the U.S. has not always been straightforward about what happens with civilians, Rascoe responded.

Asked about her comments, Psaki said Friday that we welcome tough questions and good faith scrutiny.

She said officials were committed to providing as much detail as possible about the Syria raid and she was relying on firsthand reports from our elite servicemembers to describe the incident.

Price similarly sparred with a reporter at a State Department briefing on Thursday after U.S. officials said Russia was preparing a false flag operation as the opening act for an invasion of Ukraine. The alleged scheme included a staged explosion and enlisting actors to portray people mourning the dead.

Where is the declassified information? asked Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.

I just delivered it, Price said.

No, you made a series of allegations, Lee responded.

Price said U.S. officials needed to protect sources and methods. After a contentious back and forth, Price said that if reporters want to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do.

He later walked back his comments.

Rep. Jim Himes, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the administration hoped to prevent Russia from following through on a false flag plot by publicly airing the allegations.

This really isnt a question of winning over the public, said Himes, D-Conn. This is about altering Vladimir Putins behavior.

Richard Stengel, a former editor of Time magazine and onetime senior State Department official, said the government frequently has to make difficult decisions about balancing sensitive information and the need to be transparent.

Theres a cost benefit analysis, he said. Thats the judgment theyre making every day.

But there are long-percolating concerns that the scales have tipped too far toward secrecy. Even Bidens director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said the government classifies too much information.

In a Jan. 5 letter to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Haines said that deficiencies in the current classification system undermine our national security, as well as critical democratic objectives, by impeding our ability to share information in a timely manner.

She added that this erodes the basic trust that our citizens have in their government, especially as the volume of classified material produced continues to grow exponentially.

Politicians have routinely promised to restore trust in Washington, but it remains a scarce commodity ever since the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Soon afterward, President Jimmy Carter won office by telling voters Ill never tell a lie. He was voted out after one term.

Scandals have tarnished subsequent administrations, from secretly funding the Contras in Nicaragua by selling weapons to Iran under President Ronald Reagan to President Bill Clinton covering up an affair with a White House intern.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush claimed the U.S. needed to invade Iraq to eliminate Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction, but no such weapons were found and American troops spent years wrestling with a bloody insurgency.

President Donald Trump routinely misrepresented basic facts about his administration throughout his term and continues to spread falsehoods about the last election.

Biden promised to restore truth in Washington after defeating Trump, but trust appears to be in short supply one year after taking office. Not only did the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan undermine his administrations credibility, Americans have grown exasperated with shifting public health guidance during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to a CNN/SSRS poll conducted in December, only 34% of Americans said Biden is a leader you can trust. Another 66% said they have some doubts and reservations.

___

Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report.
The Abeyta family gestated a fulcrum of artistic innovation ranging from the Studio Style to contemporary abstraction.

The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian has gathered their work in a tribute to two generations of Navajo life.

The exhibitions Navajo title ToHajiilee Ke refers to family and connections to love and compassion.

The museums past curators and director all fostered relationships with the Abeyta family over the years, said Andrea Hanley, Wheelwright curator. These are leaders in the Native American art world.

Their story begins in 1918 with the birth of Narciso Abeyta, the familys nucleus.

Narciso studied with the late Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School, then went on to study modern art with the Transcendental painter Raymond Jonson at the University of New Mexico. You can see the stylistic shift in his work.

Dunn believed her students had an innate artistic ability. The style she advocated, which became controversial, called the Studio Style or flat-style painting, was inspired by Pueblo mural and pottery painting, Plains hide painting and rock art.

In a sense (Narciso) was one of the fathers of Navajo art, Hanley said. His compatriots were such legendary studio art movement artists as Harrison Begay, Allan Houser and Pablita Velarde.

Narcisos charming Navajo Fawn Hunt (1937) exemplifies Dunns training with its flat color fields. But a joyous spark ignites the composition.

You think of hunting as very aggressive, but its just delightful, said Narcisos son Tony Abeyta, himself a contemporary painting star.

Narciso was also a Golden Glove boxer and a World War II Code Talker.

The artists Navajo Wedding at Canyoncito, NMex (Elizabeth Abeytas Wedding) reveals style changes by 1970. The velvety figures of the women grow more three-dimensional, their facial features more detailed.

Almost all of this work celebrates the feminine, Tony said, celebrates the matriarchal society that is Navajo culture.

Tonys late sister Elizabeth Abeytas Rain Watch  Cloud Gathering, (1995) marks another tribute to the feminine with its gathering of watchful women.

Hanley worked with the sculptor and activist Pablita Abeyta at the Smithsonians Museum of the American Indian in its infancy during the 1990s. Pablita earned a masters in public affairs degree from the University of New Mexico, then worked as a lobbyist for the Navajo Nation in Washington, D.C. She coordinated a national effort to secure the passage of amendments related to her people. She was a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and later became a congressional liaison for the National Museum of the American Indian.

She was a self-taught artist and she was influenced by her sister Elizabeth and her father, Hanley said. Her professional mentors were really strong women.

Pablita also won multiple awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Politicians such as Arizona Sen. John McCain, Campbell and Hawaiis Sen. Daniel Inouye collected her work. She died in 2017.

She created a life of service to her people, Hanley said. She was a player in American history and her work was phenomenal.

Elizabeths Untitled (Trickster), (1984) marks an eccentric take on the storyteller figure.

She did a lot of coyote figures, Tony said. She had a lot of close friends at Hopi and Santo Domingo Pueblo.

Born and raised in Gallup, Tony would go on to graduate from New York University and win an honorary doctorate from Santa Fes Institute of American Indian Arts. He creates mixed-media paintings (and sometimes jewelry) as he listens to his collection of vinyl records, especially hip-hop and jazz.

Today he toggles between homes in Santa Fe and Berkeley, California.

His golden explosion Autumnal Flower Bombs (2019) sprang from a series of ink drawings.

It started my transition to living in California, he said. I was working in large-scale floral motifs.

He was making aggressively quick drawings, throwing inked sponges, then spraying them with water.

I wanted an angry bravado, he said, adding he wanted to merge the masculine and feminine in a single work.

It was about explosions and spritzing and spraying. And then (filling) in with a softer hand in charcoal.

As a young man, Tony explored art from School of the Art Institute of Chicago to Maines Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. In 2012 he won the New Mexico Governors Award and the Native Treasures of New Mexico Award.

He is one of the most successful artists out there, Hanley said. The line that he has is so beautiful.

We always did art, Tony added. That was the household I grew up in.
WENN/David Sims Celebrity

When talking about the importance of 'mental fitness,' the Duke of Sussex claims that he's 'burning the candle at both ends' and needs 45 minutes each morning to meditate.

Feb 5, 2022

AceShowbiz - Prince Harry has been an advocate of raising awareness about mental health issues, but his latest advice apparently doesn't resonate well with the public. The British royal has been accused of living in his "very privileged bubble" after complaining about suffering "burnout."

On Thursday, February 4, the father of two joined Serena Williams for BetterUp's Inner Work Day. During the virtual event, the 37-year-old prince opened up about his busy life as a father when he stressed the importance of carving out time each day to focus on yourself.

"Mental fitness is the pinnacle, it's what you're aiming for," Harry said, admitting that he "experienced burnout." He went on claiming, "I was burning the candle at both ends."

"The self-care is the first thing that drops away. I'm happy to admit that - as a husband, as a dad," he shared. "That is when you are forced to look inside yourself. The only way that you can really combat it  is the inner work."

Harry said he now takes around 45 minutes each morning "either for workouts, take the dog for a walk, get out in nature, maybe meditate." He revealed, "I now put in about half an hour, 45 minutes, in the morning when it's like: 'Okay, one of the kids has gone to school, the other one is taking a nap, there's a break in our programme.' " He added, "I know that I need to meditate every single day."

Harry then urged bosses to give their employees time to focus on inner work. "From an employer perspective, you can't expect people will put in work on themselves if you don't give them the time to do it," he noted.

"When people focus on inner work, these people are better at work and are better at home," the Duke of Sussex continued. "If everybody was doing that, the shift in global consciousness and awareness and self-awareness would be enormous, would be vast," he stressed, calling it a "cycle of connectivity."

While he's praised for consistently raising awareness about mental health issues, many social media users slammed him for not being able to relate to the real world. "Prince Harry increasingly sounds like a candidate for the much-missed Transcendental Meditation Party, whose chief policy involved curing traffic jams by encouraging everyone to levitate through the power of thought," tweeted GB News host Colin Brazier.

London politician Susan Hall said the prince's statements prove he "lives in his very privileged bubble without any understanding of the real world." Daily Telegraph columnist Nick Timothy mocked the husband of Meghan Markle, "Harry has nothing but 'me time' and he seems permanently and utterly miserable."

Another Twitter user chimed in, "Prince Harry's workload is giving him a burnout, just think of those who have worked long hours and still can't make ends meet, it must be very difficult being a millionaire for him and his family."

"Prince Harry has never had to do an honest day's work in his life. Any work he's done has been little more than a hobby. Can he please stop pontificating about real work and workers. It's embarrassing," another person claimed.

Someone else added, "Doing inner work is a hell of a lot easier when people pay you millions for doing pretty much nothing, when you can afford all the therapy you like, and you have nannies and household staff running around doing the work for you while you lounge around focusing on yourself."
Facebook/Instagram Celebrity

When sharing valuable lessons after putting an end to her feud with the 'Anaconda' raptress, the one-half of the rap duo City Girls says that people should 'be careful' of things they say as 'it might catch up' one day.

Feb 5, 2022

AceShowbiz - Yung Miami seemingly has learned valuable lessons after putting an end to her feud with Nicki Minaj. In a new interview, the one-half of the Miami rap duo City Girls warned people against "trolling" and "being childish."

During her 28th birthday party in Miami Beach on Thursday night, February 3, the "Act Up" raptress spoke with The Neighborhood Talk about the biggest lesson she learned from tweeting hurtful things about Nicki. "Be careful of the things you say 'cause it might catch up with you one day," she told the outlet. "I would tell my younger self to just stop trolling, stop being childish, grow up and be mindful of the things you say because everybody is human."

Yung Miami's comments came one day after Nicki shared to the public that there's no bad blood between her and City Girls. Taking to her Twitter account on Wednesday, the Trinidadian rapper unveiled, "Just had a great convo with @ThegirlJT & @YungMiami305," adding, "Let's move on & make new memories y'all," along with a unicorn emoji.

In response, Yung Miami, whose real name is Caresha Romeka Brownlee, simply commented, "Queen tingz," adding a unicorn and two red heart emojis. Meanwhile, JT, born Jatavia Shakara Johnson, quoted Nicki's tweet and wrote, "Sag sister! [red heart emoji] thank you for your time, your advice! A true queenlove you!"

Previously, Nicki explained why she hasn't gotten in the studio with the duo in an interview with "The Morning Hustle" radio show. The "Super Bass" raptress first explained, "I don't know."

Nicki then admitted that she saw a video of the City Girls years ago and was thinking about jumping on a record of theirs. She later changed her mind after being alerted to some harsh comments JT and Yung Miami allegedly made about her in interviews and past tweets.

"And the thing is whenever you post something on the internet, it's there forever. Whenever you say something in an interview, it's there forever," Nicki elaborated further. She then added an analogy about wanting to go to dinner with someone, only to find out the person previously said unflattering things about her in the past.

"So, as an artist and a human being first, if I, as just a regular human, was about to go to dinner with you tonight and then I get something that says, 'Yo, she don't really f**k with you like that, she was saying this and she don't really like you, and she said she hopes you actually never pop or never flourish,' " Nicki explained. "I'm not gonna go out to dinner with you anymore because now I know that I like you, but you don't really like me."

Nicki added, "That's just a human way to feel, if you hear somebody was saying things about you, not just one thing, but repeated things, repeated tweets for years, not just one thing." The "Anaconda" hitmaker concluded, "It's about, why would I work with somebody who doesn't like me?"
Instagram Celebrity

When making her return to Instagram, the wife of the convicted sex offender shares a cryptic message to defend her husband that reads, 'There is more to the story.'

Feb 5, 2022

AceShowbiz - Anna Duggar has broken her social media silence following Josh Duggar's guilty verdict last December. When returning to Instagram, the "Counting On" alum shared a cryptic message to defend her convicted husband.

Taking to her social media account on Friday, February 4, the 33-year-old shared a statement of support for her husband. "There is more to the story," she wrote, along with instructions for her followers to "see link in bio."

The link revealed Josh's motion for acquittal. In the court documents, Josh's attorneys argued that the prosecution failed to present evidence that he "knew that the visual depictions were of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct."

The prosecution claimed during the trial that Josh's work computer showed minors under the age of 12. "The evidence elicited at trial does not support a conviction on either count -- even in the light most favorable to the Government," the legal document continued.

It also argued that there was no evidence that Josh actually viewed the child porn images allegedly found on his computer. "Indeed, the evidence at trial established that certain files allegedly found on the HP desktop computer were never viewed by any user of the computer and that all the files at issue had been deleted shortly after being downloaded," the motion read.

The paperwork added that "the jury had no evidence that Duggar personally viewed any specific portion of any of the files allegedly found on the computer." The lawyers of the disgraced reality star, who used family photo as wallpaper of his computer, also insisted that "there was no evidence of mens rea from which the jury could base its guilty verdict as to each count."

The document also mentioned Caleb Williams, an ex-employee, as "an individual who had access to the car lot and the HP desktop computer during certain relevant time periods." It's said that "law enforcement had failed to meaningfully investigate the possibility that anyone other than Duggar may have committed the crimes charged," meaning that they believed Caleb should be tried.

Anna's last Instagram post was on November 16, 2021, less than two weeks before Josh's trial began. The post showed the couple's infant daughter and seventh child, Madyson Lily Duggar. "Meet little Madyson Lily Duggar!" she captioned the sweet photo.

Josh was arrested on April 29, 2021, when a federal grand jury in Arkansas indicted the former reality star for "knowingly" receiving images of children under the age of 12. He was then charged with one count each of possessing and receiving child pornography. His trial began in November last year and concluded on December 9, when he was convicted on both charges. Josh is currently behind bars while awaiting a sentencing date.

Anna, for her part, has been supportive of her husband. In January, the mom of seven reportedly had multiple video calls a day with the convicted sex offender after she was banned from visiting him in jail.

A video visitation log accessed by Instagram user Katie Joy, under the username @withoutacrystalball, saw that Anna had up to five video visits a day with Josh after he was taken into custody. The log showed that Anna had at least one video call with Josh on most of those days, maxing out at five on Christmas Eve. Those video calls cost $0.25 per minute, with the most expensive calls featured on the log coming in at $7.50 for 30 minutes.
Instagram/WENN/Instagram/Avalon Celebrity

The Republican political commentator says Kim Kardashian 'is wrong on this one' as she believes that an 8-year-old kid doesn't need social media after Kanye West claimed North is on TikTok against his wishes.

Feb 5, 2022

AceShowbiz - Candace Owens has weighed in on Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's escalating war over their daughter North's social media activity. After the rapper slammed his estranged wife for allowing their eldest child on TikTok against his wishes, the conservative political pundit showed which side she's on.

Taking to her Twitter account, Candace said she sides with Ye because she believes that a young girl doesn't need social media. "Kim is wrong on this one. The psychological effects of social media on young girls is real and documented," she wrote on Friday, February 4.

The book author continued to defend Kanye as adding, "It's actually Kanye that is trying to protect his daughter in this regard." She went on slamming Kim for "spinning this as 'obsession' and 'control'."

"There are other creative outlets for kids," Candace argued. In a follow-up tweet, the mother of one insisted, "There is no 8 year old in the world that needs social media. Go color."

TikTok has also jumped in the debate over North's account. Following Ye's complaint, the platform announced that it's reviewing the 8-year-old's account, which she runs with her 41-year-old mother. "After this was brought to our attention, we saw what was posted on social media and the account is currently under review," so the platform said.

Kanye earlier brought up the issue on his Instagram account, writing, "SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST DIVORCE I NEED TO KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO ABOUT MY DAUGHTER BEING PUT ON TIK TOK AGAINST MY WILL ?" along with a screenshot of his daughter's TikTok video.

Responding to Ye's claim, Kim took to her Instagram Story to slam her estranged husband for airing their dirty laundry in public. "Kanye's constant need for attacking me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create," she wrote.

The mother of four explained, "As the parent who is the main provider and caregiver for our children, I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision - because it brings her happiness."

Kim went on calling out Ye over his "obsession" to "control and manipulate" their family. "Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanye's obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all," she continued in the statement.

She also expressed her wish to have "a healthy and supportive co-parenting relationship" and to "handle matters regarding our children privately."

Ye later clapped back at Kim. In another post on his own account, the "Hurricane" spitter accused the SKIMS founder of kidnapping their daughter Chicago and asking him to take a drug test. "What do you mean by main provider ?" he wrote back.

"America saw you try to kid nap my daughter on her birthday by not providing the address," he claimed. "You put security on me inside of the house to play with my son then accused me of stealing I had to take a drug test after Chicago's party cause you accused me of being on drugs Tracy Romulus stop manipulating Kim to be this way"

Ye has also checked TMZ for its report on his feud with Kim. Taking issue with the outlet's headline which read "Kanye West Shades Kim Kardashian Over North West on TikTok," he demanded an apology.

"TMZ children are not a game to me I need an apology for how you tried to spin the narrative you are not being a fair media source you're picking sides against the dad," so he wrote.
Instagram/WENN/Avalon TV

A preview of next week's episode sees 'The Real Housewives of Miami' stars shouting at each other during dinner after the Brazilian-born TV personality describes the rapper's genital.

Feb 6, 2022

AceShowbiz - Next week's episode of "The Real Housewives of Miami" will show an intense moment between Adriana De Moura and Larsa Pippen. After Adriana claims she's seen Kanye West's "d**k," Larsa tells her to shut up.

In a preview, Larsa is seen opening up about her taste in men during a dinner. After saying that he's into "tall, dark and handsome" men, her co-star Adriana jokingly asks, "Do you like Kanye West?"

While Scottie Pippen's ex-wife has yet to answer the question, the 56-year-old shares, "I saw Kanye's d**k before. It's big and it's thick." Annoyed by her co-star's claim, the former fumes in a confessional, "What the f**k is Adriana talking about?"

At the dinner, Larsa confronts Adriana for mentioning Kanye's name. "I'm not bringing up your friends, so maybe you shouldn't bring up my friends," Larsa, who used to be a good friend of Ye's estranged wife Kim Kardashian, points out.

Adriana then counters Larsa's statement by saying, "He's a public figure." The latter, however, shouts back, "Everyone in my life is a public figure." The two TV personalities later begins hurling "shut ups!" at each other.

While Larsa calls Kanye as one of her friends in the trailer, she previously divulged that the billionaire Yeezy designer played a role in her fallout with Kim. "He talks so much about me being this and that and this and that," she said of the hip-hop star in a podcast interview in November 2020. "I just feel like Kanye was in a place where he really didn't trust anyone with Kim."

Meanwhile, in the first episode of the rebooted show, the reality star threw shades at her ex and the SKIMS founder. "People thought I wouldn't make it without Scottie. People thought I couldn't make it without some old friends," she shared in a confessional before a photo of herself with the daughter of Kris Jenner flashing onscreen.
Fourth Dimension Media Solutions, the Chennai-based media outsourcing company, will be celebrating their 11th year anniversary on 7 February.

Fourth Dimension Media Solutions P Limited is a part of the SRM group. They are headquartered in Chennai. What began as a small firm with five members has risen up to stand tall amongst the business leads of the time with a national presence operating with offices in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy. The company saw steady growth over a decade. Today it owns properties from different formats of media such as TV, radio and magazine, outdoor, cable, and digital.

Fourth Dimension Medias portfolio includes the No.1 News Channels in Tamil and Telugu viz Puthiyathalaimurai , V6 News and Puthuyugham in the Tamil GEC space.

The group just signed TV5 Kannada as its ad sales partner for All India. The group has also made serious inroads in digital representing clients from rest of Tamil Nadu to interior Southern India. Fourth Dimension Media also represents key clients/accounts for RepublicTV Network.

Fourth Dimension Media also represents Infinite Media (largest aggregrator of cable TV advertising in India) and other digital publishers include The Federal.com, Puthiyathalaimurai.com for ad sales.

Some of summits and events by the group include: Tribute to Rock Icon Freddie Mercury, South India Media Summit  2018 (Chennai), Mobile & Digital Conclave 2019, and e-conclaves such as Unlocking Media in Tamil Nadu, Decoding Mobile & Digital in South India, etc.

CEO Shankar B said: This is a momentous day andyear for us. Every year we strive to be creative to our partners and clients all over India. This year we are going to be steadfast in our approach in according more importance to events and summits based across the five states in south India. We sincerely thank one and all who have been a part of this triumphant journey with us

Bharath Viswanathan COO said: As we march into our 11th year, we have consolidate our position of offering comprehensive media solutions to clients. We have also positioned ourselves as regional story tellers staying true to our vision. At this juncture would like to thank our stakeholders in having faith in us
Alton, IL (62002)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing this afternoon. High 69F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with thundershowers developing overnight. Low near 60F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
VOLGA, Iowa  Matt Winters says there nothing prettier than cattle wandering around on green grass.

Its a beautiful sight, he says.

Winters and his wife Cassie were recently named Commercial Producers of the Year by the Iowa Cattlemens Association. The couple farms near here in Clayton County, Iowa, with their four children  Audrey, 7; Grant, 5; Lauren, 4; and Carson, 2.

Their operation, Spring Valley Ranch, includes mostly Simmental, Angus and SimAngus genetics in the cow herd, with Hereford and Simmental bulls. The family also raises registered quarter horses that they use in the farming operation.

In addition to the 100-plus cows on their northeast Iowa operation, the Winters are also partners with a ranch in western South Dakota.

Winters says about 90% of their farm is pasture ground, although they do grow some corn for silage.

Calves have been sold to the same local feedlot for the past 15 years.

Winters says the Hereford bulls were introduced into the herd two years ago.

We wanted to improve the milk production in our replacement heifers, he says. Its worked out pretty well.

Winters says he started farming on his own in 2004.

The cattle we have now are fairly close to what we had back then, he says. We keep cows around as long as we can. I would say two-thirds of our cows are over 10 years old, and we have one cow that is 18 years old.

Several traits are priorities for the operation, including carcass performance, disposition, milk production and udder quality.

Replacement heifers are selected based on size, body depth and carriage, along with disposition. Matt says they get carcass and performance data from the feedlot.

Caring for the environment is also a priority for the couple. They use rotational grazing to help keep pastures in good shape. The ranch is home to several springs, which has led to projects to utilize them for water needs and protect the resource.

Community involvement is also important to the couple. Winters is active in the Iowa Cattlemens Association where he currently serves as District 6 alternate director, a member of the ICA board of directors and also sits on the beef products labeling task force.

In the past, he and Cassie were active members of the Clayton County Cattlemens beef board where they served as president and helped with county fair beef activities. They have other community activities close to home.

Its important to be involved in our community and our industry, he says

While the current size of the operation is manageable, Winters says they are hoping to grow in the near future.

I still want to grow two or three times the size we are now, he says. We are growing with the partnership ranch since we cant compete with the rental rates for pasture in Iowa. So we are focusing a lot on the South Dakota partnership and will look for opportunities to grow here in Iowa as well.

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Pigs dont get sick when exposed to the coronavirus, and scientists at Iowa State University have learned more about the cell process that protects them.

The researchers say the information could lead to new therapies to trigger the same process in humans, lessoning COVID-19 symptoms. It could also help in dealing with other swine respiratory illnesses.

Rahul Nelli and Luis Gimenez-Lirola work in veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine at ISU and were part of the research team. Both have studied how coronaviruses affect pigs for years, although this study provided new information about the actual cell process that protects pigs.

Pigs are resistant or not susceptible to this virus, Nelli says.

Gimenez-Lirola says the topic has obviously been of particular interest of late.

We have a lot of research going on with coronavirus in pigs and humans, he says.

Pigs can be infected by the virus if exposed to high doses, but the infection is limited, and the pigs dont show clinical signs of disease and do not transmit the virus to other animals.

Findings

In these latest experiments, the researchers introduced the virus to cultured pig and human respiratory epithelial cells, which line most of the respiratory tract. They found pig cells went through a process called apoptosis, meaning controlled cell death, in response to infection, at a higher rate than the human cells. The pigs cells going through the controlled cell death of apoptosis instead of the less controlled cell death of necrosis, which is more likely in human cells, is likely a key to why pigs dont spread the coronavirus or experience symptoms.

Nelli says during the study they saw the controlled apoptosis process through a microscope.

When we looked under the microscope there was an interesting phenomenon going on inside the cells, he says. The nuclei of the infected pig cells were starting to shred into fragments, but no uninfected pig cells.

Researchers say the shredding of the nucleus is a telltale sign of apoptosis. Triggering apoptosis early in the infection causes minimal tissue damage and confines viral replication, which limits severe illness.

Human cells can go through apoptosis in response to coronavirus infection as well, but the study showed human cells do so much less frequently than pig cells. Pig cells are roughly 100 times more likely to undergo apoptosis than human cells, the study showed.

During necrosis cell death, the contents of the cell leak into the surrounding space, which causes a strong hyperimmune response that isnt caused during apoptosis controlled cell death.

In necrosis, the cells die, and they leak all the contents into the body, Nelli says.  In apoptosis, it wont let any of the cell contents leak out.

The researchers say apoptosis disposes of infected cells quickly without the immune system overreacting, while necrosis and the hyperimmune response are not as good for host cells, and the leaked contents of dying cells can spread infection to neighboring cells.

We dont want to over-conclude, but this response is probably something intrinsic to the pig immune system that is innate and not acquired, Giminez-Lirola said. The idea is to kill the virus subtly but fast enough so theres not an excessive immune response triggered.

Helping humans

Nelli and Gimenez-Lirola say the research could lead to new therapies that trigger apoptosis in humans, which could lessen COVID symptoms in humans and make them less likely to spread the disease.

Gimenez-Lirola says there could absolutely be health benefits for humans from the findings, if researchers can identify the specific molecules and components that initiate the apoptosis response. This could lead to treatments for humans to activate apoptosis in cells as a disease response.

Nelli says now that researchers know the process that protects pigs from coronavirus, identifying what causes that process will be the next step in using the information to help humans and also further understand how pigs can fight a variety of respiratory diseases.

Now that weve identified the mechanism, the next step is what is causing that mechanism to happen, he says. It could be a molecule, it could be a chemical that triggers that apoptosis in the early stages.

Gimenez-Lirola says the work is important as livestock producers combat a variety of animal diseases, and notes that while pigs are not affected by COVID, some animals are, noting mink producers were hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

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Developing replacement heifers is an important part of cattle operations, and states have programs and resources available to help.

Jim Humphrey, livestock specialist for University of Missouri Extension, says the first step for producers is to decide if it would be better to buy them or raise them.

If youre buying, Im going to recommend you buy them from someone who has a management program similar to yours, he says.

This includes the feeding program and health and vaccination programs. If buying cattle not from their immediate area, Humphrey says producers should also think about if cattle theyre bringing in will be able to adapt to a new climate or the tall fescue endophyte in many pastures.

When raising heifers, Humphrey says producers want to make sure they are in good body condition, but not too fat, especially in the udder area.

We can suppress milk production for the life of that cow, he says.

Too much fat in the pelvic area can also affect calving ease.

When selecting heifers for replacements, Humphrey suggests producers look them over and consider several aspects.

Look at their composition, look at their genetics, he says. Look at their parents, how they look, the genetics of it, how they act, their disposition.

Humphrey says artificial insemination gives producers access to some more good genetic options.

You can get some pretty good genetics at a reasonable price, he says.

Producers also have the option to buy sexed semen if they are looking for replacement heifers.

Missouri has a program developing replacement heifers, the Show-Me-Select program, which includes several MU Extension personnel. Humphrey has served as a regional coordinator in the past for the program, which helps producers implement new reproductive technology and management practices while producing reliable heifers.

Jordan Thomas, assistant Extension professor for MU and the current director of the Show-Me-Select program, says the goal of the program is to get the best heifers for producers, thinking of them as new employees joining an operation.

Were trying to get employees that have the right qualities for the job were asking them to do, he says.

Jared Decker, MU state beef Extension specialist and the Wurdack Chair in beef genomics, says the use of genetic information helps give reliability and confidence in the results.

The program is all about putting the predictability in those heifers, he says.

Decker says the goal is less than 5% of heifers in the program having calving difficulties, and he uses breed association data to set program EPD targets that should achieve that.

Dan Loy, director of Iowa State Universitys Iowa Beef Center, says heifer development is especially important when looking to expand cattle herds.

We start getting to that point of time when were rebuilding the cow herd, he says.

Loy says the Iowa Beef Center a few years ago gave a series of presentations on heifer development, and he says the presentations are still available on the centers website, including a look at the economics, nutrition and reproductive synchronization.

When deciding whether to save replacement heifers or buy new heifers, Loy says herd size could be a deciding factor.

With smaller herds, buying heifers may be more economical than replacing them, he says.

Humphrey says people with larger herds likely look to develop more of their own.

People needing 30, 40, 50 replacement heifers a year, probably a lot of them are raised on their own, he says.

In the age of information, producers have access to a large amount of genetic data to help make replacement heifer decisions, including genomic-enhanced EPDs.

Theres a wealth of information out there, Humphrey says.

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The European Union is ready to impose a massive package of sanctions on Russia if it pursues military actions towards Ukraine, according to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

She said that the EU has a "robust and comprehensive package of financial and economic sanctions" in store for Russia if it orders its tens of thousands of troops in the borders to invade Ukraine. The Reuters report mentioned that the sanctions included "capping access to foreign capital" and "export controls, especially on technical goods."

Russia has deployed 100,000 troops around the Ukrainian border and is demanding assurances, including a guarantee that Kyiv would never be admitted to NATO.

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and provided support to separatists in the country's eastern region.

The EU sanctions package includes the operation of the controversial Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, which depends on Moscow's attitude according to von der Leyen.

The EU leader sees that the sanctions could "sensitively" affect people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and oligarchs.

According to the United States, per New York Times, Russia has formulated several tactics to use as an excuse to invade Ukraine, including the potential use of a propaganda video showing a staged attack, which Moscow denied.

Also Read: NATO Urges Deescalation as Russia Deploys Troops in Belarus, Says It's Biggest in 30 Years Since Cold War

US, West Are Hindrances

Meanwhile, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the United States and other Western countries did nothing to provide solutions to the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Instead, according to Erdogan, they became hindrances in finding the solution to the problem.

His comments were made after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday in Kyiv. Erdogan proposed Turkey's initiative to intercede the crisis with Moscow. Zelensky welcomed the offer.

The Turkish leader is looking to leverage his special relationship with Putin and strong support for Kyiv to set up peace talks. He also proposed hosting a meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

According to an Al Jazeera report, Erdogan expressed interest ito be a "mediator" between Ukraine and Russia due to his confidence that he can talk "freely and frankly" with both Zelenskyy and Putin.

Joe Biden Lacking in Positive Approach to Resolve Ukraine Crisis

Erdogan said no European leader was capable of resolving the stand-off and U.S. President Joe Biden had made no positive contribution yet.

He told the members of the press that the West has "unfortunately not contributed anything" in resolving the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, per another Reuters report.

He reportedly also said that there is a "serious" matter in Europe at present "in terms of leaders who can resolve the issue" considering that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already stepped down.

The President of Turkey also remarked that the United States President "has not yet shown a positive approach" to the issue.

Erdogan has stated that in the event of a Russian invasion, Turkey will do what is necessary as a NATO member, although he has opposed the imposition of sanctions on Russia as warned by other countries included in the coalition.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy thanked Erdogan for his efforts. He also insisted that he was "ready to do everything possible in all platforms and in all formats" to promote peace in Ukraine.

Related Article: UK Covertly Arms Turkey But Did Ankara Use These Arms To Invade Syria

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
There is a short, pithy line that a lot of us find ourselves saying these days one which merits reconsideration because it is only occasionally accurate.

Mandates are not laws.

Its only four words long; therefore, it works well as a tweet or Facebook comment. It fits on a picket sign. People mutter it all the time, nowadays, especially in the context of masks, social distancing, and vaccines.

But is it true?

Frankly, it depends. Sometimes the statement is true -- some mandates are not legally binding at all -- but often, when legitimate, this is just a distinction without a difference.

In the United States, we, the people, through our state legislatures, ratified a federal Constitution, providing authority to the federal government to do certain things. Only certain things. Each state also ratified a state constitution, authorizing each state government to do certain things. Only certain things.

Under these constitutions, the respective legislatures pass laws all the time and also create bureaucratic departments and agencies to do the legislatures bidding, to administer the programs, to flesh out the details, and make it happen.

As a result, our executives -- the president and the governors -- issue executive orders constantly. And those bureaucracies must issue implementing rules, literally all the time. (Take a look at the size of the Federal Register sometime). If Congress says collect a 20% tax or allow a $2000 deduction, then the IRS has to create forms and require people to file them. Thats how it works. Congress has the power to tax, so it has the power to delegate enforcement of that tax to the IRS.

So, are these executive orders and bureaucratic mandates legitimate? That is, are they proper; are they real? Do mandates have the force of law; do we have to obey them?

The Left believes it is automatic; the Left desperately wants you to believe that once someone wins an election or is appointed to a government job, he has the power to do anything he wants. Elections have consequences; to the winner go the spoils, they tell us with pride, and sometimes even glee.

Its a lie.

In fact, an executive order or agency mandate is only legitimate if both of the following have occurred:

1: The order or mandate is within the scope of the authority that the legislature has granted to that executive or to that agency, and

2: The order or mandate is constitutional; that is, the relevant constitution specifically granted the legislature the authority to delegate to that executive, or to that agency, in the first place. A legislature cannot grant a power that it doesnt even have to grant.

How many of the E.O.s and mandates issued by Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker, or Gretchen Whitmer have been in line with the authority granted them by their respective constitutions and by state and federal law? Think of not only the times theyve exceeded their authority; think of the times when they have directly contradicted legislative orders, daring a legislature to attempt pulling them back from their illegal actions.

Congress had directly ordered the State Department to move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem for decades, and president after president outright refused until President Trump happily complied. Congress had passed laws providing direction and funding for the construction of a border wall and the new Keystone Pipeline; Joe Biden illegally voided legal construction contracts and stopped the work, all through executive orders.

These sorts of things happen every day, at every level of government, from coast to coast.

If there is any good to come of this most recent two-year experience in tyranny, then it may be the rediscovery of these very limits on government whim, by a population that had allowed itself to grow complacent and forget all about them for far too long.

The mask and the vaccine mandates, from the local level to the national, have not occurred in a vacuum.

Governors, bureaucratic agencies, and even presidents, have watched the American people gradually forget the philosophy of limited government on which our nation was founded.

There are things that a mayor, governor, or president simply cannot do. Not because he doesnt dare, not even just because they are not right, but because the people never granted them the authority to make those calls at all.

The most important single element of American government has always been the 10th Amendment -- because it serves as a constant reminder, both to Americans and to onlookers all over the world, that Americans believe in limited government, and that, in these United States of America, it is the individual who is ultimately sovereign not some petty bureaucrat, not some party hack, not even a lofty politician in a taxpayer-funded mansion, with a seal on his podium and a pre-written speech on a teleprompter, even if he has a phone in his hand and a pen on his desk. The source of authority in a free country is the sovereign citizen.

Power abhors a vacuum. The practitioners of power will always attempt to exceed their authority.

The American way to respond to that force is to build a wall -- around Washington, around Sacramento, around Springfield, around Lansing -- through constitutions and memories that last through Election Days, so that such an overreach is not even attempted.

As we rightly push back on the many unconstitutional dictates relating to the CCP virus, it is critical that we recognize how widespread this practice has really become over the past century.

From local school boards to state-level departments of natural resources From your local village zoning board to the federal EPA and DoJ The practice of exceeding ones legitimate authority has become almost universal. The most crippling regulations and mandates are often policies that were never legally implemented at all.

Why has America lost so much manufacturing? Why is crime rampant? Why do foreign gangs infest our neighborhoods? Why are high schools and even grammar schools talking little boys into thinking that they are girls? Why does California think it can ban half the available trucks from picking up cargo in a crowded seaport?

Not because of any flaw in our constitutional form of government, but because our constitutions themselves have been abandoned; because our electorate has neglected enforcement of the clear, stringent limitations on the whim of public servants that were built into our system in the first place.

Yes, force the tyrants to withdraw the mask and vaccine mandates. Now. Of course.

But dont stop there.

To truly bring back America, to deliver on the promise that our Founders vision originally designed, we must return America to a nation of strictly, rigorously limited government -- at every level.

John F. Di Leo is a Chicagoland-based international transportation professional. A onetime Milwaukee County Republican Party Chairman, he has been writing a regular column in Illinois Review since 2009. His book on vote fraud (The Tales of Little Pavel) and his brand new political satires on the current administration (Evening Soup with Basement Joe, Volumes I and II) are available on Amazon.
Its a common occurrence in winter. A patient calls a primary physician to report a nonproductive cough, slight hoarseness, muscle aches, and a low-grade fever. The physician, and likely the patient, realize that this is almost certainly a viral upper respiratory infection. If the patient were in the office, the physician may test for a streptococcal bacterial infection, but it will likely be negative.

This is probably an infection with a rhinovirus, adenovirus, or endemic coronavirus. Despite this, the afflicted patient will happily proceed to the pharmacy to pick up their prescription for an antibiotic. The patient will feel as though the physician was proactive, something the doctor certainly understands.

This prescription, however, will be of no value to the patient and may actually cause issues. Yet pharmacies in the U.S. see this type of prescription thousands of times a day.

It occurs despite the fact that physicians are constantly reminded that gratuitous antibiotic prescriptions come with side effects and can lead to antibiotic resistance. Beyond that, there is no tangible resistance to this practice from the medical establishment or healthcare authorities.

Now lets imagine another patient calls in. This patient also has a dry cough scratchy throat, muscle aches, and a low-grade fever. Only this patient had a COVID test kit at home and tested positive. The physician wants to prescribe a medication with no risk of bacterial resistance and a very benign side-effect profile. Hes read lots of literature to suggest it will be helpful. There are a significant number of double-blind studies showing it to be effective in the treatment of SARS Co-V2. It has been used in multiple countries with excellent results. Except, in this case, the physician will find it impossible to prescribe that medication. It will be impossible because that medication is Ivermectin. And somehow it has been removed from the market.

Not only has this FDA-approved, Nobel prize-winning drug been made unavailable, if a physician were to prescribe it, or advocate it as therapy, they are threatened with the potential loss of their medical license, their hospital affiliations, and their board certification.

It gets even more ironic. Ive noticed that some physicians are prescribing a very common antibiotic called azithromycin for their COVID patients. It is well understood that for COVID-19 when taken alone, it is of no value. There is absolutely no data to show efficacy in COVID-19. It has the same potential problems, as when it is prescribed for other viral infections. Yet the practice goes on, again unimpeded.

Lets go one step further. Levofloxacin is another antibiotic, introduced in 1996. It was unusual in that it can treat a broad variety of infections, even those that are severe but can be given orally. Because of this, it was overutilized, threatening to create drug resistance.

In 2016, the FDA issued a black box warning because of several severe side effects including tendon rupture, peripheral nerve damage, for them and psychosis. Since then its usage has waned.

The drug was proposed as a treatment for COVID early in the pandemic but proved to have limited antiviral activity.

So I posed this hypothetical to several pharmacist friends: If a physician called in a prescription for azithromycin, or even levofloxacin, and gave the diagnosis of COVID-19, would they fill the prescription? The answer was yes, as there would be nothing to prevent it.

So, in other words, a physician is permitted to prescribe useless antibiotics, even those with serious adverse reactions according to the FDA for COVID-19 infection. If, as apparently, the FDA believes, ivermectin is similarly useless but benign, why is it alone being blocked?

Let's do some mathematics. As of this writing, there are roughly 890,000 deaths recorded in the United States related to COVID-19. I think most people understand that a lot of these deaths are not due to the virus but from other comorbid conditions. The CDC has long stated that the number of deaths from COVID where there was no comorbid condition (In other words, healthy people who died from COVID) is roughly 7% of the total (65,000). In several meta-analyses, Ivermectin was shown to be roughly 65% effective at preventing serious disease and/or death. So, in the best-case scenario for them, our public health organizations, by suppressing Ivermectin, may be responsible for roughly 40,000 deaths. In fact, the vast majority of people who actually died from COVID had multiple comorbid conditions, so that number could be much higher.

I need to acknowledge that prescribing antibiotics for viral infections is something that the primary caregivers struggle with. Patients expect them to do something when theyre sick. They dont appreciate being told to go home and take acetaminophen. Some may never come back and seek care elsewhere.

Yet patients have accepted that exact recipe for dealing with COVID-19, a disease they perceive may actually kill them.

So whats the difference between prescriptions written for an anti-bacterial, versus Ivermectin, which is an anti-parasitic agent, for a viral infection? Both primarily target infectious agents other than viruses. If anything, even it was futile therapy, Ivermectin is safer than the antibiotics discussed. Yet it is the only medication that has been effectively banned

Given all this, I think its easy to suspect that the FDA, the NIH, and the CDC actually understand the potential benefits of Ivermectin and other repurposed drugs. But they also realize that these medications threaten the profits of the pharmaceutical industry with which they are financially entwined.

What makes this even more infuriating is the governments warm embrace of two new antiviral medications, Pfizers Paxlovid, and Mercks Molnupivinir. These drugs have exactly one company-sponsored study each to vouch for their efficacy. Mercks drug, by its own testing, is only 39% effective in reducing severe disease and/or death. There are no long-term safety data for either medication. Yet both have received emergency use authorization, and have suddenly popped up on government-approved treatment protocols.

As I look towards the end of my career, Ive seen a lot of profit-oriented behavior by pharmaceutical companies. I think of the me-too drugs, molecules that are only slightly different than their now off-patent predecessors aggressively marketed to physicians. Ive seen pharmaceutical reps actually reimburse physicians for a certain number of prescriptions written for their medications. Ive seen manipulation of the rules regarding inhaled medications to maintain their patents long after they would have expired.

But if they actively suppressed the adoption of useful medications during a pandemic, then this is beyond the pale. It would suggest a total collapse of any morality or sense of responsibility within the pharmaceutical industry and their partners in the regulatory agencies.

I hope that someday, our investigatory agencies can push past the vast political power these companies have acquired through their burgeoning profits, and find out the truth.

Im not optimistic.

Henry F Smith Jr. MD FCCP practices Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

He blogs at henrysmithscottage.com

Image: Pixabay
Is New York City's new mayor, Eric Adams, who he says he is?

Adams ran for office as the anti-de Blasio, a non-cop-hater, a man who understands and advocates for law and order, a man who thinks "defund the police" is garbage, and who knows very well what unchecked crime does to a city, particularly its poor black citizens.

He was no cop-hater. He had actually been one of them. Nor was he an Ivy-League elitist. His bio shows a true bootstrap story of an inner-city kid with no credible father around, a bit of a criminal background, some bad experiences with bad cops, who nevertheless focused on becoming a constructive contributor to society and rose to the top, one educational rung and scrappy job at a time. His story was the story of thousands of New Yorkers, actually.

So now we have this, according to Fox News:

An unearthed video of newly-minted New York City Mayor Eric Adams shows him using a racial slur in a talk on policing. The 2019 video shows Adams speaking to a crowd at the Harlem Business Alliance about his rise through the ranks of the New York Police Department (NYPD). While speaking to the crowd, Adams uses a racial slur to refer to the White officers he outperformed as he grew his career as a police officer. "Every day in the police department, I kicked those crackers' a--, man," Adams said in the video reviewed by Fox News Digital. "I was unbelievable in the police department." "I became a sergeant, a lieutenant, and a captain, you know the story," Adams also said. "Some people oversell it trying to reinvent me, but the reality is: what I was then is who I am now."

In his defense, it wasn't the grossest thing that he could have possibly said  he was marginally focusing on the race of the white officers in order to brag about his swift rise to the top. He was the topic, not the white officers. It was obnoxious because he implicitly suggested that his white competition had it easy while he had it hard because he was black, and pay no attention to those affirmative action practices that helped propel him forward. No recognition from him that among white cops, or cops of any color, there are few who come from elite backgrounds, and all must scrap to get what they get. "Cracker" is a demeaning term that implicitly recognizes the lack of privilege of the kind of whites he'd been around, basically calling them low-class and backward, but he still seemed to suggest that there was a good ol' boys' club in the heart of ultra-blue progressive New York City that he managed to beat. So it was negative. Didn't think he'd be that kind of guy, but he is.

To his credit, he apologized for the 2019 remarks:

"Should not have been used. Someone asked me a question using that comment and, playing on that word, I responded in that comment," Adams said. "But clearly it is a comment that should not be used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it, but to New Yorkers because they should expect more from me and that was inappropriate."

To his credit, he didn't double down or offer up some sanctimonious justification as a lot of them do. Some commentators attributed the use of the epithet to "family talk" among Black Americans, although the statement was not made around family. He was a pol trying to seem like family to his Harlem audience in order to win political support, which suggests some political opportunism. But there's probably some truth to that explanation, given that Tom Wolfe has written that in New York, a city where different ethnic groups jostle constantly, it's not uncommon to see the locals play fast and loose with the racial epithets. That goes over badly in the snowflake age of political correctness, but it was the prevalent sentiment even in the 1990s, having lived in New York to see it.

Practicing authentic journalism, Wolfe told Rolling Stone:

I'll never forget working on the Herald Tribune the afternoon of John Kennedy's death. I was sent out along with a lot of other people to do man-on-the-street reactions. I started talking to some men who were just hanging out, who turned out to be Italian, and they already had it figured out that Kennedy had been killed by the Tongs, and then I realized that they were feeling hostile to the Chinese because the Chinese had begun to bust out of Chinatown and move into Little Italy. And the Chinese thought the mafia had done it, and the Ukrainians thought the Puerto Ricans had done it. And the Puerto Ricans thought the Jews had done it. Everybody had picked out a scapegoat. I came back to the Herald Tribune and I typed up my stuff and turned it in to the rewrite desk. Late in the day they assigned me to do the rewrite of the man-on-the-street story. So I looked through this pile of material, and mine was missing. I figured there was some kind of mistake. I had my notes, so I typed it back into the story. The next day I picked up the Herald Tribune and it was gone, all my material was gone. In fact there's nothing in there except little old ladies collapsing in front of St. Patrick's. Then I realized that, without anybody establishing a policy, one and all had decided that this was the proper moral tone for the president's assassination. It was to be grief, horror, confusion, shock and sadness, but it was not supposed to be the occasion for any petty bickering. The press assumed the moral tone of a Victorian gentleman.

That was in the 1960s, and now the Victorian Gentleman has triumphed, but we have seen lingering evidence of it, even in some of the things President Trump has been accused of saying in his long-ago, although he's pretty clean.

The New Yorkers will likely forgive Adams, especially since he said he was sorry, and the police officer's union in the city has made it clear that they know about this stuff and forgive him.

New York Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch addressed the mayor's previous comments in a Friday statement, saying "whenever a controversial video of a police officer surfaces online, we ask for fairness instead of a rush to outrage." "We will apply the same standard here. We have spoken with Mayor Adams about this video," Lynch continued. "We have spent far too many hours together in hospital emergency rooms these past few weeks, and we've worked together for decades before that." "A few seconds of video will not define our relationship," he added. "We have a lot of work to do together to support our members on the streets."

The cops likely have made deals with Adams that satisfy them, so they don't want to wreck things, given that they still have traumatic memories of the odious Bill de Blasio and all his ideologically ingrained hatred for cops.

All it highlights is that Adams has a way of disappointing. He disappointed with his COVID restrictions, he disappointed with his illegals voting stance, he disappointed with hiring his brother to a $200,000-a-year sinecure, and now he's been caught bad-mouthing white cops like a street tough, some of whom will be the very cops he is going to need to restore law and order in New York.

How does he fix this, and all the other stuff?

He needs to start delivering the goods before it happens that the only stories being reported about him are negative ones. He needs to start getting rid of crime and focusing on improving health and education. That's the only real way to make these stories blow over into "meh" stories instead of snowball into an accumulation of them. Right now, he's behind on the score.

Image: Office of the House speaker via Wikipedia (extracted), public domain.
UPDATE: Whether because of a claimed outcry or because someone in legal reminded management about the GoFundMe Guarantee, GoFundMe announced at 4 a.m., after this post was published, that it would refund people's money:

The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donations.  GoFundMe (@gofundme) February 5, 2022

UPDATE II: You can donate to the truckers via GiveSendGo, here.

ORIGINAL POST: GoFundMe, a site that holds itself out as the go-to place for online fundraising, just shut down the Convoy 2022 Fundraiser, which had passed $9,000,000 (Canadian). The same organization that funded the violent and illegal Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle, as well as myriad other violent BLM organizations, says that, once law enforcement told it that the convoy was dangerous, it was obligated to shut everything down. Adding insult to injury, GoFundMe is refusing to return the money donated, which runs directly counter to its "GoFundMe Guarantee."

To give context to just how awful GoFundMe's behavior is, here are a few facts. To begin with, this is not the first time GoFundMe has yanked the rug out from under conservative fundraisers. It's a sign of the truckers' political naivete that they didn't go straight to GiveSendGo, a Christian-based online fundraising site.

As this Fox Business article details, GoFundMe has repeatedly cut off funding for conservatives. An athlete who believes in marriage (monogamous and heterosexual) had his fundraiser (unrelated to his marriage beliefs) stricken. GoFundMe also cut off a fundraiser for a bar owner who had dared to call George Floyd  a multi-offending felon who held up a pregnant woman with a gun to her belly and who died after sticking fentanyl up his derriere  a thug. It's also shut off people who sought to raise funds after losing their jobs because they refused to get vaccinated.

No conservative or non-leftist group should ever use GoFundMe again.

Also, GoFundMe has freely and happily funded incredibly violent organizations. It kept open the fundraising platform for the illegal Seattle Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, which radicals set up during the height of the George Floyd riots. It was undeterred even after people got murdered there, along with other acts of extreme violence.



Image: Not as safe as you think from macrovector. Freepik license.

GoFundMe also kept the money flowing to BLM. We've learned now that much of BLM appears to be a giant communist grift, with the leaders apparently siphoning off millions for themselves.

However, while it might not have been immediately apparent to softheaded leftists back in 2020 that BLM was a con job, it was apparent that it was violent. Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Kenosha, Dallas, New York, and other cities all suffered tremendous violence in BLM's name, with people murdered, whole communities burned to the ground, and both chain stores and family stores looted and destroyed. None of that deterred GoFundMe.

As I said, if the truckers hadnt been naive, they would have avoided GoFundMe from the beginning. It was inevitable that GoFundMe would cut them off. It was also inevitable that it would do so at the behest of a leftist politician who lied about the truckers being violent. Also, that GoFundMe would say, as if it had never funded CHAZ or BLM, that it couldnt possibly countenance handling money that might go to violent people:

GoFundMe didn't just cut off the truckers, though. It's also refusing to return the money to the donors. Instead, it claims that it's going to work with the convoy organizers to find agreeable charities:

Ezra Levant says that this amounts to open theft from the truckers:

At the request of Trudeau, @GoFundMe has just stolen $9,000,000 from the truckers. Rather than automatically refunding it to the donors, they say theyre going to give it to groups of their own choosing. What a windfall for Black Lives Matter, Greenpeace and Planned Parenthood! pic.twitter.com/prEwLnypfe  Ezra Levant  (@ezralevant) February 4, 2022

It's not just the truckers who should be upset. If you go to any GoFundMe page and click the "donate now" button, this is what you'll see:

There is nothing on that page that informs you that GoFundMe, if it doesn't like the charity to which you've contributed, will keep your money and give it to another charity that's not of your choosing. Instead, as I've highlighted, it offers a "GoFundMe Guarantee" to protect people's donations.

Here are the specifics of that GoFundMe Guarantee:

Our team of Trust & Safety specialists work night and day to make sure that funds get to the intended recipient, every time. In the rare case that something isn't right, we will refund your donation. If funds aren't delivered to the right person, we will donate the missing amount. [snip] The GoFundMe Guarantee protects your donation. It takes a leap of faith to help someone else. That's why we make sure to honor your generosity by backing it up with the first and only guarantee for online fundraising. In the rare case that something isn't right, we will refund your donation.

If I were a Convoy 2022 donor, I think I would be inclined to discuss with GoFundMe the fact that its intended actions run counter to its Guarantee to me that the money I donated would either go to the donee of my choice or come back to me.

What we're seeing with leftist organizations such as GoFundMe is hubris. They've gotten away with hypocritical and morally indecent behavior for a long time and right now. However, this particular decision may prove to be its Waterloo, provided that the truckers and donors are willing to make it live up to its promises and past behaviors.
Last week, thousands of Canadians stood on the side of the road, many in subzero temperatures, gazing into the cold abyss of tundra  waiting, hoping, that their boys, the so-called deplorables would emerge before dusk. They watched the foggy horizon intently, conspicuously, with waving flags and prepared foods, hoping to catch a glimpse of men in their overalls and wellingtons, sitting behind their wheels with their bad knees and aching backs, with soot-covered faces, with the windows rolled down, pumping their fists with one hand while steering to their glorious destination with the other. They wondered, with bated breath, if those western cowboys and rugged individualists would stay true to their word. Would they turn back? Did they have the fortitude to go on? Would they deliver Canada from a Neo-Marxist despot?



Rumble video screen grab.

Just when hope seemed forlorn, thousands of blue-collar men working the oil fields of northwest Canada emerged from the darkness. On that gloomy horizon, their lights were a beacon of hope  a reminder, if not a historical promise, that good men  real men  would still rise to the occasion, that they would march on unabated, undaunted, always willing to do whatever it takes to secure liberty. Their horns symbolized hope. Not that "all-talk-no-action" hope you get from equivocating political quacks, but that calm, unbending will that exists only in men of action. No words and no promises were necessary. You knew that everything would be okay. Hell, many of them even looked the part. Big beards and big muscles, just like many of the best movie heroes. The reckoning had finally come. The arrogant socialist academics and their collectivist utopian peddlers had finally met their match. There was a palpable change in the air. You could breathe again.

The political class and their propaganda outlets called them "bigots and terrorists" and warned that they might "rape your daughters." They were painted as shameful, disgraceful deplorables, crazed lunatics, and a "fringe minority" with "unacceptable views." In lieu of meeting with these men, the boy in Parliament grabbed his wig and scurried to his bunker. Instead of listening and compromising, the leader of a democratic nation chose to run from his own people.

At night, while he tosses and turns, Trudeau dreams of big beards, manly men, and disgruntled faces. He wonders why these unrefined behemoths won't just return to that backward place of North-West, Canada. Don't these pesky losers have oil to drill or a puck to swing at?

The Ottawa elites complain that the incessant horns are a nuisance. The left-wing Washington Post calls for the prime minister to "confront them"  whatever that means. Does the journalist at the Washington Post envision imprisoning the truckers, or blowing up the big rigs under the cover of night? Just a few bombs here and there, and we all go back to business as usual?

Does anyone else find it strange that the elites of Ottawa are more worried about honking horns than freedom of speech or bodily autonomy? Does anyone find it bizarre that Canadian politicians are more worried about virtue-signaling their respect for Chinese New Year than spending time with the hundreds of thousands of citizens parked right outside their building?

These new-age petty tyrants seek to regulate our speech. They omit important data and cancel those who refuse to comply with their dogma. They fund the majority of academic studies and vehemently attack independent studies contrary to their opinion. They tell us when and how we can worship our god. They shut down our businesses with the stroke of a pen. They close the borders and prohibit our travel. They call science "anti-science" and "anti-science" science. They tell us to choose between a job and a jab. And like all tyrants, they call for higher taxes to pay for their lavish spending.

In a thousand cities, in a hundred different countries, thousands of truckers should join them.
Medicare recipients at first were left out of the "free" COVID tests that private insurers were required to provide. Well, now we old folks are included among those able to grab eight free tests per month. The New York Times reports:

Medicare, which covers roughly 60 million Americans, will provide free over-the-counter rapid coronavirus tests beginning in the spring, according to the federal government's Medicare and Medicaid agency. The policy would "allow Medicare beneficiaries to pick up tests at no cost at the point of sale and without needing to be reimbursed," the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday, adding that it would be the first time Medicare covered the whole cost of an over-the-counter test. The announcement followed weeks of clamor from lawmakers and health care advocates, who argued that Medicare recipients had been passed over in the administration's push to require private insurers to cover the tests. Under the plan, which will also apply to Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, Medicare will pay eligible pharmacies and health providers to offer the tests. The administration did not say how many pharmacies would participate.

I guess they will need to set up and maintain a national database with real-time access by participating pharmacies to make sure we don't get more of the freebies than we're entitled to. With 8 tests per month x 12 months x 60 million people on Medicare, that's up to 6 billion tests per year. At, say, $5 wholesale per test, that could be a cool $30 billion in annual revenue for the companies making them. They might advertise the hell out of it with public service announcements like, "Hey, get your free tests! Be prepared, get your free tests!" Medicare will need to pay a higher amount per test based on whatever markup it negotiates with the retail pharmacies. How much earlier will the program go broke?

And I just can't wait for the free COVID test telephone solicitations to join the multiple-times-a-day calls I get offering braces and other free Medicare merchandise for the common medical conditions they (wrongly) state that their "records" show that I have.
A few days ago, Politico.com reported that The New York Times was suing the Biden State Department for withholding correspondence mentioning Hunter Biden that is in possession of the U.S. Embassy in Romania.

In its lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, the NYT states that it had on two separate occasions placed requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

The State Department had responded that the requested records would be provided only after April 15, 2023. The law requires all federal agencies to respond to a FOIA request within 20 business days unless there are "unusual circumstances."

The NYT's suit is obviously an effort to expedite the State Department's timeline for the FOIA disclosures.

To be precise, the NYT had requested access to emails, memos, and other records from 2015 to 2019 from U.S. embassy officials in Bucharest, including former U.S. ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm, mentioning a number of individuals such as Hunter Biden and his former business associate, Tony Bobulinski.

Politico reports that the goal behind the exercise was to investigate if embassy officials did any special favors on behalf of private businesses such as that of Hunter Biden.

The request seeks records about the following:

1. The possible improper use of federal government resources to assist and advance private business interests with connections to United States government officials.

2. The possible evasion of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by those private business interests.

3. The non-enforcement of FARA by the federal government in relation to those private business interests.

This would raise questions about possible conflicts of interest and corruption.

In a statement to Politico, a New York Times spokesperson said, "As a routine part of their reporting, NYT journalists regularly seek potentially newsworthy information from a variety of sources, including from the U.S. government through FOIA requests."

"We're hopeful the government will promptly release any relevant documents, and as always we are prepared to pursue our request through a lawsuit if necessary. Just as we do on any line of reporting, we will assess the newsworthiness of the material once we receive it," the spokesperson added.

The State Department has declined to comment on the situation.

Last year, the U.K. Daily Mail reported that an email from Hunter's laptop shows that Hunter was hired by Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu to overturn his bribery conviction through a massive propaganda campaign with help from V.P. Joe's government connections and former FBI director Louis Freeh. Despite the efforts, Popoviciu was convicted of bribery.

Emails also showed that Freeh "donated" $100,000 to a trust for two of President Biden's grandchildren as he sought to pursue "some very good and profitable matters" with him.

Perhaps this is what the NYT is looking into?

Back in October 2020, less than a month prior to Election Day, the New York Post had reported about Hunter Biden's misplaced laptop that contained emails that proved that Hunter Biden had introduced his father, who was vice president, to a top executive from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. This contradicts Joe Biden's claim that he's "never spoken to my son" about his overseas business dealings.

Burisma was paying Hunter around $1 million a year when Biden was vice president; the amount was cut in half two months after Biden left office.

This was a clear case of nepotism, conflict of interest, and corruption.

Mainstream media outlets scoffed at a New York Post's story, while Facebook and Twitter prevented the stories from circulating.

The Media Research Center study discovered that one of every six Biden voters (17%) said he would not have voted for Biden if he had known the facts about various news stories the mainstream news media refused to cover and that social media chose to block.

The question remains: why would the NYT, who have been willing propagandists for the Democrats, suddenly develop the urge to pursue to truth and sue a Democrat State Department?

Back in 2019, the NYT's Kenneth Vogel was among the rare few in the mainstream media that covered the Hunter story and even described Hunter as both a "significant liability" for Biden. Throughout the 2020 presidential campaign, the Biden team regularly expressed anger at the Times over Vogel's coverage of Hunter Biden, while Democrats viciously attacked him on all forums possible.

Perhaps Vogel is merely doing his job in pursuing the story or maybe he is taking on the Bidens? Perhaps Vogel is taking on the Bidens as a vendetta for the abuse he previously received?

It does give the NYT an occasion to feign fairness and claim that it was tough on Biden.

Another possible explanation is that the Washington Media-Democrat complex is tired of Biden's incompetence. They think Biden's abominable record of misgovernance will cause them to lose rather emphatically to the Republicans during the midterms in November.

However, what the Democrats fear most is that Biden may lose in a landslide to Donald Trump in 2024. Polls show Biden losing support among all traditional Democrat voter groups.

Perhaps the NYT is being used as a proxy in this struggle. It has certainly placed Biden in a Catch-22.

If Biden's State Department were to reveal communication records that prove a clear case of conflict of interest and corruption, Joe certainly looks bad and could be forced out of office. Their attempt to stall the handover of information makes them appear guilty as if they have something to conceal. They could be accused of obstructing the path of the news media.

It will be interesting to see if the NYT will actually publish a story that reveals Hunter Biden's shady web of international business relationships cultivated when his father was vice president.

The story perhaps is being used as leverage for the Democrats to compel Biden not to run in 2024 and keep him under control while he occupies the White House.

It is unlikely they would want him out before 2024 since that would make Kamala Harris president, and even the Democrats know that is worse than bumbling old Biden.

In the coming weeks, if CNN, MSNBC, and other propaganda outfits amplify this NYT vs. Biden State Department story, we can be sure that powers that be in Washington want Biden out of the way.
(Image source from: english.sakshi.com)

PRC Issue: AP Government has one Final Chance:- The government officials of Andhra Pradesh are protesting against the PRC GO that was approved by the state cabinet. The officials decided to head for talks and they were not happy with the call. The state cabinet tried hard to convince the employees but they staged a massive protest through Chalo Vijayawada. This protest turned out to be a sensation across the country. The officials hinted that they would head for a strike from the midnight of February 6th till the PRC is canceled or revised. The state cabinet is heading for talks for the last time before the officials would head for the strike.

AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy wanted the cabinet to take the responsibility and convince the officials which is a tougher task. The state cabinet is ready to make certain amendments and the talks are going on for now. If the officials are not convinced with these talks, they will head for a strike. All the government offices are expected to remain shut from Monday and all the operations will be stalled. On the other side, the officials of APSRTC too are in plans to head for a strike on the salary issues. AP government which is in a deep financial crisis is now facing the heat from the officials in the state.
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In February, Virginia's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will continue to distribute emergency payments to qualified households. On Wednesday, February 16, the increased benefits will be immediately placed into qualifying EBT cards.

A public emergency declaration has made additional funds available for food and other requirements. According to WAVY, you can figure out how much you qualify for based on your household size using the table below:

SNAP income limits for 2022 (48 states and DC)

Household Size Gross Monthly Income Net Monthly Income Amount 1 $1,396 $1,074 $250 2 $1,888 $1,452 $459 3 $2,379 $1,830 $658 4 $2,871 $2,209 $853 5 $3,363 $2,587 $992 6 $3,855 $2,965 $1,190 7 $4,347 $3,344 $1,316 8 $4,839 $3,722 $1,504 Each additional member +$492 +$379 $188

Visit the Department of Social Services website or the CommonHelp portal to apply for benefits online. Gov. Jim Justice introduced the Job Jumpstart Program to assist West Virginians returning to the workforce in his State of the State address for 2022 on Thursday night.

Residents of West Virginia who receive unemployment benefits, SNAP assistance, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits and find work between January 1 and August 12, 2022, may be eligible for the Job Jumpstart Program. A one-time payment of $1,500 will be made as part of the program.

Read Also: Tax Refund Update: Taxpayers Start Receiving Their Money; Here's When To Expect Yours

How to apply for SNAP benefits?

Between January 1 and August 12, 2022, anyone who completes a WorkForce West Virginia authorized training program and acquires a certificate may be eligible. The program will be accessible on a first-come, first-served basis beginning February 1 and will run through August 12, 2022, or until money runs out, as per WTRF.

Applicants must work for at least 32 hours per week for eight weeks in order to be considered. This program may be available to West Virginians who have exhausted their unemployment benefits after January 1, 2022, have re-entered the workforce, or are looking for work.

WorkforceWV.org/jjp has all of the necessary information and applications for the Job Jumpstart Program. Interested applicants should fill out the pre-screening questionnaire and be prepared to show proof of current West Virginia residency, a valid Federal or State Driver's License or I.D., and either proof of employment or credentials if enrolled in an authorized training program.

Per GOBankingRates, the USDA updates the maximum allotments, deductions, and income eligibility conditions for SNAP each fiscal year to account for increases in the cost of living. However, there have been some significant modifications to the amount of SNAP benefits that persons and families will get for the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2021.

A temporary 15 percent increase in SNAP payments was implemented in January 2021. But the boost expired on September 30, 2021. Thankfully, the USDA recently reevaluated the Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to determine SNAP benefits, and raised the plan's purchasing power by 21% for the first time since 1975.

As a result, the SNAP maximum benefit levels rose immediately after the interim 15 percent hike ended. The financial impact was mitigated by the change to the TFP even though the temporary 15 percent rise had ended.

Emergency allotments from each state, which were distinct from the 15% increase, are still in force in most states although they will be phased down when the public health emergency ends. The average SNAP payment will thereafter be around $169 per person, up from the $133 benefit they would have gotten before the USDA reevaluated the Thrifty Food Plan.

Related Article: 2022 Stimulus Check: This Group of Americans Is Eligible for Another $1,400 Other Than the Third Round of Payments

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Putin to host EU ally Orban amid Ukraine crisis Budapest has taken a softer line with Moscow

(ANSA-AFP) - MOSCOW, FEB 1 - Russian President Vladimir Putin will host talks Tuesday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has taken a softer line on the Ukraine crisis than fellow NATO and EU members. The Kremlin said ahead of the meeting that the leaders would discuss bilateral ties as well as "security issues on the European continent and regional conflicts," an allusion to the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine. Orban has said he will seek an agreement to increase Hungary's gas imports from Russia at a time when some in Europe accuse Russia of orchestrating an energy crisis to pressure European countries. Hungary's opposition parties released a joint statement calling on Orban to cancel his trip, describing it as "contrary" to national interests. The opposition said that, by meeting with Putin, Orban "indirectly encourages the Russian president to further escalate the current tense situation." US President Joe Biden has accused Russia of plans to invade Ukraine imminently with its troops massed on the border and warned of severe economic sanctions if it does.



Orban's visit is also likely to sit uncomfortably with Hungary's closest European Union allies, most notably Poland. (ANSA-AFP).





 Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved
The Duke of York is due to give evidence under oath next month as part of the civil sex assault case against him.

Andrew will face what is known as a deposition on March 10 in London, in what has been described as a neutral location.

A source close to the royal said his accuser Virginia Giuffre had not yet committed to a date or location for her deposition despite repeated requests.

The news of Andrews deposition date, first reported by the Telegraph, comes on the eve of the Queens Platinum Jubilee.

Virginia Giuffre has taken a civil sex assault case against the Duke of York (Crime+Investigation/PA)

On Sunday, the monarch will become the first British sovereign to reach a historic 70 years on the throne.

Andrews deposition will be conducted by Ms Giuffres lawyers, David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, and is expected to last two days, according to the Telegraph.

Mr Boies has previously said his client and legal team were anticipating confronting Andrew about his denials and attempts to blame Ms Giuffre for her own abuse at his deposition and at trial.

The renowned lawyer was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2010, and he has been named Global International Litigator of the Year by Whos Who Legal seven times, according to his law firms website.

Ms Giuffre is suing the duke for damages in her home country of the US, claiming she was trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Andrews friend and a convicted sex offender, to have sex with the royal when she was 17, a minor under US law, at Ghislaine Maxwells London home in the early 2000s.

The duke is also alleged to have sexually abused Ms Giuffre during a visit to Epsteins private island, Little St James, and on a separate occasion at the financiers Manhattan mansion.

Andrews accuser is suing him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Andrew has strenuously denied all allegations.

A source close to him said: We agreed to voluntarily produce the Duke for a deposition on March 10. Despite repeated requests, Ms. Giuffre still hasnt committed to a date or location for her deposition.

The Telegraph reported that those due to give depositions after Andrew include the royals former assistant, Robert Olney, and Shukri Walker, who claims to have seen Andrew in Tramp nightclub.

Last month, court documents revealed that US Judge Lewis A Kaplan had written letters to the Senior Master of the Queens Bench Division in the UK to request assistance in acquiring evidence for the civil claim filed by Ms Giuffre.

The judge asked for Mr Olney to be quizzed on topics such as Andrews communications with Maxwell, Epstein and Ms Giuffre, and his travel to Epsteins homes.

In a separate letter to the High Court, Judge Kaplan also requested testimony from Ms Walker, on questions about the presence of the duke and Ms Giuffre at Tramp nightclub in March 2001 and any interactions the pair had.

The civil sex assault trial is scheduled to take place between September and December.

The parties will need to confirm by July 28 whether they wish to proceed to trial.
Dame Helen Mirren says questions over the choice to have her play Israels first female prime minister Golda Meir, are utterly legitimate.

The Academy award-winning actress said there was a discussion to be had about the suitability of certain actors for certain roles.

The casting for the upcoming biopic, Golda, directed by Guy Nattiv, was criticised by fellow actress Dame Maureen Lipman last month due to the fact that Mirren is not Jewish.

The casting for the upcoming biopic, Golda, was criticised due to the fact that Mirren is not Jewish (Jasper Wolf/Assemble publicity/PA)

Mirren, 76, told the Daily Mail the question of her appropriateness for the role had occurred to her too, prior to accepting it.

It was certainly a question that I had, before I accepted the role. (Meir) is a very important person in Israeli history, she said.

I said, Look Guy, Im not Jewish, and if you want to think about that, and decide to go in a different direction, no hard feelings. I will absolutely understand.

Dame Maureen previously said that the challenge of acting was to become the character you are playing regardless of background

But Speaking on ITVs Good Morning Britain (GMB) she added that actors who shared the background of their character should be looked at first.

On the portrayal of Meir specifically she highlighted that the Jewishness of the character is so integral.

Responding to Dame Maureens criticism, Mirren said: I do believe it is a discussion that has to be had  its utterly legitimate.

Dame Maureen previously said that the challenge of acting was to become the character you are playing regardless of background (Ian West/PA)

I very much respect Maureen. And I love her as an actress, absolutely.

Id love to bump into her and sit and have a cup of tea and talk about it, she added. Dame to dame, I suggest.

She added: My only real fear is if Im really bad as Goldain which case, Ill be toast.
The Queen was on sparkling form as she laughed and joked at a celebratory reception on the eve of her Platinum Jubilee.

The monarch, just hours away from becoming the first British sovereign to reach a historic 70 years on the throne, joined members of the local community in the ballroom of Sandringham House to mark her milestone.

The 95-year-old head of state arrived at the event with a wooden walking stick she rested on sagely as she leant forward to chat to the visitors.

The guests were seated around tables waiting for a tea to be served but stood up respectfully to chat to the Queen.

Wearing an Angela Kelly Wedgwood blue crepe with white brocade dress, the Queen, who beamed with delight throughout, also carried her trademark black handbag.

She cut an iced Victoria sponge cake decorated with the Jubilee emblem to begin her Platinum year.

The Queen with her Jubilee cake (Joe Giddens/PA)

Lady Dannatt, the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, told the Queen the cake was turned upside for the benefit of the press photographs, and the monarch quipped to laughter: I dont matter?

When it came to cutting the large cake, the Queen, thinking aloud, said: Ill put the knife in, see if it works.

She drove the knife in vertically and left it in place, adding somebody else can finish it off.

The Queen during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House (Joe Giddens/PA)

Among the guests were members of the Sandringham branch of the Womens Institute, Sandringham Estate pensioners and representatives from two local charities West Norfolk Befriending and Little Discoverers.

Yvonne Browne, vice-president and chairman of the Sandringham WI, described the Queen as being on sparkling form.

The event was the largest in-person public engagement the Queen had attended since before her recent health scare in mid October.

The Queen also met former cookery school student Angela Wood who helped to perfect the famous dish coronation chicken served to guests after the Queens 1953 Coronation ceremony.

The Queen meets Angela Wood, who helped created coronation chicken (Joe Giddens/PA)

Mrs Wood made the Queen laugh when she told the monarch she spent days and days altering it for Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume.

Commenting on how the recipe for coronation chicken has likely developed over the years the Queen told Angela Wood: Its probably changed because in those days we did some things quite differently.

Shaun Mason, a junior sous chef, had created tiny bite size morsels of the coronation chicken, chicken with curry spices, apricot in a savoury tartlet, and he carried a tray of his creations into the ballroom and announced they were available to sample.

As the morsels were placed between the Queen and Mrs Wood to try, the room erupted with laughter when the Queen quipped Ill go away, she turned to add: You can tell me (what you think) when I come back.

On October 19, the Queen held a Windsor Castle evening reception for delegates for the Global Investment Summit.

The Queen chatting to guests (Joe Giddens/PA)

But the next day she cancelled a two day trip to Northern Ireland, was secretly admitted to hospital for preliminary tests, before being put under doctors orders to rest and only carry out light duties.

Before the pandemic the Queen would visit her WI colleagues at West Newton village hall every year as part of her winter stay on her Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The Queens Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated across the country during an extended June Bank Holiday in honour of a monarch who has left an indelible mark on the life of the nation.

The Queen returns to the UK for the first time after her accession (Archive/PA)

But February 6, the date of the Queens accession to the throne, is a poignant period for the Queen, as it is the day her father King George VI died in 1952.

She is already the nations longest reigning monarch, and the longest still-serving sovereign in the world.

During the reception the Queen also met representatives from West Norfolk Befriending a charity which aims to reduce the social isolation experienced by the elderly by matching them with trained volunteer befrienders who visit on a regular basis.

The Queen cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee (Joe Giddens/PA)

And she spoke to members of Little Discoverers which provides early education for pre-school children with movement difficulties and delayed development.

The Queen stopped to chat a group of former Sandringham Estate workers and told them: I havent seen you for a very long time.

Reminiscing about the devastating floods in 1953 that affected Norfolk and the surrounding counties, she said: I remember sitting at dinner, the fire alarm went off, no fire, the sea was coming in.

She added: Its a very nasty experience, you go to the top of the (sea) wall and its there, and she raised her hand to her face as if indicating the level of the sea.

The Queen is thought to have been staying in the Duke of Edinburghs cottage, Wood Farm, while at Sandringham, and she said her late husband loved it and part of its attraction was because the sea was so close.

The Queen leaving Sandringham House after the reception (Joe Giddens/PA)

Despite the recent concerns about her health, the Queen moved freely and appeared to use her stick more to lean on when she stopped moving rather than depending on it to walk.

Teresa Thompson, 70, the retired housekeeper of Wood Farm, said after chatting to the Queen: All the royal family love Wood Farm, because its out of the way, its small, Its intimate. You havent got lots of officials and household, its just the close staff.

And they literally can relax in the family house, its wonderful, and I had a wonderful 22 years down there, it was the best time of my life without a doubt.

When the Queen was presented with a copy of a Loyal Address written by primary schoolchildren from West Norfolk, she gave a frank opinion on the public proclamations she has heard during her long reign.

Most addresses are usually pompous  this is so much nicer, she said to laughter from guests.

The words read: You have shown a caring manner, determination, and dedication to help other people. We think youre doing a great job! We are very lucky to have had you as our Queen for so long.

We are proud of you for helping us through this pandemic with your inspirational words, and by your actions setting a good example, especially as the last year has been so hard for you.
The Queen knew from a very young age that she would become a monarch and was given a wonderful example by her father, her childhood friend has said.

Anne Tennant, Lady Glenconner, who was a maid of honour at the Queens coronation, has shared her memories of the monarch as a young woman ahead of her Platinum Jubilee on Sunday.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Lady Glenconner said the Queen would likely look back very sadly on the day as it also marked the death of her father, George VI.

She recalled being sent a letter by Margaret, the Countess of Snowden, describing the beautiful Norfolk morning on which the king had died at Sandringham.

Princess Margaret and her friends Lord Colin Tennant and Lady Anne Tennant waiting on the jetty at Mustique to greet Queen during her Silver Jubilee tour (PA)

(It was) a beautiful Norfolk morning, sun coming out and all the geese and the birds flying over, and she said it was a sort of perfect morning that her father would have loved and it was so wonderful that he had died in Norfolk, his beloved Norfolk, on such a beautiful day, Lady Glenconner said.

She described the moving moment she watched Elizabeth on television returning from Africa with the knowledge she was to become Queen.

Its so moving, standing at the top of the stairs in her black coat. And suddenly, somebody that wed known, Id known, since she was a child, was Queen.

The Queen setting foot on British soil for the first time since her accession in 1952 (PA)

She was a very slight figure and she was very young but I felt that she had, from a very young age really, she knew she was going to be Queen. I think her father was a wonderful example to her because he put his every duty first.

Asked whether the anniversary would be tinged with sadness for the monarch as it was also linked to her fathers death, Lady Glenconner said: I think the Queen will look back very sadly.

She added: I think it means a lot to her. Shes a countrywoman too, the Queen.
The Duchess of Cornwall is the former royal mistress who will now stand shoulder to shoulder as Queen with the Prince of Wales when he becomes King.

Camillas public image has been transformed after she was initially cast as the third person in the Prince and Princess of Wales marriage, before becoming a campaigning member of the monarchy prepared to serve the nation.

Underneath, she was the down-to-earth Sussex girl who grew up with a love of horses and happened to fall in love with a prince.

The Duchess of Cornwall views the horses during her visit to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna (John Stillwell/PA)

During the 17 years she has been married to Charles, the duchess has grown into her role and is now an assured royal host when staging events at Clarence House and a confident representative of the Queen when invited to foreign lands.

She is patron or supporter of a number of literacy charities, speaks out in support of victims of domestic violence and champions several animal welfare organisations.

But her most significant role is supporting the prince and being the comforting presence at home that enables him to take on the role of heir to the throne.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at Highgrove House (Barry Batchelor/PA)

Born on July 17 1947 in London, Camilla is the daughter of Bruce and Rosalind Shand.

She grew up in rural Sussex and was educated at the Queens Gate School in South Kensington, before finishing school in Switzerland and France.

The prince first met fun, confident Camilla on Windsor Great Park polo field in 1970 when he had just left Cambridge University, a year before he joined the Royal Navy.

Legend has it that she was the one to remind him of a long-standing liaison between her great-grandmother Alice Keppel and King Edward VII.

When My great-grandmother was your great-great grandfathers mistress  How about it? she is supposed to have asked.

No marriage proposal came despite the closeness between the pair and in 1971 Charles joined the Navy. The relationship cooled as he dedicated himself to duty and long periods away at sea.

Andrew and Camilla Parker-Bowles (PA)

Camilla subsequently wed cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973 and Charles married Diana in 1981  but at some point in the 1980s it is thought their romance resumed.

In 1994, Charles had confessed to adultery in a TV interview with broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, but only after his marriage had irretrievably broken down.

The following year Diana made the revelation in the BBC Panoroma documentary Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded, a reference to Camilla.

After Charles and Camilla both divorced  and Diana died in l997  the duchess emergence as the princes long-term partner was part of a carefully planned PR campaign masterminded by the heir to the thrones spin doctor Mark Bolland.

Their first public appearance together was outside the Ritz hotel in London in 1999, dubbed Operation Ritz, where the mass of waiting photographers had been tipped off.

The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles leave the Ritz Hotel (PA)

The culmination of the romance was a marriage between the long-time lovers who wed in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on April 9, 2005.

With Camilla by his side, Charles appears more relaxed and many times during royal events she has cajoled and encouraged him to try something new or have some fun.

Now the Queens wishes have bestowed upon Camilla the ultimate accolade in recognition of her importance to Charles and the monarchy.
Former United States Vice President Mike Pence said, "Trump is wrong" during his bombshell speech in Florida on Friday over claims that he had the authority to overturn the 2020 election.

The former United States president and his loyal supporters have continued to claim that his second-in-command had the power to contest the results of the elections that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Pence said there were people in the GOP that believed he had the authority because he was the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress.

Trump is Wrong

However, in his remarks, Pence pushed back against the claims, saying that former President Trump is wrong and that he, as the vice president, never had the right to reject electoral college votes or overturn the election. He continues to say that the idea of one person being able to choose the president of the United States was un-American.

Pence argued that elections of officials were held at the state level under Article II Section One, and not by Congress. He added that the only authority Congress had with regard to the election was to open and count votes submitted and certified by the states, Fox News reported.

While speaking to people who attended his event near Orlando, Fla. the former vice president said he understands that there were many Americans disappointed with the 2020 election. Pence's comment signifies his strongest public opposition yet to Trump's claims that the elections were a fraud.

Read Also: Washington Disproportionately Rejects Voting Ballots From People of Color, Men, Younger Voters in 2020 Election

Pence has continued to oppose Trump over the latter's pressure campaign on Jan. 6, 2021, which was the same day that the former president's supporters besieged Capitol Hill. However, he has previously stayed relatively silent about the issue, either by declining to directly address Trump or lay blame on the Republican businessman.

In recent days, however, the New York Times reported that tensions between the two former allies have risen as Pence is now seeking a potential 2024 presidential nomination. Trump has responded by pushing more blame onto the former vice president, claiming that he failed to stop Biden's certification.

Pence vs Trump

Trump released a statement on Sunday where he suggested that a recent bipartisan push to revise the counting of Electoral College votes by Congress was proof that Pence had the power to change the results of the election. The proposal, which aims to revise the Electoral Count Act, is quickly moving in the Senate.

Several lawmakers are showing their support of the change, including GOP Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Trump claimed that the proposal shows Pence did have the power to overturn the elections and that officials were now trying to take that authority away.

Addressing the unprecedented Capitol Hill attack, Pence said he was proud that he was able to fulfill his constitutional duty regarding the elections. Despite Trump telling his supporters that the former vice president should have done the right thing and rejected the vote count, Pence said he believed that he was doing the right thing by rejecting the former president, as per CNN.



Related Article: Trump's Massive $122 Million 'War Chest' Could Be Used To Influence 2022 Midterm Elections

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Chelsea Handler shared that she was in the hospital and had to cancel her upcoming comedy shows  but assured fans she's not COVID positive or pregnant. (Photo: Toni Anne Barson/WireImage)

Chelsea Handler is vaccinated, hornyand in the hospital.

The comedian took to her Instagram Story on Feb. 4 to reveal that she had to reschedule two Oregon shows on her Vaccinated and Horny tour due to a hospital scare. Speaking from her hospital bed, Handler explained, "I don't have COVID, and I'm OK, but I had to reschedule my shows."

The Chelsea Lately star, who is dating comedian Jo Koy , also joked that she is not pregnant, lest her fans think that was the reason for her emergency.

Handler rescheduled her Eugene show to March 4 and her Portland show to March 5. A post on her Instagram reads, Chelsea is deeply saddened to have to cancel tonights and tomorrows Portland and Eugene shows and looks forward to giving you a spectacular show in the near future.

In February 2020, Handler opened up to Health about her decision to return to stand up after taking a break. The Life Will Be the Death of Me author said, I was on my last book tour for about four months, and I was being interviewed by people in different cities. I was telling stories from the book, and they were really funny. Some of them were very moving and really resonated with the audiences. I thought, Oh, this is a one-woman show. And then I thought, No, this is a stand-up show. This is what youve done your whole career. This is exactly what you should be doing with such serious material.

Handlers new show tackles a different kind of serious topic: the COVID-19 pandemic. She recently shared with CNN why this tour was particularly special.

Being with people out for the first time after COVID, like being the reason that people are coming together is so meaningful and so fun," she said. "I mean, we are just having a blast. I'm having a blast on stage. It doesn't feel like work.
The UK and its allies will work to fight Russian aggression wherever and however it might occur, Boris Johnson has agreed with Emmanuel Macron.

The Prime Minister held a call with the French president on Saturday, where the two leaders discussed the worrying situation on the Ukrainian border.

Mr Johnson updated Mr Macron on his visit to Kyiv where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

They agreed that finding a diplomatic solution to the current tensions must remain the overriding priority, a No 10 spokesman said.

The Prime Minister and President Macron stressed that Nato must be united in the face of Russian aggression. They agreed to continue to work together to develop a package of sanctions which would come into force immediately should Russia further invade Ukraine.

The leaders discussed their work to strengthen Natos Eastern flank, ensuring that allies are fully defended against malicious Russian activity, wherever and however it might occur.

French President Emmanuel Macron (Yoan Valat, Pool Photo via AP)

It comes as European leaders are due to travel to both Moscow and Kyiv in a bid to calm tensions on the Ukrainian border, where it is feared Russia may launch an invasion.

Mr Macron is set to visit Moscow on Monday and Kyiv on Tuesday, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Kyiv on February 14 and Moscow on February 15.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is also due to travel to Moscow soon.

On Thursday, the US accused the Kremlin of an elaborate plot to fabricate an attack by Ukrainian forces that could be used as a pretext to take military action.

Downing Street said on Friday it has high confidence Russia is planning to fabricate a reason for incurring on Ukraine.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We have high confidence Russia is planning to engineer a pretext blaming Ukraine for an attack in order to justify a Russian incursion into Ukraine.

The details in the specific reports today are credible and extremely concerning. Weve conducted our own analysis on this intelligence and share the USs conclusion.

Were considering options for further military deployments to support Natos eastern flank, were not at the stage of setting out details yet but we will come forward with those in due course.
Recall supporter Patty Plumb (front) stands in front of the Shasta County Clerk's Office, where votes for the recent recall election, were being counted, with her husband Ron Plumb and Marjorie Andrews. (Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)

When conservatives fight one another over God and country, my general reaction is  have at it, and where's the popcorn?

But the recent recall election in Shasta County that pitted a Republican ex-police chief against a far-right faction backed by a local militia is different. It's a wake-up call ahead of the 2022 midterms that elections can go very wrong, even in liberal California.

What happened in Redding should be a big, blinking warning light to what's left of the mainstream Republican Party, and to us all that we have an obligation as Californians to protect elections across the state, not just the ones in our backyard.

The far right has made it clear that it hopes to target and drive out elected officials in places where their small numbers have outsized power with the right mix of discontent, propaganda and money. If those officials are replaced by ones willing to put ideology ahead of rules and democracy, we are going to end up with actual election fraud (not the conspiracy sort), school curriculums straight out of the 1950s, and perhaps even sheriffs and district attorneys more interested in power than law.

That all may sound alarmist, but as Christopher Browning, a professor emeritus at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an expert on Nazis and the Holocaust, told me, there's a certain set of the far right that actually did learn something when they raided Congress a year ago.

Violent takeovers are hard. "Legal revolutions" are easier and more effective.

"They realize that you can't go out and storm the Capitol, but you can take town hall after town hall," Browning warned. He pointed out that this tactic has been used by authoritarians before, including in Nazi Germany.

The recall attempt in Shasta has the veneer of a free and fair election, but there's slime under the surface. Like much in politics these days, it was the pandemic that shook the fault lines open and exposed the ugly in Redding. It started with the shutdown and masks in 2020.

Though the five members of the county Board of Supervisors had no particular interest in enforcing Gov. Gavin Newsom's mandates, widely unpopular here, the majority of them didn't rant and rail against them, either. So while most of Shasta County went about life, with businesses remaining open and mask rules enforced only in the loosest sense, a contingent of the outraged began showing up at meetings, charging their elected officials with "bowing down" to King Newsom.

Meetings turned into carnivals, not the fun kind, with speakers threatening violence, and someone got the idea to recall three supervisors who were deemed too liberal and scientific in their approach to the pandemic.

The Cottonwood militia, an armed group of men who describe themselves as civic leaders and helpers of local law enforcement (though law enforcement has said they are not affiliated), threw their might into the effort. A film producer, best known for religious music videos, decided to make a glossy documentary full of slow-motion horseback riding about it, hopeful a successful recall would provide a blueprint for other communities to do the same.

They started a podcast and spent a lot of time telling one another (and anyone listening) how important they were to saving Shasta from what they described as criminal corruption  something they argued could be punishable by death. They demanded a government beholden to nothing and no one, except themselves, quoting dubious interpretations of the Constitution. Eventually, organizers collected enough signatures to trigger an election to unseat one supervisor, Leonard Moty, Redding's ex-police chief who describes himself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate.

The fight seemed neck and neck for a while until money came in the mix. Reverge Anselmo, the son of a billionaire and an erstwhile film producer and director, began dumping thousands into the recall effort, though he lives in Connecticut. It was $50,000 at first, then $400,000 in November. I left a message with Anselmo's assistant but never heard back as to why he funded the far-right campaign. Local media reported that he had a beef with the county over permitting on a vineyard and restaurant he tried to build there.

The money put the recall in overdrive, with ads bombarding voters on radio and television. Doni Chamberlain, a local journalist, said regular Shasta residents were pulled into the rhetoric, and became "dupid." That's a mash-up of duped and stupid.

"It's that thing," said Chamberlain. "If you say something long enough and often enough, people will believe it."

The election was held Tuesday, and while some ballots are still out, it is almost certain Moty will be recalled, leaving Shasta County likely to have leadership that is beholden to the militia and their far-right compatriots. For months, militia members have been clear about what that looks like.

We have to make politicians scared again, Carlos Zapata, a bar owner and militia member, told my colleague Hailey Branson-Potts, as the militia was heating up its tactics. If politicians do not fear the people they govern, that relationship is broken.

It isn't just politicians who are cowed. Regular citizens are, too. People came up to Moty and said they supported him, "but they didn't want to have their name out there because they are afraid," he said.

It was safer to be quiet because those who opposed the recall, along with county employees deemed problematic, have received death threats and had their home and work addresses posted online. (Recall supporters say the same has happened to them.)

The official in charge of elections was recently "served" with papers accusing her of treason, and threatening a death sentence. Nathan Pinkney, a recall opponent who created a fictional social media character named Buford White to mock Zapata, was attacked by Zapata and two friends, in an altercation where a witness said the N-word was used. Zapata was found guilty of disturbing the peace by fighting and sentenced to community service, probation and an anger management class.

Shasta County Supervisor Leonard Moty and his wife, Tracy Moty, have been the targets of harassment during a recall election backed by members of far-right groups and a local militia. (Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)

Moty, who spent three decades in law enforcement including six as chief of the Redding Police Department, has been threatened, accused of being a pedophile, of taking bribes, of colluding with voting machine maker Dominion Voting Systems to defraud the election, being against the 2nd Amendment (a big insult in these parts) and more, he told me Wednesday.

His wife, Tracy, whose family has lived in Redding for four generations, was so stressed, talking about the recall campaign made her cry, and she decided to go sit in her car rather than relive the details in an interview. The couple are thinking about moving, because Redding has changed in ways that don't feel right to them. Tracy said she doesn't feel safe.

Moty tried to get help from Republicans and even Democrats around the state, he said, but nobody seemed to care until the last few months, and by then it was too late. He thinks what happened to him could easily happen elsewhere.

He's right, if we let it. Shasta's recallers are emboldened. I stopped by a barbershop in Cottonwood, a rural town outside Redding, owned by militia leader Woody Clendenen. I asked him what this success meant, and what was next.

Standing near a Confederate flag hanging in the window, with a half-dozen flint-eyed supporters waiting their turn in his antique chair, he told me the militia assembled a list of local politicians that includes the county elections official and the district attorney. He said his group plans on "cleaning house." He thinks the blueprint they've created has proved itself and could work anywhere. So do I.

It might be the only thing we agree on.

We're going to see more elections across California like Shasta's, whether for school boards, sheriffs, city councils or supervisors.

Does what happens in Redding matter in San Francisco or Los Angeles? It does. Imagine an alt-right elections official refusing to count mail-in ballots for a state or federal race, citing the conspiracy theory that they aren't legal. Or a sheriff deciding he's got the constitutional power to make whatever laws he or she wants. Where does it end?

We need to help elected officials like Moty, regardless of party. I probably wouldn't vote for Moty if there was someone running to his left, but he's a public servant with integrity, the "cream of the crop in Redding," as Chamberlain puts it. We need good people of all opinions in politics, not whoever remains when militias and the alt-right have run off everyone they don't like.

Moty said he's done with politics, looking a little shell-shocked, especially for an ex-cop. But he's not going quietly, because he's mad, and worried. And the rest of us should be, too.

"If they can take someone with my experience and education and reputation and twist it all around backwards," he said, "then they can do this to anybody."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A couple and their dog were stranded in a Sierra County cabin for nearly two months before they were rescued this week by a California Highway Patrol helicopter. Above, Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In December, as record-breaking winter storms slammed the Sierra Nevada, snarling roads and burying vehicles under several feet of snow, a couple and their small dog found themselves snowed into a Sierra County cabin.

Nearly two months later, they were rescued this week by a California Highway Patrol helicopter, authorities said.

The couple had been caretaking a property in northeastern Sierra County when they were snowed in Dec. 6. By late December, a series of storms had dumped nearly 15 feet of snow on the region, creating havoc on roadways and straining electrical and gas services as food and other supplies became scarce.

High snow levels and downed trees prevented the couple from leaving the cabin.

On Tuesday, the couple contacted the Sierra County Sheriff's Office seeking help because they were running low on food, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

The CHP helicopter battled strong winds to access the remote cabin.

Footage shared by the agency shows the helicopter approaching a brown, rustic cabin surrounded by snow and trees, with a pickup truck buried up to its tires in snow.

The couple, unidentified by the Sheriff's Office and CHP, were eventually picked up by friends after being rescued.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
When Amazon owner Jeff Bezos gets his $500 million mega-yacht in June, it may come primed in egg yolk.

More than 1,200 Dutch protesters have organized to shell the big boat with eggs when it passes through the post city of Rotterdam. Thats where the historic Koningshaven Bridge may have to be dismantled so Bezos more than 400-foot long vessel, which is being assembled in Alblasserdam, Netherlands, can pass through en route to its billionaire owner.

Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com.





Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com. (Susan Walsh/)

The nearly century-old bridge hangs 131 feet above water level, which may not be high enough for Bezos trio of masts to pass under safely.

Dutch city agrees to dismantle historic bridge to make room for Jeff Bezos superyacht

Calling all Rotterdammers, take a box of rotten eggs with you and lets throw them en masse at Jeffs superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam, reads a Facebook page dug up by Business Insider.

This is a iew of a yacht being built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, on a wharf near Rotterdam, Netherlands.





This is a iew of a yacht being built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, on a wharf near Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Guy Fleury/)

The Hef is how locals know the Koningshaven Bridge, which was built in 1927.

Rotterdam was built from the rubble by the people of Rotterdam, and we dont just take that apart for the phallic symbol of a megalomaniac billionaire, protesters continued on Facebook. Not without a fight!

This is a view of the Koningshaven Bridge, known as De Hef, (The Lift), in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Thursday.





This is a view of the Koningshaven Bridge, known as De Hef, (The Lift), in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Thursday. (Peter Dejong/)

A spokesman for the mayor of Rotterdam told AFP that Bezos, whose worth $175 billion, would have to pay to have The Hef dismantled and reassembled. He also said getting there are no other options for getting the monster yacht to open water.

Its the only route to the sea, the spokesman said.

Oceano, the company building the vessel, has not confirmed the yacht is being made for Bezos. But a report in 2021 seemed to confirm the project, dubber Y721, is for the 56-year-old businessman who also dabbles in rocket shop construction.
Jason Epstein at home in New York in 2001. (Jim Cooper / Associated Press)

Jason Epstein, a publishing innovator and bon vivant who helped put the classics in paperback, co-founded the New York Review of Books and worked with such novelists as E.L. Doctorow, Vladimir Nabokov and Philip Roth, has died at 93.

Epstein died Friday surrounded by his books at his home in Sag Harbor, N.Y., said his wife, Judith Miller, an author and former New York Times journalist. The cause was congestive heart failure, she said.

The book world has its share of accidental lifers and Epstein was one.

Once a young bohemian who desired only enough money to have time for reading, he took a job at Doubleday in the early 1950s, joined Random House in 1958 and remained for decades as editorial director. He became one of the industry's most honored executives, receiving lifetime achievement awards from the National Book Foundation and the National Book Critics Circle.

Epstein was not just a man of letters, but of food and drink, whose own books included the memoir Eating and whose dining companions ranged from Buster Keaton to Jacqueline Kennedy to the notorious attorney-political operative Roy Cohn. In Making It, a 1967 best-seller about the literary world, Norman Podhoretz wrote affectionately of Epsteins tastes for imported shoes, first-class travel and appallingly expensive restaurants.

He was beautiful to watch, Podhoretz observed.

Epstein was as well-read and as opinionated as the authors he worked with, so damned intelligent, author NormanMailer would joke, once telling the Associated Press that he had to adjust to an editor who might be a lot brighter then he was.

Epstein published an early excerpt of Nabokovs Lolita and fought unsuccessfully to convince Doubleday to publish the scandalous novel about a professors obsession with a 12-year-old girl. Epstein also feuded bitterly with Gore Vidal and became a critic of the Library of America, believing that the imprint he helped establish had grown bloated. Random House co-founder Bennett Cerf would call him the cross I bear, while Epstein labeled Cerf the bear I cross.

Among the many books edited by Epstein: Doctorows Depression-era novel Billy Bathgate, Jane Jacobs classic of urban studies The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Mailers CIA epic Harlots Ghost.

Epstein admittedly passed over the occasional best-seller, although he was proud of rejecting Shirley MacLaines New Age favorite Out on a Limb.

We were friends and she actually wrote much of that book at my house in Sag Harbor. But she never told me what it was about, Epstein said in 2000. I read this and I said, Come on, Shirley, youre nuts.

The son of a successful textile salesman, Epstein grew up in Maine and Massachusetts, where he acquired his longtime passion for fine cuisine and spent so much time at the library that one librarian saved his card while he and his family spent a year in New York City. In the late 1940s, he entered Columbia University, when the schools president was Dwight D. Eisenhower. Epstein met the future U.S. president once, and, by accident, made a fine impression.

I had spent the night downtown with a girl, Epstein said. I could hardly stand up. I had been up all night and he thought I was a bright young fellow, up bright and early. He was beaming, and he shook my hand.

In his early 20s, his quest for affordable classics inspired him to start one of publishings first literary paperback imprints, Anchor Books, now part of Penguin Random House.

He also helped launch two other major and lasting projects. One came in the early 1960s when a newspaper strike and the general tedium of literacy criticism led Epstein and his then-wife, Barbara, to help found the New York Review of Books, along with critic Elizabeth Hardwick and editor Robert Silvers, among others. In the late 1970s, he was among the creators of the Library of America, which offers hardcover editions of the countrys most influential writers.

He had two children with Barbara Epstein: daughter Helen Epstein, a contributor to the New York Review of Books, and son Jacob Epstein, a television writer whose time in the book world was brief and unfortunate. His novel The Wild Oats was published in 1979 and was soon found to contain numerous similarities to Martin Amis The Rachel Papers.

Jason Epstein was the rare publishing veteran to show early and unforced enthusiasm for technology. He looked for ways to sell books online before the rise of e-books and Amazon and was a strong advocate for in-store machines that could print and bind works on demand.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Amid the ongoing debate over the effects social media has on teens and children, a Connecticut mother filed a lawsuit last month against Meta and Snap for allegedly causing the tragic death of her 11-year-old daughter.

In the lawsuit, mom Tammy Rodriguez claims that the "defective design, negligence and unreasonable dangerous features" of Meta and Snap's products led her daughter, Selena Rodriguez, to die by suicide last July.

Meta Platforms Inc. is the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, and Snap Inc. is the parent company of Snapchat.

The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed on Jan. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the San Francisco Division, alleges that Selena suffered "severe mental harm, leading to physical injury," from using the social media platforms.

Tammy said the social media giants failed to provide adequate safeguards from harmful and exploitative content.

"We're suing [Meta Platforms Inc. and Snap Inc.] for designing an algorithm that is addictive to children," attorney Matthew Bergman, the founder of Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), told ABC News.

According to court documents, before her suicide, Selena had struggled for more than two years with an addiction to Instagram and Snapchat, and was hospitalized for emergency psychiatric care due to poor self-esteem and worsening depression.

MORE: Social media, screen time linked to depression in teens, study says

Tammy told ABC News that her daughter would get violent and physical when she tried to confiscate her phone. In one instance, Selena's addiction led her to an altercation with her older sister, Destiny Rodriguez, resulting in a fight that broke Destiny's nose.

"We definitely started noticing that she stopped interacting with us, and she was a very recluse toward the end of everything, and she just always wanted to be on the phone," Destiny said. "I think she kind of grew dependent on it."

Selena had also been solicited for sexual exploitive content and acts on numerous occasions by male adult users, according to the legal complaint.

Dr. Yalda Uhls, a founder and director of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA, spoke to ABC News about the social media controversy.

"The internet and social [media] were not invented with young people in mind," she said. "A third of their users in the world are under 18. And so there's a lot of people advocating for child centered design -- so, to think about the developmental phases and what is appropriate at each age and stage and embed that into the design."

PHOTO: (FILES) This file illustration photo taken in Los Angeles on October 28, 2021, shows a person using Facebook on a smartphone in front of a computer screen showing the META logo. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Snap told ABC News that the app works closely with "many mental health organizations to provide in-app tools and resources for Snapchatters as part of our ongoing work to keep our community safe."

"We are devastated to hear of Selena's passing and our hearts go out to her family," the spokesperson added. "While we can't comment on the specifics of active litigation, nothing is more important to us than the wellbeing of our community."

A spokesperson for Meta also told ABC, "Our thoughts are with the families affected by these difficult issues. Given this is an ongoing legal matter, we're unable to comment further at this time."

Bergman said he believes the jury will ultimately find both companies responsible for Selena's death.

"I believe that they don't intend for that to happen, but if the foreseeable consequences of their defective product result in those horrific outcomes, then they are responsible not only legally but morally," Bergman said.

The effects of social media on adolescents

Many researchers argue that mental health has been deteriorating over the past couple years, not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because of the rise in social media activity among teenagers.

Nicole A. Foubister, a clinical assistant professor in the New York University Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, said younger users are more susceptible to addiction than adults.

"The prefrontal cortex is not fully developed and won't be until their 20s," she said. "For an 11-year-old using social media, it can be very difficult to know when to stop, to know when to pull back, to know how to set appropriate time limits on oneself, because those parts of the brain that help us to do that aren't developed."

"Addiction is essentially just practicing something over and over again and having it be internally rewarding and not having the kind of good judgment to like, stop yourself, it's just kind of a recipe for disaster," she added.

PHOTO: SAN ANSELMO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 03: In this photo illustration, the Snapchat logo is displayed on a cell phone screen on February 03, 2022 in San Anselmo, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Alarming numbers

Early estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics suggest that there were more than 6,600 deaths by suicide among the 10-24 age group in 2020.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy sent out a public advisory in December, highlighting the need to protect the mental health of America's youth.

In 2020, 81% of 14- to 22-year-olds said they used social media either "daily" or "almost constantly," according to a study by the California Health Care Foundation.

According to the Statista Research Department, there has been a significant increase in the average time U.S. users have spent on social media during the pandemic. Uhls said this has been both good and bad.

MORE: What parents should know about the 'constant pressure' of social media for teens

"I mean, with COVID there, if we didn't have social media and we didn't have these ways for adolescents to connect with their peers, it would be even worse the devastating mental health effects than it is now," Uhls said. "But at the same time, if you are a vulnerable teen and you are very insecure, you have high social anxiety, you are sensitive, it can also be really challenging, and it makes it all the more important for parents to get involved in their child's media lives."

Following sister Selena's death, Destiny said she hopes to spread awareness about the dangers around social media use and normalize the need to seek help when needed.

"If you're struggling, you can get through this and you're more than a Facebook like or a comment or a like on Instagram. You are worth so much more and there is help out there." she said. "It's OK to get the help that you need and just know that you're worth so much more than you believe you are."

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also reach the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or the Crisis Text Line by texting "START" to 741741.

Mom sues social media giants for allegedly driving her 11-year-old daughter to suicide originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, right, listens to Gov. Gavin Newsom speak at Alvarado Care Home in Los Angeles on Sept. 29. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

California would hand Kaiser Permanente a no-bid statewide contract to serve Medi-Cal enrollees under a deal struck behind closed doors by Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration, raising questions among other healthcare plans about the preferential treatment of a generous supporter of the governor.

The secrecy of the special accommodation for Kaiser outraged other providers, some of which are in the middle of a public bidding process as the state overhauls its healthcare program that serves nearly 14 million low-income residents. Meanwhile, local health plans say the contract will allow Kaiser to cherry-pick healthier enrollees, leaving other care providers to cover a higher percentage of the state's sickest and most costly patients.

The Newsom administration said it will seek authority from the Legislature to approve the contract, which has yet to be made public.

This prioritizes the interests of big businesses over the interests of the safety net Medi-Cal delivery system, that exists only to serve the underserved, is held accountable only to the public and which continuously works to improve the Medi-Cal delivery system because it is the right thing to do  and no other motivation," said Linnea Koopmans, chief executive of Local Health Plans of California, which represents 16 local health plans that serve more than 70% of Californians enrolled in Medi-Cal managed care.

State officials attempted Friday to tamp down on claims that Kaiser is receiving a "sweetheart deal," as reported Thursday by Kaiser Health News, saying the healthcare company would be subject to the same terms as other plans required to go through the bidding process. However, Kaiser will maintain several provisions that allow the plan to exclude most Medi-Cal enrollees. For example, Kaiser generally does not accept new Medi-Cal enrollees unless the person has a recent history with the insurer or a family member with coverage.

In the new agreement, Kaiser would continue to limit which Medi-Cal enrollees are accepted, while also offering coverage to youth in foster care and those eligible for Medicare.

"If you have a situation where you are able to pick and choose the members who are healthier, it puts an added strain on the safety net public system," said Jarrod McNaughton, chief executive of the Inland Empire Health Plan. "It's a lot easier to have higher-quality scores for a healthier population than for those most in need. That disparity is what concerns us."

Kaiser, which serves 9 million Californians, has built a formidable political presence in the state Capitol, routinely giving millions to politicians and their causes. Last year, Newsom tapped Kaiser to assist the state's vaccine program. In 2020, Kaiser was the top donor of behested payments to Newsom, giving $35.5 million in charitable donations on behalf of the governor.

Michelle Baass, director of the state Department of Health Care Services, which oversees Medi-Cal, said the contract with Kaiser is part of a larger effort by the state to rework its healthcare program and improve health quality and equity. Since Kaiser is both an insurer and a healthcare provider, Baass said its system is limited in how many patients it can serve and where it can physically care for enrollees. That complicated Kaiser's ability to be part of the formal bidding process with other plans, Baass said.

Without creating a separate avenue for Kaiser, state officials said they risked losing its highest-quality plan, which would affect 900,000 Medi-Cal enrollees who are currently with Kaiser. Under the new deal, Kaiser would commit to growing new Medi-Cal enrollment by 25% over the five-year contract in 32 counties where it currently operates.

"The proposal recognizes that they have a unique structure and because of that we are proposing to enter into this direct contracting relationship," Baass said.

Dr. Bechara Choucair, chief health officer at Kaiser, said the new contract will allow the healthcare company to offer quality care to more people who rely on the state's safety net system.

"The goal is not for Kaiser Permanente to compete with the safety net, but to support it," Choucair said. "We are not competing with other Medi-Cal plans for members, nor are we seeking to turn a profit off Medi-Cal enrollment. Kaiser Permanente participates in Medi-Cal because it is part of our nonprofit mission to improve the health of the communities we serve."

The change, however, means local health plans would lose hundreds of thousands of enrollees that Kaiser was caring for through subcontracts with the local plans. With the local health plans cut out, they stand to lose millions of dollars.

For the Inland Empire Health Plan, the Kaiser contract could mean the loss of 144,000 Medi-Cal enrollees in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. That translates to a loss of $9 million to $10 million a year to the Inland Empire plan for community supports not offered by the commercial plan and for administrative fees, McNaughton said.

Critics have questioned why the state would offer the expanded contract to serve California's neediest residents to Kaiser given the healthcare company has long faced criticism  and state sanctions and fines  for its mental health care.

Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Health Access California, said the contract would allow the state more oversight of Kaiser, which he said is "a step in the right direction."

"As much as Kaiser does well on many quality metrics, it can and should do better," Wright said. "The arrangement between [the state] and Kaiser should include requirements to maintain or improve Kaisers record on quality and equity as they take on more of this vulnerable population, especially given their spotty record on behavioral health."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Republican National Committee on Friday voted to censure Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), seen above in an October meeting, for their work on a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Republican National Committee members passed a resolution on Friday to formally censure GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois over their work on a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in an unprecedented rebuke of sitting members of Congress.

The resolution, passed by voice vote at the party's winter meeting in Salt Lake City, highlights the rift in the Republican party between loyalists of former President Trump and critics like Cheney and Kinzinger, who have sought to investigate his role in last year's attack on the Capitol and Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The measure calls for the party to no longer support the two members over their behavior "which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic, according to a draft first published by the Washington Post.

It also describes the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."

Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the committee, was forced to clarify Friday afternoon that the mention of "legitimate political discourse" did not include the violence that took place last January, which left at least five people dead and injured more than 100 police officers, adding in a tweet that the discourse "had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol."

In a statement ahead of the vote, Cheney said party leaders had made themselves "willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election."

"Im a constitutional conservative, and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump," she said. "History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.

Last year, the House Republican caucus voted to oust Cheney as GOP conference chair, the No. 3 leadership spot, replacing her with vocal Trump supporter Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.

Some prominent Trump critics and moderate voices within the party spoke in defense of Cheney and Kinzinger, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the latter of whom was party's 2012 presidential nominee and the RNC chairwoman's uncle. Kinzinger announced last fall he would not seek reelection, after his district was redrawn.

"Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol," Romney tweeted Friday. "Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost."

The committee also advanced a rule change this week to ban its presidential nominees from participating in debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The rule will likely receive a vote before the entire party at its summer meeting.

McDaniel first signaled that her party would move to pull out of the 2024 presidential debates in a letter to the commission released last month, which criticized the organization for holding debates after early voting had begun, and for changing the rules of past debates. The letter also accused the bipartisan commission of past bias.

The criticisms echoed complaints made by the Trump campaign during the 2020 debates, when the commission decided to mute the microphones of candidates who weren't speaking after Trump repeatedly interrupted then-candidate Joe Biden during the first debate. The shift away from the debates could help Trump if he becomes the party's nominee in 2024.

In her address to the RNC on Friday, McDaniel said her party was not walking away from debates entirely.

"We are walking away from the CPD because its a biased monopoly that doesnt serve the interest of the American people," she said. "If we have a free and fair forum, we win.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
When Nikita Dhawan first saw Shankar at the zoo in India's capital last August, she said her "heart broke."

The 26-year-old African elephant had chains around his legs and was living alone in a dismal enclosure. Shankar is one of two African elephants in Indian zoos and the only one at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi, according to Dhawan.

"He had no auditory or visual communication with other elephants, he lacked intellectual stimulation or physical enrichment, there was a railway line like right next to him, there were children screaming and he was chained for 17 hours a day, which was shocking," Dhawan, a 16-year-old student at the American Embassy School of New Delhi, told ABC News during a recent interview.

"All this distress actually caused him to have stereotypic behavior, which is a repetitive type of behavior like head-bobbing or swaying the body," she added. "And it was ironic because the kids around me, they thought that he was dancing out of happiness when it was the exact opposite."

Dhawan, who is the co-founder of a youth-run animal welfare advocacy group called Youth for Animals, decided to launch a campaign last October seeking to send Shankar back home to Africa and spread awareness of the plight of captive elephants. Dhawan and her Youth for Animals co-founder, Nandika Karunakaram, started an online petition via Change.org that has since garnered over 130,000 signatures. They also sent letters to the zoo and various Indian officials, pleading for Shankar's release.

PHOTO: An African elephant named Shankar is seen in his enclosure at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi, India, Aug. 14, 2021. (Nikita Dhawan)

After receiving no response, Dhawan filed a petition in the High Court of Delhi that was heard by a judge on Jan. 3. The judge directed the respondents to consider Dhawan's arguments and scheduled the next hearing for March 9, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. The respondents listed on the petition include the National Zoological Park, India's Central Zoo Authority (CZA), the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Animal Welfare Board of India, none of whom replied to ABC News' requests for comment or an interview.

Dhawan told ABC News that she has yet to personally hear from the zoo or the other respondents.

MORE: Zimbabwe plans mass wildlife migration after hundreds of elephants die in drought

In 1998, two young elephants were captured from the wilderness in southern Africa and sent to India as a diplomatic gift from Zimbabwe. The pair, named Shankar and Bombai, were placed in the 176-acre National Zoological Park, formerly known as the Delhi Zoo. Bombai died in 2005 and Shankar has lived alone in captivity there ever since, according to Dhawan, who cited information obtained from the zoo through India's Right to Information Act as well as private conversations with some of the zoo's workers.

Dhawan said she's learned from those conversations that Shankar is kept chained for most of the day, and that the information from the zoo states he's confined to 4,930 square meters. A pathway that once allowed visitors to view Shankar more closely has been permanently cordoned off due to his aggression, which Dhawan said is another key sign of psychological distress.

"I do think that there have been efforts for him to bond with the Asian elephants," she told ABC News, "but the people at the zoo said that he showed a lot of aggressive behavior, so they decided to just keep him solitary."

PHOTO: An African elephant named Shankar is seen in his enclosure at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi, India, Aug. 14, 2021. (Nikita Dhawan)

Dhawan argues in her petition that Shankar should be transferred to an appropriate wildlife sanctuary in Africa or elsewhere that has more ample populations of African elephants. If that's not possible, she says, Shankar should be moved to an elephant sanctuary in India.

"The main thing for Shankar is that we want a sanctuary where there are other African elephants," Dhawan told ABC News, noting that "a domestic option would be a really good temporary solution for Shankar" but "doesn't solve the problem of his solitary confinement."

"There's a misconception that male African elephants don't form social bonds," she added. "But that's not true, they're social beings just like us and Shankar deserves to be with other African elephants. So that's really the rationale for sending him abroad rather than a domestic sanctuary."

MORE: African elephants now listed as critically endangered after dramatic population declines

Elephants are the largest living land animals on Earth. In the wild, they live in tight-knit herds, forming lifelong bonds with each other, and can walk up to 25 kilometers -- about 15.5 miles -- in a day on average.

In 1930, as many as 10 million wild elephants were estimated to have roamed Africa. Today, that number has dwindled to about 415,000 after decades of poaching, habitat loss and human-elephant conflict, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global conservation group uniting governments and civil society.

Last year, the African forest elephant was assessed as "critically endangered" on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species while the African savanna elephant was deemed "endangered." African elephants, which are slightly larger than their Asian cousins, were previously treated as a single species, listed as "vulnerable."

PHOTO: An African elephant named Shankar is seen in his enclosure at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi, India, Aug. 9, 2021. (Nikita Dhawan)

In 2009, India's CZA, the government agency that oversees Indian zoos, banned elephants from zoo collections throughout the country and ordered all zoos to transfer the mega-herbivores to rehabilitation camps.

"There are very few zoos in the country, which have adequate space to permit free movement of elephants, as a result of which they are kept chained for long hours, causing stress to the animal," the CZA stated in the 2009 order, a copy of which was included in Dhawan's petition.

Still, many elephants remain in zoos across India, including two Asian elephants at the zoo housing Shankar and another African elephant named Rambo at the Mysore Zoo in southwestern India. While Youth for Animals is currently focused on freeing Shankar, Dhawan said they aim to have India's other captive elephants moved to sanctuaries as well.

"The main goal of this campaign is not just about Shankar or one elephant; it's trying to open doors for all captive elephants," she added. "We really want to inspire other people to also speak up."

MORE: 'Catastrophic' elephant poaching at Niassa Reserve in Africa reduced to zero, conservationists say

The Aspinall Foundation, a U.K.-registered animal conservation charity, has agreed to fund and implement the translocation and rewilding process of Shankar back to Africa, should Dhawan and Youth for Animals be granted permission to do so.

Dhawan, who was born in the United States but moved with her family to India at a young age, said she became passionate about elephants after volunteering at World Animal Protection in India during the summer of 2020. That's when she learned about the mistreatment of captive elephants in her home country.

"I found it ironic because in India, I feel like we're always praising elephants as these sort of symbols," she told ABC News, "but our words do not reflect our actions."

A teenager's plea to send Shankar the elephant back home to Africa after 24 years originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The Republican National Committee (RNC) on Friday voted to condemn Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for their involvement in the House Select Committee responsible for investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot.

The extraordinary rebuke comes amid the RNC calling the unprecedented siege of Capitol Hill "legitimate political discourse." Despite not conducting any debate or discussion, Republican officials passed the censure resolution overwhelmingly on a voice vote that took roughly one minute.

Censure of Cheney and Kinzinger

The RNC said that the two Republican officials on the House Select Committee have been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party, and the republic. They argued that Cheney and Kinzinger were participating in a "Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens."

The situation comes as the panel continues to investigate the insurrection where a large group of loyal supporters of former United States President Donald Trump stormed Capitol Hill. The incident, where the mob rejected the presidential win of Democrat Joe Biden, resulted in five fatalities and injury of about 140 law enforcement personnel, the Washington Post reported.

However, party leaders of the RNC later corrected themselves and said that their claims of legitimate political discourse did not apply to civilians who violently attacked the Capitol. In a statement, the RNC chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, said that Cheney and Kinzinger have "crossed a line."

Read Also: 'Trump Is Wrong,' Argues Former VP Mike Pence Over Authority To Overturn 2020 Election

The Republican official argued that the two GOP members decided to side with White House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The censure of the two panel members is the latest and strongest effort by the GOP in downplaying the events of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack.

According to the New York Times, the censure also comes days after former president Trump suggested that if he was re-elected in 2024, he was considering providing pardons to people convicted in the Capitol Hill siege. In his remarks, the Republican businessman, for the first time, described his goals of that day, adding that former United States Vice President Mike Pence had the power to overturn the election.

"Legitimate Political Discourse"

Shortly after the RNC's vote, Cheney posted a video on Twitter depicting a violent confrontation between rioters and the police outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The Wyoming representative argued that the footage showed what legitimate political discourse was not.

The RNC's decision to censure the two Republican lawmakers is unprecedented and is the first time that the party has rebuked an incumbent congressional Republican. While the resolution was introduced on Friday to the 168 members of the committee, there were a few vocal opposition in the room.

Bill Palatucci, the New Jersey committeeman, said that the censure proposal was a dangerous idea. He questioned whether or not they should also censure Marc Short for showing up to testify before the House Select Committee.

A co-sponsor of the resolution and Arkansas committeeman Jonathan Barnett said that some individuals believed the resolution was initially too harsh. Some RNC members urged colleagues to water down the resolution to remove language that would expel Cheney and Kinzinger from the House GOP Conference, as per CNN.



Related Article: House Select Committee Subpoenas Trump's Alleged Fake Electors Involved in Overturning Results

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My Mama looks like you, Newton said. Its been very painful to have women who look like my mom feel like Im not representing them.

Thandiwe Newton got emotional during a recent interview promoting her new film, Gods Country. The movie, adapted from a short story called Winter Light by James Lee Burke, is about a grieving professor who confronts two white hunters on her property.

In the original story, the main character was an older white man, but the film version centers on a Black woman, who Newton portrays.

Thandiwe Newton attends the 2021 Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in November in New York City. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

During the interview with Sky News, which was conducted on video, Newton said she hesitated in taking the part because she didnt feel that she was a dark enough Black woman to play it. She also said that it helped her overcome many of her own prejudices.

My internalized prejudice was stopping me from feeling like I could play this role when its precisely that prejudice that Ive received, she said.

Ive wanted so desperately to apologize every day to darker-skinned actresses. To say, Im sorry that Im the one chosen. My Mama looks like you, Newton said, tearfully. Its been very painful to have women who look like my mom feel like Im not representing them. That Im taking from them. Taking their men, taking their work, taking their truth.

Cde Thandiwe Newton, our "ex-coloniser", started acting in 1991 to date  31 years. She has earned millions. After 31 yrs, now that she is a spent force, she suddenly discovers she did wrong to dark-skinned women for taking their roles?



She is having racial guilt & a breakdown? pic.twitter.com/mItNsZC5Kj  Mhofu (@mhofela_mhofu) February 4, 2022

Newton added that the woman in Gods Country was named Sandra after Sandra Bland  the 28-year-old Black woman found dead in a Texas jail cell days after her arrest for a minor traffic violation in 2015  which further compelled her to want to play it.

For a good five (years) Ive been supporting Kimberly Crenshaws work with the African American Policy Forum and movement Say Her Name, which she coined, Newton said. And in this movie, right from the get-go, we are saying her name. I dont mean just about Sandra Bland. Im talking about all the Sandra Blands. Now and in the past.

She says Gods Country may be her last time before the cameras.

Im 49, and I think Ive been a successful Black actress for many, many years. And its been rare for me to have a movie where you follow me for the whole movie, she told Indiewire of finally having a meaningful starring role. I was sad that I finally got to do something I really f**king got my teeth into.

This, the Westworld star said, defines what I want to be as an actress.

As previously reported, last year Newton began to use her full first name professionally versus simply Thandie. She said of her full Zimbabwean moniker: Thats my name. Its always been my name. Im taking back whats mine.

Thandiwe means beloved in Shona, which is one of the main languages in Zimbabwe, her mothers native nation.

The MeToo advocate says her name change is a form of taking more control of her life and career. Wherever I position myself now, I dont want to be part of the problem, I want to be part of the solution, Newton told British Vogue last May. Im not for hire anymore. Im not going to speak your story or say your words if I dont feel they couldve come from me.

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The post Thandiwe Newton apologizes to darker-skinned women for taking roles, men, truths appeared first on TheGrio.
Butte County Dist. Atty. Michael Ramsey points to an image showing a bullet hole in the windshield of a Greyhound bus where authorities say a 21-year-old man opened fire Wednesday night in Oroville. (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

The woman who was fatally shot aboard a Greyhound bus this week in Oroville during a melee that left four other people injured was identified Friday as a single mother from Seattle who was traveling with her children.

Karin Dalton, 43, was killed Wednesday night when a man who had been acting erratically opened fire as passengers exited the bus at a rest stop in Oroville, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office. Asaahdi Elijah Coleman, 21, was arrested that night in connection with the shooting.

Dalton was traveling from Seattle to start a new life in New Mexico with her children, a 14-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, said Butte County Dist. Atty. Michael Ramsey.

Her daughter suffered two gunshot wounds to the face but is expected to survive and should be released from the hospital by Saturday, Ramsey said. Dalton's son was not injured.

Once Dalton's daughter is released, the children will stay with family in Washington, the district attorney said.

Coleman was scheduled for arraignment Friday afternoon but refused to exit his jail cell, Ramsey said. A judge declined to order deputies to extract Coleman from his cell and rescheduled his court appearance for Wednesday morning.

He faces one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder, court records show. Each count carries a special enhancement for using a weapon and causing great bodily injury. He also faces two enhancements for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

Coleman faces 148 years to life in prison if convicted as charged, Ramsey said.

Under a California youth offender law, however, he would be eligible for a parole hearing after serving 25 years in prison.

The shooting occurred around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday as the bus made a scheduled rest stop at a gas station and convenience store at Oroville Dam and Feather River boulevards, the Sheriffs Office said.

Authorities on Thursday revealed details that shed further light on what led to the shooting.

Coleman boarded the Los Angeles-bound bus in Redding, went to the back and sat down, Sheriff Kory Honea said.

The bus stopped in Chico, where Coleman either made or received a phone call that seemed to agitate him, Honea said.

He was exhibiting what I think could best be described as paranoid behavior, the sheriff said. There was some indication that he thought one of the passengers was an undercover law enforcement officer.

At some point, Coleman started talking to passengers about how dangerous Los Angeles was and showed some passengers a 9-millimeter handgun he had in a bag, Honea said. He opened fire as passengers were beginning to exit in Oroville.

After arriving on scene, deputies responded to tips that Coleman was inside a nearby Walmart, the sheriff said. They found the suspect naked and acting erratically inside the store and arrested him "without further incident."

In addition to Dalton and her daughter, Coleman is suspected of shooting a pregnant 25-year-old woman, a 32-year-old man and a 38-year-old man, authorities said.

The 38-year-old suffered a minor injury and is expected to be released from the hospital, Honea said. The pregnant woman and 32-year-old were listed in critical condition.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Queen is set to become the first British monarch in history to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.

Elizabeth II will have reigned for 70 years, or 25,568 days, on Sunday February 6, excluding this Accession Day itself.

She is already the nations longest reigning monarch, and the longest still-serving sovereign in the world.

The Queen is the nations longest reigning monarch (Toby Melville/PA)

The Queens record-breaking reign has seen her spend 73% of her life so far on the throne.

She overtook her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria as the countrys longest reigning monarch in September 2015, passing her ancestors 63 years and 216 days.

Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception, she remarked at the time.

Victoria reached her Diamond Jubilee, but not her Platinum.

Queen Victoria did not reach her Platinum Jubilee (PA)

The Queen became the worlds longest-reigning living monarch in October 2016 when the previous record-holder King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand died after ruling for 70 years.

But she is not the worlds longest-reigning monarch ever, King Sobhuza II of Swaziland, who died in 1982, holds this title.

He was just four months old when he became king and ruled for 82 years and 253 days.

Louis XIV of France, known as the Sun King, is the longest reigning of monarch of a large European country, ruling for 72 years and 110 days from 1643 to 1715.

In July 2020, the Queen reached 25,000 days on the throne, spending the day privately at Windsor amid the pandemic.

Her lengthy reign and advanced age has brought with it other milestones.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Belfast, during Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 (Julien Behal/PA)

At the age of 95, she is the oldest British monarch in history, but is not keen on being reminded of this.

She is also the worlds oldest living head of state.

The Queen also holds the world record for the most currencies featuring the same individual, and she is the wealthiest queen, with a fortune estimated at around 365 million.
A British man who was evacuated from Kabul just days after his wedding has described feeling literally stuck in a London hotel as thousands of refugees and asylum seekers await news of permanent accommodation from the Home Office.

Abdul and Fatima, whose names have been changed, were married at the beginning of August last year but fled to the UK soon after Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15.

Abdul, a 26-year-old medical student who was born in Afghanistan, told the PA news agency: I think the Government is spending quite a lot in terms of providing rooms in the hotels but I dont think it is good value for money in terms of the satisfaction it provides for people who are here.

If you look at the (hotel) website, it costs more than 100 per night, so that will add up to possibly 5,000 or 6,000 per month.

The UK Armed Forces aided in the evacuation of British nationals and Afghans from Kabul (PA)

If the Government had provided us with a flat for example, then it would have been good for the taxpayer as well  500 or 600 (per month).

Abdul and Fatima have been staying at Hilton London Metropole in Edgware Road since mid-September, where a queen guest room can cost between 120 and 200-plus per night depending on what date and day of the week a stay is booked for.

Abdul said that while the hotel facilities are good, he believes a lot of Government resources are being wasted.

They are being wasted due to a lack of a comprehensive plan for providing permanent accommodation to evacuees, he said.

Initially, when we moved to this place from the quarantine hotel, we were told it will not take more than 85 days (to find accommodation) but it has been more than 140, 150 days.

The Home Office has informed those living at the hotel their contract with Hilton London Metropole will end in March but gave no alternative living arrangements.

We have not been given property assurance, whether we will be moved to a flat or another hotel, Abdul explained.

For people who are living here, the situation in Afghanistan was chaotic and people are experiencing PTSD as well due to that situation being stuck in one place in an uncertain situation has certainly, I think, added to that psychological burden.

And although the couple are grateful to the UK Government, Abdul does not believe those living at the hotel are happy and maintains he would prefer the freedom of a flat.

We are grateful for the support in reallocating us at a time where the future was uncertain and we were stuck under the brutal Taliban regime  it was a matter of life and death, he said.

But people are literally stuck in these rooms, they cant cook, they are just living on takeaways although youve got the freedom to go out and about, you still dont feel like you are contributing towards the community.

When the public hear people are living in hotels, they may think its a nice place and (ask): Why are they complaining about it? But actually when you live here, you feel like you are just stuck in one place it doesnt feel like home.

Abdul was evacuated from Kabul in August and has been literally stuck in a London hotel room for nearly five months (PA)

There are currently 25,000 asylum seekers and 12,000 Afghan refugees in hotels, a total of 37,000, the Home Office told the Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

At Wednesdays committee session, MPs were told that the Government is optimistic it will find a new way of working with councils on how we manage these costs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the policy is thoroughly inadequate, adding: We do not want people in hotels.

She also said the Government and local authorities are absolutely struggling to move Afghan refugees into more suitable, permanent accommodation as the country does not have sufficient infrastructure.

A Home Office spokesman said: The use of hotels to house those resettled from Afghanistan is a short-term solution and we are working with local authorities to find appropriate long-term accommodation for them.

We are proud this country has provided homes for more than 4,000 Afghan evacuees in such a short space of time.

Through our huge cross-Government effort and in partnership with local authorities and the private rented sector, we will continue to secure permanent homes for Afghan families so they can settle and rebuild their lives.

Over 300 local authorities have pledged to support Afghan families so far, and we continue to urge those who have not yet come forward, and those that can offer more housing places, to do so.
The Queen paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen Mother and the Duchess of Cornwall in a message celebrating the role of consorts in the royal family, as she set out Camillas future title as Queen.

A royal consort is the spouse of a serving monarch, whose main duty is to provide support and companionship during their reign.

Unlike the king or queen, they do not have a formal position or set tasks and responsibilities.

But throughout history those in the role have held considerable influence  most famously Prince Albert when he served as Prince Consort to Queen Victoria.

Consorts traditionally help the king or queen in their programme of public engagements, from hosting heads of state to attending charity galas.

The Queen Mother was King George VIs consort and the first British-born Queen Consort since Tudor times.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (PA)

The position saw her visit Commonwealth nations and undertake major tours alongside her husband, including to badly damaged areas of the country after the air-raids in the Second World War.

After the kings death, the Queen Mother continued public duties for many decades and remained patron of about 350 organisations.

Philip automatically became Elizabeth IIs consort when she acceded to the throne in 1952.

He made history when he passed the record as Britains longest serving consort in 2009.

In 1953, Philip was the first layman to pay his respects to the Queen on her Coronation Day, immediately after the archbishops and bishops.

The duke dedicated decades of his life to public duty.

He accompanied the Queen around the world on her Commonwealth tours and visited some remote areas which could only be reached by sea on a solo trip on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Unlike Philip, who declined the title of prince consort, Prince Albert was officially given the formal title in 1857.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall (Chris Jackson/PA)

He had spent most of his childhood in Germany and used his knowledge of Europe to advise Victoria on foreign affairs.

He was given full access to cabinet papers, and from 1841 attended audiences which Victoria held with her ministers, steering her away from her close relationship with the Whigs and telling her the Crown should be non-partisan.

As the Prince of Waless spouse, Camilla was already automatically set to be his consort and also technically queen when he becomes king.

But the Queen has paved the way for Camilla to be called Queen Camilla, after royal aides said at the time of her wedding in 2005 that she would be known instead as Princess Consort.

The Queen marked her Platinum Jubilee with the message on Saturday: When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me, and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.

The wife of a king, known as a queen consort, is crowned at a coronation ceremony, unlike the husband of a queen.
Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk.

Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen.

If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned.

I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country.

It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously.

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The U.S. COVID-19 death toll has hit 900,000 amid the Omicron variant's continued spread within the nation and the recent discovery of its subvariant.

Officials around the world are still struggling to contain the rising number of infections driven by the Omicron coronavirus variant. However, dozens of countries have already reported detection of a new subvariant.

COVID-19 Deaths Top 900,000 in the US

In November, South African authorities were the first to report the existence of the Omicron variant. Since then, the new strain has replaced the Delta variant as the dominant driver of infections in most countries.

The vast majority of confirmed new COVID-19 infections in the world are attributed to the dominant form of Omicron, which is known as BA.1. However, a subvariant, known as BA.2, is making its rounds and has started to compete in terms of transmissibility.

Leading scientists worldwide continue their investigations of the new subvariant amid early studies that show it could be more transmissible than the original variant. Various countries, including Denmark, India, and Nepal, are closely monitoring the situation due to the strain dominating infections, as per Aljazeera.

Read Also: Governments Ease Pandemic Restrictions as Omicron Starts To Subside

The subvariant comes as the U.S. has recorded an increase of 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, rising to 900,000 as of Friday compared to 800,000 from less than two months ago. Johns Hopkins University is the one that compiled the data and shows the total over the two years of the pandemic, giving a death toll higher than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina.

The horrifying milestone after more than a year of vaccination efforts that have been stifled by misinformation and political and legal controversies. The hesitancy to the treatments comes despite medical professionals arguing that vaccines are safe and highly effective at preventing serious illness and even death.

Spread of Omicron Variant

The Associated Press reported that the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, Dr. Ashish K. Jha, said that the new number was "astronomically high." He said that many people would not have believed if they were told at the beginning of the pandemic that nearly one million Americans were going to die due to the virus.

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the threat of the coronavirus was much higher than the data suggests. Officials argued that the number of fatalities due to COVID-19 in the United States was roughly 32% higher than reported between February 2020 and September 2021.

Johns Hopkins revealed that there have been more than 2,000 new confirmed infections reported every day in the U.S. for the past two weeks. Officials noted that more than a third of all reported COVID-19 deaths occurred last winter between November 2020 and February 2021.

The situation comes as unvaccinated adults have a 97 times greater risk of dying from the coronavirus compared to adults who are fully vaccinated and have received their booster shots. Older people are at much greater risk than other age groups as 76% of COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the health crisis have been individuals 65 years or older, CNN reported.



Related Article: Children Under 5 Could Soon be Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine

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Home ministry officials said the AIMIM chief's threat perception was assessed afresh after Thursday evenings incident

New Delhi: Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi was offered Z category security on Friday, a day after shots were fired at his car in western Uttar Pradesh, but the Muslim leader rejected it and asked the government to instead make him an A category citizen at par with all.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi, who last evening asked the Election Commission to ensure an independent probe into the incident, also urged the government to charge those who attacked him with stringent provisions of the UAPA and made an appeal to end radicalisation in the country.

Home ministry officials said the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief's threat perception was assessed afresh after Thursday evenings incident in Hapur while he was returning to Delhi after campaigning for the elections beginning February 10. Two people, one from Gautam Buddh Nagar and the other from Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh, have been arrested and charged with attempt to murder.

Owaisi said in Parliament he did not want round-the-clock protection by CRPF commandos extended to him by the government. I dont want Z category security. I want to be an A category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) not invoked against those who fired at me? ... I want to live, to speak. My life will be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car, he said in the Lok Sabha.

Owaisi also asked the government to invoke UAPA against those who are behind radicalism in the country.

"Who are these people who believe in bullet and not ballot? Who are these people who have been so radicalised that they don't have confidence in the Constitution? They have so much hatred," Mr Owaisi said in Parliament.

Owaisi said that in 2015 he had asked the government that in the internal security department of MHA there should be a deradicalisation cell for all religions. He said radicalisation will increase right-wing communalism and terrorism in India. "Those people who have done radicalisation, why don't you impose UAPA on them? I am not afraid of death," he said.

No one was injured in the attack on Thursday evening, a week before Assembly elections in the state begin.

Under 'Z' category security, the second highest, about 16-20 paramilitary commandos are deployed for 24x7 security. An escort, as well as a pilot vehicle, accompanies VIP when he travels by road and a guard is stationed at their home.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said Union home minister Amit Shah will make a statement in the House on the matter on Monday.
Sidhu along with the current chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, is in the race to be announced as CM candidate

New Delhi: Just as the Congress high command is all set to announce the party's chief ministerial face in Punjab, state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu made a veiled attack at the party's top brass while painting himself as a strong contender for the post.

While addressing his supporters, Mr Sidhu claimed that people at the top" want a weak chief minister who will dance to their tunes. He added, "If a new Punjab has to be made, it is in the hands of the chief minister. You have to choose the chief minister this time. People at the top want a weak chief minister who can dance to their tunes. Do you want such a chief minister?" The party workers listening to this speech cheered the covert attack on the high command.

Mr Sidhu along with the current chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, is in the race to be announced as CM candidate. A survey by way of televoting has been done in which there are three options Mr Channi, Mr Sidhu and joint leadership.

Another internal survey is also being carried out that also favours Mr Channi. Interestingly, campaign committee chief Sunil Jakhar has earlier this week said that after Captain Amarinder Singh quit as CM the MLAs favored him for the top post. Now Mr Jakhar has put his weight behind Mr Channi.

Sources say that the survey results will be in favour of Mr Channi and he will be announced as the CM face as he is more popular. Several leaders on the condition of anonymity have said that the actions of Mr Sidhu are such that he has lost out in the race for the CM once again.

In the last couple of months Mr Sidhu has been blowing hot and cold within the party. He was instrumental in getting himself appointed as the state unit chief, then he engineered the situation in such a fashion that the then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had to quit. But instead of him Mr Channi, a Dalit, was given the top job. Since then he has been attacking the Channi government on several issues. He also threw a tantrum and resigned from the state unit chief's post though after that a rapprochement took place and he took back the resignation.

Interestingly, both Mr Channi and Mr Sidhu have said that they will abide by the decision of the party over the CM face. But the party fears that another outburst or tantrum by Mr Sidhu so close to the polling date may hamper its prospects.

In a bid to do damage control AICC incharge Harish Choudhary in the evening said that the comments of Mr Sidhu were taken out of context.
Recounting real-life experiences by retired servicemen is keeping the josh high among residents

Police personnel stand guard at Model Town police colony, identified as a COVID-19 hotspot, during the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in New Delhi. PTI Photo

Hyderabad: As a young Major from 8 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army, Col. SK Sinha (retd), then posted in Sri Lanka, was part of a battalion that killed a top LTTE leader in Jaffna in December 1988. Skirmishes between the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and LTTE was an everyday affair. The IPKF personnel had to sustain on basic ration and limited water.

Despite lack of food, water, sleep and everyday hardships, our morale was high. The present lockdown is nothing compared to those hardships. We have enough food, water, shelter and rest. There is nothing to complain about, Col Sinha (retd) says.

For 285 odd families residing at Patels Green Park apartments in Yapral, adjoining the Cantonment, recounting real-life experiences by retired officers of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force is keeping the josh high among all residents during this crisis.

In this residential society, where quite a few serving and retired officials from Indian tri-services reside, along with civilians, the faujis have taken it upon themselves to not only motivate residents, but also to take measures to ensure safety of all residents, putting to use skills acquired during operations in war zones.

When I recount such incidents, my civilian friends feel motivated to go through lockdown cheerfully, says Col. Sinha (retd), ex-Black Cat commando. He has plenty of stories to share from his experiences in Sri Lanka, north-east and Jammu and Kashmir, where he participated in several operations.

While chasing terrorists in north-east, we would get stuck in jungles for several days with hardly any food, drinking water or a view beyond 20 metres. This lockdown is a minor aberration in a comfortable, safe environment, Col. Jayant Rao (retd) shares with residents on the community WhatsApp group. Several years of disciplined life has made them excellent leaders in time of calamities, he says.

Another officer, Col. Rao (retd) tells residents how when he was posted in eastern sector along the Indo-China border, at a height of 15,000 feet, with minimum infrastructure, with heavy snowfall.

We were cut off and went without supplies for almost two weeks. We were fighting the enemy right in front of us, hostile weather and limited resources. Such experiences leave us with an attitude to to face any challenge in life, he said.

The faujis are taking special care of elderly people, including ageing retired officials. A group of five families have adopted elderly couples, and share three meals a day with them. This ensured that once cooks and maids left due to the lockdown, they would not have to suffer.

Due to high blood pressure, tremors of hands and blood sugar, I was unable to do any household chores. Without maids or any help, I got depressed, and had even become suicidal. Now, these five families have adopted me and provide me food in turns. They pack food in disposable containers so I dont have to wash, revealed 70-year-old Wing Commander Unni Kartha (retd), who lives alone.

Col. A. Narsimham (retd), society president, said they have formed into volunteer officers, who ensure all elderly resident are provided help at doorstep, including services of doctors, and other daily essentials. They coordinated with GHMC and got all staircases, lifts and premises sanitised. Two of three entry/exit gates have been shut.
Koo Sze-yiu, 75, allegedly wanted to protest outside the Beijing Liaison Office to draw attention to imprisoned members of the pro-democracy movement. Meanwhile in Guangzhou, a Christian who has been in prison for months will be put on trial on 11 February for calling for prayers in memory of those who died in Tiananmen.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) - While China was propagating an image of unity and confidence in the future to the world in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing , far from the TV screens there were persistent reports of the repression of dissent. Just yesterday in Hong Kong, Koo Sze-yiu, a 75-year-old activist suffering from advanced cancer, was re-arrested.

He had announced his intention to demonstrate in front of the Beijing Liaison Office on the opening day of the Winter Olympics to remind the world of the fate of the pro-democracy movement members who are in jail in Hong Kong on charges of violating the infamous National Security Act. He himself had suffered the same fate several times in the past and was released in July.

However, Koo could not carry out his protest: police arrested him at dawn at his home in the Winsum Industrial Building for 'inciting subversive activities against the state'. Chan Po-ying, president of the League of Social Democrats, told the Hong Kong Free Press, "It is appalling that even protesting in front of the Beijing Office is now considered incitement to subversion".

Yesterday, China Aid also reported on the fate of Gao Heng, a Christian from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, the closest province to Hong Kong. A member of the Guangzhou Bible Reformed Church, Gao Heng had been arrested for inviting people to pray for China on 4th June, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Still in prison, he will be tried on 11 February on charges of "stirring up discord and causing trouble".
by Shafique Khokhar

Rifat Rani had asked her neighbour for help because she could not make ends meet. The neighbour tried to take advantage of this by harassing the whole family to get more money. The first hearing was held in recent days thanks to the intervention of Human Rights Focus Pakistan.

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) - There is no end to the harassment and persecution of Christians in Pakistan: the widow Rifat Rani and her children have been persecuted by their Muslim neighbours for over six months and only managed to get a court hearing after turning to Human Rights Focus Pakistan.

Rifat Rani, 48, works as a caretaker at the Agricultural University of Faisalabad. Having six other dependents in her family, she could not make ends meet after the death of her husband, so she asked her neighbour Akbar Ali for help. Ali agreed to share the electricity with the widow, but when the first bill arrived on 25 August, he asked her to pay the full 14,000 rupees (about 75 euro).

Rifat refused, asking to pay what had been agreed, i.e. half. Wanting more money, Akbar Ali began to intimidate and harass her daughter Iram. When her brother, Haroon Masih, contacted the police, they arrested both Ali and Haroon, who was then detained for 10 days.

After their release from prison, the two managed to reach an initial agreement on the payment of the bill, but then the situation got worse. Throughout the autumn Akbar Ali and his supporters accused Rifat Rani's family of false crimes (his son and son-in-law were accused of raping Ali's daughter), kidnapped and tortured one of the family members and set fire to their house while they were inside.

It was at this point that the Christian widow decided to turn to Hrfp, after previous complaints to the police had been to no avail. On 28 December, one day after the fire at the Christian home, Hrfp finally managed to have the case registered with the police. The first hearing was held on 2 February, but was adjourned to 9 February because Akbar Ali was present without a lawyer.

Naveed Walter, president of the organisation that is providing legal assistance to the family condemned the case: "There is a tremendous need to change the current laws so that everyone can enjoy the same protection that should be based on equality of belief and religion," he told AsiaNews.

Rifat Rani's son, Haroon Masih, and his son-in-law, Arslan Masih, are facing trial because they are accused of raping Akbar Ali's daughter. At the moment they have been granted bail. The family claims that this is one of the false accusations made by their neighbour to take revenge on them.
Passengers walk at the Michurinsky Prospekt station of the Moscow Metro in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia oppose any attempts to abuse democratic values, oppose interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states in the name of protecting democracy and human rights, and oppose any attempts to stir up divisions and confrontation in the world, according to a joint statement issued Friday after a meeting between the two countries' presidents.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin is paying a visit to China. The two heads of state held talks in Beijing, and attended the opening ceremony of the 24th Olympic Winter Games.

In the joint statement, the two countries call on the international community to respect cultural and civilizational diversity and the rights of people of different countries to self-determination.

China and Russia are ready to join hands with all the interested countries to promote genuine democracy, the statement said.

The two sides agree that democracy is a shared human value, rather than a privilege of a few countries, and that promoting and safeguarding democracy is a common cause of the entire global community.

The two sides believe that democracy should be whole-process and reflect the interests and will of all citizens, the statement said.

People of all countries have the right to choose such forms and methods of implementing democracy that suit their own national conditions, and it is only up to them to decide whether their country is democratic, according to the statement.

China and Russia, as major countries with long-standing history and culture, have profound traditions of democracy rooted in thousands of years of experience of development, and such traditions are broadly supported by the people of each country and reflect their needs and interests, said the statement.

A China-Europe freight train heading for Moscow gets ready to depart from Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Jan. 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

The people of both countries have full confidence in their development paths, and respect other countries' democratic systems and traditions.

China and Russia note that democratic principles should be reflected not only in domestic governance but also at the global level.

Certain countries attempt to draw dividing lines based on ideology, impose their own "democratic standards" on other countries, and monopolize the right to define democracy by establishing small cliques and alliances.

Such action actually tramples democracy and betrays the spirit and true values of democracy, according to the statement.

Such moves to seek hegemony pose serious threats to global and regional peace and stability and undermine the stability of the world order.

The two countries hold that international human rights cooperation should be based on equal dialogue among all countries, and that all countries should have equal development rights.

All countries should carry out human rights coordination and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect and step up efforts to build an international human rights system, the statement added. 
It's not too late to file a claim for a loved one who passed away.

President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, which was meant to assist Americans cope with an economy crippled by COVID-19, over 11 months ago. One aspect of the scheme entailed placing $1,400 stimulus checks into most Americans' bank accounts. The problem is that 2021 was a stressful year for many, and a third stimulus check was the last thing on their minds.

You may claim deceased family member's stimulus check

According to the IRS, anyone who died in 2021 without receiving a $1,400 stimulus payment is still entitled to one. If they died between January 1 and December 31, 2021, their estate can file a claim for stimulus funds owed to them.

If you're filing for someone who died in 2021, the IRS recommends using the Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet to see if they're entitled for the payments, as per Motley Fool. If a person owes taxes in 2021, the Recovery Rebate Credit will reduce the amount owed. If the payment is due, it will be included in their tax return and sent into their bank account as soon as possible.

Making plans for someone after they pass away can be difficult, especially if they did not leave you with clear instructions. If you're trying to settle the affairs of someone who left you with scant financial information, you might not know if they received a stimulus payment in 2021.

There are a few options for finding out. If the deceased gave you a list of their internet passwords and has an IRS online account, the first (and quickest) may be handled. If this is the case, you can check in to see if (and when) money was received.

Check the ledger for a $1,400 deposit from last spring if you don't have access to their online IRS account but do have access to their most commonly used bank account. If it was promptly deposited, an "IRS TREAS" mark will appear in the description.

Read Also: SNAP Benefits in Virginia Extended; How To Apply for Food Assistance and Get Up to $1500

Why may you not get a third stimulus check?

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, allowed the third wave of stimulus checks, which were paid from March through December last year. Round 3 of the so-called stimmies (a slang name for stimulus payments) allowed taxpayers to claim a maximum credit of $1,400 per person, including all qualified dependents stated on a tax return.

Per AARP, depending on income restrictions, a married couple with two qualified dependents may be entitled for a maximum credit of $5,600. Provided you had a baby last year, you can submit for up to $1,400 in back taxes owing to you for your new family member if you identify the kid as a dependent.

For single filers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of more than $75,000 and married couples filing jointly with earnings of more than $150,000, the credit has decreased in magnitude. The credit for heads of family is lowered between $120,000 and $112,500.

Individuals with an AGI of more than $80,000 and married couples filing jointly with an AGI of more than $160,000 lose the credit completely. Household heads with earnings of more than $120,000 are likewise not eligible for the stimulus package. According to the IRS, most qualified Americans have already received their stimulus check.

Is it possible to claim a third stimulus check?

Some persons were denied a third stimulus payment because they were not qualified. Others, on the other hand, were left out or given less than they were due for a variety of reasons that will not preclude them from receiving payment this year.

If you didn't submit a 2019 or 2020 tax return and didn't receive a third stimulus check, you can still claim a payment when you file a 2021 tax return. If you have a kid in 2021, you will be eligible for an additional $1,400 per dependent for the child who was not included in last year's third stimulus check payment.

If your family has undergone additional recent changes, you may be eligible for a stimulus check when you file your 2021 tax return. However, to get the money owed to you by the IRS, you must file a 2021 tax return, as per Yahoo Finance.

Related Article: 2022 Stimulus Check: This Group of Americans Is Eligible for Another $1,400 Other Than the Third Round of Payments

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by Guido Alberto Casanova

An enquiry has been opened into conservative candidate Yoon, who has been accused of favouritism towards a religious sect linked to a shaman close to him. The precedent set by former President Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office for allowing a mystic to interfere in state affairs, has taken a heavy toll.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - In a little over a month's time, on March 9th, South Korea will go to the polls to elect a new president, in what some commentators have dubbed "unpleasant elections". The atmosphere in which the election campaign is being held has been degraded by countless personal attacks, while the main candidates have failed to capture public immagination in terms of popularity in the polls. Against this decidedly unattractive backdrop for voters, the re-emergence of links between politics and shamanism is of great concern to the South Korean public.

After revelations by a local newspaper, Seoul's public prosecutors opened an investigation into conservative candidate Yoon Seok-youl in recent weeks. The accusations date back to February 2020, when South Korea was experiencing the first wave of Covid infections due to an outbreak within the Shincheonji religious sect. Yoon, who was the attorney general at the time, allegedly prevented the police from carrying out a search at the sect's headquarters on the advice of a certain Jeon, a shaman who is said to have had extensive relations with Yoon.

The candidate and the Conservative Party have denied the accusations, but the relationship between Yoon and Jeon is much deeper than initially admitted. In early January, the conservative campaign committee had to disolve its own subcommittee after a video emerged in which Jeon could be seen amicably guiding Yoon to meet members of the subcommittee, despite the fact that the shaman had no official position in the campaign. To avoid suspicion that the mystic might appear as a shadow adviser to the candidate, the Conservative Party therefore decided to dissolve the subcommittee.

According to some elements, Yoon's relationship with shamanism is not even a recent event. A business card from Yoon's wife's company dating back to 2014 listed Jeon's name as a consultant. Moreover, the conservative candidate has already admitted to having had meetings with other mystics. Suspicions about Yoon's associations with mystics had already emerged during the Conservative Party primaries last autumn, when the former prosecutor (then leading the race for the nomination) appeared in a TV debate with the Chinese character 'king' painted on his palm, which many interpreted as a talisman.

Links with shamanism are a very sensitive topic, especially after the scandal that rocked South Korean politics in 2016-2017. On that occasion, the former conservative president Park Geun-hye was dismissed for allowing Choi Soon-sil, her confidante and daughter of a prominent Korean mystic, to meddle in state affairs.

Yet shamanism has been an element of South Korean politics since the period of democratisation, although its presence has often remained below the surface. Democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung's election campaign in early January launched a committee of 17 religious figures. For many decades, Seoul's political elites have had links with traditional shamanism in Korean culture, and the only difference this time is that these links are at the centre of public debate.
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In February, 2021, Henderson County Sheriff's Office deputies and other agencies seized 67 animals in an animal cruelty case. The county is contracting with the Texas Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals to supply an investigator for such cases.
And its because Android 12 is causing all kinds of problems on Android Auto, from broken notifications to the car no longer recognizing the mobile device at all.Now some users on Googles support board have come across another totally awkward glitch seemingly caused by the switch to this new operating system version.Installing Android 12 on a smartphone used to power Android Auto in a car causes the apps interface to be completely messed up in a way that makes it impossible to use. As you can see in the photos here, the UI seems to be upscaled substantially, with gigantic buttons now eating up the entire screen estate.Obviously, no workaround brings things back to normal, as reconnecting the mobile device, rebooting it, clearing the cache and the data are all ideas that produce no improvement.At this point, its not exactly clear whats causing the whole thing, but it looks like only a small number of users are impacted. Of course, nobody has a clue about whos affected and who isnt, as there doesnt seem to be a pattern that could help track down the error.The UI bug happens on various mobile devices, including Samsung and OPPO phones, as well as in different cars with different head units.Google is yet to acknowledge the problem so far, so nobody knows for sure if the company is at least investigating these reports. But if Android 12 is indeed the culprit, then the only workaround is downgrading to the previous version of the operating system, and of course, this isnt by any means a convenient method to restore Android Auto in the car.
The Lancer is the most capable bomber in the USAF arsenal. Part of the bomber trifecta that also includes the B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress, it has the capacity of carrying the "largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the Air Force inventory.Its design is like no other in the industry. It comes with a blended configuration, variable-geometry wings extending far away from the main body, which also holds turbofan afterburning engines, and a very sharp nose extending into the wind.Created initially as a replacement for the B-52 in the 1970s, the B-1 got canceled a few years into the testing program, only to be reborn as the B-1B not long after that.There arent all that many of them flying in the skies of the world right now, with only 62 having ever been made. Each can carry a payload of 75,000 pounds (34,019 kilograms), at speeds of Mach 1.2.The top range of the airplane is described by the USAF as intercontinental, but if for some reason thats not enough, aerial refueling is always an option.The photo we have here shows a B-1 deployed with the 7th Bomber Wing in Texas, closing in on a KC-135R Stratotanker for a refill. The two were captured like this at the beginning of the month, during a Bomber Task Force deployment over the Pacific Ocean.The 7th Bomber Wing , established in 1947, is headquartered at the Dyess Air Force Base and is one of only two strategic bombardment wings in the USAF to use Lancers.
A man identified only as Ricky had an initiative that cleared almost 70.000 ($94.700) from the traffic camera revenue. That means almost 700 fines ! He told the local press he believes this is the right path to follow, and is willing to sacrifice his own time to help the drivers in his area not be penalized. He considers the new cameras just money grabbers and points out that the signs for them are unclear.According to Croydon rules, drivers who enter that road between 8:30 AM and 9 AM and 2 PM and 4 PM are automatically fined because it is considered a school zone. This is just one of the new 26 similar areas instated by the local authorities.Two other men, who were already fined, joined him in his quest, and together they try to warn drivers about the new driving restriction. If one of them is unavailable, another replaces him. They work like a team! Police were already asked about this and said the men don`t break any current rules.After Ricky`s silent protest has gained enough attention, the politicians said they think the cameras for school zones are clear enough. That being said, the decision to install more placards has already been taken and will soon be applied.Some warned drivers chose to send Ricky (55 years old) boxes of chocolate and whisky as a gesture. He told the interviewers he doesn`t want anything from the public. His only wish is for the Council to act properly and not overcharge drivers.The fine for driving in the school zones in the times mentioned above is 130 ($176) for every passing that has been recorded by cameras.
The motorcycle started life as a Breakout 114 and was that until it crossed the doors of a French garage called Melk. Generally, this crew is in the business of applying paint, but since you cant really call a re-painted Harley a custom, they often go the whole nine yards.Like most custom Harleys, the bike got modified using parts sourced from all over the world. Maintaining its overall stock stance, the Breakout was propped on an air suspension system from Platinum, received a 260 mm wide rear wheel, which got fitted with Metzeler rubber, and a Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde exhaust system to go with the otherwise stock engine.But its the color play thats supposed to make this thing stand out in the crowd. For the task at hand, Melk used no less than three paints, enhanced by satin and gloss varnishes.Something called Vivid Black was sprayed on most of the bike, from the covers of the rockers and pushrods to one on the primary. Black also drapes the stretched fuel tank, fenders, and fairing.Complementing the darkness of the build is Grigio Silverstone Ferrari Satin on the rims, pulley, and brake discs. Together, the two hues really make the fine, subtle touches of yellow stand out on the bike.The yellow is called Giallo Modena Ferrari, and it decorates the rims of the wheels, parts of the engine, the fuel tank and fenders. Combined with the glow of the Kellerman lights fitted on the build, the Breakout sure makes for an appealing conversion.Appealing, but not exactly cheap. Melk says it can make something like this for $35,000 euros, which is about $39,000 at todays exchange rates.
SUV

But if you're the man who invented the world's most famous 4x4, the Classic Range Rover meant a lot more than that. In this case, modern Range Rovers are an affront to everything their vision stood for. Why? Because this man created the Range Rover to be the ultimate utilitarian 4x4, not to be a status symbolSay hello to Charles Spencer King. Maybe not a household name like Carrol Shelby or Enzo Ferrari, granted. But his contributions to off-roading easily match more familiar faces from history.Today, let's take a deep dive into the history and the musings of the man who gave us the Range Rover. Hopefully, by the end, it will be clear why he grew to loath what it would eventually become.In truth, the history of the Range Rover predates its release in 1970, far earlier than some may be aware. Its development actually began back in the late 1950s. In those days, Land Rover was far from the 4x4 juggernaut it is today.The Series I, II, and III edition Land Rovers were more than capable and did indeed save Rover from going bust. But it lacked something important, refinement. In short, it needed to be suited for more than just hearty rural folks. It needed to cater to the cosmopolitan, at least to a certain degree.The result of trying to solve this problem became a concept vehicle called the Road Rover. A vehicle that may not look much like the Range Rover we know and love. More like a bloated Rover P5 or something. But rest assured, one would not exist without the other.Rover Group engineer David Bates was brought on to help design the body of the Range Rover around the time Rover was getting serious about making a Bronco and K5 Blazer competitor. His design was smoother and more car-adjacent than what we know and love today.What often gets lost in the details of the Range Rovers history is that the dynamic duo of Charles Spencer King and his life-long friend and colleague Gordon Bashford devised their own basic body panels and up-staged Bates by showing it off before he'd even had more than just a few drawings.Rover was so impressed with King and Bashford's results that they promptly threw Bate's design in the trash. The rest is pretty much history. One can only think to assume David Bate's seething face sustained the dynamic duo of King and Bashford for many days.The concept had the underpinnings of the Rover P4 Sedan. Subsequent editions had a series of unique bodywork designs to try and see if anyone combination had the total package the Rover Group thought could sell. Let's just be thankful the Range Rover didn't sport a Roll-Royce-esque front grille like the Mark I Road Rover did.These original Road Rovers were designed primarily by one of Spencer King's colleagues, a man by the name of Gordon Bashford. But development on the project soon became bogged down. Very little development occurred from 1958 until 1966. At which point, Rover's attention was drawn to a phenomenon occurring across the globe.On the other side of the Atlantic, the Americans were undergoing a 4x4 revolution of their own. Icons like the original Ford Bronco , Jeep Wagoneer, and the Chevrolet K5 Blazer were entering their full swing back in the mid to late 1960s. These off-roaders sported long wheelbase for the period, big V8 engines, and more refinements than one would expect from a 60s American vehicle.This challenge from across the pond lit a fire underneath the Rover Company. As they too wanted to compete in the American market. Suddenly, Road Rover development was back on, and in a big way. The first order of business was to find a suitable engine. Because the iron-block four-cylinder under the hood during the early stages of development simply wasn't going to cut it.Thankfully, Rover Group acquired the rights from General Motors to manufacture a new V8. A 215 cubic inch (3.5-liter) unit with an aluminum block, aluminum heads, and even the potential to mount turbochargers. As was the case with the Oldsmobile Jetfire derivative, a handful of Pontiac's were built with the engine as well.With the rights to this engine now firmly in Rover Group's hands, it was time for Charles Spenser King and his team to bring all the pieces together. With the help of his colleague Gordon Bashford, the first pre-production Range Rovers were created in 1967, dubbed "Velar," during development. The Range Rover made its official debut in 1970. The rest, as they say, was history.Sounds like a happy ending for Mr. King and his team. But it's a bit more complicated than that. You see, the Range Rover began a metamorphosis when Land Rover decided to compete for head to head with the Bronco and the Blazer in the States.It's here when Charles Spencer King began to detest what he himself had created, or at least what it was turning into. Gone was the focus on dependability and off-road capability. Replaced with leather seats, wood trim pieces, and all the luxurynonsense that spoils off-road ability.Fast-forward to Land Rover's acquisition by BMW in the 1990s, and management had realized most new Range Rover owners never even crossed a muddy field. Let alone take one on the trail. Depending on who you talk to, this was even true well before BMW came knocking.This is reflected in the makeup of subsequent Range Rover models, the P38A from 1994 to 2002 and the L322 from 2001 to 2012. Both of which King himself critically panned. As for the Range Rover Evoque, Velar, or even current iteration of the Range Rover due to be replaced this year, don't even get us started. He must have spun in his grave at the very sight of them."The 4x4 was never intended as a status symbol, but later incarnations of my design seem to be intended for that purpose," the British inventor told Glasgow's Daily Record in 2004. "To use the 4x4 for the school run, or even in cities or towns at all, is completely stupid."As biased as he might have been, we have to give it to Mr. King. From an entirely logical perspective, the expensive, bougie, wasteful family hauler the Range Rover became makes next to no sense whatsoever.Even its modern status as the ultimate luxury 4x4 can't save it from the distinction. King died on June 28th, 2010. Sparring him the sight of seeing what the Range Rover would evolve into ten years down the line.With that very Range Rover set to debut this year, it appears the wishes of its creator will continue to be ignored. Much to the chagrin of everyone still around who remembers what Land Rovers used to be like long ago.All favor of catering to suburban wine moms and absentee businessman dads who will never, and we mean, ever, take it off-road. It's a grudge that Charles Spenser King went to his grave carrying.Rest in peace, Mr. King. Your contributions to the industry will outlive us all. Check back for more from Land Rover Month right here on autoevolution.
kW

As far as we know, the only energy storage beneath the hoods of the e-208 and e-2008 is the 12V battery. However, things get a bit more mysterious as we keep reading the issue description. According to Stellantis, the problem can increase the risk of fire while the vehicle is being charged or on is in motion. These are precisely the situations in which the high-voltage battery pack is under more demand.The 12V needs to work whenever ancillary systems are in use. In other words, climate control, lighting, and infotainment demand its help, which can happen in more situations than just during charges or when the car is moving. Without an alternator in EVs, the 12V battery needs a DC-to-DC converter to keep charged.According to Stellantis technical drawings, the only things beneath the hood are the heat pump, the 100-(134-hp) electric motor, the onboard charger, and the 12V battery. The battery pack looks more like multiple battery modules placed beneath the seats and on what would be a transmission tunnel in a combustion-engined car. That shows the e-CMP is an adapted architecture rather than something conceived for electric vehicles.Everything points to a short circuit on the 12V battery. For battery suppliers, that is probably a relief. Stellantis buys cells for its high-voltage battery pack from LG Energy Solution and CATL. LG Energy Solution has been involved with battery issues that caused massive battery pack recalls, such as those involving the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Hyundai Kona Electric. The ZOE also uses cells from the South Korean supplier.However, happening only when the car is moving or charging makes it an intriguing phenomenon. Stellantis said that an error in the manufacturing process caused the problem in vehicles produced from January 15, 2020, up to June 20, 2020. Five months of production may have created thousands of defective cars.Unfortunately, the European recall report is rather incomplete. It does not bring the number of vehicles involved. It also does not inform if there were any cases that made the automaker start an investigation, any victims, or when measures will be taken. We have already contacted Stellantis to get the missing pieces of this puzzle.
The wait is finally over! Realme CEO officially announced that Realme 9 Pro series will be launched on Feb. 16 across India and Europe.

Realme 9 Pro Series Release Date And Price

The Realme 9 series has technically begun to roll out, with the Realme 9i making its debut in a few select markets, but this is only the prequel for the full force release, which has yet to arrive, per Tech Radar.

In addition to this, Realme has stated that the 9 Pro series is coming Feb.16, which includes the Pro and Pro Plus versions. However, because users can't have a 'Pro' gadget without a basic one, it appears that more variants will be released in the future.

With regards to the said price, 9 Pro is expected to cost 25,526 IND or around $341.

Realme 9 Pro Series Specs

For those interested to purchase the device, people must note that Realme will be releasing two variants namely 9 Pro and 9 Pro Plus.

91 Mobiles reported that the Realme 9 Pro is rumored to include a 6.59-inch FHD+ OLED display with a refresh rate of 120Hz and a secure fingerprint sensor embedded in the display. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor might be used, along with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of extendable storage.

It could have a triple camera configuration, with a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 2MP macro lens. For selfies and video chats, there is a 16MP front-facing camera. The phone will be powered by a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W rapid charging.

Read Also: 'Dark Herring' Scamware Campaign Preys on 105M Android Users: How it Works

On the other hand, the Realme 9 Pro Plus will feature a 50MP Sony IMX766 primary sensor with OIS, EIS, and a huge 1/1.56 sensor that catches 63.8 percent more light. There is also an AI Noise Reduction 3.0, which claims to reduce noise in photos to make them more crisp and detailed.

Aside from this, it wil also have a Street Photography 2.0, which is designed for long exposure shots.

The MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor will power the Realme 9 Pro Plus, which will be combined with a Mali G68 GPU for gaming. Amusingly, the 9 Pro Plus is expected to have a heart rate sensor.

Realme 9 Pro Series Color Options

Realme Vice President Madhav Sheth unveiled two color versions of the upcoming 9 Pro and 9 Pro plus smartphones on Twitter. In the said tweet, Sheth urged Twitter users to choose between two colors: Sunrise Blue and Glittery Red.

Which colour do you prefer in our upcoming smartphone?



Sunrise Blue

Glittery Red



RT & reply with #CaptureTheLight! pic.twitter.com/nF3a0xZEOv  Madhav Sheth (@MadhavSheth1) February 2, 2022

While the CEO does not explicitly mention that these colors are for the Realme 9 Pro series, we can presume that they are because the 9 Pro was recently spotted in Sunrise Blue in the hands of a well-known leaker, KL Rahul, per GizmoChina.

Will There Be 5G Variants?

Tech Radar furthered that firstly, Realme has identified two phones that are still on their way: the Realme 9 Pro and Pro Plus, although that naming certainly suggests a 'non-Pro' version is coming too. Realme has never released a Pro Plus phone before.

Realme has reportedly changed its pattern of having one 5G phone with two 4G phones for each generation of numbered phones, as these two phones will be 5G-compatible.

Related Article: How to Customize Your Android Device: Top Launchers for Full Customization and How to Use Them
Initially, Ford was supposed to cut production only of its famous Bronco . Now even Transit van customers will have to wait more because only one shift will run.The Michigan, Chicago, and Cuautitlan, Mexico factories will stop temporarily, while the work will continue at a slower pace in Kansas. Moreover, the plants in Kentucky and Louisville will have a single shift or a reduced schedule. At the same time, the overtime in Oakville, Canada, will be cut.Ford warned that a decline in vehicle volume was to come after it presented smaller-than-expected quarterly income and a rather grim forecast for 2022.Customers will have to wait longer for their cars, but the Detroit carmaker promised it would ship more starting with the second half of the year. Don't expect any major improvements, though.A Ford spokeswoman cited by Reuters said the chip shortage will remain an issue that the company will tackle.The carmaker already partnered with GlobalFoundries to buy chips made in the U.S. Unfortunately, it won't be able to deliver this year.Planning on buying a new and cheaper car now? First, you ought to know that companies that make chips disagree with automakers. Major producers say nothing will change in the short term. Still, NXP and Infineon believe the current situation will continue. On the other hand, Toshiba and Intel are planning billion-dollar investments to help the auto and tech industry. Still, an up and running factory takes at least two years to build.Qualcomm is the only semiconductor manufacturer that is optimistic about the second half of 2022, and it works closely with Tesla.
The company warned European Union authorities that units produced between January 13, 2021, and February 22, 2021, present the risk of an internal short circuit (..:) in the battery. According to Renaults own words, such an issue will lead to increased risk of fire. Renault did not disclose exactly which battery is involved with the problem. However, the information document suggests that it is related to the high-voltage battery pack, more specifically to the BT4 XLR (Extra Long Range). We suspect the French carmaker is talking about what it publicly refers to as the "E.V. 50 battery pack."It may sound like a coincidence, but the fact is that Renault developed this battery pack with LG Chem, now known as LG Energy Solution. In a document released when the current iteration of the ZOE was presented, the French automaker said that LG made the ZOE batteries in Wroclaw, Poland, and Renault finished assembling the battery pack in Flins.Two of the most significant recalls involving battery packs are also connected to LG Energy Solution: the ones involving the Chevy Bolt EV and the Hyundai Kona Electric. In both cases, GM and Hyundai asked LG to support the costs of the recalls, which were related to manufacturing defects with the cells.In its document to European authorities, Renault did not disclose what caused the internal short-circuit. It may be an issue related to the assembly of the battery pack and not something the LG Energy Solution cells have caused. We also need to know if there was any fire case that triggered the investigation and how many units are affected by the defect.Considering the good sales of the electric hatchback, they should be around a few thousand. However, this is something else we need to confirm with the French automaker We asked Renault for more information and will clarify these doubts as soon as we hear back from the company.
Telling people in a complicated manner what space exploration in general and the Apollo program in particular are was of course not enough, and NASA had to devise means to make these efforts appealing for the wider public, from the youngest of ages.Those efforts included an unlikely partnership with Charles Schulz, the cartoonist who gave birth to some of the most recognizable characters ever created, Peanuts Charlie Brown and his anthropomorphic beagle named Snoopy.The first time these characters were unofficially included in the space program was during the Apollo 10 mission. In May of 1969, the lunar module that reached the satellite was nicknamed by the crew Snoopy, while the command module got the moniker Charlie Brown.Also back in the Apollo era, NASA created the Silver Snoopy Award, a very coveted recognition of merits for NASA employees and contractors, with about 1 percent of the aerospace program workforce getting it each year. Each of these awards, which come in the form of a silver pin, had been flown in space by NASA astronauts before being handed to the recipients.For the general public, NASAs Snoopy is presently contributing to a STEM-based curriculum for students in kindergarten through 5th grade, meant to educate children about American space endeavors, it was featured in a McDonalds Happy Meal, and even on a Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.And now, it will be going into space on the first, uncrewed mission of the Artemis program.At the moment, NASA is getting ready to kickstart its second lunar program. Artemis I is scheduled to take off in a few months time, in a run meant to validate both the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule.Orion, which is actually the spaceship that will eventually take humans to the Moon, will not house people this time, but it will be crewed by a dummy named Arturo Campos , after the man who helped stop the Apollo 13 mission from turning into a disaster, and a toy Snoopy doll.While Campos will be strapped in a seat, Snoopy will float around freely, and on purpose. NASA is using it as a zero-gravity indicator, which simply put is a free object that starts to float once the spaceship reaches zero-G, providing a visual cue of the achievement.For Artemis I, Snoppy will be wearing a full orange astronaut suit , comprising gloves, boots, and a NASA patch. It has no sensors, no cameras, no fancy gear, as it needs none for the simple job it has to perform.The Snoopy doll will be accompanied in space by Sliver Snoopy pins, but also a pen nib from Schulzs Peanuts studio, wrapped in a space-themed comic strip.Thats on the actual mission. Back on Earth, Artemis will be advertised by Peanuts Worldwide with a new suite of curriculum and short videos with its partner, GoNoodle, to encourage kids to learn about gravity, teamwork, and space exploration. Additionally, Apple TV+ will run a new season of Snoopy in Space.At the time of writing, there is no set date and time for the launch of Artemis I. The official NASA countdown timer has just been updated to show 26 days left, putting the event at the end of this month.That will have to be reset as well, as the space agency recently said it would only roll out the SLS onto the launchpad in mid-March.
Indeed, the Egg was towed to Beaulieu River, in Hampshire, UK, where it was tethered like a regular boat. It spend an entire year there, between July 2013 and July 2014, with Turner inside, who used it as his permanent home , office and research lab. As per Turners own statement, he wanted to study how the environment changed around the Egg and, at the same time, how the Egg responded and adapted to these changes.The shell of the egg was made of reclaimed cedar wood and epoxy, measuring 6 meters (19.7 feet) in length and 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) in width. Inside, there was no running water or electricity, but Turner did have the basics to survive. There was a bedroom area, initially housing a hammock that was immediately replaced by a bed on an elevated platform at the bow, which had the benefit of offering additional storage underneath. The length of the Egg on one side was occupied by Turners workspace, where he monitored the cameras hed set up on the perimeter, drew his drawings, and made observations that would later be posted on his dedicated blog.The kitchen area was rudimentary at best, with a paraffin camp stove and a tiny sink, and improvised storage wherever there was space for it. There was also a charcoal-burning stove for heating up the place, which proved a life-saving feature during the rough winter that followed. A small bathroom with shower and toilet was also available. The only source of light was a porthole window on top, but it was enough to let Turner know when the day started. Wanting to live in perfect communion with nature , he had opted for no electricity, so for the 12 months he stayed there, he would wake up at sunrise and go to sleep at dawn.He had some power, though, since he needed to document the experience. Four initial and then six solar panels in a nearby field generated electricity that was then sent through an underwater cable, to an inverter, and used to feed Turners cameras and laptop. His only regret at the end of the project was that he didnt include a wind turbine, which would have prevented him from rationing his use of both during the winter months.For the year Turner lived on the floating Egg, he did more than document the surrounding natural environment and whatever changes he was prompting in it. He made preserves, and made his own ink from whatever he could forage (blackberries, mostly), so he could continue drawing. He fought with molding, both black and green, which appeared as the Egg began leaking water from the roof and eventually took over everything, from the Egg itself to his clothes and even his teabags. He sent out 12 plastic egglets with surprises inside, to see where they would end up. He entertained occasional guests and, on rare occasions, spoke to the media via Skype.The blueprint for the Exbury Egg, echoes its symbolism as a blueprint of life, Turner said in 2014, at the end of the project.  Climate change is already creating new shorelines and habitats. [] Raising awareness of the past and the unfolding present of a very special location will be the task, whilst living in an ethical relationship with nature and treading as lightly as possible upon the land.His message echoed with many. The Egg won several industry awards, both for its environmentalist message and its capabilities as a proper home . For the next few years, the Egg traveled across the UK, being part of several other art installations. To this day, its still around: in 2019, Turner launched the international project Natura Prima?, which saw the Egg displayed on Thamesmead, London that same year, and in Venice, Italy, in 2020. In September 2021, Turner spoke about the Egg at the Art for Your World event for The Royal Society of Sculptors.The egg, Turner says, is aesthetically and conceptually perfect . As it turns out, the egg is also a perfect home for those looking to downsize.
Companies have been experimenting with automated driving systems since the 1920s when Houdina Radio Control operated a 1926 Chandler using radio impulses on the streets of New York. RCA Labs and the Ohio State University also ran promising trials in the 1950s and 1960s.Mainstream automakers didn't get involved on a larger scale until the 1990s, but that didn't stop them from creating futuristic concepts for a world where humans would no longer drive their vehicles.General Motors did so in 1964 when it unveiled the Firebird IV at its Futurama Exhibit at the New York World's Fair.Completely unrelated to the Firebird that Pontiac would release in 1967, the IV was part of a series of experimental vehicles that GM started rolling out in 1953. It all began with Firebird I (XP-21), a gas turbine-powered jet plane on wheels, and continued with the II, a sport four-seat car with titanium bodywork. The latter debuted in 1956.A wild-looking Firebird III arrived in 1959 with seven wings and fins, air drag brakes, and a joystick instead of a steering wheel.Five years later and the Firebird IV was created for a future in which cars steered automatically via "programmed guidance systems to ensure absolute safety at more than twice the speed possible on expressways of the day."Was it a true-blue autonomous vehicle? Not really, because it was just a rolling concept. Even though GM claimed it to be a turbine-powered vehicle like the Firebirds before it , the IV never actually ran and drove. What's more, GM's idea was a bit different than today's autonomous concept, as the Firebird IV required a system of "electric highways."There was no plan to put it into production, and GM wasn't exactly interested in developing self-driving cars at the time. It was just an exotic topic that fit the Futurama bill.But the Firebird IV was as spectacular as futuristic concepts get. The car was incredibly sleek, and even though it lacked the III's massive amount of wings and fins, it was still heavily inspired by the jet age . The beltline became increasingly wider toward the rear, to the point it formed a wing-like element that extended a few good inches beyond the rear fascia.Likewise, the front wheels were partly covered by slanted wings that extended from the lower front fascia all the way to the doors.The extremely sharp nose and the turbine-like elements that flanked the rear fascia also contributed to the IV's spectacular appearance. So did the cockpit-style roof with wrap-around glass and a deeply sculpted center section.The roof slid forward and upward to unlatch the doors, which then glided forward to provide easy access inside the cabin. Both the roof and the doors were activated at the touch of a button.The interior itself was a mix of aviation and luxury features. While the seats were obviously inspired by jet fighters of the era, they reclined and swiveled for increased comfort and easy ingress and egress.On top of that, the Firebird IV was pretty much a living room on wheels, thanks to a pull-out refrigerator, a folding table, and even a TV set.The idea doesn't seem all that wild now when we're very close to being able to work, sleep, or watch Netflix while sitting in a fully autonomous car, but it was spectacular back in 1964. Especially when refrigerators and TV sets were still too big to fit in production cars.The car's dashboard also included a special slot for punched cards with predetermined routes programmed by info provided by electric highway centers. An early navigation system, if you will.And in case you don't know what punched cards are, they're basically pieces of stiff paper that hold digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions.Pioneered in the late 1800s, punched cards have been obsolete as a storage medium for a few decades now, but they were still being used in 1964.So what happened to the concept after its debut that year? Well, GM repackaged the idea for the 1969 show circuit as the Buick Century Cruiser.The latter was almost entirely identical but featured a different color, a steering wheel, and a few other upgrades inside the cabin. Sadly, like most Futurama show cars, the Firebird IV was crushed in the 1980s.But even though it ended up a big pile of scrapped metal, the Firebird eventually gave its name to the iconic Pontiac Firebird , which remained in production for a whopping 35 years.Likewise, Buick's take on the concept signaled the return of the Century nameplate in 1973. And it stands as proof that GM had quite a few innovative ideas back in the day.
Palmdale, CA (93550)

Today

Sunny with gusty winds developing this afternoon. High 82F. WSW winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low 53F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph.
QuaDream, a smaller and "lower profile" surveillance vendor, is accused of hacking into iPhones around the world. Many noticed that this spyware uses a similar software exploit as the notorious NSO Group, which led to some speculations. An investigation is still underway.

According to Reuters, QuaDream is an Israeli firm that develops smartphone hacking tools for government clients. They employ sophisticated techniques called "zero-clicks" to attack a victim's iPhone.

Simply put, "zero-click" attacks mean an iPhone can be hacked even if the owner does not do anything. This is because malicious actors will exploit a vulnerability that already exists in the system to plant their digital spying tools.

iPhone Spyware: The QuaDream Attack

Experts analyzed that the intrusions engineered by NSO Group to hack iPhones last year are very similar to QuaDream's code. Both companies used the software exploit ForcedEntry to hack into iPhones. Be warned that this is a vulnerability hidden deep inside Apple's instant messaging platform. Even worse, CitizenLab security researcher Bill Marczak called QuaDream's zero-click capability "on par" with NSO's.

According to Gizmodo, QuaDream specifically attacks with a malicious code dubbed Reign. Be warned that Reign has the ability to "control of a smartphone, scooping up instant messages from services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, as well as emails, photos, texts, and contacts, according to two product brochures from 2019 and 2020."

Evidence from the spyware firm also shows that they have "premium collection" offers. This spyware will let malicious actors gain access to real-time call recordings, camera activation for front and back, and microphone activation. Keep in mind that commands are issued remotely, so victims have no way of knowing that their iPhones are already being taken advantage of.

The potential of these dangerous codes implies that QuaDream could be a global threat to Apple users, especially since ForcedEntry and Reign are viewed as some "of the most technically sophisticated exploits" by security researchers.

Read Also: Room For Improvement? Here's 'Sunroom:' An Alternative Creator Platform That Empowers Women

NSO Group Denies Involvement with QuaDream

It is worth noting that an NSO spokeswoman told Reuters that her group "did not cooperate with QuaDream." Instead, she pointed out that "the cyber intelligence industry continues to grow rapidly globally," which implies they are not responsible or related to the growing online threat.

Spyware companies generally promote that they sell high-powered technology to governments to help them improve national defense. However, the notion is widely argued by groups and journalists who noted that spyware undermines political opposition, attacks civil society, and interferes with elections.

For now, the investigations are still ongoing. It is hard to determine whether QuaDream is related to NSO Group or not. Fans interested in the development are recommended to watch out for possible updates.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that Apple fixed its underlying vulnerabilities in September 2021. Ideally, this should mean that both NSO and QuaDream attacks are no longer effective at the time of writing.



Related Article: NSO Group Allegedly Offered 'Bags of Cash' to Access US Networks: An Investigation is Underway
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken raised concerns with Israel over the death of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian American who died after Israeli soldiers detained him in the occupied West Bank last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told me.

Why it matters: The fact the issue was raised on such a high level shows that the Biden administration takes Assad's death seriously and that it has become a point of potential political tension between the U.S. and Israel.

Driving the news: Assad, who lived in Milwaukee before moving back to his home village, was stopped at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank on Jan. 12.

According to an Israeli military investigation into the incident, Israeli soldiers tied his hands and dragged him to a courtyard of a nearby building.

The investigation found that upon Assad's release, the soldiers did not identify signs of distress, but rather assessed he was asleep and did not try to wake him. Several hours later he was found dead. An autopsy showed he died of a stress-induced heart attack.

The IDF said in a statement that the incident was a grave and unfortunate event, resulting from a moral failure and poor decision-making on the part of the soldiers."

The big picture: The Netzah Yehuda Battalion commander was reprimanded and two junior officers were dismissed over the incident.

The Netzah Yehuda was formed as a special military unit for ultra-Orthodox soldiers, but over the years, many soldiers from extreme right-wing settlements have joined its ranks. Soldiers from the battalion were involved in several incidents of violence against Palestinian detainees in the past.

A criminal investigation by the military police into the January incident is still ongoing.

Behind the scenes: The initial military investigation into the incident was concluded relatively quickly due to U.S. pressure, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli officials say they notified the State Department in advance of the publication of the findings.

Lapid said Blinken raised the issue and asked "legitimate questions" in a phone call they had on Monday, several hours before the conclusions of the investigation were published.

What they are saying: Assads death was a very bad incident, Lapid told me.

It is something that cannot happen in a law-abiding democratic country," he said.

Lapid also condemned the violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, saying the settlers "should be treated as criminals and be thrown in jail."

What to watch: State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday the Biden administration took note of the IDF investigation findings and disciplinary measures but was still deeply concerned by the circumstances of Assads death.
All U.S. federal prisons have been placed on lockdown after an altercation in a federal penitentiary in Texas that left two inmates dead and two injured.

State of play: The four inmates were fighting at a penitentiary in Beaumont, Texas. As a result, the Bureau of Prisons issued a nationwide lockdown "to ensure the good order of our institutions. We anticipate this security measure will be short-lived," the BOP said in an emailed statement to Axios.

The lockdown affects the agency's over 120 federal prisons.

The BOP said it "will continue to monitor events carefully and will adjust its operations accordingly as the situation evolves."

Details: The BOP said no staff was injured and the public was not in danger, according to a press release.
Netflix released another hit South Korean drama series, which is currently airing on the platform and is topping the Netflix Global chart around the world.

The zombie thriller "All of Us Are Dead" ranked first on Netflix's non-English language TV Top 10 list for the week of Jan. 24 to 30, with 124.79 million hours of viewing time.

The first episode of the series aired on Jan. 28.

"All of Us Are Dead" was the most-watched television show in many countries, including Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan. It was in the top ten in several others, including the United States and the United States Kingdom.

'All of Us Are Dead'

After Squid Game, Hellbound, and The Silent Sea, this action-packed show becomes the fourth Korean series to reach the top of the Netflix weekly global charts.

Only 63.2 million hours were logged in the first week of Squid Game's existence before it went on to become a major hit.

"All of Us Are Dead'' takes place in a high school where a zombie apocalypse has erupted, and the students must fight for their lives in order to survive. It is based on the webtoon Now At Our School, which ran between 2009 and 2011.

CNA Lifestyle reported that Netflix described the series that centers around these students who are bound together by a desire to survive, treachery, and camaraderie in the most improbable ways.

Read Also: 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' on Netflix, Disney Plus: When Will Tom Holland's Film Be Available for Streaming?

'All of Us Are Dead' Similarities From Original

In terms of the original work, it is very similar to the basic storyline. The overall flow of the plot is likewise remarkably similar to the original version.

However, viewers may have the impression that the show is different from the original in terms of the specific scenarios that occur to some of the children as well as the personalities of the various characters.

Following the premiere of All of Us Are Dead on Netflix, viewers were instantly astonished by how loyal the show adhered to the webtoon that served as its inspiration.

According to the director Lee Jae-Kyoo in a report on Screen Rant, this was exactly the creative team's intention.

When the original work was adapted for serial television, it was essential to alter the plot and characters detailed below.

'All of Us Are Dead Season' 2

As the title might imply, the majority of the original cast does not survive the show's first season.

Choi Nam-ra, who Cho Yi-hyun plays, is one character who we can almost certainly expect to see again in the series.

This can be avoided if the program mixes things up with a completely different cast in the coming seasons.

Despite the fact that most of the survivors had completed their stories, it is still possible that the outbreak would reemerge in the future. All it would take is one zombie to devastate the entire world once more completely.

It is rumored by Digital Spy that "All of Us Are Dead" won't infect our lives again until at least a month before season two's (potential arrival).

Related Article: Is 'Eternals' Coming to Netflix After Disney Plus Release? [Cast, Spoilers, Other Details]
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @idesai98 on Twitter.
Email Dan Walters of CalMatters at dan@calmatters.org. CalMatters is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Walters, go to calmatters.org/dan-walters.
Studies showed that small gaseous planets that are not found in our solar system are losing their atmosphere, which causes them to transform into super-Earths.

These small gaseous planets are called mini-Neptune. They are called mini-Neptunes because they are like smaller, denser versions of the planet Neptune, which consists of large rocky cores surrounded by thick blankets of gas.

Meanwhile, several times the Earth's mass, rocky planets are called super-Earths.

Both mini-Neptune and super-Earth belong to Exoplanets, or by NASA's definition, any planet found outside of our solar system.

What Are Exoplanets?

Most exoplanets orbit other stars. But are also other exoplanets called rogue planets, which are free-floating exoplanets (unattached to any stars) that are orbiting the galactic center.

As NASA explains, most of the exoplanets known to date are concentrated in a small area of the Milky Way. Interestingly, there are more planets than stars in the galaxy.

In terms of composition, exoplanets range from very rocky (eg., Earth and Venus) to very gaseous (eg., Jupiter and Saturn).

Since then, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered from all the explorations that NASA has accomplished.

Exoplanets are categorized into two: mini-Neptunes and super-Earths.

Read Also: New Hubble Telescope Pictures Gives Grand View of Giant Planets! Close Look at Jupiter, Saturn and MORE

How Mini-Neptunes Become Super-Earths

The recent findings provide further explanation to how mini-Neptunes transform into super-Earths.

Two occurrences of mini-Neptune planets losing their puffy atmospheres and presumably converting into super-Earths have been discovered by astronomers.

According to NASA, the atmospheres of mini-Neptunes are being stripped away by radiation, causing hot gas to escape. This can be compared to steam escaping from a kettle as the water boils.

This helps create further understanding of how such exotic worlds form and evolve and explain a mysterious gap in the size distribution of planets found around other stars.

Based on the report, radiation from the stars around the planets (exoplanets) stripes their atmospheres away, which allows the hot gas to escape.

The teams of Astronauts who conducted the study used the Hubble Space Telescope of NASA to look at two mini-Neptunes that are orbiting a planet called HD 63433. This HD HD 63433 planet is located 73 light-years away.

Then, they also used the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to study one of two mini-Neptune planets.

Based on their findings, atmospheric gas is escaping from the innermost of the first mini-Neptune (called TOI 560.01) and outermost of the second mini-Neptune (HD 63433c).

The team interpreted this discovery as something that suggests that they could be turning into super-Earths.

According to NASA, Mini-Neptunes are between 2 and 4 times the size of Earth. These kinds of planets do not exist in our solar system.

This recent study is essential because it might help explain such differences in sizes.

One possible explanation for this size gap, based on their study, is that the mini-Neptunes are transforming into the super-Earths.

Related Article: NASA Lucy Mission Set to Explore Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids: Full Mission Details, Where to Watch Lucy Spacecraft Launch
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Will the Real China Creek of Oregon Coast Please Stand Up: Bandon, Near Florence

Published 02/02/22 at 4:32 AM PST

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Bandon, Oregon)  Sometimes it may seem as if you're seeing double along the Oregon coast, especially if you're looking at maps. There's three Haystack Rocks, different places with Otter in the name - and there's two China Creeks (and a third rather unknown one).

One sits at Bandon, providing the gateway to a whole host of hidden adventures. The other sits not far from Florence, making for wild hikes and trippy discoveries that evoke the world of Tolkien. (Above: China Creek at Bandon. Photo courtesy Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more)

Well, actually there's three China Creeks. The third is also on the south coast at China Beach in the Samuel H. Boardman Corridor.

China Creek at Bandon State Natural Area. On the southern Oregon coast, drive your way from Bandon's Devil's Kitchen viewpoint southward along Beach Loop Road and you'll encounter the China Creek access, which is where the road elbows eastward back towards 101. It's a bit less than a mile from Devil's Kitchen, and that's about where Bandon State Natural Area begins.



(Above: China Creek at Bandon. Photo courtesy Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more)

China Creek sits sort of at the edges of it all, where some amount of pockmarked, alien-looking rocky structures still lie, but it begins to get all sand, surf and soaring cliff here. In fact, China Creek is the final access along Bandon State Natural Area, with Floras Lake and Langlois popping up rather soon to to the south.

The weird rock fun really kicks in just north of here, with the third Haystack Rock of the Oregon coast nearby (joining the ranks of Haystack Rocks at Pacific City and Cannon Beach). Just north of that you have the surrealistic Face Rock, Wizard's Hat Rock and whole bunches of unique finds.



(Above: China Creek at Bandon. Photo courtesy Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more)



Along the China Creek access of the southern Oregon coast, you'll find tons of intricate logs gathered by the creek, summertimes filled with fat and phat dunes, and winters with rollicking waves smacking Haystack and other features not far off.

The dunes here and the cliffs at Devil's Kitchen have been chopped at rather mightily by the storms of 2021 and that area has some recovering to do in that regard. But it's interesting watching the scenery change from season to season.

Some of this area gets closed off to pets and other activities during some seasons due to snow plover nesting. Be watchful of signs here.

Muriel O. Ponsler Memorial State Scenic Viewpoint near Florence. Just north of Florence, and a sliver north of Carl G. Washburne State Park and the Hobbit Trail, Muriel O. Ponsler Memorial State Scenic Viewpoint sits in the midst of all manner of tufts of sand and bulbous cliff structures. Here, the other China Creek emerges, spilling out rather suddenly and without much hint it was there. See the Upper Lane County Virtual Tour

However, China Creek is part of a trail system in this section of wild central Oregon coast, and it intersects with the famed Hobbit Trail, Washburne's campgrounds, and it trails through the wilderness well east and above the Heceta Head Lighthouse.





The China Creek Loop Trail is 3.3 miles of a loop found at one end of the Valley Trail or the eastward section of the Hobbit Trail, encircling the creek, a few ponds and sometimes even a beaver-damned lake. Wander up about two miles from the Hobbit Trail or from Carl G. Washburne, and you'll enter some thick, atmospheric forest.

A trailhead at Hobbit Trail also winds a little over a mile through forestland and the occasional stunning viewpoint, eventually twisting and switching back periodically to wind up in back of the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Ponsler itself is a hidden gem, with a somewhat small parking lot providing a low beach access to all that fluffy sand. The beach is long and flat, disappearing to the south into the headland next to Hobbit Trail's access and then dead-ending to the north in some hidden cliffs just south of Tokatee Klootchman. It's actually the only way to get to those distant cliffs: you have to hike northward from Ponsler.

Sands here are an interesting breed of Oregon coast landscape. They pile really high in the summer and become wispy dunes, but they sink substantially in winter and show lots of gravel beds. It's not a bad place to search for agates.

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Muslims around the world look forward to the month of Ramadan, a time within the holy calendar not only to restrict yourself from food and drink from sunup to sundown, but also to reflect and refocus. For 30 days, we get up before the sunrise for a meal and the first prayer of the day, and fast until sunset.

Every year, the Islamic calendar shifts up a few days from the Gregorian calendar, and in the United States, this makes a big difference in the number of hours of fasting and heat levels. This is the most challenging time of the year to be fasting: The days are long, and the weather is usually hot. While its always necessary to keep track of your eating and drinking habits during Ramadan, it is especially critical to monitor what you eat, and when you eat it, in these hot summer days. This year, Ramadan begins on the evening of Saturday, April 2nd, 2022 and concludes on Monday, May 2nd, 2022.
The Dutch government plans to temporarily disassemble a historic bridge that was built in 1927 to make way for Jeff Bezos's superyacht.

Netherland's local shipbuilder Oceanco will be completing the $500 million Jeff Bezos's superyacht with a measurement of 417 feet in length.

In order to get the yacht functioning, it must sail through the city of Rotterdam, beneath the city's iconic bridge.

The bridge in Rotterdam is named The De Hef bridge. Unfortunately, it is not tall enough to support the ship's three massive masts, which exceed the bridge's clearance of 130 feet.

However, Bezos and officials from the city of Rotterdam have come up with a solution.

The Representative of the City of Rotterdam, Frances Van Heijst, stated that the possible solution would be to disassemble the middle section of the bridge to make room for the superyacht.

Rotterdam Bridge

As reported by NL Times, the Bridge in Rotterdam has recently made international headlines due to the need to temporarily remove a section of the historic bridge for a superyacht owned by former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to sail through the bridge.

However, City Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb clarified that no permission had been requested from the municipality of Rotterdam to dismantle the center section of the drawbridge temporarily.

Later this summer, the gigantic yacht owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the world's second-richest man, to pass through shall pass through.

Unfortunately, the De Hef bridge does not have enough vertical clearance for the boat, with a maximum vertical clearance of more than 46 meters.

Read Also: Google Turning On Search Tracking History: What Does It Mean for Workspace Users?

Dismantling Rotterdam Bridge: An Important Project

Rotterdam officials yielded to the billionaire, the world's second-richest person, given the project's significance to the local economy.

CNBC reported that Rotterdam council project leader Marcel Walravens called the construction of the superyacht "a very important project" economically, according to local broadcaster Rijnmond. Dismantling the bridge was the "only alternative," he said.

Oceano will pay for the cost of the dismantling operation. It's unclear if Bezos, worth roughly $176 billion, will pay for any disassembly costs.

Dismay From Rotterdam residents

Unfortunately, local residents from Rotterdam expressed dismay and opposed disassembling the bridge to cater to Jeff Bezos' superyacht.

Due to this opposition, residents made a Facebook event with more than 3,900 persons 'interested' calling for Rotterdam citizens to throw rotten eggs at Jeff Bezos's newly constructed superyacht as it passes by the disassembled historic Dutch bridge.

"Rotterdam was built from the rubble by the people of Rotterdam, and we don't just take that apart for the phallic symbol of a megalomaniac billionaire. Not without a fight!!" event organizers wrote on Facebook.

As previously reported by Daily Mail, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has agreed to pay for the yacht's passage through the United States with a hefty price of 400million. The superyacht is expected to be finished in the Netherlands later this year.

It is reported that the yacht will surpass the current largest ocean-going passenger yacht, the Sea Cloud.

Related Article: Meta, Facebook's Parent Company, Loses $230 Billion in Biggest One-Day Market Drop for a US Company
Many people noticed fewer Northern Cardinals at feeders in Bedford County last fall, but Christmas Bird Count observers recorded the highest number ever: 142 birds. Its quite likely that Northern Cardinals were feasting on natural foods in the woods, instead of frequenting feeders.
As the tax season approaches, TurboTax assures that its don't have to deal with another refund check this year as it gives them the option to receive it in cryptocurrency.

Through a partnership with Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange platform in the United States, TurboTax is helping its users receive both their federal and state refunds in crypto.

According to New York Times, the partnership comes with a direct deposit program that will send their tax refunds to their Coinbase accounts, where they have the option to automatically convert dollars into any of the 100 types of cryptocurrency available.

If they choose to receive the refund in cryptocurrency, they will not be charged any trading fees, according to Engadget. However, if they decide to receive the refunds in USD first, they will still have an option to convert them to cryptocurrency later on.

Coinbase has demonstrated a dedication to its aim of promoting global economic freedom. Before this announcement, it can be remembered that it partnered with CoinTracker to make tax filing easier for its users.

With that, users could get free tax reports for up to 3,000 transactions via CoinTracker.

Read Also: Can Crypto exposure reduce tax base or help improve tax payments? Russia's tax boss has an opinion

How It Works

Upholding its commitment to helping users have easy options for this tax season, TurboTax boasts on its website a page that offers assistance to users, starting with helping them create a Coinbase account if they do not have one.

According to TurboTax, users may now import up to 250 Coinbase transactions into TurboTax Premier all at once using compatible .csv files.

And since the uploaded files will include the cost basis of the user's Coinbase transactions, TurboTax will be able to help them file cryptocurrency transactions easily.

Meanwhile, it is also important to know how crypto and taxes work. Of course, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that it is an individual's duty to monitor any potentially taxable activities and the fair market value of crypto during those transactions.

What You Need To Know About Crypto And Tax

According to TurboTax, examples of taxable crypto transactions are:

1. Selling cryptocurrency for fiat money (e.g., USD, EUR)

2. Trading cryptocurrency for other cryptocurrencies

3. Using cryptocurrency to buy a good or service

Meanwhile, non-taxable crypto transactions are:

1. Buying cryptocurrency with fiat currency

2. Donating cryptocurrency to a tax-exempt organization

3. Gifting cryptocurrency to anyone

4. Transferring cryptocurrency to another wallet that the user owns

To receive the tax refunds through Coinbase, one just simply needs to follow these steps:

Go to the Coinbase section of TurboTax's website and file taxes. They offer assistance for this. Set up a direct deposit account Decide whether to receive the refund in cryptocurrency or fiat Enter Coinbase account and routing numbers

Above all these, the best thing to do is to start preparing as early as now and do not wait until the actual day.

Related Article: Tax Deadline Day 2021: How to File for an Extension and Pay Your Taxes Online
This April 13, 2014, file photo shows the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters building in Washington. On Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming the IRS will issue a fourth round of stimulus checks to Americans in February 2022.
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks about abortion ahead of oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, at the National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming Pence did have the right to change the outcome of the 2020 election but chose not to use it.
PITTSFIELD  While Gov. Charlie Baker has indicated that he would like federal infrastructure dollars to support east-west passenger rail, some Berkshire County officials still want greater commitment to the Pittsfield-to-Springfield leg.

Western Massachusetts leaders long have called for passenger service to connect Pittsfield and Boston via Springfield, although Baker has said little publicly about the project.

The Baker administration said Thursday that it plans to collaborate with Amtrak to pursue money for the project. Tucked into a news release about the administrations plans for using federal infrastructure dollars is a mention of progress in talks with CSX Corp., which owns tracks on the line west of Worcester.

Given productive negotiations with CSX to enable increased passenger service, the Commonwealth intends to work with Amtrak to compete for funds to invest in service improvements between Springfield and Worcester as an initial step to expand service between Boston and Albany, the release said.

With the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill done, what's next for east-west rail in Massachusetts and the Berkshires? Supporters of east-west passenger rail in Massachusetts hope the project can receive money through the newly signed federal infrastructure bill. Yet, some question whether the state is committed to the Springfield-to-Pittsfield leg of the journey.

State Rep. William Smitty Pignatelli, D-Lenox, sees that statement as a big deal, although the apparent priority given to the Springfield-to-Worcester stretch does little to address his concern that the project will not reach Pittsfield.

I think theres a serious flaw that the Western Massachusetts delegation has to pay attention to, Pignatelli said. Its very clear to me, and this has been my fear for quite some time, that this rail will not get beyond Springfield unless we start in the west, in Pittsfield, and go east.

Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer shares that concern. She said that while she is glad to see some commitments from Baker, she wants the state to prioritize Pittsfield and the Berkshires.

First, Im glad that this really massive, generational transportation investment is still on the table, Tyer said. At the same time, Im disappointed that the segment between Pittsfield and Springfield doesnt appear to be a priority for this first part of the development of this rail system. ... By excluding that segment from this first round feels like it might be easy to just exclude it altogether, and that would be a real detriment to the vision of having this connectivity all across the commonwealth.

The state Department of Transportation initially weighed proposals to use buses for the Pittsfield-to-Springfield leg, rather than extend rail service to Pittsfield. Pignatellis objections to those scenarios led state officials to dub him the bus killer.

Pignatelli and Tyer said that they would support starting work in Springfield and going east and west at the same rate. Pignatelli voiced that proposal on a recent call that state lawmakers had with U.S. Reps. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, he said.

Ive asked the two congressmen to say: We got you the money, its here, and we want you to start it in Western Massachusetts, Pignatelli said. I think the other members of the Western Massachusetts delegation will have to join me in that concern and in encouraging our very influential congressman to make that call.

A spokesperson for Neal, who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, said that Neal continues to work with the Baker administration and state lawmakers on the project.

Chairman Neal remains committed to ensuring that funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that he crafted and worked to pass goes to improving rail from Boston to Worcester to Springfield and Pittsfield, Communications Director Margaret Boyle said in an email. Conversations with Governor Charlie Baker, his Administration, and state legislators are ongoing to ensure that there is regional equity in the allocation of this historic federal investment.

Pignatelli said he believes that the opportunity that the federal infrastructure bill provides is the best that west-east rail ever will have. The present moment also provides a chance to capitalize on the live here, work there possibilities of remote work, he said, and to construct a west-east connection between Albany, N.Y., Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester and Boston alongside north-south connection to New York City.

The Mass. Turnpike started in West Stockbridge and got to Boston, Pignatelli said. If we start in the west, then well have a statewide rail system that weve all been talking about, not just rail at one point and buses at one point. ... We need to do it right, or its a waste of money.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker delivers the State of the Commonwealth address Jan. 25 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. One proposal in Baker's budget plan was not touted by the administration but would mark a considerable change: ending the monthly fees Massachusetts charges those on probation and parol.
Spearfish, SD (57783)

Today

Cloudy with light rain this morning...then becoming partly cloudy. High around 55F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Generally clear skies. Low 36F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.
Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God." ~ Leviticus 19:31

Witchcraft has had an influence in cultures of old and in our culture now. It is very easy to look past it because it is not always evident, and many times it gets dressed up to be something that its not. Yet we need to be on guard and sound the alarm concerning what the Bible says about witchcraft.

If you are not familiar with this topic, then use this as an introduction to what witchcraft is and why you must guard against it. You will discover that you can be infected by this in ways you may not think about.

What Exactly Is Witchcraft?

While this word may have different meanings in different cultures, at its core witchcraft is the attempt to manipulate the environment, circumstances, or situations through mystical or spiritual means. In Bible times this was done using what was often called mediums or spiritists. Within this definition, there are two words I want you to focus on regarding witchcraft.

Manipulation  This is all about influence, usually in an unfair manner.

Spiritual means  When you call on assistance that steps outside of your realm of ability. In the case of spiritists and mediums, this is demonic assistance.

When you put it all together, witchcraft is trying to insert influence with demonic assistance into a situation. This is the danger of witchcraft.

Are There Harmless Forms of Witchcraft?

The answer is flat out no. Anything that has demonic influence is not harmless. Unfortunately, the way witchcraft is often presented to the world can mistakenly be seen as harmless. Think of the many childrens cartoons that incorporate magic and witchcraft into them, making them seem perfectly innocent and normal.

There is no such thing as a harmless form of witchcraft. This includes tarot cards, horoscopes, Ouija boards, or anything else that aligns with witchcraft, regardless of how unassuming it may seem. There is no harmless form of witchcraft. It is a deception that Satan uses to draw the unsuspecting in. Remember Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

What Does the Bible Say about Witchcraft?

Witchcraft is nothing new; it has been around for centuries. The Bible is clear about its position on witchcraft, and you will find many warnings in the scriptures against it. Here are two.

Do not practice divination or seek omens (Leviticus 19:26).

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

Gods opinion about these things is quite evident  they are detestable to him. In case you were wondering, this word detestable can also mean abomination, which is something that God loathes or hates.





Photo credit: Unsplash/Dan Farrell

Is Practicing Witchcraft a Sin?

I am sure you know that the answer to this question is yes, but I want you to understand why. Look at what God told the people of Israel.

Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 19:31).

The reason God wants you to stay away from these things is that they will defile you. If you practice witchcraft, it will taint you, pollute you and if you allow it to continue in your life it will ultimately destroy you. God took this very seriously and so should you. Consider how God dealt with those who practiced witchcraft.

I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people (Leviticus 20:6).

A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads (Leviticus 20:27).

God understands the danger of witchcraft, and He also knows the threat it poses to you and his strong warning is to stay far away for your own good.

Is This Still Relevant for Us Today?

People may wonder if this is still a concern for today, leading them to ask should we be worried about witchcraft now? While there are blatant forms of witchcraft still being practiced today, many times it can be more subtle. This causes many not to recognize the danger or pay attention to the forms that witchcraft takes in our modern society such as horoscopes, tarot cards, etc.

There are two things about witchcraft that we dont think about that can potentially affect us.

1. Rebellion is witchcraft

For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23).

The greatest example of witchcraft we see currently comes through rebellion. Remember witchcraft is when you seek to manipulate through spiritual means. Rebellion is like witchcraft because in essence, you are following another spirit to do or get what you want. When you are engaged in rebellion, you are following after your own spirit to pursue your own desires. The Bible says this is witchcraft.

2. Witchcraft dwells in your sinful nature

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21, emphasis added).

According to Scripture, witchcraft can potentially live within your sinful nature. This means that there is a part of us that could potentially be drawn to this because  even though we are Christians  our sinful nature still lives inside of us.

Remember witchcraft is seeking assistance through spiritual means that dont include God. Often those who want to bypass seeking assistance from God do so because they dont want to live up to his standard. To receive Gods help, you must do things Gods way. When you dont want to do that, then you seek help from another source, which is a form of rebellion and is also witchcraft. If this is an act of sinful nature, then we must guard our hearts because we can all be susceptible to following these things.

We Dont Need to Pursue Witchcraft

There is one more Scripture I want you to consider as we talk about this topic. Many people have a desire to know about spiritual things, which makes sense because we are spiritual beings. What we must understand is as Christians, we dont have to seek spiritual assistance from anyone other than God himself. Look at this verse in Isaiah.

When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult Gods instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn (Isaiah 8:19-20).

The reason you should never seek after spiritists, mediums, sorcerers, or witches is that you have the Spirit of God living inside of you. When you need any type of assistance or answers you can go directly to him. You dont have to run after these things which are destructive, you can consult your heavenly Father who has your best interests at heart.

Witchcraft is deceptive, dangerous, and deadly. God has warned us throughout the Bible to stay away from it. Lets heed his warning and dive into being filled with more and more of the Holy Spirit. This is not only the best help you will ever receive, it is the only spiritual assistance you will ever need.

Related articles

What Does the Bible Say about Mediums and Astrology?

Who Was the Witch of Endor?

Should the Reality of Demons Scare Us?



Photo credit: Getty Image/abtop
BOISE - At 8:00 a.m. Friday morning, Idaho State Police Troopers visited a site where multiple tents were erected near the Idaho Capitol Building. The group has been occupying the lawn at the old Ada County Courthouse near the Idaho State Capitol building since mid-January.

The location is state property and subject to Idaho State Code. Idaho State Police say the state is also operating under State Rules for Capitol Mall use under the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act, as managed by the Idaho Department of Administration, and a federal court order that allows symbolic tents but prohibits camping and indications of camping.

Police say the purpose of the visit was to check for any prohibited items and to check on the welfare of those on-site. Prior to the enforcement action Friday morning, Troopers confirmed there were beds available at the local shelters.

Troopers found and seized a number of prohibited items including sleeping bags, pillows, and propane tanks. Troopers also found and seized alcohol and drug paraphernalia including a pipe and a bag of syringes. Items that were prohibited on state grounds and unclaimed by the owner were removed by the troopers. Those items are being stored and information was left on-site on how any individual wishing to claim ownership of the items can recover them. Illegal items such as drug paraphernalia will not be returned.

As troopers assisted with removing unclaimed prohibited property, they could see grass and landscaping showing signs of damage from the sustained use. Troopers also found the site to contain a large amount of garbage, food waste, feces, and cups of what appeared to be urine.

According to an Idaho State Police press release, two tents were found with interior contents covered in vomit. Troopers asked an individual coming out of one of the tents if they were in need of medical or social services. The offer was declined. Troopers have continually asked those present if they are in need of available shelter or other services, offers which have also been declined.

No tents were disassembled or removed by troopers, however, some individuals on-site voluntarily removed tents and other camping gear which they claimed ownership of.

Troopers issued eight individuals warning citations after they were found to be in violation of Idaho State Code 67-1613, which says no person shall camp on or in any state-owned or leased property or facility including, but not limited to, the capitol mall, except those that are designated as a recreational camping ground, area or facility.

Troopers also arrested four individuals identified to have outstanding arrest warrants or probation violations. The outstanding warrants referenced failing to appear in court on previous drug or disorderly conduct charges. All four were taken to the Ada County Jail. Three were booked on the outstanding warrants. A fourth, a man from Boise, was turned over to the custody of Probation and Parole.
#LunchtimeMarketing: Changing the way of doing business with African luxury brands

Africa is rich and abundant with incredible authentically African luxury brands and goods, yet the world struggles to find and connect with them. This raises the question - How do we do this?
Paul Grota has been appointed managing director for WSP in South Africa. He takes the reins from Mathieu du Plooy who has moved to the UK to take up the role of chief operating officer for the UK and South Africa.

Paul Grota, MD, WSP in South Africa

Michelle Jackson, MD for Property and Buildings, WSP

Grota joined WSP in November 2014 as part of the Parsons Brinkerhoff acquisition where he was head of operations for Africa. After the acquisition, Grota led the integration of WSP and Parsons Brinckerhoff in Africa and has, until recently, been the COO for the power, industry, and property business units.As Grota moves into his new role, Michelle Jackson joins WSP from Turner & Townsend as managing director for property and buildings from 1 February 2022. Most recently, Jackson has been leading Turner & Townsends data centre business, having also led a variety of projects and business units across sectors, including property, infrastructure, oil and gas, and mining. Jackson also supported the development and management of Turner & Townsends regional West African business, as well as successfully managing projects in Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana.With new leadership in place, WSP remains focused on playing its part in Africas sustainable development, says Grota: There is no denying the massive infrastructure needs in Africa.To keep up with the demands of rapid population growth and urbanisation, and to support existing industries while helping to establish new ones, infrastructure remains a key contributor to economic activity and social development needs.
Kenya's first mortgage refinancing company is selling a 10.5bn shilling ($93m) medium-term note, whose proceeds will be lent out to commercial banks to increase affordable home ownership, the company said on Friday, 4 February.

Note to be listed for trading next month

President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to boost housing ownership levels upon re-election in 2017. He set a goal of providing 500,000 new affordable homes by the end of this year and made it one of his top four priorities.The non-deposit-taking Kenya Mortgage Refinance Corporation (KMRC), which is jointly owned by commercial banks, savings cooperatives and the state, said it was offering 1.4bn shillings as the first tranche of the bond.The note will have a tenor of seven years, with amortisation and a fixed rate of 12.5%, KMRC said in a statement. The first tranche will be on sale until 18 February.Allotment will be announced on 22 February, and the note will be listed for trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on 14 March, the mortgage firm said.The government set up KMRC in 2018, part of the push to boost home ownership in the East African nation, to issue mortgage-backed bonds and other instruments.In 2019, the mortgage refinance firm received a $250m loan from the World Bank, and another 90m ($100.51m) from the African Development Bank.
Durbanville Hills' The Tangram White Blend 2018 has been awarded as one of the world's 12 top-scoring wines at the 2021's Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters hosted by The Drinks Business.

Martin Moore, cellar master

Tangram - White blend - pack shot

With 200 Sauvignon Blancs from around the world, tasted blind, Durbanville Hills cool climate excellence shares the Top 12 recognition along with the very best Sauvignon Blancs produced in France, Chile, New Zealand and the USA.Cellar master, Martin Moore, is overjoyed at the incredible achievement of the flagship classically styled blend with Sauvignon Blanc in the lead.Back in 1999, during our first harvest, I had the vision of one day crafting a top-end blend, one that would showcase our unique location with its close proximity to the ocean and cooling sea breezes, valleys enclosed by hills offering slopes of varying altitudes, rich soils with excellent water retention, and a cool-climate with a distinctive microclimate.But we realised at the time that we were embarking on a long-term project. We would need to expand our knowledge, allow our vineyards to mature and adapt our cellar if we wanted to realise our objective. To this end we created a small cellar at Durbanville Hills a few years ago dedicated to the making of truly hand-crafted wines where each component of the The Tangram White Blend 2018 was gently handled. Achieving a Top 12 global award, has definitely made the wait and patience all that more gratifying.As with the Chinese seven-piece Tangram puzzle whereby one has to look at the whole to understand and form the myriad of images that can be shaped, The Tangram White Blend 2018 is greater than its parts. The wine is a blend of 76% Sauvignon Blanc and 24% Semillon, matured for 10 months in French oak and is made for long-term cellaring.Although the Sauvignon Blanc grapes were harvested from three vineyard blocks on the southern slopes where the valley opens up towards the West Coast, the majority of grapes were selected from a 31-year-old bush vine ensuring the classical and mineral character of the wine. The two 16-year-old trellised vineyards situated higher up on the hill where the 180 to 200 meters above sea level allows exposure to the cool south easterly breezes from False Bay, imparted typical fruity aromas.The Semillon block was planted in 1996 in the cool heart of the valley, where the vines are known to contribute fullness. Satellite technology was used to identify the premium spots in each block and only grapes from these spots were harvested.To ensure gentle handling and only the best grapes were harvested, the winemakers hand-selected a dedicated grape picking team to harvest the grapes in the cool of the early morning.In the cellar, the grapes were crushed and allowed to cold settle for three days, with lees stirring once a day. The clean juice was racked to a stainless-steel fermentation tank and inoculated with a selected yeast strain. The first 5B of fermentation was done in tank and thereafter transferred to barrels to complete fermentation. The wine was matured in a combination of new and old French oak barrels of varying sizes (300 litre, 500 litre and 600 litre) for a further 10 months to ensure a better extraction of the flavours and overall complexity. During maturation the wine was regularly stirred to add complexity to the blend. After maturation, the winemaking team spent a number of days selecting the best barrels to create the perfect blend.The wine is brilliant lime green in colour with aromas of fresh citrus, orange blossom, summer berries and a mix bowl of fresh fruit combining effortlessly with hints of lime and minerality. Rich and creamy with concentrated complexity, sweet wood spice, tropical fruit and hints of melon, and minerality, the ending is lingering and fresh.The Tangram White Blend 2018 is available from www.durbanvillehills.co.za and www.vinoteque.co.za retailing for R235 a bottle.
People watch a TV at Seoul Railway Station showing images of North Korea's missile launch during a news program, Jan. 31. AP-Yonhap





The United States and eight other countries called on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC), Friday, to condemn North Korea's recent missile tests after the council's closed meeting apparently failed to take any concrete action against Pyongyang.







Friday's meeting marked the second attempt by the U.S. and other like-minded countries in just about two weeks to hold North Korea to account for its recent series of missile launches.







North Korea staged its seventh and last round of missile launches of the year last Sunday (KST).







"The DPRK's January 30 (local time) launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a significant escalation in the DPRK's recent violations of multiple Security Council resolutions and seeks to further destabilize the region. We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a joint statement.







DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.







The statement was signed by the U.N. representatives from eight other UNSC member countries  Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.







They noted the IRBM marked the longest-range test conducted by North Korea since late 2017, also adding Pyongyang has so far fired nine ballistic missiles in its seven rounds of missile tests this year.







"The nine ballistic missiles launched in January is the largest number of launches the DPRK has conducted in a single month in the history of its WMD and ballistic missile programs," they said in their joint statement.







"We call on all Council members to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and unlawful acts," they added.







North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing since November 2017 when it last test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, following its sixth and last nuclear test in September that year.







The U.N. representatives said the cost of silence will be too high.







"It will embolden the DPRK to further defy the international community; to normalize its violations of Security Council resolutions; to further destabilize the region; and to continue to threaten international peace and security. This is an outcome that we should not accept."







The diplomats also urged North Korea to cease its destabilizing activities and return to dialogue.







"We remain committed to seeking serious and sustained diplomacy. The DPRK must make this same commitment in order to ease regional tensions and to ensure international peace and security," they said.







Prior to Friday's UNSC meeting, China's representative to the U.N. was quoted as saying that the U.S. needs to do more and be more flexible to resume dialogue with North Korea.







Thomas-Greenfield, when asked later to comment on her Chinese counterpart's comments, said the U.S. has already and repeatedly made clear that it will meet with the North Koreans without any preconditions.







She also said a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could be possible "if the conditions are there."







"But we, right now, are in a situation where we've not been able to bring them to the diplomatic table for any discussions whatsoever," she said, according to her office. (Yonhap)


Police cam footage shows SWAT officers fatally shooting 22-year-old Amir Locke on Wednesday shortly after entering the apartment.

Locke was under a blanket on the couch and when he rolled over to face police, a gun can clearly be seen in his hand.

Get on the ground! Get on the f*cking ground! an officer shouts before shots were fired.

Police confirmed that Locke was not the subject of the search warrant.

Video warning: profane language and graphic content:

Additional body cam footage:

TENSIONS RISING: Tensions are high in Minneapolis where there are calls for justice after a police SWAT team officer shot and killed a 22-year-old Black man during a no-knock warrant raid. The governor is activating National Guard troops in case protesters get violent. pic.twitter.com/2A4L9J7QJz  CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 4, 2022

Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar is already blaming police before a thorough investigation into the fatal shooting.

Amir Locke had barely opened his eyes when he was executed by a Minneapolis Police officer. He was 22 years old. And now, because of the violent, unchecked, and unreformed behavior of our citys police, his life has been taken.  Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 4, 2022

The officer in the case has been put on paid administrative leave while Minnesotas Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates the killing. NPR reported.

Amir Lockes father riled up a crowd of protesters in Minneapolis on Friday when he claimed his son did the right thing by pointing his gun to the ground.

I saw in that instant he did the right thing. Andre Locke, Amir Lockes father, said.

Andre Locke said that when he watched the police cam footage of his sons shooting, he saw Amirs finger off the trigger, gun pointed toward the ground.

VIDEO:

I saw in that instant he did the right thing. Andre Locke, Amir Lockes father, says that when he watched the body camera video of his sons killing, he saw Amirs finger outside the trigger guard, gun pointed toward the ground. I said, well get justice Amir. pic.twitter.com/WGs4OiTJSs  Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) February 4, 2022

VIDEO:

NOW: Car caravan stretching several blocks through downtown Minneapolis. Horns and demands for justice for Amir. pic.twitter.com/kC0HDqxB15  Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) February 5, 2022

The caravan arrived at Bolero Flats where Amir Locke was fatally shot.

VIDEO:
Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, on Aug. 29, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

The Summary Basis for Regulatory Action offered more details about how regulators reached the approval decision, and included references to an unpublished analysis that found the rates of post-vaccination heart inflammation were higher than any U.S. agency had found before.

After The Epoch Times reviewed the document and sent questions about it to FDA spokespersons, it disappeared from the agencys website.

We are aware of the issue and hope to have the document reposted as soon as possible, a spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email on Feb. 3.

Reached by phone and asked for more details about the issue, the spokesperson said: I reached out to the website people. I dont really have any more information to tell you.

The Epoch Times has submitted Freedom of Information Act requests for the document and several unpublished analyses referenced in it, including the FDA meta-analysis.

Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit that advocates for informed consent, told The Epoch Times in an email that the public has the right to review the evidence FDA is using to license new mRNA vaccines as safe and effective.

Lack of transparency only fosters distrust in government agencies charged with protecting the public health. FDA should immediately release all information related to the incidence of myocarditis and other serious adverse events following mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations, whether that information has been provided to the agency by vaccine manufacturers or discovered through in-house analyses of additional data collected by federal officials, she wrote.

The FDA meta-analysis examined data of four health care claims databases and estimated that, among males aged 18 to 25, the rate of myocarditis following Modernas primary series was 148 per million males vaccinated.

That figure is higher than other government estimates, including a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis of reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The analysis found about 10.7 cases per million males aged 18 to 24 who got Modernas first shot and 56 cases per million among those who received Modernas second shot.

Myocarditis is one type of heart inflammation that people who receive vaccines built on messenger RNA (mRNA) have experienced at higher-than-expected rates. It also occurs among people who contract the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19.

Modernas shot, a type of mRNA vaccine, is administered in a two-dose primary series. The doses are administered about a month apart.

The FDA approved Modernas vaccine on Jan. 31 without convening its expert vaccine advisory panel , a growing trend for the agency.

The CDCs vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet on Feb. 4 to review data on the jab.

An agenda (pdf) for the meeting says a Moderna scientist will present safety and efficacy data on the companys shot, followed by CDC researchers discussing updates on post-vaccination heart inflammation and the benefit-risk framework in light of the most recent analyzed information.

Researchers in the UK found in December 2021 that men under 40 were much more likely, and females under 40 were more likely, to suffer from heart inflammation after Modernas second shot than from COVID-19 itself.
The latest updates on the new normal  chronicling the lies, distortions, and abuses by the ruling class.

Weve previously explored the mind-numbing experts say mantra that the corporate media parrots non-stop. Talking heads incessantly implore the peasant class to respect the science.

The purpose is to create a mirage of consensus in order to discourage real journalists or normal people from looking into matters themselves. This tactic is pervasive, but nowhere has it been more widely employed than in the COVID era.

Because, if three key facts were permitted to infect the public consciousness, they would inevitably result in mass upheaval of the ruling class that perches on top of society, feeding on it like vultures:

A.) the original virus almost certainly escaped from a Wuhan lab (if it wasnt purposely released; lets not underestimate the hubris of the biomedical state). Worse, that leaky Chinese lab relied on funding from the United States National Institutes of Health (funneled through a non-profit called EcoHealth Alliance) to perform dangerous the gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.

B.) The vaccines (which are actually mRNA gene therapies) do not work to prevent infection as promised and cause extensive side effects that were covered up in the original trials.

C.) The social distancing lockdown measures  which plunged untold billions worldwide into poverty, death, and despair  were totally ineffective at preventing the spread of the virus: Shelter-in-place orders had no detectable health benefits. Imagine the criminality of all the suffering for no good reason.

At every turn, the experts got it wrong.

So how does the biomedical establishment maintain the facade of legitimacy?

The biomedical state uses multiple mechanisms to discourage scientists from dissenting from the approved narrative

Youve heard the talking point ad nauseam: 99% of scientists agree the vaccines are safe and effective.

First of all, that figure is not vindicated by any actual polling; its just an offhand catchphrase.

Second, what happens to scientists who deviate from the safe and effective slogan?

Their message will get censored or distorted (or both)

Might lose their professional license

Ostracized by their peers

If theyre a researcher, theyll risk wrecking their career and losing critical funding from NIH and pharma corps.

JFK Jr. explains:

As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci dispenses $6.1 billion in annual taxpayer-provided funding for scientific research, allowing him to dictate the subject, content, and outcome of scientific health research across the globe. Fauci uses the financial clout at his disposal to wield extraordinary influence over hospitals, universities, journals, and thousands of influential doctors and scientists whose careers and institutions he has the power to ruin, advance, or reward.

Youll get smeared in the corporate media

Exhibit A:

Epidemiologists at Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford  three of the most highly-regarded mainstream institutes of higher learning in the world  authored the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020.

The gist of the document (which you can read here) is that a COVID Zero policy (the elimination of the SARS-CoV-2) virus in the population is a pipe dream. The social distancing and lockdown orders had devastating effects on public physical and mental health. Those at risk of severe illness or death from infectious disease should be protected while the non-vulnerable (the vast majority of the population) should resume normal life.

Those rational, science-based propositions should have been aired publicly in a healthy national debate.

But, predictably, open debate is not how Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins, NIH Director, do things. Instead of debating the merits of the Barrington Declaration, Collins sent an email to Fauci on Oct 8 (later leaked) that read:

This proposal from three fringe epidemiologists seems to be getting a lot of attention  and even a co-signature from Nobel Prize winner Mike Leavitt and Stanford. There needs to be a quick and devastating published takedown of its premises. I dont think like that on line yet  is it underway?

Does that sound like the language of a public health servant doing Gods work to protect the people from a deadly virus  or that of a cynical political operative?

Is coordinating a media hitjob on ideological opponents part of the NIH Directors job description?

More importantly, though, if they can orchestrate a smear campaign against three fringe epidemiologists from Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford, what signal does that send to a run-of-the-mill MD in Wisconsin who might be inclined to ask critical questions?

The message is obvious: shut your mouth or well come for you.

Dr. Aaron Kheriarty explains why doctors are extremely hesitant to write mask and/or vaccine medical exemptions Wow!!@akheriaty pic.twitter.com/kUzRW6VHNb  Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) January 24, 2022

They dont even have to go after everyone. All they need is to bag a few high-profile scalps to set the example.

It doesnt matter how good the analyst is if the data is fake

The conclusion will likely be faulty  even if the scientist is immune to the social pressures to conform to the narrative.

We reported previously on Pfizers vaxx trial fraud in which the companys contractor intentionally hid side effects of the drug.

The reported COVID fatality rate was dramatically over-counted by the governing authorities.

Hospitals counted fatal motorcycle accidents as COVID deaths merely because the victim tested positive for the virus before succumbing to his injuries.

CDC Director Refuses to Answer: Dying With COVID vs Dying From COVID

Even the corporate media has been forced to confront the obvious rouse.

Via Newsweek:

When asked by Fox News anchor Bret Baier if there was a breakdown of how many of the 836,000 deaths in the U.S. were from COVID or with COVID, Walensky gave a non-committal answer.

Notice that Baier asked about the alleged 836,000 deaths over the course of the two-year pandemic. Walensky, in a bid to avoid answering, finds a lame excusing by pivoting to the Omicron death count, which is barely weeks old.

NEW  Director Walensky says CDC will provide data on "how many of the 836,000 deaths in the U.S. linked to Covid are from Covid or how many are with Covid," and adds "Omicron has just been with us for a few weeks."pic.twitter.com/Htf1hrfX0F  Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 9, 2022

Do you think that the average expert  a college professor teaching public health at a mid-size state school, or an epidemiologist researching Ebola or some other totally unrelated pathogen  has the time, resources, or personal dedication to parse the CDCs COVID bullshit from the veritas?

Or are they just going to follow the lead of the expert higher up on the food chain?

Is the average scientist human or superhuman?



The above is how the consensus-rigging game is played, and why you should never again place a modicum of trust in the rotten biomedical establishment, nor the scientists who vocally support it.

Rather than reform (which is a pipe dream), we need a parallel society with structures worthy of trust to replace them.

Ben Bartee is a Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff via his blog, Armageddon Prose, Substack, Patreon, Gab, and Twitter.

Bitcoin public address: 14gU3aHBXkNq8bDqmibfnubV7kSJqfx5LX
Cho Ju-bin / Yonhap



By Bahk Eun-ji



Criticism is mounting of Cho Ju-bin, the mastermind of a notorious online sex blackmail ring, who was sentenced to 42 years in prison. Cho is now running a blog in an effort to plead not guilty and denounce the judiciary system while still in prison.



Cho, who is currently serving his jail term at the Seoul Detention Center, started a blog on portal site Naver last August, while his court appeal was in progress.



Introduced as "Cho Ju-bin's blog," a total of six articles were published, including his reasons for the appeal and his apology.



Cho was sentenced to 42 years in prison by the Supreme Court last October for organizing a criminal ring together with 38 accomplices, blackmailing 74 victims, including minors, into filming pornographic content, and distributing the materials to members of a pay-to-view Telegram chat room, called Baksabang.



While admitting to the charges of producing and distributing sex abuse material, he claimed that the chatroom was not a criminal ring and that some evidence had been illegally collected, and thus, he was not guilty, but the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal.



In the blog, the writer, who identifies himself as Cho, said, "I opened this blog and Instagram account as channels to express my opinion, which is the truth."



In an article posted on Jan. 7, Cho wrote, "Can you understand this, or do you think the case has been resolved in this way?" referring to the fact that he was sentenced to 42 years in prison.



He then claimed that the victims' statements were not true, and that he was unfairly, heavily sentenced.



"The sentence against me is a declaration that the law has been defeated by public opinion," Cho wrote.



The Ministry of Justice has begun trying to find out how Cho could have run the blog while he has been in prison. An official from the ministry said that it seems someone else is posting letters that Cho sent to the blog instead.



As the controversy heated up, Naver blocked his blog.



An official from Naver's public relations team said, "After receiving a number of reports about Cho's blog, we have decided to shut down the site due to its violations of our operating policy."



According to the Naver blog operating policy, the posting of articles can be restricted only if there is a risk of encouraging crimes by glorifying criminals or supporting crimes, or if there is the specific expression of a physical threat to others that poses serious physical harm.



Naver said that the posts on the blog contain content exposing victims' information, which could cause them additional harm.


BAGHDAD, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed on Friday with his Iranian counterpart the efforts to hold the fifth round of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad.

In a phone call from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Iranian minister told Hussein about "the improvement of bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in certain areas," said a statement by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

"The two sides stressed the need to continue the talks that started in Baghdad and have reached the fourth round," the statement noted, stressing "the trilateral cooperation of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq to start the fifth round of talks."

The two ministers also reviewed the regional developments, "including the security situation in the Gulf and Yemen," according to the statement.

The Iranian minister also briefed his Iraqi counterpart the latest developments of the Vienna negotiations on reviving the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers, noting "there are steps that can be considered positive." 
An alley is lifeless after local residents moved out of their homes, in the Naeson-dong neighborhood of Uiwang City, Gyeonggi Province, to make way for an urban redevelopment project in this February 2020 photo. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



By Kang Hyun-kyung



Decades-old homes have been abandoned. Without the sounds of people and the warmth created by neighbors who've known one another for decades interacting with each other, the buildings now lie derelict, exposed to the elements. Alleys, once bustling with pedestrians walking by and children playing, have lost their vitality, now that the residents have all moved out to make way for large-scale urban redevelopment.



The last eviction order for the area came about a year ago. The small urban district of Naeson-dong, on the edge of the landlocked city of Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, is now bleak and gloomy. The old neighborhood will soon undergo a major facelift, with construction of a massive apartment complex that can house up to 3,000 households. Once the new residents move into the newly completed high-rises, the district will be brought to life again, though this time with a different kind of vitality.





Three elderly women sit together. The former residents were seen together a week before moving out. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



Higher-income earners will replace old-timers in the brand-new apartments, as most of the previous residents have been scattered, left to search for housing in other, cheaper areas. The new residents have a different understanding of the meaning of "home." For the previous residents, home is home, but for the money-savvy new residents, home is an asset that can be sold for gain. The former residents were part of this community for decades because for them, home was a place where they can rest. But the newcomers are mostly nomads who don't know how long they will live there. It all depends on real estate prices.





A worker is seen through the ruins of a demolished building in Naeson-dong. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk





As the newcomers move in, a new urban landscape will be created. Trendy shops, stylish restaurants, hair salons and cafes will be opened to cater to the sophisticated tastes of the new residents. Yet, there are many things that have been lost forever in this process of destruction and rebuilding.





This bird's eye view from a drone shows the residential neighborhood where old homes are being demolished to make way for construction of high-rise apartments that will house 2,500 households. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



The culture of an extended family living together in one house is one of them. Since the residential area was constructed there back in 1984, the district once had housing in which three generations lived together. Born and raised there, the second and third generations of children have fond childhood memories.



They had buddies whom they met every day and formed friendships with. Elderly women mingled and chatted regularly. Sometimes they gossiped with each other. The internet was slow but rumors spread fast. The good old days are gone to make way for construction of the new urban redevelopment project.




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I dont think we should be asking them to go home. I understand the mood may shift soon. So we need to turn this into the PMs problem. What will he take the first step to working toward ending this?

"I dont think we should be asking them to go home. I understand the mood may shift soon. So we need to turn this into the PMs problem. What will he take the first step to working toward ending this?"

 Newly elected interim Conservative party leader Candice Bergen, Jan. 31.

"Enough is enough. Clear the blockades, restore the rule of law."

 A tweet by Candice Bergen on Feb. 17, 2020, echoing a National Post headline calling for Indigenous blockades of national rail lines to be forcibly removed.

By showing outward support for the trucker protest and occupation in Ottawa, and attempting to use it to politically harm Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the new head of the Conservative Party of Canada is playing a very dangerous game.

Bergen, who was voted in as interim leader just hours after Erin OToole was turfed by his own party, has been openly supportive of the convoy in Ottawa, saying there are "thousands of passionate, patriotic and peaceful Canadians on the Hill right now who just want to be heard," even as she condemned the "hateful and destructive acts" of those participants displaying white supremacist symbols last weekend.

A CTV report published yesterday suggested Bergen had pushed then-leader OToole to show support for the "Freedom Convoy" protest, arguing last week that there are "good people on both sides," an echo of the infamous phrase uttered by former U.S. president Donald Trump following a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, in which white supremacists were clearly present and marching.

Nearly two years ago, Bergen and her fellow Conservatives were outraged that Indigenous men and women supporting the Wetsuweten First Nation in its protest against the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline in B.C. had not been immediately cleared off rail lines across the nation.

The Portage-Lisgar MP told the media website PortageOnline.com at the time that what was most upsetting was the prime ministers weak response.

"He has refused to take action, hes refused to acknowledge how devastating these blockades are, and instead, hes talking about dialogue," Bergen said. "Now, dialogue certainly has its place, but we are a country of law, and a country of rules, and those laws need to be upheld."

Based on her recent actions, it seems that Bergens adherence to the rule of law has been lost in the blare of dozens of semi-truck horns as she attempts to use the convoy to her own political advantage. Clearly, there is a double standard at play here  a naked attempt at brinksmanship politics that Indigenous groups across the country are openly and rightfully questioning.

Lets be perfectly clear about this  the situation in Ottawa is deteriorating. Tempers of Ottawa residents have been fraying over the last week as members of the protesting trucker convoy further entrenched themselves around Parliament, settling in for what they are saying is "the long haul" until their demands are met, and all COVID-19 mandates end across the country.

While supporters of the convoy have been trying to argue that the protestors have been largely peaceful, "fun-loving" Canadians who are not harming anyone in their stand against vaccine mandates and Liberal Leader Trudeau, news reports paint a different picture.

There are numerous reports of Ottawa residents being harassed, threatened and spat upon for wearing masks, businesses having their windows smashed, intimidation of staff and volunteers at a local shelter, not to mention the hurling of racial slurs.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly told The Canadian Press that officers will focus on mischief, hate, harassment, threats and other intimidating behaviour to send a clear message: "The lawlessness must end."

Sloly further said the protest is an "increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration," and his department was committed to bringing it to an end. Nevertheless, after a week of police inaction, local residents dont seem convinced.

"This weekend is going to be worse than last weekend simply because they are still there, they are entrenched, and there will be people simply itching for a confrontation who will come to town," Ottawa-based communications consultant Tim Abray told the news site Al Jazeera. "I think were on our own. We need to help keep each other safe."

As of late Friday afternoon, similar rallies were setting up in Toronto and Quebec City, while Friday morning saw a peaceful convoy of trucks and farm vehicles camped outside the Manitoba legislature along Broadway, blocking off Memorial Boulevard.

On Friday, the Conservative party issued a statement from Bergen, stating Canadians want and need a peaceful resolution to this impasse," and called upon Trudeau to work together with her to find solutions and "provide a clear plan to end the situation in Ottawa."

But by supporting the demands made by the organizers and thus giving the convoy legitimacy, there has already been damage done to the Tory brand. James Moore, a former cabinet minister under Stephen Harper, said Bergens support of the convoy has hurt the Conservatives.

And earlier in the day, Conservative Sen. Dennis Patterson announced he had quit the Tory caucus in protest to stand as an independent, and "unreservedly" denounced the convoy, saying participants were "showing contempt for the law."

In all seriousness, I have to wonder who is actually being used here  the so-called Freedom Convoy, or Bergen.

 Matt Goerzen, editor
It was Christopher Hitchens, the much-celebrated author and critic, who claimed, everybody does have a book in them but, in most cases, thats where it should stay.

Hitchens would, somewhat ironically, publish more than 30 books before he died in 2011, a year after the launch of Instagram, which now has about 1 billion monthly users.

For Allira Potter, her book is a way for me to reach a new audience who want to learn what I am all about. Credit:Don Arnold/WireImage

Its this platform, alongside TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, that is now undermining Hitchens commandment. Those who have mastered the art of influence, attracting social media followers and fame, do have a book inside them  and it seems publishers dont want to let it stay there.

Along with skincare and smoothies, social media stars are increasingly spruiking their latest books. Publishers have always sought out celebrities and public figures for book deals, but influencers are a different beast because rather than mass appeal  as, for example, a Kylie Minogue memoir might have  their books target a niche audience. The authors are not often household names, but they have a devoted fan base.
One of the first acts of the new Taliban government was to ban women from most jobs - a problem since Ghan Fashion employed women from Afghanistan for sewing, embroidery and beading.

The business, which started in 2019 with a few samples at a fashion show, was already mostly on pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting business conditions in Australia.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August last year, Afghan-Australian designer Lida Mangal thought it might spell the end for her nascent clothing label Ghan Fashion.

My business agent contacted me and said this is the time to finish your designs because most of the Afghan women who used to work with us, they are unemployed and hopeless, and maybe they will be begging, Ms Mangal said.

That made me really alert. I, as an Afghan, and as a human being, felt that responsibility that I have to do something and I will be continuing supporting these women and trying my best to make them financially independent through my own business.

The agent advised her that women in Afghanistan could no longer work in a factory but could continue to work in private homes as long as there were no men.

Ghan Fashion employs about 10 women in Afghanistan, and Ms Mangal also donates a share of her profits directly to women and children in Afghanistan who are experiencing poverty.

As a refugee from the first Taliban regime as a child, Ms Mangal completed most of her schooling in Pakistan before coming to Australia to study a Masters degree. She has been back to visit relatives in Afghanistan twice, but her home is Greystanes near Parramatta in Sydney.
Shaun White celebrates on the podium during the victory ceremony after the final of the men's snowboard halfpipe at Phoenix Park during the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in this file photo taken Feb. 14, 2018. The American snowboard legend said he will retire from competition after the Beijing Games, citing the "little signs" from his 35-year-old body. AFP-Yonhap





This really is it for Shaun White.







The three-time gold medalist made it clear that not only will the Beijing Games be his last Olympics, they'll mark his final contest, too.







During a reflective, sometimes emotional news conference Saturday, not far from the halfpipe where he'll take his last competitive ride, the 35-year-old said that, yes, he'll be hanging 'em up for good after the medal round next week.







''In my mind, I've decided this will be my last competition,'' he said.







It's a decision that's been building since a soul-sucking training stop in Austria in November. He was dealing with nagging remnants from injuries to his knee ... and back ... and ankle. He got lost on the mountain with the sun going down. It was one of those rare times when snowboarding didn't feel fun anymore.







''A sad and surreal moment,'' he called it. ''But joyous, as well. I kind of reflected on things I've done and looked at the sun going down and went, 'Wow, next time I'm here, I won't be stressed about learning tricks or worried about some competition thing.'''







He is soaking in every moment on this fifth trip to the Olympics, and over his 45-minute session with the media, he fielded an equal number of questions about his past as about what's to come over the next seven days and beyond.







''I have some runs in my head that I'd like to do,'' he said. ''And it's all about visualizing and making that happen the 'day of.'''







Though he refused to take it off the table, those runs probably will not include a triple cork  the three-flip trick that Ayumu Hirano of Japan has landed twice in competition this season, but has not won with, because he could not link another trick to it.






A crowdfunding campaign that raised almost $180,000 to protest COVID-19 mandates has been shut down, amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19 misinformation on digital platforms.

The Oz to Canberra Convoy Official page on GoFundMe raised money from 2800 donations for supporters of a convoy of trucks and cars travelling to Canberra to protest COVID-19 vaccines and public health measures.

The Oz to Canberra Convoy Official fundraising page on GoFundMe. Credit:

A GoFundMe spokeswoman said on Saturday the fundraiser had been removed for breaching the crowdfunding platforms terms of service, and all donations had been refunded in full.

This follows the arrest on Friday of a man on firearm charges as police cleared out an unlawful campsite set up by protesters from the Convoy to Canberra rally in the parliamentary area. Thousands of people marched from Canberras CBD to Old Parliament House on Saturday.
The moment Georges heart stopped beating, his daughter Princess Elizabeth, away on tour in Kenya, became Queen. Great Britain and what then were known as her dominions  Commonwealth countries like Australia, vestiges of the old British Empire  by tradition and statute, cannot be without a monarch, not even for a moment. The coffin of King George VI passes through Picadilly on its way to Paddington Station en route to Windsor, in 1952. Credit:Getty Images But Elizabeth was with her husband Philip at Treetops, a remote game-viewing lodge overlooking an elephant waterhole. She did not know until late in the afternoon that her father was dead or that she was the new queen. By then, the mighty pomp and circumstance of the British protocol machinery in London was already at work to ensure smooth succession of the crown.

Queen Elizabeth was crowned after the death of her father in 1952. Credit:AP Indeed, Elizabeth learned her father was dead about the same time as the Accession Council, attended by members of the Privy Council  the formal advisory body to the British sovereign  plus the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London and High Commissioners of Commonwealth countries  met at St Jamess Palace in London to formally proclaim her Queen. The proclamation was then read out from the roof of St Jamess Palace, and at public locations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. In Kenya, the new Queen prepared to fly home to London, her life changed forever. In Australia, it was reported that cinema audiences, seeing the news flashed across screens, were stunned and the immediate reaction was the fear that the royal tour of Australia and New Zealand would probably be cancelled.

The new Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would finally arrive in Australia in February 1954, when they virtually stopped the nation. Australia in the early 1950s was a different country to todays Australia. The population was a mere 8.6 million, the vast majority of British and Irish descendancy. The Queens coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1953. Credit:Getty Images Though several hundred thousand Europeans had been arriving by ship since 1947, Britain was still widely considered the Mother Country. By the terms of the Act of Settlement of 1701  the law concerning succession to the throne  Elizabeth would become Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Queen, Defender of the Faith.

Because Australia was at the time considered a dominion, Elizabeth automatically became Australias monarch. And yet, the idea that Australia could be termed a British dominion, even in 1952, did not sit entirely easily. Soon after the Queen was enthroned, Commonwealth leaders gathered in London, partly to decide how they might modernise at least the language of their status. The upshot in Australia was the Royal Style and Titles Act of 1953, signed by the Queen herself.

This made her in Australia Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Australia and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. Thus, she became Queen of Australia, now a realm. Loading Two decades later, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, keen to implant the idea that Australia had its own monarchy, made great play of emphasising that Elizabeth was Queen of Australia. In 1973 he oversaw the removal from her titles in Australia any reference to her status as Queen of the United Kingdom and Defender of the Faith. Whitlam would discover in 1975 that the Queens representative in Australia, the Governor-General, could dismiss his democratically elected government, and the Queen of Australia, at home in London, would not lift a finger to stop it.

Given that Australia rejected by referendum the chance to become a republic in 1999, all of this might be of mere historical interest if it were not for the fact that in the not distant future, a new succession must take place. When Queen Elizabeth eventually follows her father into the great beyond, her son, Prince Charles, will presumably become King. Prince Charles meets Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Glasgow last year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Britains ancient rituals and pageantry will greet the new King Charles, and his accession will be proclaimed from the roof of St Jamess Palace and across the United Kingdom. But will he  a man, currently aged 73, and not universally respected in the same way as was his mother or even his grandfather, George VI  automatically become King of Australia?

Queen Elizabeth visiting Australia in 1973, is accompanied by Gough Whitlam to a performance of the Australian Ballets Carmen. Credit: The only guide to succession in Australia is clause 2 of the Australian Constitution Act of 1900, which states, The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her Majestys heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. The Queen, of course, was Queen Victoria. Though it has not been tested, it is generally considered the Act of Settlement of 1701 has broadly been incorporated into Australian law by these few words of the Constitution Act. Is Australia to be bound, even under a King Charles III, to an Act of the English parliament written decades before Australia had even been claimed by the British Crown? The path to Australian legal independence has been creaky.

The nation is supposed to have gained legislative independence from the UK, effective from September of 1939, after it adopted the Statute of Westminster of 1931. And yet, appeals against decisions by Australian courts could be heard by the Privy Council in London until 1968. Short of Australia becoming a republic, the nation has just one modern law that ensures it is no longer altogether answerable to the Mother Country, though it doesnt have quite the ring of a declaration of independence. The Australia Act of 1986 declares that: No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend, or be deemed to extend, to the Commonwealth, to a State or to a Territory as part of the law of the Commonwealth, of the State or of the Territory.

Loading Some enthusiasts of the current system argue that the Governor-General is, for all intents and purposes, Australias head of state. However, Section 61 of the constitution states: The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the GovernorGeneral as the Queens representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth. The truth of it is that when the cry goes out that the Queen is dead, long live the King, Australia  unrecognisable in almost every way to the nation of 70 years ago, when the cry was the King is dead, long live the Queen  will still have its executive power vested in a British monarch. King Charles III.
MM: I said the border would open barring a catastrophe or an emergency - and that gets lost by the journalists. And, obviously when you have 50 people dying in NSW the other day, I actually regard that as an emergency. We cant deliberately allow that to happen here without getting the rate of booster vaccination up. Fitz: Are we in NSW really serving as the best bad example of what not to do? MM: No. Countries all over the world have made a far worse mess, but NSW wasnt cautious enough and the laissez-faire let-it-rip attitude is not the right attitude when youre dealing with a virus that kills. Fitz: Is it fair to say for all your success in keeping COVID out, youre now in for a difficult stretch? You cant be WA the Hermit Kingdom forever and its inevitable that when you do open youll be blamed for letting it in. MM: Thats true. Weve avoided almost all the terrible experiences of NSW and Victoria for the last two years, and it will be an unpleasant shock for people. But having said that, having a high rate of booster shots when it gets here in large numbers will save hundreds of lives and mean the impact of it on our broader community, particularly the economy, will be reduced.

Fitz: It seems like you want to take a leaf out of President Emmanuel Macrons livre and make life tough for the unvaccinated, even requiring vaccine passports for punters visiting drive-thru bottle shops! Have you written off the anti-vaxxer vote and gone: Cop this you bastards! Stay home, and see if we care! ? Loading MM: Its not about that, but its about trying to save their lives in spite of themselves. We must mandate much more aggressive measures than other states because we didnt have outbreaks driving up vaccination levels. Yes, a lot of these people are very unhappy about it. I get multiple, multiple death threats. But, everything were doing is to protect them, their parents and their grandparents, to try to reduce the pressure on hospitals and to save their lives. Fitz: Is it fair to say, however, that lockouts have weakened the Federation, that the days of I am, you are, we are Australian have somewhat descended to Im safe, youre from a leper state, and so hang you, Jack, Im alright? MM: I dont agree with that. If we deliberately just allowed the virus to come into Western Australia all of that income for the Commonwealth  we produce nearly 60 per cent of the countrys exports and we are the strongest state financially per capita by light years  that goes to the other states would have been significantly reduced. Were doing all we can to help the other states just by making sure that we remain economically strong and COVID-free, OK.

Fitz: Moving on, Premier, you have so much political capital  you could spray a can of Coke and get everyone on the Opposition bench, singular  you can pretty much do anything right now. You are a progressive. Is there no great progressive project you want to expend some of your political capital on? MM: Well, we just passed the most progressive voluntary assisted dying laws in Australia, without some of the constraints that other states have had. And well do some more around gun laws shortly. Fitz: Yet three years ago, on behalf of Ausflag, I texted you a copy of that stunning flag proposal for WA to get rid of the Union Jack off your state flag. It came up last week and your mob rejected it. Why isnt that a brilliant flag? MM: Look, Im a republican, like, you know, virtually everyone on my side. But the flag is not something that Im focused on. Fitz: Given your success at state level do you have any federal ambitions?

Loading MM: Honestly, honestly, I dont. And Im very happy being the Premier and obviously being with the national cabinet arrangement you can be at the centre of decision-making without having to do the 10-hour trip to Canberra each week. Fitz: When you were kind enough to launch my book on the Catalpa Rescue a couple of years ago at Rockingham, in your electorate, you told me that you might have another 10 years in you. How do you feel right now? MM: (Pauses.) I think that was tongue in cheek. But look, its exhausting. All of this is so exhausting because you go through all this arguing every day about COVID and every time you do something to try and save lives or save jobs you get a whole bunch of people objecting because in some way it doesnt suit their lives. But Im five years into being Premier and Im still going strong. So, my plan is to keep going for a while. Fitz: Ok. Last question. Do you have any comment on the text by Gladys Berejiklian that the PM is a horrible, horrible person or the unknown cabinet minister that he is a complete psycho? Do you take a savage joy in such nastiness among your political opponents, or does it sadden you that it has come to this?

MM: Well, it is a very vicious Liberal Party fight. But Im pretty sure that Gladyss texts about me would be far worse. We had a lot of differences over vaccination policies and all that gold standard stuff. At the time I kept on saying to NSW, Youve got to take measures to try and eliminate the Delta outbreak, which they ignored. And then it got away from them and then it got to Victoria and then it got to here and got to New Zealand. And by the way, we did eliminate Delta, and had a completely free life until recently. Fitz: Thank you. JOKE OF THE WEEK A pig goes into the telegraph office, fills out a Send Telegraph form and gives it to the telegraph operator. The operator reads it and it says, Oink oink oink oink oink oink oink oink. The operator then tells the pig, For the same price, you can have nine words in your message. Would you like to add another oink? The pig, completely taken aback, looks at the man in disbelief and replies, But then it wouldnt make any sense! TWEET OF THE WEEK So now he can hold a hose? Queensland Deputy Premier @StevenJMiles, on footage of the PM washing a customers hair in a hairdressing business.

WHAT THEY SAID From the Prime Ministers point of view, if hed sat there and Jen was with him, shed be able to rattle off all the prices of all the things they buy. Minister Stuart Robert on Radio National, trying to help, after the PM couldnt cite the price of bread, the cost of a RAT, or the price per litre of petrol. There is not a situation in this world that Ill get a vaccine. If Im laying [sic] on my deathbed, and they tell me, You have a kidney waiting on you if you get this shot, Ill tell them, Ill see you on the other side. This weeks leading anti-vax nutter, Chad Carswell of North Carolina. For more than four years, Carswell, 38, has suffered from severe kidney disease. He recently applied for a kidney transplant but was turned down because he has not received a coronavirus vaccine. Ive been provided with a text message exchange between the former NSW premier and a current Liberal cabinet minister. Ive got them right here. In one she describes you as a horrible, horrible person, going on to say she did not trust you and youre more concerned with politics than people. The minister is even more scathing, describing you as a fraud and a complete psycho. Network Ten political editor Peter van Onselen to Scott Morrison this week. Well, I dont know who youre referring to or the basis of what youve put to me. But I obviously dont agree with it, and I dont think that is my record. Scott Morrison, heavily blinking, in reply.

I have no recollection of such messages. Let me reiterate my very strong support for Prime Minister Morrison and all he is doing for our nation during these very challenging times. I also strongly believe he is the best person to lead our nation for years to come. Gladys Berejiklian, later in the week, trying to paper over the cracks. Counting her testimony, it is at least the 151st time, in recent months, that she has been unable to recall seemingly significant events. The locals, not just in Byron Bay, in lots of regional towns, resist extra housing being put in. Its understandable people like looking over green rolling hills and the rural lifestyle, but theyre pulling up the ladder after them. They are saying we got here first, and to newcomers, theyre saying screw you. The Centre For Independent Studies chief economist Peter Tulip about the lack of affordable housing in NSW rural areas. Barty of Australia waves as she holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Credit:AP It was pretty quiet, actually. I was pretty wrecked. I just had a couple of beers and I was in bed. Ash Barty, asked what she did to celebrate winning the Australian Open. [Ben Roberts-Smith] then walked down and grabbed the Afghan male by the scruff of the shirt, picked him up, marched him a couple of metres forward [until] he was in front of Person 4. He then kicked him in the back of the legs behind the knees until he was kneeling down in front of Person 4. He pointed to the [Afghan man] ... and said to Person 4, Shoot him. Person 41, an SAS soldier, giving testimony on Wednesday in the defamation proceedings brought by VC holder Ben Roberts-Smith, against Channel Nine, about what he alleges happened on a mission in Afghanistan on Easter Sunday 2009.

If you collect thousands of predictions, they cant all be wrong, that would be impossible. By sheer necessity of random fluke, some would have to be correct. It just goes to show anyone can play this game. Richard Saunders, chief investigator for Australian Skeptics Inc after its 20 year tracking study showed that of more than 3800 predictions made by 207 Australian psychics between 2000 and 2020, just 11 per cent were unambiguously correct  an accuracy rate worse than random guesses from a control group of non-psychics. We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including but not limited to adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, bisexual acts, bestiality, incest, paedophilia and pornography) is sinful and offensive to God and is destructive to human relationships and society. Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane, has insisted that all parents of students sign contracts affirming that this is their belief too. So many levels of offence, Ive had to put another man on to keep track. The survival of abuse culture is dependent on submissive smiles and self-defeating surrenders. It is dependent on hypocrisy. My past is only relevant to the extent that I have seen  in fact I have worn  the consequences of civility for the sake of civility. Grace Tame on why she has no regrets whatsoever about openly grimacing around the Prime Minister on the final day of her reign as Australian of the Year. Loading As a historian, for me, the important thing about that voyage are the journals that are produced, that record whats actually going on at the time of the voyage. Finding rotten pieces of wood at the bottom of the harbour is not going to give me that kind of detailed insight into what went on in that voyage. James Cook University history lecturer Claire Brennan on the importance, or otherwise, of whether the wreck discovered off Rhode Island is actually Captain Cooks Endeavour.
The severed main Tonga cable runs to Fiji, where it intersects with the trans-Pacific Southern Cross Cable, connecting Tonga to Australia, the US and the rest of the world. It sits on the seabed, running 827 kilometres at depths of up to 3.5 kilometres. Satellite connections have been used to restore international call services to some areas. Some people have been able to send emails or get limited internet connectivity. There are parts of town where we just dont know exactly what has happened, said Australian minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja. Credit: But like many small Pacific countries, Tonga relies on this single cable to stay connected and has little in the way of a back-up plan. Three years ago, a cable break believed to have been caused by a ship dragging its anchor led to two weeks of disruption. It was described then by local authorities and businesses as a catastrophe. While the capacity of undersea cables has increased from the glacial dots and dashes of Morse code to a torrent of terabytes, one thing hasnt changed since 1866. If a cable breaks at the bottom of the ocean, you have two choices: either lay another one, or trawl for the original and haul it out of the murk to be fixed.

While the cost of sending data has plummeted over time in inverse proportion to the explosion of available bandwidth, cables themselves have always been expensive pieces of hardware, so the 19th and 21st centuries share at least one specialised piece of marine equipment  the cable repair ship. For the 1.3 million kilometres of cable strung around the bottom of the worlds seas, there are 59 operational cable-laying and maintenance vessels that are on call to either lay cables or fix faults, according to the International Cable Protection Committee. People are calm. Coming out of a total blackout, just being able to call outside and send an email has settled them a bit. Samieula Fonua, chair of Tonga Cable Ltd. The ship entrusted with reconnecting Tonga with the world is the CS Reliance, which is sailing more than 4000 kilometres from Papua New Guinea via Samoa, and is expected to arrive in Tonga on Sunday. The Reliance, registered in the Marshall Islands, spends much of its time in the Pacific and south-east Asia. Despite being hundreds or even thousands of metres underwater, cable breaks are common (up to 200 per year). The Reliance, one of the largest vessels of its kind, has no shortage of work thanks to the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Tongas cable breaks were, of course, caused by a volcano, and when you consider the seismic instability of places as far-flung as New Zealand, Indonesia and the Philippines, there will always be a need for these ships. For the Tongan cable, a volcano is a mightier adversary than any anchor, and the Reliance may find that part of the cable has been buried in an underwater avalanche, a possible cause of the consequent tsunami. If the volcano blast or tsunami shifted or collapsed a seamount on top of the cable, it could be very difficult to locate or retrieve, said Jonathan Brewer, a telecommunications engineer at consulting company Telco2. Repair ships carry spare cable with them  the Reliance has a capacity to carry 5466 metric tonnes of cable  so that they can replace sections that may be lost in such an event, and are greatly helped in the optical era when it comes to locating the breaks by virtue of the nature of the fibre itself. When laser light is sent down the cable from the shore, it reflects back to its source when it hits the break. By measuring the time between transmission and reception of the reflection, an engineer can locate the break.

A deep sea hook is lowered which cuts the cable into two. One end of the cable is held by a buoy and the other is brought onto the deck. The cable is spliced and repaired onboard with a new joint assembly. The fibre optic cable isnt easy to fix. A technician splices the glass fibres and uses glue to attach the new section of the cable. This fibre optic splicing can take up to 16 hours and is the most crucial aspect of the repair work, with each fibre not much thicker than a human hair. Clean-up on Tongas main island. Smaller islands took the brunt of the January 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami. Credit:AP After the splicing is completed, the cables are attached to each other and are wrapped in multiple protective layers. The cables are then joined onboard the vessel and gently lowered back down to the seafloor. The cable-laying vessel may tow a sea plough across the ocean floor to bury the cable, and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) may descend to the seabed to inspect and help bury the cable. In lockdown

The Tongan cable will be working again in possibly 10 days, the critical lifeline returned to 105,000 Tongans who are still reeling from the devastating effects of the eruption. Tonga had one reported COVID case since the beginning of the pandemic, but the disaster brought outside deliveries of desperately needed fresh water and medicine  and the virus again. Despite strict precautions unloading ships and planes from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and China, two Tongan men who worked at the capitals wharf handling shipments tested positive on Tuesday. The following day Tonga went into an open-ended lockdown, which residents hope will help contain the small outbreak. Loading Samieula Fonua, who chairs the board at Tonga Cable Ltd., the state-owned company which owns the damaged fibre optic cable, says it has been a difficult time for locals. Tonga is just out of luck this year, says Fonua. We desperately need some good news. He says there are some lines of communication open with the use of satellite services, which carry only around 1 per cent of all phone and data traffic worldwide, the remainder is from underwater cables.
Union minister on Saturday said there are abundant job opportunities for the youth as the futuristic budget was aimed at making India a global leader under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said consistency, conviction and courage are the defining factors of the successive budgets of the BJP-led government.

As far as job creation is concerned, there are abundant opportunities in this budget as the capital expenditure (CAPEX) was increased from 5.5 lakh crore to 7.2 lakh crore (in the budget 2022-23), that means 40 per cent will go to job creation, Singh, the Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office, told reporters at the BJP headquarters here after holding detailed discussions on the Budget 2022-23 with party leaders.

He said a job does not necessarily mean a government job as the government's focus is on encouraging startups and science and technology to provide an opportunity with Rs 3 lakh crore for job creation.

Singh said India has become the fourth country in the world to light up its skies with 1,000 drones which would be linked to industry in future.

He was referring to the Beating the Retreat ceremony on January 29, where a startup from IIT-Delhi put up a drone show with nearly 1,000 drones to commemorate 75 years of the country's independence.

The minister said this was the 10th budget of the Modi-led government and all of them had three 'Cs' - consistency, conviction and courage which were the defining factors of these budgets.

These successive budgets under PM Modi have led India forward towards assuming a global role. The world is saying that it is India's decade (2021-30) and by 2047, India would have assumed the frontline role, he said.

The futuristic budget presented by the government has two important aspects, one linked to science and technology and the second to tap the unexplored potential, he added.

He said whether it is a farming sector, chemical free farming, drone power, startups and development of 25,000 kms road infrastructure.

India is the only country in the world which has an ocean named after it (Indian Ocean). Those who have named it in India know how much treasure is hidden there. We started a mission to explore it while the space mission was also unlocked after Modi removed the taboos, the minister said.

He said the budget also focussed on farming, agriculture and dairy sectors.

After the (outbreak of) COVID-19, Modi emerged as the tallest leader in the world. The world is ready to be led by India but the question is whether we are ready for that. This is the budget which will prepare India for the role to make the country world leader under the leadership of Modi, the minister said.

Asked about an order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) announcing withdrawal of all posts referred to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Services Selection Board (SSB) before October 31, 2019, for which selections have not been finalised till date, he said the Union Territory administration can respond to it as he has no knowledge about it.

As far as the Centre is concerned, the department of personnel and training (DoPT), no such orders have been issued from our side, he said.

He said the only directions passed by the DoPT, which is headed by him, is that the process of interviews for selection to various government posts has been done away with following complaints of favouritism in the process of interviews.

We have taken measures that there is no intervention from any quarter and the process of selection is based on merit in the written examination, he said.

The minister, who represents Udhampur constituency of Jammu and Kashmir in parliament, said Mantalai resort in Udhampur is ready to welcome visitors with a state-of-the-art wellness centre and helipad.

Tourism in the Jammu region continues to be the focus of the government. Boating has already started at Mansar lake and several other tourism projects, including a wildlife sanctuary, are coming up shortly, he said, adding the completion of the projects will give a big boost to tourism in these areas.

Surrounded by Deodar trees and lush green forests, an international Yoga centre is coming up over a sprawling 125-acre Ashram at Mantalai at an estimated cost of Rs 86.27 crore, as part of the 'integrated development of tourist facilities' project at c.

The work on the project had commenced in 2017 and facilities like swimming pool, airstrip, spa, helipad, gymnasium, auditorium, hostels and business convention centre are coming up at the Centre. The project also includes cafeterias at Sudhmaha Dev and Patnitop.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Moderna refused to share its mRNA vaccine knowledge, South African scientists backed by the World Health Organization (WHO), made a copy of the jab developed by the US drugmaker.

The vaccine developed by new vaccine - Afrigen Biologics may help boost vaccination rates across Africa, which has the lowest uptake of Covid shots in the world, the BBC reported.

The Cape Town-based company hopes to begin clinical trials in November.

Moderna previously said it would not enforce the patents on its vaccine, allowing scientists in Cape Town to make their own version of it, the report said.

"We have used the sequence, which is the same sequence as the Moderna vaccine 1273," Petro Terblanche, director of Afrigen Biologics, was quoted as saying.

"This is part of a global initiative to build capacity and capability in low and middle-income countries to become self-sufficient,"Terblanche said adding, they were starting small, but had ambitions to scale up quickly.

The mRNA vaccines carry the molecular information to make the protein in the host using the synthetic RNA of the virus. The host body produces the viral protein that is recognised by the immune system, thereby enabling the body to fight against the disease.

mRNA vaccines are considered safe as mRNA is non-infectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by standard cellular mechanisms. They are highly efficacious because of their inherent capability of being translated into proteins in the cell.

Pfizer-BioNTech also made its vaccine using the same technology. Both PfizerA and Moderna's shots were some of the first Covid vaccines to be authorised for use around the world.

In June last year, the WHO helped set up Africa's first Covid mRNA vaccine technology-transfer hub in South Africa, with participants including Afrigen, the Biovac Institute and local universities. The aim was to scale up vaccine production to address those massive shortfalls in the developing world.

The WHO had reached out to Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech to help teach researchers in low- and middle-income countries how to make their Covid-19 vaccines. But the companies did not respond.

Moderna's shot was chosen to replicate because more information on its development was available publicly, compared with Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine.

According to Afrigen's chief scientist, Dr Caryn Fenner, the achievement has been "really significant".

"It puts the power in our hands to be able to produce our own vaccines for the future, to be ready for further pandemics, to produce clinical trial material on African soil and then to look at other diseases of relevance in Africa," Fenner said.

However, it could take a couple of years for large-scale production to begin. Yet it may stop the need for reliance on wealthy countries for vaccines, especially since the technology has also elicited potent immunity against infectious disease targets in animal models of influenza virus, Zika virus, rabies virus and others, especially in recent years.

It has also been employed in numerous cancer clinical trials, with some promising results showing antigen-specific T cell responses and prolonged disease-free survival in some cases.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


By Peter Y. Paik





In my

column, I wrote about the role played by Christianity in providing cohesion to American democracy, a unity that it could not find elsewhere. Religious belief had the consequence of prompting Americans to look beyond their self-interest and serve the common good. As Harvard sociologist Daniel Bell observed, Christianity provided the foundations of a moral consensus which directed the people toward values and vocations that were higher and more important than making money.







But the number of religious believers has been declining sharply. According to Pew, the number of Americans who regard themselves as Christian dropped from 77 percent to 65 percent between 2009 and 2019. Those who identified as atheist or agnostic rose from 17 percent to 26 percent.







This may not appear to be a major shift, since the majority still holds on to religious belief. But the numbers do not reveal which segment of the population is becoming more openly inimical to religious faith.







Sociologist George Yancey, who studies the spread of anti-Christian attitudes, points out in "Hostile Environment: Understanding and Responding to Christian Bias" that Americans are becoming increasingly vocal in demanding that Christians be banished from the public sphere. They assert that Christianity poses a greater threat to freedom and reason than all other religions, ignoring the fact that the scientific revolution and modern liberalism were the products of a Christian civilization.







The crux of Yancey's study is that the Americans who are the most hostile to Christianity are often the ones with the most social power  the most highly educated and the most financially well-off. For in the mainstream media, academia, and even in large corporations, the only acceptable form of Christianity is one that is wholly in agreement with liberal progressivism.







Yancey, who is African American, notes that in his academic career, his Christian faith has caused him more problems than his race.







Secularization, then, has split American society into two cultures. For the elite, overwhelmingly made up of those who have attended prestigious universities and pride themselves on their openness and rationality, religion in general and Christianity in particular are mere superstitions, doomed to fade away as science advances and humans gain greater control over their bodies and their environment.







The American elite, progressive and liberal, is convinced of the rightness of its beliefs. Yet it finds itself woefully out of its depth when it comes to gaining the support of people who cling to irrational attachments like their religious beliefs but also to other obsolete notions standing in the way of the liberal vision of a better world: love of one's country, reverence for tradition and the veneration of heroes.







Thus, the increasingly censorious character of public life in America, with its strident, unceasing demands to silence and ban people who voice even mild criticisms of the reigning liberalism, reveals a stunning loss of intellectual confidence. This comes at a time when liberals have achieved a near-monopoly over the media and higher education.







Certainly, liberals in the past, when more Americans were churchgoers, demonstrated greater poise and mettle. Liberals, not conservatives, were more likely to express confidence that open discussion of political and ethical questions would result in the victory of the better and more enlightened position.







Why have liberals given up on their ability to reason and resorted to outright authoritarianism? A vital clue resides in how they justify their leadership.







Strikingly, liberals are unwilling to claim that they are entitled to lead because they have superior ability and deeper insight than the general public. A liberal refuses to assert that he possesses greater merit, because he believes merit does not exist, except as a code word that serves to justify racial and social inequities.







Likewise, improving the economy means that global warming will only worsen. It is thus pointless to make the economic appeal that progressivism will bring Americans a better life.







The elite liberal has painted himself into a corner. The only thing that makes him superior to ordinary people is his worldview: his values enable him to stand out as more tolerant, compassionate and open-minded than others.







In other words, the liberal believes that his good intentions are what make him worthy of exercising power. The loss of religion leads him to fall back on tolerance to fashion a new moral code to replace the Christian ethic of agape.







But the liberal insists on ignoring the old religion's teaching about what we ought to regard with the greatest skepticism, lest we find ourselves tumbling toward hell.











Peter Yoonsuk Paik (pypaik@gmail.com) is a researcher in literature and philosophy at Yonsei University. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.


said it is working to resolve the disruption in mobile and broadband services in at the earliest.

Jio's services suffered an outage on Saturday morning and, as a consequence, its subscribers in have been unable to make or receive calls or access internet.

The company took to Twitter to assure customers following a torrent of complaints on social media platforms.

You may face intermittent problem of using internet services or making or receiving calls on your mobile connection. This is temporary and our team is working to resolve this at the earliest," Jio said in a twitter message.
Pakistan is reviving its previous tactics to spread hatred, disrupt communal harmony and promote extremism in India as Islamabad has been supporting jihadi activities against New Delhi to disrupt peace in the country, according to a report.

Pakistan's security apparatus has for decades supported jihadi and Khalistani groups that have targeted India, and a revival of this activity should be a source of concern to the American security apparatus as well as India's, said the Hudson Institute's report.

A recent arrest in Germany shows Islamabad's support for spreading extremism in India.

Last year in December Jaswinder Singh Multani was arrested in Germany by the country's authority for allegedly masterminding a blast at Ludhiana court in December last year. Officials in the Asian nation had blamed Sikh separatists based in Europe for the attack and alleged that Multani was the mastermind behind the attack, according to the report

Authorities believed that Multani "has links to Pakistan and has been involved in smuggling of arms and ammunition from across the border into Punjab." Authorities had previously accused him of "arranging and sending weapons consignments comprising explosives, hand grenades and pistols from across the border with the help of Pakistan-based operatives," according to Hudson Institute.

The Institute further stated that Multani is reportedly a leading member of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) movement. The SFJ's public face, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has apparently confirmed this fact, revealing a close relationship with Multani. Over the years, Sikhs for Justice has written public letters to the prime minister of Pakistan and the presidents of Russia and China, seeking their support against India.

The issue of Khalistan may appear to many to be a purely internal issue for New Delhi, but the recent increase in Khalistan-related anti-India activism within the US is occurring as the United States and India collaborate in confronting China's rise, especially in the Indo-Pacific. Therefore, Pakistan, a critical Chinese ally, has a vested interest in weakening the India-US collaboration, said the Hudson Institute.

The Hudson Institute report, Pakistan's Destabilization Playbook: Khalistan Separatism within the US, which was authored by a group, emphasises the need for law enforcement in Western countries to be vigilant with respect to Pakistan-backed extremist groups.

The activities of Khalistani groups located in North America should be investigated, within the limits prescribed by law, to prevent a reoccurrence of the violence orchestrated by the Khalistan movement in the 1980s, according to the institute.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister will visit Hyderabad on Friday to inaugurate the 216-feet tall 'Statue of Equality' commemorating the 11th-century Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya.

At around 5 PM, the Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the 'Statue of Equality' in Hyderabad.

He will also participate in the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

"I look forward to being in Hyderabad today to take part in two programmes. At around 2:45 PM, I will join the 50th Anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT, an important institution that works on aspects relating to agriculture and innovation," PM Modi said in a tweet today.

"At 5 PM, I will join the programme to inaugurate the 'Statue of Equality.' This is a fitting tribute to Sri Ramanujacharya, whose sacred thoughts and teachings inspire us," he added.

According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the 216-feet tall Statue of Equality commemorates the 11th-century Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya, who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living including faith, caste and creed.

The Statue is made of 'panchaloha', a combination of five metals: gold, silver, copper, brass, and zinc and is among one of the tallest metallic statues in sitting position, in the world. It is mounted on a 54-feet high base building, named 'Bhadra Vedi', has floors devoted for a Vedic digital library and research centre, ancient Indian texts, a theatre, an educational gallery detailing many works of Sri Ramanujacharya.

The statue has been conceptualised by Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami of Sri Ramanujacharya Ashram.

During the programme, 3D Presentation Mapping on the life journey and teaching of Sri Ramanujacharya will also be showcased. Prime Minister will also visit the identical recreations of 108 Divya Desams (ornately carved temples) that surround the Statue of Equality.

Sri Ramanujacharya worked tirelessly for the upliftment of people with the spirit of every human being equal regardless of nationality, gender, race, caste or creed.

The inauguration of the Statue of Equality is a part of the 12-day Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham, the ongoing 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Ramanujacharya, the official statement said.

Earlier during the visit, the Prime Minister will kickstart the 50th Anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT. Prime Minister will also inaugurate ICRISAT's Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and ICRISAT's Rapid Generation Advancement Facility. These two facilities are dedicated to the smallholder farmers of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The Prime Minister will also unveil a specially designed logo of ICRISAT and launch a commemorative stamp issued on the occasion, the PMO said.

ICRISAT is an international organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It helps farmers by providing improved crop varieties and hybrids and also helps smallholder farmers in the drylands fight climate change.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The subject expert committee under India's drug regulator has recommended Russia's Sputnik Light one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, sources told ANI.

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) is expected to soon give final approval to Russia's Sputnik Light, added the sources.

Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Laboratories is the Indian partner of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has sought approval from the Indian drug regulator for use of single-dose Russia's Sputnik Light one shot.

The recommendation has been given as the primary dose. Recently, the company submitted a proposal for conducting trials of Sputnik Light as a booster to other vaccines.

Sputnik Light is the first component of the two doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has endorsed recommendation from its vaccine advisers for use of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for people ages 18 years and older.

The recommendation came after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday granted full approval to the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We now have another fully approved Covid-19 vaccine," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a statement.

"If you have been waiting for approval before getting vaccinated, now is the time to join the nearly 212 million Americans who have already completed their primary series. CDC continues to recommend that people remain up to date on their Covid-19 vaccines, including getting a booster shot when eligible," she said.

Earlier on Friday, the CDC's vaccine advisers voted unanimously to recommend the two-dose Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for people ages 18 years and older.

The vaccine, named Spikevax, joins Pfizer-BioNTech's formulation as the two fully-approved Covid-19 vaccines in the United States.

The full approval suggests Spikevax meets the FDA's rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality.

--IANS

int/shs

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Vaccine effectiveness of 99.3 per cent has been seen in individuals fully inoculated against Covid as per the data uploaded on India Covid-19 Tracker till January 2, the Parliament was told on Friday.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has developed the India Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker, by merging mainly three national databases -- CoWIN, National Covid-19 Testing database and Covid-19 India portal, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

"The latest data analysed and uploaded till January 2, 2022 depicts vaccine effectiveness of 99.3 per cent in fully vaccinated individuals against Covid-19," he said, adding that the tracker is updated periodically and displays the effectiveness of partial and full vaccination against Covid-19.

He said that the Omicron variant is the dominant variant in the country presently. Whole genome sequencing for Omicron variant is done for all RTPCR positive samples from international travellers arriving since November 28, 2021.

Stressing that the Centre is supporting states in their endeavour to manage Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, Mandaviya said that given the emergence of mutated variants with variable impact on transmissibility, virulence and effectiveness of vaccines, the likelihood of resurgence of Covid-19 trajectory in the country is monitored by various expert committees under ICMR, DGHS and other departments.

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The has proposed a new section, 135AA, in the Customs Act, on request of importers and exporters, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj told Business Standard, and added that the provision is aimed at bad state actors and hackers who illicitly mine commercially identifying and sensitive information and are engaged in selling transactional information.

A number of websites have been identified by the CBIC who are selling data containing the name of exporter/importer, description of goods, quantity, value, classification etc. By selling commercially sensitive information, including the names of importers and exporters, they adversely impact the competitive position of Indian exporters in international trade, Bajaj said on Saturday.

As per the new section, which will be brought in with an amendment to the Customs Act through the Finance Bill 2022, if a person publishes any information relating to the value, classification, quantity of goods being exported from or imported into India, or the details of the exporter or importer, he shall be punishable for a jail-term of upto 6 months or a fine upto Rs 50,000 or both.

The new section 135AA will not be applicable if a person or entity is required to publish such information by law or if the government itself releases such data.

Bajaj emphasised that the section is aimed at hackers and not at legitimate private trade bodies, who themselves had asked for these safeguards. Exporters and importers had requested the Finance and Commerce ministries for such provision in the run-up to the budget.



Also Read: Publishing confidential export-import data may now lead you to jail

The provision seeks to empower the Customs to combat bad actors and hackers who illicitly mine commercially identifying and sensitive information and are engaged in selling transactional information on the dark web or through websites, Bajaj said.

On Saturday, Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted a screenshot of the proposed Section 135AA and said: This is incomprehensible. How can a democracy restrict discussion of publicly available data on the countrys trade? The BJP can bulldoze even such preposterous laws through Parliament - but surely the courts will find it unconstitutional?

The Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs replied on twitter and said: Honble MPs attention is invited to the clause proposed as sub-section. 135 AA (2) under which Government agencies, such as, Department of Commerce, will continue to uninterruptedly publish data as per current practice. The proposed clause will only criminalise the illicit publication of personalised, transaction level information by private entities, which affects the competitive position of Indian businesses in international trade and compromises their data privacy.
Union Minister on Saturday said the government will not take money from foreign investors to build infrastructure projects like roads, and instead mobilise funds from small investors willing to put Rs 1 lakh for an assured return of 8 per cent per annum.

The minister said a Rs 8,000-crore project to build road over bridges over railway crossings in towns and cities is also under the works, but the announcement will be made after the budget.

Gadkari said his department does works of over Rs 5 lakh crore a year and added that foreign investors are now making a beeline to invest in Indian road projects but clearly stated a lack of interest on his side to engage.

"I do not want to make the rich (more) richer, but will collect money from farmers, farm labourers, constables, clerks and government employees, Gadkari said, addressing an event organised by Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture here.

Gadkari said the plan involves a minimum investment of Rs 1 lakh from every small investor which will be for a specified road project and assured a return of 8 per cent per annum with sovereign guarantee as against a 4.5-5 per cent earned on bank deposits.

The investment proposal is pending with capital markets regulator Sebi and once their nod is received, the same will be launched, Gadkari said.

He said over the years, many foreign investors like Australia's Macquarie or Canadian pensioners have invested in India but now, it is essential for us to mobilise funds by ourselves.

Recalling an instance where a foreign investor had declined to invest in a Rs 1,500 crore masala bond roadshow a few years ago, the Union minister said now the same entities are making a beeline for investments and added that a few days ago an investor approached him offering to invest up to Rs 5,000 crore.

"I usually give them (foreign investors) tea and say thank you, the Union minister said.

Gadkari said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is raising loans at very competitive rates of 5.75 or 5.85 per cent at present and has two banks competing with offers of Rs 25,000 crore loans at present.

The minister listed a slew of projects which are being executed including the Delhi-Mumbai access controlled expressway which will be open for traffic in a year and asserted that he does not see a crunch for funds in the foreseeable future.

The Delhi-Mumbai expressway will be extended to the nearby JNPT, the country's largest container port, as well and a Rs 660-crore multi-tier intersection is being planned in Panvel, he said.

The projects being carried out will reduce distances, travel time, pollution and also fuel, and help the economy, he said.

Gadkari said fuel alternatives like ethanol, liquefied natural gas, green hydrogen need to be used the most for saving forex on crude, curbing pollution and also helping domestic industry and sugar growers.

Probably referring to the corporate group Essar's interests, Gadkari said a brother of Prashant Ruia showed him two trucks running on LNG in Nagpur a few days ago, which will help save up to 60 per cent on the running costs after fitting a LNG kit costing Rs 8 lakh and its cost can be recovered in 295 days.

Admitting to lower calorific value of ethanol being low, Gadkari said a team of Russian scientists who have created a part to increase the efficiency are in India at present and met Petroleum Secretary and Indian Oil Corporation chairman before visiting facilities in Faridabad.

Gadkari said he has planned a logistics park in Sangli which has a concrete road with industrial infrastructure on either sides. The road will allow for landing of aircraft, and as a result, the logistics costs will reduce for the users, he said.

The minister said Japanese auto major Toyota has sent a car running on green hydrogen, which is extracted from water, but he has not been able to take it out because there is no green hydrogen.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
From Amritsar's first Mayor to Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister, Congress' Om Prakash Soni has come a long way in his political career and is eyeing his sixth term as a legislator.

A keen battle is on the cards from the Amritsar Central constituency, as the 64-year-old Congress leader takes on BJP's Ram Chawla, who is son of former Minister Baldev Raj Chawla, AAP's Ajay Gupta, and BSP's Dalbir Kaur.

While BJP is jointly contesting polls with former chief minister Amarinder Singh led Punjab Lok Congress, BSP is fighting in alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal.

Elected as Amritsar's first Mayor in 1991, Soni, the MLA from Amritsar Central, had in 2017 polls defeated his nearest rival BJP's Tarun Chugh.

Soni was first elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1997, then again in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017.

He was twice elected as Independent MLA from Amritsar West seat, but won the same seat for a third time as a Congress nominee in 2007.

He got elected from Amritsar Central - a reserved seat-- in 2012 again as Congress nominee.

Soni had contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in 2009 and had narrowly lost to Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was then a BJP leader. Sidhu later joined the Congress ahead of 2017 assembly polls.

The constituency is a bustling area that comprises commercial and residential areas inside the old walled city.

It is famous for Darbar Sahib (Golden temple), the holiest of the Sikh shrines, which attracts thousands of pilgrims daily, besides the Jallianwala Bagh.

The centre of attraction here is the Heritage Street running down from Town Hall building to the Golden Temple Plaza.

The 1-kilometre stretch of Heritage Street begins at the old Town Hall building, which houses the Partition Museum, and goes up to the Darbar Sahib via Jallianwala Bagh.

Bright lamp posts, buildings with Rajputana and Mughal architectural domes and jharokhas, LED lights illuminate the facades. The signboards for all shops have been aesthetically unified.

"I am seeking votes on developmental plank," Soni told PTI.

He said he is fighting his eighth election which includes the ones he fought when he became Mayor and the parliamentary polls in 2009.

As he inaugurated his election office in his Central constituency a few days ago, he was heavily garlanded by party workers and supporters.

"There is great enthusiasm among workers. I am going to fight my eighth election and I have always got love and support of people," he said after inaugurating the office.

Congress will again form government, Soni asserts.

Asked about conjectures rife about AAP leading in the fray, Soni dismissed them as mere hype.

"Last time too the same surveys gave them 100 (of the 117) seats, but they ended up winning 20, and out of those too many MLAs deserted them. It is only the hype they generate, but the situation on the ground is that people will bring back Congress with full majority, he said.

Addressing people, he said, "I am your Sewadar', I have been serving this area for 32 years. I served you as Mayor, as MLA, then as Minister and now as Deputy CM. When leaders from other parties come to seek votes, ask them what have they done for you and why are they seen only at the time of election.

"This is not my election, but you are fighting this election," he added.

Asked why he doesn't attack his rivals like other politicians do, he said he likes to keep it simple.

"I have kept my politics simple, which is to do your work and leave the rest to the people. I am always available to my constituents and they return the love ten times over.

He spelled out several developmental initiatives he took for his constituency, and several pro-people and pro-poor decisions taken by the present Channi government.

Ram Chawla of BJP said there is great enthusiasm among party workers and the people are looking for a change.

"People are fed up with Congress' misrule. They made false promises on jobs, drugs issue, besides there is rampant corruption. Law and order has broken down and gangster culture is on the rise," Chawla said.

Senior BJP leader Shwait Malik also exuded confidence that people will oust Congress and will bring the BJP-led alliance to power in Punjab.

"Punjab needs a double-engine government and people are eagerly waiting for the polls," said Malik.

The BSP candidate said that if elected, it will work on improve roads, solve the sewage problem, and ensure clean water supply.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress leader on Saturday performed 'Ganga aarti' at the famous Har Ki Pauri Ghat here during his visit to Uttarakhand and said that he prayed for the "bright future" of the state.

He posted on Twitter three videos of himself participating in the 'Ganga aarti' amid 'Har Har Gange' chants by the huge crowd present there.

Tweeting one video of himself offering prayers, Gandhi said in Hindi, "Salutations to Ganga ji! Praying for the bright future of Uttarakhand."



Earlier in the day, at a farmers rally in the state, he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of leaving protesting farmers on roads for a year amid the pandemic and alleged India now has a king who believes people should keep quiet when he makes a decision.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A quiet street in Korea in the early 1900s Robert Neff Collection



By Robert Neff



In the first week of February 1903, Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, reported to the State Department that the annual "seokjeon" (stone battles) had begun. He assured the State Department that these fights were common and the Korean government allowed, if not supported, them because they were "supposed to promote a courageous spirit" in Korean men. He went on to explain:



"In [these stone fights], rival villages assemble their best men in line and stone the opposing line of villagers. If damage is done by the stones the men rush at each other and fight with clubs. Severe injuries are always received on either side and there are usually several deaths each year. Thousands of spectators cover the adjoining hills and when a rush takes place the whole crowd surges back to avoid the flying stones."



Allen stressed that "foreigners are usually careful to keep well out of reach of stones when visiting the scene of one of these fights." However, late in the afternoon (approximately 5 p.m.) on Feb. 5, 1903, at a large stone fight outside the West Gate of Seoul (probably near modern Ahyeon-dong)  there was an exception.





One of the small ports on the Han River circa 1900 Robert Neff Collection



Ahn Myung-soon recalled that he was on the field (it isn't clear if he was a participant or a spectator, but I am guessing the former) and noticed two foreigners on a low hill nearby. A gunshot rang out and Ahn felt something  like a small stone  strike his right leg. He thought nothing about it and watched as a wave of fighters and spectators surged toward the foreigners. The foreigners ran, but one man turned several times and fired his "small" gun. Ahn tried to follow the crowd but was overwhelmed by an intense pain in his leg and he was barely able to move it. He was surprised to discover that his leg was bleeding profusely.



Ahn's recollection of the event appears to be somewhat muddled. The two foreigners on the hill were actually Horace N. Allen and Carl von Waeber (the Russian representative) who had nothing to do with the shooting and were merely witnesses.



According to Allen, the two diplomats were out for an evening walk and as they reached the top of the hill near "the collection of houses at the fork of the roads leading respectively" to the river ports of Mapo and Yangwha, they "saw many Koreans in the valley beyond, apparently engaged in the annual stone fight."



It was at this time they noticed a foreigner, at the edge of the crowd, fire his weapon and then turn and run towards the diplomats. Later, Allen insisted he "saw and heard but one shot."





A stone battle in 1902 Robert Neff Collection



When the foreigner drew close to the diplomats, Allen recognized the shooter as Clare W. Hess, a young miner from Oriental Consolidated Mining Company (OCMC), the American gold mining concession in northern Korea. In his sworn testimony, Allen wrote:



"I rebuked him for firing in such a crowd, thinking he had simply fired into the air. He said he had been attacked by the crowd. I took his revolver away though it was a very large one, I struck in into my pocket. The man objected strongly to my taking his revolver and I had to use a little force. He asked me to protect him and I told him I could do nothing there but that he should go on to the legation. He then fled toward the city and we followed deliberately. Quite a crowd of Koreans followed the flying man, some of whom told me that a Korean had been shot and killed."



Allen had a flair for description and his narrative often changed. He was definitely more diplomat than missionary.



In his sworn statement he said he arrived at the American legation where he found Hess safe, and had the legation's constable take charge of the young miner. However, to the State Department, Allen reported that 24-year-old Hess was one of the miners brought from Columbia City, Indiana, by the OCMC in 1901 and had recently been discharged (Hess would later explain that he quit because he wanted to go in to business for himself). Apparently he had gone to take some pictures of the fight but, Allen noted, "for some strange reason he took with him a very large and powerful revolver, loaded."





The city gate Hess likely passed through as he fled the enraged Korean mob, circa 1900 Robert Neff Collection



When the crowd surged, he became alarmed and "fired his revolver in the air to scare the people away. [This was a mistake as] these people on such an occasion are in no mood to be trifled with" and they rushed towards the American. Allen insisted that it was "inconceivable" that Hess was in any danger until he shot again  this time hitting Ahn Myong-soon. Upon the realization that one of their number had been shot, they "became very ugly" and chased the young American.



In a private letter to the OCMC and in his State Department report, Allen played up his own role and claimed that he and Waeber "were in considerable danger from the angered people."



Fortunately for Hess, Ahn did not die. He was carried on the back of one of his fellow participants to the American legation where he gave his statement to the consul general and was then hospitalized in one of the Western clinics. As his wound was rather nasty, it was decided he would remain in the hospital until it was determined whether or not he would make a full recovery. Once that could be determined, Hess would be put on trial for murder or manslaughter (if Ahn died) or for assault.



According to one of Allen's narratives, rather than return to his room at the Station Hotel, Hess elected to stay in the legation's jail until the trial  perhaps fearing the mob would take matters into their own hands. Supporting this claim is his instructions to the consul general: "If Hess agrees to remain in jail pending your further communication with [the Seoul] governor it must be at his own expense." However, in the same note, Allen clearly indicated that it wasn't really the young miner's choice. "[Hess is] to be imprisoned pending the trial which must be ordered to take place as soon as the wounded man is able to appear."



Allen complained frequently about having prisoners but if the truth be told, I think he liked having prisoners  especially paying ones  after all, he built the jail with his own money. He also seemed to revel in taking part in consular courts.





Station Hotel with the proprietor, his family and staff, circa 1900 Robert Neff Collection



These were his suggestions for the consul general to consider:



1. He had no business to go to a place where he knew there would probably be disorder.

2. In taking with him a loaded revolver he committed another indiscretion and showed intention.

3. The crowd there were not armed; when they came toward him he was in no danger of his life and should have retreated.

4. He was guilty of a crime in discharging a firearm in a crowd if only to scare them.

5. Having discharged his revolver he would be guilty of manslaughter had he, however unintentionally, killed a man.

6. He seems guilty of mayhem as it now stands.

7. When he saw the crowd was angry and coming at him, knowing they had no weapons, he should have fled. He did not fly until he had shot twice again.

8. Even if self-defense were required, he went very much too far in his method of applying it.



In his report, however, Allen wrote: "Hess [was] not intoxicated, nor is he insane, which makes the shooting seem all the more incredible. It is a disgraceful thing for Americans." To his sons he wrote: "[Hess] is just a plain fool, nothing in his favor."



Others in the foreign community had different opinions. At least one of the missionaries was willing to lend Hess 200 yen ($100) to help pay for his legal defense and settlement with Ahn. Lillias Underwood certainly had an opinion when it came to restitution for Ahn's injuries:



"I suppose this is far more than [Ahn] would dream of getting in a matter where it is most questionable if he ought to have anything, considering he was engaged in a murderous pastime and had a mere flesh wound. One of my friends saw the wound before it was dressed."





Part of the American legation in Seoul in 1900 Robert Neff Collection
A holistic, coherent, and fair European approach to is the only way forward and member states must agree on a ' and Asylum' pact, a senior official of the European Union (EU) has said here.

"Greece today manages with a clear plan, tangible results and is a pioneer in the co-shaping of a coherent European policy... The challenges we face remain significant," Xinhua news agency quoted Margaritis Schinas, vice president of the European Commission, as saying.

Greece is one of the countries at the forefront of the refugee and migrant crisis in recent years which has called for more proportionate burden-sharing among EU member states.

More than a million people entered the country since 2015, mainly from Turkey, fleeing warzones and extreme poverty, according to migration authorities.

Most continued the journey to other European countries until the closure of borders of the Balkan route to Central Europe in the winter of 2016.

Following an EU-Turkey agreement on March 2016 aimed to stem the flows, the situation has improved. However, Greece still records thousands of new arrivals per year and dozens of lives lost in the Aegean Sea waters.

--IANS

int/shs

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Genocide Watch, a US-based organisation that campaigns against all forms of mass murder, has recognised the crimes committed by the Pakistani forces during Bangladeshs Liberation War in 1971 as genocide, bdnews24 reported.

"Genocide Watch recognizes the crimes committed by the Military Forces of Pakistan against the Bengali population in in 1971 as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," the organisation said in the declaration on Thursday in commemoration of 50 years of the genocide.

The Washington D.C.-based NGO works to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder.

"These crimes by the Pakistani Military Forces constituted the crimes against humanity of murder, extermination, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance of persons, and other inhumane acts," the declaration states.

"Strong evidence supports the conclusion that the crimes committed against the Bengalis of East Pakistan during 1971 were widespread and systematic and carried out by the Pakistani Army, other militia forces (Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams etc.), and pan-Islamic political forces (including Jamat e Islam, Nezam e Islam and the Muslim League).

"Conclusive research by internationally recognized genocide experts indicates that the nature, scale and organization of the Pakistani Military operations demonstrates planning and intentional design by the Pakistani junta leadership and military command to destroy a substantial part of the Bengali ethnic and national group and a substantial part of the Bengali Hindu religious group," the report said.

Gregory Stanton, an expert in genocide studies and founder of Genocide Watch, called upon the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution recognising the 1971 genocide in .

He urged the member states of the United Nations, especially the US, the UK, and Pakistan, to recognise the crimes committed by Pakistani Military Forces in as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

The declaration also urged member states of the UN to take necessary measures to recognise these crimes in appropriate fora, and to charge surviving leaders of this genocide in national courts with universal jurisdiction.

It called for proper reparations for these crimes from Pakistan to Bangladesh.

Tawheed Reza Noor, son of slain journalist Serajuddin Hossain, applied for the recognition of Genocide Watch in December, the report said.

"This recognition of the genocide during Bangladesh's Liberation War is a great achievement for us. I am really proud to be involved with this," he told bdnews24.com.

He believes the declaration by Genocide Watch has taken Bangladesh one step forward on the way to get global recognition of the 1971 crimes against humanity.

His application had earned Bangladesh a similar recognition from US-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention in January. It recognised the brutal slaughter of Bangladeshis by the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971 as a "genocide", the report said.

--IANS

san/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Imran Khan's China visit -- first in the last two years -- points to Islamabad's financial dependence on Beijing, especially as the West continues to ignore Pakistan, according to a media report.

Prime Minister -- who is in Beijing -- on Friday invited Chinese companies to invest in and benefit from the business-friendly policies of the PTI-led government, reported Geo News.

Imran Khan, during a series of meetings with the executives of Chinese state-owned and private corporate sectors, underlined that was offering a conducive environment for investment in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Khan also appreciated the keen interest of the Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan as Chinese corporate leaders briefed the premier on the progress of their ongoing projects in Pakistan.

The government with this visit is eying on a loan to the tune of USD 3 billion from China to stabilise its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and also seeks an investment bonanza in half a dozen sectors, The Express Tribune reported citing sources earlier. The Pakistan Prime Minister is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials in China where discussions will inevitably turn toward the USD 1.5 billion in overdue payments Pakistan owes Chinese energy companies that have built power plants as part of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), reported Asia Times.

The interests of the government with this visit underlines Islamabad's financial dependence on China as the Western powers have been ignoring Islamabad for quite some time.

Islamabad's ties with the United States were somewhat strained during the 1990s, but the country again became Washington's ally in the "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001, attacks. However, following the US pullout from Afghanistan, the South Asian country is now looking to the East for strategic alliances, according to DW. In return for the financial gains from China, experts believe that Islamabad could grant Beijing access to the Indian Ocean.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former US Vice President has said that he had "no right" to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The remarks were made during an event in Florida in response to former President Donald Trump's claim that Pence "could" have changed the outcome of the White House race, Xinhua news agency reported.

"President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election," Pence said. "The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone."

"Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election," the Republican from Indiana added.

Trump has attacked Pence for certifying the Electoral College results of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021, in which Democrat Joe Biden won.

Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol and interrupted the process that day, leading to his second impeachment by the House of Representatives shortly before he stepped down.

A House select committee is investigating the Capitol riot.

The Republican National Committee on Friday voted formally to censure Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the only two Republicans in the Jan. 6 committee, over their participation in the probe.

--IANS

int/shs

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has shut down the Moscow bureau of Deutsche Welle, Germany's media broadcaster, and has withdrawn the press credentials of all of DW's journalists on Friday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that it was cancelling DW's broadcasting license in Russia, calling it a response to the ban of the Russian broadcaster in Germany, reported DW.

Notably, the Russian state broadcaster, RT DE can no longer be transmitted in and the ban of DW's Moscow bureau comes as a response to that.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg has called the move an 'overreaction'.

"The measures by the authorities in are completely incomprehensible and a total overreaction,", he said.

Furthermore, the German MABB media watchdog and Commission for Licensing and Supervision of media organizations on Wednesday said that RT DE could not broadcast in using a Serbian license, reported DW.

Though licencing issues were cited, had criticized a German regulator's ban on German-language programming by Russia's state broadcaster RT as an attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

Having credentials of DW's Moscow Bureau staff revoked, they have stopped working early on Friday.

"We have been made into a kind of pawn, which the media must often endure in autocracies. We formally protest against this absurd reaction by the Russian government and we will take legal action against the announced measures. Until we are officially presented with the measures, we will continue reporting from our office in Moscow. Even if we ultimately do have to close it, our reporting about Russia will remain unchanged. In fact, we would increase our coverage.", Limbourg added.

This is a key development as last week on Friday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht and both shared their concerns over Russia's military deployments near Ukraine and emphasized their strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, reported DW.

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Amid calls mounting for answers over missing women activists, the on Friday released 14 women prisoners in Kabul to tackle global pressure.

To tackle global pressure, release 14 women prisoners in Kabul

Office of Prisons Administration of the announced that they have freed 14 women from female prison in the Afghan capital Kabul, reported Tolo News.

The body said that the inmates were let out as a result of an assessment conducted by a government delegation.

A statement sent to media by OPA read that "14 women prisoners were released on Thursday, February 3 as a result of an assessment conducted by a five-member delegation."

Deputy of the counternarcotic body in the ministry of interior affairs of the Taliban Moulayee Abdulhaq said that the prisoners released promised not to do carry out activities that harm societal order and that are illegal and/or in opposition with Sharia law, reported Tolo News.

The move comes amid reports of a second instance of missing women rights' activists--two more were allegedly abducted this week--that sparked reactions, with many public figures and organizations demanding information about the fate of these women who have gone missing.

Zahra Mohammadi and Mursal Ayar are the two female activists who went missing two days ago. Over two weeks ago, Tamana Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhil went missing.

The US special envoy for Afghan women, Rina Amiri, said that if the Islamic Emirate seeks legitimacy from the world and the people inside Afghanistan, it must respect the human rights of the Afghans.

"These unjust detentions must stop. If the Taliban seek legitimacy from the Afghan people and the world they must respect Afghans' human rights - especially for women - including the freedom of expression and immediately release these women, their relatives and other activists," Amiri said on Twitter.

Some women's rights activists called on the community to take serious steps to release of the detained female activists.

Meanwhile, the UN Mission in Afghanistan sought information from the Taliban on the latest reported detentions by the Taliban. It also repeated calls for all 'disappeared' women activists and relatives to be released.

"Urgent information sought from @moiafghanistan today by UNAMA on latest reported detentions over last 24 hrs by the Taliban of a further two women activists in Kabul. UN repeats its call for all 'disappeared' women activists and relatives to be released," the UN Mission said in a tweet.

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Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

"The result of Covid-19 tests done with my wife after showing mild symptoms came back positive," Erdogan said in a tweet, adding that both had the Omicron variant of the virus.

"We will continue our work at home. We look forward to your prayers," he added.

Officials of his AKP ruling party, ministers and opposition leaders wished him a speedy recovery.

Earlier on Saturday, Erdogan had made a speech via live videolink during a ceremony to mark the opening of a road and tunnels in northern Black Sea province of Zonguldak.

On Thursday, he visited Kyiv, holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and offering to host a meeting between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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The US and eight other countries have called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to condemn North Korea's recent missile tests after the council's closed meeting apparently failed to take any concrete action against Pyongyang.

Friday's meeting marked the second attempt by the US and other like-minded countries in just about two weeks to hold to account for its recent series of missile launches, Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday.

staged its seventh and last round of missile launch of the year on January 30.

"The DPRK's January 30 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a significant escalation in the DPRK's recent violations of multiple Security Council resolutions and seeks to further destabilize the region. We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a joint statement.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The statement was signed by the UN representatives from eight other UNSC member countries -- Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

They noted the IRBM marked the longest-range test conducted by since late 2017, also adding Pyongyang has so far fired nine ballistic missiles in the seven rounds of missile tests this year.

"The nine ballistic missiles launched in January is the largest number of launches the DPRK has conducted in a single month in the history of its WMD and ballistic missile programs," they said in their joint statement.

"We call on all Council members to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and unlawful acts," they added.

North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing since November 2017 when it last test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, following its sixth and last nuclear test in September that year.

--IANS

ksk/

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Congress leader on Saturday said the country is robbing the future of its daughters by letting the hijab come in the way of their education.

Coming out in support of hijab-wearing Muslim girl students not allowed entry in educational institutes in Karnataka, he said the goddess Saraswati does not differentiate and gives knowledge to all.

"By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn't differentiate. #SaraswatiPuja," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Saraswati is worshipped as the goddess of knowledge.

Saraswati Puja, also known as Basant Panchami, is one of the Hindu festivals that marks the arrival of spring. It is being celebrated in the country on Saturday.

The hijab row issue has snowballed into a major controversy in Karnataka.

Our govt stood with Muslim women by scrapping Triple Talaq. All those speaking on individual liberty, speak on restrictions on Muslim women in mosques. Everyone should follow a uniform system inside a govt campus. That's my only intention: Karnataka Minister Sunil Kumar Karkala https://t.co/let7N5sYmu pic.twitter.com/EZ8Sodxf23  ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2022

The issue started in early January at the government girls' pre-university (PU) college in Udupi, where six students attended classes wearing headscarves in violation of the dress code in classrooms.

The college had allowed hijab on the campus but not inside the classrooms. The students protested against the directions, but they were barred to attend the classes. The girls continued their protest by sitting outside the classrooms for about a month.

One of the six protesting students at the college had moved the Karnataka High Court on January 31, seeking interim relief to attend classes wearing the hijab till the issue is settled.

The Udupi incident was followed at the pre-university college in Kundapur in the same district, with the authorities disallowing 28 Muslim girl students wearing hijabs from attending classes in the institute, citing a government direction. The girls protested against the order outside the classes as well.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was conspicuously absent during the reception of Prime Minister at the airport here on Saturday.

Modi landed here this afternoon to dedicate to the nation the 'Statue of Equality' commemorating the 11th century Bhakti saint Sri Ramanujacharya and also to kickstart the 50th anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT.

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav were among the VIPs received Modi at the airport.

Sources at Pragati Bhavan, Rao's official residence told PTI that the Chief Minister was not well as he is suffering from fever. He however would attend the programme of dedication of 'Statue of Equality' in the evening.

A communication from the CMO had said Talasani Srinivas Yadav is nominated to receive and see off the Prime Minister upon his arrival and departure during the latter's visit to the city today.

Describing the Union Budget 2022-23 as a golmaal budget' that disappointed farmers, workers and common people, Rao had recently claimed that it was a betrayal against the people.

Telangana: PM joins the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Patancheru, Hyderabad.



Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar also present pic.twitter.com/7VXGnrxl2g  ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2022

Telangana: Prime Minister watches an exhibition at International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus in Patancheru, Hyderabad. He will join the 50th Anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT. pic.twitter.com/mhqwx8fOXz  ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2022

Alleging that both Congress and BJP have failed to make the country realise its potential, he had said he would make efforts towards bringing about qualitative change.

Modi is a very short-sighted Prime Minister as an arbitration centre for dispute resolution has been proposed to be set up in GIFT City in Gujarat in the budget though such a centre is already being established in Hyderabad, Rao had claimed.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


By Kim Jae-heun





E-mart CEO Kang Heui-seok

E-mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus have been losing customers to convenience stores amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as more people are avoiding visiting large stores so as to minimize the risk of infection, according to retail industry analysts Friday.



In contrast, CU, GS25 and other convenience store chains have seen their sales surge over the past two years, as more people opt to buy daily necessities near their homes.



The three large discount store operators have come up with countermeasures to strengthen themselves in the premium grocery sector as well as renovate underperforming stores, but it is uncertain whether these efforts will succeed.



Last year was the first time that convenience stores beat supermarket chains, winning 0.2 percentage points more of the offline retail market share. The "big three" convenience stores  GS25, CU and 7-Eleven  accounted for a share of 15.9 percent, while E-mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus took only 15.7 percent in 2021.





Lotte Shopping CEO Kang Hee Tae
Stating that the budget 2023 is more directional with a quarter of a century of sustained growth in mind, Commerce and Industry minister on Saturday sought to deflect criticism in certain quarters that the government focused more on the supply-side than on growth-boosting demand side of the economy.

On February 1, the government presented a budget with no tax increases and thus no new revenue generation measures but chose to do record borrowings to fund a budgeted 35 per cent increased capital investment at Rs 7.5 lakh crore and also offered an additional Rs 1 lakh crore to the states for capital investment in interest-free loans. Together with the states, the overall capital expenditure next fiscal will be at a record high of Rs 10.5 lakh crore.

This will have the government borrowing hitting a historic high with gross borrowing at Rs 14.95 lakh crore and net borrowing of Rs 11.6 lakh crore.

Demand has been the biggest missing link in the economy even before the pandemic hit the nation and scuppered the last strain of demand as those who had money chose to save and not splurge while tens of millions became jobless.

"I am surprised at the criticism in a section of the industry that the budget is supply-side focused while what was more needed was boosting demand. The fact is that this is a direction setting budget, with clear focus on the macro as well as micro issues plaguing the economy. Such a focus will lead to faster and deeper trickle-down effect. Because through this budget, government wants to work towards a much brighter future for everyone by the time we celebrate the first century of our independence," Goyal told a post-budget gathering of industry representatives organized by the BSE.

Those criticizing the budget are missing the key point that most of the time supply side push also creates demand as a resilient supply-chain is crucial to secure sustained growth over the long-term. "So when we are pumping in so much money in capex (Rs 7.5 lakh crore by the Centre and Rs 3 lakh crore by the states, which is the biggest demand push any government has given in a year,) there will be all-round demand generation in all key sectors of the economy be it cement, steel or other metals which will an impact on overall demand too," he explained.

Moving on to exports, which are already a record high by crossing USD 336 billion by January, he said he is doing everything to ensure that we cross the USD 400 billion target set for the next fiscal by mid-way. Towards this the government is speeding up free trade talks with key nations such as Britain, Canada and Australia and also began with the GCC nations.

"On the FTA with the UK you will have positive surprises in a few days while with Australia it is being worked out on a priority basis. Recently the GCC grouping also expressed interest in inking a free trade agreement with us," Goyal said.

"That we've been earning over USD30 billion in each of the ten months of the fiscal is a clear indication that our competitiveness has gone up," he said, adding our services industry is also on course to net USD240 billion this fiscal.

Going forward our export story will be a race to the topa race between the services and merchandise exports both have to race clock USD 1 trillion each over the next five-six years when the economy will be a USD 5 trillion giant.

The minister also urged the industry, exporters in particular to be more demanding from the government in general and him specifically, so that he can make better bargains with other nations while engaging in trade negotiations.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union budget FY23's Capex push as well as continued focus on infrastructure development is likely to boost cement demand.

India's Budget 2022-23 has earmarked a massive budgetary outlay of Rs 7.50 lakh crore for Capex. In her Budget speech to Parliament on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to increase the capital budget outlay by over 35 per cent.

According to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), the increase in the budgetedACapexAover the revised spending estimate for FY22 is likely to drive infrastructure spending that accounts for around one-fourth of the cement demand.

Besides, the cascading impact it has on the employment generation will aid in demand creation.

"After a 53 per cent increase in the estimated spend in FY22 to revive the urban spending which led to a recovery in the cement demand from the segment, the allocation to the urban infrastructure increased marginally to Rs 635 billion for FY23 from the revised estimate of Rs 619 billion in FY22."

"Around 100 'Gati Shakti' cargo terminals for multimodal logistics facilities are likely to come up in the next three years."

As per the agency, the cement demand from the housing segment which constitutes around 65 per cent of the total cement demand is likely to be supported by the government's continued focus on affordable housing, with the allocation of Rs 480 billion for the completion of 8 million houses under the 'PMAY' scheme.

"The allocation is in line with the revised estimate of Rs 478 billion for FY22, up 70 per cent from the budgeted estimate for the year."

"The housing segment has been a key demand driver in the past few years, with the individual home builder segment displaying a remarkable resilience to the pandemic."

--IANS

rv/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi [India], February 5 (ANI/PNN): As the startup IPO boom is set to continue in 2022, travel tech major Ixigo is eyeing a robust stock market debut on the back of a forward-looking and infrastructure focussed Union Budget for FY23.

According to the company, the announcement of new Vande Bharat trains over the next three years and further support for the hospitality sector under ECLGS scheme would in turn support the travel industry and boost consumer demand in the sector.

In December, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) gave its approval for Le Travenues Technology Limited which manages the travel platform Ixigo to raise Rs.1600 Cr. through initial public offering. It plans to raise Rs 750 crore in fresh issue and Rs 850 crore in an offer-for-sale. Elevation Capital, with a 24 percent interest in the company, is the largest shareholder in the travel booking company, followed by SCI Investments, with a 16.02 percent stake, and Gamnat, with a 9.89 percent stake. Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, the company's co-founders, own 9.18 percent and 8.79 percent of the company, respectively.

"This year's budget has been among the most progressive budgets. Along with its focus on startups, the government has also given major push on infrastructure and railways. These measures will result in long term growth and boost demand," said Utkarsh Sinha, Financial Analyst.

The Union Budget for 2022-23 was presented in Lok Sabha by Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Finance Minister, who announced that 400 new-generation Vande Bharat trains with improved energy efficiency and passenger riding experience will be developed and constructed over the next three years. The increased number of trains will lead to higher travel and, as a result, more traffic on booking and reservation platforms such as IRCTC, Ixigo, and Confirmtkt. Because demand would increase, it will be a tremendous opportunity for Ixigo.

LE Travenues operates (https://www.ixigo.com) and (https://www.confirmtkt.com), as well as the ixigo / confirm ticket mobile applications, which provide real-time information and booking services for the travel industry across airlines, trains, hotels, buses, and cabs. Both Ixigo and Confirmtkt are official IRCTC B2C premium ticketing partners for online train reservations in India. It helped the IXIGO group to consolidate its presence in Tier 3-4 markets with its combined user base of nearly 200 million Indians. IXIGO acquired Abhibus and reached the app earlier.

Ixigo is an AI based technology company focused on empowering Indian travelers to plan, book and manage their trips across rail, air, buses and hotels. The company applies artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science-driven technologies on their OTA platforms, which include their websites and mobile applications, to empower travelers to make better travel decisions. According to the F & S Report, they have a 42 percent market share in train booking, a 10 percent market share in bus ticketing, and a 12 percent market share in flight ticketing. Since its start, the platform has processed Rs 5,000 crore in annualized gross booking value, with over 250 million app downloads.

The company's financials have showed phenomenal growth, with revenue rising from INR 42.65 crore in 2019 to INR 138.40 crore in 2021, a CAGR of 80.13 percent in three years, and assets rising from INR 60.38 crore in 2019 to INR 181.34 crore in 2021, a CAGR of 73.30 percent in three years.

The company's ESOPs are currently selling around Rs 240-Rs 250 in unlisted markets, and there is strong demand for this stock. IXIGO is presently valued at 1.2 Billion $ and would add to India's unicorn club.

This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)

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New Delhi [India], February 5 (ANI/PNN): BSE listed Sindhu Trade Links Limited is pleased to inform that in terms of Company Managements decision to become debt-free, it has reduced its bank debt by Rs. 1041.5 million, almost 1/3rd of its peak bank-debts.

With promoters' persistence, the company dared to initiate this debt reduction program during the previous financial year itself, wherein businesses across the world were considerably disturbed by outburst of COVID-19 pandemic, and is continuing thereafter with tenacity to reduce bank-debt every quarter, and accordingly Rs. 784.7 million bank-debt has been repaid by the Company in first 9 month of the current financial year.

Commenting on the development, Satya Pal Sindhu, Managing Director of the Company said "I am very happy that we are moving towards becoming a Zero Debt Company, repayment of bank-debts amounting more than Rs. 1000 million in the last 15-18 months not only shows resolve of the company management but also signifies company's financial strength. The bank-debt reduction 'll result into huge perpetual savings in interest expense, increased profitability and stronger financials, better credit ratings etc. We are working on other alternative plans also to augment the long-term resources in order to reduce the bank-debt further and confident of becoming debt-free earlier than the envisaged timelines."

Sindhu Trade Links Limited (STTL) is flagship company of the conglomerate engaged in the business of logistics, transportation, mining, coal beneficiation, power generation, sponge iron and steel, stock broking, media, finance, food processing park, and Real Estate.

Headquartered in Delhi-NCR, STTL is a 'one-stop shop' for a wide spectrum of support services required for mining and allied activities, logistics and transportation. STTL's has 5 subsidiaries and associates, involved in diversified businesses, namely 1. Hari Bhoomi Communications Private Limited-Media Business, 2. Sudha Bio Power Private Limited - Bio Mass Based Power Generation, 3. Indus Best Mega Food Park Private Limited - Development of Food Park for Food Processing Industries, 4. Shyam Indus Power Solutions Private Limited - EPC of Power Distribution, Power Transmission, Railway OHE, Railway Track Laying, and 5. Param Mitra Resources Pte. Limited - Overseas Coal Mining. For Overseas Coal Mining businesses, the Company has several step-down subsidiaries, associates, joint ventures in Australia, Hongkong, Singapore and Indonesia.

The Equity Shares of STTL are listed on BSE (Scrip Code: 532029) with ISIN: INE325D01025

(NSE Listing-applied and awaited)

This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)

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Earlier this week, Cadillac Area Public Schools and Cadillac High School administration met with students to discuss concerns after a recent fight sent one student to the hospital. Since the fight occurred, the district received multiple emails, phone and social media messages expressing concerns regarding the safety of Cadillac High School students and staff following the student fight.
This photo combo of images provided by Bridgewater College shows campus safety Officer J.J Jefferson, left, and campus police Officer John Painter. On Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, a gunman shot and killed the two campus officers, prompting a protracted campus lockdown and search before the suspect was apprehended, state police and school officials said. (Matthew Cosner/Courtesy of Bridgewater College via AP)
Diana Merchant self-tests for COVID-19 at a No Cost COVID-19 Drive-Through testing provided the GUARDaHEART Foundation at the Guirado Park in Whittier, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. With the brutal omicron wave rapidly easing its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of the 50 states. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Superintendent Dr. Rob Jackson speaks regarding the 2022-23 school calendar during the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night in Beaufort. (Cheryl Burke photo)
Carroll, IA (51401)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High 47F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 39F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
Absent from this list are third-party acquisitions and partner-produced films, including anticipated projects like Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, a Nickelodeon-produced spin-off from the series. The film was initially slated for 2021, and sources later told us it was due this year.

There will almost certainly be some surprises too. After all, the streamer picked up its most high-profile animated film of 2021, Sonys The Mitchells vs. the Machines, after it issued last years slate.

For now, heres the original films that subscribers can look forward to in the next 11 months 

Apollo 10 : A Space Age Childhood

Director: Richard Linklater

Synopsis: Apollo 10 : A Space Age Childhood tells the story of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969 from two interwoven perspectives  the astronaut and mission control view of the triumphant moment, and through the eyes of a kid growing up in Houston, Texas who has intergalactic dreams of his own. Taking inspiration from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Richard Linklaters own life, Apollo 10 : A Space Age Childhood is a snapshot of American life in the 1960s that is part coming of age, part societal commentary, and part out-of-this-world adventure.

Image at top

Bubble

Director: Tetsuro Araki

Synopsis: The story is set in Tokyo, after bubbles that broke the laws of gravity rained down upon the world. Cut off from the outside world, Tokyo has become a playground for a group of young people who have lost their families, acting as a battlefield for parkour team battles as they leap from building to building. Hibiki, a young ace known for his dangerous play style, makes a reckless move one day and plummets into the gravity-bending sea. His life is saved by Uta, a girl with mysterious powers who appears suddenly. The pair then hear a unique sound audible only to them. Why did Uta appear before Hibiki? Their encounter leads to a revelation that will change the world.

Drifting Home

Director: Hiroyasu Ishida

Synopsis: Kosuke and Natsume have been friends since childhood, but as time goes on the relationship between the two sixth graders seems strained as they keep avoiding one another. One day during their summer vacation, they go to a housing complex that is scheduled to be demolished. Having grown up there, the place holds a lot of memories. While playing, they suddenly get caught up in a mysterious phenomenon and when they regain consciousness, they see an entire ocean before them as the housing complex has drifted into a mysterious sea along with Kosuke and Natsume with it. Will they be able to return to their previous world? A summer farewell journey begins.

Guillermo del Toros Pinocchio

Directors: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson

Synopsis: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodis classic tale of the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. This whimsical, stop-motion musical directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.

My Fathers Dragon

Director: Nora Twomey

Synopsis: From five-time Academy Award-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers) and Academy Award-nominated director Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner) comes an exquisite film inspired by the Newbery-honored childrens book from author Ruth Stiles Gannett. Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elmers adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island and the friendship of a lifetime.

The Sea Beast

Director: Chris Williams

Synopsis: In an era when terrifying beasts roamed the seas, monster hunters were celebrated heroes  and none were more beloved than the great Jacob Holland. But when young Maisie Brumble stows away on his fabled ship, hes saddled with an unexpected ally. Together they embark on an epic journey into uncharted waters and make history. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Chris Williams (Moana, Big Hero 6, Bolt), The Sea Beast takes us to where the map ends, and the true adventure begins.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh Part 1

Director: Bob Shirahata

Synopsis: With over 37 million copies sold and winning in the childrens category of the 39th Kodansha Manga Award, the mega-hit The Seven Deadly Sins (original work: Nakaba Suzuki) is receiving a spin-off anime film. This film will feature an original story by Suzuki. Split into two parts, the story will follow Tristan, the son of The Seven Deadly Sins protagonists Meliodas and Elizabeth. Tristan inherits the power of the Goddess Clan and can heal peoples wounds and injuries, but he often ends up hurting others due to his inability to control his Demon Clan power. To protect his family, Tristan heads to Edinburgh Castle and meets a host of new friends along the way.

Wendell & Wild

Director: Henry Selick
Photo: The Canadian Press Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson leaves the Senate entrance on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Patterson, the territory's senator since 2009, told The Canadian Press he has quit the Conservative caucus over its support for protests in Ottawa against vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Nunavut's senator says he has left the Conservative caucus over its support for protests in Ottawa against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Dennis Patterson told The Canadian Press on Friday that he quit the party's caucuses in the Senate and the House of Commons and has joined the non-partisan Canadian Senators Group.

Patterson confirmed he is still a member of the Conservative Party, but said the caucuses' support for the protests was "the last straw."

"These are not caucuses that I'm any longer comfortable with," he said. "I've been very disappointed not to have seen a condemnation from our leadership of the continued hostage occupation of the heart of our Canadian democracy in downtown Ottawa."

Patterson condemned the protests and said he considers himself a moderate voice in the party.

"I'm appalled that we appear to be associated with extremists."

Patterson said Erin O'Toole's ousting from the party leadership was not a factor in his decision.

He also said the Conservative party has taken an "increasingly divisive and vitriolic" approach and he will continue to speak against extremism in the party.

"We need to shift away from that," he said.

Patterson called Nunavut's efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 in the territory "heroic and successful" and said he felt uneasy with his colleagues' opposition to vaccine mandates and lockdowns.

"That's been part of my discomfort."

His decision to leave was not a "spur of the moment thing," said Patterson, who added he had discussed it with his colleagues in the House and the Senate before he quit.

"I've been thinking deeply about it and expressing my views privately for some time without much resonance, unfortunately," he said.

Patterson was appointed as a Conservative senator in 2009 by then-prime minister Stephen Harper.
China continues to be in illegal occupation of approximately 38,000 sq. kms. of Indian territory in the Union Territory of Ladakh for the last six decades, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan informed Lok Sabha on Friday.

Further, under the so-called China-Pakistan 'Boundary Agreement' signed in 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. kms. of Indian territory in Shaksgam Valley from areas illegally occupied by Pakistan in Union Territory of Ladakh to China, the minister said in a written reply to a question.

Replying to a question of Bahujan Samaj Party MP Shyam Yadav Singh Muraleedharan said, "Government of India has never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan 'Boundary Agreement' of 1963 and has consistently maintained that it is illegal and invalid."

"The fact that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India has been clearly conveyed to Pakistani and Chinese authorities several times," the MoS said.

After the 1962 conflict, both China and Pakistan saw an opportunity to strengthen and develop their relations to put strategic pressure on India. As part of that bargain in 1963 agreement between China and Pakistan was signed, even though there is no border between the two countries. Moreover, it was ceded to China by Pakistan.

Later, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2013, making further use of the illegal connections between China and Pakistan to consolidate their bilateral ties including Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963.

India has continuously opposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and CPEC as a violation of sovereignty right from 2013 onwards.

(ANI)
On the remark of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi comparing Indian politics with that of Israel, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson Nalin Kohli on Saturday took a dig at Owaisi saying that now he is using Israel for his politics.

"Owaisi sahab is often involved in communal talks and attempts such politics. But now it is a strange thing he is taking support of the shoulder of Israel as well for his politics. Why he is doing it, you must ask him," said the BJP leader.

A day after shots were fired at the convoy of Owaisi in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Lok Sabha MP on Friday said that Indian politics, which is under the control of majoritarian, may not become like that of Israel.

Lauding the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the BJP leader said, "The entire ecosystem that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has created for startups is a testimony to the fact that in India those opportunities are expanding and a number of unicorns are developing. Day and night we see young entrepreneurs working to bring Indian companies on the global map. Simultaneously, when it comes to China, the import-export, the data points that in the pandemic period actually, our exports to China have increased. So, it has narrowed the gap."

Notably, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury yesterday took a swipe at the Centre stating that 'Make in India' should be termed as a "farce" as the trade deficit between India and China reflects that India continues to import more from the neighbouring country.

On this, Kohli said, "It is possible that some leaders of the Congress party may be making political issues. But the facts speak otherwise. Under PM Modi, the Indian economy has been resilient and unlike other economies that are struggling in the COVID period, the Indian economy on the contrary showing very positive signs."

Slamming the Congress stating that there is apparently a rife within the party's Punjab unit following the delay in the announcement of the Chief Ministerial candidate for upcoming Assembly polls, the BJP said that there seems to be a conflict with the leadership within the party.

"It is the internal matter of the Congress party. However, one notes that there seems to be some kind of an internal conflict of war in the party. At one end, several senior Congress leaders repeatedly raise questions about the leadership qualities and the abilities of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Simultaneously, when we speak about Punjab, it seems that there is some competition there 'of who will be the CM'. Every day a statement or the other comes in, some competition is taking place. Their focus and objective is no longer serving the people of Punjab. Their focus is power for the same of power and who can become more powerful," the BJP leader said.

In an apparent dig at the Congress top leadership,he said, "Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had said that the people at the top want a weak Chief Minister who can dance to their tunes."

Punjab Congress is yet to announce its CM face for upcoming Assembly polls scheduled to be held at February 20.

(ANI)
Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and Interested Parties:

2022 Request for Applications: Dual Language Immersion Grant

The California Department of Education (CDE) is pleased to announce that the Request for Applications (RFA) for the Dual Language Immersion Grant (DLIG) is now available.

The DLIG provides funds for projects to expand or establish dual language immersion programs that provide integrated language learning and academic instruction for native speakers of English and native speakers of another language with the goals of high academic achievement, first and second language proficiency, and cross-cultural understanding. Authorized under Assembly Bill 130, Chapter 44, Section 158 of the Statutes of 2021, the bill appropriated $10 million from the General Fund to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to be available through the 202425 fiscal year for the DLIG.

I have been a longtime advocate for multilingual education, and increasing the number of multilingual programs throughout California is a key priority. The DLIG provides an opportunity for California students to learn multiple languages, which helps create a competitive workforce for todays global economy. Additionally, multilingual education supports greater language acquisition for all students and promotes the assets of our students who speak languages other than English at home.

Research demonstrates that multilingualism provides many benefits that help our schools and our students, including increased cognitive abilities, higher student achievement, and greater career opportunities. Multilingualism promotes global awareness, reduced discrimination, improved self-esteem, and stronger cross-group relationships.

In November 2016, more than 73 percent of California voters approved Proposition 58, now known as the California Education for a Global Economy (CA Ed.G.E.) Initiative. The CA Ed.G.E. Initiative provides a mechanism for parents to request multilingual programs for their children. California now has at least 747 dual language immersion programs throughout the state, with parents requesting additional programs at their own schools.

In July 2017, the California State Board of Education unanimously approved the English Learner Roadmap Policy, which lays a foundation for the education of English learners in Transitional Kindergarten through grade twelve in California. The English Learner Roadmap Policy identifies high-quality multilingual programs as the most equitable and effective approach to educating English learner students in particular.

The DLIG RFA is available on the CDE RFA DLIG web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r28/dlig21rfa.asp. Interested applicants are required to submit the DLIG Intent to Submit an Application Electronic Form by 4 p.m. on February 25, 2022. Submitting this intent form does not require an organization to ultimately submit an application; however, an application will not be accepted unless the electronic form was submitted and received by the CDE by the aforementioned deadline.

Eligible entities (including schools, school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, or consortia of the aforementioned entities) may apply for state funds to expand or establish dual language immersion programs.

All applicants must submit a complete application, including all required components, to the Language Policy and Leadership Office by 4 p.m. on March 18, 2022. Incomplete or late applications will not be scored or considered for approval.

A technical assistance webinar in regards to the DLIG RFA, letter of intent, and other program requirements will take place on February 11, 2022, at 2 p.m. For questions regarding the DLIG RFA, please contact Lorrie Kelling, Education Programs Consultant, Language Policy and Leadership Office, at 916-319-0845 or DLIG@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

TT:lk
Danville Community College dental hygiene students are required to complete hands-on clinic hours before graduating from the program. These services are provided to the public at no cost.
Millions of people saw local school teacher get MAJOR honor; Owners exploring possible solar facility; Danville Area Humane Society hopes reward money will solve animal cruelty case; And Martinsville is NOT throwing in the towel on reversion.
Pastor Jason Thomas of First Baptist Church of Fort Oglethorpe will be continuing in the series called "Infinite Opportunities from the Ordinary." The series is based on the Book of Acts, and this week in Acts Chapter 15: vv.36-41.This teaching series focuses on the fact that sometimes life often seems ordinary, but there are infinite opportunities from the ordinary when we look to the God who is infinite.Pastor Thomas will look at this Sunday in Acts 15 where conflict slipped into the ordinary and yet, God continued to do a great and powerful work.Questions Pastor Thomas will be looking at in the text:What is your natural response when a conflict arises?What are the ways that conflict has held you back?Describe being self-centered compared to God-centered in a conflict?Are there ongoing conflicts in your life that need resolution?First Baptist Church of Fort Oglethorpe has a traditional service at 10 a.m.and a contemporary service at 11 a.m. on campus each Sunday morning. It is celebrating it's 70th year of ministry in 2022.You can see more about the church at www.fbcfo.org.
A barhopping fellow, four sheets to the wind, stumbles into a bar and declares "I'm buying everyone in the bar a drink! Line 'em up, bartender!"



So the bartender pours everyone a drink, and frivolity commences until the bartender says to that first guy, "OK, that'll be $210."



The drunk guy says, "I don't have that kind of money!"



The bartender throws him out. A few minutes later, the drunk staggers back into the bar. This time he says, "I'm buying everyone in this bar a drink! Except for you bartender, when you drink, you get nasty."

* * *

BACK WHERE I COME FROM  

"Those are fighting words where I come from!"

"Well, then why don't you fight?!?!"

"Cause I ain't where I come from!"

* * *

WHAT  NOT WHERE  IS THE WHITE STUFF

As the cruise ship was departing port, a well dressed passenger approached the Captain.

Pointing to the distant hills she asked, "What is that white stuff?"The Captain replied, "That is snow, madam.""Well," remarked the lady, "I thought so. But a gentleman told me it was Greece."

* * *

TRIED IT BUT DIDNT LIKE IT

A man walked into a bar on a slow night and sat down. After a few minutes, the bartender asked him if he wanted a drink. He replied, "No thanks. I don't drink. I tried it once but I didn't like it."



So the bartender said, "Well, would you like a cigarette?"



But the man said, "No thanks. I don't smoke. I tried it once but I didn't like it."



The bartender asked him if he'd like to play a game of pool, and again the man said, "No thanks. I don't like pool. I tried it once but I didn't like it. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be here at all, but I'm waiting for my son."



The bartender said, "Let me guess, your only son?"

* * *

THE DOGS HITTING TWO-FOR-THREE

Billy: I asked my dog three questions and he got two of them right.



Trevor: What three questions?



Billy: I asked what covers a tree and he said bark. I asked him what the texture of bark is and he said ruff. I then asked him if he knew what the winning lottery numbers are for next Saturday night?



Trevor: He missed the lottery number question, right?



Billy: I don't know, I'll tell you on Sunday.

* * *

ITS ABOUT MY HEIGHT

Lady (to her doctor): "What l am worried about is my height and not my weight."

Doctor: "How come?"

Lady: "According to my weight, my height should be 7 feet, 8 inches."

* * *

PLEASE KEEP YOUR PHOTOGRAPH

A soldier serving overseas far from home was annoyed and upset when his girl wrote to break off their engagement and ask for her photograph back.



He went out and collected from his friends all the unwanted photographs of women that he could find, bundled them all together, and sent them back with a note saying, I regret that I cannot remember which one you are. Please keep your photo and return the others.

* * *

WHY THEY ARE CALLED DEPENDS

Do you know why baby diapers have brand names like Luvs, Huggies and Pampers while undergarments for old people are called Depends?



Well, here is the reason...



When babies soil their pants, people are still going to Luvem, Hug'em, and Pamper'em.



When old people soil their pants, it Depends on who's in the will!

* * *

PROMISES ARE EASY TO BREAK

Father: Didnt you promise to be a good boy?



Little Johnny: Yes, father.



Father: And didnt I promise to punish you if you werent?



Little Johnny: Yes, father. But since Ive broken my promise, you dont have to keep yours.

* * *

THIS WEEKS BEST FROM YOUTUBE



* -- Candid Camera Classic: Microwave Madness CLICK

* -- Candid Camera Classic: Microwave Madness CLICK HERE

* -- O Me! O Life!  a Poem by Walt Whitman CLICK HERE

* -- Tuba Skinny at the Schooner Landing 8-1-21 CLICK HERE



----


Full House star Candace Cameron Bure was very close with Bob Saget, who recently died at age 65. Cameron Bure revealed the last text messages she exchanged with the comedian. Heres what she said she and Saget argued about just before his death.

Jodie Sweetin, Bob Saget, Ashley Olsen, and Candace Cameron Bure | Bob DAmico/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Bob Saget played Candace Cameron Bures father on Full House

Actor and comedian Bob Saget was found dead on Jan. 9 in his hotel room in Orlando, Florida. He was on tour and performed a two-hour stand-up comedy show hours before his death.

Candace Cameron Bure played Sagets oldest daughter on the TV series Full House. On Feb. 3, Bure had her first interview since Sagets death on Today with co-host Hoda Kotb.

I cant believe hes gone forever. I just cant, the 45-year-old actor said (per People). My brain has not comprehended that yet.

Cameron Bure opened up about how Saget wasnt just her TV dad; he was one of her closest friends. You know, I think that for even TV viewers, you might think, Oh, he played your dad on TV  but Bob was so much more than that. I mean, [he was] really one of my closest friends for 35 years.

She added, To think that hes not here and were not gonna have another joke or another hug, or just another bit of ridiculousness in life, its almost unbearable for me to think about.

Bob Saget and Candace Cameron Bure | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Candace Cameron Bure revealed the last text messages she exchanged with Full House co-star Bob Saget before his death

The actor revealed that she and her former Full House co-star got into an argument over text messages just two weeks before his death. As she pulled out her phone, Cameron Bure told Kotb that she was worried she might accidentally erase the messages.

Im so scared that Im going to pull up his text and then accidentally delete it one day, she said tearfully. It scares me so much because I dont ever want to lose this.

She went on to describe their text exchange. We were going to have dinner. And we got into a little tiff, Cameron Bure said (per Page Six). And his flight was delayed. We ended up not having dinner.

But after their minor disagreement, Cameron Bure said Bob Saget sent her a lengthy apology text. But in Bob fashion, the next day he wrote me, like, what would be pages long of a text. And he was apologizing, saying he was cranky and he was just so sorry.

According to the actor, Saget jokingly compared himself to his mother Dolly, who died in 2014. The comedian reportedly had a good relationship with his mother, so the comparison wasnt mean-spirited. He said, Oh, now I feel even worse. I was so wrong, Cameron Bure described. Youre, like, my favorite person on the Earth, and I acted like Dolly. I was getting ready to take a late flight, and I was annoyed.

Bob Saget and Candace Cameron Bure | Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

The actor said she and the comedian quickly resolved their little tiff over text messages

The Hallmark movie star said that she and Bob Saget quickly made up by the end of their text message exchange. Bob went on and on and on in the text, she explained. And he said at the end, I love you more for the trouble youre giving me, if thats even possible.

She tearfully described her response to Saget and how she told him that she loved him. I wrote back, I love you. I could never be mad at you. Roll my eyes at you? Yes. But never mad.

She also told the actor that his reference to his mother had made her laugh. And I loved that, you being Dolly, Cameron Bure continued reading. That made me laugh out loud. I loved your mom.

Saget responded, I love you. My mom loved you too.

RELATED: Bob Sagets Daughter Breaks Silence After Full House Stars Death
Maggie Gyllenhaals directorial debut in The Lost Daughter premiered on Netflix in December. Since its release, it has garnered attention and critical acclaim. The psychological drama had a good night at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, winning virtually all of the awards for which it was nominated. The Lost Daughter won Outstanding Lead Performance, Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. Since the 2021 film is receiving more attention, its time to look at the talented director behind it.

Maggie Gyllenhaals directorial debut with The Lost Daughter

Based on Elena Ferrantes short novella, The Lost Daughter follows Leda, a university professor on a summer vacation in Greece. She becomes curious about a young mother and her bond with her child as she spends her days relaxing and working on the beach.

Leda sees a link between the young lady and her daughter that reminds her of her own relationship with her two grown children. She is forced to come to terms with the decisions she made and how they affected her kids. Gyllenhaal told IMDb:

In the film, my real-life husband gives a speech. And at one point, he says, Attention is the purest form of generosity. I guess I do think that its my job as a mother to pay attention and see who my children actually are instead of who I might imagine they are or what I wish they would be because it seems like it might be an easier way through the world. A gift to children would to be really seen by their parents.

Gyllenhaals directs her real-life husband Peter Sarsgaard in The Lost Daughter

Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal at Netflixs The Lost Daughter screening | Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Netflix

Gyllenhaals husband in real life, Peter Sarsgaard, makes an appearance in the film as Professor Hardy. A much older and influential writer, his character plays Ledas love interest. She leaves her family to have an affair with him. As a result, Gyllenhaal had to direct her husband in several intimate scenes with another actor.

As reported by Decider, Gyllenhaal explains, My husband is the object of desire in the movie. And he has, I think, a really sexy couple of scenes with a brilliant, young, beautiful, incredibly compelling actress.

She later added that she was a bit apprehensive at first. She stated, I did think at first, Maybe its not a great idea, and then I was like, Ive been with my husband for a long time. Weve been through so much. I know my husband loves me. Who could do this better than him? Really, nobody. From her comments, it seems like Gyllenhaal felt secure in her marriage and was ready to allow production of The Lost Daughter to unfold in the process.

Art imitates reality for Maggie Gyllenhaal

Gyllenhaal drew some parallels between herself and Leda. She said that when raising children, you cant always give them all the attention they need. In the IMDb interview she shared with co-star Dakota Johnson, the director said, And you cant do it all the time. Sometimes you are like, I cant pay attention right now.'

Gyllenhaal has told The Atlantic that there are basically two options for motherhood in Hollywood: the fantasy mother who is perfect in every way and the evil mother who has nothing but disdain for her children. With this film, her hope is that she can portray motherhood in a nuanced way, showing reality is somewhere in between for many people.

Gyllenhaals directorial debut is tackling a sticky issue that perhaps not everyone will understand or agree with. However, she does it in a way that isnt intrinsically judgemental. She leaves the audience to decide for themselves who they will or wont connect with, and just invites you to sit with the characters and contemplate their lives from the comfort of your living room.

RELATED: The Lost Daughter: Maggie Gyllenhaal Went Home and Cried 1 Night During Filming  Those Were Amazing Lessons
While fans are certainly enjoying Delon De Metz as Zende on The Bold and the Beautiful, he wasnt the actor who originated the role. The actor who originated the role of adult Zende was Rome Flynn. In 2018, Flynn won a Daytime Emmy for his role on the show. Now, however, hes in a new role on a new show. The show is called Raising Dion and he plays Tevin on the hit Netflix show.

The Bold and the Beautiful alum Rome Flynn | Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Rome Flynn talked about Raising Dion and his role on the Netflix show

In an interview with POPSUGAR, Rome Flynn talked about his new role on the Netflix show Raising Dion. The shows second season premiered on the streaming giant on Feb. 1. Flynn plays Tevin, the new mentor to the shows lead character, Dion (played by JaSiah Young).

He told the outlet that he was happy he got the role because roles on such shows as The Bold and the Beautiful werent family-friendly fare. Whats more, this family-friendly role on Raising Dion would be something his daughter, and his nephews, see on television.

Ive done a bunch of projects where Im like, Cool, thats tailored towards certain genres or groups, but never anything I could actually have any of my nephews, or even my daughter, watch, he said. They never watch me in anything, so they can watch me in this and, all of a sudden, Im cool again. Thats all this is about. Im just trying to be cool with all the little kids in my life.

He played Zende on The Bold and the Beautiful from 2015 to 2017

Zende originally came onto The Bold and the Beautiful canvas in 2011. He encountered his adoptive parents in Africa, where hed been living after his birth parents died of AIDS. His adoptive parents brought Zende back to the United States, but they all ended up leaving Los Angeles and moving to Florida.

An adult Zende was then brought back to the canvas in the 2010s, and this time, he was an adult. Zende returned to Los Angeles to work at Forrester Creations, his familys company. During this time, he was perhaps best known for his relationship with Nicole Avant. At the time of the characters last departure, the two got married and moved out of the country.

Flynn originated the role of an adult Zende in 2015 and played the role until 2017. His depiction of the character helped him make history.

Flynn was the first Afro-Latino to win a Daytime Emmy

In January 2022, Flynn sat down with Becky G to discuss his history-making Daytime Emmy win. Flynn won the coveted award in 2018 for playing Zende on The Bold and the Beautiful. And, as it turned out, he was the first Afro-Latino actor to win a Daytime Emmy award.

what moment did you fall in love with Tevin? Ill go first: season 2 episode 1 at 32 minutes and 46 seconds pic.twitter.com/D9FpKPip43  Netflix Family (@netflixfamily) February 2, 2022

Raising Dion is now airing on Netflix.

RELATED: The Bold and the Beautiful Spoilers: Deacon Discovers Sheilas Treachery  And All Hell Breaks Loose
A college housing assistance payment for recipients of Cherokee Nation scholarships during the fall 2021 semester will soon be available on the Cherokee Nations Gadugi Portal at cherokee.org.
Audio of Venue Church Pastor Tavner Smith being confronted over alleged affair leaked

Leaked audio of church volunteers confronting Tennessee megachurch pastor Tavner Smith purportedly reveals the pastor denying having sexual relations with a church employee but admitting that he wants to pursue her after their divorces are finalized.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained audio from a widely-reported Dec. 17 meeting between Smith and over 100 church volunteers at the fast-growing Venue Church after at several employees resigned from the church over an alleged yearslong affair.

In January, Smith began a sabbatical after a video circulated online showing him kissing the church staffer who is not his wife, which drew national media attention. Smith and his wife, Danielle, who have three kids, began divorce proceedings last May.

While speaking with the volunteers, Smith repeatedly said there was information he would not share and that members would feel differently if they knew the whole story.

Smith said he are great friends with the employee but not sexually involved. He admitted the two had kissed, but only after they stopped living with their spouses.

I was 14 months outside of living with Danielle and separated, Smith can be heard saying. At her point, she was eight months living outside and separated.

When shes not married and Im not married, yeah, we hope to pursue each other, he said, according to the audio recording.

As long as she is still married, we are not going to have any type of romantic relations, he said.

The pastor admitted that he had been through a lot in the last two years.

I just would like a little bit of a break, he is heard saying. Im not going anywhere. Im your pastor, I am going to pastor this church. God called me here and nothing has changed about that. The vision has not changed. The promise still stands. What God spoke over this place is still going to happen.

I would just like a few weeks to breathe a little bit, Smith said, assuring that he would still preach on Christmas and the first Sunday of January.

After that, I am going to take a few weeks off. I dont know how long it is going to be because ... I didnt want to just make that number up. I am going to be consulting licensed mental health therapists, physicians, psychiatrists to ... [ask] how much time do I really need to get to a place where I can come back and be new in 22.

The pastor also acknowledges having made some payments for counseling, vehicles and vacations for people connected to the church but didn't notify church staff.

During the meeting, volunteers can be heard saying the church misled them as rumors of the alleged affair circulated for years, the newspaper reports, adding that the pastor apologized for not having been fully transparent with people in the past two years.

I wanted you to know that from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry that I let you down, he told the crowd. "Im sorry. You put your faith and your trust in me as a spiritual voice and a man of God and my humanity came out. And I apologize. I dont have any excuses. I just want to say Im sorry.

He vowed in the future to be 100 percent transparent.

When asked who is going to hold him accountable, Smith responded that the board of directors is.

They know everything that is going on. They have been walking me through what I have been going through. Ron Phillips Sr., the pastor who started Abbas House, he has been a mentor in my life. Hes been one that Ive met with over the past several years a lot of times, and he really believes in me, he said.

To be fully transparent with you all, I had three big-name pastors that were on my board but then all of this, they stepped away because they didnt want to nor did I want to have their names tied to drama as we went through all of this because I knew what it was going to be. I had a transitional season where I didnt have a board for a few months. To be honest with you, there are some people reaching out to other pastors who are friends of mine who I would have asked, and none of them wanted to be on the board. So I really dove into Pastor Ron.

At least eight church employees quit in December over the alleged affair, and video surfaced online of Smith and the church employee kissing in Georgia.

The Daily Beast recently reported that Smith had also been caught last November half-naked with the same employee at his home by volunteers who had planned to cheer him up with a surprise visit.

They allegedly found the employee dressed in a towel while Smith was in his boxers. The pastor claimed that they had been making chili and hot dogs and gotten food on their clothes, the publication recounted from an interview with an unidentified volunteer.

I dont think none of us was that dumb, the volunteer told The Daily Beast at the time. If she dropped chili on her clothes, why are you in your boxers? Was you all like, throwing chili at each other?

Former Venue Church employee Colt Chandler Helton wrote in a Facebook post in December that he worked at the church for nearly a year beginning in 2014. He claims he has worked at over 12 churches throughout his career, including some influential megachurches, and was hired by Venue Church in its younger years to set up its systems and structures and model anything an adult would experience on a Sunday morning.

In hind sight I taught the Iranians how to make nuclear weapons, Helton wrote. I gave a man who had very very bad intentions the ability to make a mega church.

He shared a lengthy list of reasons why he left Venue Church, including what he claimed to be financial abuse and witnessing domestic abuse in an atmosphere where there are zero elders or accountability.

In 2008, Smith was hired as executive student pastor at Redemption World Outreach in Greenville, South Carolina, a church led by Ron and Hope Carpenter. Smiths website lists Carpenter as his mentor. In 2012, the Smiths moved to Chattanooga, where they launched Venue Church. Before the recent turmoil, Venue Church had become one of the fastest-growing congregations in America.
Pastor who inspired first American Sign Language Bible dies

Duane King, who started and oversaw the creation of the first American Sign Language translation of the Bible, died at the age of 84 and is being remembered for introducing Christ to millions of deaf people worldwide.

Duane was able to witness the completion of American Sign Language Version of the Bible in June of 2020. This awesome accomplishment came about because Duane allowed God to work through Him, writes Jo Krueger, a Deaf Missions staff member since 1998, in his tribute to King, who died Jan. 25.

The life and legacy of King, who founded Deaf Missions to reach Deaf people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are a story of God at work, he adds.

In 1966, King met a deaf couple and told them, If you will come to church, I will learn sign language, Krueger recalled.

That statement set in motion a chain of events that would change the Deaf world forever, Krueger added. Soon Duane began holding church services for Deaf people at First Christian Church in Norfolk, Nebraska.

In 1969, King and his wife, Peggy, moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to establish Deaf Missions in their home.

It became quite apparent to Duane that many Deaf people struggled with reading and understanding Gods Word in English, Krueger explained. Beginning in the early 1980s, God provided godly and skilled people to work with Duane on a project that would produce a Bible in American Sign Language, the native, heart language of Deaf people.

Krueger concludes that while King is with Jesus now, his accomplishments will live on in the hearts and lives of countless people who saw Jesus because of his faithfulness and vision.

The funeral service was held last Saturday at First Christian Church in Council Bluffs.

Deaf Missions CEO Chad Entinger recalled King as a giant who has helped lead millions of people to Christ. One of the many lessons Entinger said King taught him was to be faithful.

Duane and his wife, Peggy, were married for over 60 years and have raised children and grandchildren who love Jesus, Entinger said. Duane directed Deaf Missions for 37 years. Through Duane and his faithfulness to God, millions of Deaf people and their families and friends in more than 100 countries around the world have been impacted with the Gospel of Jesus!

Friends and family shared fond memories of King on his online obituary.

Kevin and Julie Rens write, We had the honor and privilege of not only calling Duane a friend but also a neighbor, what a great man, a true disciple of Jesus.

King attended school in Skidmore, Missouri, where he was born in 1937. He attended Nebraska Christian College in Norfolk, Nebraska.

Duane lived his life with purpose, confidence, humility, creativity, and fun. He wanted to eliminate any kind of barrier that might get in the way of all people knowing Jesus as their Savior, the obituary reads. He also loved ice cream and told many it would be served at his funeral. It will!
SBC Executive Committee names interim president amid fallout from attorney-client privilege vote

Willie McLaurin has been selected as the interim president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Conventions Executive Committee amid an investigation on how the leadership body handled sexual abuse reports.

Executive Committee officers announced the selection of the 48-year-old McLaurin on Tuesday, according to Baptist Press, the official news service for the SBC.

McLaurin served on the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board for 15 years before joining the Executive Committee in January 2020, where he serves as the vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization. He also served as executive pastor at Greater Missionary Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, and senior pastor at Greater Hope Baptist Church in Union City.

Our EC staff is committed to serving our Convention well, McLaurin stated. Jesus last words to us in Acts 1:8 should be our first priority as a network of churches. My prayer is that we will continue to put a laser-sharp focus on cooperation and collaboration.

I want to express deep appreciation to Chairman Rolland Slade and the Executive Committee officers for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve, he added. It is an honor to partner with Southern Baptists in advancing the mission of winning the world to Jesus.

The move comes as the Executive Committee is undergoing an investigation into whether leaders mishandled sexual abuse complaints within the denomination.

Last October, former SBC President Ronnie Floyd resigned from his position as head of the Executive Committee in opposition to the committees decision to waive attorney-client privilege as part of the investigation.

The committee voted 44-31 on Oct. 5 to allow Guidepost Solutions, which is conducting the investigation into how the convention handled sexual abuse claims within SBC churches, to review privileged communications between committee members and others as requested by SBC messengers and the Sexual Abuse Task Force.

What was desired to be leveraged for the advancement of the Gospel by those who called me here, I will not jeopardize any longer because of serving in this role, stated Floyd in a letter sent to the committee.

Due to my personal integrity and the leadership responsibility entrusted to me, I will not and cannot any longer fulfill the duties placed upon me as the leader of the executive, fiscal and fiduciary entity of the SBC.

Other members of the committee also resigned in response to the vote, as did the SBCs general counsel, attorneys James Guenther and James Jordan of the law firm Guenther, Jordan & Price.

We simply do not know how to advise a client, and otherwise represent a client, with the quality of advice and representation the client must have, and in keeping with the standard of practice our firm tries to uphold, when the client has indicated a willingness to forego this universally accepted principle of confidentiality, stated the legal team.

The investigation was prompted by a 2019 report from The Houston Chronicle documenting hundreds of abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches over decades. In September, the Executive Committee voted to fund the investigation up to $1.6 million.

Some committee members expressed concern about waiving attorney-client privilege for the investigation, citing risks to the conventions insurance and that it could make the denomination susceptible to lawsuits.

The committees attorneys warned that maintaining local church autonomy would protect the SBC. Jordan and Guenther argue that the committee voted to waive the privilege without understanding the effect it could have on the convention.

The attorney-client privilege has been portrayed by some as an evil device by which misconduct is somehow allowed to be secreted so wrongdoers can escape justice and defeat the legal rights of others, the attorneys wrote. That could not be further from the truth.

In his comments to Baptist Press, McLaurin said he hopes to restore trust to the committee, adding that No network of churches is without challenges.

Slade, elected as the first black chair of the Executive Committee in 2020, told Baptist Press that McLaurins focus will be to regain the sense of trust of Southern Baptists.
Seminary granted $1M to launch House of Black Church Studies

An ecumenical seminary based in Tennessee has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to advance studies on the African American church.

Memphis Theological Seminary will launch in-person programming for the House of Black Church Studies as early as March, selecting alumnus author and pastor Karren Todd as program director.

At Memphis Theological Seminary, we had already established a Cumberland Presbyterian House of Studies and a Methodist House of Studies, MTS President Jody Hill told The Christian Post in comments emailed on Wednesday.

With the addition of the House of Black Church Studies, Memphis Theological Seminary can now celebrate that we have houses of study dedicated to equipping leaders in our student bodys three largest congregational settings: the African American Church; the Cumberland Presbyterian Church; and the Pan-Methodist Church.

Hill directed CP to comments from the seminary proposal for the House of Black Church Studies, which will focus on the formation of congregational and pastoral leadership by building pastoral community; supporting mental health wellness; planning future sustainability; fostering spiritual formation; and developing congregational lay leadership.

The House of Black Church Studies will enhance Memphis Theological Seminarys capacity to carry forward its efforts to prepare and support pastors and congregational lay ministers of African-American traditions to serve their local congregations, stated the proposal.

The grant was one of 84 approved through Lilly Endowments Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which seeks to help theological schools strengthen and sustain their capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for Christian congregations.

The grants will assist programs at 74 theological schools in the United States and 10 in Canada, with grants ranging from $500,000 to $1 million.

Earlier this month, the Lilly Endowment granted $20 million to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to help preserve the legacy of the black church in America.

The black church has never simply been about spiritual development," Rice University professor Anthony B. Pinn told CP. "The black church has always tried to position itself as an organization that has met a full range of needs. And so folks go for this greater range of needs."

He warned that black Americans' involvement in churches has decreased over time because people have found different avenues to meet their needs, especially millennials.

Last November, Lilly announced plans to give $93 million in grants to 92 Christian organizations to help various Christian ministries adapt to a changing culture.

Known as the Thriving Congregations Initiative, recipients included Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Dakota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Fuller Theological Seminary, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston and the West Angeles Church of God in Christ.

Lilly Endowment Communications Director Judith Cebula told CP in an earlier interview that the organization would help ministries handle the rapidly changing contexts in which congregations exist.

The Endowment launched the initiative to encourage organizations that care about the wellbeing of congregations to find ways to help congregations strengthen their ministries so people can deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other and contribute to the flourishing of their communities and the world, Cebula added.
Archbishop says Biden shouldn't call himself 'devout' due to pro-choice views

A prominent Catholic Church archbishop has stated that President Joe Biden should not be considered a devout Catholic due to his pro-choice public policy stances.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, made his remarks in an interview with The Catholic World Report published Saturday.

The president should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic, and acknowledge that his view on abortion is contrary to Catholic moral teaching, said Naumann.

It would be a more honest approach from him to say he disagreed with his Church on this important issue and that he was acting contrary to Church teaching.

Nauman went on to tell CWR that he believes when Biden says he is a devout Catholic, we bishops have the responsibility to correct him.

Although people have given this president power and authority, he cannot define what it is to be a Catholic and what Catholic moral teaching is, Naumann continued.

What he is doing now is usurping the role of the bishops and confusing people. Hes declaring that hes Catholic, and is going to force people to support abortion through their tax dollars. The bishops need to correct him, as the president is acting contrary to the Catholic faith.

When asked his opinion about a Florida priest denying Biden communion in 2019 over the then candidates stance on abortion, Naumann said that he believes Biden has the responsibility not to present himself for Holy Communion.

When Catholics receive the Eucharist, they are acknowledging the Real Presence of Jesus, and also belief in the teachings of the Church, explained the archbishop.

President Biden doesnt believe in the Churchs teachings on the Sanctity of Human Life, and he should not put the priest in the situation where he has to decide whether or not to allow him to receive the Eucharist. He should know that after 78 years as a Catholic.

Last year, Biden became the second Roman Catholic in United States history to be elected president, the first being John F. Kennedy in 1960.

During the election season, the Biden campaign touted their candidates Catholic beliefs, noting that he regularly attended Mass and often spoke about his beliefs to others.

A campaign ad released last September involved a woman who belonged to Bidens parish in Wilmington, Delaware, speaking about his beliefs and practices.

Joe Biden has been part of our parish for more than 40 years, she explained in the ad last year. Even now, when Joes back home, we see him at Mass on Sunday. You can tell how important Joes faith is to him. Its what motivates everything: Joes beliefs, his values, the kind of president Joe would be.

Also ahead of the election, Biden maintained in an op-ed for The Christian Post that biblical values, including the commands to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself, "have kept me grounded in what matters most."

"My Catholic faith drilled into me a core truth  that every person on earth is equal in rights and dignity, because we are all beloved children of God," he wrote.

"As Christians, I know there is much more that unites us than divides us."

Critics of this faith promotion have pointed to Bidens position on abortion, which contradicts official Catholic teaching. This has included Biden promising to codify the United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

Soon after taking office in January, Biden issued an executive order rescinding the Mexico City Policy, which prohibited funding of overseas family planning groups that advocated for or performed abortions.

In January, Naumann and Bishop David J. Malloy, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a joint statement denouncing the rescinding of the policy.

It is grievous that one of President Bidens first official acts actively promotes the destruction of human lives in developing nations. This Executive Order is antithetical to reason, violates human dignity, and is incompatible with Catholic teaching, read the statement in part.

We and our brother bishops strongly oppose this action. We urge the president to use his office for good, prioritizing the most vulnerable, including unborn children.
Bidens State Department slips abortion into human rights report

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department made a minor change to its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Although the media largely ignored the move, the change adds to the ongoing shift in U.S. human rights advocacy taking place during the Biden administration. Its consequences could be far-reaching.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reinstated an Obama-era addition to the State Department human rights report  reporting on foreign countries laws and programs regarding abortion and contraception. The new addendum to the 2020 report released in March now features sub-sections on reproductive rights in the individual evaluations of every member country of the United Nations.

The term reproductive rights is code for abortion, and its use in official U.S. human rights reports is inappropriate. A right to abortion is nowhere to be found in international human rights law; meanwhile, the right to life certainly is. Now, American allies like Poland  known for being a great protector of human rights and champion of freedom  will receive a slap on the wrist at the hands of the State Departments report for having pro-life protections. This is occurring even as authoritarian regimes like North Korea and China continue conducting forced abortions on vulnerable women, constituting a grave human rights abuse.

You might be thinking: how much harm can an annual State Department report that most Americans dont even know about really do? As it turns out, a lot.

State Department reports set the tone for U.S. human rights advocacy and are frequently referenced by NGOs and international bodies. The topics that the United States chooses to cover in these reports conveys to the rest of the world what the United States considers human rights and what type of human rights issues our foreign policy will prioritize. These reports could also help guide discussions that U.S. diplomats have with their counterparts regarding human rights.

When announcing the reporting change, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, We reaffirm our full commitment to promote and protect the sexual and reproductive health of all individuals, recognizing the essential and transformative role they play in gender equality and women and girls empowerment around the world.

This is a false and damaging narrative for women. Instead of leveling the playing field, legalized abortion pressures women into viewing their children as enemies of their success. Abortion is not necessary to ensure equality  having equal protections and rights under the law are.

Rather than monitoring (and by doing so, implicitly promoting) access to abortion around the world, the State Department should re-focus its efforts on addressing the truly pressing human rights abuses that are unique to women and girls. Currently, the forced marriages of young women from religious minority communities are all too common in Pakistan. Uyghur women in Xinjiang are being forcibly sterilized and undergoing devastating forced abortions. And Afghan girls are being sold by starving parents and barred from going to school. These are some of the serious human rights crises that women and girls are facing around the world today, and the State Department should be paying closer attention and taking action.

On his popular daily podcast, Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, criticized the State Departments inclusion of reproductive rights in its reports, saying, It is a morally grotesque corruption of the idea of human rights  And its unhinged from any kind of understanding of the origin of rights coming from outside human beings ourselves.

By their very nature, human rights preexist the state. They are not granted by governments; governments merely choose whether or not they will respect them. This preexistence is why diverse governments representing vastly different cultures can agree to the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is also why the United States and other free countries can confidently advocate for human rights around the world. Its not an imposition on cultural differences to stand up for human rights. Rather, its an acknowledgment of the human dignity of each person. We advocate for human rights around the world because we aim to protect rights that every person already has by virtue of their humanity.

The rights recognized by the UDHR include freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of opinion and expression; and the right to life, liberty and security of person. The right to end the life of a preborn child through abortion clearly doesnt belong in this list. The profound importance of human rights makes the promotion of new rights invented by activists or politicians inappropriate and damaging.

The United States must preserve the integrity of human rights advocacy in its annual reports and all other aspects of its foreign policy. We can start by making sure the State Departments annual reports monitor what they purport to monitor  human rights.

Originally published at the Family Research Council.
Hailey Bieber says church 'social club' culture made her feel like an 'outcast' after 2016 breakup

Supermodel Hailey Bieber has criticized the social club experience at church, saying it made her feel isolated when she and her now-husband, Justin Bieber, broke up after dating briefly in 2016.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, the young celebrity and daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin claimed she was outcasted by many in her church community after briefly breaking things off with the pop star in 2016.

The couple were seen regularly attending Hillsong church together at the time.

There were a lot of people in the church world that made me feel very outcast, she shared in the interview that was published on Tuesday. When did church become a social club? That was such a bad feeling.

The couple first met as children after Stephen Baldwin introduced the two. They dated and broke up when she was 19. She told Elle their lives were going in very different directions.

The couple reconnected at a 2018 church conference in Miami, and she said her friends  pastors Judah Smith and Chelsea Smith of Churchome  were some of the few church people that stood by her side through it all.

Smith is the pastor who officiated the couples 2019 wedding.

Last November, Bieber and her husband sat down with the Smiths on their In Good Faith podcast. They spoke candidly about their marriage, the highs and lows and some of the struggles, including Justin Bieber's journey with mental health struggles.

In an interview for Hillsong TV, Bieber shared more about the pressure shes put on herself because of her Christian upbringing. Along with once feeling rejected by the church, Bieber revealed that a few months into her marriage, she struggled with a lot of guilt from her past.

I think where it stems from for me is that I was raised in a Christian household. I grew up with Christian parents and I put extra guilt on myself to be this good girl, to fill this role of being like this goody-two-shoes good girl, and what I learned leading up to being married is its just not realistic, Bieber said.

The entertainer said she had to come to terms with her past mistakes let them go.

What I learned, being married, is that every mistake that I made and bad decision that I made, and everything that I was making myself feel guilty for, led to me being married and me being a wife, she testified.

I think in the beginning, especially for the first six or seven months of being married, I was just ridden with guilt: 'I wish I hadnt done this. I wish I had just walked into this clean and free and [with a] clean slate.' But what it taught me is that its just a) not realistic, and b) we all have guilt, and we all feel shame for things weve done, but it doesnt have to define who we are, and it didnt have to define me in my relationship.

Were constantly evolving, especially in Jesus, she added. Our relationship with Christ is going deeper and deeper.  Where I was before I was a wife and who I was before I was a wife is not who I am now.

The Biebers were legally married in a civil ceremony in September 2018 at a courthouse in New York. The two held a Christian wedding ceremony in Palmetto Beach, South Carolina.
Biden's Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force criticized by pro-life groups

Pro-life advocates are criticizing the Biden administrations move to establish a reproductive healthcare access task force" after 2021 was record year for pro-life legislation at the state level.

On Jan. 21, the day before the 49th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the HHS Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force.

As noted in a fact sheet announcing the task forces creation, the body is composed of senior-level HHS officials who have been designated by their respective agencies to identify and coordinate activities across the Department to protect and bolster access to essential sexual and reproductive health care.

The working group activities are focused on advancing quantity, access, and equity for reproductive health, rights, and justice, the fact sheet reads. [They] include coordinating federal interagency policymaking, program development, and outreach efforts to address barriers impacting individuals and communities seeking reproductive health care.

According to the fact sheet, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra has directed each agency to prepare a plan outlining measurable actions the agency is considering or will take to protect and bolster access to sexual and reproductive health care.

Actions cited as necessary to protect reproductive healthcare include identifying and advancing policies that improve reproductive healthcare access within Federal programs and services and partnering with bilateral and multilateral partners to support evidence-based guidance and [policies] that bolster access to sexual and reproductive healthcare globally.

The department attributed the need for a Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force to the coronavirus pandemic, the passage of a record number of pro-life laws at the state level in 2021 and the potential for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe this year.

Patients have the right to make decisions about their own bodies. In light of restrictive laws across the nation, HHS will evaluate the impact on patients and our communities, said Becerra. Once again, we are telling health care providers and patients, we have your back.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, the first openly trans-identified federal official, predicted that the new task force will improve reproductive health care access and eliminate health disparities.

Levin added that the task force will work to expand access to culturally competent health care services for underserved communities, including people of color, people with disabilities, young people, LGBTQI+ people, and others.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs Loyce Pace said that advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights is central to our core global health goals.

While abortion lobbying organizations and progressives celebrated the new task force, pro-life advocacy groups that push for laws limiting legal access to abortion do not share the enthusiasm.

Valerie Huber, who served as the former senior policy adviser for the Assistant Secretary for Health during the Trump administration and is now the president of the Institute for Womens Health, contends that the task force departs from the HHS mission.

[The mission] aims domestically to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, and internationally to protect and promote health worldwide, Huber said in a statement released Thursday.

***PRESS RELEASE*** Biden administration launches HHS Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force to expand abortion at home, abroad. pic.twitter.com/WqC19jxjuy  The Institute for Women's Health (@IWH4women) February 3, 2022

Divisive agendas such as the one pushed by this Task Force do not meet desperate health needs, but stalls them, she added. Secretary Becerra and Assistant Secretary Pace should be managing the COVID pandemic instead of using it as a means to push inherently divisive concepts at home and abroad.

The Institute for Womens Health called on the U.S. Congress to ensure that HHS does not use the agencys Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force to advocate or implement policies that cross the legal line.

The organization insists that hard-earned American tax dollars should not be funding what amounts to an Abortion Access Task Force, especially when the majority of Americans are opposed to taxpayer funding of abortion at home and abroad.

Katie Glenn, government affairs counsel at Americans United for Life, told the National Catholic Register that she believes the task force is an attempt to "get around state laws." At least 106 abortion restrictions were enacted across 19 states in 2021, according to the pro-abortion research organization Guttmacher Institute.

Although Democrats introduced the Womens Health Protection Act, such a bill is unlikely to pass in the U.S. Senate. Additionally, with a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, some believe that the nation's high court could strip away at the legal precedents in Roe when it rules on Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban this year.

I think [administration officials] see this as the opportunity to get around the problem, Glenn was quoted as saying. This is a way to get around all of that political reality that even pro-choice people, by and large, support what the Biden administration and what Planned Parenthood would call sweeping and overly broad and overly cumbersome health and safety regulations.'"

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said the new task force commemorates a "decision that led to the death of over 63 million babies through abortion."

"Biden & his administration have a disgusting disregard for life," the senator tweeted.

The White House released a fact sheet highlighting the Biden administrations commitment to global health Wednesday. The document cited advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights as one of its actions to advance global health.

The White House specifically mentioned Biden issuing a Presidential Memorandum on Protecting Womens Health at Home and Abroad. The memorandum revoked the expanded Mexico City Policy instituted under former President Donald Trump to prohibit U.S. tax dollars from being used by nongovernmental organizations that provide abortions or referrals for abortion.

The Biden administration has also directed agencies to resume funding to the United Nations Population Fund, which critics say promotes abortion globally.

The Administration continues to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for all in the face of continued threats, the White House emphasized. As the largest bilateral donor to family planning, the United States also leads globally by advancing SRHR in multilateral fora and with bilateral partners. As we address the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health systems and vulnerable populations, the United States has supported increased access to SRHR services, particularly in emergency contexts.

The Institute for Womens Health lamented the use of the term sexual and reproductive health and rights because it wrongly asserts abortion as an international human right. The advocacy group maintained that when the Biden administration consistently conflates womens healthcare with access to abortion, it leaves the gamut of life-saving health and human services for women under-researched, under-funded, and under-staffed.

The Biden administrations consistent promotion of abortion has not sat well with pro-life activists, with one pro-life leader suggesting that the presidents pro-abortion advocacy should have made him ineligible to speak at the annual National Prayer Breakfast Thursday.

Fr. Frank Pavone, the founder of Priests for Life, declared on Twitter Thursday that I do not think Joe Biden should show up for todays Natl Prayer Breakfast.

I do not think Joe Biden should show up for today's Nat'l Prayer Breakfast.



It is an offense to #God to worship Him while advancing the direct killing of babies by #abortion.



"When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not listen; your hands are filled with blood" (Is. 1:15)  Fr. Frank Pavone (@frfrankpavone) February 3, 2022

It is an offense to #God to worship Him while advancing the direct killing of babies by #abortion, Pavone proclaimed. Biden, a professing Catholic, spoke at the breakfast, calling on members of the opposing political parties in the U.S. Congress to unite because a house united can do anything.
Amazon delivery provider pays $50K for firing Christian employee who refused to work Sundays

An employee for a delivery service in Florida who was fired when he refused to work a Sunday shift to attend worship service has won an anti-discrimination case against his former employer.

Tampa Bay Delivery Service, an Amazon delivery service provider based in the Tampa Bay area, will pay $50,000 in relief and oversee changes to its workplace environment to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought the complaint on behalf of an unnamed worker who had been fired when he attended church instead of his shift.

According to an EEOC statement, the delivery service had scheduled the employee for a shift on a Sunday even though he had made it clear earlier that he could not work Sundays.

The EEOC argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination based on religion and "requires employers to reasonably accommodate an applicants or employees sincerely held religious beliefs unless it would pose an undue hardship."

The consent decree resolving the lawsuit was approved by a federal judge.

In addition to the $50,000 the delivery service will pay in relief, the company must also train staff to avoid religious discrimination and appoint a religious accommodation coordinator.

We commend Tampa Bay Delivery Service for working collaboratively with EEOC to resolve this lawsuit, said Robert E. Weisberg, the regional attorney for the EEOC Miami District.

The companys willingness to address EEOCs concerns will help in preventing future employees from being forced to choose between employment and a religious belief.

The EEOC filed the complaint last September in the U.S. District Courts for the Florida Middle District. Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell presided over the case.

In 2019, 60-year-old Haitian immigrant Marie Jean Pierre was awarded $21 million in punitive damages after being fired from her job as a dishwasher by the Conrad Hotel in Miami.

Pierre worked at the hotel from 2006 until 2016. She was fired for refusing to work on Sundays even though she had gotten coworkers to cover her shifts by trading workdays with them.

I love God. No, I cant [work on] Sunday because Sunday, I honor God, said Pierre in an interview with local media outlet NBC 6 South Florida in 2019.

The hotel had claimed that Pierre had been dismissed for misconduct, negligence and unexcused absences, alleging that the company was unaware of her reasons for not working Sundays.
Sweet Brooklyn pastor found murdered at home where son confessed: 'I slit her up'

Tracey Sydnor, a beloved Brooklyn mother who was appointed as the administrative pastor of The Cathedral of Hope Upper Room Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant just over two months ago, was found stabbed to death in her home Saturday. Her 40-year-old son admitted that he "slit her up," the New York Police Department said.

"What happened is I slit her up," Kenji Francis, the 61-year-old pastor's son, allegedly admitted to officers at the family home in East New York, where she was found in a pool of blood with cuts all over her face just after 2 p.m. on Saturday, The New York Daily News reports.

She was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Prosecutors said Monday that Sydnor, who was found by her brother, was stabbed at least 15 times. Investigators also retrieved a knife from the crime scene they believed to be the murder weapon.

Francis has no history of crime or mental illness but was ordered to be held without bail by a judge in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Monday.

An unidentified source told The NY Daily News: "It seems like he just snapped."

At around 10 a.m. Sunday morning, services at the Upper Room Baptist Church proceeded as usual, according to a Facebook Live broadcast. Less than two hours later, Senior Pastor J. Carl Henderson announced Syndor's passing in a post on the social network. Henderson's post was also shared by the church.

"Please keep the Sydnor, Francis, Chambers and Upper Room Family in prayer as we mourn the loss of our Mother, sister, cousin, friend and Executive Pastor. Pastor Tracey Sydnor," the announcement said.

Henderson also thanked members of the public for their support in another statement on Sunday.

"I've literally got dozens and dozens of missed calls text, and inbox messages. Thank You! On behalf of myself and our church as well as the Sydnor family! I have no words or conversation please keep all affected in prayer," he said.

Henderson did not immediately respond to a call from The Christian Post on Tuesday.

Terrence Reed, Sydnor's lifelong friend, told the NY Daily News that "not one bad thing" can be said about the late pastor.

"She was the glue that kept everything together," Reed said. "She was full of life and full of love; she loved singing and dancing. She was a sweet lady."

Ernest L. Ward III remembered Sydnor as an inspiring and supportive personality. In a statement, Ward called her "a true angel on earth."

"This one hurts different," he began on Facebook.

"From the age of 14 until now, Pastor Tracey Sydnor has been a consistent presence in my life. She's always been so supportive and is definitely a member of Ezra's village. I remember a few years ago her telling me that she found out that she was in the same Bible class as my sister Jovan Davis. She talked about how sweet and smart Jay was and how she'd keep an eye out for her," Ward added. "Tracey's voice was memorable I often reminisce about the songs she led. A true Angel on earth has returned home."
Jerry Falwell Jr.s sad story

Recently, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his wife, Becki, were interviewed in the pages of Vanity Fair about their precipitous fall from grace. The former president of Christian college juggernaut Liberty University drew ire for his vociferous support for Donald Trump as president, often reliant upon social media bombast.

Not all Falwell critics were secular. Many conservative evangelicals found his conduct unbecoming of a Christian. Eventually, his wifes marital infidelity (plus other scandalous behavior) came to light, resulting in his ouster from both Liberty and the wider evangelical community.

The story itself is sordid, and the writer betrays progressive biases in its myriad digs at the Moral Majority and the Religious Right. One worries that the Falwells are attempting a rebrand. Their words betray a desire to put some daylight between themselves and conservative church-going Christians, with Franklin Graham cast in a villainous role, excommunicating the Falwell family from the evangelical movement.

Periodicals found on the shelf of grocery store check-out aisles are to be taken, not with a pinch, but with an entire oceans worth of salt. However, important themes came to the fore in reading the interview.

For one, a man not well-established in his faith was tasked with leading a large, important evangelical institution. Falwell goes to some lengths to express how he was a bit of a spiritual free-spirit and how he finds institutional religion distasteful. He does recount a sort of conversion experience, but his frustrations with religious fuddy-duddies are made prominent and apparent. He comes across as shackled with the legacy of his father, among the most prominent religious and political leaders of the late 20th century.



Revealingly, Falwell admitted to the interviewer, [P]eople think Im a religious person. But Im not. I would hazard a guess that many Christian critics of the younger Falwell threw up their hands in frustration and responded, Oh, dont worry, we knew! At least after a while.

Regardless of what one thought of his political sensibilities or skills as a college president, the mans public words and actions were not in keeping with mature Christian leadership. This is not to dismiss him, his wife, or their family. Everyone is a sinner; everyone needs to repent of sin; sin is destructive; we must forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us. But there is no shortage of folly and willful ignorance when it comes to this story, especially when it comes to Falwells enablers.



There are at least two big takeaways for traditional Christians. First, Falwell was upsettingly consistent with the its a relationship not a religion mantra repeated in the interview. Religion entails virtuous conduct and holy living, calling into question our habits with regard to alcohol, sex, speech, money and how we speak of dead parents. Yes, teetotalist culture has dysfunctions, folks misfire on biblical principles because they are foolish and plenty of groups wrongfully suppress Christian liberty. But that doesnt mean that intemperance, dishonoring parents, uncontrolled speech, a neglected marriage and a whole spate of other things arent huge problems destroying our lives and the lives of others, regardless of whether were a Christian college president or not.

Our identity as adopted heirs in Christ makes a demand upon us. Its not merely a static thing we think about or agree upon as a matter of opinion. It entails a certain kind of life  one of holiness and wisdom, almost always marked by frequent repentance for our many sins.

Thankfully, as Joshua Gibbs has pointed out, evangelicals are inconsistent with their language. They talk good sense about wisdom and morality, at least until a Bible opens up. Then, suddenly, we are incapable of holiness, even though its actually what weve been made for and what Gods indwelling grace makes possible.

It doesnt take long before a sort of despairing antinomianism takes over, with church attendance serving as emotional therapy and a coping mechanism for this insubstantial spiritual life. This sort of rhetorical double-mindedness needs to be abandoned. We do well to recover a language of virtue and confident exhortations to practical holiness, all without ineffective school-marmishness. Evangelicals used to be  and, in some circles, still are  good at this sort of thing. We do well to recover and maintain this.

Second, churches, Christian schools, and ministries must be discerning in leadership. Christians may feel pity at Falwell's attempts to put on an act while assuming leadership at LU when the family patriarch passed away.

Jerry Jr. exhibited great entrepreneurial gifts (particularly when it came to distance learning in the age of high-speed internet), but was holding the office as president necessary for him to exercise those gifts to Libertys good?

The Falwells did not speak up about their sense of inadequacy and poor fit for the role right after Jerry, Sr. suddenly passed away. But one wonders if the father-to-son dynamic couldnt have been questioned and reevaluated by the board of trustees and other university leaders. It may be that Jerry Falwell, Jr. wouldnt have engaged in such public, embarrassing examples of self-sabotage; it may have left Liberty in a better position and state of spiritual health. These are hypotheticals, but the Falwell implosion was very real. Ministries must take such an example under advisement.

Its painful to see scandal afflict the church. Its also painful to see those who profess Christ fall into destructive life choices that hurt not only themselves but many others. Schadenfreude is not the appropriate response to the Falwell scandal. Repentance and vigilant sober-mindedness are.

Originally published at Juicy Ecumenism.
EL PASO, Texas - The immigration courts on the seventh floor of a downtown federal building here were jampacked in the summer of 2019 when the Trump administration ramped up its "Remain in Mexico" program. On an average day, more than 100 asylum seekers were being sent back across the border to Ciudad Juarez, including families with children.

President Joe Biden halted the returns when he took office, but in September a U.S. District Court ordered his administration to reinstate the program, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols. After months of negotiations with Mexico, the Biden administration relaunched MPP in early December, starting in El Paso.

Immigration advocates were furious, blaming Biden for not pushing back harder. But two months after its restart, the new version of MPP bears little resemblance to President Donald Trump's. The Biden administration has re-implemented the program with a narrow scope and none of the zeal demonstrated by Trump officials.

Border arrests are even higher now than in 2019, but El Paso's immigration courts remain light on MPP cases. On a recent afternoon, only two MPP enrollees, both adult males from Nicaragua, appeared before immigration judge Nathan L. Herbert. The next day, there were three.

"Do you have a fear of return to Nicaragua?" Herbert asked the men, who had been waiting in Ciudad Juarez for their court appointment after being arrested by U.S. border agents six weeks earlier near Del Rio, Tex. The men answered yes.

Herbert set their asylum hearings for early March, and asked the men if they feared a return to Mexico. They said yes. A U.S. asylum officer would have to evaluate their claims before they could be returned to Ciudad Juarez.

Trump sent nearly 70,000 asylum seekers back to Mexico under MPP, using the program as a deterrent for the record numbers of Central American families who were crossing the border and hoping to be released into the United States while awaiting court hearings. Kidnappings, robberies and other attacks on returned asylum seekers in Mexico were rampant, and thousands of MPP enrollees languished in a grubby Rio Grande tent camp that became a symbol of MPP's dysfunction.

The biggest difference under Biden has been the scale of returns. His administration was ordered to restore MPP "in good faith," but the court did not set quotas. So far the Department of Homeland Security has sent back about 410 MPP enrollees, according to the latest U.N. figures, equivalent to about seven asylum seekers per day borderwide, compared with 300 to 400 returned daily in summer 2019.

The U.N. figures show the number of returns declined from about 270 in December to roughly 140 in January.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, R, whose lawsuit forced Biden to restart MPP, called the low numbers "outrageous."

"I secured a win in district court that compels Biden to re-implement Remain-in-Mexico," Paxton wrote in a tweet. "Biden MUST use MPP to send illegals back to Mexico. He's violating the Court's order, and I won't let it stand."

Paxton's office did not respond to calls seeking clarification regarding what additional legal recourse, if any, he is considering.

Biden officials say the numbers will increase over the coming months. But they have limited the program almost exclusively to adult males, while exempting those considered vulnerable on the basis of mental and physical health issues, advanced age, or sexual or gender orientation.

Biden has used MPP almost exclusively for young men from Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba. Those nations have strained relations with the United States - the U.S. government doesn't even recognize Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro as the country's legitimate president - making deportations difficult.

Biden officials say they are selecting migrants from those nations for MPP because Mexico will not accept their returns under the emergency public health authority known as Title 42, which has been used during the coronavirus pandemic and remains the U.S. government's primary border management tool. It allows U.S. authorities to skirt standard immigration proceedings and rapidly "expel" migrants, including asylum seekers, to their home countries or to Mexico, in order to avoid the spread of infections inside detention centers.

- - -

Mexico has set limits on the return of migrants by U.S. authorities, insisting MPP returns should occur only if there is sufficient shelter space, and quarantine capacity for those who test positive for the coronavirus. U.S. officials said they are working with Mexico to boost its capacity to take more MPP enrollees.

"We are subject to Mexico's requirements in terms of the restrictions they place on individuals subject to returns, and we just got hit with the omicron variant, which has had a substantial impact on our ability to return people," said a senior Department of Homeland Security official who described operational details of the program on the condition of anonymity, citing ongoing litigation.

The DHS official also attributed the low MPP numbers to limited U.S. capacity and the additional safeguards added under Biden. U.S. officials now query MPP candidates whether they fear a return to Mexico, which they did not do under Trump. Roughly 85 to 90% of MPP enrollees say they do fear harm in Mexico, but only 10 to 15 percent are found to face a "reasonable possibility" of harm, the official said.

The Biden administration has drafted a new memo seeking to terminate MPP. But officials say they will abide by the court order while the injunction remains in place, and they plan to expand the program over the coming months if strains on shelter capacity and staffing from the virus ease.

On Friday the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Biden administration's challenge to the lower court order reinstating MPP, rejecting the government's arguments in a sharply-worded, 117-page opinion. MPP will expand next to Laredo, and has already been re-implemented in San Diego and Brownsville, as well as El Paso.

GOP critics say the Biden administration is flouting the court and squandering a proven enforcement tool that discourages spurious asylum claims, pointing to MPP's role in breaking the momentum of the 2019 border surge.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told reporters Wednesday he visited the temporary court facilities the Biden administration has set up for MPP hearings in Brownsville and found them "empty."

"The federal taxpayers are paying millions of dollars for a decorative item so the Biden administration can tell the courts we're implementing MPP but not actually doing it," Lankford said.

One twist of Biden's MPP restart is that it has opened a quicker path to U.S. asylum for some migrants at a time when most other avenues remain closed off by the Title 42 pandemic expulsions.

The Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Cubans who have been the vast majority of MPP enrollees under Biden tend to have stronger claims for asylum or some form of humanitarian protection, because the U.S. denounces their governments as repressive and authoritarian.

"MPP gave me a chance," said Boris, a Nicaraguan asylum seeker who spoke on the condition that his last name be withheld because he still fears possible deportation.

Boris, 29, crossed the border between Juarez and El Paso in early December and was among the first group of migrants to be placed in MPP under Biden. Boris said he faces persecution in his home country for protesting against the government of President Daniel Ortega, who was sworn in for a fourth term last year in an election the Biden administration denounced as "a sham."

Boris returned from Mexico to the El Paso immigration court in early January, describing his fear of persecution through the help of an interpreter. He also told the court that he suffered from a chronic lung condition that would endanger his life if he was returned to Mexican shelters.

The judge exempted him from MPP and he was released to a church-operated shelter with dozens of others he said had contracted the coronavirus. Five days later, he joined his cousins at their Austin-area apartment, and awaits another court date next week.

"They handed me my papers and sent me off," Boris said. "I don't know why or how. Now I'm here, safe and happy to be here, hoping I won't be deported."

- - -

Under Trump, asylum seekers sent to Mexico were often confused and adrift, unsure how to find legal help or return for their U.S. court appointments. They were visible on the streets of Mexican border cities, and easy targets for criminal gangs.

Marysol Castro, an attorney with El Paso's Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services who provides legal aid to asylum seekers in MPP, said the program's return under Biden was a "relief" to some "because otherwise if you go to the border you're getting expelled" under Title 42.

Castro said new enrollees in MPP have court dates with fast-tracked hearings, unlike asylum seekers who were placed into the program under Trump and are still stuck in Mexico "with no hope."

Mexican authorities say they received assurances from the Biden administration that migrants placed in MPP would have improved access to legal counsel. But despite the vastly lower numbers, there is still far more demand for pro bono legal services than nonprofit groups and charities can provide, Castro said.

More than two-thirds of MPP returns under Biden have been sent to Ciudad Juarez, where they are provided secure transportation through a State Department contract with the U.N. International Organization for Migration. The Mexican government houses them in a shelter set up in a converted warehouse in an industrial area of the city.

"The shelters are more restrictive," said Victor Hugo Lopez, a Mexican official who helps oversee the program. "The migrants can request permits to go outside, but we try to keep them safe by keeping them inside."

Dana Graber Ladek, the IOM chief of mission in Mexico, said her organization continues to oppose MPP on principle, even as it's working with both governments to ameliorate conditions for those sent back.

"It still has a tremendous amount of negative impacts," she said. "It's not how asylum is supposed to work."

- - -

Hernandez reported from San Antonio.
MADRID, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish government will next week revoke the mandate for wearing facemasks against the infection from COVID-19, Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Friday.

A proposal for that will be approved in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the minister told local radio station Cadena Ser, adding the measure will be published in the official State Gazette on Wednesday and come into effect on Thursday.

The Spanish government previously lifted the mandate for wearing facemasks outdoors in June 2021, but reintroduced it on Dec. 23 as COVID-19 cases soared in the country due to the Omicron variant surge.

Spain saw the 14-day incidence of the virus climb to over 3,400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in January, but according to the Health Ministry data published on Friday, that incidence has dropped to 2,299.44.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 patients now occupy 19.96 percent of intensive care beds in Spain, falling below 20 percent for the first time in a month.

Darias said that all of the epidemiological indicators pointed to a fall in the number of infections, and some communities in the country were calling for lifting the obligation to wear masks outdoors. 
Some of the best years of my life  I miss those people.

Good times and memories, but I have moved on.

Not my best days, but I have made peace with them.

Glad to be away from those people  I dont miss the high school experience.

Vote

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By looking at Google searches for pothole-related complaints going back to 2004, Michigan has the third-worst pothole problems in the nation.

The report, recently released by QuoteWizard, an online insurance marketplace, analyzed search data for pothole-related complaints and repairs for each state going back to 2004 to identify the areas with the worst issues.

It found that Washington state has the nation's worst potholes, with Michigan not far behind.

Here are the five states and cities with the worst pothole problems.

States:

Washington Indiana Michigan Nebraska Ohio

Cities:

Yakima, Washington Grand Junction, Colorado Spokane, Washington Lafayette, Indiana Seattle, Washington

Additionally, Arkansas, Nevada and Wyoming have the least potholes, according to the report.

AAA estimates U.S. drivers spend nearly $3 billion a year fixing damage caused by potholes. The average repair bill associated with a pothole mishap is $306, according to the agency. In 64% of cases, the repair bill is $250 or less and only 6% of incidents result in a bill thats more than $1,000.

"Of course, how much you pay to repair pothole damage depends on the make and model of your vehicle as well as a number of other factors," AAA stated. "Just replacing a tire can cost you anywhere from $100 to $500 or more, depending on the vehicle you drive."

How can a hole in the road cause that much financial drama?

Consider that a pothole can do everything from damage to your tires to ruin your suspension. For instance, potholes can pop your tire, damage your wheel rims, ruin the engine or exhaust system, throw off your alignment and ruin your car's shocks and struts, according to AAA.

Drivers between the ages of 35 and 44 reported more pothole damage than any other age group, with almost one-third of drivers saying theyve dealt with pothole damage in the last year.

"Potholes also seem to strike twice  or more accurately, thrice," the report read. "According to AAA, once your car has been damaged by a pothole, its likely to happen at least two more times in a five-year span."

How can you file a claim if your vehicle or tires are damaged by a pothole?

The Michigan Department of Transportation suggests two options on its website. For damage claims less than $1,000, the agency provides an online form, but for higher value claims, the agency said youll need to file a lawsuit.

Michigan residents can also use MDOT's Report a Pothole form or call 888-296-4546 to report potholes on state roads. Most state roads begin with M, I or US designations (e.g., I-75, M-28, US-23). Your report will be forwarded to the appropriate MDOT region office for action.
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A Nuevo Laredo teen was arrested in the City of Rio Bravo for smuggling migrants, according to the Webb County Sheriffs Office.

Luis Enrique Gonzalez Santiago, 17, was charged with three counts of smuggling of persons, criminal conspiracy. He remained behind bars as of Saturday morning, according to Webb County Jail records.
The Putnam Hill Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution recently handed out its Good Citizen Awards at Putnam Cottage.

The awards go back to 1934 and are part of a scholarship contest designed to help local students. Five Greenwich High School students received awards from the group for the work and services they provided to others.

According to the Putnam Hill Chapter, the award recognizes and rewards individuals who possess the qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism in their homes, schools and communities.

Sophia Crasto, Eva Marder, Paige Pray, Caroline Yu and Esme Merrill received the award and were recognized as part of the chapters commitment to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship.

The students were selected by their teachers and peers because they demonstrate these qualities to an outstanding degree, according to the organization.

The chapter is open to all women ages 18 and older who have a direct line to an American who served in the American Revolution. Genealogists are available to help those seeking membership with their applications.

More information can be found online at http://PutnamHillDAR.org.

Cos Cob

The town is seeking to make its business district more friendly to electric vehicles and has set up a virtual workshop to help merchants get on board.

A Zoom workshop will be hosted by the Cos Cob Library at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 on how local businesses can take advantage of incentives offered by Eversource Energy. The incentives are available to retail or hospitality business owners, property managers, developers and landlords.

According to the town, the workshop will focus on issues including whether charging stations are profitable and how a business can earn money by having them installed. The Zoom workshop was put together by the towns Conservation Commission, its Sustainability group and the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce.

There is a charging station at Town Hall. Aleksandra Moch, environmental analyst for the Conservation Commission, said more are needed because they provide a positive economical and environmental impact.

She praised Eversources program to offer the incentives to both commercial properties and residents to buy chargers.

The state of Connecticut has a very ambitious plan to have as many electric vehicles as possible, Moch said. We have to move to electric vehicles because of our air quality, because of global warming and all the other environmental and health issues we have. Greenwich has more than 1,200 electric vehicles. Its a big chunk of our number and we need more charging stations.

Marcia OKane, president and CEO of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, urged residents to participate.

The workshop is certainly timely since more and more people are choosing to invest in electric cars, OKane said. Its hard to ignore the growing numbers of Tesla and hybrid vehicles being driven in town. This is not a trend but wave of the future.

The workshop will be moderated by Anthony Moore from the Pedal Greenwich advocacy group. It will feature panelists Chuck Brody from Tumalow, which is building power grid infrastructure through battery energy storage systems; Paul Vosper, president and CEO at Norwalk-based Juice bar, which has three Gen 3 electric vehicle chargers; Michael Frisbie from Noble Gas, which has electric vehicle charging at its fueling stations; and Enoch Lenge, supervisor of energy efficiency at Eversource.

Registration is required for the Zoom event at https://greenwichlibrary.libcal.com/event/8833667. There is no charge to participate in the workshop.

Central Greenwich

The YWCA of Greenwich is seeking the communitys help as it prepares for its annual Old Bags Luncheon.

The event provides financial support to the domestic abuse services offered by the Greenwich-based nonprofit, which includes a 24/7 hotline, counseling and legal services, emergency shelter and other help. At the event, participants will be able to bid on donated handbags. The luncheon is one of the bigger YWCA Greenwich events of the year.

The luncheon will take place in person on May 5 at the Belle Haven Club. The immediate focus is on getting handbag donations. A virtual handbag donation event is set for 6:30 p.m. March 3. Anyone can attend as long as they first donate a new or gently used handbag that can be put up for auction.

There will also be a presentation by YWCA President and CEO Mary Lee Kiernan, staff from YWCA Greenwich Domestic Abuse Services and the events co-chairs, Connie Anne Harris, Cecilia Lieberman, Tara Speiss Restieri, Natalie Stein and Lauren Walsh.

Guests will also be able to make a donation to YWCA Greenwich to help purchase bags to auction. Donations to the Bag Acquisition fund will be matched 100 percent by an anonymous donor and are tax deductible.

A bag that is sitting in your closet can be donated to OBL and literally save the life of a victim of domestic violence, said Harris, a YWCA Greenwich board member and an event co-chair .

The Old Bags Luncheon, now in its 17th year, will have live and silent auctions of new and gently used handbags, including the iconic Hermes Birkin, and a presentation by a domestic abuse survivor.

Domestic violence is the most reported violent crime in the Greenwich community. YWCA Greenwich is the sole local provider of services to help victims and their children from crisis through recovery.

Register for the event at www.ywcagrn.org/bags.

Glenville

Sterling Care, an in-home care service for seniors based out of Glenville, was recently awarded a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The five star rating is for quality of patient care. The service also received a four-star rating for patient satisfaction. Five-star and four-star ratings are the highest ratings a home health care agency can get in those categories for lower Fairfield County.

According to Sterling, CMS ranks Medicare-certified agencies using a five-star system, with more stars indicating better quality and higher patient satisfaction.

The star ratings are published quarterly to better inform consumers about home health care providers and to motivate providers to make improvements to maintain market competitiveness, Sterling said.

Ricki Goldstein, administrator for Sterling Care, attributes its success to its local seasoned clinicians and leaders, including Lynn Bausch, who is supervisor of clinical services, and Casey Schack, who is supervisor of therapy services.

We are not just another home care agency, said Steve Katz, owner of Sterling Care and a town resident. We inspire hope and healing by providing consistently superior care to each patient through our integrative, collaborative approach. We set our standards very high as the last locally owned and operated full-service home health care agency, using the latest evidence-based approaches to care with a patient-centered focus on those who we are privileged to serve within our community.

The new designation makes Sterling Care the only home health care provider in the region with five stars for quality of care and four stars for patient satisfaction, he said.

Its a claim none of our competitors can make, Katz said. We dont expect to continue to be able to stand alone in each of these categories, but it sure is quite the accomplishment for Ricki, Lynn, Casey and our team of outstanding local clinicians.

For more information, visit www.sterlingcare.com.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
PLAINVIEW  Dr. Glenda Payas, retired dentist from Tulsa, Okla., will be recognized as one of Wayland Baptist Universitys 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award winners during a Feb. 18 banquet held as part of the WBU Homecoming celebration in Plainview.

A native of Albuquerque, Dr. Payas earned her undergraduate degree at Wayland in biology and education in 1969. She then continued her education at New Mexico Highlands University, earning masters degrees in the natural sciences and in guidance and counseling.

Payas earned her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa and then served with the U.S. Public Health Corps with the Indian Health Service at the Claremore Indian Hospital. She retired in 2017 after 28 years in private practice in Tulsa. She and husband Brad manage rental property in Tulsa and have enjoyed traveling during retirement.

She has served in leadership roles in the dental community on the state and national level and was voted one of the top women in dentistry in 2011 and one of the top dentists in Oklahoma in 2012 among many other career accolades. Dr. Payas has used her talents to give back, setting up a dental clinic in Benin City, Nigeria, and doing dental outreach in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Jamaica. She is active in her church and has been a regent for ORU.

Since graduation from WBU, Dr. Payas has contributed financially to various projects at the university, including completion of two scholarships honoring some of her faculty mentors in science. She then endowed a scholarship honoring her parents and one for her grandparents and has gone on to endow several more, blessing students in amazing ways. She received the Distinguished Alumni Benefactor Award in 2017.

Dr. Glenda Payas has spent a lifetime making an impact on lives through her dental work and missions work, and shes continuing that through her giving to Wayland and scholarship gifts that make this experience possible for our students. She is truly remarkable and we are beyond honored to present her with this award, said Teresa Young, director of alumni services.

The Blue and Gold Banquet is set for 6 p.m. on Friday on the Plainview campus. It is open to alumni and friends for $15 per person, which includes a barbecue dinner. Besides Payas, other honorees include Dr. Nelson Hayashida, longtime professor and chaplain; Dr. Emily Smith, epidemiologist and researcher; Dr. Gabe Trujillo, superintendent; young alumni honoree Johnny Terra; and benefactor honoree Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Mattox.

The dinner is just one piece of the homecoming weekend lineup that can be found online at www.wbualumni.com/homecoming. Registration is available online at that site. For more information, contact Young at (806) 291-3600.
The Palette of America

A roundtable discussion of Americas roots and the colors that make up its foundation will take place at 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bush Convention Center.

Those participating in the roundtable are Javaid Anwar, found Midland Energy Inc. and Petroplex Energy Inc.; Donald Evans, former Commerce Department secretary and current chairman of the George W. Bush Foundation; Laura Collins, director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative; and Kenneth A. Hersh, officer of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Tickets for the roundtable discussion and the special viewing of the exhibition that will follow are $15 for adults and free for students with a valid student ID.

Permian Basin Prayer Breakfast

The annual Permian Basin Prayer Breakfast will be held from 7-8:15 a.m. Thursday at the Bush Convention Center. Food service will begin at 6:45 a.m.

This Prayer Breakfast will have a panel of prayer warriors, moderated by Carla Smith.

Individual Tickets are $10, and table sponsorships are $200. There is a complete sponsorship form online -- www.npbmidland.org. Mail checks to: Permian Basin Prayer Breakfast, 10 Desta Drive, Suite 100W, Midland, 79705.

Midland County Republican Women

State Rep. Tom Craddick will be the featured speaker at the Midland County Republican Womens monthly meeting Wednesday at Midland Country Club.

Republican candidates in contested races will be available for one-on-one conversations from 11-11:30 a.m. They also will introduce themselves during the luncheon and be available for subsequent question-and-answer.

The meeting will take place from 11:30 to 1 p.m.

Tickets are $35 for non-members with a reservation and $40 for non-members without reservations. Contact Cindy at 806-777-6361 to RSVP. Reservations should be made by noon Monday.

Meetings this week

The Midland Development Corp.

10 a.m. Monday

Midland Chamber of Commerce board room

303 West Wall St., suite 200

Midland City Council

9:30 a.m. Tuesday

Council chamber, City Hall

300 N. Loraine St.

Midland ISD

Noon Tuesday

Administration Building, Room 101

615 W Missouri Ave.

Event schedule

Cinderella, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, Feb. 12, Feb. 18, Feb. 19, Feb. 20, Feb. 25, Feb. 26, Midland Community Theatre.

Los 3 Grandes: Los Huracanes, Primavera y Rieleros, 8 p.m. Friday, La Hacienda Event Center.

Midland Gun Exposition, Saturday and Sunday, Horseshoe.

Valentines Lo. Street Market, 10 a.m.  4 p.m. Saturday, Centennial Park.

Vets Coffee and Pastries, 10 a.m. Saturday, VFW Post 4149.

Lo. St. Market, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Centennial Park.

Glazing Application, 10 a.m. Saturday, Arts Council of Midland.

Hit the Slopes Olympic Kick Off, 3 p.m. Saturday, Woodys Hideaway.

Symphony SoundBites, 6 p.m. Saturday, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

Dancing with West Texas Stars 2022, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

Our Birthday Party, 7 p.m. Saturday, The FaFa Gallery.

Friends of the Symphony, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

STEAM Break  Lovin LEGOS, 8 a.m. Feb. 7, Petroleum Museum.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical -- Broadway in the Basin, 7:30 p.m. Monday, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

The Palette of America Roundtable, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Bush Convention Center.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson: Beyond Order, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

Diane K. Browne opening reception, 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sibley Nature Center.

Dinosaur World Live Storytime, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Centennial Library.

BPW February Program Meeting, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Petroleum Club of Midland.

The Kindness Project, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Connection Christian Church of Odessa.

Disney Princess  The Concert, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

Wagner Noel 10 Year Mini Birthday Party at Vintage Deluxe, 4 p.m. Thursday, Vintage Deluxe.

Give Your Finances Some Love, 4:30 - 6 p.m. Thursday, Second Story Coworking.

Film Series, 6 p.m. Thursday, Ellen Noel Art Museum.

Authors at the Ector  Elizabeth Wetmore, 7 p.m. Thursday, The Ector Theatre.

Mike Ryan with guest Cody Hibbard, 9 p.m. Thursday, Rockin Rodeo.

Love Without Limits, 6 p.m. Feb. 11, Stonegate Fellowship Church.

Chad Prather, 8 p.m. Feb. 11, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

Cupids Arrow Valentines, 8 p.m. Feb. 11, Woodys Hideaway.

Cinderellas Royal Breakfast, 9 a.m. Feb. 12, Midland Community Theatre.

Boss Babe Market, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Feb. 12, Tall City Brewing.

Introduction to Astronomy Binocular Basics, noon Feb. 12, Marian Blakemore Planetarium.

Kansas: Point of Know Return Tour, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

Galentines Day benefiting Safe Place of the Permian Basin, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 13, The Selfie Museum.

Super Bowl Party, 2 p.m. Feb. 13, VFM Post 4159.
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Postscript: Fran Brannen left behind a legacy of love

Special to the Chronicle First row from left are: Blake Brannen, Anna Britton Brannen, Addison Brannen, Weston Brannen and Houston Brannen. Second row from left are: Lauren Brannen, Frances Fran Brannen, Joseph Joe Brannen and Melissa Brannen. Third row from left are: Joseph Breck Brannen, Missy Brannen, George Matt Brannen and Britton Lane Brannen.

Frances Fran Brannen never met a stranger. She was a natural nurturer and put others above herself  always. Most importantly, the love she had for those closest to her was unmatched.

Our family was her universe, Frans husband, Joseph Joe Brannen said. Everything surrounded it.

Special to the Chronicle Brannen

Throughout their 57 years together, Joe and Fran cultivated a tight-knit family, travelled the world together and planted roots deep into the community.

Fran died Jan. 11 at the Brannens farm in Georgia, surrounded by her family. She was 71 years old.

Fran was born to the late Robert Breckenridge and Gouley Sanders Breckenridge on July 18, 1950, in Ocala, Florida. At that time, there was no hospital in Citrus County.

She graduated from Citrus High School in 1968, one year after Joe. The couple fell in love when Joe was 15 and Fran was 14.

Fran and Joe attended Florida State University (FSU), where Fran graduated with a degree in elementary education. She returned to Inverness and began teaching at Inverness Primary School (IPS) in 1972. I think she always knew she wanted to be a teacher, Joe said.

Fran was hired by former IPS principal Carl Austin, who remembers hearing all about her pending marriage to Joe during her employment. They were made for one another, he said.

Austin said Fran was respected by students, parents and peers alike. She made her mark, he said. I couldnt say enough positive things about her.

In 1973, Fran married Joe in Oxford, England. The couple then lived in Tallahassee for two years while Joe finished law school. There, she taught elementary school in Thomasville, Georgia.

Fran and Joe came home to Inverness in 1975 and Fran returned to her teaching role at IPS.

She made a huge impact on all the kids that she taught here in Citrus County, Joe said. She was the most loving, giving and caring person I ever knew, and that is what made her a great school teacher.

Citrus County Chronicle publisher Trina Murphy was one of Frans fifth-grade students. During a routine test at school, Murphy found out she had scoliosis.

I remember walking back into my classroom and Mrs. Brannen looked at my little face and could tell I was upset, Murphy said. She quickly walked me outside and hugged me and told me I was going to be OK.

She was the reassuring and caring voice that I needed, Murphy added. My mom wasnt there, but Mrs. Brannen was there to take care of me.

Vicki Imhuelsen Certain was in Frans third-grade class in 1972. I can still see her walking us to lunch or the library and turning to make sure everyone was in line, she said. She had a proud look on her face as we were guided by her.

With the arrival of her eldest son, Joseph Breck Brannen in 1975, Fran decided to step down from full-time teaching and put her name on the substitute teacher list.

Joe figured she might be called in once a month. Well, that was wrong, Joe said. When the local principals found out, the phone rang at 7 a.m. every morning.

Then, along came George Matt Brannen in 1978 and Britton Lane Brannen in 1983. In the early 1980s, Fran stepped down from substitute teaching to focus on raising her boys.

She would have loved to have a daughter, Breck said. (God) knew exactly what he was doing when he gave her all sons.

Fran supported Breck, Matt and Lane every step of the way. She put us first every time, Matt said.

She was involved in each of their school and extracurricular activities. The boys were never late for a practice and were never the last ones to be picked up.

However, Frans love extended far beyond her biological children. She would take every child beneath her wings as if they were her own, Lane said.

The Brannen home was a hub for the boys friends. Some stayed for weeks at a time and none left Frans kitchen hungry.

Fran also loved her three daughters-in-law, Lauren (Breck), Missy (Matt) and Melissa (Lane) Brannen. She wanted us to be a part of the family, Missy said. You dont see that often with mother-in-laws.

Mrs. Fran was like a hurricane to me, Laura said. She was a force, unwavering, pulling the entire family together.

Frans grandchildren, Houston, Anna Britton, Weston, Blake and Addison knew her as Gigi.

They loved to spend time with Fran and Joe. Addison said her Gigi made her laugh until her stomach hurt and never made her eat veggies. Blake said she made the best oatmeal in the world. She wanted to be a part of our lives, and she definitely was, Weston said.

Fran also loved to shop. It was a favorite activity among Fran, her daughter-in-laws and granddaughters. Shopping with us was really shopping for us, Missy said. There was no shopping for Fran when she was with us.

In addition, Fran was known for her wicked sense of humor and sarcasm. When you have some of lifes most embarrassing moments, Fran was there for you, Jim Hughes, long time friend of the Brannens said. However, Fran would never let you forget them.

Hughes has known Fran and Joe since high school. When the Brannen boys were growing up, Hughes decided he could probably ride their skateboard.

I jumped on that skateboard and landed flat on my back in the asphalt driveway, Hughes said. After she decided I didnt have any serious injuries, he added, she proceeded to give me a little mini lecture on how it wasnt a good idea for a 40-plus-year-old guy to get on a skateboard.

Above all, Hughes said he will always remember Fran for the love she had for her family and her ability to make people feel valued and important. It didnt matter if you were a friend for 40-plus years, or if its a person she met that day.

Suzanne Fuller is also a long-time friend of Frans and recalled many shopping trips to Nordstrom and countless 6 a.m. phone calls between the two early risers.

When Fullers husband got sick, she and Fran became even closer. When something like that happens, you often lose friends, Fuller said. I didnt lose Fran.

Fuller said shell never forget the last text she received from Fran. It was Dec. 14 and Joe and Fran had just returned from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. They just found out Fran had cancer.

I just want you to know I absolutely loved your Christmas card, Fran wrote to Fuller. Then she told Fuller about her diagnosis. Fran was known to approach everyone elses issues first, before sharing her own.

When you have a friend like that, it makes you a better friend, Fuller said.

In all of her roles, Fran had a special gift. She was a people person. She loved unconditionally. She cared for us effortlessly, Joe said.
The median between east and westbound lanes of U.S. 98 in the Sugarmill Woods community of Oak Village is overgrown and much of the foliage is dead. The Oak Village Homeowners Association and Citrus County are at odds over the median.
Just The Facts

STATE SENATE DISTRICT

20th Senate District

Seat held by Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Twp.

Nanticoke City; Municipality of Kingston; Dallas, Exeter, Fairmount, Franklin, Hanover, Hunlock, Jackson, Kingston, Lake, Lehman, Newport, Plymouth, Ross and Union townships; the boroughs of Ashley, Courtdale, Dallas, Edwardsville, Exeter, Forty Fort, Harveys Lake, Kingston, Larksville, Luzerne, Plymouth, Pringle, Sugar Notch, Swoyersville, Warrior Run and West Wyoming; all of Pike, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties; and part of Wayne County.

22nd Senate District

Seat currently held by Marty Flynn, D-Scranton

Pittston and Wilkes-Barre cities; Jenkins, Pittston, Plains and Wilkes-Barre townships; boroughs of Avoca, Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown, Laflin, Laurel Run, West Pittston, Wyoming and Yatesvillel; and much of Lackawanna County, including Scranton

27th Senate District

Seat currently held by John Gordner, R-Berwick

Black Creek, Butler, Conyngham, Dorrance, Fairview, Hollenback, Huntington, Nescopeck, Rice, Salem, Slocam, Sugarloaf and Wright; and all of Columbia, Montour, Northumberland and Snyder Counties.

29th Senate District

Seat currently held by David Argall, R-Rush Twp.

Hazleton City; Bear Creek, Buck, Dennison, Foster, and Hazle townships; boroughs of Bear Creek Village, Freeland, Jeddo, Penn Lake Park, West Hazleton, and White Haven; and all of Carbon and Schuylkill counties.

STATE HOUSE DISTRICTS

116th House District

Former seat of Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Twp.

Hazleton City, Hazle Twp. and West Hazleton Borough and parts of Schuylkill County.

117th House District

Seat held by Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake

Black Creek, Butler, Conyngham, Dennison, Dorrance, Fairmount, Foster, Hollenback, Hunlock, Huntington, Lake, Lehman, Nescopeck, Ross, Salem, Slocum, Sugarloaf and Union townships; and boroughs of Conyngham, Dallas, Freeland, Harveys Lake, Jeddo, Nescopeck, New Columbus, Nuangola, Penn Lake Park, Shickshinny and White Haven

118th House District

Seat held by Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, who announced he wont seek reelection.

Pittston City; townships of Jenkins and Pittston; and boroughs of Avoca, Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown, Laflin, West Pittston and Yatesville; and part of Lackawanna County.

119th House District

Seat held by Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Twp., who announced he wont seek reelection.

Nanticoke City; Fairview, Hanover, Newport, Plymouth, Rice and Wright townships; and the boroughs of Ashley, Edwardsville, Larksville, Plymouth, Sugar Notch and Warrior Run.

120th House District

Seat held by Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston

Municipality of Kingston; Dallas, Exeter, Franklin, Jackson and Kingston townships; and the boroughs of Courtdale, Exeter, Forty Fort, Luzerne, Pringle, Swoyersville, West Wyoming and Wyoming.

121st House District

Seat held by state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski

Wilkes-Barre City; Bear Creek, Buck, Plains and Wilkes-Barre townships; and boroughs of Bear Creek, Village and Laurel Run.
Claremore, OK (74018)

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Showers and thunderstorms - possibly severe during the afternoon hours. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 72F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

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Thunderstorms, some strong during the evening will give way to mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 48F. SW winds shifting to NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) After an almost two-year wait due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first digital and localized Bar examinations finally took place on Friday.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, chairperson of the Bar exams, told a media briefing that 11,790 filed their applications, the largest batch of examinees, and 11,378 or 96.5 percent took the first day exam.

But the examinees were left to themselves minus the usual crowd to cheer them on because of health protocols.

The test was held in 31 sites nationwide. More examiners were deployed and security cameras were installed in testing sites.

The earliest examinee to finish the exam was at 8:58 this morning, which I think gives you the clue on the type of the exam, Leonen said, referring to the digital format.

Meanwhile, Leonen had a message for those who tested positive for COVID-19 days before the exam.

Masakit po sa kalooban ko, masakit sa kalooban ng aking buong team, masakit sa kalooban ng buong Supreme Court (It pains me, my whole team, and the whole Supreme Court), Leonen said.

The Supreme Court usually takes five to six months to manually check the exams, but it hopes the period will be shorter this time with the new process.

Leonen also provided tips for the examinees for their second day of exam on Sunday, Feb. 6.

[L]ive in the present moment. Wag sila magmadali, he said. Pagkatapos ng araw na ito, matulog sila, wag sila mag-cramming, ipahinga yung kanilang katawan at isip, at bukas kaunting review lang.

[Translation: Live in the present moment. Dont rush. After the day, go sleep, dont cram, rest your body and mind, and review just a little.]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released the wanted posters for megachurch leader Apollo Quiboloy and two other church members for sex trafficking charges.

According to the FBI, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder is wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders.

It is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or 'pastorals,' for Quiboloy and that victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the pastorals called night duty, the FBI said.

It added that Quiboloy has ties to Calabasas, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Kapolei, Hawaii.

Moreover, Teresita Dandan and Helen Panilag were also included in the wanted list for their alleged participation in the labor trafficking scheme.

Dandan is the alleged international administrator who oversees the bogus charity operations in the U.S., while Panilag is the alleged one-time top church administrator in the U.S. who oversaw the collection of financial data from church operations worldwide.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California indicted the three last year and a warrant of arrest was issued against them on Nov. 10.

Quiboloy's legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio said the pastor is currently in Davao, and even went live on television.

Speaking to CNN Philippines, Topacio said the timing of the wanted poster's release and the issuance of an alleged warrant were suspicious given that the news spread when they were in California but somehow could not verify the warrant in the state's courts.

Nevertheless, Topacio said he is confident with their defense.

"We are actually looking forward sapagkat [since] there will be a probable cause hearing before the courts and there mapapakita po namin na 'yung mga nagpaparatang kay Pastor Quiboloy ay polluted sources [we can show them that the accusations against Pastor Quiboloy were from polluted sources]," Topacio told Newsroom Weekend on Saturday.

Topacio also pointed out that the election season is nearing. Quiboloy recently endorsed presidential hopeful Bongbong Marcos and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice said that any communication from the FBI shall be coursed through diplomatic channels.

We have not received any official communication from the U.S. government," said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in a message to reporters.

"Extradition cannot be done motu proprio, especially if the subject is our own citizen," he also said. "Any communication will be coursed thru diplomatic channels.

Im sure the FBI knows where Pastor Quiboloy is," Guevarra added. "Im also sure that the FBI knows the proper legal procedure to enable the U.S. justice system acquire jurisdiction over Pastor Quiboloys person.

In an interview on CNN Philipines on Sunday, Guevarra said the extradition request from the FBI would be communicated first to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

He said the DFA will then check if the extradition request satisfies the requisites of related laws and treaties before it will be endorsed to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"Sila ang unang titingin kung lahat ng mga [The DFA will be the first to evaluate if all] requirements under our treaty with the US on extradition have been met," Guevarra told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Weekend.

Guevarra also explained that once the DFA approves the extradition request and endorses it to the DOJ, the Justice department will then file a petition in a local court to hear the merits of the extradition request.

"Summary proceeding dapat yan. Hindi yung mismong charges ng sex trafficking or money laundering ang titingnan sa atin. Ang titingnan lang sa Philippine court ay kung karapat-dapat na ma-extradite yung subject of the request," said Guevarra.

[Translation: It should only be a summary proceeding. The sex trafficking and money laundering charges should not be looked in our local court. The Philippine court should only settle if the subject of the request is worthy to be extradited.]

The Justice Secretary added Quiboloy's camp can file an appeal to the local court's decision on the extradition request.

Guevarra clarified the DOJ does not have legal power to issue a hold departure order against a subject of the extradition request.

"The DOJ may ask the court for the issuance of a hold departure order, pending the hearing of the extradition case. The court will issue that upon a motion filed by DOJ. Only the court courts can issue a hold departure order," he said.

The DOJ meanwhile has the power to issue an immigration lookout bulletin order to a person for monitoring purposes, Guevarra added.

Quiboloy is also known as a spiritual adviser of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The pastor, who tags himself as the appointed Son of God, earlier claimed that the spread of COVID-19 variants is a punishment from above for persecuting him for the sexual trafficking charges.
Non-union employees in Allentown will now have six weeks of paid family leave because of an ordinance passed by city council Wednesday.

The law applies to non-union employees only because council does not have the authority to grant it to union employees, according to council member Joshua Siegel, the ordinances main sponsor. Siegel encouraged the city administration to grant paid family leave to union employees when members re-negotiate their contracts.

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He lauded the bill as a step forward for the city, and said that in Pennsylvania,, the only other municipalities that grant paid family leave to employees are Montgomery County and Pittsburgh.

As a city and as a municipality, we can be extraordinarily cutting edge and a leading body, Siegel said.

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Non-union employees who give birth to, father or adopt children, and who have worked for the city for at least a year, will receive six weeks of fully paid leave under the new policy.

First Call Daily Leading local stories delivered on weekday mornings >

Mayor Matt Tuerk and Christa Pepe, a labor relations manager with the city, spoke in support of the ordinance at Wednesdays meeting.

Im strongly in favor of creating these types of low cost but significant incentives and important signals to our prospective employees and our current employees, Tuerk said.

An analysis from the Finance Department found that implementing a paid family leave policy would cost the city a maximum of $60,000, which Pepe called minimal. She added that shes seen employees negatively affected by the citys lack of paid leave policy.

Human Resources Director Meloney Sallie-Dosunmu said around five employees took maternity leave last year and used sick days to take time off. Allentowns non-union employees accrue 1.75 sick days per month of employment with the city.

Jeremy Warmkessel, president of Allentowns fire union, said the union supports the new ordinance. The fire unions contract with the city does not grant paid family leave, but its something the unit might consider pushing for when its contract with the city expires in 2025, he said.

Anytime that the work environment gets better is good for all workers, Warmkessel said.

Morning Call reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at 610-820-6681 and liweber@mcall.com.
The Coastal Point is a local newspaper published each Friday and distributed in the Bethany Beach, South Bethany, Fenwick Island, Ocean View, Millville, Dagsboro, Frankford, Selbyville, Millsboro, Long Neck and Georgetown, Delaware areas.
Penn State THONs Executive Committee announced updated coronavirus safety measures Friday THON Weekend 2022 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

In addition to the proof of vaccination requirement for all students and employees who wish to access the floor and mezzanine levels in the BJC, all spectators ages 2 and older must now show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative coronavirus test performed this coming Feb. 16 or later.

THON committee volunteers and dancers will also be required to show proof of a negative coronavirus test dated Feb. 16 or later, in addition to showing proof of being vaccinated.

Spectators who are fully vaccinated will be required to show proof, including a physical vaccination card or image of a vaccination card, as well as a physical copy of a photo ID matching the name listed on the vaccination card. While a booster dose is not required, it is strongly encouraged, THON said in its release.

Student and employee spectators who are not vaccinated will be required to show proof of a negative coronavirus test dated Feb. 16 or later in order to enter. General student and employee spectators, as well as entrance plan student spectators, are asked to be tested in the White Building on Feb. 18, THON said.

Those individuals must wait for a negative test in order to receive an entrance wristband for THON at the White Building.

The White Building testing center will offer extended hours for those who need to be tested. From Feb. 16-18, the testing center will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 19, the testing center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Students and employees who are not vaccinated and need to be tested but will receive their results from a medical provider or official testing center should follow instructions provided for individuals who are not current students or employees, according to the release.

Spectators who are not students or employees at Penn State and are not vaccinated are required to provide proof of a negative test result and photo ID. These individuals are required to report to Penn State's Visitors' Center  on the corner of East Park Avenue and Porter Road  prior to arriving at the BJC in order to have test results verified.

Test results must be from a medical provider or official testing center, must include patient name, date of birth, type of test performed, provider name, collection date, result date and result in order to be deemed valid. The tests must also be dated Feb. 16 or later but may be in the form of an email shown from a mobile device or a printout.

Self-administered and at-home rapid tests will not be accepted as a valid test result, THON said.

There will be limited testing available at the visitors' center for Four Diamonds families and extenuating circumstances, but availability is not guaranteed, according to THON.

Entrance wristbands will be given to spectators who are not students and employees at Penn State upon proof of a negative test result.

The visitors center will be open Friday, Feb. 18 from 2-8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 20 from 8 a.m. to noon  or until the BJC's capacity is reached.

There will be no test verification availability outside of these hours, THON said.

In addition to the updated safety measures, all individuals inside the BJC will be required to wear a mask at all times, following the Penn State's masking protocol.

These additional requirements are increasingly important for THON Weekend  given the sustained nature of the event and the desire to ensure that our Four Diamonds families, as well as our spectators, dancers and volunteers, are able to participate in a safe experience, THON said in the release.

The safety measures were created with the help of Penn State Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims.

For those who do not want to or are unable to attend the event in person, a virtual option will be available through THON.org/livestream.

THON is the world's largest student-run philanthropy that aims to provide emotional and financial support to Four Diamonds families who have been impacted by childhood cancer, and this year is THON's 50th anniversary.

MORE CAMPUS COVERAGE
HARRISBURG  A state commission voted 4-1 to approve a new set of House and Senate legislative maps, with the no vote coming from a Republican leader who said the Allentown portion of the House map was drawn to protect white Democratic incumbents at the expense of the Latino community.

The final maps held many changes for incumbents and would-be challengers in the Lehigh Valley.

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The three current Allentown incumbents  Democratic Reps. Mike Schlossberg and Peter Schweyer and Republican Sen. Pat Browne  had generally favorable reactions.

But Democratic Sen. Lisa Boscola of Northampton County called the plan disgraceful. And Legislative Reapportionment Commission member Rep. Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County, the only no vote, blasted the splitting of the city into three House districts instead of the current two.

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He said it was done to protect white Democratic incumbents.

Benninghoff said it decreased the chances a Latino would be elected from Allentown and other cities with new splits, including Reading, Lancaster and Harrisburg.

You know what you are doing to the Latinos and you know it is wrong, Benninghoff said.

His assertions were rejected by Democratic Rep. Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia, one of the four yes votes. She called it a fair, constitutionally sound map.

Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County, another yes vote, said the final plan came from a process by the public and for the public.

The vote capped a months-long process to create new maps for the 203 House and 50 Senate districts based on 2020 census data, to be used in elections over the next decade.

The vote starts a 30-day period in which appeals of the plans contents can be filed in state Supreme Court.

Boscola said that even though the plan restored the western portion of the city of Bethlehem to her 18th district  the preliminary plan had put that area in a new 14th district  Coplay, Catasauqua, Northampton, Fountain Hill and other municipalities that had been in the 18th for years were now in the 14th.

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She said she believed the map was drawn to punish her for frequently voicing independent, non-party opinions.

I have to go to court, said Boscola. This is all about party bosses drawing maps in their favor.

Latino concerns

Before the vote, commission Chairman Mark Nordenberg read a letter from three Latino House members  Reps. Angel Cruz and Danilo Burgos of Philadelphia and Rep. Manuel Guzman of Reading  supporting the House map that got approved.

We applaud the work that you have done, Nordenberg read from the letter.

But Boscola said she agreed with Benninghoffs assessment the process was used to divide minority communities in ways that favored incumbents.

And Jose Rosado, the Latino former mayor of Fountain Hill, said he expected some leaders in the Latino community might consider a court challenge.

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The way that the Latino community is being cracked under these new maps would make it difficult to win one or more of those seats, he said.

The preliminary plan had Rosados Fountain Hill home in the 22nd district, which would have had no incumbents. He had decided to run for the House seat based on that preliminary map, but the final plan put him in the 133rd.

On Friday, he was not sure of his plans.

Schlossberg said there was no question the Latino community would continue to get strong representation.

More than 53% of the voting-age population of the redrawn 22nd district in Allentown is Hispanic. Schlossberg said it is almost certain to elect a Hispanic representative.

Schweyer said the recent election of Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and the recent elevation of Cynthia Mota to Allentown City Council president are among examples of increasing Latino successes.

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Allentown continues to elect quality people representing the interests of our residents and I expect that to continue, Schweyer said.

New Senate district

Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. >

The approved plan includes a new Senate district in the middle of the Lehigh Valley, the 14th.

The current version of the 14th, including Carbon County and parts of Luzerne, was eliminated.

The new or relocated district has no incumbent within its borders. It includes part of Allentown, meaning the map splits the city between two districts  the 16th represented by Browne, and the 14th  instead of being covered by one.

These areas are in the relocated 14th:

Parts of Allentown.

In Lehigh County, Hanover, Salisbury, and Whitehall townships and part of South Whitehall Township; as well as Catasauqua, Coplay, Emmaus and Fountain Hill.

In Northampton County, Allen, Bushkill, East Allen, Hanover, Lehigh, and Moore townships and Bath, Chapman, North Catasauqua, Northampton and Walnutport.

Browne said the Senate split of Allentown means the city will have a stronger voice in Harrisburg.

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He also said the relocated 14th provides an opportunity for the Hispanic community to have a major influence on the election of its senator.

Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com
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Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

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Rain. Low 56F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
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Cloudy and windy with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms. High around 85F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Higher wind gusts possible..

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Last Saturday, I suggested that a courts nullification of Pennsylvanias mail voting law could be a good thing.

I considered it an opportunity for the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to write a better mail voting law. They could negotiate a package of election improvements, including adopting voter ID.

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Not everyone is so hopeful.

Theres no way the Republicans would agree to renew mail voting, several readers said.

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Some questioned how I could take such a position. A few offered examples of voters who could be disenfranchised if mail voting ended, such as those who are sick or homebound, or who cant wait in line at the polls for long because they have to get to work.

Those people still could be eligible to vote by mail  with an absentee ballot.

Absentee ballots are different from mail ballots. When no-excuse mail voting was legalized, absentee ballots were forgotten by many people.

But they still are part of Pennsylvanias election system. And because they are authorized by the state Constitution, Republican lawmakers cant eliminate them.

Anyone could vote by mail under the mail voting law enacted in 2019. You must qualify to vote with an absentee ballot. But the requirements are fairly broad.

You can vote by absentee ballot if youll be absent from your municipality on Election Day because of your duties, occupation or business. That includes being at work, going on vacation or attending college.

You also can request a ballot if you are disabled or sick and cant make it to your voting place, or if you have a religious observance on Election Day.

If you cite absence from your municipality as your reason, you must explain why you wont be there.

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If you cite illness or disability, you must specify your illness or disability, and provide the name and contact information for your physician.

No-excuse mail voting in Pennsylvania isnt dead for certain.

Commonwealth Court threw out the law on Jan. 28. A panel of judges, with a Republican majority, said it was enacted improperly by legislation instead of through an amendment to the state Constitution.

Wolf immediately appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court. A hearing is scheduled for March.

The Supreme Court has a Democratic majority. It has issued rulings in several previous mail ballot cases without questioning the laws constitutionality, though it wasnt specifically asked to rule on that point.

Id expect a swift ruling, as elections officials have to know whether to prepare for mail voting for the May 17 primary.

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If the Supreme Court upholds the lower courts order and ends no-excuse mail voting, consider whether you are eligible to vote with an absentee ballot if you wont be able to vote in person.

Like mail ballots, absentee ballots must be applied for, so getting one requires some planning.

More information is available at vote.pa.gov or from your county election office.

Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com
Welcome to ComedyNerd, Cracked's daily comedy Superstation. For more ComedyNerd content, and ongoing coverage of that 80's Adult Swim show, The Iran/Contra Affair, please sign up for the ComedyNerd newsletter below.

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If you ever find yourself playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and need to link Macho Man Randy Savage and Timothee Chalamet, boy do I have a gift for you. From 2011 to 2015, WWF Superstar Hulk Hogan and sensitive indie film director Greta Gerwig co-starred in China, IL, an animated Adult Swim show about the self-dubbed worst college in America (that wasn't Rutgers) and it was bananas.

Based on a series of animated shorts by Brad Neely, China, IL is one of Adult Swims most underrated masterpieces, combining the chaos of Superjail, the engaging character comedy of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and the high-concept sci-fi rigmarole of Rick and Morty. Though it ran for just three seasons and thirty episodes, China, IL wove threads of pure gold out of its simplistic animation and its devotion to wild, stupid, unfiltered fun.

Lets do a deep dive into Brad Neely and the surrealist sitcom that brought together Hulk Hogan, Greta Gerwig, Donald Glover, Hannibal Burress, Chelsea Peretti, Jeffrey Tambor, and more. That list alone feels like the beginning of a joke.
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Something similar happened decades later when DC tried to make Hal Jordan, the main Green Lantern, look a little more mature and distinguished by letting his hair grey up a bit. This was a futile endeavor, because he still had to share a comic with a guy who looked like Carrot Top fused with Moe from the Three Stooges.

DC Comics And a lawsuit from Sidney Poitier waiting to happen.

Hal ditching his Just For Men (tm) shampoo somehow failed to motivate kids to pick up the Green Lantern comic. The poor sales led to a radical revamp where our brave hero murders a bunch of his friends and turns into a villain called Parallax. About a decade later, DC figured it was time to turn Hal into a good guy again and de-age him while at it. The grey hair? This time, it was a side effect of being possessed by the cosmic parasite who made him do all those bad things.

DC Comics This is your reminder to check your greying elders for cosmic parasites if you value your life.

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Another example is Rogue of the X-Men, who was originally introduced as a middle-aged Avengers villain who looked like she's hated and feared by everyone at her PTA meetings.

Marvel Comics She has the mutant power to make service industry workers reconsider their vocation.

But then, they started writing Rogue as if she was on her late teens or early 20s, and her old lady streaks became a stylish lock of hair on her forehead. This look became so iconic that the first X-Men movie devoted its climax to explaining why it's there.

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What about Dr. Strange? As far as we know, Marvel hasn't tried to explain his white streaks via magic or something, but they did tell the artist to get rid of them for a while, which is kind of like erasing Spider-Man's webs or Batman's pointy ears. Stop messing with superhero hair, guys. Or at least say it was dandruff all along to make them more relatable.

Follow Maxwell Yezpitelok's heroic effort to read and comment on every '90s Superman comic at Superman86to99.tumblr.com.

Top image: Marvel Comics, DC Comics

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A federal investigation into school construction contracts administered by former state budget official Konstantinos Kosta Diamantis has focused part of its probe on a Connecticut construction administration company that once employed his daughter, according to subpoena records released this week.

Authorities have yet to specify what potential crimes they are looking into as part of the investigation, which was revealed Wednesday when records of their subpoenas were released by Gov. Ned Lamonts office.

Those records, however, show investigators sought emails and text messages from Diamantis involving contracts potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for school construction, hazardous materials remediation and the redevelopment of the State Pier in New London.

Several days after the first subpoena was delivered to state officials on Oct. 20 from Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Leonard Boyle, his office followed up with a request to focus on communications containing dozens of specific terms. Among those terms were the name of Diamantis daughter, Anastasia, as well as her part-time employer, Construction Advocacy Professionals, and the names of several schools in Connecticut where the company was engaged in construction projects.

The company, which is based in Moosup, was also mentioned briefly Wednesday in a separate report by investigators commissioned by Lamont to look into allegations of nepotism involving Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo, Diamantis and his daughter.

Former U.S. Attorney Stanley Twardy conducted a nepotism investigation into Colangelos hiring of Anastasia Diamantis as an executive assistant with a $99,000 salary around the same time he was requesting Kosta Diamantis for pay increases for himself and his top deputies, documents show.

While Twardys investigation found no direct evidence of collusion between Colangelo and Kosta Diamantis over the hiring of his daughter it questioned the accounts of all three as to how the hiring process unfolded. In the report, Twardy also said Colangelo and Kosta and Anastasia Diamantis lack credibility in the statements they provided to investigators.

Twardys report also revealed that Connecticut State Police last year investigated threats allegedly made against Kosta Diamantis by a former CAP employee, who accused his daughter of being a ghost employee hired to bribe her father, who was overseeing school construction projects.

Norm Pattis, an attorney for Kosta Diamantis, said Thursday that he was surprised by the disclosure of the federal investigation this week and that authorities had yet to reach out to him regarding the probe.

I know [Diamantis] to be a man of the highest ethical standards, so I doubt he would do anything involving a conflict of interest, Pattis said.

Anastasia Diamantis has not responded to messages seeking comment left with her father and an uncle, who served as her unofficial counsel during an interview with Twardys investigators, the report showed.

According to Twardys report, CAP fired Anastasia Diamantis in October after she became the subject of news reports questioning the circumstances of her employment in Colangelos office. Anastasia Diamantis told Twardys investigators that her boss did not want CAP named in unfavorable articles, the report stated.

The companys owner, Antonietta Roy, did not respond to messages seeking comment on Thursday.

Anastasia Diamantis did not list her employment with CAP in her resume submitted to Colangelos office in June 2020, according to email records obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group through a public records request. However, she disclosed the part-time job as an assistant project manager with the company in an employment history form that was published in Twardys report.

Anastasia Diamantis employment with a company that did work for her fathers office was first reported in December by the CT Mirror, which also reported that she was copied on several emails between company officials and her father regarding school construction projects in Connecticut.

According to its website, CAP advises public agencies and property owners involved in construction projects about technical challenges and budget issues related to the projects. The company has worked on construction projects at Bulkeley High School in Hartford, New Britain High School and Birch Grove Primary School in Tolland, according to the companys website.

The Hartford and Tolland projects were each among the dozens of items referenced as being of interest to federal investigators, according to the subpoena records.

Kosta Diamantis began working in the state Office of School Construction Grants and Review at the Department of Administrative Services in 2015. His duties overseeing school construction grants were transferred to the Office of Policy and Management in 2019 when he was appointed the deputy secretary at OPM.

When asked about Diamantis work at OPM on Thursday, Lamont said he did not believe there was enough oversight in place and that the transfer of the school construction grant office was the wrong decision.

Since the release of the nepotism investigations findings and the federal subpoenas, Connecticut lawmakers have weighed in on whether enough oversight was in place at the school construction grants office to prevent conflicts of interest.

It is particularly upsetting knowing that lawmakers repeatedly raised concerns about how these programs were being managed by the executive branch and were assured that our concerns were misplaced, Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly said in a statement. Government must always respect taxpayers' sacrifices. A federal investigation is a sign that respect has not been maintained.

Diamantis retired from state government in October, after Lamonts office fired him from OPM and placed him on paid leave from his school construction grants job over unspecified allegations of misconduct.

The school construction job has since moved back to the Division of Administrative Services, where Lamont said officials are examining the contracts that were approved under Diamantis tenure.

In an interview last week, Diamantis said he regretted his decision to leave and tried to rescind his resignation, but his request was denied. He has denied seeking jobs for his daughter as part of favors sought by his office.

My daughter can earn her job just like anybody else, Diamantis said Wednesday. She does not need to be impugned just for having my last name.

Staff writer Ken Dixon contributed to this report.
Connecticuts first application window for businesses aiming to participate in the recreational cannabis market opened Thursday.

An educational webinar for businesses, the first of several planned as part of technical assistance aimed at helping social equity applicants, also streamed Thursday.

Non-lottery applications for cultivators in disproportionately impacted areas and lottery applications for recreational retailers are available.

Medical producers and dispensaries will also be allowed to convert to expanded licenses that allow them to participate in the medical and recreational markets. Applications for expanded producers and hybrid retailers are open.

READ MORE: What you need to know about Connecticuts recreational pot licensing process

Equity joint venture applications are also open. Equity joint ventures allow business entities to partner with applicants who meet certain social equity criteria.

Social equity status is determined by income and residency. The Social Equity Council, which is organizing technical assistance to aid businesses through the application process, is charged with ensuring the market benefits those who have been most impacted by the war on drugs.

All members of a household, regardless of relationship, will need to submit information on income for social equity applicants to meet the criteria, said Ginne-Rae Clay, interim director for the council.

This includes roommates, Clay said.

Half of all lottery licenses will go to social equity applicants. Application windows for more license types are set to open on a rolling basis over the next couple of months.

The state anticipates another lottery round in the second half of the year. Businesses that wish to participate will have to reapply for that round if theyre not selected in the first round, according to a state Department of Consumer Protection press release.

READ MORE: These Connecticut towns are banning recreational marijuana sales, use

Theres no limit on the number of applications a potential business owner can submit for the lottery, officials said.

This is an exciting step toward opening the adult-use cannabis market, Michelle H. Seagull, commissioner for the Department of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. We want to remind all interested applicants to be thorough and to complete their applications carefully and thoughtfully, and to be patient as we move through the lottery and application review process.

Applications are available through the states online portal.

During Thursdays webinar, Department of Consumer Protection and Social Equity Council leadership walked potential applicants through the application process.

We are encouraging you not to rush through your applications and dont wait for the last minute, said Rodrick Marriott, director of the Department of Consumer Protections Drug Control Division.

The application is compatible with translations into multiple languages using Google Chrome, Marriott told webinar attendees.

He also recommended that applicants use a laptop or desktop rather than the mobile version. The application has a save feature, and times out after a few minutes of inactivity.

READ MORE: Legal weed in CT: Your questions answered

Once you hit that finish button, you cannot edit, Marriott said.

Future webinars through the Social Equity Council are scheduled for Feb. 8 and 10. Tentative sessions are set for Feb. 16 and 17.
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Some of the countrys largest insurance companies, based in Connecticut, saw their profits jump in 2021. But so far, those gains have not translated into a hiring boom in their home state.

Despite the robust financial performance of the handful of Fortune 500 insurance companies headquartered in the state, the finance-and-insurance industrys headcount declined slightly last year in Connecticut. Some legislators say a broader labor shortage is contributing to the trend, but they still see opportunities to create more insurance positions in Hartford, the insurance capital of the world, and other parts of the state.

The insurance industry is a major employer in our state, especially the Hartford area, state Rep. Kerry Wood, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairwoman of the state legislatures Insurance and Real Estate Committee, said in an interview. Not only are they providing jobs, they are also providing a vital service to many people in the state through comprehensive health coverage. I would consider them an extremely important part of Connecticuts economy.

Statewide, about 100,000 people worked in finance and insurance in December  a decline of 600 positions, or 0.6 percent, from December 2020, according to data released last week by the state Department of Labor. During the same period, overall employment in Connecticut increased 3.3 percent.

Theres a labor shortage across all sectors in our economy. I am extremely concerned about losing high-paying, high-skilled jobs in our state, Wood said. However, in sectors like finance and insurance, technology and innovation will replace some of the jobs in these sectors over time.

Strong results in 2021

On Thursday, The Hartford reported quarterly and annual results that included a 2021 profit of about $2.3 billion  up 37 percent from 2020. No. 142 on the 2021 Fortune list of publicly traded companies ranked by revenue, The Hartford Financial Services Group specializes in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds.

We begin 2022 competitively positioned with strong momentum and a winning formula to consistently produce superior risk-adjusted returns, The Hartford CEO and Chairman Christopher Swift said in a release. Our businesses complement each other extremely well and together represent a unique portfolio with distinctive advantages.

Last year, The Hartford rejected several acquisition attempts by another large insurer, Chubb. The possibility of The Hartford being subsumed into another company sparked concerns among a number of state legislators that a merger could lead to major layoffs.

While that scenario did not materialize, the company has cut positions through its Hartford Next program, which focuses on cost reductions.

The Hartford employs a total of about 18,500 people, including approximately 6,100 in Connecticut  down from an in-state workforce of about 13,000 before the Great Recession. That decline was made largely through the sale of businesses.

In response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media about the number of layoffs made through the program, The Hartford said in a statement that based on our current estimates, we expect 2.6 percent of our total workforce in 2019 to be affected by involuntary separations as a result of Hartford Next by Dec. 31, 2022. Hartford Next is helping position the organization for long-term sustainability and continued profitable growth.

The company did not specify how many involuntary separations involved Connecticut-based employees. The company also said that we continue to hire across the enterprise as needs arise and consistent with our strategy.

Also Thursday, Bloomfield-based pharmacy manager and health insurer Cigna, the No. 13 firm on the Fortune list, reported annual profits of about $5.4 billion, down around $3 billion from 2020. The difference in the bottom lines reflected a tax gain of about $3.2 billion that the company recorded in 2020 from the sale of its Group Disability and Life business.

We performed well in 2021 as we supported the growing needs of our clients, customers and patients, Cigna CEO and Chairman David Cordani said in a statement. 2022 will be a year of growth across our franchise as we continue innovating and advancing our work to make health care more affordable, predictable and simple.

W.R. Berkley  the other Fortune 500 insurer headquartered in the state, ranking No. 372 last year  last week reported its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings. It recorded profit of about $1 billion for 2021, nearly double the bottom line of 2020.

In a news release, the company described the past quarter as outstanding, citing more than 26 percent growth in net premiums written and an approximately 19 percent annualized return on equity.

Berkley is one of the largest writers of commercial lines of insurance in the U.S.

Messages left this week for Cigna and W.R. Berkley inquiring about their number of Connecticut-based employees and hiring plans were not returned. Cigna had about 4,500 employees in metro Hartford before the pandemic.

Other industry powerhouses headquartered in the state include Hartford-based health insurer Aetna, which was acquired for about $70 billion by CVS Health in 2018. CVS Health is scheduled to report its quarterly and annual earnings on Wednesday.

Aetna has more than 5,400 Hartford-based based employees and about 50 job openings in Hartford, according to data shared this week by the company.

Looking for more jobs growth

The finance and real estate sector includes employment at banks, which have continued to see consolidation.

On the insurance side, instead of relying on the likes of The Hartford, Cigna and W.R. Berkley to hire in large numbers, Wood, the legislator, said the state might be better served trying to recruit more insurers. In this years session, she wants to advance legislation similar to a bill last year that was considered, but not passed, that would provide incentives such as tax amnesty for captive-insurance firms to base their operations in Connecticut.

Captive-insurance companies are wholly owned subsidiaries that provide coverage for their parent organizations own risks.

They are eager to make Connecticut their home as we continue to be the insurance capital of the world, Wood said. We have a uniquely specialized labor force  actuaries, forensic attorneys, analysts  that can help the captive-insurance industry grow and be successful. I am hopeful that we pass this bill in the 2022 session.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
BANGKOK, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday that it has approved the use of China's Sinovac and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines for people 6 years of age and older.

Previously, the FDA only permitted the two vaccines to be used on people aged 18 and above.

The FDA announcement came as the Southeast Asian country has been accelerating vaccine roll-out to step up protection against COVID-19.

On Friday, the country reported 9,909 new confirmed cases during the last 24 hours, the highest daily case tally in more than three months, raising the total number of infections to over 2.47 million, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

As of Thursday, 70.1 percent of the country's nearly 70-million population had been fully vaccinated, while 21.4 percent had received booster shots, according to the CCSA.

In December 2021, Thailand's FDA gave the green light to allow children aged 5 to 11 to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. 
Mq8 Vb$p eqk Xqgwmkt8 x8j

No, its not Wordle, 2.0. Thats what the last sentence would read like if I touch-typed using a Blickensderfer typewriter with its scientific keyboard, which scorned the QWERTY model in favor of DHIATENSOR. (You speak QWERTY even if you dont know it. Just look at your phone keyboard.)

My typing would probably be even more incomprehensible if I were using a typewriter made before the Blick was invented in Stamford 130 years ago, as it was among the first to let typists see their writing while they worked.

Those are just two of George Canfield Blickensderfers innovations. He was a pioneer of the electric typewriter and invented the first portable (the five-pound private secretary).

In Connecticuts history, the Blick has been something of an asterisk (a symbol thats not even on some models). The recent (successful) efforts by preservationists to spare the Blick factory in Stamford from the wrecking ball has given the company more attention than its gotten since it manufactured the best-selling typewriter in the world more than a century ago.

Developer Building & Land Technology, with a promise of $1 million in state funds to perform environmental remediation at the site, is planning to transform the old factory at 650 Atlantic St. into mixed-used housing, transit-oriented development ... (and) a focus on multi-family housing.

A nod to history would add (what else?) character, even if its just unit numbers cast in Blick fonts. Its a past worth striving to emulate, an era when innovation fueled the states economy.

The Blick also has a pretty quirky (if not QWERTY) back story, one worth revisiting during International Typewriter Appreciation Month.

The true location of the Blicks creation is long gone. Blickensderfer molded his creation in a workshop at the rear of his home on Bedford Street, a stately stone edifice with a circular turret for an entrance, across from First Congregational Church.

The Stamford Advocate appears to have been scooped on history-in-the-making by the Norwalk Gazette, which reported in 1889 that Blickensderfer was in Washington, D.C., to secure a patent for his typewriter. Two years later, the Advocate devoted a Page 6 story to how he was moving his offices from Broadway to Stamford (to avoid the commute), and taking over a factory abandoned by the Eagle Bicycle Manufacturing Company.

His dream as a 10-year-old was to invent a flying machine. As an adult, he got his head out of the clouds and focused instead on streamlining the typewriter, which was only a couple decades old. They were too big, too bulky. He wanted to boil it down to its essentials so the owner could put it in his overcoat pocket as though it was a fountain pen. (People may have been smaller then, but pockets were bigger.)

Here then in embryo is an industry, purely a Stamford industry, which is likely to advance to the front of the important ones, the unnamed Advocate reporter concluded of Blickensderfers aspirations.

Blickensderfer built his Atlantic Street factory in 1896 and continued to introduce innovations that forced others to follow.

He was a man of numbers as well as letters, developing his DHIATENSOR keyboard around his determination that 85 percent of words contained these letters.

Using a cylindrical typewheel rather than the traditional type bars not only prevented jamming, but allowed replacements that changed fonts and type styles. Blickensderfer adapted it to Arabic and Hebrew characters with carriages that moved from left to right and invented a keyboard for composers to type musical notes.

At a time when people wrote letters as often as they attend Zoom meetings today, typewriters were a luxury until the Blick came along. Selling them for $40 forced competitors to reduce $100 price tags.

Old typewriters are symbols of a black-and-white past, but Blickensderfer put the ink in the roller instead of ribbons, allowing the use of different colors.

A ruling device could form vertical, horizontal or oblique lines.

His electric typewriter was the hit of the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair, as it enabled the operator to use all fingers and get what is called the piano touch. His design influenced the IBM Selectric that transformed the industry in the 1960s.

During their peak in the first decade of the last century, Blicks were stolen from Connecticut homes about as frequently as todays unlocked cars in New Canaan. In 1907, he presented a typewriter to the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association for use in political equality work.

Connecticut became something of a typewriter capital. By 1913 seven companies employing one-third of the nations typewriter workers were in what should have been known as the Typewriter State.

The companys success was largely due the overseas market, which also led to its undoing. World War I reduced the companys foreign contracts. Blickensderfer signed a contract with Remington to produce tools. He enhanced a belt loading device to load cartridges into machine guns and invented a tripod to hoist guns.

The death of his wife, Nellie, in 1915 was front page news, which revealed that their only child, Elsie, had died 18 years earlier at 15. He remarried a year later, but died the following summer, mourned as an impetuous genius.

The Atlantic Street factory closed for the day as employees attended his funeral, covering his casket in roses. He remains were placed in the family mausoleum at Woodland Cemetery, a half mile walk from the factory. His invention might as well have been buried with him.

The company went through several new owners, but didnt survive the Jazz Age.

Evidently the old Blick has gone into the discard, the Advocate wrote to mark the occasion of the L.R. Roberts Typewriter Company buying it in 1921. It seems to have had its day.

A century later, the building and its history should remain on display in the citys booming South End. After all, its greatest legacy may be this: It put words in full view.

Or, as a touch typist might mangle it on a Blick: Vb jvb xqgwp ve fgmm avkx.

John Breunig is editorial page editor of the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time. jbreunig@scni.com; twitter.com/johnbreunig.
FAIRFIELD  A woman and her dogs are safe after she fell through the ice on Perrys Mill Pond Friday afternoon.

Fire officials said the woman was out of the water by the time firefighters arrived at the scene, but one of her dogs needed to be rescued from the ice. The other dog was found on shore.

Authorities were alerted to the incident around 1:37 p.m. when a Sturges Road resident reported a woman had fallen through the ice, the Fairfield Fire Department said in a statement.

Firefighters were sent to the scene. While en route, dispatchers notified them the woman had been successfully removed from the water but her dogs were still out on the ice, the statement said.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and tended to the woman before transporting her to the hospital for evaluation, fire officials said.

The dog on the ice was rescued by firefighters, while the other was found on shore a short distance away, fire officials said. Both dogs were turned over to animal control until they could be returned to their owner.

The fire department reminded people to use caution around ice, and to call 911 immediately if a pet wanders on to the ice before attempting to rescue them and placing yourself in danger.

In only a few short minutes the cold winter waters could cause hypothermia to set in and place your life at risk, the statement said.
Funeral services for Hilda Jacqueline Smith, 91, of Cullman will be 2 p.m. Friday, April 29, 2022 at the Cullman Funeral Home Chapel. The family will receive friends from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. prior to service. The interment will be in the Cullman City Cemetery. Reverend Randy Phillips & Rev
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese film "Shadow" was screened for the public on Thursday evening in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad amid strict measures against COVID-19.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan jointly hosted the film screening at a cinema in downtown Islamabad, which was attended by dozens of people from different walks of life.

Pakistani Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib inaugurated the event, saying he hopes that such exchanges would help the peoples of the two countries understand each other's cultures.

Assistant Director at the External Publicity Wing of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Sana Saif told Xinhua that the film is being screened as a goodwill gesture on the occasion of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to China.

The film "Shadow," directed by Zhang Yimou, is a martial arts film set in China during the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280) that tells the story of a "shadow" man -- a body double for royals and aristocrats. The film made its world premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival in 2018.

In 2020, a Pakistani military action-romance film "Parwaaz Hai Junoon" (Soaring Is Passion) hit Chinese cinemas, getting attention and praise from many Chinese viewers. 
JAKARTA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian resort island of Bali on Friday officially reopened international direct flights carrying foreign tourists from all countries for the first time after two years, but mandatory quarantine is still required.

The overseas travelers are required to show COVID-19 vaccination certificates taken at least 14 days before departure and show negative results of RT-PCR tests from their countries of origin at a maximum of 48 hours before departure.

The quarantine period is five days for fully vaccinated travelers and seven days for travelers who have received only the first dose. It should take place in a hotel or on a liveaboard certified by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Bali has actually opened to foreign visitors from China, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates since mid-October 2021, but there have been no direct flights since then.

Indonesia recorded a drastic slump in the number of foreign visitors up to 1.6 million people last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the pandemic struck, Bali alone could welcome 6.2 million foreign visitors a year on average, according to data from Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Famous for its beaches, surfing, temples and nightlife, the resort island usually accounts for 54 percent of Indonesia's economy for the tourism sector.

The Southeast Asian country expected the reopening of flights to the world-renowned holiday island to help bounce back the country's tourism sector after it was hit hard by the pandemic.

"I hope the reopening can help revive the people's economy on the island," Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a written statement on Friday.

Bali's reopening came amid a steady increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.

As of Friday, Indonesia confirmed 32,211 new COVID-19 infections, raising its tally of infections to 4,446,694, while the total number of confirmed Omicron cases in the archipelagic country has increased to 3,161, according to data from the country's Health Ministry.

"All steps we've taken have undergone calculation and careful considerations. But remember that all travelers must strictly comply with the health protocols regulated by the Indonesian COVID-19 Task Force. All of this will be meaningless if we are not disciplined," Pandjaitan said. 
Corinth, MS (38834)

Today

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 86F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Carolyn Caudill Tipton, age 83, of Corbin, KY, passed away on Saturday April 30, 2022, in Corbin She was born in Ashland, KY, a daughter of the late Rexford & Mollie DeBord Caudill. Carolyn was a retired nursing home LPN. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her child
For 70 years, the Queen has served the nation with unparalleled duty and dignity.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken of the stability she has brought us in good times and bad, uniting our diverse country in a way that no one else comes close to matching.

After seven tumultuous decades caring about her subjects, however, this a decisive moment.

Her Majesty has marked the anniversary of her accession to the throne by looking not just to the present but also to the future  of both the Monarchy and the nation.

As the Queen made clear in yesterdays address, when Charles eventually takes the throne as King, the wife at his side will be styled as Queen Camilla.

This is only right, for practical and for personal reasons.

Her Majesty has marked the anniversary of her accession to the throne by looking not just to the present but also to the future  of both the Monarchy and the nation.

There can be no doubt that Camilla has been an exemplary wife and a model member of the Royal Family since her marriage to Charles in 2005.

A lesser woman might have been vindictive, perhaps even vengeful towards those who had criticised her in the past. Camilla has not stooped to that.

Whether this is down to forbearance or a streak of relaxation in her character, or both, it is thoroughly commendable.

Camilla has been an admirable support for Charles, jumping in from time to time in to alleviate what could have been difficult situations  when, for example, the Prince of Wales has shown moments of petulance.

On one occasion, the Prince looked irritated by someone who shook his hand. Hers shot out. How very nice to see you again, she said, diffusing the moment. Camilla had never met this person before.

The Duchess of Cornwall has impeccable manners. She is popular with guests and with the journalists who follow the Royal couple, cultivating an air of informality that does not descend to intimacy.

Ultimately the best description of her is this: she is a good sport.

There can be no doubt that Camilla has been an exemplary wife and a model member of the Royal Family since her marriage to Charles in 2005 HUGO VICKERS writes

The Queen knows only too well the importance of unwavering support from those around her. She had it in Philip and watched her mother work alongside her father when he found himself unexpectedly upon the throne

The Queen, then, is making it as clear as she can that she recognises the vital part that Camilla has been playing, and will eventually play as Charless consort.

Camilla has not always been so well regarded, of course. Many  especially Diana devotees  disapproved both of her and of the marriage, a hostility that could have proved toxic at the start of a new reign.

Transforming the way she was understood from hated mistress to supportive wife has been important, not just for Camilla and Charles, but for the Monarchy.

Styling her as Duchess of Cornwall when they married was first a careful step along the way  a sop to those who disapproved and a necessary one.

Since then, the Duchess has not put one foot wrong. Working discreetly but effectively, she has both supported and protected her husband and his work.

It was at New Year that the Queen finally made her feelings known, appointing Camilla to the Order of the Garter.

This was the highest accolade she could give her and evidence  if evidence were needed  of Her Majestys complete support.

Making it clear that Camilla should be Queen is not just a wise and generous decision, it is a masterstroke, and typical of a thoughtful Sovereign

Making it clear that Camilla should be Queen is not just a wise and generous decision, it is a masterstroke, and typical of a thoughtful Sovereign.

The timing has great symbolism. This is an important moment for the Monarchy, one that says as much about the character of Her Majesty as it does about her daughter-in-law.

It is a strength that was evident from her earliest days. Great men of the age had watched the Queen growing up and approved.

In 1928, when she was two, Winston Churchill wrote that Princess Elizabeth... has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant. Interviewed on a transatlantic crossing in 1936, George Bernard Shaw said that he hoped nothing would stop her one day becoming our Queen. It has been our good fortune that nothing did.

The Queen possesses the humility to accept that she has her role in life entirely through accident of birth. Her philosophy, I believe, is that she has always wanted to be a good daughter to her father so that, should they meet again in the afterlife, she could look him squarely in the eye.

He, in turn, would recognise that his daughter had fulfilled her mission to the letter. Her approach is simple and wise: do your best every day and say your prayers at night.

With such a clear vision of her role, our longest-serving Monarch should perhaps be known as Elizabeth the Steadfast.

Or Elizabeth the Conciliator.

It was at New Year that the Queen finally made her feelings known, appointing Camilla to the Order of the Garter.

With Prince Philip, she has shown herself determined to work for peaceful relations between the nations  including former antagonists such as Germany, Japan and Ireland  and put the more destructive elements of history behind us.

Now she is putting her diplomatic skills to impressive use with her own family and its future.

Aware that her reign cannot last forever, she is determinedly making matters easier for her successor, The Prince of Wales, when he succeeds her.

Take, for example, the question of the Commonwealth. It was never certain that Charles would be its head, but after a series of subtle negotiations, the Queen asked the Commonwealth leaders to confirm him in that role.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London in 2018, they did just that.

Now she has taken responsibility for a decision that some will continue to dispute  bitterly, in the case of a few.

In so doing, she makes Prince Charless eventual transition to Monarch considerably easier.

This 70th anniversary  the Platinum Jubilee  is well timed.

The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago

We have been through the divisions of Brexit, followed by the fear and terrible uncertainty of the pandemic. Many have lost businesses, millions face economic hardship. Others have suffered mental anguish from long months of isolation. So the time is right for us to emerge and celebrate. And reflect.

On this day 70 years ago, a young woman who had gone up a treehouse in Kenya as a Princess came down a Queen.

Thousands of miles away, in his address to the House of Commons, the veteran Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, described our new Monarch as a fair and youthful figure who comes to the throne at a time when a tormented mankind stands uncertainly poised between world catastrophe and a golden age.

Clement Attlee, then leader of the Labour opposition, replied: It is our hope that Her Majesty may live long and happily... [that] we are witnessing the beginning of a new Elizabethan Age no less renowned than the first.

In so many ways, those hopes have been fulfilled.

And even now she is doing her duty  playing the fullest part she can in order to secure a calm and happy reign for those who follow.

Hugo Vickers is chairman of the Commonwealth Walkway Trust, which is creating a special Platinum Jubilee Walkway in Birmingham.
Few people have been given such untrammelled access to the Queen as the painter Michael Noakes and his writer wife Vivien, who spent a year recording every aspect of her life. Throughout 1999, they were given permission to record her public appearances and her hitherto unknown behind-the-scenes work, and the result was a book filled with wonderfully human depictions of Her Majesty in both words and pictures.

From private moments such as a meeting with her dog trainer at the Sandringham kennels to public outings at the Chelsea Flower Show and London Zoo and personal triumphs such as her horse Blueprint winning at Ascot (and netting 35,520 for the Royal Stud), the pictures provide an extraordinary glimpse into the life of the sovereign.

Although Michael and Vivien have sadly both passed away, their book The Daily Life Of The Queen: An Artist's Diary remains a unique and glorious record of an indisputably hard-working monarch...

Painter Michael Noakes and his writer wife Vivien provided a glimpse into the Queens life in their book The Daily Life Of The Queen: An Artist's Diary

THE DOGS KNOW SHE'S COMING HALF A MILE AWAY Driving herself in a Land Rover, the Queen arrives at the Sandringham kennels in wet and muddy waterproofs after a day's shooting on 29 January. She has three working cocker spaniels  Oxo, Bisto and Flash  and two puppies, Spick and Span. Bill Meldrum, who has run the kennels since 1964, reveals that as the Queen's car approaches the gate at Sandringham  half a mile from the kennels  the dogs begin to bark. 'We don't know how they can tell. They don't do it with anyone else,' he says

THE PIPER, THE PAPERS AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE DAY The Queen gets up about 8 o'clock and over breakfast looks through the newspapers, reads her personal letters and checks the Royal Menu book. At 9 o'clock, the piper plays outside her window. She then selects 20 or 30 of the 300 or so general letters she receives each day so that she can read a random selection. She will then see one, then a second of her private secretaries to go through the day's appointments and discuss arrangements for forthcoming engagements. Here, on 9 February, she is with her new private secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin

QUEENMANIA IN SOUTH KOREA The Queen was given a rock star welcome on her first state visit of the year to South Korea on 20 April, where she visits the Daewoo car factory, animation studios and a women's university, watched by crowds hanging from windows accompanied by Korean flags, Union Jacks, paper lanterns and booming music. Here she has popped into the tiny shop owned by Mr Lee Si-Kyu, filled with rolls of paper and brush heads of every size, to see him create Korean calligraphy

AN AWAYDAY TO THE DREAMING SPIRES University College, endowed in 1249, was the first college to be founded at Oxford, the oldest English-speaking university in the world. In her role as Visitor, the Queen is consulted on statutes and higher appointments. On 21 May, Her Majesty and Prince Philip, an Honorary Fellow, visited the city on one of her 16 or so 'awaydays' a year to attend a service of thanksgiving, marking the 750th anniversary of the college. They were met by the Master of University College, Lord Butler of Brockwell

TRAFFIC TROUBLE On 24 May, the Queen visits the Chelsea Flower Show at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, west London, as Patron of the Royal Horticultural Society. However, when the motorcycle outriders escorting minibuses, which were bringing minor members of the Royal Family and their friends to Chelsea, halted traffic during the evening rush hour, the Queen, who insists on minimum disruption to traffic as she moves around, was reported to be very angry

ANIMAL MAGIC AT LONDON ZOO The Queen looks delighted as members of the Children's Committee greet her carrying huge stick insects and giant African land snails on 3 June. As Patron of the Zoological Society of London, she is here with Prince Philip to open the new Millennium Conservation Centre and tour the Web Of Life exhibition

IT'S A WINNER AT ROYAL ASCOT! Ascot Racecourse was built on part of the Windsor estate by Queen Anne in 1711. The present Queen, of course, is renowned for her love of racing, and each day in the four-day Royal Ascot meeting she and her guests drive down the course in open carriages. On 15 June her horse Blueprint, the favourite at 4-1, fittingly wins the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes, her first Ascot triumph since 1995. Beaming happily, she goes to the Winners' Enclosure to congratulate the horse and jockey

POMP AND CEREMONY IN SCOTLAN The Most Ancient And Most Noble Order Of The Thistle is Scotland's highest honour, the Scottish equivalent of the Order Of The Garter. On 8 July, Her Majesty and Prince Philip attend a service at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh to install a new Knight, the Lord Mackay of Clashfern, and here the Queen is processing into the church accompanied by her page

WHAT A WONDERFUL WALKABOUT! Six towns make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent, collectively known as the Potteries and for centuries the heart of English ceramics manufacture. On a visit to the city on 28 October, the Queen walked through the centre of one of those towns, Hanley, where she was greeted by crowds of joyous well-wishers

CURTAIN UP ON A NIGHT OUT Another awayday on 22 July, this time to Liverpool, to celebrate urban regeneration and literacy initiatives. Her final visit of the day is to mark a different kind of regeneration though. The Gala Charity Performance of The Phantom Of The Opera at the Empire Theatre, in aid of children's and cancer charities, marks the reopening of the theatre at the end of the first stage of a 10.5 million refurbishment

WELL DONE, SON! Set up in 1976 by the Prince of Wales to harness the energy among the disadvantaged young, the Prince's Trust is one of the largest charitable networks in Britain. On 1 November the Queen has come to see something of its work at a training project in Hammersmith, west London. Arriving in a Jaguar instead of a Rolls-Royce because she is a guest of her son rather than the organisation, she meets trainee bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers and electricians as Prince Charles shows her round
Woburn, MA (01801)

Today

Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 57F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Occasional rain. Low near 45F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
JAKARTA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Three critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs have been born in the Barumun Nagari Wildlife Sanctuary in Indonesia's North Sumatra province, the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) said on Friday.

The three tiger cubs were suckling on their mother when officials came to their enclosure, the agency's acting head Irzal Azhar said.

"The cubs appear in good health and still can't open their eyes," Azhar added.

The officials have not been able to identify the gender of the three young tigers as their enclosure is too large and covered by bushes. Even a surveillance camera located there cannot monitor the carnivores well.

Their parents are female Gadis and male Monang that were evacuated to the Barumun Nagari Wildlife Sanctuary after being caught in snares in conflict with humans.

Gadis was saved from Mandailing Natal district in 2016 with a snare that caused the amputation of her right front paw, while Monang was moved from a plantation in Simalungun district in 2017.

On Dec. 8, 2018, Gadis gave birth to two tiger cubs, a female and a male, named Citra Kartini and Surya Manggala that are now being prepared to be released into the wild.

Currently, Monang is kept in a separate cage for the safety of Gadis and their five children. 
Michael Deaver President Ronald Reagans deputy chief of staff, 1980s

The Queen had a wonderful time in California. When the gangplanks were up and the tiaras were off and the bar was open, I said to her, We have a free evening tomorrow and I have called Trader Vics and they will give us a special room, I thought it would be fun.

She said, Oh, a restaurant! Thats wonderful! She turned to the Duke of Edinburgh and he said, A restaurant? Surely you are kidding. She turned to me and said, Well talk about it tonight and Ill tell you.

And she came down later and said, Wed be delighted to go to a restaurant. When we got back the Queen said to me, Thank you Mr Deaver, it was the first time we have been in a restaurant in 17 years.

Weekend magazine rounded up fond memories of the Queen from people who've worked with her. Pictured: The Queen has Reagan in stitches in 1983

Alexander Armstrong actor

I addressed the Sandringham branch of the Womens Institute on a cold Thursday in January in 2019 and there were about 35 women in this tiny little village hall in Norfolk. And it just happened that one of those women was the most famous woman on the planet. I hosted a game of Pointless and she has some deft Pointless skills. We had tea. I sang by the piano. In that context it was all the weirder and all the more exciting. She was extraordinary. Dazzling.

Raymond Seitz United States ambassador to the UK, 1980s

The president [George Bush Snr] is a very tall man. When he stepped back from the podium and the Queen stepped up, someone should have adjusted it. The photograph the next day in the Washington Post showed the podium, the Queens eyes and her hat! The next day the Queen addressed the joint session of Congress, and she began with the line, I hope you can all see me. It brought the house down.

Sir Michael Oswald manager of the royal stud, 1970-98

I had some printed paper made up especially for writing to the Queen. I got answers back on some very inexpensive paper torn off a pad, the cheapest sort of paper you could get, and I soon got the message. She deplores any form of extravagance and left to her own devices would live a far simpler life, eating plain food and wandering about with horses and dogs in the countryside. I believe its that theres a certain amount of Scots blood in her.

Clare Balding television presenter

Theres a very innocent, childlike joy at winning a rosette or a Tesco voucher for 50  which happened at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2016  and honestly, you would have thought that the Queen had won the lottery. It was brilliant.

Ivan Head special assistant to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada, 1970s

We were at Windsor and we went into a tiny room for lunch. As we went in the Queen said to me, Mr Head, you sit there and be Daddy, Ill sit here and be Mummy.

Clare Balding says you would have thought the Queen had won the lottery by her chuffed reaction to a small win at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2016. Pictured: The Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2004

Michael Noakes artist

The Queen talks non-stop through sittings. At one session, to get the right height relationship, I had her stood on a trolley which meant she could see outside. She kept up a running commentary. And then a taxi got hit by a car, and they didnt know that the Queen was saying, Oh, hes got out now. Theres going to be a fight I think...

Sir Oliver Wright British ambassador to West Germany and the US, 1970s-80s

She has the most girlish giggle you can think of, and it is so beautiful when her face lights up in a smile. In private she is a very normal person. But just as soldiers put on uniforms for their duties, so she has to be regal when she performs hers.

Admiral Sir Henry Leach chief naval aide and aide de camp to the Queen

I had been at great pains to find out from the Master of the Household what the Queen would drink before going into dinner, and I was told she would have a dry martini. To be quite sure I said, What do you mean? and he said, Gin and French vermouth, shaken up properly in a shaker, with crushed ice. And no ice in the glass.

When she came into the cabin I said, Would you care for a drink, Maam and she took one look and said, What on earth is that? I said, Its a dry martini, Maam, which I understood to be your preference and she said, It doesnt look like it to me.

She reached out her hand as if she was about to fondle a snake, picked it up, wrinkled her nose and took a tiny sip. And then a look of immense delight came over her face.

Joe Haines press secretary to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, 1969-70

There were one or two occasions when Harold Wilson came back from the Palace on a Tuesday night that I thought he had had a whisky or two too many with her. She liked to drink, and she liked to gossip. They were both gossips.

Margaret Rhodes the Queens cousin

I believe she hoped she might have a brother and be let off the hook, but deep down she knew that wasnt very likely. She accepted that she would be Queen one day, but thought it was a long way off. Sadly it came to her much sooner than she expected.

One is amused... and amusing too! Lord Healey Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1970s Jim Callaghan was very good at joking with her, even making slightly naughty jokes. She didnt mind that at all. Nelson Mandela I was very impressed by her sense of humour. I once said to her, You have got a very powerful competitor, a person of whom you must be careful Your Majesty, and that is Princess Anne. And she said, As a matter of fact, she might eventually win. Nelson Mandela (pictured, with the Queen) was impressed by the monarch's sense of humour The Rev Ian Paisley leader of the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party, 1971-2008 The Queen is a great mimicker of me when she has her friends around. I suppose thats a form of flattery. The rev Michael Mann Dean of Windsor and domestic chaplain to the Queen, 1970s-80s The Queen imitating Concorde is one of the funniest things you could see. Lord Glentoran Conservative member of the House of Lords, 1995-2018 I was invited to lunch at Buckingham Palace and this renowned sculptor said to her, Maam, I wondered if you watch Spitting Image? And she said, What did you say? And he said, I wondered if you saw the occasion where you said, Now Mr Major, what do you do? He was very brave. I thought she was going to fall down. But she said, I thought it was the funniest thing! Lord Glentoran recounts asking the Queen if she watches Spitting Image (pictured) Advertisement

Nelson Mandela

At one function Margaret Thatcher and the Queen had similar dresses. Mrs Thatcher said, Im sorry about this, next time we must speak to each other to see what we are going to wear. And Her Majesty says, Her Majesty never notices what another person is wearing. I thought that was beautiful.

Raymond Seitz

I happened to be sitting next to the Queen at a dinner the day before she opened her website, and she was very tickled by this. She thought it was the equivalent maybe of when her grandmother had first driven a car, a little wild, a little racy, a little unmonarchical, but sort of fun.

Sir Michael Palin actor and TV presenter

We were talking about diaries after Id mentioned that I kept a nightly journal of where Id been and the people I encountered, she said she did too, the difference being that while mine may have been for publication hers were definitely not. She commented that she found it quite difficult because it always made her a bit woozy and said, I usually manage to write for about 15 minutes before my head goes bump, and then she did an imitation of her head hitting the table, as if shed fallen asleep.

Sir Rex Hunt governor of the Falkland Islands, 1980s

We had a very nice audience with the Queen when I was thrown out of the Falklands in 1982 after the Argentine invasion. My wife and I were invited to go and see her at Windsor. She was like any other mother worried about the role her son was going to play [Andrew was a Royal Navy helicopter pilot in the Falklands War].

Her question to me was, Do you think hell be warm enough?, referring to the clothes issued by the Navy. I spoke to her just as I would to any other anxious mother whose son was going off to war. I forgot entirely that she was my queen and I found myself reassuring her as much as I could.

Margaret Rhodes

In childhood, the only time I can recall Princess Elizabeth pulling rank was when we squabbled over the ownership of a wooden seat outside the front door of Birkhall. Territorially she claimed it, declaring, Im the biggest  P for Princess.

Lord Healey Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1970s

Its a difficult thing seeing the monarch. I think the only time I felt quite natural was once when I was meeting the Queen about the Budget and Princess Anne  who looked just like my daughter at the time  came in and said she wanted to go up to Sandringham. The Queen said, Well darling, do be careful how you drive. Exactly like my wife and daughter.

John Grigg politician, formerly Lord Altrincham

She is very easy and fun. When she does walkabouts shes really good. But compared to Prince Charles and her mother, shes not good at responding dramatically to the crowds. People now accept her rather reticent style. They realise its how she chooses to bear herself in public. She isnt an actress and she cant get into the actress business.

Zara Tindall

Zara says she has fun talking about racing and watching runners on the telly with her grandmother (pictured)

I love to talk about racing with my grandmother. Whenever Im with her and my great-grandmother [the late Queen Mother] and theyve both got a runner, we sit down to watch them on telly and egg them on. Everyone has fun with their grannies dont they  and my granny is great fun too.

Princess Eugenie

Granny would take us raspberry picking and wed have the raspberry jam that wed picked that day on the table for tea.

Princess Eugenie remembers her grandmother taking her raspberry picking and having the fruits on the table for tea. Pictured: Eugenie, with older sister Bea

Michael Deaver

We were at Windsor with our backs to the castle and I was saying, Now the president will arrive here, and he will walk up here and the Queen will be standing over there... And I heard this voice behind me saying, No, I dont think so. I turned around and it was Queen Elizabeth, and she said, I think Ill be standing here...

Prince William

Id definitely argue with the sanity of the corgis barking all the time. I dont know how she copes with it.

Lord Blunkett Home Secretary 2001-04

Both of us having dogs, mine being my seeing eye dog, Her Majesty and I had something in common and we used to talk about ours. During Vladimir Putins state visit to the UK, my dog barked at the Russian visitor and Her Majesty patted him, as if to say, Good dog! Good dog!

Partly extracted from Queen Elizabeth II: The Oral History by Deborah Hart Strober and Gerald Strober (September Publishing).
Weekend magazine shares the stories behind a selection of photos of the Queen with animals as tribute to the British monarch's 70 years on the throne

1937: When she was four years old, Elizabeths grandfather King George V gave her a little Shetland pony called Peggy, and she fell in love with riding. This photograph was taken a few years later when a lady-in-waiting took Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister Princess Margaret on a visit to Pets Corner at London Zoo

1943: The Queen takes her feathered (as well as four-legged) racing seriously and is a frequent visitor to the pigeon lofts at Sandringham. This wartime photo shows her as a Girl Guide, with Princess Margaret, preparing to release a pigeon with a message for World Chief Guide Lady Olave Baden-Powell

1957: Carrozza was Her Majestys first British Classic winner, when the filly won the Oaks at Epsom. The win helped the Queen to become champion owner in the 1957 flat season. She had her most successful racing year last year, with 33 winners, but a triumph in the Epsom Derby eludes her  though there is a chance she can achieve that this year on Platinum Jubilee weekend

1970: Her Majestys love affair with corgis began when her father, the Duke of York, brought home one called Dookie in 1933. On her 18th birthday she was given a puppy called Susan, and for the next decade they were inseparable  Susan even joined her on her honeymoon. She has owned more than 30 corgis and currently has two corgis and a dorgi, a cross between a corgi and a dachshund. And until recently she has always fed and walked them herself

1977: The Queen also breeds working Labradors. When she visits them (pictured at Balmoral) she likes to help train the dogs, which are used to fetch the birds brought down during shooting parties. In the 1970s the Queen impressed Bill Meldrum, former head-keeper at Sandringham, with her whistled commands to her dog Sherry, and when the dog returned carrying a bird from several hundred yards away, some 40 people applauded her. If Id known they were watching, I wouldnt have attempted it, she said later

1989: When the Queen meets farmers, she takes great pleasure in engaging with their animals too. This little squealer seemed just as interested in meeting her when they came face to face at The Festival of Food and Farming in Hyde Park. An interest in pigs has passed on to her daughter  Princess Anne is currently patron of the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders Club

2017: One of the Queen and Prince Philips final joint engagements was at the opening of the Centre for Elephant Care at Whipsnade, home to a herd of endangered Asian elephants, including a baby given the name Elizabeth to celebrate Her Majestys 90th birthday in 2016. Philip had a lifelong interest in endangered species, and the royal couple clearly took great delight taking turns in feeding bananas to an elephant called Donna
Build-a-Bear has launched a new series of sexy plush toys that are meant for adults only.

Ahead of Valentine's Day, the customizable children's teddy bear company has debuted Build-A-Bear After Dark  a section of the website that requires users to be 18 and older to enter.

Build-A-Bear After Dark appears to include two 'naughty' teddy bears wearing satin boxers, which the brand has styled into seductive scenes with champagne and roaring fires.

Build-a-Bear has launched a new series of sexy plush toys that are meant for adults only

The company has debuted Build-A-Bear After Dark, which includes some romance-themed teddy bears - some of which have been styled into seductive scenes

Customers must confirm that they are 18+ to shop on part of the site

Build-a-Bear requires shoppers to confirm that they are at least 18 to shop from 'The Bear Cave,' which includes several character costumes and some items with adult themes.

But the new 'After Dark' series really leans into sexuality.

'Wink, wink  our Giftshop is full of gifts for adults too! Shop Build-A-Bear After Dark for unique gift ideas that are sure to get you hugged,' the brand wrote on Facebook.

The post included a photo of a lion toy dressed in heart-print satin pajamas and a red satin robe. The lion is in a come-hither leaning position on a white bear skin rug, with a fireplace visible in the background.

Next to the toy is a single rose and two flutes of champagne.

The Build-a-Bear site also offers a Devilish Happy Hugs Teddy Valentine's Day Gift Set for $34.50, which includes a teddy bear, a devil costume, and a pair of heart-print satin boxers.

The $42.50 Happy Hugs Teddy Red Heart Gift Set comes with a teddy bear, a heart costume, a bouquet of roses, and heart-print satin boxers

The Devilish Happy Hugs Teddy Valentine's Day Gift Set is $34.50. It includes a teddy bear, a devil costume, and a pair of heart-print satin boxers

The $39 Lovable Lion I Love You Gift Set comes with a bottle of champagne and a full glass. It also wears the silk boxers

In a promotional photo, the devilish teddy also has a glass of champagne.

Just as PG-13 is the $42.50 Happy Hugs Teddy Red Heart Gift Set, which comes with a teddy bear, a heart costume, a bouquet of roses, and those same heart-print satin boxers.

News of the naughty bears has been spreading on social media, thanks in part to a TikTok video from user @stuartlittlefan666.

'I'm losing my mind right now over this new section on BuildABear.com,' she said. 'This is a totally real thing. Someone posted it on Instagram and I thought it was fake.

'It just feels a bit jarring for Build-a-Bear from what I remember from my childhood,' she said.

On Twitter, commenters have been equally surprised, with one insisting: 'Weve been quarantined too long.'

Some of the other 'adult' offerings are less sexualized and more alcoholic. The $49 Barkleigh Wine O'Clock Gift Set comes with a bottle of 'Cabearnet,' a glass of wine, and a T-shirt that reads, 'It's wine o'clock somewhere'

Two different Pawlette Bring on the Bubbly Gift Sets include 'Bring on the bubbly' T-shirts. One has a bottle of rose and a full glass

The other Pawlette Bring on the Bubbly Gift Set comes with champagne

'This completely changes how I look at the Build-a-Bear stuffing process,' said another.

'Not sure i want to walk into a store filled with kids and parents and ask for the horny bear,' said yet another.

Some of the other 'adult' offerings are less sexualized and more alcoholic.

The $49 Barkleigh Wine O'Clock Gift Set comes with a bottle of 'Cabearnet,' a glass of wine, and a T-shirt that reads, 'It's wine o'clock somewhere.'

The $39 Lovable Lion I Love You Gift Set comes with a bottle of champagne and a full glass. It also wears the silk boxers.

Two different Pawlette Bring on the Bubbly Gift Sets include 'Bring on the bubbly' T-shirts, while one has a bottle and glass of champagne and the other has a bottle and glass of rose.
Queen Mathilde of Belgium showcased a chic ensemble today as she attended Belgium National Day at the Dubai Expo 2020 with her husband King Philippe.

Mother-of-four Mathilde, 49, donned a cream midi dress with elegant sage detailing for today's visit, which took place on the last day of the couple's tour of the Sultanate of Oman and United Arab Emirates.

The royal accessorised her outfit perfectly, matching the detailing on her frock with a sage sunhat, belt, and shoes.

Meanwhile, King Philippe complemented his wife's look, opting for a dark tan suit to complement the earthy accent tones in her ensemble.

Queen Mathilde of Belgium and her husband King Philippe attended the Belgium National Day at the Dubai Expo 2020 as part of their tour of the Sultanate of Oman and United Arab Emirates

The royal wowed in an elegant ensemble, pairing her cream midi dress with sage accessories, including a sunhat and belt

The couple's outfits complemented each other, with the royal pair both decked out in subtle, earthy tones

Mathilde accompanied her outfit with simple jewellery, including drop pearl earrings. Her hair, which was pulled back, appeared to be tucked into a low chignon which fit neatly under her sunhat.

Her final elegant touch was a small green clutch, which she carried in her hand or tucked under her arm.

During their visit to the expo - a universal exhibition featuring 192 national pavilions, aiming to showcase cutting edge ideas in tech and sustainability - King Philippe delivered a speech to open the official ceremony.

His speech was followed by a folkloric show at Al Wasl Plaza, then afterwards, the Belgian monarchs visited the pavilions of Belgium, UAE, Japan and Singapore.

Mathilde appeared to be smiling underneath her mask, as she walked through the expo, where she was snapped chatting with other attendees

During the visit to Expo 2020, King Philippe gave a speech, which was followed by a folkloric show at Al Wasl Plaza

The royal pair were snapped engaging with a range of exhibitors at the expo, which has a focus on tech and sustainability

The couple was accompanied by Sophie Wilmes, Minister of Economy and Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Minister of Economy and Employment, and Tinne Van der Straeten, Minister of Energy.

Speaking about the visit, the Belgian royal office said: 'The Belgian pavilion is one of the main attractions of the expo.

'It is an example of inclusive, sustainable and circular architecture, including 2,500 local plants that store CO2 and lower indoor temperature.

Today's visit to the United Arab Emirates followed outings yesterday in the Sultanate of Oman, both part of a tour which has been arranged to review fields and aspects of common interest for the countries involved.
A teenager has revealed how her stepdad sexually abused her as a child - even forcing her to watch porn.

Nia Green, now 18, was preyed on by Michael Elve, 46, between the ages of six and 14. Elve would wait until Nia's mother, Emma, 40, was asleep before abusing Nia.

He was jailed in September 2021 for 11 years after being found guilty of 11 charges of abuse at Teesside Crown Court.

Now Nia has bravely waived her anonymity to help raise awareness of childhood sexual abuse.

The animal management college student, says: 'Michael was like a father figure to me, but he betrayed me in the worst way.

Nia Green, 18, has waived her right to anonymity because she wants to raise awareness around childhood sexual abuse in the hopes she can help others who are afraid to speak out

Michael Elve, 46 (pictured here with Nia) was jailed for 11 years last September, after Teesside Crown Court found him guilty of 11 charges of abuse

Nia described her stepdad Elve (pictured) as being 'like a father figure' to her, but says he 'betrayed her in the worst way'

'I want to help others who are experiencing abuse to find the courage to speak up. They are not alone.'

Growing up Nia doted on Elve, a former soldier.He came into her life when she was three after her mother and father divorced.

She says: 'During the school holidays, while my mum worked long hours as a waitress, Michael would take me and my older brother fishing. Soon, I called him "Dad".'

But, when Nia turned six, everything changed. One Saturday, Elve took her to McDonald's for lunch.

She says: 'As I tucked into my fries and nuggets in the car, Michael said he'd buy me an extra milkshake if I did him a favour later that day. I agreed and he bought me one.'

Back at home, while her mother and brother were out, Elve and Nia watched TV together. Suddenly, Elve sidled up to his stepdaughter.

Nia says: 'Michael asked me if I remembered the favour I'd promised earlier.

'I nodded. Moments later he started moving his hand up my thigh. Then he slid his hand into my knickers and starting rubbing my privates.

'I didn't understand what was happening. I thought it was normal behaviour for dads to do.'

Afterwards Elve made Nia promise not to tell anyone. Confused, she agreed. After that, whenever the two were alone, Elve would grope her. Nia dreaded the evenings.

Nia (pictured with Elve) said she used to dread the evenings, as her stepdad would abuse her after her mother went to bed

The teenager (pictured with her mother Emma, and Elve) said Elve would take her shopping to bribe her into silence, although she was too frightened to speak out

She says: 'Most nights, he'd wait until my mum had gone to bed and he'd pounce. Rubbing his hands under my knickers. I hated it.'

Time passed and when Nia reached 12, Elve made her watch a porn film.

She says: 'He ordered me to come and sit next to him. Reluctantly, I sat at the edge of the sofa. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pull something from behind his back.

'He told me it was a back massager. But I now know it was a vibrator. He said he'd give me a massage. I told him 'no' and started to cry.'

But Elve ignored her pleas and ordered her to undress, sexually abusing her with the vibrator.

Nia says: 'It was so painful, I wanted to cry. Michael said it was supposed to make me feel good. He was evil, I hated him.'

Often, after abusing Nia, Elve would take her shopping to buy her silence. He'd buy Nia new clothes or give her cash. By this point, she was scared to tell anyone about the abuse.

Elve pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty on 11 charges of sexual abuse and sentenced to 11 years in prison at Teesside Crown Court

Nia (pictured today) couldn't face Elve in court, so she stood behind a screen when giving evidence against him

In 2018 when Nia was 14, she wanted to fake tan, so Elve bought her some lotion. She says: 'Back at home, he asked if he could put it on me. Reluctantly I agreed, but insisted he only put it on my arms and legs.

'But after stripping down to my underwear, he made me get naked and sexually assaulted me while he applied it over my body. There was no escaping his grubby hands.'

Thankfully, the following year, when Nia was 15, her mum and Michael split up. Soon after, they moved out.

Nia says: 'I was relieved. I was finally free from Michael's abuse and tried to move forward with my life. But the memories kept surfacing and I couldn't face keeping it a secret anymore.'

The week before her 16th birthday, Nia decided to tell her mum.

She says: 'I couldn't bring myself to tell her to her face. Instead, I wrote her a letter. In it, I included everything he'd done throughout the years.

'I walked downstairs into the living room and handed the note to Mum. As she read it, her face dropped.

'She felt so guilty and wouldn't stop apologising. It wasn't her fault. Michael was the master of manipulation.'

Now Nia (pictured today) is speaking out to encourage other survivors of abuse to report their attackers too

The brave teenager says her stepfather stole her childhood, so now she wants to help encourage others who are being abused to tell someone they trust

The next day, with her mum's support, Nia reported Elve to the police. He was arrested, but denied the charges.

A month later, in November 2020, he pleaded not guilty at court and Nia was forced to give evidence.

She says: 'I couldn't face seeing him, so I stood behind a screen, recounting the horror he'd put me through for all those years.

'When it was his turn on the stand, he lied and said I'd made it all up. He disgusted me.'

In July 2021, Michael Elve, of Jedburgh Drive, Darlington, County Durham, was found guilty on 11 charges of sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison at Teesside Crown Court.

Nia says: 'It wasn't enough for him stealing my childhood. He put me through years of hell. No amount of jail time will make up for that. Please, if you're being abused, tell someone you trust.
When did the U.S. reach pandemic death milestones? 1st death - February 2020 1,000th death - March 2020 10,000th death - April 2020 100,000th death - May 2020 200,000th death - September 2020 300,000th death - December 2020 400,000th death - January 2021 500,000th death - February 2021 600,000th death - June 2021 700,000th death - October 2021 800,000th death - December 2021 900,000th death - February 2022 Source: BNO News Advertisement

The United States has reached another grim milestone in the Covid pandemic Friday, as BNO News reports that the country has officially reached 900,000 deaths from the virus since the pandemic first began in early 2020.

America is the world's first country to reach that marker, and its 76.1 million cases recorded is the most of any country as well.

The milestone comes as the end-of-pandemic light becomes visible at the end of the tunnel, though.

Covid cases in the U.S. are starting to rapidly fall as the nation nears the end of the Omicron variant-fueled surge that struck at the end of 2021.

Daily infections have dropped 40 percent over the past week, from 589,222 last week to 361,072 as of Friday morning.

Deaths from the virus seem to be flattening and reaching their peak as well, with 2,441 Americans dying from the virus daily, near-equal to the average from a week earlier.

With the way cases are currently trending, combined with the potential for Omicron to be the final phase of the pandemic according to some experts are hopeful total U.S. Covid deaths will remain below one million.

'We think that over the course of 2022, we will get to an endemic stage,' Dr Ezekiel Emanuel a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress told Meet the Press last month.

I think the base case is that this signals the end of the pandemic phase of this virus,' Dr Scott Gottlieb, former chief of the Food and Drug Administration and current board member at Pfizer, said as well.

A vast majority of the deaths that have occurred in the U.S. at any point during the pandemic were among unvaccinated people.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published this week finds that an unvaccinated person is 13 times more likely to die from the virus than a fully vaccinated person, and 97 times as likely to die as a person who has received their booster shot.

The U.S. has recorded 900,000 deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic began in spring on 2020. A large portion of those deaths occurred during a surge in late 2020 and early 2021

Data from the CDC shows that an unvaccinated person is 13 times more likely to die of Covid than a vaccinated person and 97 times more likely that someone who has received a booster shot. Pictured: A woman in West Roxbury, Massachusetts receives treatment in a hospital on January 11

An analysis by NBC News finds that the states the have suffered the highest mortality rates during Covid are also those with lower vaccination rates.

Tennessee has far and away suffered the worst death toll in America, with 73 of every 100,000 residents dying of Covid during the pandemic. The Volunteer state also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in America at only 53 percent.

Michigan (56 deaths per 100,000 residents), Indiana (54) and Ohio (52) are also among the leaders. Each also has a vaccination rate below the national average.

The states currently leading the U.S. in daily deaths are among the least vaccinated as well.

Mississippi has by far the highest Covid mortality rate in America, recording 1.9 deaths per every 100,000 residents every day. Nearby South Carolina comes in second, with 1.56 per every 100,000 residents dying daily.

The pair of southern states have fully vaccinated 50 and 55 percent of their populations respectively.

While case total reached astronomical heights this winter - peaking in mid-January at around 800,000 new cases per day, the deadliest surge of the pandemic was in early 2021.

A peak of over 4,000 deaths per day was reached in mid-January of last year, when Covid ripped through a largely unvaccinated American population.

More than 100,000 deaths occurred in that month alone, with it and the following February still being the deadliest of the pandemic.

The Omicron strain which accounts for nearly every single case in America right now is a relatively mild variant compared to its predecessors, and combined with a vaccinated and boosted population, the strain failed to make deaths peak far above 2,500 per day before flattening out at the start of February.
The actor and vaccine sceptic Laurence Fox announced on Twitter last Sunday that hed tested positive for Covid  or the Omnicold, as he called it.

The 43-year-old, now leader of the anti-woke Reclaim Party, who says he has not been jabbed, explained that he was treating himself with a regime that included painkillers, a nasal rinse and ivermectin  a prescription anti-parasitic drug.

Ivermectin has been touted as a miracle Covid cure that costs pennies  although its not approved for this use in the UK, America or in Europe, and major reviews of clinical data have concluded that, at present, theres not enough evidence to say whether theres any benefit. To those who dont believe the hype, its often simply dubbed a horse dewormer.

Ivermectin has been touted as a miracle Covid cure that costs pennies  although its not approved for this use in the UK, America or in Europe, and major reviews of clinical data have concluded that, at present, theres not enough evidence to say whether theres any benefit. To those who dont believe the hype, its often simply dubbed a horse dewormer

The actor and vaccine sceptic Laurence Fox announced on Twitter last Sunday that hed tested positive for Covid  or the Omnicold, as he scornfully called it

Social media erupted. Tweeters gleefully took the opportunity to remind Fox of recent provocative posts in which he claimed the virus is all in your mind, wore a T-shirt that read No vaccine needed. I have an immune system, and told a political journalist whod tested positive to have a Lemsip and grow a pair.

Hows that immune system working out for you now? read one, summing up the general gloating.

Ivermectin immediately began trending on social media, including a post from Dr Rachel Clarke, an NHS palliative care doctor and author, who told her 240,000 followers: I wish Laurence Fox a very speedy recovery, but its important to stress there is no clear evidence that ivermectin (a horse dewormer) reduces the risks of catching Covid, or its severity.

Speaking to The Mail on Sundays Medical Minefield podcast while isolating at home in London, Fox claimed he had simply wanted to get people talking about the drug. He said: Im no scientific genius, but I keep an open mind. There are lots of scientific studies going round that show ivermectin could have an effect if taken in the early stages, when youre at home, in stopping the virus replicating in the body and reducing the severity of illness.

But if you go to the Government website, their advice if youve got Covid is to take paracetamol. Or its jab, jab, jab, which we now know is only effective to a degree. Why arent they telling people there are other things they could do?

Ivermectin was first developed for tropical medicine. Its commonly used to treat nasty parasitic infections, including onchocerciasis, or river blindness, which causes loss of vision and severe skin itching, and lymphatic filariasis, which causes the limb deformity elephantiasis.

It is also used in veterinarian medicine, hence the horse dewormer label. But as Fox points out, rightly, many drugs we take are also given to animals  antibiotics, for instance.

In truth, ivermectins parasite-fighting abilities mean it has been a life saver in developing countries since being introduced in the late 1970s  so much so, its on the World Health Organisations list of essential medicines. In 2015, its inventors won a Nobel Prize. But as the bugs that cause most of the illnesses that ivermectin treats arent seen in the UK, the drug isnt licensed here.

It is being studied as a treatment for Covid at Oxford University. But the UK drugs watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, advises against using it for this purpose outside of a clinical trial.

In America, medicines regulators at the Food and Drug Administration are more forthright. In response to reports of patients who have required medical attention after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for livestock, they put out an article on their website titled: Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin To Treat Or Prevent Covid-19.

In it, they warn taking large doses of ivermectin is dangerous, and that doing so can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, hypotension (low blood pressure), allergic reactions (itching and hives), dizziness, ataxia (problems with balance), seizures, coma and even death.

Fox, pictured, said he picked up a supply of the drug while on holiday in Mexico, where it is available 'over the counter'

Nevertheless, there are doctors in the UK going against NHS advice and giving it to Covid patients, The Mail on Sunday has learned. One we spoke to said they were contactable via private groups on messaging app Telegram, and a group called The World Council for Health, whose website includes advice on how much ivermectin to take. Its the same regime that Fox followed.

The father-of-two picked up a supply of ivermectin tablets while on holiday in Mexico, where its widely available over the counter. He said he purchased a load of it, just in case I ever needed it. I thought, why not?

Fox says his son came home from school with Covid and a few days later he began suffering symptoms himself  shivering and shaking and feeling rotten. He took a test  he says its the first he had done  which was positive.

When we talk, he says hes a bit bunged up, like I have a chesty cold, but feeling fine. Fox also wanted to set the record straight.

Im not anti-vax, he said. I mean, my 82-year-old father took the vaccine, rather wisely, Id imagine. But this shouldnt be one-size-fits-all. My risk profile is massively lower than my fathers, so I think, my body, my choice. Thats what it means to live in a democratic society. And there should be more choices.

I want [ivermectin] to be up for debate. It might be a cheap way to stop people getting so ill, and by next winter we might have something people could take at home to stop them from getting so bad they need to go to hospital.

The problem is, as I discovered, even mention it or show any hesitancy about the vaccine and people jump on you. Or doctors on Twitter call it a horse dewormer, which is misinformation. Its a safe drug taken by millions of children around the world.

According to Fox: The problem is, as I discovered, even mention it or show any hesitancy about the vaccine and people jump on you. Or doctors on Twitter call it a horse dewormer, which is misinformation. Its a safe drug taken by millions of children around the world'

These are all fair points. So what is the truth? Could ivermectin be a viable early-stage treatment for Covid, and even a vaccine alternative? Is it being hushed up by big pharma and governments that realise theres more money to be made from vaccines and more expensive drugs?

Or is this simply wishful thinking and conspiracy theory, with little or no evidence to back it up?

For the answer, we need to go back to mid-2020, when preliminary lab studies looking at repurposing existing drugs as Covid treatments suggested ivermectin was able to kill off the virus in test tubes. This led to clinical trials with Covid patients and, by the end of the year, some were reporting mind-blowing results.

One influential Egyptian paper, published in November 2020, found that a course of ivermectin could reduce deaths from Covid by 90 per cent. Shortly afterwards, in December, Wisconsin-based lung and intensive care specialist Dr Pierre Kory appeared before a Senate committee claiming ivermectin was a miracle drug against Covid.

In a clip of his statement, viewed millions of times on YouTube, he said: We have a solution to this crisis. There is a drug that is proving to be of miraculous impact. And when I say miracle, I do not use that term lightly.

At another point, he said If you take it, you will not get sick, mentioning an Argentine trial that found it prevented high-risk healthcare workers from catching Covid 100 per cent of the time.

Given these ringing endorsements, experts began asking why ivermectin wasnt being immediately rolled out.

One of them was UK-based public health expert Dr Tess Lawrie. Inspired by Dr Kory, she set about reviewing all the available data on ivermectin and Covid, and was equally convinced. She said: It was clear ivermectin was a game-changer. And thousands of people were dying every day at that stage.

I wrote to the British Medical Journal, and to [then Health Secretary] Matt Hancock. I made a video, appealing to the PM, trying to get the message out that we had a safe, effective treatment. But I heard nothing.

Frustrated that health authorities were seemingly ignoring their pleas, both Lawrie and Kory helped produce guides to using ivermectin that are still available online.

As Dr Lawrie says: We had something that reduced deaths, hospitalisation and transmission. I just thought, what the hell are we waiting for?

If some of this sounds almost too good to be true, thats because, in certain cases, it was.

Data experts began looking into the ivermectin studies and uncovered numerous instances of research fraud: invented or plagiarised results, details of patients who never existed and even trials that may never have take place. The Egyptian study had included patients who had died before the trial started. Dozens of patient records had been duplicated, and large sections of text were copied from other papers or press releases.

Data experts began looking into the ivermectin studies and uncovered numerous instances of research fraud: invented or plagiarised results, details of patients who never existed and even trials that may never have take place. The Egyptian study had included patients who had died before the trial started. Dozens of patient records had been duplicated, and large sections of text were copied from other papers or press releases

In July, the fraudulent paper was retracted. Another study was withdrawn in November by its Lebanese authors after it was revealed that patient records had been repeated over and over, as if copied and pasted. The researchers claim this was an innocent mistake, but have not thus far published a corrected version.

A hospital named as taking part in the Argentine trial told a leading news website that it has no record of it happening. An article by Dr Kory published in a major journal in January 2021 was later rejected, after the editors ruled that it contained unbalanced or unsupported scientific conclusions and that the authors promoted their own specific ivermectin-based treatment, which is inappropriate.

In November, a study by Dr Kory and colleagues which suggested Covid patients given treatment that included ivermectin were 75 per cent less likely to die was also retracted by the journal that had published it, after one of the hospitals involved said the data did not match its own records.

Of course, before any of the retractions, these papers had been read hundreds of thousands of times and their results cited as proof for ivermectin in numerous other studies and articles.

But the revelations did lead some scientists who were initially enthusiastic about ivermectin to change their stance  including respected Liverpool University virus expert Dr Andrew Hill.

Dr Hill initially joined the clamour for the drug to be approved for Covid without delay, after reviewing ivermectin studies.

But in the light of the staggering amount of fraudulent research, he changed his position  much to the fury of ivermectin advocates, who have since claimed he has financial conflicts of interest, something he denies.

Across the globe there are groups opposed to the mass Coivd-19 vaccination campaign

Australian epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, whose research has been pivotal in exposing fraudulent ivermectin studies, says: It was a big blow [for the pro-ivermectin lobby] because Dr Hill was probably their biggest proponent from the establishment. Without him, theyre really quite a fringe group.

Dr Hill has since published a new analysis, excluding the problematic studies. All that remained is evidence that the drug has little to no effect on Covid.

When we spoke last week, he admitted he had been naive in taking the ivermectin studies at face value. He said: Id never come across research fraud before, so I didnt have the radar to detect it.

Respected medical research body Cochrane conducted a similar analysis, excluding 18 studies with what they called inconsistencies, and came to a similar conclusion to Dr Hill.

Despite this, there are scientists have continued to back the treatment.

Most, it must be said, also express misgivings about Covid vaccines and government responses to the pandemic in general. They say large clinical trials that show ivermectin had little or no effect were designed to fail.

Dr Kory has lashed out online, calling the retractions censorship and a heinous disinformation campaign. He still maintains that the drug is the single greatest solution to the global pandemic.

The issue with ivermectin is simply its price  it costs less than a dollar and represents the biggest threat to the immense and future profits of the pharmaceutical industry, he wrote in a recent blog. He suggests that only very expensive new medications have been given the green light for Covid.

But others have pointed out that there are cheap, repurposed generic drugs that have been approved, including steroid drug dexamethasone and asthma inhaler medication budesonide.

Dr Lawrie also believes ivermectin became seen by goverments as a threat to the Covid money machine, and that allegations of fraud are a hit on the drug, and on the reputations of the researchers who backed it.

But Meyerowitz-Katz says: The deficiencies in most of the studies that we identified were there for anyone to see and very easy to confirm. Its hard to understand how they ever got published in the first place.

Professor Paul Garner, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who worked on the Cochrane review, says: Ive been looking at trials for over 25 years and you can see where results are suspicious  where the effect is just so dramatic, it cant possibly be true.

The problem was that the scientific process just got bypassed by social-media hype.

Its become an ideological debate, tied to the idea that the vaccine doesnt work, which is ridiculous. The jabs have saved millions of lives, and made a very substantive difference to this pandemic.

In some countries  particularly those that have struggled with their vaccine rollouts  ivermectin is provided to the public to treat and prevent Covid, which Prof Garner calls unfortunate its a political decision that goes against guidance from specialists who understand these areas of public health.

Despite the controversy, one former GP now in private practice told me she had prescribed the drug to dozens of patients, adding: Its a safe drug. If someone gets in touch and asks for help, Ill give it.

One woman who was getting worse and worse took it and rapidly got better. I dont charge  I am not making any money out of this.

There is currently another route to getting ivermectin: via Oxford Universitys Principal trial.

Volunteers who catch Covid can register online within 14 days of diagnosis, and be sent a three-day supply. So far, more than 8,000 patients have been through the process  but the study is yet to report any findings.

The Oxford researchers declined to comment but a source close to the trial said: It could turn out to work. We just dont know yet.

Pharmaceutical expert Dr Penny Ward, at Kings College London, says the medical community would welcome proof that ivermectin worked. She says: An effective antiviral could be taken when you become unwell to help reduce severity, or if you have a close contact who then tests positive, to prevent the infection happening.

This debate is just going to go round and round until a properly conducted clinical trial produces results, giving us an answer about whether the damn thing works or not.
Thousands of people suffering from a disabling headache condition could soon be cured by a patch of Teflon implanted inside the brain.

The pioneering treatment is designed to block pain messages along a major nerve, and research suggests it is highly effective.

Data due to be published soon shows that nearly two-thirds of patients who had the procedure are now pain-free.

Thousands of people suffering from a disabling headache condition could soon be cured by a patch of Teflon implanted inside the brain

The condition, known as short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache with conjunctival injection and tearing, or SUNCT, affects more than 10,000 Britons.

It causes shooting pain on the side of the face, jaw and gums and often makes the eyes and nose stream. Sufferers are predominantly male and over 50.

It is not fully understood why SUNCT occurs, but it is thought to involve a disturbance in part of the brain linked to the trigeminal nerve, which controls sensations of pain in the face.

Julian Belsom, 50, from Folkestone, Kent, is among patients whose lives have been transformed by the operation.

He began suffering from pain in his jaw in 2014. It became so severe that he felt suicidal and was forced to quit his job as a night manager in a Tesco store.

The father-of-two, who lives with wife Annette, eventually had to sell the family home as they could no longer afford the mortgage.

He says of the condition: It was like an electric shock and a bee sting at the same time. I was in constant pain every day. There was no respite and it stopped everything in my daily life.

During the procedure, neurosurgeons remove a small piece of skull from behind the ear and carefully separate the trigeminal nerve, near the base of the brain, from the artery next to it.

They then place a small pad of polytetrafluoroethylene  the same substance used to coat Teflon non-stick pans  between the nerve and the artery, to keep them apart.

More than 50 patients with SUNCT have now had the surgery in the UK, and data suggests up to 70 per cent are virtually cured of pain

By relieving pressure on the nerve, the pain sensations are reduced. Polytetrafluoroethylene is commonly used as a surgical implant, as it is inert  it doesnt cause reactions within the body that might lead to complications.

Surgeons were astounded at the positive effect the operation had. More than 50 patients with SUNCT have now had the surgery in the UK, and data suggests up to 70 per cent are virtually cured of pain, according to Dr Giorgio Lambru, consultant neurologist at Guys and St Thomas Hospital.

He said: It is amazing to have this big improvement, and very unusual in neurology. Its heartening to see people free from this terrible pain and able to enjoy their lives again.

While there are at least 10,000 Britons known to be suffering from SUNCT, experts believe the real figure is considerably higher.

Dr Lambru says this is because it can be mistaken for a stroke, sinusitis  a swelling condition affecting the tissue behind the cheekbones and forehead  or a problem with the teeth. People often end up having unnecessary treatment, including having teeth removed or sinus surgery, to try to solve it.

When the condition is correctly diagnosed, the main treatments include epilepsy and migraine medication. However, these dont work for many sufferers, or work only temporarily.

Mr Belsom first believed the shooting pain in his upper and lower jaw was toothache. He visited a dentist, who removed a tooth which was thought to be causing the pain, but this made no difference. Eventually, he was referred to a neurologist who diagnosed SUNCT, and treated him with various pain relief medications.

At one point I was taking 26 tablets a day, Julian says.

Some treatments worked briefly, including once for a month, but the agony always returned. The only thing that relieved the pain slightly was sitting completely still, not eating, drinking or talking, he says.

In 2018, Julian was offered the chance to have the new surgery.

As soon as he woke up from the procedure, he says he was free of nerve pain. It has been absolutely magic. It has given me my life back.

He is now back at work as a manager for Tesco Mobile. I cant stop speaking, as I hardly said a word for four years as it could trigger the pain.

Dr Lambru said: Given the clear benefits, I definitely think the procedure will be available for SUNCT patients across the UK soon.
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye Cert: 12A, 2hrs 6mins

Rating:

Moonfall Cert: 12A, 2hrs 10mins

Rating:

The Souvenir Part II Cert: 15, 1hr 47mins

Rating:

Belle Cert: 12A, 2hrs 1min

Rating:

Jackass Forever Cert: 18, 1hr 36mins

Rating:

Ahead of actually seeing it, The Eyes Of Tammy Faye wasnt meaning very much to me, title-wise at least. I knew it starred Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield but Tammy Faye? Nope, meant nothing.

Its only when the films undeniably helpful opening adds the surname Bakker that the mists started to clear and suddenly distant memories of fake eyelashes, blue eyeshadow and an awful lot of blonde hair around a notably square face began to become more solid.

Ah, Tammy Faye Bakker, the American TV evangelist. Didnt she go to prison?

Jessica Chastain (above) gave a high-octane performance as Tammy Faye - and she is already picking up award nominations and tipped to secure more

Actually, it was her charismatic preacher husband, Jim, who went to prison. But this is their story, told through the strangely unseeing or possibly naive eyes of Tammy Faye, a woman seemingly blind to the multiple wrongdoings going on around her.

Which is a shame, as the wrongdoings are what made the Bakkers interesting as their telethon-funded Praise the Lord religious empire came crashing down in the 1980s. What this film needs is more of those wrongdoings, not fewer.

What rescues it from dud-dom, however, are five conspicuous successes.

Hair, make-up and wardrobe departments all move into overdrive and do a terrific job of capturing an evolving sense of period as the central story unfolds over three decades.

Fabulous too are the high-octane performances of Chastain and Garfield, with the former already picking up award nominations and tipped to secure more.

But lets not get carried away  its all a bit one-note with the fake-feeling sincerity, constant smiling and God told me He wants of American TV evangelists providing all too easy pickings for actors of the calibre of Chastain and Garfield.

But even their considerable talents cant disguise the shortcomings in the screenplay or the sense that the really interesting stuff lies elsewhere.

Its a little over a month since Dont Look Up, the Netflix film about the discovery of a giant comet on a collision course with Earth, became one of the most talked-about films of the Christmas holidays.

Now, by one of those spooky cinema coincidences, along comes Moonfall, which sees the Earth threatened, as the title suggests, by a rapidly descending Moon.

The questions are  what changed the Moons hitherto stable orbit and can anything possibly be done to stop it?

An impressively straight-faced Patrick Wilson plays Brian Harper, while Halle Berry (above, with Wilson) is his ex-wife and former Shuttle crewmate

Directing this impending extinction event is Roland Emmerich, who has already brought us the likes of Stargate, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, and draws on elements from each of them without ever delivering the quality of any of them.

This, in short, is a poor film  badly written, unevenly performed and struggling for a consistent tone and yet whisper this softly, strangely enjoyable, too.

An impressively straight-faced Patrick Wilson plays Brian Harper, an unfairly disgraced former astronaut, while Halle Berry is his ex-wife and former Shuttle crewmate who just happens to become acting head of Nasa just as Armageddon  in more senses than one  looms.

Think you can probably take it from there, although you may be surprised how long it takes and how silly it gets along the apocalyptic way.

Back in 2019, Joanna Hogg, a film-maker I described at the time as the queen of middle-class arthouse awkwardness, had something of a critical success with The Souvenir, detailing the destructive love affair between a well- to-do young film student (Honor Swinton Byrne) and a controlling older man, played by Tom Burke.

The Souvenir Part II doesnt have the same box-office appeal, with the charismatic Burke departing the scene and Hogg embarking on a complex film-within-a-film (possibly within another film) structure that takes more unravelling than it really merits.

Still, Tilda Swinton remains a tweed-clad joy as the posh, spaniel-owning mum.

Elsewhere, its a choice between the stunning animation but over-ambitious story-telling of Belle, a cautionary Japanese version of Beauty And The Beast involving an online alternative reality called U, and irrefutable evidence that some foolish, attention-seeking young men just never grow up.

Yes, a full 20 years after Jackass: The Movie, Johnny Knoxville and his prank-happy, painfully bruised gang are back with another set of stupid, stomach-churning stunts in Jackass Forever.

It takes barely a minute and one exploding mobile toilet to show that absolutely nothing has changed. Dont say you havent been warned.
Spike

The Watermill Theatre, Newbury Until March 5, 2hrs 10mins

Rating:

A Number

The Old Vic Until March 19, 1hr 5mins

Rating:

Spike Milligan was a one-man riot. He famously called his great fan, Prince Charles, a little grovelling bastard on live TV and later faxed him: I suppose a knighthood is out of the question.

The mad, anarchic Spike, writer of the 1950s Goon Show, is celebrated in a new play by Private Eye editor Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.

Its set (mostly) in a BBC studio, with the shell-shocked young war veteran Milligan moodily played by hangdog John Dagleish, who has the depressed demeanour of Tony Hancock and the bulging eyes of Marty Feldman.

Set (mostly) in a BBC studio, Spike was perfectly enjoyable but overly cosy. Above, from front: Jeremy Lloyd, George Kemp and John Dagleish

Jeremy Lloyd gives the portly Harry Secombe a beery Welsh lilt and that famous, explosive giggle; George Kemp is a slightly sinister and smug Peter Sellers  the legendary voice of, among others, Bluebottle in The Goons.

Milligans fragile mental health isnt helped by the relentless pressure he was put under to deliver the scripts. June, his wife (Ellie Morris), takes the brunt.

Older fans will love the cheapo radiophonic sound effects  introduced by the splendid Janet (Margaret Cabourn-Smith)  and the live snatches of Goonery are monitored by a preposterous pinstriped guardian of BBC decency (Robert Mountford).

Perfectly enjoyable but overly cosy. Of Spikes anarchic genius as a performer of goofy originality theres not quite enough. Spike could do with being, well, spikier.

Caryl Churchills playlet, A Number, originally starred Michael Gambon and Daniel Craig. It seemed then a weird masterpiece about human cloning in the wake of Dolly the cloned sheep.

Just two years after Roger Allam starred in it, A Number has returned to London with Paapa Essiedu and Lennie James (above, left, with Essiedu)

Just two years after Roger Allam starred in it, it returns to London with Paapa Essiedu and Lennie James.

It now feels a bit of a grind. The father (James) is visited by multiple versions of the same adult son  all of them played by Essiedu in a one-man variety act of paternal confrontation.

Lyndsey Turner directs it with migraine-inducing lighting on a set of hideous puce. Theres now a cold, experimental feel to a play thats been revisited too soon.
SUVA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A temporary ground station will be set up in Fiji to provide internet gateway for Tonga, which has no internet services after the violent eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano and ensuing tsunami last month.

Fiji's Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum confirmed on Friday that a team of engineers from the U.S. private space company SpaceX were in Fiji.

Sayed-Khaiyum, also Fiji's minister of communications, said the engineers would establish and operate a temporary ground station in Fiji to provide an internet gateway for Tonga for six months.

"Space X had applied for a temporary emergency telecommunications license ... SpaceX and Fiji International Telecommunications Pte Limited are currently, however, in commercial negotiations to co-locate the earth station and connect to Fiji's internet gateway," he said.

The violent eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, about 65 km north of Tonga's capital city of Nuku'alofa, has damaged the undersea fiber-optic cable, leaving Tonga without reliable internet connectivity.

Meanwhile, according to Tonga's news website Matangi Tonga Online, James Panuve, CEO of Tonga Cable Ltd., said on Friday that Tonga's broken submarine telecommunications cable was not where it was supposed to be.

A search on Thursday night by an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) from the cable repair ship Reliance could not locate the break, after it arrived in the area on Thursday, Panuve said.

They had been trying to locate where the cable break was, while it appeared that the shockwaves or tsunami waves pushed the cable away, he said.

The international cable lies about 44 km south of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, he said, adding that Tonga's domestic cable is about 7-8 km east of the volcano, but the break is about 22 km southeast of the volcano.

He said the estimated time to fix international cable was one week, but it could be longer or shorter because it really depended on the extent of the damage once they located the cable break.

For Tonga's domestic cable, they would need another week to check it out, he added. 
The Betrayal Of Anne Frank

Rosemary Sullivan William Collins 20

Rating:

Anne Frank was born in 1929. She was three years younger than the present Queen, and a year older than Princess Margaret.

For her 13th birthday, in 1942, her father, Otto Frank, gave her an autograph book, which she immediately turned into a diary.

A month later, the Frank family  Anne and her older sister Margot, and their mother and father  went into hiding from the Nazis in the small attic annexe of Prinsengracht 263 in central Amsterdam.

For her 13th birthday, in 1942, Anne's father, Otto Frank (both above, centre), gave her an autograph book, which she immediately turned into a diary

Four other people hid there with them, unable to go outside, or even to look out of a window for fear of being seen.

They were to be there for the next two years and 30 days.

Anne decorated her patch of wall with little black-and-white photographs of Elizabeth and Margaret, her contemporaries. Britain was still free, and so were they.

Anne came to hope that her diary would one day act as a testimony to the privations families like hers had to endure through the days of Nazism. She dreamed of becoming a published writer.

Yesterday, as youve probably already discovered, was our Fuehrers fifty-fifth birthday. Today is the eighteenth birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York, she wrote on April 21, 1944.

Weve been wondering which prince theyll marry this beauty off to, but cant think of a suitable candidate; perhaps her sister, Princess Margaret Rose, can have Crown Prince Baudouin of Belgium!

In the rest of her entry for that day she chronicles the progress of her sore throat, her boredom, the theft of some of the familys flour provision from outside the annexe (she points her finger at a shady character called van Maaren) and her dream of selling one of her fairy tales to a magazine under a pseudonym, of course.

Just over three months later, on the morning of August 4, 1944, their hiding place was raided by the police, and at gunpoint they were told to collect their things for their trip to Gestapo headquarters.

By chance, the chief policeman then picked up Otto Franks briefcase, which held Annes diary, and chucked the diary to the floor to make room for the small amount of valuables and money the police had confiscated.

In this way, Annes diary was saved for posterity. Her sister Margot had also been keeping a diary, but hers was never seen again.

As they were marched down the stairs, Otto Frank tried to maintain his composure.

Perhaps, he thought, providence will save us: over his secret radio they had already learnt from the BBC about D-Day, and the subsequent Allied advance across Europe: it looked as though the war could be over in a matter of months, or even weeks.

But it was not to be. The Frank family were transported in freight cars on the very last train to Auschwitz.

In February 1945, Margot died, followed, the next day, by Anne. A witness was later to recall her pitiful death.

She saw her standing naked, but for a blanket. She was delirious with typhus. She had thrown off her clothes, because she could no longer tolerate the lice. She knew her mother and sister had both perished, and she thought her father had, too.

It wasnt the same Anne. She was a broken girl.

It should be the saddest story ever told, but the terrible truth is that the fate of Anne was replicated, in other lives, millions of times over. The diary of Anne Frank is so powerful not because her tragedy was unique, but because it was so widespread.

Of the 140,000 Jews living in the Netherlands, 107,000 were deported, and only 5,500 returned. Even the peculiar circumstances of a family in hiding were echoed elsewhere.

In the Netherlands, roughly 25,000 Jews went into hiding; of these, a third were betrayed.

Who betrayed Anne Frank? This is a question that has puzzled investigators for many years. The list of suspects has proved endless.

As Rosemary Sullivan says: Eight people hiding in a small space for 25 months  it was amazing that they lasted so long.

One of those who helped them put it like this: Eight persons are eight individuals. If each one of them committed a single slip each year, that would be 16 telltale signs.

Add to this the handful of friends who were in the know, and then the people to whom these friends might have inadvertently let slip, and so on, and the list keeps multiplying.

Two formal investigations have been undertaken, the first in 1947, and the next in 1963. Various books have pointed the finger at different people, some of them known to the Frank family, others more obscure.

Or  less dramatically  was there no traitor? Might the SS have been conducting a routine search for illegal goods or weapons, and come across them quite by chance?

In 2016, a Dutch documentary-maker, Thijs Bayens, hit upon the idea of solving the question once and for all. By 2018 there were 22 people busy on the case, or scouring the globe, as Sullivan puts it.

They included professional investigators, historians and researchers, and Brendan Rook, a detective whod served as an infantry officer in the Australian army.

How many of these people were strictly necessary, and how many were just there to make the documentary appear all the more urgent, or to broaden its international appeal?

For instance, did they really need to rope in an American from Florida called Vince Pankoke, who had spent 27 years as a special agent with the FBI, working undercover on high-profile cases against Colombian drug traffickers?

Or was it just to make the film more accessible for an English-speaking audience?

Sullivan, who was invited on to the team in order to write this accompanying book, does not let on.

Instead, she breathlessly follows Pankoke through every twist and turn, so that her book becomes as much about the process of investigation as about the subject investigated.

Along the way she lucidly describes many fascinating details of the compromises and betrayals of life under a murderous regime. Nevertheless, I was left wondering whether basing the book around this investigation was really worthwhile.

At one point, for instance, Pankoke needs to check Otto Franks handwriting to find whether it corresponds with writing on a particular fragment of paper.

He gets in touch with a woman in America, Cara Wilson-Granat, who once published her correspondence with Otto Frank, and she agrees to send him a few of the original letters.

Sullivan manages to turn this comparatively humdrum procedure into the heart-thumping melodrama beloved of TV documentaries:

When Vince was inquiring about overnight shipping of the letters to the Amsterdam office, the shipper asked the value of the packages contents. When he was told it was priceless, he answered, sorry, that was not one of the options.

The Cold Case Team then consulted a document expert who suggested an estimated value, and the package was on its way.

That night Vince spent the entire evening tracking the shipment, and the next morning he saw that it had arrived at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport.

His heart sank when, at 8:15am, he received a text saying that the shipment would be delayed until the next day, although the online tracking still showed that it would be delivered before 10:30am that day.

'He was in a bit of a panic, imagining having to call Cara to tell her that the letters had been lost or damaged. But at 9am the delivery truck showed up at the office, and the driver walked in and asked for a signature.

'Vince thought: If only he knew what was inside!

In laymans language, this is called padding. Anyone who has ever had anything shipped from abroad knows there are always delays.

And for a hard-bitten investigator, Pankoke seems unusually nervy, considering there were countless other examples of Franks handwriting if these had gone missing.

The investigation follows countless red herrings. The movements and motivations of individual suspects are described in detail before being discounted.

When the 22-strong team finally whittles down its initial list of 30 possibilities to a single prime suspect, we have already reached page 229, and the book is nearly at an end, leaving only 50 pages to say why they think it was this character who hasnt previously been mentioned.

But have they really got their man?

Vince is careful to say that there was no Aha! moment to end the investigation; the emergence of the betrayer was just that: a slow coming together of evidence and motive, a jigsaw-puzzle piece that suddenly, undeniably fit, writes Sullivan.

The adverb undeniably is, I think, misplaced. The suspect certainly ticks a lot of boxes but, on this evidence, no decent jury would ever find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Since the book was published, concerns like this have given its Dutch publishers cold feet, and they have decided against printing any further copies.

I think this is just as well: Rosemary Sullivan recently declared she was 90 per cent sure their suspect is the betrayer, but this leaves a ten per cent margin of doubt, and that is surely too much.
Bacon In Moscow

James Birch with Michael Hodges Profile Books 17.99

Rating:

A voracious reader, Francis Bacon would have appreciated the vast number of books that have been written about him since the artists death in 1992. Last year alone saw several new volumes, including an 880-page biography.

While the painter was as colourful a character as the art world has produced, one wonders what more can be said.

In Bacon In Moscow, gallerist James Birch takes an unusual tack, using the artist as the step from which to trip into a ribald tale of geopolitics and shady deals.

Taking Bacons visions of twisted torsos and howling faces (Study After Velazquezs Portrait Of Pope Innocent X, 1953, above) to Moscow was always going to be an exercise in optimism

This account of staging a Bacon exhibition in the shadow of the Kremlin, just as the Cold War began to thaw in 1988, is an amusing romp that could act as a cautionary tale.

Birch was introduced to Bacon as a boy through his parents.

It proved a valuable contact when, years later, he opened an avant-garde gallery on the Kings Road, where his roster of artists included several nudists and a young transvestite potter named Grayson Perry.

A Bacon show in Moscow was Birchs shot at the big time.

Taking Bacons visions of twisted torsos and howling faces (Study After Velazquezs Portrait Of Pope Innocent X, 1953) to Moscow was always going to be an exercise in optimism.

Birch is rarely ruffled: From my window seat I observed low grey clouds, military vehicles and a missile launcher armed with two green rockets angled at the sky, he recalls.

Birchs counterpart in Russia is Sergei Klokov, a secret service fixer-cum- cultural attache with a mid-Atlantic drawl that makes him sound like a bad British DJ.

Moscow delivers exotic and dreary aspects to which Birch brings a Woosterish eye: People hurrying by had ashen complexions and wore badly cut Terylene flared trousers and skirts.

More attractive is Elena Khudiakova, a vampiric Russian fashion designer.

Bacon was more than just a talented artist, he was a raconteur and a bore, a drinker and a drunk, a generous friend and a shocking liability.

And while Birch hints at these conflicts, he maintains a charitable view of the man.

This book is at its best when illuminating the cultural divides  food, hotels, personal freedoms  and occasional similarities.

And the intersection of the dark poetic Russian psyche and the struggle to survive the Soviet system is perfectly embodied in Klokov, a mercurial figure who might have been conjured up by John le Carre.

Whether Moscow needed the show is debatable. We want bacon, not Francis Bacon, notes one hungry visitor.

Themes For Great Cities: A New History Of Simple Minds

Graeme Thomson Constable 20

Rating:

In the mid- to late 1980s, the strident stadium rock of Glasgows Simple Minds sold by the ton, propelled by hits including Dont You (Forget About Me).

But while success changed the bands tax bracket, it also obscured early years of questing art-pop, fuelled by punk spirit, dreams of Europe and infusions of square sausage from main man Jim Kerrs mum, who worked at Greggs.

In focusing largely on their pre-stardom records, Scottish music writer Graeme Thomson elegantly reminds us how Simple Minds influenced Primal Scream, Manic Street Preachers and contemporaries U2.

Dont You (Forget About Me) ushered in the big time, but it was written by someone else, like your mum and dad trying to talk you into wearing a sweater, said Jim Kerr (above, centre)

Striking out from the south of Glasgow, aiming for the pulsing, alien thrills of Berlin-era Bowie and electronic pop pioneer Giorgio Moroder, they created a beguilingly wonky, handmade futurism of their own.

The band soon found themselves in teenage fantasy land. Recording 1979s Real To Real Cacophony at a studio in rural Wales, they chanced upon a friendly Bowie and Iggy Pop, who recruited them for backing vocals.

For years they ran alongside  or even a little ahead of  U2. The Dubliners and Glaswegians were close friends and, initially, fellow strugglers.

Thats two bands Ive had in this week with no one here, says a US club promoter. They were Scottish guys as well: U2. Best thing Ive seen for ages.

When both graduated to stadiums, mean critics took to calling Simple Minds U3, but any borrowing went both ways  without Simple Minds 1982 album New Gold Dream (81828384), says Bono, thered have been no Joshua Tree.

Dont You (Forget About Me) ushered in the big time, but it was written by someone else and recorded at the record companys insistence, like your mum and dad trying to talk you into wearing a sweater, says Kerr, who admits it paid for his house.

In among it all are Live Aid, Mick Jaggers recipe for pop success (Put maracas on it!), the sad rupturing of the original five-piece and all the tribulations of a band who were great long before the wider world caught on.

Adam Woods
Some of us are old enough to remember when Remington shaver company owner Victor Kiam advertised his wares on television with the catchphrase 'I liked the product so much, I bought the company'.

It was an advertising sensation in 1979, but Kiam's strategy remains an attractive one for investors today.

Buying shares allows investors to own a slice of the businesses they use every day. And being a customer gives investors an advantage as they have personal experience of the company and a window into what it is getting right and wrong.

Big screen: It is possible to buy shares listed abroad, such as Disney who make films like Encanto, if you're based in the UK

But what can investors do when so many of the brands we know and use daily, from Disney to Apple and Samsung, are listed on overseas stock markets?

The good news is that it is possible to buy shares listed abroad if you're based in the UK. The less good news is that you pay more in charges, and may have extra administration to contend with.

From Ford, to Disney, LVMH... the powerhouse names

The UK stock market is packed full of world-class energy companies and banks. But to gain access to a wider range of sectors, investors have to look further afield. For example, European exchanges are home to some of the best luxury goods firms  including LVMH, maker of Louis Vuitton bags  while Japan has strengths in electronics and robotics. The US hosts most of the world's big tech firms.

We asked investment experts for their top picks of companies that are household names in the UK, but that are not listed here  businesses they believe will continue to thrive on the back of a powerful brand.

Keith Bowman, analyst at investment platform Interactive Investor, is excited about the future of US motor business Ford, which is competing with Tesla for market share of electric cars.

'I think Ford will emerge as the clear number two electric vehicle maker in North America,' he says.

Ford is investing more than $30billion (22billion) in electric car production. Its shares are up 82 per cent in the past year, but still look cheap when compared with Tesla, up 6 per cent in the past year.

Bowman also likes Disney, and believes investors currently have a good opportunity to buy as shares are down 13 per cent this year after it missed its earnings forecasts.

Investors in Disney own a slice of superhero franchise Marvel, animated films giant Pixar and the Star Wars movies and merchandise  all of which now fall under the Disney company umbrella.

It has also reopened its theme parks and relaunched its cruise ships after closures during the pandemic. 'Subscriber growth and a broader recovery are likely to continue longer term,' says Bowman.

Russ Mould, investment director at platform AJ Bell, says investors should look towards Western Europe for global leaders. 'Some of the high-quality names investors should be looking at just roll off the tongue,' he says.

'France's LVMH is a leader in luxury goods and Switzerland's Nestle in consumer brands.' He adds that the Continent is also a good source of dividends for income seekers.

Jason Hollands, managing director at investment platform BestInvest, likes US-listed trainers brand Nike.

Due to its loyal customer base, Nike has the power to pass on costs when it needs to  and to cut the number of retailers that sell its products to refocus instead on selling through its own website and stores where profits are higher.

Darius McDermott, managing director of investment platform Chelsea Financial Services, says that investors need to look to the US for the big tech companies we use every day.

Alphabet  which owns Google  and delivery giant Amazon are both US-listed picks.

Neither are cheap options. Alphabet's share price is up 39 per cent in the past year, while Amazon's is down 16 per cent over the same period  having fallen 17 per cent in the last month alone.

The best ways to buy stocks listed abroad

Most investment platforms and stockbrokers allow you to buy stocks abroad but there may be extra charges.

These come in two forms  a charge from the platform for buying the shares themselves, and a foreign exchange 'margin rate', which is a percentage added on to the exchange rate between the currency you are using and the one that the stock is listed in to make profit for the company doing the trade.

If you frequently trade in stocks listed abroad, these charges can add up. For example, although Interactive Investor charges the same for investors to buy US shares as it does for UK shares (up to 7.99 a trade), it charges investors on two of its subscription plans 19.99 to buy shares listed outside of the UK.

Share dealing apps can offer a cheaper route A new breed of share dealing apps is challenging the traditional DIY investing platforms and can offer a lower cost route to buying some overseas shares. Freetrade, Trading 212 and eToro both offer the chance to buy overseas shares without any share dealing fees, although investors may have to pay a currency conversion commission.

Not every platform charges extra to buy overseas shares.

AJ Bell charges 9.95 to trade international shares online, and 29.95 to buy them by phone, which is the same as UK listed shares.

Hargreaves Lansdown also charges the same amount  11.95 online or one per cent if you deal over the telephone.

However, the extra costs associated with foreign exchange conversion can still weigh on investment performance. The foreign exchange 'margin rate' means you lose money every time you convert currency with your broker to buy overseas shares.

Generally, the more currency you can convert at once, the lower the margin rate you are charged, which means that you may want to buy large amounts of overseas shares at one time.

Interactive Investor has a margin rate of 1.5 per cent  which means you'll be charged 1.5 per cent more than the interbank rate, which is what large institutions charge among themselves. This rate tapers down if you buy big amounts of shares.

You can also hold cash in an overseas account and use it later, meaning that you can avoid the higher charges by converting large amounts at once.

Hargreaves only allows you to hold sterling cash balances, and when you buy overseas shares you will be charged up to 1.5 per cent above the interbank rate, depending on how big your deal is.

You should also watch out for costs when you receive dividends in a foreign currency which have to be converted back into sterling before being paid to you.

In the bag: Luxury brand LVMH's stable includes Louis Vuitton handbags

Investors may also have to pay withholding tax, which is levied by some countries on overseas shareholders who receive dividend income.

It may be possible to reclaim this tax from some countries, where the UK has an agreement known as a double-tax treaty in place.

The US government charges non US residents a withholding tax of 30 per cent on any income received from US investments.

UK investors can claim a rebate so the most they pay is 15 per cent. Germany also has a 25 per cent to 30 per cent withholding tax charge, but you can also reclaim some of this so that you pay 15 per cent.

You use different forms to reclaim for each country. For example, a W-8BEN form in the US.

Hollands reassures: 'The good news is that the W-8BEN isn't onerous and covers you for three years.'

Investors in overseas shares also need to be aware of what the experts call 'currency risk'.

If a share is traded in a different currency, the movement of that currency against the pound can erode or magnify your returns. For example, if you invested in a fund that tracked the S&P 500 (the US's major stock index), the returns you receive will differ depending on whether you look at them in pounds or dollars.

In pounds, total returns for the last five years are 103 per cent, but in dollars they add up to 120 per cent.

Funds and trust can provide an easier option

If the thought of extra charges and currency fears put you off buying overseas household names directly, you might want to consider investment funds that hold them.

These still carry currency risk, but some use a strategy known as 'hedging' to keep it in check.

The principle of hedging is simple. It is a way of managing risk by taking an opposite position in something related to the risk you are holding in order to offset it.

Life insurance is a way we 'hedge' the risk of a major earner in our family being unable to provide for us. A fund manager might use a financial instrument known as an 'option' so they can mitigate the risk of any currency movement having an adverse impact on the portfolio they manage.

James Carthew, head of investment companies at QuotedData, likes Polar Capital Technology for those who believe the recent slump in tech company shares is temporary.

Its biggest holdings include Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Facebook's parent company Meta, and graphics giant NVIDIA. Shares in Polar Capital Technology have fallen 11 per cent in the last six months, but profits are up 90 per cent overall in the past three years.

A less racy tech option might be Alliance Trust, which has exposure to Alphabet, Visa, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. But they only account for 15 per cent of its portfolio. Ryan Hughes, head of investment research at AJ Bell, picks investment trust Fidelity European for access to European brands. It is up 33 per cent over three years.
Investment fund Stonehage Fleming Global Best Ideas is very clear about how it makes money for clients.

It identifies strong growth businesses  preferably with a global reach  and then holds them in the expectation of rising earnings being reflected in higher share prices.

It's an investment approach that has been employed since the fund was formed eight and a half years ago  and as far as investors are concerned it's proved a winning formula. Since launch, the 1.9billion fund has delivered an overall return of 212 per cent  96 per cent over the past five years.

The fund is run out of London by Gerrit Smit. It holds shares in 27 companies, most of which are listed in the United States.

There are few surprises in the portfolio  the biggest holdings are all growth businesses, primarily benefiting from the digital revolution: the likes of Alphabet, Microsoft and Accenture.

Although Smit accepts concerns that shares in many technology companies are overpriced, he believes his approach means the fund steers clear of those businesses where share prices have got ahead of themselves.

'We are only interested in investing in sustainable, staple technology businesses that are now playing key roles in how we live our lives,' says Smit. 'They're profitable companies that have been around a while, are hugely cash generative and they will remain profitable in the future.'

He compares such robust businesses  the likes of Alphabet and Microsoft  with what he describes as 'moonshot' technology companies.

These, he says, are currently not profitable with their share prices reflecting more the expectation (or hope) of profits. These companies  such as Uber and Deliveroo  are the ones he will not touch.

'When we buy a company for the fund,' says Smit, 'our intention is to hold the shares indefinitely.' A number of the company's big positions  in consultancy group Accenture and Google (now Alphabet)  have been held since the fund's launch in August 2013.

Smit says he looks for four key things when buying a company. It must be a growing business  with the growth being organic and not through acquisition.

It must also have quality management, be profitable now rather than merely a promisor of future profits, and have strong cash flow. Provided the company's shares are not too expensive, it then becomes a potential buy.

Occasionally, external factors upset the applecart. It happened last year when the Chinese State announced curbs on private tutoring while denouncing online video games as 'spiritual opium'.

It triggered a slide in the shares of Chinese tech company Tencent. Smit's response was to offload the fund's holding in Tencent. 'The risk premium was too high,' he says. The proceeds were invested in Dutch company ASML, a provider of equipment to the semiconductor industry.

'Digitalisation is a big theme across our portfolio,' he adds. 'A large beneficiary of such an industrial revolution is the semiconductor sector.' Another key fund holding is USlisted Cadence Design Systems which provides computer software to microchip makers.

Smit says the companies he holds are forecast to grow earnings by 18 per cent per annum over the next three years.

Although he doesn't think the holdings are likely to deliver equivalent investment returns for investors over the same period, he is adamant a portfolio of some of the world's most successful growth companies will deliver outstanding long-term results.

The fund's total annual charges are 0.84 per cent and the stock market ID code is BCLYMF3.
A metal detectorist who went searching for hidden treasure to keep his children entertained discovered a coin that sold for a record-breaking 648,000 last month.

While such findings are rare, anyone can participate in the fascinating and often lucrative world of coin collecting  and make money without even having to dig in a field.

Gregory Edmund is coin specialist at auction house Spink which sold the medieval King Henry III gold coin discovered by Michael Leigh-Mallory.

Gold dust: The Henry III coin, left and bottom right, and the gold noble, top right

He says: 'The market for coin collectables has exploded over the past couple of years  with the value of the most sought-after rarities rising by as much as 50 per cent. The price achieved for the sale of this incredibly rare 1257 coin discovered by Michael reveals how buoyant the market now is.'

While some may want to do a Leigh-Mallory and chance their luck on what riches a metal detector may uncover, others will prefer a more sedate approach to collecting coins. They will want to make profits as a numismatist, the industry term for a coin collector. Here's what to look for  and where you might find it.

Where to start...

As fascinating as getting involved in collecting coins should be, it can also seem intimidating when starting out.

The British Numismatic Society is the best place to begin and offers a wealth of information and support for those dipping their toe into this fascinating hobby  with details of local groups who can share details of their collections and even trade coins with you.

New members pay just 15 for the first two years. In return you enjoy access to a wide range of articles about coins  covering details on pieces from the Iron Age, through to Roman, Anglo-Saxon, medieval and beyond.

You also get a hard copy of the society's annual journal which reviews coin sales over the past year.

A great place to start is with Roman coins, collecting examples with the heads of different emperors with bronze or silver coins typically costing from 20 each.

The British Numismatic Society has a coin gallery showing coin images, while magazines such as Coin Collector and Coin News also help whet the appetite and provide interesting articles on sales and unusual finds.

Website Coincraft provides information on prices, as do specialist traders including Spink, Chards and AH Baldwin & Sons.

You might like to visit a coin fair, where you can rub shoulders and chat with experts about their interest without parting with any money.

Details can be found at coinfares.co.uk. The Midland Coin Fair at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, takes place a week today.

Global demand

Following the cryptocurrency craze, a growing number of people are waking up to coin collecting as a welcome escape from the digital world.

Edmund says: 'Many of those entering the coin collecting market are investors who think that if there is money to be made in virtual money, then why not try the real thing. Others are attracted because they do not trust cryptocurrencies  or perhaps they have had their fingers burned by them.'

He adds: 'There is also an increased globalisation in coin collecting  with the Chinese and Japanese in particular taking a keen interest and pushing up prices of high value rarities.'

An Una and the Lion five-pound gold coin minted in 1839 to celebrate the newly crowned Queen Victoria  who became queen two years earlier at the age of 18  sold for a record 620,700 two years ago. A decade ago it might have changed hands for only 30,000.

The character Una comes from a poem The Faerie Queene  and depicts Queen Victoria leading a lion on the tale side of the coin. Only 400 of these valuable coins were ever produced.

Another coin with global appeal is the 1847 Gothic crown  limited to just 8,000 pieces. This silver piece is valued for its medieval-style image of Queen Victoria and typically changes hands for up to 20,000. But a top quality 'first strike' Gothic sold for 97,000 last month.

Ancient bargains

There have been price hikes right across the board  starting with coins from ancient and medieval times through to more modern ones  Edmund believes those who are seeking value for money should take a close look at ancient pieces.

The coin auctioneer points to examples such as a 4th Century BC silver drachm with an image of Alexander the Great on the head when he was the king of Macedonia. This can now be bought from as little as 50  up to 500 if it is in great condition.

Medieval marvels

The King Henry III gold coin that sold for a record price in January this year was unearthed on Devon farmland in September 2021.

It is one of only eight known to exist and was one of the first gold coins minted in medieval times. There are few survivors because most were melted down for their gold as this was more valuable than their face value of four shillings (20p).

Andrew Shirley is editor of the wealth report for estate agent Knight Frank, which tracks the price of alternative investments such as coins in a luxury index.

For collectable coins specifically, Knight Frank says prices have risen by 9 per cent over the past 12 months and 72 per cent over the past ten years. The data is based on market valuations of more than 1,000 top-quality coins.

Shirley says: 'Such buried treasure that Leigh-Mallory discovered has a fascinating hidden story. The gold coin may have changed hands for many reasons. Could it have been part of a dowry, and what happened to those who buried it?'

He adds: 'Interest in coins is rising partly because of their tangible appeal in a remote digital age. With an ancient coin you can touch a piece held by others centuries ago.'

Another medieval coin that captures the imagination of collectors is the gold noble, which started to be struck during the reign of King Edward III in the 14th Century.

Metal detector rules

Those considering investing 200 in a metal detector should be aware that the chances of a life-changing discovery are rare.

There are also strict treasure seeking rules. Under the 1996 Treasure Act for England and Wales, any hoard that is more than 300 years old and contains at least ten per cent gold or silver is deemed as treasure and belongs to the Crown.

It must be reported to a coroner within 14 days of being unearthed  otherwise you risk three months in jail or a 5,000 fine.

Treasure is independently valued and payment usually split equally between a finder and landowner where the coins are found.
Two of Britain's biggest companies are set to hand out a combined 8billion in dividends this week, after suffering blistering attacks from US activist investors.

Emma Walmsley, chief executive of drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline, will pay out 4billion to shareholders, including an army of small investors along with Elliott Management, a US hedge fund that has demanded that she reapplies for her own job.

And beleaguered Unilever chief Alan Jope is expected to unveil a 3.7billion payout. He has been criticised by several of the Marmite-to-Magnum group's top shareholders, including Terry Smith, Nick Train and Bert Flossbach.

Payout: GSK chief Emma Walmsley is set to hand 4billion to shareholders

The latter is the owner of German investment group Flossbach von Storch, which holds more than 1billion in Unilever stock.

The dividend payments come after GSK rejected a series of bids from Unilever for its consumer arm last month. The division is a joint venture with Pfizer of the US and includes the Sensodyne and Panadol brands. The final offer  50billion  angered Unilever investors, who said it was too high.

Trian, a US activist run by billionaire Nelson Peltz, has since appeared on Unilever's share register, prompting speculation that he will press the firm for rapid improvements.

Jope, who last month slashed 1,500 jobs in a management overhaul, will hope to use Thursday's results announcement to get investors back on side. He is expected to shake up Unilever's portfolio of brands after seeing shares tumble over the past year.

Unilever is forecast to post a 2.8 per cent rise in annual sales to 52.1billion (44billion) and to notch up operating profits of 9.5billion. The final dividend would represent a small cut from the 1.48 per share paid in 2020. But analysts expect the payout to return to that level next year.

By contrast, Walmsley will present a picture of declining dividends in its results on Wednesday. GSK is likely to hold the payment at 80p a share, equivalent to 4billion, in 2021 before cutting the 2022 payout to 54p.

Russ Mould, investment director at stockbroker AJ Bell, said the dividend was a 'sacrificial victim' of Walmsley's strategy for the 34billion turnover company. Plans include floating shares in the consumer business on the stock exchange this summer and building up its pipeline of new drugs.

As well as the Unilever approach, private equity firms are understood to have considered a buyout of the consumer arm.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: 'Time will tell whether Glaxo, as well as its co-partner Pfizer, is able to obtain the price it thinks the business is worth. If not 50billion, then how much?'

GSK is expected to announce data on the efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine before the end of March.
Telecoms giant Vodafone has embarked on a secret overhaul codenamed Project Galaxy as it faces mounting pressure from a powerful activist investor, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The FTSE 100-listed company is reorganising its global enterprise division, which serves large corporate customers, as part of a sweeping overhaul of its operations in the UK and continental Europe.

Separately, bosses have discovered the company overestimated money coming in from some multinational clients at the division. Last night Vodafone blamed the accounting glitch on the pandemic.

In touch: Vodafone is reorganising its global enterprise division, which serves large corporate customers

The overhaul is part of plans by Vodafone chief executive Nick Read to simplify the way the company is run and give overseas divisions more independence. Analysts say the measures could make it easier to sell off parts of the group.

The division is an important part of Vodafone's business, providing telecoms and IT services to some of the world's top firms, including investment bank Morgan Stanley and insurer Aviva. It is understood to have about 900 contracts.

The division, which serves countries worldwide, has historically made more than 1billion a year in revenues, but these are understood to have decreased in recent years.

Vodafone, which has recently attracted the attention of Europe's biggest activist investor, Cevian Capital, currently deals with its international customers from hubs in the UK and EU.

In future, it intends to handle contracts with big overseas clients locally, in their home countries. Vodafone said this would enable it to provide more 'responsive' support. It is understood the restructuring has resulted in nearly 100 staff departures and job losses.

The division is also at the centre of an accounting error that could run to millions of pounds involving billing estimates for a small number of clients that were higher than the amounts eventually received. Vodafone said the bills were overestimated because it had not factored in the drop in business travel during lockdown, which resulted in lower roaming charges.

It said that the sums involved were not material to its overall accounts and that the mistake had been rectified for its half-year results to September 2021.

Cevian was last week revealed to have taken a stake in the 37billion company. Its arrival heaped further pressure on Read, who has seen shares slide to 1.35 from 1.60 when he took charge in 2018.
Backlash: Masayoshi Son is head of SoftBank

Politicians are calling for the foreign owner of technology giant Arm Holdings to float the company on the London Stock Exchange to return stewardship of the 30billion business to Britain.

Japanese multinational SoftBank  chaired by billionaire Masayoshi Son  bought the UK chip designer five years ago.

It has been locked in protracted talks to sell Arm to US semiconductor giant Nvidia, but the deal now looks close to collapse.

In November, the UK Government ordered a full investigation into the tie-up on national security grounds, adding to doubts over the sale.

MPs last week spoke out to call for Arm to stay in Britain on the grounds of national security.

There is resistance within SoftBank and Arm itself to a stock market listing and it is understood that this is regarded as a Plan B should the Nvidia deal collapse.

Arm employs about 3,000 people in Cambridge. If it listed in London, it would be one of the largest companies in the FTSE100 index.

However, SoftBank may instead seek to float the pioneering and strategically important company in New York.

Anthony Browne, the Conservative MP for Cambridge South, said: 'Arm is a leading British technology company of national strategic importance and a major local employer.

'If it is floated on the stock market, it should do so in London rather than New York or elsewhere to ensure its interests and those of its investors are aligned with our national interest.

'Ownership matters  particularly of such strategically important companies,' he added.

Damian Green, Tory MP for Ashford, said: 'Arm Holdings is a world-beating British company that should stay British. I would very much hope that if it lists anywhere it does so in London.'

The planned sale comes at a time when electronics manufacturers are struggling due to microchip shortages.

SoftBank was approached for comment.
New rules designed to ensure communities will still have access to cash when their last bank shuts are likely to result in a fierce consumer backlash in the coming weeks as some of the country's major high street banks embark upon a fresh round of branch closures.

Banking experts believe the new requirements, thrashed out late last year by the big banks and the Access to Cash Action Group, are well merited, but currently remain far too lenient towards the banks.

Many communities, they argue, will still lose their last bank branch  without benefiting from any improvement in alternative access-to-cash services (a post office for example) that they thought the rules were designed to ensure.

Sign of the times: Closures have become a familiar sight as major banks axed branches in their droves

Banking experts believe between 700 and 800 branches are likely to be culled this year as the major banks seek to cut costs and attempt to stem the march of new digital banks.

The first announcements of the year on bank branch closures are expected to come this month or next  with Lloyds and NatWest rumoured to be closest to confirming their plans.

'There are going to be a lot of disappointed small businesses and angry branch-dependent customers out there once branch closures start getting announced,' said one banking source close to the new arrangements.

They added: 'As a result of the new rules, they are going to think a white knight will come rushing to their rescue and insist that the banks fund the installation of a new cash machine in their community  or even a new-style banking hub that all bank customers can use. But it won't always be the case.'

Showaddywaddy star: Towns like mine must get support they need Plea: Music star Dave Bartram The market town of Syston in Leicestershire will host one of five banking hubs to be launched this year as a result of an agreement struck late last year with the banks and the Access to Cash Action Group. These will complement any hubs recommended by Link in response to last bank in town closures announced this year. Syston has lost all of its four banks in the past decade. NatWest exited eight years ago, followed by HSBC, Barclays and Santander, which pulled the plug last summer. Walk down the high street today and the Santander and Barclays branches are boarded up, while NatWest is home to a firm of solicitors and HSBC has become an optician. The old Barclays branch is currently an eyesore, white paint peeling off the dilapidated building. Yet it is expected to be home to the banking hub by the summer. Dave Bartram, former frontman of 1970s pop group Showaddywaddy, grew up in this 13,000-strong town and regularly comes back to visit close family and friends. The 69-year-old, who now lives near Bingham, Nottinghamshire, says news of the banking hub is 'welcome'. Yet he believes banks have helped damage the fabric of many communities like Syston by shutting branches, often indiscriminately. He says: 'In the music business, if you fail to deliver you do not last. The banking world seems to play by different rules. We trust them with our money and in return get precious little back. Banks should not reward our loyalty to them with branch closures, but show their support for communities like Syston.' Husein Jamaly, owner of Syston DIY and Hardware store, is equally unimpressed. The 56-year-old says: 'Since the banks started pulling out of this town, the footfall for local shops in the area has fallen by more than a third  as people have gone to other nearby towns for their banking needs. I fear this new idea is no substitute for a traditional high street bank.' Shirley Wright and Lindsay Rook run the Let's Party shop across the road from Husein's business, selling everything from helium-filled balloons to greetings cards. Shirley, 63, says: 'It is a shame the high street banks have deserted us. The town continues to grow, it's a great place to live, and the economy is buoyed by being home to food company Pukka Pies. Of course, we welcome a new banking hub.' The other four hubs will be in Acton, West London; Brixham, Devon; Carnoustie, Angus; and Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Toby Walne

Experts also believe the new rules need the backing of supporting legislation, otherwise the banks will look at ways to comply with them while spending as little as possible on funding alternative banking services.

The Government said it would legislate to protect access to cash two years ago, with any subsequent rules enforced by the Financial Conduct Authority, but it has yet to do so.

Derek French, a longstanding campaigner for shared branches or banking hubs as they are now referred to, says: 'The new rules do not represent a big enough leap forward.

'The banks should be required by legislation to be doing more to preserve banking services on our country's high streets. That means a nationwide network of banking hubs funded by the big banks, not a pick 'n' mix assortment of cash machines and cashback services.'

French says there are between 200 and 400 communities up and down the country that should be homes to these hubs, but he doubts whether the new rules will result in any more than 30 being set up.

The new rules on closures came into force at the start of this year. They were devised by the Access to Cash Action Group, a committee chaired by 'cash champion' Natalie Ceeney and set up by banking trade association UK Finance to look at ways of preserving access to cash.

The rules require 'independent' oversight of all branch closures ahead of their announcement by an individual bank. This role has been given to cash machine network Link  which is actually owned by the banks.

If a bank has drawn up a list of closures, it must submit them first to Link. It then applies an algorithm, devised by the banks, to all the branch closures that will leave a community bankless. Closures in towns where there is a rival bank still on the high street will not be investigated.

This algorithm will then determine whether the closure is allowed to take place without any remedial action from the banking industry.

Or it could signal that the closure can happen only if the banks collectively fund the provision of alternative access-to-cash services in the community  or improvements to existing ones. These could take the form of a new free-to-use cash machine, a bolstering of the local post office service (for example, the installation of an extra counter), or a banking hub.

The hub would be operated by a third party such as the Post Office, with staff from the big banks coming in on specific days to meet customers who need to discuss more complex financial issues, such as arranging a home loan or dealing with probate.

Such hubs have already been successfully trialled in Rochford, Essex and Cambuslang near Glasgow. The algorithm takes into account a host of factors in deciding whether alternative banking services need to be provided or existing ones improved.

These include the age demographic of the community  those with a large elderly population will be looked upon more favourably because such an age group has a greater need for high street banking services.

Other factors considered include whether the community has a big network of small cash-generating businesses that need to bank takings on a regular basis; whether the local post office can cope with an increase in demand for its services once the last bank shuts; and the proximity of the nearest town with a remaining bank branch.

Once the algorithm identifies those communities needing new banking services to make up for the loss of the last branch, Link's role will be to determine which of the three solutions is best.

It has put together a small team to visit the communities and assess what is the best way forward. The banks will then be required to carry out and fund Link's recommendation.

It is the fairness of the algorithm that some experts are questioning. They believe it has been set up to minimise the costs that the banks must pay.

It will also not be applied to communities that have already lost their last bank  and there is nothing to stop a bank shutting the last branch, even if a banking hub is recommended by Link and the closing branch would be the best place for it to be located in.

Some believe it will be Link that will end up taking the criticism when communities losing their last branch feel short-changed  not the banks. 'The rules aren't good enough,' said one source last week.

'Link will be seen as the ultimate decision maker and will take the flak when it's the banks that should be getting it.'

When a bank announces details of its closures, Link will be allowed to publish shortly afterwards which of the closures it has identified as requiring additional banking services.

The MoS understands some of the banks have already submitted closure lists to Link ahead of official announcements. Yet none of the banks, nor Link representatives, would confirm this.

Lloyds said: 'As we continue to respond to our customers' changing behaviour, and make sure that we have the right branches in the right places, we expect that we will continue to make changes to our branch network. Any potential closures across our brands will go through the independent assessment process, which is an important step in maintaining access to cash for people and businesses who need it.'

NatWest said: 'Having helped to design and develop the industry framework to ensure continued widespread access to cash through the Access to Cash Action Group, we are fully supportive, committed to its requirements, and an active participant in the group.'

Nationwide told The Mail on Sunday: 'Branches remain a key part of the way we serve our members and we recognise how much they are valued. This doesn't mean we will never close a branch  sometimes we have to, for example where we have a number of branches in the same area or a branch requires a lot of financial investment.'

Santander stated: 'We haven't submitted a list [to Link] as we don't have any announcement [on branch closures] planned.' It shut 111 branches last year.

John Howells, Link chief executive, said: 'I am pleased Link has been asked to take on the role of maintaining access to cash and we have our sleeves rolled up to support communities across the UK. Cash use continues to decline, which is placing pressure on ATMs and bank branches.'

Natalie Ceeney said: 'Access to cash and banking services are really important for millions of people and to small businesses. If a community does lose its last branch, there's now an effective way to make sure no one is left behind.

'Whether that's a new ATM, an enhanced Post Office or a banking hub, we have the tools to support communities.'
Animal welfare groups have slammed the cruel selective breeding for 'cuteness' of some of Australia's most popular 'baby-faced' dogs, including French bulldogs, and called for partial bans.

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) wants to see any dog with 'a muzzle length less than a third of its skull length' banned from being bred or shown because of the suffering caused on the animal.

The dogs with these features are often highly popular, but the impacts are so horrific and painful they are now designated 'brachycephalic breeds' because they suffer Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), among many other health issues.

Animal welfare groups have slammed the cruel selective breeding for 'cuteness' of some of Australia's most popular 'baby-faced' dogs including French bulldogs and pugs and called for partial bans

'BOAS affects the animals ability to breathe, exercise, thermoregulate, sleep, play and undertake other normal behaviours,' the AVA says.

The test that the AVA says should see a dog banned from breeding or being shown is whether its muzzle length less than a third of its skull

Some selective breeding for 'corkscrew tails' - including in pugs - has been associated with spinal and neurological problems in the breed.

The AVA's now calling for a partial ban on cavalier King Charles spaniels, pugs, Boston terriers, French bulldogs and British bulldogs.

'It would be a partial ban on breeding. That is, dogs severely affected with brachycephaly, or affected at all with spinal deformity, should not be bred or shown,' explained AVA spokesperson Dr David Neck.

Those dogs are all listed among Australia's 20 most popular breeds, but have been deformed by backyard breeders over many years.

In many cases, the dogs don't look like the same breeds from only a few decades ago, and the health issues emerged because of breeding.

The RSPCA said the cumulative ill health effects of selective breeding were so damaging that some of the affected types of dogs now need to be 'outcrossed' with other breeds to undo the damage to the breed.

'This may be necessary to effectively moderate exaggerated features and restore breeds to a physical type that is healthy,' an RSPCA spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

The animal charity Four Paws claimed 97 per cent of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels suffer a sad range of symptoms because their breeding compresses their brains.

An estimated 97 per cent of cavalier King Charles spaniels suffer disorders which can produce severe headaches, vision problems, balance problems, dizziness and even hearing loss

Pugs are one of the most popular breeds in Australia but have been selectively breed, sometimes by illegal unregistered breeders, to shorten their faces so they look 'cuter'. But the animals develop painful and expensive health problems

This historical image of a pug shows how different the breed used to look before hundreds of years of selective breeding

'With the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the small skull size for which they were bred reduces the space required to fit the entire brain,' Four Paws said in a statement.

'As a result, the brain is compressed, giving rise to two different disorders, Syringomyelia and the Chiari malformation, that have been identified in 97 per cent of these dogs. Symptoms include severe headaches, vision problems, balance problems, dizziness and even hearing loss.'

British Bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were recently banned in a landmark court decision in Norway.

The case was taken to court by Animal Protection Norway.

Ashild Roaldset, who heads up the charity, said: 'This is first and foremost a victory for our dogs'.

The Australian Vets Association wants all breeders forced to disclose health issues to buyers before selling affected breeds

Ashild Roaldset (pictured) said the ban on British bulldogs and cavalier King Charles spaniels was 'a victory for our dogs'

'It is a historic verdict that attracts international attention. The man-made health problems of the bulldog have been known since the early 20th century. But dogs have the right to be bred healthy.'

The life-long health issues the dogs face can routinely cost owners thousands in airway surgery costs and daily medications.

'In Western Australia I would expect BOAS airway surgery to be anywhere between $1,500 to 2,500 and diaphragm repair for sliding hiatal hernia to be $1,500 upwards,' explained Dr Neck.

'A lot of this will depend on follow-up care, some animals will need 24 plus hours intensive monitoring afterwards, and it must be noted this is not benign surgery.'

That means many of the dogs that undergo surgery will die in surgery or after an operation.

'Some conditions such as hypoplastic (under-developed) trachea in British Bulldogs simply cannot be fixed,' Dr Neck said.

The peak organisation which promotes breeding and showing, Dogs Australia, blamed 'rogue' and 'illegal' breeders who breed litters of pugs, French bulldogs and poodle crosses.

'Illegal breeders advertise on the Internet and are usually only contactable by mobile phone, which makes it virtually impossible for the regulators to find them,' it told Daily Mail Australia.

'They ignore government requirements to obtain a Breeders Identification Number because they know that they are untraceable, that means that there is no pressure on them to observe health and welfare issues regarding their breeding stock.'

Boston terriers are one of the breeds affected by breathing difficulties due to selective breeding

This is what French bulldogs used to look like before breeding shorted their muzzle, causing serious breathing difficulties

The RSPCA called on dog showing organisations to honour the calls to stop showing dogs whose health is severely impacted by damaging breeding.

'[We are] calling for urgent changes to judging criteria in the show ring, such as rewarding for health as the priority (rather than rewarding for physical appearance) and new rules to ensure dogs with exaggerated features cannot be shown,' the RSPCA said.

The AVA also wants to see changes to the law that force all dog breeders to be honest about the health conditions of the dogs or face penalties and bans.

'The AVA would like to see it mandated in law that breeders truthfully disclose health and welfare issues that occur with brachycephalic breeds to owners,' the AVA said.

'We recommend that dog owners taking on brachycephalic breeds must be fully informed of the health and welfare implications of common disorders of that breed, including the potential costs associated with managing these disorders.'

The RSPCA said some 'breed standards' actually build in characteristics that cause the dogs to suffer.

'Often, these exaggerated features are part of the pedigree breed standards for that dog breed despite them causing health and welfare problems,' it said in a statement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday China is ready to work with Qatar to launch the first panda cooperation in the Middle East.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Noting that the bilateral ties are now facing new opportunities, Xi stressed that China and Qatar should firmly support each other.

China stands ready to cooperate with Qatar on jointly building the Belt and Road, implementing the Global Development Initiative, and building long-term and stable energy cooperation, said Xi, adding that the two sides should deepen counter-terrorism cooperation and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Xi also expressed hope that Qatar will continue to play a positive role in pushing for reaching a free trade agreement between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at an early date.

The Qatari emir said Qatar will continue to firmly support China in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, and to play a positive role in deepening cooperation between the GCC and China. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
The nearly naked gunman who shot and killed four people at a Nashville Waffle House while wearing only a jacket in 2018 was found guilty on all charges after a jury rejected his insanity defense Friday.

Travis Reinking, 33, was found guilty on all 16 charges - including four counts each of pre-mediated and first-degree murder - in Davidson County Criminal Court in Nashville.

Reinking opened fire inside the restaurant just after 3.20am on April 22, 2018, killing Taurean Sanderlin, 29; Joey Perez, 20; Akilah Dasilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21.

He fled after restaurant patron James Shaw Jr. wrestled his assault-style rifle away from him, triggering a manhunt.

Reinking looked in the direction of his parents, sitting in the gallery, after the jury read the first of 16 guilty verdicts, but otherwise showed minimal reaction.

Meanwhile, survivors of the shooting and family members sitting across the aisle audibly gasped, crying and hugging as they left the courtroom.

Travis Reinking, 33, (middle) was found guilty on all 16 charges, including four counts each of pre-mediated and first-degree murder, in court on Friday

Travis Reinking's defense tried to claim the shooter had schizophrenia and suffered from delusions, but the claims were not taken seriously

Reinking shot four dead inside a Waffle House in Nashville in April 2018

The assault-style weapon Reinking used in the Waffle House shooting

'True justice is having my son here,' Dasilva's mother, Shaundelle Brooks, told reporters after the verdict. 'This is the closest [thing] to true justice.'

The jury will reconvene on Saturday to hear victim impact statements and decide whether Reinking will spend the rest of his life in prison or will have the possibility of parole. Brooks said she believes he should not be allowed parole.

Evidence presented during the trial showed Reinking had schizophrenia and had suffered delusions for years, believing that unknown people were tormenting him. He contacted law enforcement several times to report that he was being threatened, stalked and harassed.

In July 2017, he was detained by the Secret Service after he ventured unarmed into a restricted area on the White House grounds and demanded to meet with then-President Donald Trump.

His behavior was so alarming that state police in Illinois, where he lived at the time, revoked Reinking's state firearms owner identification. But that only meant he had to turn over his guns to someone else with valid identification. Reinking surrendered the guns to his father, who later returned them to his son.

His parents also called 911 in 2016 because their son was convinced Taylor Swift was stalking him and he had spoken of killing himself.

Since law enforcement declined to take his delusions seriously, Reinking began to feel that they and other random people were part of a conspiracy against him, psychologists testified at trial. Shortly before the attack, he believed that someone had drugged him, broken into his apartment and raped him. Reinking told psychologists that while praying about what to do, he received a command from God to go to the Waffle House and shoot three people.

Akilah DaSilva, 23, (left) and DeEbony Groves, 21, (right) were among the victims who were shot and killed by Reinking

Joe Perez, 20, (left) and Taurean Sanderlin, 29, were also shot dead

To prove Reinking was not guilty by reason of insanity, defense attorneys had to show not only that he suffered from a severe mental illness, but also that the illness left him unable to understand the wrongfulness of his actions.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Reinking was calm and cooperative after his arrest, able to understand and respond to commands. Although Reinking was naked when he walked from the crime scene, when he was captured nearly two days later, he was dressed and carrying a backpack loaded with water bottles, sunscreen, a pistol, ammunition, Bible, and several silver bars. And they mentioned he had asked to talk to an attorney after his arrest.

Davidson County Assistant District Attorney General Ronald Dowdy suggested that Reinking was acting out of revenge. He noted that days before the shooting, Reinking stole a BMW from a dealership. Reinking wrote in a journal about plans to drive to Colorado, describing a life in which he would hang out with friends, smoke marijuana, hike in the mountains and 'repossess' cars and houses so that he would not have to work, Dowdy said.

James Shaw Jr (pictured in court on Friday) disarmed Reinking in 2018 and suffered injuries, including a bullet graze on his arm.

James Shaw Jr. (right) who disarmed Travis Reinking during the shooting, holds hands with Shirl Baker (left), the mother of victim DeEbony Groves

Shaw (pictured in 2018) had injuries arm and a burn from the gun's barrel on his hand

After police took the BMW back the next day, he wrote, 'This time I would have to punish them by taking something they couldn't take back, some of their own lives,' the prosecutor said.

'He got upset, and so he drove to that Waffle House angry, because he wanted to exact the same kind of pain and suffering that he felt, on others,' Dowdy said during closing arguments.

Prosecutor Jan Norman also emphasized Reinking's own account of the shooting: He said that after killing Perez, 'I felt like I was going to throw up because this was something God told me to do but it felt evil.'

The jury on Friday also convicted Reinking on four counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts of unlawful employment of a firearm during commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony.

In addition to the four people he killed, he seriously wounded Sharita Henderson and Shantia Waggoner. Kayla Shaw and James Shaw Jr., who are not related, suffered lesser injuries.

Shaw suffered wounds to his hand and arm after disarming Reinking. Shaw said he was just trying to stay alive when he tackled the shooter and grabbed his assault rifle, throwing it over the counter.

'I'm not a hero, I'm just a regular person,' he said at a press conference at the time while tearing up.

'I think anybody could have did what I did if they're just pushed in that kind of cage. You have to either react or you're going to fold and I chose to react because I didn't see any other way of me living, and that's what I wanted to do, I wanted to live.'

Shaw, a Nashville native had been at a club when he and his best friend decided to get some food, he said in 2018.

They initially went to a different Waffle House but it was too packed, so they decided to another two miles away.

People react as the verdict is read during day five of Travis Reinking's murder trial

Shaundelle Brooks, mother of victim Akilah Dasilva, reacts after the verdict. 'This is the closest [thing] to true justice,' she said.

Joe Perez Sr., father of victim Joe Perez Jr., looks emotional as the verdict is read

Shaundelle Brooks, mother of victim Akilah Dasilva, speaks to reporters after a verdict was issued

Abede Dasilva, the brother of victim Akilah Dasilva, speaks to reporters after a verdict was issued

Shaw said he saw Reinking sitting in truck as he headed into the restaurant.

When the shots first rang out, Shaw thought a stack of plates had fallen to the ground.

Then the second one happened, then the third one happened, and I saw the Waffle House employees scatter and I saw a person lying on the ground at the entrance of the door,' he said.

When the gunman entered the restaurant Shaw tried to hide behind a swivel door.

'He shot through that door and it grazed my arm. That's when I made up my mind - if it was going to come down to it, he was going to have to work to kill me,' he said.

Shaw then saw a window of opportunity when the gunman was 'trying to reload.'

'I ran through the swivel door, hit him with the swivel door, and the gun was kind of jammed up and pushed down so we were scuffling,' he said.

'I managed to get him with one hand on the gun and I grabbed it from him and threw it over the counter.'

Shaw Jr said he didn't even feel the heat of the barrel when he grabbed the gun. After he got rid of the weapon, he pushed the gunman out of the restaurant.

The gunman fled and Shaw said he didn't follow because he was scared he might have another gun. Soon after, he flagged down passing drivers to call 911.
Two Nevada women were arrested and charged after authorities discovered two children - covered in dog bites - in a feces-caked, trash-laden house of horrors where they'd been living with more than 30 dogs and sleeping on a filthy air mattress.

On Monday morning, deputies with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office responded to a welfare check at the Lemmon Valley home of Lindsay Arnold, 29, and her friend, Christa Garcia, 46, according to a press release.

The two women were living alongside Arnold's two children, ages seven and nine, in 'deplorable living conditions and with nearly three dozen dogs.'

'The children were noticed to have old and new dog bites and/or scratches on their bodies' authorities noted, as well as healed scars from previous bites.

It remains unclear who called the police or what prompted them to conduct Monday's welfare check.

Pictured: Lindsay Arnold, 29, who's two young children, ages seven and nine, were removed from a filthy basement apartment where they lived with 34 dogs

Christa Garcia, 46, pictured, is facing charges of two misdemeanor counts of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment following Monday morning's rescue and arrest

The family had been living in a three-bedroom, 900-square-foot basement sublet, with one of the smaller bedrooms occupied by the children and 18 dogs. The kids shared a 'deflated air mattress covered in dog feces,' deputies reported.

'The entire basement floor was covered with clothing, trash, and animal feces,' authorities stated.

In another bedroom, Arnold and Garcia lived alongside another 15 dogs, while an 'uninvolved third party' who was renting the third bedroom had a dog of their own.

The two children were removed from the home on sight, and are now living elsewhere with relatives under short-term 'emergency care,' according to the press release.

Authorities did not immediately reveal long-term custody plans for Arnold's children.

The two women were arrested following the wellness check. Arnold was charged with two felony counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment. Garcia is facing charges of two misdemeanor counts of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment.

On Monday morning, deputies with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office responded to a welfare check at the Lemmon Valley home, the exterior of which is pictured above

The 34 dogs rescued, of various breeds including pit bulls to chihuahuas, were similarly removed.

Washoe County Regional Animal Services has started an animal hoarding investigation into Arnold and Garcia, however it was still unclear if they would face animal abuse charges as of Friday.

If convicted of the felony child abuse charges, Arnold could face anywhere from two to 20 years in a state prison, according to the Las Vegas Defense Group.

Garcia could face up to a year in jail and as much as $2,000 in fines, if convicted of the gross misdemeanor charge.
Manhattan's new 'woke' prosecutor on Friday backtracked on his soft-on-crime approach that had been greeted with derision by cops.

Alvin Bragg sent out a memo to all his staff making it clear that any crime involving a firearm would be prosecuted as a felony  reversing the stance he took just a month ago.

'Gun possession cases are a key part of our plan for public safety,' Bragg wrote in his memo.

'People walking the streets with guns will be prosecuted and held accountable. The default in gun cases is a felony prosecution,' he added.

The move by Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, was in direct contradiction to the position he laid out in a memo on his first full day on the job.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg drew criticism from police officers and public officials after unveiling his shockingly soft stance on crime to staff last month

Bragg backtracked on his statements in a memo sent to staff Friday making it clear that any crime involving a firearm would be prosecuted as a felony

Then he said armed robbery charges would be reduced to misdemeanors if the firearm did not 'create a genuine risk of physical harm.'

Bragg has now changed his tune, saying robberies at knifepoint on commercial businesses would also be charged as felonies if there was a real threat.

But shoplifting, he said, would be judged on a case-by-case basis 'based on all the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented.'

Bragg's about-face was greeted with skepticism by the leader of one police union.

'Actions speak louder than words, Detectives' Endowment Association president Paul DiGiacomo told DailyMail.com.

'The message was sent loud and clear in his first memo to the criminal element  and you can't take that back.

'There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding arrests.

'There is a penal law and those laws are there for a reason, and they should be prosecuted. You can't just disregard the law.

'If you don't like a law then you act to get it changed, you don't ignore it.'

New NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who was among Bragg's critics, had vowed to crack down on the surging crime in violence in the city during his campaign

Bragg's sweeping changes were met with derision by cops who have faced calls to defund the police while crime in New York City has skyrocketed. Pictured: NYPD officers attend a funeral mass for the two cops killed in a shooting last month

Half a dozen NYPD officers have been shot  two of them fatally  since Alvin Bragg took office on January 1

DiGiacomo said only time would tell whether Bragg has genuinely stepped back from his original stance or if the new message was just window dressing.'

He was particularly concerned that Bragg had not addressed his controversial policy of declining to prosecute instances of resisting arrest.

Six cops have been shot since Bragg and Mayor Eric Adams took office at the start of the year. Two of them, Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera, were killed

'You can't just disregard the law,' Paul DiGiacomo of the Detectives' Endowment Association told DailyMail.com

Tess Cohen, a former Manhattan drug prosecutor who is now a defense lawyer, told the New York Times that Friday's changes were more symbolic than substantive.

'I think this is purely a clarification of what he'd always said in the Day One memo, which was largely criticized based on misunderstandings of what his policies were, she said.

But Udi Ofer of the ACLU told the Times he had 'never seen an example of where there is a 180 degree flip.'

'What kind of message is now being delivered to the line prosecutors and to New Yorkers?' Ofer asked.

'It's giving in to the tough-on-crime narrative that has brought us this mass incarceration crisis in the first place.'

Bragg, 48, admitted in his new memo that his original missive had 'been a source of confusion, rather than clarity' as it set to lay down guidelines for prosecutors.

And he made it clear that those prosecutors  known as assistant district attorneys or ADAs  would have the last say in how a case should go.

NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora were ambushed when responding to a domestic violence call on January 21. Four other NYPD cops, three of them on-duty, were shot in the first five weeks of the year

NYPD officers seen carrying Officer Wilbert Mora's casket as they exit St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan

[Y]ou were hired for your keen judgment, and I want you to use that judgment  and experience in every case,' he wrote.

He added: 'The position of the office on a case will be presented exclusively by the Assistant who appears on the case.'

He said his earlier memo was not intended to 'place any limitations on the lawful prosecutorial prerogatives' of any of the 500-plus ADAs in his office.

In his new memo Bragg, a Democrat who won the November election with more 83 per cent of the vote, also said that violence against cops would not be tolerated.

The message was sent loud and clear in his first memo to the criminal element  and you can't take that back Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association

'We will prosecute any person who harms or attempts to harm a police officer,' he wrote without making it clear whether the cases would be charged as felonies or misdemeanors.

Bragg's original memo had stated that burglaries would no longer be prosecuted as felonies if the bandit stole from a storage unit or outdoor property that isn't connected to a 'living' dwelling.

He said quality-of-life crimes such as prostitution, turnstile jumping, weapons possession (of non-firearms) and marijuana possession would not be prosecuted at all.

He had also asked ADAs to use their judgment when dealing with cases involving the homeless, mentally ill and what he called 'crimes of poverty.'

Bragg had made it clear during both the Democratic primaries and his election campaign that he would put his new policies into practice on his first day on the job  and he did just that.

Under his plans, drug dealers would not be prosecuted for felony crimes unless they committed other offenses on top of dealing, and prison should be a 'last resort.'

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch responded to Bragg's original memo saying he had 'serious concerns'

But when he got into the job he found a different climate with politicians and the public clamoring for tougher action against criminals as the Big Apple's crime statistics soared. So within just one month and one day he was forced to back down.

In particular the public has been outraged by the mounting number of violent crimes being committed by repeat offenders who have been let out of jail early.

NYPD unions, Republicans and many residents were left dumbfounded amid growing fears that the crime-ravaged city will experience the same fate as other progressive-run bastions on the West Coast that have been plagued by looting and lawlessness.

At the time, DiGiacomo told DailyMail.com: 'Why doesn't Bragg just give the drug dealers business cards telling everyone they're open for business, what their hours are, and what they charge?'

'Alvin Bragg's memo to his staff specifying his prosecution policy will result in more crime and increased shootings.

'Where there are drugs, there are guns,' DiGiacomo said. 'DA Bragg has made himself the police, the judge and the jury.'

According to the most recently available crime data of the week ending January 30, crime is up across the board in New York City compared to this time last year, with a 37 percent increase in overall crimes

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch, who leads the nearly 24,000-member union, said that had 'serious concerns' over the new policies.

'Police officers don't want to be sent out to enforce laws that the district attorneys won't prosecute, said Lynch.

'There are already too many people who believe that they can commit crimes, resist arrest, interfere with police officers and face zero consequences.'

New York Republican chairman Nick Langworthy called Bragg's policy 'pure insanity.'

'This, on top of Democrats' end to cash bail, will have deadly results and send even more residents, businesses and tourists fleeing,' he predicted.

'This is a damning reminder that elections have consequences,' he told DailyMail.com.
This undated photo provided by the Alexandria, Virginia, Sheriff's Office in January 2022 shows Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, who is accused of joining ISIS and leading an all-female battalion

Kansas 'ISIS mom' Allison Fluke-Ekren was denied bail after appearing in court in Virginia on Thursday to face terrorism charges for 'joining ISIS and leading an all-female battalion armed with AK-47 rifles in Syria.'

Fluke-Ekren, 42, of Topeka, is accused of providing and conspiring to provide material support to ISIS after joining the terrorist organization overseas in 2014, prosecutors say.

Authorities released a booking photo following her arrest last week, in which she is wearing a black hijab, and revealed she was known by the names, Umm Mohammed al-Amriki, Umm Mohammed, and Umm Jabril.

She first appeared in court on Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

At the end of the hearing First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh told the judge that he had been in contact with Fluke-Ekren's parents and her adult children, and they all said they wanted no contact with her.

Prosecutors say Fluke-Ekren wanted to recruit operatives to attack a college campus in the U.S. and discussed the idea of attacking a shopping mall by remotely detonating a car full of explosives in the parking garage.

She told one witness that 'she considered any attack that did not kill a large number of individuals to be a waste of resources,' according to an FBI affidavit.

The same witness said that when Fluke-Ekren would hear about terrorist attacks in countries outside the U.S., she would comment that she wished the attack occurred on American soil instead.

The affidavit also alleges Fluke-Ekren, who went by the names 'Umm Mohammed al-Amriki,' 'Umm Mohammed,' and 'Umm Jabril,' became a leader of an Islamic State unit called 'Khatiba Nusaybah' in the Syrian city of Raqqa in late 2016.

The all-female unit comprised of the wives of male ISIS fighters was trained in the use of AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts.

The members of Khatiba Nusaybah were allegedly instructed on physical training, medical training, Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device driving courses, religious classes and how to pack and prepare a 'go bag' with military supplies. According to eyewitness accounts, some of these classes were allegedly taught by Fluke-Ekren.

She also is accused of providing ISIS and ISIS members with services, which included lodging, translating speeches made by ISIS leaders, training children on the use of AK-47 assault rifles and suicide belts, and teaching extremist ISIS doctrine, prosecutors said.

Fluke-Ekren, who once lived in Kansas, moved with her husband and four children to Egypt in 2008 and traveled frequently between Egypt and the US over the next three years

Fluke-Ekren is pictured with her family riding camels and horses at the foot of the pyramids in Egypt. She later relocated to Syria, allegedly to join Islamic extremists

Prosecutors say Fluke-Ekren (pictured with her family) wanted to recruit operatives to attack a college campus in the U.S. and discussed a terrorist attack on a shopping mall

Fluke-Ekren has been accused of trying to ransom her own children back to their father in Kansas after she fled with them to the Middle East, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Her former sister-in-law, Amy Fluke, 49, has revealed the mom began sending her ex-husband emails and notes demanding more than $6,000 for the return of their two kids, shortly after moving abroad.

'The first month they were away in Turkey we could still call and talk to Gabe and Alaina, but after that we lost all contact. And that broke my brother,' Amy told DailyMail.com.

'That's when the really weird stuff started happening. It started with ransom notes.

'We would get them by mail or emails. They were telling him he could have the kids back for a certain amount of money. Sometimes it was $5,000 or $6,000, and it started being more and more. I don't remember the highest amount.

'But we wanted to get the children back legally, so he didn't pay any ransom. We were trying to fight for the opportunity to get them back to the United States to have a custody hearing, and that's when we lost all contact with the children for about five or six years,' she added.

It was not clear whether any ransom money would have been diverted to ISIS.

DailyMail.com also found that Fluke-Ekren - who is now charged with supporting a terrorist organization - faked her own death while living in Syria and taunted her ex husband that his daughter, Alaina, was dead.

Relatives revealed Gabriel managed to escape back to the US when he was 17 and he has made a new life for himself, but Alaina's whereabouts remain unknown and she could still be in Syria.

Amy made the ransom revelation as James Fluke spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com following his ex-wife's court appearance Monday where she was charged with being a member of Islamic State and leading an all-female battalion armed with AK-47 assault rifles.

'I hope they lock her up and throw away the key,' he said. 'She kidnapped my kids for ten years. She's manipulative. She always has been. She's always wanted the spotlight. There is no way to adequately describe how manipulative she is.'

Speaking at his modest home in a quiet corner of Topeka, Kansas, he continued: 'Imagine your wife stabbing you with a sharp object and then for some odd reason she discusses this with you to the point where you are apologizing for it.

Asked about his reaction to the terrorist accusations against her, Fluke  who fits tires and mufflers for Midas  added: 'I can't even wrap my head around it. I hope she gets what she deserves. I hope it's done right.'

A criminal complaint was filed under seal against Fluke-Ekren in 2019, however, she was whisked back to the United States from Syria to face charges on January 31.

Other members of her former family in Topeka exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com that the nature-loving Fluke-Ekren grew up as Allison Brooks on an isolated farm in Overbrook, Kansas, which could only be accessed through dirt roads.

She and Fluke had two children, Gabriel, now 25, and Alaina, who would be 24 if she is still alive. The now alleged terrorist became pregnant with Gabriel at 17 when she was a student at Topeka Collegiate School and dropped out of high school.

But Fluke worked two jobs  washing cars by day and chauffeuring for a casino at night  so she could get her GED and later attend the University of Kansas  where she began a relationship with Volkan Ekren, a member of a powerful family in Turkey.

It was then that she started becoming very critical of America to some members of her family in Topeka, relatives told DailyMail.com.

She also dropped out of college and is not a qualified teacher as has been reported.

A prosecutor told a federal judge on Monday Fluke-Ekren's adult children and her parents said they wanted no contact with her

FBI alleges Fluke-Ekren, aka 'Umm Mohammed al-Amriki,' 'Umm Mohammed,' and 'Umm Jabril,' became a leader of an all-female ISIS unit called 'Khatiba Nusaybah' in the Syrian city of Raqqa in 2016

Fluke-Ekren, a teacher by trade, allegedly helped train female ISIS members and their children in the use of AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts

James and Allison eventually divorced, sparking a bitter custody battle. She then married Ekren and took the children to Turkey with him without her ex's permission.

A Fluke family member who did not want to be identified told DailyMail.com: 'James got Gabe back when he was around 17 after he literally escaped. But Alaina, his biological daughter, she never came back.

'He still doesn't know where she is. He believes there comes a time when he just cannot dwell on that. He doesn't know if Alaina is or was in Syria, somewhere else in the Middle East, or even if she is still alive. He has no idea. He tries not to think about it.'

In 2008, Fluke-Ekren left Turkey and moved to Cairo, Egypt with her new husband and taught children there.

She traveled frequently between Egypt and the US for the next three years but had not been in the States since 2011, according to court documents. She is believed to have moved to Syria around 2012.

According to prosecutors, her husband was killed in the Syrian city of Tell Abyad while trying to carry out a terrorist attack in early 2016.

The alleged terrorist mom then went on to marry a Bangladeshi ISIS member who specialized in drones, but he died in late 2016 or early 2017, authorities say.

Four months after that man's death, she again remarried a prominent Islamic state leader who was responsible for the Islamic State group's defense of the Syrian city of Raqqa, which became the capital of ISIS's self-proclaimed caliphate.

She is believed to have had at least three more children, according to her family blog 4KansasKids, where she had been documenting the family's life overseas until 2010.

Through Volkan Ekren, Fluke-Ekren had a second daughter named Leyla, who is now living safely in the United States, having escaped the Islamic radicalism with Gabriel.

Fluke-Ekren (pictured with school children) was quoted as telling a witness that she wanted to die as a martyr in Syria

Former friends and family have shared details of Fluke-Ekren's early stages of criticism for America and her eventual radicalization. She is seen as a young woman - back when she was known as Allison Brooks - with a flower tucked behind her ear in a field near Topeka, in a photo taken for an outdoor photography class in the mid-1990s

'James takes care of her now as well. He is incredibly protective of these now adult children and is very angry about what she put them through,' said the family member.

'If Allison gets a long sentence, he will probably just move on. But if she brings the kids into her defense, he will fight back.'

Amy Fluke branded her former sister-in-law a 'fantasist', describing how her character changed after marrying James Fluke.

'When we first met her she was sweet, really nice, seemed perfectly sane,' she said.

'And it was shortly after she got pregnant with Gabriel that everything went south and changed. Mood swings, really protective of what my brother could and couldn't do all of a sudden. She was very weird about, "where have you been," "what have you been doing?"

'It was right then, that's when the lies started. She would lie to people about her past. I read one article that stated she had a master's degree in teaching, which she does not.'

Amy Fluke, who lives close to her brother, continued: 'She vanished for days at a time, and would say that she needed time with her friends.

'At the time we thought that's weird and the marriage was kind of rocky, but later on we found out that's when she was meeting people who were interested in radical Islamic fundamentalism.

'She mentioned that she wanted to become Muslim. She would talk a lot about how she did not enjoy the United States anymore and was very critical of it.

'She said things in the Middle East were easier and much better, that women had a certain place in life and that that's how she was going to raise Gabe and Alaina. She started wearing the headdress and made Alaina do the same. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but it just seems more relevant now.'

Mechanic ex-husband James Fluke, 47, spoke to DailyMail.com from the doorstep of his Topeka, Kansas home, revealing he lost all contact with his own children for 10 years after his ex-wife fled the US with them

James and Allison had two children, Gabriel, now 25, and Alaina, who would be 24 if still alive, after meeting in high school. The 47-year-old has described his ex-wife as 'manipulative'

While abroad, Gabriel and Alaina made secret and hurried phone calls to Amy and James in later years to reassure them, but did not reveal where they were. However, those calls also eventually stopped.

The son suddenly and mysteriously turned up in New York when he was 17, with Leyla. He gave little away about his life, or how he managed to get out.

'At first he wouldn't talk at all. And he is still not going to talk a lot about his mom in his life,' Amy said.

'But every once in a while a little snippet comes out  and that's when we learned that she dragged them pretty much all over the Mideast, and from husband to husband.

'From what I understand through Gabe and Leyla, I do understand she took them to Syria. But we don't know that for a fact.'

'She hasn't been in contact with us for a very long time. Gabriel now has a house, he has a job and just seeks to have a quiet life. Gabe got back to the U.S. on his own. I have no idea how he broke free. He won't talk about it.

'One day, he was in New York and he called his dad and said, "can you pick me up, I'm getting out." And James got in a car the next day and drove all the way to New York. The last time he had seen Gabriel was when he was eight.'

Fluke-Ekren's parents Alice Brooks, 77, and Mark Brooks, 76 - who split 20 years ago - along with Gabriel and Leyla, requested the alleged terrorist be banned from contacting them through an attorney at Monday's hearing.

A close friend of the Brookses told DailyMail.com in Topeka: 'Mark and Alice hadn't seen or had contact with Allison for years.

'They knew she had gone off the page and wasn't a good American. Perhaps I shouldn't say that last bit, but that's how it appears. They were a beautiful family  yet she faked her death and put them through that.'

The friend, who did not want to be named, added: 'I knew her when she was a little girl and she was delightful. It is shocking what has happened. Absolutely heart breaking.

'And that is how the family are feeling. They don't want anything to do with her.'

In all, the affidavit cites observations from six different witnesses, including some who have been charged with terrorism offenses and some who were held at prison camps for former Islamic state members.

Fluke-Ekren met second husband Volkan Ekren (left) - a member of a powerful family in Turkey - at university, when she was still married to Fluke. The two went on to marry and have at least three more children, according to her family blog. They are pictured above with their son Zaid

According to family members, Fluke-Ekren's eldest son, Gabriel (left) now 25, managed to escape to the US when he was 17 and has made a quiet new life for himself, but his sister Alaina, now 24, (right) remains missing and could still be in Syria

Volkan pictured with Gabriel, Alaina, and two of his children with Fluke-Ekren, Leyla and Nael (in the back) in 2008

A 2004 article about homeschooling in the Lawrence Journal-World featured Fluke-Ekren and her children. She told the paper she pulled her kids from public school because she was dissatisfied with how her children were performing in public and private schools. Homeschooling allowed her to teach Arabic to her kids.

Earlier this week, her former science teacher Larry Miller shared photos of Fluke-Ekren  then Allison Brooks  with DailyMail.com. One had her holding a lizard on a school field trip and in another she looked wistful with a flower in her hair during a photography course.

'She loved nature and she loved learning about nature,' Miller said.

'I do not understand how intelligent and caring people like Allison and others end up being so brainwashed to want to harm and kill others  that in most cases have done nothing to deserve any type of violence toward them.'

Miller told The Capital Journal that he first met Fluke-Ekren in the early 1990s, when he taught her science at Topeka Collegiate School.

'Never would any of us who knew her back then ever thought she would end up as she has today,' Miller said.

Miller, who is now retired, told the paper that as a student, Fluke-Ekren 'was good at everything.' He described her then as a 'pleasant young lady' who shared many of his own interests, including nature and photography.

The two kept in touch over the years, and Fluke-Ekren even hired Miller to be her wedding photographer.

In 2008, Miller said Fluke-Ekren sent him an email, writing to him that she was happily married with four children, and that she was pursuing a master's in teaching in Indiana.

Some time after that, Fluke-Ekren reached out to Miller again, asking him if he knew of any teaching positions in Kansas. Miller said he told her of one job opportunity, to which she applied and was hired, but instead she moved with her then-husband and children to Egypt.

Fluke-Ekren's final Facebook post, dated May 5, 2008, reads: 'Moving to Egypt. I'm a little behind the curve, but trying to learn how to use Facebook. =-) Well, after years of planning and preparing, we are moving out of the States. We'll be in Cairo, Egypt, insha'Allah. I am teaching kindergarten, and my husband will be going to Al Azhar [University]. The kids are excited, but nervous, as am I. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated!'

While she was allegedly planning terror attacks to kill as many as possible, Fluke-Ekren would blog about the little things in life, like her son graduating from kindergarten

A photo shared with DailyMail.com shows smiling and innocent Allison Brooks working on a science project in junior high - decades before, as Allison Fluke-Ekren, she would become an alleged leader of an Islamic terrorist group

Other members of her former family in Topeka, Kansas exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com background details of the 'fantasist's' early stages of criticism for America. She is pictured with son Nael and daughter Leyla

A former friend, who agreed to be identified by her last name, Farouk, told ABC News the woman was 'highly intelligent' but had been radicalized when she lived overseas.

Fluke-Ekren was described as a 'marksman' who 'fantasized' about an attack on the U.S. and who 'liked being in charge.'

'She was highly intelligent ... She liked being in charge, she liked running her own show and making her own decisions,' said the former friend, who agreed to be identified only by Farouk, her last name.

According to Farouk, who last had contact with her former friend 10 years ago, Fluke-Ekren grew up on a farm and was an 'extremely good shooter.' She described Fluke-Ekren as a 'good mom' but that her radicalization caused a divide in her family.

'I told people who she was friends with in Kansas, I told them, '''This girl is radicalized,'" Farouk told ABC.

'She was very sympathetic toward the Islamic states, and how they were doing the right thing and how we needed to, you know, support the women and children, that sort of stuff.

'I think that she really felt people were being harmed by a larger force. And she felt the need, she had to jump in.'

When she observed her new behaviors, Farouk told others about it but was dismissed.

'And they told me, ''No, that's not true. How can you say that?''' Farouk said. 'And it made me like, it really made me second guess myself. And you start to believe like, 'Oh, you know, maybe, maybe I'm crazy.'''

'I was thinking, '''This is not good.''' I had seen it, watched her transformation," she added.

Fluke-Ekren faces life in prison if she is convicted of her alleged plans to commit a 'violent jihad.'
A mother who was charged with her GP with attempting to murder her severely disabled six-year-old daughter had set up a GoFundMe to improve her quality of life.

Western Australia mother-of-four Michelle Yvonne Gough, 40, attempted to raise $20,000 for her girl when she kickstarted the online fundraiser in December 2016.

Gough said the money would go towards buying treatment to help her 'beautiful baby girl' and her 'neurological issue'.

Five years later police allege Gough attempted to overdose the girl on insulin after obtaining a prescription for the drug from Dr Pieter Theunis Austin, at his Albany practice, on January 17.

Western Australia mother-of-four Michelle Yvonne Gough, 40, attempted to raise $20,000 for her girl when she kickstarted the online fundraiser in December 2016

Gough appeared to be the doting and concerned mother when she launched the GoFundMe campaign

Dr Austin was arrested on Wednesday and Gough was arrested on Friday. Both have since been charged with attempted murder.

Gough appeared to be the doting and concerned mother when she launched the GoFundMe campaign.

She said her daughter had been 'diagnosed with a neurological issue that affects her ability to organise her gross and fine movement patterns'.

'(She) has been unable to learn to move her body voluntarily or effectively, which means she finds it difficult to eat, chew and swallow,' Ms Gough said in December 2016.'

Gough wanted to raise money for Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration (MNRI) therapy.

Russian psychologist Dr Svetlana Masgutova developed the therapy and the treatment aims to improve sensory-motor processing and emotional recovery.

'We would greatly appreciate any financial help we are offered to help our beautiful baby girl continue improving and make the most of this time while she is so young,' she said.

Gough managed to raise the $20,000 in just four months and drew in donations from around the world including $1,100 from Denmark Baptist Church.

The mother-of-four regularly updated the GoFundMe and revealed she had flown to the US to attend an MNRI conference in the US in April 2017.

'We are all looking forward to watching our little (daughter) begin to finally thrive in her body,' Gough said.

Five years later police allege Gough attempted to overdose the girl on insulin after obtaining a prescription for the drug from Dr Pieter Theunis Austin on January 17

Dr Austin was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempted murder. He appeared at Albany Magistrates Court (pictured) on Thursday

'Thank you all for making this opportunity possible.'

Gough made a final post in August 2017 to say her daughter's progress had been slow.

'Two steps forward, one back kind of thing ... it can be quite frustrating at times,' she said.

'However the emotional highs we have when she makes any bit of progress more than makes up for it.'

Police allege the six-year-old's health deteriorated on January 19 - two days after Gough allegedly obtained the prescription from her Dr Austin.

The prescribed drug is believed to be insulin, The Albany Advertiser reported.

She was taken to a local medical facility before being moved to Albany Hospital, where her condition stabilised.

The child was then flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Perth Children's Hospital.

Dr Austin appeared at Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday. Gough faced court in Perth on Saturday.
A senior Alameddine family member has been arrested and charged with supplying large commercial quantities of prohibited drugs, and will appear in court on Saturday.

Rachad 'Richad' Alameddine, 30, was reportedly found by police at 10.50am on Friday hiding in a roof cavity in a Yagoona unit after his home was raided.

Police allegedly found four mobile phones, clothing, prescription drugs, scales, cocaine and bottles suspected to contain Gamma Butyrolactone (GBL).

Senior Alameddine family member Rachad 'Richad' Alameddine, 30, was arrested Friday at 10.50am

He was later charged with four offences, including supply prohibited drug  large commercial quantity, supply prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis, knowingly direct activities of criminal group, and knowingly derive material benefit from criminal group.

Alameddine spent Friday night in custody and will face Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday morning.

An unnamed 20-year-old was also arrested after a search of a Merrylands home on Wednesday allegedly found three mobile phones, clothing, and cocaine and cannabis.

He was reportedly found by police at 10.50am on Friday hiding in a roof cavity in a Yagoona unit after his home was raided

during a raid of his home police allegedly found four mobile phones, clothing, prescription drugs, scales, cocaine and bottles suspected to contain Gamma Butyrolactone (GBL)

He was refused bail and will face Fairfield Local Court on Monday with two counts supply prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis, knowingly derive material benefit from a criminal group, participate criminal group contribute criminal activity, two counts supply prohibited drug, and two counts possess prohibited drug.

A 22-year-old man will also appear in court on Monday on charges from late last year.

The arrests follow a series of serious developments in an ongoing family gang war.

On October 19, 2020, Mejid Hamzy was shot dead at Condell Park in what police believe was an act of retaliation from the Alameddine network to the Hamzy network.

An unnamed 20-year-old was also arrested after a search of a Merrylands home on Wednesday allegedly found three mobile phones, clothing, and cocaine and cannabis

Both families have long-established roots in organised crime in Sydney.

Mejid's was the first of eight public shootings as the two families go back and forth.

Six members of the Hamzy family have been killed and five arrested.

A 22-year-old man will also appear in court on Monday on charges from late last year related to the family network

The most recent person linked to the Alameddine family to die was Shady Kanj in August 2021.

Last week a two-week operation by police targeting the two family networks arrested more than 100 people.

Senior detective said they believe they have arrested key players and have identified more than 300 network associates.
The former best friend of fake heiress and convicted scammer Anna Sorokin blasted Netflix over its upcoming series about Sorokin's exploits, saying the streaming service is 'effectively running a con woman's P.R.  and putting money in her pocket.'

Rachel DeLoache Williams, a former Vanity fair photo editor who was friends with Sorokin when she was 'Anna Delvey,' alleges Sorokin scammed her out of $62,000 for a lavish Morocco trip.

Posing as a German heiress with a $67 million trust fund back in Europe named Anna Delvey, Sorokin scammed banks and New York's downtown socialite scene out of thousands of dollars while living in Manhattan between 2013 to 2017.

Now, her former best friend and alleged victim of Sorokin's scams is watching the fraudster become a star once again in the Netflix series Inventing Anna.

'Despite my personal objections, I can understand the series's appeal' Williams wrote in an essay for AirlMail published Friday.

'For Anna and Netflix alike, attention is stock-in-trade. Consider that whatever scruples audiences may have with Inventing Anna, whether they celebrate or scrutinize its dubious depictions, any controversy that ensues is sure to attract an even wider audience.'

Rachel DeLoache Williams, a former Vanity fair photo editor, was friends with Sorokin when she was 'Anna Delvey' alleges she scammed her out of $62,000 for a lavish Morocco trip

Anna Sorokin, 31, penned an open letter from her COVID isolation while in ICE custody complaining about being back behind bars and missing the premiere of her Netflix biopic

Sorokin, is played by Julia Garner (pictured) in Netflix's upcoming Inventing Anna. The fake heiress skipped out on exorbitant restaurant and hotel bills, and put her best friend in an awkward position putting $62,000  more than she made in a year  on their credit card to cover her expenses

'Inventing Anna,' produced by Shonda Rhimes, is set to release on Netflix next week. The 10-episode series stars 'Ozark' actress Julia Garner as Sorokin. Williams is played by 'Scandal' actress Katie Lowes

The 10-episode Shonda Rhimes-produced series, premieres next week on Netflix.

Williams's essay comes after Sorokin penned an open letter last week from her COVID isolation while in ICE custody whining about feeling like an afterthought, not being able to watch the Netflix series on her life and admitting she made 'questionable choices.'

Sorokin skipped out on exorbitant restaurant and hotel bills, and in Williams' case, put her in an awkward position putting $62,000  more than she made in a year  on their credit card to cover her expenses.

In April of 2019, Sorokin was convicted of four counts of theft services, three counts of grand larceny, and one count of attempted grand larceny. She was sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison, but was out in February of 2021.

The Russian born criminal was convicted of scamming New York banks and socialites out of thousand claiming to a German heiress named Anna Delvey

She was released from jai in February 2021 but soon taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa and faces being deported back to Germany

She was then arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 25 after she overstayed her visa. She faces deportation back to Germany but was still in ICE custody at an Orange County Jail in upstate New York.

In the letter published by Insider, Sorokin laments about being held behind bars after being ruled 'a continuous danger to the community' and insist that she was fully and legally self-sufficient after being released in 2021.

The 31-year-old notes that she paid off her criminal restitution and 'accomplished more in the six weeks they deemed were long enough for me to remain free than some people have in the last two years' although she does not specify how.

Sorokin also notes that she is appealing her criminal conviction in an attempt to clear her name. 'I did not break a single one of New York state's or ICE's parole rules,' she adamantly states.

She mocks the immigration judge's ruling that 'even if released from detention and ordered to report regularly to ICE, the respondent would have the ability and inclination to continue to commit fraudulent and dishonest acts' and claim that she 'failed to demonstrate remorse.'

Sorokin also complains about having to be put in 'medical isolation' for contracting COVID 'even though there's nothing medical about it.'

The Russian born criminal also complains about her inability to watch 'Inventing Anna,' the upcoming Netflix series centered around her scandal starring Julia Garner as the scam artist.

Sorokin claims that she could 'pull some strings and make it happen' but brushes it off saying 'nothing about seeing a fictionalized version of myself in this criminal-insane-asylum setting sounds appealing to me.'

'I imagined for the show to be a conclusion of sorts, summing up and closing of a long chapter that had come to an end,' she writes while sitting behind bars yet again.

She notes the nearly four years of phone conversations and in-person visits she participated in with the 'Inventing Anna' creators and actors but complains that the show is being told from a journalist's perspective.

'While I'm curious to see how they interpreted all the research and materials provided, I can't help but feel like an afterthought, the somber irony of being confined to a cell at yet another horrid correctional facility lost between the lines, the history repeating itself.'

The 31-year-old complains about her inability to watch 'Inventing Anna,' the upcoming Netflix series centered around her scandal starring Julia Garner as the scam artist

She notes feeling like an 'afterthought' as the show is being told from a journalist's perspective

Sorokin admits that she made 'questionable choices' calling herself an 'unreliable narrator'

Sorokin, played by Julia Garner (pictured), said that thinking through her years spent behind bars she also strangely brags how she was considered 'not a regular white girl, like the rest of them here'

'What you won't see in the Netflix show is my newly acquired habit,' she says noting how she 'methodically' bites the skin around her nails 'until the nailbeds slowly fill with blood from both sides, collect at the tip, which I then squeeze until there's enough to drip down the sink.'

Thinking through her years spent behind bars she also strangely brags how she was considered 'not a regular white girl, like the rest of them here.'

In the midst of her complaining she admits: 'I, the ultimate unreliable narrator, have made some questionable choices that I wouldn't necessarily repeat today.'

But quickly follows her second of remorse questioning whether she deserves to be deemed a permanent threat noting that other more violent criminals have been released. 'It makes no sense for me to still be here,' she insists.

The whining convicted criminal ends her open-letter rattling off a series questions:

'Will I forever be judged by my early-to-mid-twenties? Is there anything else I could possibly have done to close this chapter? Will I forever be stuck in a past not entirely of my creation without getting a chance to move on? How many years of reflecting on an overdrawn bank account are socially acceptable before one is allowed to open another one? How many ancient VHS tapes does one have to watch before one's considered reformed?'
A divorced anti-vaxxer dad from New Brunswick, Canada, has lost his right to see his three children in person after refusing to get the COVID shot.

The unidentified dad has an immunocompromised 10-year-old daughter but he and his new partner have refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine, leading Justice Nathalie Godbout of the Court of Queen's Bench to order him to stay away from all three kids.

Godbout wrote that the she was ruling 'with a heavy heart' but that the pair were 'well-positioned to transmit the virus' to the children despite their best efforts, especially to the father's at-risk daughter, who needs specialized care for non-cancerous tumors in her blood vessels.

Her ruling last Monday also made sure to debunk the fathers 'research' on the Pfizer vaccine.

'His own anecdotal research on such a highly specialized topic carries little to no weight in the overall analysis when measured against the sound medical advice of our public health officials,' Godbout wrote.

'It is no contest: the current science in the face of a highly contagious virus far outweighs Mr. F.'s layman wait-and-see approach,' she added.

Justice Nathalie Godbout of the Court of Queen's Bench (pictured) wrote that the father and his partner were 'well-positioned to transmit the virus' to the children

Despite losing in-person access to his kids, Godbout granted the father 'generous' visiting rights via Zoom.

If he decides to get the jab, he can return to court to ask for a change to the decision.

According to the attorney who represented the mother in the case, the three children have already received their first doses of vaccine after Godbout ruled that the mother could get her children vaccinated without their dad's permission.

'She was ecstatic in some regards,' said Grant Ogilvie, her lawyer. 'But this isn't a case where she wants to take the children away from their father. This is what's best for the children, period. She's acknowledged this is going to have an impact on the children, but she said, 'I have to do what's best for them.''

There have been a total of 3,096,217 Covid cases and 34,381 deaths in Canada - In Canada, 84 percent of the population has gotten at least one shot of the vaccine and 78.69 percent are fully vaccinated.

The ruling comes weeks after another anti-vaxxer dad in Montreal temporarily lost visitation rights to see his 12-year-old son after a judge ruled that his opposition to COVID health measures and vaccines would not make the visits in the child's 'best interest.'

'It would normally have been in the child's best interests to have contact with his father, but it is not in his best interest to have contact with him if he is not vaccinated and is opposed to health measures in the current epidemiological context,' Judge Jean-Sebastien Vaillancourt said in his December 23 ruling.

The ruling came after the father requested to extend his visitation time during the holiday season, which the mother opposed. Before the ruling, the father had visitation rights, 'including every other weekend and one week during the holiday season.'

The mother explained to the court that she had recently discovered that her ex-husband was unvaccinated and opposed health measures, which she proved by showing his social media posts.

The father admitted that he was unvaccinated and had 'reservations' about them but insisted that he respected the government's health measures and rarely left his home.

The judge's ruling described the man as a 'conspiracy theorist' and noted that he did not explain his resistance to vaccines and health measures.
Human resources manager Timilehin Yvette Olasemo made eight separate claims for bounce-back loans on behalf of her employer Essex Cares Ltd, obtaining 297,000 in the process

Anthony Cross QC is a former chairman of the Criminal Bar Association who has spent 40 years prosecuting and defending rapists, conmen, drug dealers and bent coppers.

Since becoming a judge, hes also presided over trials involving, among other things, a one-armed child sex pervert caught by online paedophile hunters, a cyclist who broke a pensioners hip via wanton and furious riding, a concert pianist who spiked a female students drink and then raped her, and a Britains Got Talent star who ran a 300,000 Ponzi scheme.

You might have thought, therefore, that little would surprise this grizzled veteran of the legal profession. But youd be wrong.

Human resources manager Timilehin Yvette Olasemo made eight separate claims for bounce-back loans on behalf of her employer Essex Cares Ltd, obtaining 297,000 in the process

Last month, Judge Cross made headlines by delivering a remarkable courtroom speech demanding an inquiry into the astonishing circumstances that resulted in the ringleaders of a violent crime gang getting their hands on 145,000 in Covid bounce-back cash.

One of the crooks was Asif Hussain, who ran an international chop shop operation that stole and then exported luxury cars to the Middle East.

Despite the fact that he had 48 previous offences on his criminal record, including a four-year jail term for drug dealing, he was able to obtain a 50,000 state-backed loan.

The money was wired to his company, German Automotive 365 Ltd, in the early months of the pandemic. The firm, purportedly a Wigan car dealership, had never filed accounts, never submitted a tax return and there are no records of it being registered for VAT.

Astonishingly, another 95,000 in loans were given to Hussains accomplice, Ibraaz Shafique. They were paid into bank accounts hed opened days earlier on behalf of two Oldham firms.

The most basic of checks would have revealed the fraud, Judge Cross remarked while sentencing Hussain to 15 years and Shafique to five. The public are entitled to an explanation as to how these loans were obtained.

All the more shocking, however, is a pressing fact: the stunning oversights that led to these dangerous career criminals being granted Covid loans are actually par for the course.

Artem Terzyan (pictured) and Deivis Grochiatskij  from Russia and Lithuania  were arrested in 2018 on suspicion of using fake businesses to launder cash for gangs

This week, it emerged that as much as 17billion in bounce-back loans may never be repaid, with anything up to 5billion of those losses estimated to be related to fraud.

The shambolic state of affairs recently prompted the resignation of Lord Agnew of Oulton, a successful businessman who was minister for efficiency and transformation in the Treasury and Cabinet Office.

He stepped down last week, complaining that oversight of the Covid loans was nothing less than woeful and accusing civil servants of having no knowledge or little interest in stopping fraud.

Schoolboy errors were made, he declared, alleging that a combination of arrogance, indolence and ignorance freezes the government machine.

The roots of this growing scandal stretch back to May 2020, when small companies decimated by the first lockdown found themselves struggling to stay afloat. With bankruptcies threatening the economy, Chancellor Rishi Sunak instructed banks to hand out loans of up to 50,000  or 25 per cent of a firms turnover  to any registered company.

Recipients were allowed to self-certify that they met the criteria so that cash could be advanced in 24 to 48 hours.

Terms were remarkably generous: no interest would be charged for a year (it would then be only 2.5 per cent) and repayments could be put off for up to 18 months. If anyone later defaulted, the Government agreed to refund banks for losses.

Around 47.4billion was handed out, via 1.6 million loans during the 10 months the scheme was open. Some livelihoods were doubtless saved. But before long, serious flaws began to emerge.

Gerard Boyles waste-disposal firm South Manchester Plastics doubled up as the headquarters of his five-man drug gang, which purchased cocaine for 40,000 a kilo and distributed it across the North West

Most revolve around a simple fact: with the Government effectively guaranteeing loans, banks had little incentive to check that information applicants gave was correct or that they could afford to make repayments.

As a result, more than 1,000 of the firms given loans had not even been trading when Covid struck and nearly 10,000 companies went bust between May and October last year, leaving taxpayers on the hook for billions. In a significant proportion of these cases, unscrupulous directors had simply pocketed the 50,000 before dissolving the firm.

The scale of this wrongdoing is only now becoming apparent: almost half the people struck off by the Insolvency Service in the first fortnight of 2022 were found to have misspent Covid loans.

Another key error meant that checks to ensure that a single company was not illegally applying for multiple bounce-back loans were not put in place until June 2020, a month after the scheme was launched. By then, 61 per cent of the 47billion had been handed out.

Meanwhile there were few, if any, safeguards to stop one person applying for multiple loans using several inactive companies registered to the same address.

No one even bothered to check the names of applicants against the criminal database. Instead, anyone with a firm registered at Companies House and a linked bank account (a demographic that includes every successful money launderer in the UK) could access tens of thousands of pounds.

By November 2020, an undercover investigation by the Mail had exposed a firm of South London accountants charging 6,000 to fake documents that would help clients claim sham loans. They appeared to be carrying the scam out on a daily basis. Its inconceivable that they were the only ones.

Particularly galling, if you care about the public finances, is how much waste was avoidable.

Jonathan Houseman is a Black Country gangland figure was in September jailed for life, with a minimum of 40 years

David Clarke, the former chairman of the Fraud Advisory Panel, told MPs last year that a centralised bank data repository could have identified long-dormant company accounts that received government cash.

Another panel member, Michael Levi, called for the names of recipients to be published so that businesses, employees and journalists could check them out. The Treasury declined.

Keith Morgan, former head of the British Business Bank (BBB), a quango that oversaw the scheme, wrote to Alok Sharma, then the minister responsible, two days before launch to warn that the scheme was vulnerable to abuse by individuals and by participants in organised crime.

As recently as December, attempts to crack down on fraud were falling on stony ground. Just before Christmas, the aforementioned Lord Agnew wrote to BBB chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin questioning whether banks are genuinely doing all they can to fight fraud.

He asked for a lender performance dashboard... so we can seek to take action against those lenders who are not meeting the pace set by their peers.

Agnew  who claims that the BBB would not even share fraud data with him, despite his role as counter-fraud minister  sent the letter on December 16. By the time of his resignation, Smith had yet to reply. The BBB has since claimed the correspondence was held up in the House of Lords IT system.

They werent even using the counter-fraud software, Agnew has complained. I told them it wasnt acceptable.

With the buck ultimately stopping at Mr Sunaks door, Labour is on the offensive, with Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves describing the situation as a source of enduring shame to the Chancellor.

Many would say she has a point. So as public concern mounts, here are some of the crooks, conmen and assorted neer-do-wells awash with your Covid cash.

Drugs kingpin

Gerard Boyles waste-disposal firm South Manchester Plastics doubled up as the headquarters of his five-man drug gang, which purchased cocaine for 40,000 a kilo and distributed it across the North West.

It was raided last year after detectives bugging the property got wind of a plot to target the home of an elderly local businessman to steal cash, jewellery and luxury cars.

Discussing the heist, the gang had proposed using a blowtorch on the victims private parts, cutting off his ear and holding an iron to his chest to make him reveal where valuables were hidden.

During Boyles trial it emerged that South Manchester Plastics had never shown any evidence of legitimate trading.

The only significant amount that had ever touched its bank accounts was a 25,000 bounce-back loan Boyle secured in 2020, despite the fact that the company had never filed accounts. He and his colleagues were sentenced to a total of 130 years in prison.

Olufumi David Akinneye, of Cowthorpe Road, Lambeth, exploited a government loan scheme with Olasemo to fraudulently obtain 489,000

Fake businesses

Artem Terzyan and Deivis Grochiatskij  from Russia and Lithuania  were arrested in 2018 on suspicion of using fake businesses to launder cash for gangs.

Despite being accused of laundering 36million, they were soon free on bail and processed another 34million via their network of 200-odd firms during the ensuing two years.

When Covid struck, the duo then decided to claim bounce-back loans to the tune of a combined 10million, including 3.2million from one lender.

Sentencing them to 17 and 16 years respectively, Judge Rajeev Shetty told Kingston Crown Court in September that the British taxpayer will be staggered and upset to learn of the scam.

Scholars in fraud

Aamer Aslam and Razwan Ashraf were co-directors of Scholars Academy, a tutoring firm based in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, which in May 2020 applied for a bounce-back loan of 50,000.

To receive the money, they claimed that the firm was turning over 200,000 a year. In fact, its maximum monthly income since being formed in 2018 was 640.

The cash was then used to make 2,000 monthly payments to four individuals, all of whom were related to Ashraf. When it eventually ran out, seven months later, the firm was put into liquidation.

Questioned about the murky affair, the duo told the Insolvency Service that the money had been spent on business expenses.

However, they were unable to produce evidence to support that claim so were banned from being directors for 11 and 10 years respectively.

Rolex conmen

Muneef Ihsan had three dormant wholesale companies registered to his home address in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and in June 2020 decided to open bank accounts for each of them to obtain 150,000 in loans.

Theres no evidence they ever traded and all three firms were put into liquidation three months later.

An Insolvency Service investigation established that Ihsan had made cash withdrawals of 24,342 before transferring the remainder of the money into companies controlled by a friend named Mahir Towid Ul Haque.

Ul Haque, who had used his own firms to take out an additional 50,000 loan, used a portion of the funds to buy a Rolex watch. Another 16,050 went to his personal account, 8,410 was withdrawn in cash and 12,500 transferred to third parties. The duo were banned from being directors for 13 and six years respectively.

Brothel owner

Dariusz Sieredzinski ran a gang that trafficked an estimated 100 women from Eastern Europe in the back of lorries, before forcing them into prostitution.

He ran a network of brothels across the South East, advertising their services via adult websites. Women under his control were forced to have sex up to 14 times a day.

After police raided one venue, in Sunbury-On-Thames, and Sieredzinski was arrested, it emerged that he had made at least two fraudulent bounce-back loan applications, totalling 90,000.

When Muhammad Gohir Khan, an 11-an-hour Iceland delivery driver from East London, was convicted this month of agreeing to murder a pro-democracy Pakistani blogger in return for a 100,000 fee, it emerged that he had used an insolvent travel and export business, which had collapsed in 2019, to secure a 45,000 loan when the pandemic struck a year later

He and fellow gang members were successfully prosecuted for a string of prostitution and modern slavery offences, along with several counts of fraud, and this month were handed sentences totalling seven years and two months.

Iceland hitman

When Muhammad Gohir Khan, an 11-an-hour Iceland delivery driver from East London, was convicted this month of agreeing to murder a pro-democracy Pakistani blogger in return for a 100,000 fee, it emerged that he had used an insolvent travel and export business, which had collapsed in 2019, to secure a 45,000 loan when the pandemic struck a year later.

Gangland killer

Jonathan Houseman is a Black Country gangland figure who in 2019 hired a former heavyweight boxer named Brian McIntosh and his business associate Will Henry (brother of West End musical star Matt) to clear 1,000 tons of waste at a rubbish tip he owned in Halesowen.

Unfortunately, he had no means to pay the 400,000 he then owed the pair. So during lockdown he purchased four largely inactive companies that could each be used to raise 50,000 via a bounce-back loan.

Greed then got the better of him, however, and he decided instead to simply murder McIntosh and Henry and keep the cash.

He lured them to a deserted car park, got in to the back seat of their Range Rover and began spraying bullets. McIntosh was hit four times in the face and neck. Henry took two bullets to his head. Both died immediately.

Houseman, who was caught on CCTV fleeing the scene, was in September jailed for life, with a minimum of 40 years.

Catfishing HR Boss

Human resources manager Timilehin Yvette Olasemo made eight separate claims for bounce-back loans on behalf of her employer Essex Cares Ltd, obtaining 297,000 in the process.

The Nigerian national and her accomplice Olufumi Akinneye had originally used the personal details of eight colleagues to fraudulently apply for the loans after accessing employee records.

As soon as the cash landed in the business bank account, it was transferred into mule accounts. Later it was withdrawn from cash machines.

Several of the mule accounts belonged to victims of a so-called catfishing romance fraud that the duo had simultaneously carried out, in which they pretended to be a woman online in order to ensnare middle-aged men. Akinneye got five years and six months for fraud and money laundering.

Olasemo pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court last March and was sentenced to three years and two months for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
The stalled cruise ship industry has copped another blow with international giant Carnival cancelling its operations in Australia.

Set to be based at Brisbane's new $177 million International Cruise Terminal, Carnival Spirit will instead redeploy to Florida and start operating from March 7.

The ship's Australian operations have been cancelled until October 2023.

The international cruise line has also decided to cancel Sydney-based Carnival Splendor's operations until September 26.

Set to be based at Brisbane's new $177 million International Cruise Terminal, Carnival Spirit will instead redeploy to Florida and start operating from March 7 after cancelling its operations in Australia

Carnival announced the changes as the federal government continues to finalise a timeline for the return of international cruise ships to Australia.

Health Minister Greg Hunt had indicated that cruise ships would be banned from entering the country until at least February 17.

Australia has had a cruise ban since March 2020.

'Carnival Cruise Line looks forward to resuming guest operations in Australia when government officials can provide clarity,' a Carnival statement said.

The company attributed its decision to the 'continued uncertainty of cruising in Australia with operations still on pause'.

Health Minister Greg Hunt had indicated that cruise ships would be banned from entering the country until at least February 17

'Details for a two-ship return to Australia will be announced when they are confirmed,' it said.

Formerly Sydney-based, Carnival Spirit was set to be a major drawcard for Brisbane's new cruise terminal that was completed in October 2020 but is yet to officially open.

Carnival Spirit has been cruising to the South Pacific, Fiji and New Zealand from Sydney since October 2012.

It was initially meant to be a temporary deployment but had remained in Australia due to demand.

Travel operator Dan Russell says the Carnival news is a 'sickening' blow to Australia's cruising industry.

Travel operator Dan Russell says the recent Carnival news is a 'sickening' blow to Australia's cruising industry

'The Carnival Spirit's deployment (to Florida) is particularly disappointing because it was to have been based full-time at the still-unused international cruise terminal,' said Mr Russell, Brisbane-based Clean Cruising's general manager.

'Cruise lines are obviously getting frustrated with the lack of progress or clarity in Australia.'

Last week hundreds of travel agents demonstrated at MPs' offices around the nation calling for travel and cruise bans to be lifted, saying it was crippling the industry.

'Hundreds of travel agents around Australia depend on cruising in full or in part and it is very worrying to see opportunity sailing away because of government inaction here,' Mr Russell said.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, who came to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday pledged to push forward the cooperation between China and Mongolia in areas including infrastructure and pandemic containment.

Li made the remarks while meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, who came to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Noting that China and Mongolia are good neighbors, friends and partners, Li said China will give priority to ensuring the smooth operation of the ports on both sides to expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Li also pledged to promote the construction of railway, highway and energy projects, and carry out cooperation in the spirit of friendship and in accordance with market principles and business rules, adding that China will continue to provide support and assistance within its capacity to Mongolia in its fight against COVID-19.

Oyun-Erdene thanked China for its anti-pandemic support and expressed hope to work with China in fighting COVID-19 and keep border ports open.

Oyun-Erdene also suggested that the two countries should better align their development strategies, and deepen cooperation in energy and mining, transportation infrastructure and desertification prevention and control. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, who came to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, who came to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg, who accompanied Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)
Like most brides-to-be, Amy Crick is enjoying finalising the details of her wedding, from choosing bouquets for the bridesmaids to selecting the starters and settling on a song for the 'first dance'.

Input from her fiance, Steve, is most welcome, until he makes the mistake of saying: 'When Rachael and I got married . . .'

'Steve' is broadcast journalist Steve Bland, the widower of Radio 5 Live presenter Rachael Bland, who died in September 2018 after a high-profile battle with breast cancer.

Millions listened to You, Me And The Big C  the podcast she co-presented about living with cancer  and shed tears as she shared the final stages of her journey on social media.

Although hugely supportive and sympathetic to Steve and his young son, Amy also doesn't want to live in the shadow of his late wife.

Whenever he mentions how he and Rachael organised their big day, she will bluntly tell her husband-to-be: 'I don't really need to know the ins and outs of your first wedding.'

'It doesn't upset me,' she adds in her first interview since meeting Steve two years ago.

'But there are some things that I don't need to know, which is why I haven't listened to all of Rachael's podcasts and  although I have a copy of her autobiography on my bookshelf  I haven't read it.'

Journalist Steve Bland with his son Freddie, 6, and fiancee Amy Crick

Given that it was written in the final months of Rachael's life  one she would have given anything to go on living with Steve, her husband for five years, and son Freddie  it's easy to see why it might make difficult reading for Amy.

'Mine is a pretty unique situation, not many women have the opportunity to hear the innermost thoughts of their partner's first wife,' she says.

'And, obviously, because Rachael was such an incredible woman, there's an element of me feeling a bit inadequate by comparison.'

Of course Amy, 38, has nothing to feel inadequate about. The privately-educated daughter of a businessman and stay-at-home mum, raised in Formby, Merseyside, she is an advanced nurse practitioner, specialising in oncology, with numerous academic papers to her name.

It was this shared association with cancer that drew her and Steve together back in November 2019, when he and the other presenters of You, Me And The Big C gave a talk at a conference where she was in the audience.

'I stopped Steve as he walked past me and said: 'I think what you're doing  talking about emotions and grief from a male partner's perspective  is fantastic',' recalls Amy.

'But then I was hideously embarrassed and sent him a message on social media saying: 'I do apologise for accosting you'.

'He found it amusing and we started chatting and got on so well that he asked me out on a date, early that December.'

Later on, they realised they'd actually met briefly in June 2018, when Amy had admitted a 'very poorly' Rachael to hospital, three months before her death.

'Rachael told me she was a journalist for 5 Live and I remember asking Steve if he was a journalist, too,' recalls Amy.

Radio 5 Live presenter Rachael Bland (pictured), died in September 2018 after a high-profile battle with breast cancer.

'He just said: 'Yeah'. And then put his head back down to look at his laptop.'

In defence of his brusque response, Steve says: 'At that time I was trying to hold on to my job and Rachael was getting dragged into hospital all the time, so I'd often sit in the side wards, trying to work.'

While most people would recognise how hard it was for Steve, 41, to be dating again, 15 months after his wife's death, coming into his life has obviously caused challenges for Amy, too.

'My mum was worried when I told her because it was only just over a year since Steve had lost Rachael,' she says.

'I explained that, something I know from my work, with a terminal illness you start grieving a loved one long before they die.

'If I'd met Steve a few years earlier, it probably would have felt a bit too heavy. But when you get to your mid-30s there's going to be some sort of baggage  be that an ex-wife or a wife that's passed away.'

Given that Rachael had a public profile, inevitably there was also wider interest in Steve's new girlfriend.

Amy says: 'People have a view about when a widower should start dating again and I remember seeing something online saying that Steve was going out with a 'Rachael lookalike', which is a compliment, because she was very beautiful, but also ridiculous as the only resemblance is that we're both female, with dyed blonde hair.'

Sometimes the responses have been tougher to deal with, however. On Freddie's birthday last September, Steve posted pictures of himself with Amy and his son on Instagram.

Steve's emotional social media post revealing the passing of his wife Rachael in 2018

He recalls: 'Most people were really lovely about it but there were two or three who said: 'I think it's really awful that you haven't posted a picture of Rachael' and 'This is really terrible, really disrespectful'.

'I didn't take it well, I bit back and said: 'This really has got nothing to do with you'.

'Then on Rachael's birthday last month I got messages from random people saying: 'Why have you not posted on social media about Rachael's birthday?' But it's hard, because I know that some of those dates are quite tough for Amy and she's the present, where I am now.

'Also, just because you don't put up a post, it doesn't mean that you're not thinking about someone.'

If dealing with public judgment has sometimes been tricky, there have been hurdles to cross closer to home.

They were a few months into their relationship, and both confident it could go the distance, before Amy popped round one evening for pizza with Steve and Freddie, who is now six.

With twin nieces of the same age, Amy happily got on the floor with him to build Lego, draw and colour.

'Of course the more involved I've become in his life the more conscious I am of helping raise Freddie in a way that Rachael would have done,' Amy says.

Rachael died days before Freddie's third birthday.

'I wouldn't want her looking down thinking: 'That's a terrible decision!'

'I feel a bigger sense of responsibility than I would raising my own child.

'Rachael would have done anything to bring up her own son and I know how lucky I am that I've got my health and I've got Steve and Freddie in my life.'

It certainly helps knowing that among Rachael's dying wishes were for Steve and Freddie to be happy and for her son to have a 'mother figure'.

As for Freddie, Steve says that he 'absolutely adores' Amy.

Then there's Rachael's mum, Gayna, who remains a hugely important figure in their lives and was one of the first people Steve told when he started dating Amy.

Due to Covid restrictions, it was May 2020 before they could make the trip to her home in Wales.

'Some people might have found it quite difficult because, understandably, she talked about Rachael the whole time but I love hearing stories about her,' says Amy.

'She remembered Rachael saying that she'd had 'a really nice nurse' on the day I admitted her to hospital and told me I was 'heaven-sent'.

'I'm really glad that thought brings Gayna comfort.'

Gayna was then one of the first people to hear their happy news after Steve popped the question on a four-day trip to Copenhagen last November.

Steve had hinted he would propose before the year was out and Amy was getting impatient.

'Lying in our hotel room bed, control freak that I am, I said: 'If you're going to propose, please don't do it at Christmas in front of people because I would hate it. It would be so cheesy',' recalls Amy.

'When I turned around Steve was on one knee on the floor, with the ring in his hand, saying: 'Well, shall we just do it now then?'

Confident that Amy would say yes, Steve had ordered the large oval diamond set in a diamond-encrusted band, and told Amy's parents and Freddie of his plans before leaving for Copenhagen.

'Gayna sent an incredibly generous message saying how happy she was and how Rachael would be happy for us and that she knew we would keep Rachael's memory alive, at a time when probably a part of her felt a deep sadness that I couldn't even begin to comprehend,' says Amy.

Gayna's was also one of the first names they added to the list of 90 guests invited to their wedding, to be held in a rustic converted barn in rural Cheshire in August.

Meanwhile, the couple are conscious of the impact their marriage will have on Freddie's life.

Each having sold their house, they are now looking to buy a larger family home in Knutsford, Cheshire, where Steve currently lives  30 miles from Amy's home in Formby  so the little boy doesn't have to endure the upheaval of moving schools.

'We're both very aware of the milestones Freddie is going to go through this year so we're making sure we have lots of cuddles and conversations with him about how we're all feeling,' Amy says.

Freddie, alongside Steve's closest friend  who performed the same role at his wedding to Rachael  will be one of the best men on the big day.

Although Amy would have been happy with a small register office ceremony, Steve is a fan of huge weddings; his first a grand affair at Llangoed Hall, a historic country house hotel in Brecon.

'Steve and Rachael's wedding was very fancy whereas I'm not a very formal person, so we've found a compromise we're both happy with,' says Amy.

Steve and Amy must also decide how to honour Rachael in their new life together.

Steve and Rachael's wedding photographs, which used to take pride of place in Steve's living room, have been given less prominence in recent months. He felt it was unfair to force Amy to look at pictures of him smiling happily with another woman.

Still, they are determined that Rachael's fears about ending up as a mere 'footnote' in Steve's life will never be realised. 'In our new house we'll have a room where we can have nice pictures of Freddie and Rachael, and Rachael on her own,' says Amy.

'I think it's really important for Freddie because she will always be his mum. I also have huge respect for her as a woman, for what she achieved, and want her presence to be with us forever.'

Steve credits his fiancee's openness and honesty about her feelings with making the whole process much easier than it otherwise might have been.

Whenever she has been introduced to Rachael's friends, including co-presenter of You, Me And The Big C Deborah James, Amy always brings Rachael into the conversation, determined that her predecessor will never be 'the elephant in the room'.

She is also in touch online with other women in her position and says she's often asked for advice, to which she says: 'I'm afraid there's no Dummies Guide to dating widowers.'

Thankfully Steve's family have welcomed her wholeheartedly.

After the family got together to mark the second anniversary of Rachael's death in September 2020, Amy was incredibly touched when Steve received a message from his dad saying: 'We'll always love Rachael but we love Amy, too.'

The couple would very much like to extend their family, though Amy says they will have to wait until after the wedding as 'there's no room in my dress for a bump'.

And, although they're both delighted to have found one another, they're also realistic about the challenges married life will present, not least because, while Amy is a minimalist, Steve admits to being a bit of a hoarder.

'Steve is the first man I've felt I want to be with forever,' says Amy. 'But he's also a man and I'm a woman, which means we're very different and, inevitably, at times we don't get on. In fact, when he's really doing my head in, I look to the sky and think: 'Rachael, do you sympathise?'

While Steve's friends tell him he is 'punching above his weight' with Amy  just as he did with Rachael  Amy has another take on it.

'I tell him he's hit the jackpot twice,' she says, laughing.

And, while Rachael Bland's were undoubtedly big shoes to fill, after spending a couple of hours with this beautiful, warm, funny, feisty, intelligent woman, it's hard to imagine anyone would disagree with that.
A leading infectious diseases expert has warned booster rates among young people are not high enough to ensure adequate protection against the Omicron variant.

Sanjaya Senanayake from the Australian National University said while the take-up rate of the Covid booster rate among older people was progressing well, it was lagging behind in the younger population.

'Part of it may be that there may be a perception that Omicron isn't as bad, and this is somewhat of a fatalistic approach that we have been dealing with this for so long,' he told the ABC.

Sanjaya Senanayake from the Australian National University said Covid booster rates among the younger population is lagging

'We also hear stories of people that are keen to get the booster and have booked it, but still have to wait for some weeks before they can.'

The most recent vaccination figures have shown more than 8.6 million people have received their third dose of a Covid vaccine.

However, almost one-third of the population eligible for a third dose have not had their booster yet.

This week marked the start of the rollout for 16 and 17-year-olds being eligible for the booster, after the country's leading advisory group on immunisations gave the final approval for the cohort.

Professor Senanayake believes the reluctancy to get a booster is stemmed in the belief Omicron isn't a serious threat

After students in most states and territories completed their first full week of school for the year, Queensland students will return to the classroom on Monday.

The start of the school year in Queensland was delayed by two weeks due to the outbreak of Omicron cases in the state.

Professor Senanayake said despite large numbers of school students returning to classrooms across the country, there had not been a matching increase in infections as previously predicted.

This week marked the start of the rollout for 16 and 17-year-olds being eligible for the booster, after the country's leading advisory group on immunisations gave the final approval

'We have had a lot of time to prepare for the return of school, I think it is a reasonable thing that school has gone ahead and the mitigation measures in place have followed,' he said.

'It would be surprising if we do see an increase in cases, but because of the mitigation measures in place, hopefully it won't be as bad.'

Saturday was also meant to mark the reopening of Western Australia's hard border measures, before the date was scrapped by Premier Mark McGowan.

It is still not known when the state will open for free travel with the rest of the country.

Professor Senanayake said despite large numbers of school students returning to classrooms across the country, there had not been a matching increase in infections as predicted

However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he could understand the reasons behind the Western Australian government's decision.

'When the Western Australian government makes a decision not to reopen that border because of their concerns about how it will impact their hospital systems ... then I can absolutely understand the decision of the premier,' Mr Morrison said.

There were another 84 COVID-19-related deaths across the country reported on Friday, with 36 in Victoria, 31 in NSW, 13 in Queensland, three in SA and one in the ACT.

Nationally, there were more than 31,000 new infections reported on Friday.
An ice-addicted paedophile who raped seven women as young as 13 has been buried in an unmarked plot.

Mustafa Kayirici, 31, was unceremoniously laid to rest at Rookwood Cemetery in Lidcombe, western Sydney, on Friday.

Kayirici had been battling an incurable disease before dying at Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital on January 25.

He had been serving a 34-year prison sentence after sexually assaulting a child over a five-hour-long period in 10 different locations in 2016.

The jail term was added on top of the 38-year sentence he was already serving for raping and robbing seven escorts in the same year.

An unmarked grave is all that remains of the serial rapist, with the burial site indistinguishable from its surroundings.

An ice-addicted paedophile who raped seven women as young as 13 has been buried in an unmarked plot

Mustafa Kayirici, 31, was buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Lidcombe, western Sydney, on Friday

An unmarked grave was all that remained of the serial rapist with the burial site as of Saturday

Cemetery workers used an excavator to dig the grave and wasted no time to fill the hole with dirt once Kayirici's body had been placed at the bottom of it

Cemetery workers used an excavator to dig the grave and filled the hole with dirt once Kayirici's body had been placed at the bottom of it.

The mound of overturned soil has been left unadorned, unlike the surrounding plots that have potted plants and flowers left on them.

The convicted paedophile was given 12 months to live last year after being diagnosed with a terminal illness and undergoing chemotherapy in prison.

In August 2020, a judge at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court deemed Kayirici so evil that his last sentence wouldn't even come into effect until September 2041.

Had he survived, he would not have been eligible for release until 2066 when he would have been 76 years old.

Kayirici's rampage began on the morning of May 7, 2016, when he raped a sex worker at an apartment block in Sydney's CBD while threatening her with a butcher's knife.

Later that afternoon, he arranged to meet another escort in Parramatta where he carried out a similar attack.

She said the face-tattooed predator was 'aggressive and dominant' and called her a sl*t before he spat in her eye, beat her and brutally raped her.

'I had to fight for my life,' she said.

Kayirici told her he 'loved seeing the fear in people when they can't do anything about it,' she said.

Just one week later he robbed another sex worker at knife point at her Parramatta apartment and then robbed another woman in her home in the same suburb on May 20.

The convicted paedophile was last year given 12 months to live after being diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been undergoing chemotherapy in prison

On May 27, Kayirici pulled a butcher's knife on Dasha Volnoukhin - a 22-year-old Canadian model and escort who was living in Parramatta.

Eerie CCTV pictures showed him walking with her through the lobby of the Fiori Apartments in Parramatta and into the lift before his crime.

Ms Volnoukhin never saw her abuser suffer the consequences of his depraved acts as she died in the months before his sentencing hearing.

The cause of her death cannot legally be published.

Within moments of Ms Volnoukhin letting him inside the apartment, he took a 'large butcher style knife' from a kitchen drawer and told her to take off her clothes.

Kayirici told the terrified young woman - who screamed upon seeing the knife - to take off her clothes and then carry out sex acts on him.

'The man then yelled at me ''don't f***ing scream'' (and then) ''take your clothes off'',' Ms Volnoukhin told police.

'I was wearing shorts and a tank top at the time and then started to take my clothes off as I was thinking that if I don't, I will probably die. I was so scared.'

Dasha Volnoukhin, 22, (pictured) was brutally sexually assaulted at the hands of serial rapist Mustafa Kayirici in 2016

Kayirici (pictured right ) is seen on the elevator with Dasha Volnoukhin (pictured left) before the brutal sexual assault

Eerie CCTV pictures show Kayirici (pictured left) walking with her through the lobby of the Fiori Apartments in Parramatta with Dasha Volnoukhin (pictured right)

The young woman also said in her police statement that Kayirici filmed himself sexually assaulting her while asking her 'do you like being raped?'

'The man was pointing the phone at me then started to demand that I say things he was saying to me: ''Say you are a sl*t'.'

The rape ended after three to four minutes, Ms Volnoukhin said, before Kayirici stole her day's earnings and left.

Just three days after the brutal attack on Ms Volnoukhin, Kayirici robed and raped another sex worker at knifepoint.

On June 19, Kayirici raped yet another woman in a Parramatta apartment block, calling her a 'little dog'.

His crime spree would continue on June 26, when he lured a 13-year-old into his car.

He then he drove the teenager to an underground car park where he forced her to undress and made her watch pornographic videos.

The young woman's (pictured) LinkedIn profile says she previously studied for a business and communications degree at the University of Calgary before moving to Australia

SERIAL RAPIST'S SIX-WEEK SEX CRIME SPREE May 7: Kayirici raped a sex worker at an apartment block in Sydney's CBD while threatening her with a butcher's knife in the morning Later that afternoon he arranged to meet another escort in Parramatta where he carried out a similar attack. She said he told her he 'loved seeing the fear in people when they can't do anything about it.' Just days later the degenerate sex criminal robbed another sex worker at knife point at her Parramatta apartment May 20: Kayirici robbed a woman using a butchers knife in Parramatta May 27: Kayirici pulled a blade on Dasha Volnoukhin - a 22-year-old Canadian model - moments after entering her apartment in Parramatta. The young woman also said in her police statement Kayirici filmed himself sexually assaulting her while asking 'do you like being raped?' Less than two years later, the young woman's friends revealed the model had tragically died. May 30: Kayirici robed and raped another sex worker at knife point. June 19: The sadistic rapist sexually assaulted an escort while threatening her with a knife and calling her a 'little dog'. June 24: Kayirici lures a 13-year-old school girl into his car and repeatedly sexually assaults her at 10 locations over a horror five-hour period. He told her she was going to get 'raped one day or another,' before making the girl perform sex acts and threatening her with knife when she refused. Advertisement

He told her she was going to get 'raped one day or another,' before making the girl perform sex acts and threatening her with a knife when she refused.

Kayirici then drove the teenager to a unit block basement and forced her to perform another series of sex acts.

He even tried to get her to find another young girl to join them as the pair drove 10 different locations, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The pair went to a supermarket together to buy duct tape and razors and the teenager tried to make eye contact with one of the staff members, the court heard.

Kayirici then scolded the girl for trying to get him caught.

He then raped her repeatedly in his car before dumping her at Auburn train station.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams apologized for a 2019 video where he called white police officers 'crackers.'

Adams, 61, was caught bragging about being an 'unbelievably' good police officer compared to his white colleagues at a 2019 event in East Harlem where he was announcing he was going to run for mayor.

'Every day in the police department, I kicked those crackers a**,' he said in the recently resurfaced video. 'Man, I was unbelievable in the police department with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement.'

At a press conference on Friday, which was unrelated to the 2019 incident, the new mayor apologized for his 'inappropriate' comments.

'I definitely apologize,' he said. 'Inappropriate comments should not have been used.

'Someone asked me a question using that comment and playing on that word. I responded in that comment, but clearly, these comments should not have been used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it, but to New Yorkers because they should expect more from me. That was inappropriate.'

NYC Mayor Eric Adams, 61, (pictured in 2019) bragged about outperforming white colleagues in the NYPD before calling them 'crackers' at an event in 2019

In the 2019 video posted by Thomas Lopez-Pierre - who called himself a 'proud' Adams voter and founder of the Black Lives Matter Real Estate Forum - Adams also took a shot at black people at the event as he pressed his case to become mayor.

In part of his speech, he referenced the person who went before him, who spoke about marijuana use, but didn't clarify who exactly he was speaking about.

He said: 'I'd rather be wearing white all day, grow a beard, smoke some weed, and leave this stuff alone,' he said at the time. 'These negroes that wake every day and dont like themselves, they are going to beat me up.'

Adams also challenged others in the black community who questioned whether he should be running to replace Bill de Blasio.

The video was posted by Thomas Lopez-Pierre, the founder of Black Lives Matter Real Estate Forum on Tuesday. Lopez-Pierre, who voted for Adams, defended the mayor, saying that's 'how black people talk'

'The people who say, "Wheres our real black leaders?" Theyre going to say: "Whos Eric? Why does Eric think he should be mayor?" Well, negro, you run, you run. Go raise the $7million dollars.

'They know what I'm about, they know what I'm going to do as the mayor of the City of New York. Listen, we're not going to play this game.'

The video resurfaced after Adams attended the emotional funerals for NYPD Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, who were shot dead in East Harlem.

A police source told the New York Post that officers felt 'attacked' and one quipped: 'Im a cracker supervisor technically.'

Pat Lynch, the President of Police Benevolent Association - the NYPD's largest police union - said he had spoken to Adams about the video and ultimately didn't find any harm in the racially-tinged rhetoric.

'A few seconds of video will not define our relationship. We have a lot of work to do together to support our members on the streets,' Lynch said.

'We have spent far too many hours together in hospital emergency rooms these past few weeks, and weve worked together for decades before that.'

Paul DiGiacomo, the president of the Detectives Endowment Association, also agreed with Lynch.

'Something seen in a short video on social media should not be used to judge an incident in its entirety. Actions on the other hand speak volumes  and weve seen that in the mayors support over the past weeks,' DiGiacomo said

'Mayor Adams has expressed his regrets. We will hold him to his word.'

Despite posting the controversial video, Lopez-Pierre wrote it off as 'how black people talk.'

Adams (pictured yesterday) apologized for his 'inappropriate' comments at an unrelated press conference on Friday. He was also backed up by the presidents of the Police Benevolent Association and Detectives Endowment Association, who said they still supported the mayor, despite the comment

'To us, it was family. We were having a conversation with family,' he told the New York Daily News.

However, he is critical of Adams' new anti-crime plan, which Lopez-Pierre said is more focused on hiring more officers than creating economic opportunities for African-Americans in the city, the NY Daily News reported.

'More cops are going to get killed because black men do not have opportunity. I think its a great plan for white people to feel falsely safe,' Lopez-Pierre said.

However, not everyone is letting Adams off the hook.

Curtis Sliwa, who lost to Adams in a landslide in November's mayoral election, called Adams out for using the racial slur against white people.

'Heres the guy who was so quick to call anyone who disagrees with him racist,' Sliwa said. 'Whenever he had an adversary, they were always racist. Well, this is clearly a racist statement, so what else have you said, Eric?'

Crime is up drastically in the Big Apple, with overall crime up 37 per cent and shooting victims are up 31 per cent

Adams met with President Joe Biden, 79, on Thursday, who praised him for his anti-crime agenda to bring down gun violence.

The president vowed to be Adams's 'partner' and wants to 'help every major city follow New Yorks lead.'

In a crackdown against ghost guns - where parts can be bought on the internet and would not be registered in databases - the president said the federal government will prosecute those who are caught with the weapon.

The NYPD repossessed a large number of ghost guns last year.

In addition, Adams announced earlier that part of his anti-crime plan is to increase the number of officers and bring back plainclothes cops.

Crime is up drastically in the Big Apple, with overall crime up 37 percent and shooting victims are up 31 percent in January as compared to the same period in 2021.
My last clothes purchase was a 7 five-pack of knickers, bought from Asda.

My husband Bernard, the Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex, and I were enjoying our annual trip to the West Coast of Scotland in July. We'd stopped for fuel but I took the chance to pick up a set of plain, practical undies too.

I thought: 'They'll probably see me through for life.' And I was only half joking.

Because apart from the occasional staple such as underwear, I haven't bought any new clothes for more than a decade and don't intend to for the next decade, either.

It's not that I don't have space in my wardrobe. There's mountains of room. It's just that I have made a conscious decision not to buy anything new.

I can't bear the rampant consumerism that has fuelled the throwaway approach to what we put in our wardrobes. It's like the attitude that means so much food is thrown in the bin

I can't bear the rampant consumerism that has fuelled the throwaway approach to what we put in our wardrobes. It's like the attitude that means so much food is thrown in the bin.

Over the years, my thriftiness has been shaped by knowing the damage human excess is doing to the environment, both in the resources that go into producing clothing  it can take 2,700 litres of water to produce the cotton for one T-shirt  and the devastating toll from what is cast aside.

The depressing evidence of this was apparent in the Mail's recent picture of piles of Western clothing dumped in Chile's Atacama Desert; and statistics that tell us 350,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill in the UK each year.

My view is that Earth's resources are finite and we have to husband them better. I try not to preach, but it's something I do try to live by.

I would never dream, for instance, of wearing jeans in the House of Lords, though I'm very proud of picking them up for 99p on eBay

It's not that I don't take care of my appearance. But I know what I like and how I want to look.

I would never dream, for instance, of wearing jeans in the House of Lords, though I'm very proud of picking them up for 99p on eBay.

I'm just not interested in fashion for fashion's sake. Trends sadly fuel excess and are something I've always avoided  just think how many puffball skirts must have ended up in landfill in the 1980s.

So-called fast fashion has only amplified this needless waste. I try to ensure my carbon footprint is as low as possible. It's difficult to pinpoint when I made the decision not to buy anything new again, but there is something wonderfully liberating about it.

I never have trouble finding what I need in my wardrobe because it consists of a small collection of 15 or so items that I wear in rotation.

All that business about what's 'in' this season simply passes me by. And I don't like shopping  it's so time-consuming.

I like order, so keeping my wardrobe small helps. And I tend to choose my outfit for the next day before I go to bed, which gives me more time for my morning exercises  100 jumping jacks, 30 press-ups, a plank position for one minute, and two minutes of squats.

If I do ever need something 'new', it is usually second-hand. I may browse eBay on my iPad or pop into one of the charity shops I cycle past daily on my way into Westminster.

If I do ever need something 'new', it is usually second-hand. I may browse eBay on my iPad or pop into one of the charity shops I cycle past daily on my way into Westminster

Searching for 'mother of the bride' on eBay was a resounding success when my son got married last summer.

I found a beautiful sleeveless dress and coat from Fenn Wright Manson that cost 70 but was in perfect condition and looked lovely with a 10 charity shop hat.

I was brought up with that waste-not-want-not approach of the postwar generation  clothes were handed down between the girl cousins and if something was missing a button or torn, it was repaired.

I admit I was a bit more fashion- conscious in my teens and early 20s. I can remember shopping for hot pants and miniskirts in Biba. But my shopping habits never took me anywhere pricier than L.K. Bennett  and then only in the sales.

Even when I got married in 1988, I couldn't bear the thought of spending a small fortune on a wedding dress, so I rented one.

I like to think I was ahead of the curve and I'm delighted there is a growing realisation among younger women that renting clothes is more sustainable than shopping.

Even when I got married in 1988, I couldn't bear the thought of spending a small fortune on a wedding dress, so I rented one

I'm both amused and proud to be known as the Frugal Baroness  and even in my family I'm renowned for thrift, preferring a practical gift to any item of clothing

I know I'm lucky  I can afford to buy new things. But I feel no desire to and can't imagine I ever will.

I'm both amused and proud to be known as the Frugal Baroness  and even in my family I'm renowned for thrift, preferring a practical gift to any item of clothing.

One of my sons bought me kitchen tongs for Christmas. And when Bernard returned from a recent sailing holiday, he handed me a practical plastic pot and lid from a Greek supermarket  perfect for carrying my breakfast to work.

If I want to refresh my wardrobe, I can also turn to friends and colleagues. I'm an enthusiastic 'swisher', which isn't nearly as racy as it sounds. I was introduced to swishing  clothes swapping  at a House of Lords party a decade ago and it's now one of my favourite ways to find 'new' apparel.

As to keeping my wardrobe in shape, my sewing skills aren't as polished as my ability to throw together a meal from leftovers, but I will happily sew on a button.

My biggest secret  or dirty secret, if you like  is keeping washing to a minimum. We don't need to wash clothes as often as we do; the washing machine damages fabrics. And why flush all that water down the drain for no good reason?

If an item of clothing passes the sight-and-smell test, it doesn't need to go in the washing basket.
A manhunt is underway for an Alabama man for his alleged role in the 2017 murder of his former sister-in-law, a beloved school teacher, after authorities say he was hired by his brother to kill her in exchange for a motorcycle and cash.

Darin Starr, 53, is the second person to face charges in connection to the murder of 38-year-old Sara Starr, the FBI said in a release posted by the Coffee County Sheriff's Office this week.

Her ex-husband, Jason Starr, 45, was taken into custody in December 2021 on a murder-for-hire charge, after four years with no arrests in the case.

Although Starr was questioned about his ex-wife's death at the time, he was never publicly named a person of interest. But media coverage surrounding Jason Starr's arrest in a child abuse case just a year later raised questions in the community about his possible involvement in Sara's murder.

'This is four years in the making,' Twelfth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Anderson said at a press conference following his arrest in December.

'We knew we had strong, decent evidence but knowing someone did something and being able to prove someone did something are two different things. Over the last two years and the tireless efforts of everyone involved here we are.'

Darin Starr, 53, is wanted for the 2017 murder of his sister-in-law Sara Starr. An indictment alleges he was hired by his brother Jason Starr kill her in exchange for a motorcycle and cash

Jason Starr, Sara's ex-husband and Darin's brother, who was arrested in December 2021, is accused of giving his brother a 2016 Triumph motorcycle and cash in exchange for killing Sara

Sara Starr, who taught at Harrand Creek Elementary School, was found dead in her driveway after her co-workers became concerned when she failed to show up for class

Sara Starr, a 38-year-old mother of two sets of twins and beloved fourth grade teacher, was shot and killed in her driveway of her Enterprise, Alabama home on November 27, 2017

Jason Starr pleaded not guilty to the 'use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire' charge and was released to his home with an ankle monitor pending a June 27 trial date.

Details from a grand jury indictment revealed that Jason Starr paid his brother with a 2016 Triumph motorcycle and an undisclosed amount of money to kill the mother of his four children in 2017.

The 38-year-old mother of two sets of twins and beloved fourth-grade teacher was shot and killed in the driveway of her Enterprise, Alabama, home on November 27, 2017.

The indictment alleges that Jason Starr, who had recently divorced his wife, was in contact with his brother about the murder-for-hire plot and the two traveled from Texas to Alabama to carry out the plan.

In December, a federal arrest warrant was issued for his brother Darin Starr in U.S. District Court on December 2, 2021, for the same charge.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of Darin, who is believed to have connections to Lakehills and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Glendale, Ariz. and Colebrook, Conn.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of Darin, who is believed to have connections to Texas, Arizona and Connecticut

A possible motive for Sara's murder has not been released, but local news coverage reported that Jason Starr had been served with a court order to pay $2,500 per month to his ex-wife.

District Attorney Tom Anderson would not confirm the information, but said, 'We believe we have knowledge and strong evidence of motive.'

Sara, who taught at Harrand Creek Elementary School, was found dead in her driveway after her co-workers became concerned when she failed to show up for class on the Monday after Thanksgiving, WDHN reported.

'Teaching was always her dream,' her obit stated. 'She excelled in the classroom and was loved by her students.'
The Archbishop of Canterbury has praised the Queen for 'doing the right thing' by sitting alone at Prince Philip's funeral.

In what might be seen as a criticism of Partygate  with two Downing Street gatherings held the night before the funeral  Justin Welby said the Queen's observation of Covid rules epitomised her sense of 'duty'.

The Archbishop, who officiated at the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in April, said: 'The clearest moment for me, the absolute summit of [her commitment to duty], was that at the funeral of her husband of 70-something years, she sat alone.

'That was leadership, it was doing the right thing.'

In what might be seen as a criticism of Partygate  with two Downing Street gatherings held the night before the funeral  Justin Welby (pictured) said the Queen's observation of Covid rules epitomised her sense of 'duty'

Archbishop Welby told the BBC that the Queen, 95, has a 'sense of self-acceptance' and 'takes her duties very seriously'.

He continued: 'But she doesn't take herself very seriously... She has an absolutely superb sense of humour.'

In December, the Archbishop said he was 'disappointed' by the Partygate allegations as a culture of honesty is 'essential' in government.
A ministerial ally of Rishi Sunak rebuked Boris Johnson last night as Sajid Javid also sided with the Chancellor.

John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the culture in Downing Street fell short of what the country had a right to expect.

He said the behaviour of staff in Downing Street over lockdown parties was indefensible and that he had told Mr Johnson how frustrated and let down we all feel.

John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the culture in Downing Street fell short of what the country had a right to expect

He also dismissed suggestions that public anger had begun to ease. I certainly do not subscribe to the views of some colleagues who have been in the media saying that their correspondence is drying up and their constituents are moving on, he wrote in his local newspaper, The Salisbury Journal.

It came hours after Mr Javid sought to distance himself from Mr Johnson over the Prime Ministers explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile.

The Health Secretary went out of his way to praise the Labour leader, saying he had done a good job when he was director of public prosecutions.

His comments came after the Chancellor took the extraordinary step of rebuking Mr Johnson for claiming Sir Keir was responsible for not prosecuting Savile.

It came hours after Mr Javid sought to distance himself from Mr Johnson over the Prime Ministers explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile

At a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: Being honest, I wouldnt have said it.

Mr Johnsons policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday over the PMs refusal to apologise. There is no evidence that Sir Keir was involved in the Savile decision. Asked about the issue yesterday, Mr Javid said: Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it. It is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that.

But the Prime Minister has also clarified those remarks, and that is important. Asked if the PM still had his support, Mr Javid said: Of course he does. Absolutely.

The disagreement between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation that the Chancellor wants to replace the PM.
The decision to halt checks on food arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK has been temporarily blocked.

Democratic Unionist Party minister Edwin Poots acted this week to stop the inspections, which are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But High Court judge Mr Justice Colton yesterday issued an interim injunction, which will last until a judicial review can be heard in full.

The decision to halt checks on food arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK has been temporarily blocked

Mr Justice Coltons decision came as Stormonts four major party leaders met following the resignation of DUP First Minister Paul Givan on Thursday in protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The protocol was agreed by the UK and EU to ensure free movement of trade across the Irish land border would continue after Brexit.

But Unionist politicians have clashed with their colleagues on Northern Irelands ruling executive over its effect on the region.

On Wednesday night Mr Poots set the DUP on a collision course with Brussels after ordering that all Brexit checks on food and farm products be halted from midnight.
A senior Tory MP lobbied Matt Hancock  while he was Health Secretary  via text message on behalf of the private health firm he was paid by, it has emerged.

WhatsApp exchanges show Owen Paterson's persistence over a multi-million pound Covid testing contract for Randox Laboratories. The company eventually secured a 133million deal.

The dossier, disclosed by the Government yesterday after a battle by opposition MPs, also reveals how Mr Hancock bent over backwards to pass on Mr Paterson's requests to officials.

A senior Tory MP lobbied Matt Hancock  while he was Health Secretary  via text message on behalf of the private health firm he was paid by, it has emerged

Former Northern Ireland secretary Mr Paterson quit as an MP after he was found to have breached strict lobbying rules in his 99,996-a-year work for Ulster-based Randox  and a disastrous attempt by Downing Street to save him from a Commons suspension.

Mr Hancock resigned as health secretary in June last year after he was caught on CCTV kissing his aide Gina Coladangelo in breach of Covid rules.

The 88 pages of evidence published yesterday show Mr Paterson first struck up a WhatsApp conversation with Mr Hancock on January 26 2020, days before the first confirmed Covid cases in the UK.

Former Northern Ireland secretary Mr Paterson quit as an MP after he was found to have breached strict lobbying rules in his 99,996-a-year work for Ulster-based Randox  and a disastrous attempt by Downing Street to save him from a Commons suspension

He gave out the email address of Randox's boss and promised the firm could provide quick tests for the disease. Mr Hancock assured him minutes later: 'Thanks Owen. I will look into it.'

In February, Mr Paterson texted again, concerned that Public Health England (PHE) was dragging its feet: 'It is now 19 days since PHE last contacted Randox at your request ... PHE's attitude looks incomprehensible given current developments and time pressures.'

He also wanted to lobby Mr Hancock in person, asking: 'Are you voting today? Can we discuss briefly?' Mr Hancock replied: 'Are you sure? I chased them again about it yesterday.'

Mr Paterson responded that 'sadly' there had been no contact and bemoaned the fact that PHE had 'no sense of urgency or understanding of the speed of the new test'.

Just a minute later, Mr Hancock forwarded the complaint to an unnamed colleague, writing: 'From Owen Paterson below. Could you please ensure PHE get on this.' Days afterwards Mr Paterson complained again that PHE had refused a request of Randox and called the situation 'exasperating'.

Again Mr Hancock forwarded his message to an official with the comment: 'See above from Owen Patz. I am very worried about this. Please can I have chapter and verse on our engagement with UK life sciences for Covid purposes.'

Pictured: MP's text appeal

On March 1, Mr Hancock received an email from a senior Department of Health official assuring him that 'Randox has been prioritised'. By the end of the month, the firm had secured the 133million contract.

A government spokesman said: 'There are robust rules and processes in place to ensure that conflicts of interest do not occur and all contracts are awarded in line with procurement regulations and transparency guidelines ... The documents given to the House show no evidence of any breach of these principles.'

Randox said: 'It is clear from these papers that Randox contracts were awarded in full compliance with government procedures and protocols.'

A spokesman for Mr Hancock insisted: 'The extensive transparency publication proves Matt did nothing wrong.'
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, calling on both sides to seize opportunities to consolidate and strengthen bilateral comprehensive cooperation and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Mirziyoyev attended Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Xi hailed the development of China-Uzbekistan relations in the past 30 years, adding that the two sides have adhered to equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, continuously deepened political mutual trust and promoted mutually beneficial cooperation. The bilateral relationship has continuously reached new heights.

Xi said China has always firmly supported Uzbekistan in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and security and is a reliable friend and partner of Uzbekistan.

The two sides should implement plans for economic, trade and investment cooperation and select and implement a number of major cooperation projects of strategic significance at an early date, Xi said.

Xi said China is willing to help Uzbekistan build a modern industrial system, speed up the feasibility study of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and strive for an early launch, adding that the two sides should strengthen cooperation in natural gas and renewable energy.

China is ready to carry out anti-pandemic and poverty reduction cooperation with Uzbekistan and deepen security cooperation in an all-round way, Xi said.

Mirziyoyev thanked China for supporting Uzbekistan in upholding independence, sovereignty, development and reform and establishing the first vaccine production center in Central Asia.

Uzbekistan will work with China on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and actively advance key projects such as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, the Uzbek president said. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
The US State Department is waiving sanctions on Iran's civilian nuclear program in the hope that Tehran will return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, a senior official said Friday.

As U.S. negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to Iran's civilian nuclear activities. The move reverses the Trump administration's decision to rescind them.

The resumption of the waiver, ended by Trump in 2020, 'would be essential to ensuring Iran's swift compliance' if a new deal on controlling Tehran's nuclear program can be reached in talks in Vienna, the State Department official said.

The waivers are intended to entice Iran to return to compliance with the 2015 deal that it has been violating since former President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed U.S. sanctions.

The removal of sanctions would see the release of Iran's frozen funds held abroad, estimated at some $29 billion about a one third of what's held abroad by the country.

Iran would once against be allowed to trade with the rest of the world use global banking systems such as SWIFT to wire money.

Sanctions against exports of Iranian oil would also be removed. Foreign firms would once again be allowed to invest in Iran's commodities of oil and gas, automobiles, hotels and other sectors.

So far, three negotiators on the U.S. team have resigned. In January Richard Nephew stepped down as deputy special envoy for Iran and left the U.S. team negotiating Iran's return to the 2015 nuclear deal because he believed the there was no future for the agreement.

Two other officials have also left the negotiating team in recent months, including Ariane Tabatabai, a senior adviser in the State Department arms control bureau.

The Biden administration on Friday restored a sanctions waiver to Iran

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had previously said that negotiations, talks, and understanding with the enemy would not mean surrender, referring to the still ongoing nuclear negotiations

Richard Nephew left his role as deputy special envoy for Iran in January after he disagree with Washington's policy of seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran

SANCTIONS RELIEF Release of Iran's frozen funds abroad, estimated at $29 billion, representing approximately one third of Iran's foreign held reserves.

The removal of sanctions against exports of Iranian oil.

Allow foreign firms to invest in Iran's oil and gas, automobiles, hotels and other sectors.

Allow Iran to trade with the rest of the world and use the global banking system such as SWIFT. Advertisement

Iran says it is not respecting the terms of the deal because the U.S. pulled out of it first. Iran has demanded the restoration of all sanctions relief it was promised under the deal to return to compliance.

Earlier this week it was revealed how Iran's nuclear program was on the verge of producing enough fuel for a nuclear bomb in just a matter of weeks and could have a device built in less than a year, according to an estimate by US officials.

Iran's 'breakout time' - the time it would take to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one nuclear weapon - is believed to have advanced greatly after Donald Trump withdrew the US from a deal with the country in 2018, officials claim.

The breakout time is different from the time it would take Iran to build a nuclear weapon. Western officials believe Iran hasn't quite figured out how to build the core of a bomb and attach a warhead to a missile.

But the reduced breakout time is significantly lower than the 12-month period that formed the basis of the nuclear deal signed by President Barack Obama in 2015.

The length of Iran's breakout time depends on the steps Iran agrees to take to dismantle, ship abroad, destroy or seal its stockpile of enriched uranium, along with its machines for producing nuclear fuel and its centrifuge manufacturing capacity.

US officials believe a breakout period shorter than six months wouldn't give the US enough time to respond if Iran decided to ramp up its nuclear program.

The State Department have so far declined to comment on the breakout assessments.

The Trump administration ended the so-called 'civ-nuke' waivers in May 2020 as part of its 'maximum pressure' campaign against Iran that began when Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal in 2018, complaining that it was the worst diplomatic agreement ever negotiated and gave Iran a pathway to developing a nuclear bomb.

As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden made a U.S. return to the nuclear deal a priority, and his administration has pursued that goal but there has been little progress toward that end since he took office a year ago. Administration officials said the waivers were being restored to help push the Vienna negotiations forward.

The waiver allows other countries and companies to participate in Iran's civilian nuclear program without triggering US sanctions on them, in the name of promoting safety and on-proliferation.

The civilian program includes the country's increasing stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to Iran's civilian nuclear activities. The move reverses the Trump administration's decision to rescind them

A file handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies from January 2020, shows an overview of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, south of the capital Tehran

In December, state TV broadcast images of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps firing missiles during military exercises in three provinces, including near its only nuclear power plant

'Absent this sanctions waiver, detailed technical discussions with third parties regarding disposition of stockpiles and other activities of nonproliferation value cannot take place,' the official said, insisting on anonymity.

The step came as talks to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which former president Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, were at an advanced stage.

The Vienna talks, which include Iran, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, are at a key stage where the parties have to make 'critical political decisions,' a senior US official said last week.

Former President of Iran Hassan Rouhani (R) and the head of Iran nuclear technology organization Ali Akbar Salehi inspect nuclear technology in Tehran in April 2019 (file photo)

'The technical discussions facilitated by the waiver are necessary in the final weeks of JCPOA talks,' the State Department official said.

But even if a final deal is not reached, the official said, the waiver is important to holding discussions on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, of interest to the entire world

The waivers also permit foreign countries and companies to work on civilian projects at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station, its Arak heavy water plant and the Tehran Research Reactor. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had revoked the waivers in May, 2020, accusing Iran of 'nuclear extortion' for continuing and expanding work at the sites.

The waivers were rescinded by the United States in 2019 and 2020 under former President Donald Trump, who pulled out of the nuclear agreement

In January, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suggested that a deal could be reached during a TV interview after he returned from meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow

The official insisted that the move was not 'part of a quid pro quo,' as the partners in the JCPOA talks await Iran's response on key issues.

But the senior administration official who briefed reporters on the talks last week said that time was running out, and urged Tehran to make important decisions.

'I think we're at the point where some of the most critical political decisions have to be made by all sides,' the official said.

The official proposed direct talks between Washington and Tehran to focus on the most difficult issues separating the sides.

'If our goal is to reach an understanding quickly... the optimal way to do that, in any negotiation, is for the parties that have the most at stake to meet directly,' the official said.

'The waiver with respect to these activities is designed to facilitate discussions that would help to close a deal on a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA and lay the groundwork for Irans return to performance of its JCPOA commitments,' the State Department said in a notice to Congress that announced the move.

Iranians are seen celebrating following a landmark nuclear deal in Iran in July 2015

Three years later, Iranians were seen burning US flags in May 2018 following Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal

'It is also designed to serve U.S. nonproliferation and nuclear safety interests and constrain Irans nuclear activities,' the department said. 'It is being issued as a matter of policy discretion with these objectives in mind, and not pursuant to a commitment or as part of a quid pro quo. We are focused on working with partners and allies to counter the full range of threats that Iran poses.'

Critics of the nuclear deal who lobbied Trump to withdraw from it protested, arguing that even if the Biden administration wanted to return to the 2015 deal it should at least demand some concessions from Iran before up front granting it sanctions relief.

'From a negotiating perspective, they look desperate: we'll waive sanctions before we even have a deal, just say yes to anything!' said Rich Goldberg, a vocal deal opponent who is a senior adviser to the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

One senior State Department official familiar with the waivers maintained that the move is not a 'concession' to Iran and was being taken 'in our vital national interest as well as the interest of the region and the world.' The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A period of celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee include a pop concert at Buckingham Palace and four-day bank holiday weekend

She will mark the milestone in private at Sandringham where her father King George VI died on February 6 1952

The Prime Minister will praise the Queen's 'tireless service' and 'historic reign' as the monarch's Platinum Jubilee is celebrated across the country this weekend.

Elizabeth II will on Sunday mark 70 years since she came to the throne at Sandringham, where on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI - who had lung cancer - died in the early hours.

Following the poignant day, which the Queen is expected to mark privately, a series of celebrations to honour the monarch's reign are set to take place throughout the year.

Boris Johnson will be among the first to salute the 95-year-old by issuing a public statement to mark the monarch's 70-year milestone.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will praise the Queen's 'tireless service' and 'historic reign' as the monarch's Platinum Jubilee is celebrated across the country this weekend

Boris Johnson will be among the first to salute the 95-year-old by issuing a public statement to mark the monarch's 70-year milestone

A Number 10 source said: 'You can expect the Prime Minister to praise Her Majesty's tireless service and historic reign to mark the occasion.'

Earlier this week, Mr Johnson told MPs: 'While it is a moment for national celebration it will be a day of mixed emotions for Her Majesty as the day also marks 70 years since the death of her beloved father, George VI.

'I know that the whole House will want to join me in thanking Her Majesty for her tireless service.

'We look forward to celebrating her historic reign with a series of national events in June.'

The Queen has seen 14 prime ministers come and go from her first, Second World War leader Sir Winston Churchill, to incumbent Mr Johnson.

Elizabeth II will on Sunday mark 70 years since she came to the throne at Sandringham, where on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI - who had lung cancer - died in the early hours. Pictured: Elizabeth with her father, George VI, at Sandringham in 1943

Spanning a period from post-war Britain when rationing was still in place, to a world of virtual currencies, driverless cars and pandemics, the Queen's period as head of state is forever entwined with the country's history.

National celebrations are set to held on a special four-day bank holiday weekend in June, with festivities including a pop concert at the Palace, a service of thanksgiving and a pageant on The Mall.

However, there have also been calls to make the extra public holiday permanent, as a 'Thank Holiday' in recognition of the Queen's extraordinary 70 years of service.

It is understood the Prime Minister and his wife Carrie are 'highly supportive of the idea', which would require a change in the law.

Elsewhere, baking royalty Dame Mary Berry is set to judge a Platinum Pudding competition to find a 'classic' dessert that fits the Queen's reign. Entries closed yesterday, with the first judging round starting on Monday.

The Queen, 95, appeared in high spirits as she was driven in her Land Rover in Sandringham ahead of the 70th anniversary of her father's death this weekend

Her Majesty is currently staying at Prince Philips's beloved Wood Farm cottage on the Sandringham estate where she is expected to spend Accession Day, on February 6, with her family.

The monarch usually spends the festive period at Sandringham, but has remained at Windsor Castle since the autumn as a Covid precaution and held muted Christmas celebrations with Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex.

In preparation for the anniversary of her father George VI on February 6, 1952, the Queen made a special trip by helicopter followed by a short drive by car to Norfolk last month.

The Queen has seen 14 prime ministers come and go from her first, Second World War leader Sir Winston Churchill, to incumbent Mr Johnson

A source told the Mail on Sunday: 'Everything is being put in order for the Queen's visit.

'We've been told that she will stay at Wood Farm, rather than the main house, which is nice as that always had a special place in his heart.'

Elsewhere, the Archbishop of Canterbury praised the Queen for 'doing the right thing' by sitting alone at the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral.

Justin Welby also commended her for showing 'duty, leadership and character'.

In an interview with the BBC, he said: 'The clearest moment for me, the absolute summit of that, was that at the funeral of her husband of 70-something years, she sat alone.

'That was leadership, it was doing the right thing, it was duty, it set an example.'
The dean of an Oxford college has stepped down voluntarily after settling a sexual harassment allegation.

The Very Reverend Professor Martyn Percy has been embroiled in a four-year dispute with the governing body of Christ Church college.

He will leave on April 26 following the successful conclusion of a mediation process that has resolved all outstanding issues between himself and the college.

A woman who accused him of sexual harassment by stroking her hair has settled her claim with Dr Percy on confidential terms.

The Very Reverend Professor Martyn Percy has been embroiled in a four-year dispute with the governing body of Christ Church college

However, it was reported last night that he has received almost 1.2million in a settlement from the college.

Christ Church will commission an independent review of its policies around sexual harassment.

The main dispute allegedly followed Professor Percys request for a higher salary. But it escalated into a bitter legal battle, with academics attempting to oust him for alleged improper conduct. Professor Percy had denied sexual harassment and police had concluded no further action would be taken.

The woman, referred to as X, said: I am pleased that the Dean has agreed to step down from his role at Christ Church and, in return, I have agreed to settle my outstanding claims against him.

I have to accept, incredibly reluctantly, that it is my word against his that the incident took place. Christ Church said mediation had taken place to try to resolve a number of outstanding issues between the dean and governing body, including the allegation of sexual harassment.

It had made clear throughout various dispute processes with the dean that no resolution could be reached unless the concerns of the woman making the allegation of sexual harassment against him were fully addressed.

The statement said: Any such allegation will always be thoroughly investigated and addressed, whilst respecting the right to a fair hearing for the accused. The fallout is understood to have been caused by Professor Percys criticism of the colleges governance, pay and safeguarding policies.

This led to a breakdown in the relationship between himself and some of the colleges censors  academics who look after disciplinary and social matters.

His supporters claimed he faced trumped-up charges from opponents in the colleges governing body. Professor Percy, who became dean in 2014, said last night: Despite the trials and troubles over the last four years, we will miss Christ Church enormously.
A lorry driver has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years for smuggling 480,000 worth of cocaine into the UK while delivering frozen potatoes.

Bryan Anthony Hughes, 30, from Ballymena, County Antrim, was stopped at the UK inbound border in Coquelles, France on October 16 last year.

Border Force officers were told by Hughes that he had been to Tilburg in the Netherlands.

When officers then searched his cab, eight kilos of cocaine was found in baggage and a locker.

It was estimated that the drugs would have a street value of 480,000.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) then began an investigation into Hughes.

Bryan Anthony Hughes, 30, (pictured) from Ballymena, County Antrim, was yesterday sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court to seven years and six months in jail, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA)

Hughes had travelled from the Netherlands, having collected a legitimate cargo of frozen potatoes for delivery in the north west of England.

The 30-year-old made no comment when he was interviewed by officers, but the NCA said he later pleaded guilty to importing a Class A drug at Canterbury Crown Court on December 2.

He was yesterday sentenced at the same court.

His lorry was stopped at the UK inbound border in Coquelles, France on October 16 last year and the NCA then started an investigation into Hughes after eight kilos of cocaine were found by officers

Mark Howes, NCA branch commander, said: 'This quantity of cocaine would generate significant revenue on UK streets, so this seizure will cause a dent in the profits of the organised crime group it was destined for.

'Criminal groups use smugglers like Hughes to bring their drugs into the UK and our message to anyone tempted to try and make what they may consider easy money through smuggling is that you will be caught.

'We work closely with our partners, including Border Force, to stop the flow of illicit drugs into the UK and will continue to prosecute those involved.'
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The battle to free a five-year-old boy who fell down a well in Morocco entered its fourth day on Saturday, as his desperate father - and hundreds of villagers - watched on anxiously from the sidelines.

Little Rayan fell into a 32-metre (105-feet) shaft outside his home in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen, on Tuesday evening - sparking a rescue mission which has captivated the North African nation.

Search crews first used five bulldozers to dig vertically to a depth of more than 31 metres, according to Morocco's official MAP news agency.

Then on Friday, they started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy as experts in topographical engineering were called upon for help.

Work had to be temporarily halted over fears the ground surrounding the well could collapse, but it was later resumed.

Dramatic camera footage showed the moment rescue workers used a rope to provide oxygen and water to the boy, however they were unable to reach him via the hole where he is trapped due to its narrow diameter.

'I pray and beg God that he comes out of that well alive and safe,' his mother Wassima Kharchich told local television station 2M. 'Please God, ease my pain and his, in that hole of dust.'

His father, who said he was repairing the well when the boy fell into it, was pictured nervously watching the rescue mission late on Friday night.

Medical staff, including specialists in resuscitation, are on site to attend to the boy once he is pulled out, with a helicopter on standby to transport him to the nearest hospital.

The Moroccan government previously said all efforts are being made to help save the boy.

Scores of townspeople and others gathered to help and watch the rescue efforts. Nationwide, Moroccans took to social media to offer their hopes for the boy's survival, using the hashtag #SaveRayan which has brought global attention to the rescue efforts.

It comes after camera footage from a frantic rescue operation showed the boy lying at the bottom of the shaft with a rope which rescuers used to transport water and oxygen in a desperate attempt to keep him alive.

Pictures have emerged of a five year old boy trapped at the bottom of a well shaft in Morocco after he miraculously survived a 100ft fall on Tuesday. Camera footage from a frantic rescue operation showed the boy lying at the bottom of the shaft with a rope which rescuers used to transport water and oxygen in a desperate attempt to keep him alive

Moroccan emergency services teams work on the rescue of five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1, in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 5, 2022

His father (pictured), who said he was repairing the well when the boy fell into it, was pictured nervously watching the rescue mission late on Friday night

The five-year-old, named as Rayan, fell down the narrow 100-foot (32-metre) deep well on Tuesday evening in his home village of Ighran near Bab Berred in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen, local media said (camera footage shows a rope which was used to deliver supplies)

The rescue mission was said to be entering its final stages in the early hours of Saturday morning

Rescuers continue to work to free 5-year-old boy trapped in a well in Chefchaouen, Morocco, early on Saturday morning

Horizontal drilling was carried out in attempts to save the five-year-old boy, who has been stuck since midday on Tuesday

Rescue teams have continued efforts to extricate the boy for 76 hours in Chefchaouen, Morocco (pictured Saturday morning)

The rush to save the boy was reaching a critical stage on Friday. Pictured: rescuers continuing to work to free the five-year-old

Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan, who is trapped in a deep well for over two days, near Bab Berred in Morocco's rural northern province of Chefchaoue. Diggers continued working overnight in an attempt to free the boy

Authorities said the mission was nearing its end overnight, with spokespeople reporting around 3am GMT that there was less than 20ft of earth left to dig to reach him. Pictures from the scene overnight showed multiple diggers delving deep into the earth from multiple directions in order to reach the boy, as small crowds gathered on the edge of the ever-growing pit

Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan, who is trapped in a deep well for over two days, near Bab Berred in Morocco's rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 3, 2022

Pictured: Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to get five-year-old child Rayan out of a well into which he fell on Tuesday, in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred

Rescuers prepare part of a tunnel that will be used to access little Rayan as the search reached a critical stage on Friday night

Residents watch civil defense workers and local authorities attempting to rescue Rayan as search entered third day Friday

Moroccan emergency service climbers work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1

Emergency workers are pictured preparing a tunnel which will be used to access the boy horizontally

Hundreds of villagers gathered on Friday as they anxiously watched the rescue mission unfold

The rescue attempt has captivated the entire North African nation (Pictured: Nervous villagers watch the mission from the sidelines)

The rescue effort has captivated the nation with the hashtag #SaveRayan trending across social media (Pictured: Bystanders watch as Moroccan emergency teams work to rescue the five-year-old boy)

Authorities said the mission was entering its final stages on Friday night - with less than 20ft of earth left to dig to reach him, but there are fears that the well could cave in before the delicate operation to reach him is complete.

Pictures from the scene show multiple diggers delving deep into the earth from multiple directions in order to reach the boy, as small crowds gathered on the edge of the ever-growing pit.

Meanwhile, footage showed rescuers sending cameras down the well's shaft to monitor the boy's situation, as the rescuers turned on floodlights to continue their efforts overnight.

The rescue effort has captivated the nation with the hashtag #SaveRayan trending across social media.

'The child's rescue is approaching,' government spokesman Mustapha Baitas said yesterday. 'Our hearts are with the family, and we are praying that he will back with them as soon as possible.'

On Thursday local media reported that he had taken food and water that was dropped down to him using a rope.

According to reports by Morocco's official MAP news agency, rescue workers have used five bulldozers to dig a hole parallel to the well and will hope to break through into where the boy is to rescue him.

The well's diameter narrows as it descends, from 18 inches (45 centimeters) at the top, preventing rescuers from going down themselves to bring him up, a lead rescuer told state TV Al Oul.

The shaft was too narrow for rescuers to reach the bottom, so heavy diggers were dispatched to dig a hole alongside it.

On Thursday afternoon, news website Le360 said that 'only nine metres' (30 foot) remained to be dug 'that will allow rescuers to reach the boy'.

The MAP news agency said rescuers had been able to send him oxygen and water via pipes.

Pictured: The hole of a well is seen in the foreground where the boy is said to have fallen 100ft, while in the background diggers work from multiple angles in an attempt to rescue him

Residents watch in concern as civil defence and local authorities dig in a hill as they attempt to rescue a 5 year old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Morocco, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022

Pictured: Video showing rescue workers sending cables down into the well in an attempt to reach the boy

Moroccans were still waiting anxiously on Thursday evening after authorities and firefighters launched the dramatic operation to save the boy from the deep well. Authorities tonight said the mission was nearing its end

Pictures and video from the scene today showed multiple diggers delving deep into the earth from multiple directions in order to reach the boy, as small crowds gathered on the edge of the ever-growing pit

The shaft that the boy fell down on Tuesday was too narrow for rescuers to reach the bottom, so heavy diggers were dispatched to dig a hole alongside it. It has been over 40 hours since the boy fell

Rayan's father told Le360 he had been repairing the well when the boy fell into it.

Lead rescuer Abdelhabi Temrani told Al Oula television that the diameter of the well was less than 45 centimetres.

Baitas said the nature of the soil meant it was too dangerous to try to widen the hole, meaning major excavations around it were the only solution.

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan going viral across the North African region, including in neighbouring Algeria.

'The heart of every Moroccan is with this angel,' one person wrote on Twitter.

The boy's fate has also attracted crowds of people to the site of the operation, putting pressure on rescuers operating in 'difficult conditions', Baitas said.

'We call on citizens to let the rescuers do their job and save this child,' he said.

Authorities have also prepared a helicopter to take the child to hospital once he is extracted, national news channel 2M said.

Pictured: Video captured of a screen showing a camera's footage as it was lowered down into the well where the boy fell 100ft. The shaft was too narrow for rescuers to go down themselves, so they were forced to dig down the side of the well in an attempt to reach the boy

On Thursday afternoon, news website Le360 said that 'only nine metres' (30 foot) remained to be dug 'that will allow rescuers to reach the boy'

Residents watch in concern as civil defense and local authorities dig in a hill as they attempt to rescue a 5 year old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Morocco, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022

Rescue operations are underway by Moroccan authorities and firefighters to get five-year-old child Reyan out of a well into which he fell some two days earlier, in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred, Morocco, 03 February 2022
Johnson & Johnson created a plan last year to limit the financial bleeding from billions of dollars in jury awards to plaintiffs who alleged the company's Baby Powder and other talc products caused deadly cancers.

The healthcare and consumer-goods giant assigned more than 30 staffers to 'Project Plato.' In a memo on the project in July, a company lawyer warned the team: Tell no one, not even your spouse.

'It is critical that any activities related to Project Plato, including the mere fact the project exists, be kept in strict confidence,' Chris Andrew, a J&J lawyer, wrote in an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

The covert team would go on to evaluate a strategy to shift all the liability from about 38,000 pending talc cases onto a newly created subsidiary, which would immediately declare bankruptcy.

The goal, as a lawyer for the subsidiary said in a court filing, was to halt all the litigation and transfer the cases to bankruptcy court, where plaintiffs would compete for compensation from a limited pool of money.

Tens of thousands of plaintiffs, many with mesothelioma or ovarian cancer, have filed lawsuits alleging that exposure to talc in J&J's Baby Powder and other company products made them sick.

Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky, pictured speaking at White House about COVID vaccine production, did not answer detailed written questions about its planning of the bankruptcy maneuver in effort to avoid paying billions in settlements over claims that J&J baby powder and other products contained asbestos and caused cancer

One plaintiff is Thomas McHattie, 78 years old, who traveled the world as an obstetrician-gynecologist before receiving a mesothelioma diagnosis in March 2020. McHattie said he recommended Baby Powder to 'countless pregnant women' while also using it himself. McHattie said he endured five courses of chemotherapy to treat tumors in his abdomen, and has suffered from pronounced fatigue and shortness of breath.

He sued J&J in New York in July, a few months after receiving his diagnosis. His case had not yet gone to trial when J&J subsidiary LTL Management filed for bankruptcy.

In a 2020 court filing, J&J said it denied 'each and every allegation, statement, matter and thing' asserted by McHattie in his lawsuit.

McHattie told Reuters in an interview that he was 'disappointed they've chosen to do what is expedient and not what is right.'

'There is no excuse for them filing a bankruptcy,' McHattie said. 'Why? This is a solvent company.'

Johnson & Johnson, valued at more than $450 billion, had about $31 billion in cash and marketable securities on hand at the end of the third quarter, securities filings show.

One plaintiff is Thomas McHattie, 78, who traveled the world as an obstetrician-gynecologist before receiving a mesothelioma diagnosis in March 2020

J&J secretly launched 'Project Plato' last year to shift liability from about 38,000 pending Baby Powder talc lawsuits to a newly created subsidiary. The subsidiary company, LTL, was then put into bankruptcy in October in order for J&J to limit its financial exposure to the lawsuits

In court and in public statements last July, J&J said it intended to keep fighting the allegations that its products were unsafe in trial courts. The company was actively defending itself in talc trials, including one that would result in a $27 million jury award that could be nullified by the bankruptcy maneuver. The plaintiff in that case now may have to instead seek compensation through a bankruptcy process.

Privately, J&J took concrete steps starting as early as April to consider and plan the bankruptcy maneuver, according to internal company documents, depositions and other court records reviewed by Reuters. The strategy seeks to ensure the pending cases never reach a jury and instead be handled in a bankruptcy court.

The documents provide the most detailed account to date of how the New Jersey-based conglomerate strategized to limit compensation to tens of thousands of talc plaintiffs.

Reuters exclusively reported the broad outlines of the bankruptcy strategy being explored by J&J in July. The company went ahead with the plan in October, offloading responsibility for the cases to the new subsidiary, which then filed for bankruptcy. Before the filing, the company faced costs from $3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than $2 billion, according to bankruptcy-court records.

McHattie, who was an obstetrician and gynecologist said he recommended Baby Powder to 'countless pregnant women' while also using it himself. McHattie said he endured five courses of chemotherapy to treat tumors in his abdomen. He has since retired

Now, J&J proposes to give the subsidiary in bankruptcy $2 billion to put into a trust to compensate all 38,000 current plaintiffs, as well as all future claimants. J&J has said in court filings and in public statements that the subsidiary, LTL Management LLC, could also tap a stream of royalty revenues valued at more than $350 million at the time of the bankruptcy filing.

J&J and its CEO Alex Gorsky did not answer detailed written questions from Reuters about its planning of the bankruptcy maneuver. In a statement, J&J defended the LTL bankruptcy as a way to resolve the talc claims.

'This filing follows established process, and courts have uniformly acknowledged that equitably resolving these types of claims through Chapter 11 is a legitimate use of the restructuring process,' the statement said. 'LTL's objective is to reach a fair and equitable resolution for claimants through a plan of reorganization and create a reasonable framework to address the unprecedented number of existing and future talc-related claims.'

It continued: 'We stand behind the safety of Johnson's Baby Powder, which is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer. We continue to believe resolving this matter as quickly and efficiently as possible is in the best interests of claimants and all stakeholders. We will continue to follow the process and put forth our position in the court.'

On Thursday, a lawyer for the J&J subsidiary appeared at a bankruptcy hearing and accused attorneys for people who have sued Johnson & Johnson over its talc products of sharing confidential documents with Reuters in a 'calculated' effort to try the case 'in the press.'

The plaintiffs include women suffering from ovarian cancer and others battling mesothelioma

Later Thursday, lawyers for J&J and its subsidiary sought a temporary restraining order from the bankruptcy judge to block Reuters from publishing information that, the company claims, comes from confidential documents.

WHAT IS MESOTHELIOMA? Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surface of some of the body's organs. It's usually linked to asbestos exposure. It mainly affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), although it can also affect the lining of the tummy (peritoneal mesothelioma), heart or testicles. More than 2,600 people are diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK. Most cases are diagnosed in people aged 60-80 and men are affected more commonly than women. Unfortunately it's rarely possible to cure mesothelioma, although treatment can help control the symptoms. The symptoms of mesothelioma tend to develop gradually over time. They typically don't appear until several decades after exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres that used to be widely used in construction. These tiny fibres can easily get in the lungs, where they get stuck, damaging the lungs over time. It usually takes a while for this to cause any obvious problems, with mesothelioma typically developing more than 20 years after exposure to asbestos. The use of asbestos was completely banned in 1999, so the risk of exposure is much lower nowadays. However, materials containing asbestos are still found in many older buildings. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

A Reuters spokesperson called J&J's claims without merit.

'We reject the factually-unfounded and legally-meritless claims made by J&J's lawyers and will continue to report without fear or favor on matters of public interest,' the spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

J&J started secretly considering and planning the maneuver to redirect plaintiffs to bankruptcy court as early as April, when company attorneys were briefed on the strategy by lawyers at Jones Day, a firm with experience in the tactic, according to deposition testimony from an LTL lawyer.

On July 19, the day after Reuters broke the news of the strategy, a J&J official contacted Moody's, the Wall Street ratings firm, to ask if the subsidiary bankruptcy would harm the company's pristine credit, according to emails reviewed by Reuters. She was told it likely wouldn't because the agency would only consider the maneuver's impact on the finances of J&J, and not those of the subsidiary in bankruptcy.

The exchange underscores why the strategy was so attractive: J&J could create a related-party bankruptcy to limit liability, while avoiding 'the burdens' of declaring bankruptcy itself, seven legal experts argued in an amicus brief filed with the court.

Moody's declined to comment.

In court papers, a lawyer for the J&J subsidiary said the bankruptcy filing was a 'prudent and necessary' step that 'offered the only alternative for equitably and permanently resolving' all the talc litigation.

Last July, Reuters reported that one of J&J's attorneys told plaintiffs' lawyers that the company could pursue the bankruptcy plan, according to people familiar with the matter. At the time, J&J publicly downplayed concerns about the strategy and did not confirm that it was exploring the option. 'Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc has not decided on any particular course of action in this litigation other than to continue to defend the safety of talc and litigate these cases in the tort system, as the pending trials demonstrate,' the company told Reuters at the time.

A few days later, in a California courtroom, a lawyer defending J&J against talc plaintiffs told a judge that news of the bankruptcy strategy amounted to unsubstantiated 'rumors.' J&J executed the bankruptcy plan starting on Oct. 11, taking the first steps to create the new subsidiary. The new company swiftly filed for Chapter 11, on October 14.

The strategy, while rare, could be adopted more widely by big companies facing liability crises if Johnson & Johnson gets bankruptcy-court approval, according to lawyers for talc plaintiffs and some legal experts. If J&J succeeds, they argue, it could provide a blueprint for Corporate America on how to circumvent jury trials involving allegations of defective products or misconduct.

Such a precedent could allow companies to routinely pursue related-party bankruptcies to escape accountability from juries, said Melissa Jacoby, a University of North Carolina law professor.

'That's one step closer to making bankruptcy an alternative justice system for big corporations,' Jacoby said. 'If a company as deeply pocketed as J&J can do this, where does it stop?'

In testimony last November, a lawyer for the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary has said the company pursued the strategy in reaction to an onslaught of litigation with the potential for outsized jury awards. A bankruptcy court, the lawyer argued, could provide a more consistent and equitable process for compensating claimants. Johnson & Johnson has said it would provide a fair amount of money to the subsidiary to pay claims.

The New Jersey judge overseeing the subsidiary's bankruptcy is scheduled on Feb. 14 to begin hearing arguments on plaintiff-creditors' contention that the bankruptcy should be dismissed because it was filed in bad faith.

The October bankruptcy temporarily halted the litigation against Johnson & Johnson. LTL has said it will seek to 'permanently' resolve the talc litigation through a reorganization plan that would prohibit current and future plaintiffs from seeking redress in a trial court. Instead, their claims would be directed to a trust, which would divvy up a limited amount of money through an administrative process approved by the bankruptcy court.

J&J's bankruptcy strategy is the latest example of the company's efforts to manage liability amid mounting allegations that asbestos lurks in its iconic Baby Powder and other talc products.

A December 2018 Reuters investigation revealed that the company knew for decades about tests showing its talc sometimes contained carcinogenic asbestos but kept that information from regulators and the public.

J&J's subsidiary bankruptcy is one variation of a longstanding and increasingly controversial tactic of limiting liability through so-called nondebtor releases granted to companies, owners or executives. The releases can allow companies or executives to piggyback on the bankruptcies of other entities to obtain broad protection from lawsuits and restrict litigation payouts. The party receiving the release typically agrees to contribute a lump sum to the company in bankruptcy to pay off plaintiffs in exchange for an exemption from all future liability.

WHY COULD TALCUM POWDER BE DANGEROUS? Talcum powder is made of finely ground talc, a mineral which forms underground as a clay-like rock. It is often mined from the same place as asbestos, a mineral known to cause lung disease. While talc is used for the skin due to its softness and moisture-absorbing properties, asbestos was used for insulation. Non-contaminated talc is completely safe but, if it is tainted with asbestos, there is a risk it could be damaging to health. In the past, tests have shown traces of asbestos in talcum powder products. About eight out of 10 people with mesothelioma - a type of lung cancer -have been exposed to asbestos. When asbestos fibers are breathed in, they travel to the ends of small air passages and reach the membranes of the thorax and lungs. They can cause inflammation and scarring, damage cells DNA, or cause changes that result in uncontrolled cell growth. If swallowed, these fibers can reach the abdominal lining, where they can cause mesothelioma. Ovarian cancer is another cancer asbestos is believed to be linked to, and is at the heart of Johnson & Johnson lawsuits in which women have claimed talcum powder has given them the cancer. In some cases they have won and received million-dollar payouts from the company. It is not clear why or how asbestos travels to ovarian tissues. Advertisement

That was the case with members of the Sackler family, the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma LP, which filed for bankruptcy as a hail of lawsuits alleged it had contributed to a deadly addiction epidemic with its opioid painkiller, OxyContin. In a landmark decision in December, a U.S. district judge in New York invalidated Purdue's bankruptcy reorganization plan on the grounds that it improperly insulated the Sackler family from liability through nondebtor releases.

Purdue has appealed the ruling. The company pleaded guilty in November 2020 to three felonies covering misconduct regarding its handling of opioids. Sackler family members, who also faced litigation, have denied allegations they contributed to the opioid crisis.

J&J's bankruptcy takes the approach a step further. Instead of seeking releases from liability in an existing bankruptcy proceeding, the company created a bankruptcy by forming a company that plaintiff-creditors allege has no business purpose other than to limit J&J's legal exposure.

Lawyers for talc plaintiffs contend that the J&J maneuver amounts to an abuse of the bankruptcy system, which is intended to help a struggling business reorganize  and not to help a well-capitalized conglomerate limit legal liability for alleged wrongdoing.

'This case is all about litigation advantage' for J&J, said Robert Stark, a Brown Rudnick LLP lawyer representing a creditors' committee of talc plaintiffs during a December hearing of the subsidiary's bankruptcy. J&J successfully halted the claims by tens of thousands of plaintiffs 'while people are dying of cancer' and trying to prepare their families financially for their deaths, Stark said at the hearing. 'It does not get more inhumane than that,' he said.

The Purdue and J&J bankruptcy strategies have sparked efforts in the U.S. Congress to stop such tactics. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois is co-sponsoring legislation with other Democrats that would all but outlaw the strategy J&J is using and restrict the ability of companies to obtain liability releases without declaring bankruptcy themselves.

'Our bankruptcy code and civil procedure has to be explored to make sure that this exploitation does not take place,' Durbin said in an interview.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, pictured, of Illinois is co-sponsoring legislation with other Democrats that would all but outlaw the strategy J&J is using and restrict the ability of companies to obtain liability releases without declaring bankruptcy themselves

Business groups and some bankruptcy lawyers say that nondebtor releases can be an effective tool to resolve litigation to the benefit of both plaintiffs and the companies they sue. While limited amounts for compensation are often criticized, they offer plaintiffs better odds of getting paid than if they take their chances in trial courts, said Donald Workman, a Baker & Hostetler restructuring lawyer who isn't involved in the J&J subsidiary's case.

'You have an elegant solution to resolve burdensome if not crushing obligations,' Workman said, that 'provides funding for constituencies that might otherwise receive nothing.'

J&J turned to the bankruptcy plan following a series of setbacks.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration found trace amounts of asbestos in a bottle of Baby Powder purchased online, forcing the company to issue a recall in October 2019. In May 2020, the company stopped selling talc-based Baby Powder in the U.S. and Canada, citing 'misinformation' and 'unfounded allegations' regarding the product's safety.

In April, J&J attorneys consulted with Jones Day lawyers, who explained how the company could use a Texas law to split the company's consumer-product business into two parts. One would absorb all the talc liability; the other would carry on the business free from the threat of billion-dollar judgments. Texas pioneered the so-called divisional merger, which allows companies to break apart and more easily divvy up assets and liabilities among the resulting companies.

Jones Day helped Georgia-Pacific, a company owned by conglomerate Koch Industries, execute the maneuver in 2017 to offload mounting asbestos litigation. Georgia-Pacific faced allegations regarding asbestos exposure from building products that spanned decades.

Georgia-Pacific used the Texas law to create a new subsidiary called Bestwall to shoulder asbestos liability. As the subsidiary declared bankruptcy, the 'new' Georgia-Pacific continued to produce Brawny paper towels and other lucrative brands. The maneuver came to be known in legal circles as a 'Texas two-step.'

Georgia-Pacific paid nearly $3 billion in dividends to Koch over the next several years, according to a court filing, that it might have been unable to dole out had it filed for bankruptcy itself. Georgia-Pacific has proposed giving Bestwall $1 billion to settle all asbestos claims, an amount plaintiff-creditors are still challenging in bankruptcy court.

Koch Industries and Georgia-Pacific declined to comment; Jones Day did not respond to a request for comment.

When J&J needed help last year, it hired Dallas-based Jones Day partner Greg Gordon and other members of the firm's Georgia-Pacific legal team.

As the bankruptcy planning moved forward, a major court defeat heightened the urgency. In June of last year, J&J lost a bid to reverse a watershed verdict in favor of 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on Baby Powder and other talc products. The women had initially won a verdict of $4.69 billion from a Missouri jury. A state appeals court reduced the award to more than $2 billion.

By July 12, the company had secretly set up the Project Plato team. The more than 30 employees staffing it came from J&J's finance, risk management, tax and business development operations, according to the internal J&J memo and deposition testimony.

A week later, J&J treasurer Michelle Ryan reached out to Moody's to get guidance on the impact to J&J's credit rating.

'We are looking at a number of ways of capping our talc liability,' Ryan said in a July 19 email to Michael Levesque, a senior vice president at the credit-ratings firm focused on pharmaceutical companies. One scenario under consideration, Ryan said, would be to 'capture the liability in one subsidiary' and then 'basically bankrupt that subsidiary.'

Ryan asked whether the bankruptcy would hurt the company's credit rating. J&J at the time was one of just two U.S. companies with a triple-A rating, the other being Microsoft.

Levesque replied that the 'technical aspect' of the subsidiary bankruptcy wasn't likely to cause concern about J&J's creditworthiness. Rather, he said, Moody's was 'highly likely' to focus on how the subsidiary's Chapter 11 filing affected J&J's finances, which the maneuver intended to help.

Ryan did not respond to a request for comment.

To execute the plan, J&J created a limited liability company on Oct. 11 in Texas through a series of transactions. That company then merged with J&J's existing consumer products business. The merged company then divided itself under the state's divisional merger law, creating the subsidiary that would take on all the talc liability.

The consumer business could then go on as if the lawsuits had never been filed.

Early on the morning of October 11, Andrew, the in-house J&J lawyer who initially sent the internal memo to the Project Plato team, sent an email to eight J&J colleagues, including several senior executives. He asked them to approve the Texas two-step bankruptcy plan 'as soon as possible' and no later than that day, according to Andrews' email to his colleagues, which was reviewed by Reuters.

He attached a detailed memo outlining the impending bankruptcy's purported benefits. It would allow, the memo said, the bankruptcy court to determine the final amount of money for resolving all of the litigation, in a process enabling claims to be settled in an 'equitable and efficient manner, without the waste and abuses experienced in the state court tort system.'

The memo warned of risks. The plan would be consummated under a tight time frame and would be scrutinized by the media. 'Appropriate messaging (internally and externally) will be required to avoid or mitigate misunderstandings about the nature of the restructuring and negative publicity,' the memo said.

Andrew quickly received the green light, within hours of the request, internal emails reviewed by Reuters show.

LTL, the new subsidiary, held its first board meeting on October 14.

The board members and lawyers discussed that LTL faced what they viewed as 'exorbitant' costs if the current talc litigation barrage continued, which included 12,000 lawsuits alone through the first nine-and-a-half months of 2021, according to meeting minutes and deposition testimony Reuters reviewed. The group noted that J&J faced a total of about $5 billion in costs from judgments, settlements and legal fees.

The board voted to pursue a Chapter 11 filing. J&J disclosed the move in a news release that evening as one that would 'equitably' resolve the litigation.

A plaintiffs' lawyer grilled Robert Wuesthoff  a J&J manager appointed president of LTL Management  on that point in a December 22 deposition.

'One of the considerations was to treat claimants equitably; it was for their benefit? Is that what you're saying?' asked Jeffrey Jonas, a Brown Rudnick lawyer representing a creditors committee comprising talc plaintiffs.

'Yes, it would be more equitable to the claimant. Yes, we believe that,' Wuesthoff responded.

'But the real reason we filed for bankruptcy,' the LTL executive said, was that the large and growing amount of talc cases  some with 'lottery-size' awards  put J&J's consumer products business in 'financial distress.'
Queensland has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic with 21 deaths as Dr John Gerrard warned too many residents were dying without their booster shot.

Of the new deaths announced on Saturday, four were unvaccinated while only two had received their third dose.

Chief health medical officer Dr Gerrard said he was concerned some of the deaths could have been avoided if residents had received their third vaccine.

The warning was made as the state reported another 8,508 new Covid cases - up from the 6,857 reported on Friday.

'It just stresses me greatly every day to be reporting on older Queenslanders who are dying without having received the booster,' Dr Gerrard said.

Queensland has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic with 21 deaths as Dr John Gerrard warned too many residents were dying without their booster shot

Chief health medical officer Dr Gerrard said he was concerned some of the deaths could have been avoided if residents had received their third vaccine

'We know that most of these people who have not received the booster are not anti vaxxers. I hear stories about elderly people who have who have dutifully made their appointment with their general practitioner four weeks down the track.

'There is plenty of booster out there available at multiple locations - there is no need to wait to get boosted particularly if you're an older Queensland, provided you pass that three month period.'

Overall 134 aged care residents have died in Queensland.

'We know 70 per cent of Queenslanders over the age of 70 have received the booster ...and yet over 90 per cent of people who have died (in the state) ...are unboosted,' Dr Gerrard said.

'There is plenty of booster out there, there is no need to wait ... particularly for the elderly.'

Public hospitalisations have fallen to 727 - down from 798 - while ICU rates have dropped to 46 - dipping from 52.

In private hospitals there are 63 patients - a drop from 66 - and two in ICU.

Dr Gerrad said the state had appeared to pass the peak of the latest outbreak and eased concerns of parents who were hesitant to send their children back to school when classes return on Monday.

'I know there are a lot of anxious parents out there. Please don't be,' he said.

The state reported another 8,508 new Covid cases - up from the 6,857 reported on Friday (pictured, a man receives his Covid-19 vaccination at Mount Gravatt in Brisbane)

Dr Gerrad said the state had appeared to pass the peak of the latest outbreak and eased concerns of parents who were hesitant to send their children back to school when classes return on Monday

'There will be disruption, I think that'll be the biggest problem rather than the true illness in their children. The other risk with children getting it is the risk of them transmitting it to the grandparents.

'And that again must emphasize that's why it's so important that the grandparents or small children, get those boosters.'

The new cases emerged after 23,968 tests across Queensland.

'It is certainly good news that ... the peak of transmission has certainly passed but the virus is absolutely everywhere in Queensland,' Dr Gerrard said.

The latest figures show 92.14 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have had one dose of a vaccine, while 89.85 per cent have had two.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk accused GoFundMe of hypocrisy after the company canceled the Freedom Convoy fundraiser on Friday after it actively supported a campaign for the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest in Seattle.

The crowdfunding platform claimed the convoy fundraiser - which raised $10million Canadian dollars ($8 million USD) in support of truckers protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates - violated its terms of service 'which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment.'

GoFundMe plans to distribute the remaining $9million of donated funds to 'credible and established charities' that were reportedly chosen by the convoy organizers and have been verified by the platform.

'Double-standard?' Musk questioned on Twitter Friday night, sharing a screenshot of a tweet the crowdfunding platform published in 2020, amid active riots in Seattle.

The Seattle protesters declared an autonomous zone in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The zone, spanning six city blocks and displaying Black Lives Matter imagery, was established by George Floyd protesters in June 2020 after a tension-filled interactions between demonstrators and police.

GoFundMe also allowed numerous BLM-related fundraisers, some of which still remain active, that strived to raise funds for protective gear and medical supplies for protesters in the Pacific Northwest.

The crowdfunding platform, released a statement Friday evening saying: 'GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created.'

'We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.'

The decision to remove the fundraise comes one day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a military response to the protests that have shut down the nation's capital was 'not in the cards right now' and the House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee called on GoFundMe to detail how it would ensure donations weren't being used to promote extremism and hate.

It remains unclear if Trudeau or his government lobbied the crowdsourcing company, which did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

GoFundMe has canceled the Freedom Convoy fundraiser, which had gained more than $10 million in donations, and plans to distribute the remaining funds to 'credible and established charities'

GoFundMe issued a statement Friday night saying the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser violated its terms of service 'which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left) and some of his his Liberal Party allies have accused the convoy demonstrators of extremism and racism. Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich (right) has strongly denied Trudeau's charge and announced Friday that she would be continuing to collect donations for truckers via GiveSendGo

In the wake of GoFundMe's decision, Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich announced Friday night that they have teamed up with GiveSendGo, another online platform, to continue raising funds for the truckers.

'GiveSendGo is going to to enable us to get donations into the hands of truckers much, much quicker,' she said in a video published by Rumble.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed GoFundMe over the decision, alleging the company was hypocritical after it actively supported a 2020 fundraiser for the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) in Seattle

'If you can donate and help us keep these truckers going - we plan to be here for the long haul, as long as it takes to ensure that your rights and freedoms are restored.'

GoFundMe suspended the Freedom Convoy fundraiser for internal review on Wednesday after it had accrued more than $10million in donations.

The company had previously released $1million to organizers after they 'provided a clear distribution plan and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest.'

The organizers claimed the funds would be used for expenses such as fuel, food and lodging, with any leftover donations being gifted to a 'credible Veterans organization which will be chosen by the donors.'

GoFundMe announced Friday they will no longer be releasing funds to the organizers because of 'how this situation has evolved'.

'No further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers,' the company statement read. 'We will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers and verified by GoFundMe.'

The company said donors have until February 19 to request a refund.

Trudeau and some of his his Liberal Party allies have accused the convoy demonstrators of extremism and racism, a charge that Lich strongly denied on Thursday.

'We are here out of love for our families, our communities and our nation. These past two years, the covid mandates have divided us,' she said in a statement.

'This protest began because of the federal government's restrictions on truckers' freedoms. Our movement has grown in Canada and across the world because common people are tired of the mandates and restrictions in their own lives that now seem to be doing more harm than good,' she added.

'We are therefore calling on all levels of government in Canada to end all covid mandates and restrictions. We will continue our protest until we see a clear plan for their elimination.'

Freedom Convoy organizers claim the protest began because of 'the federal government's restrictions on truckers' freedoms'

Since last weekend, hundreds of long-haul truckers have blockaded Parliament Hill in Ottawa as well as a key border crossing between Alberta and Montana , railing against vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions

GoFundMe previously allowed numerous BLM-related fundraisers, some of which still remain active, that strived to raise funds for protective gear (left) and medical supplies (right) for the protestors in the Pacific Northwest

GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan, who last year urged the US government to pass emergency COVID-19 aid, has not publicly commented on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser.

Although he has previously argued the nonprofit has 'a responsibility to society' and so 'we prohibit the promotion of misinformation, or the promotion of hate or discrimination, or using a campaign to bully someone or discriminate, or to promote violence or terrorism.'

GoFundMe CEO slammed Congress over its COVID response GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan (pictured) has not publicly commented on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan has not publicly commented on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser, but some allege he likely opposes the anti-vaccine protest given his own criticisms of the US government's COVID response. Last year, during an interview with the New York Times Cadogan said: 'This is a war against a virus. If this were a war against another country at this scale, it would be no question what we would do, right? We would mobilize our society to defeat it.' He also argued that he would rather the federal government offer aid to Americans than his company. The CEO penned an open letter to Congress - which was published in USA Today - arguing lawmakers didn't to take action because many citizens were unable to afford rent, groceries, utilities and medical bills. He also argued the pandemic was making it nearly impossible for small businesses owners to stay afloat. Cadogan said that although GoFundMe aims to be 'the most helpful place in the world,' the platform cannot do the government's job for it. 'We are proud of the role that GoFundMe plays in connecting those in need with those who are ready to help,' he wrote. 'But our platform was never meant to be a source of support for basic needs, and it can never be a replacement for robust federal COVID-19 relief that is generous and targeted to help the millions of Americans who are struggling.' Advertisement

Crowdfunding platforms, including GoFundMe, have the right to ban campaigns that the companies allege violate their terms of service.

GoFundMe, for example, does not allow fundraisers for the legal defense of people accused of hate, intolerance or violent crimes. Campaigns associated to sexual content or pornography are also prohibited.

The company has also previously remove campaigns that it believes spread misinformation about COVID vaccine safety.

However, its terms of service also give it the right to prohibit 'any other activity that GoFundMe may deem, in its sole discretion, to be unacceptable.'

Last year, the company - likely bowing to pressure from progressive activists - deactivated a fundraiser established by a group of Virginia parents trying to fight the implementation of critical race theory (CRT) in Loudoun County Public Schools.

Scott Mineo, founder of Parents Against Critical Theory, created the GoFundMe campaign last March after members of the Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County Facebook group launched an 'intimidation campaign' against his organization, as well as several other parent groups.

His fundraiser had accrued nearly $4,000 by March 22 when a former Loudoun County School Board Equity Committee member reportedly urged the academic community to report the account.

He told Fox News that GoFundMe claimed the group violated the company's terms of service and refunded the contributions to donors.

Mineo argued the crowdfunding platform neglected to specify which term of service the page violated. He suspected, however, that GoFundMe didn't support his stance on CRT and believed he was spreading misinformation.

'Because Im anti-CRT, thats it,' he said of the decision, speaking to the Virginia Star.

'The fact that Im anti-CRT and that Im spreading misinformation.'

He added: 'But almost everything that I post comes from the school system themselves. Its their material.'

Loudon County, a Democratic stronghold in northern Virginia, became the focal point of debate over woke policies, including CRT and transgender issues, by school boards across the country.

Parents voiced their frustration with the school board, saying they did not want their children to be taught that they're bad or good depending on their race.

The use of critical race theory, or CRT, in education has been criticized for its message that the US is built on racism with skin color determining the social, economic, and political differences between each.

Advocates say its teaching is necessary to underline how deeply racism pervades society, while critics say it is divisive and paints everyone as a victim or oppressor, with multiple Virginia school board meetings making headlines after parents were filmed clashing with staff over the decision to teach it.

Organizers and participants - although many have remained peaceful - have been accused of calling their political opponents Nazis, waving swastikas and Confederate flags, and threatening an insurrection against the Canadian government

People walk near police cars parked beside several trucks as truckers and supporters protest in Ottawa on Friday

GoFundMe has repeatedly flip-flopped over its stance on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser.

It suspended the account twice, before ultimately removing the campaign, and reportedly began refunding donations earlier this week although the company had not yet canceled the fundraiser.

Brad Maier, a convoy donor, said received an email from GoFundMe on Wednesday alerting him that his donation would be refunded but was given no explanation as to why.

'The email looks legitimate, I just want to wait and see if it actually gets refunded to my credit card,' he told the Montreal Gazette. 'Then I will know if its legit.'

The Ottawa Police Department thanked GoFundMe for discontinuing the fundraiser

Others social media users had also reported unexplained refunds from the platform.

Since last weekend, hundreds of long-haul truckers have blockaded Parliament Hill in Ottawa as well as a key border crossing between Alberta and Montana, railing against vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions.

Organizers and participants - although many have remained peaceful - have been accused of calling their political opponents Nazis, waving swastikas and Confederate flags, and threatening an insurrection against the Canadian government, the Conservation reported.

Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly said earlier this week that 'all options' were on the table, including calling in the military, to end the ongoing demonstration that some on the city council are calling an 'occupation.'

Trudeau, responding to Sloly's remarks Thursday, said the government must be 'very, very cautious' about deploying troops on Canadian soil, adding that there has been no such request to the federal government. But he said that any formal requests for assistance from the City of Ottawa or Ontario will be considered.

The Ottawa Police Department, taking to Twitter Friday, thanked GoFundMe for discontinuing the fundraiser.

'We want to thank GoFundMe for listening to our concerns as a City and a police service,' the department wrote. 'The decision to withhold funding for these unlawful demonstrations is an important step and we call on all crowdfunding sites to follow.'

Police barricades are seen as truckers and supporters continue to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates on Friday

Protestors are pictured outside Ottawa's Parliament Hill

The Freedom Convoy fundraiser was first frozen last week, when it totaled $5million in donations, because GoFundMe wanted to determine exactly where the funds would go.

It was provided with an explanation by the organizers and two days later, seemingly satisfied, the crowdfunding site unlocked the account allowing donations to continue and released $1million in donated funds.

On Wednesday, it was frozen again, after days of political pressure from left-wing politicians who have blasted the truckers as 'mercenaries.' The company issued a statement saying: 'This fundraiser is currently paused and under review to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.

'Our team is working 24/7 and doing all we can to protect both organizers and donors. Thank you for your patience.'

A GoFundMe campaign that was organized to support the Canadian truckers demonstration raised more than $10million CAD

GoFundMe later clarified the account met its terms and services at the time of its creation last month.

'We strictly prohibit user content that reflects or promotes behavior in support of violence - in this case, the organizer met our requirements and the fundraiser did not violate our Terms of Service at the time of creation.'

The company claimed Thursday it was monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the money - raised from more than 120,000 donations - goes to the intended recipients, and went on to detail the criteria on how it intends to discern the integrity and transparency of the organizers of the fundraiser.

'As the activity surrounding the protest evolves, we have been monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the funds are going to the intended recipients and that the fundraiser remains within our Terms of Service.

'Our monitoring includes maintaining close communication with the organizer as well as collaborating with local law enforcement,' GoFundMe said.

'This process takes time and may slow down the withdrawal process. If the fundraiser does violate our Terms of Service or does not directly benefit the intended beneficiary, we will remove it from the platform,' the site added at the time.

Similarly, Facebook has also removed a page used by American truckers to organize a convoy to Washington DC.

Meta, the social media platform's parent company, told Fox News the Convoy to DC 2022 group was removed 'for repeatedly violating our policies around QAnon'.

Trucker Jeremy Johnson, who established the group, claims his personal Facebook account was also removed, prompting him to contact a civil rights attorney about his options moving forward.

'It's censorship at its finest,' he said. 'They like to silence people that speak the truth.'

Lich, who launched a TikTok account Friday night as a way to provide updates to convoy supporters, claims her Facebook account has also been suspended.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson's criticism of the Biden administration's handling of the crisis in Ukraine has pushed a Democratic lawmaker to ask an intelligence briefer to dig up dirt on the top-ranked cable news program in an effort to find out if the show is tied to Russia.

Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper, 65, asked the question during a closed-door briefing in Congress on Wednesday, Carlson revealed on his show Friday.

'We are not tied to Russia, of course,' Carlson said. 'It's a cable television program. He knows that. But that is not the point.'

'So in retaliation for that, Jim Cooper has asked the intel agencies to dig up dirt on us,' he added. 'To be clear, that is not allowed. It is illegal to use the U.S. Government to settle partisan scores or to silence opposition journalists.'

Carlson told viewers that Cooper - a Blue Dog Coalition member who is planning to retire in January after serving in Congress for 32 years - 'admitted what he did today when we asked him,' and was 'too cowardly to come on tonight to explain how he could justify that.'

Dailymail.com reached out to Cooper's office for comment.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a Democrat who represents Nashville, (pictured here in 2018) asked an intelligence briefer during a closed-door meeting this week to 'dig up dirt' on Tucker Carlson's show and find out if it's tied to Russia, Carlson claimed on his show Friday

'We are not tied to Russia, of course,' Carlson said Friday, claiming that Rep. Cooper's request was in retaliation for Carlson's criticism on the Biden administration's Ukraine policy

In a statement on Twitter Friday, Cooper's office stated that the congressman was marking the first anniversary of his wife's death, who died from Alzheimer's disease.

The statement also noted that Cooper 'has every right to ask whatever questions he thinks are important to strengthening American security during confidential House Intelligence Committee hearings.'

Carlson found that excuse appalling.

'It is also, by the way, illegal to secretly monitor their electronic communication,' he said. 'We are not speculating about it. The NSA admitted that.'

'This is scary behavior. It is also revealing. After a full year of governing, all the Biden administration could muster when challenged are ad hominem attacks and more spying from the Intel agents. Let's put the Intel agencies on. What they can't do is explain themselves. They don't even try.'

Rep. Cooper's office responded to Tucker Carlson's claims in a statement obtained by The Washington Examiner and shared by Daniel Chaitin on Twitter Friday

Here's the statement from Cooper's office obtained by Tucker Carlson's show pic.twitter.com/uY8GW59eK9  Daniel Chaitin (@danielchaitin7) February 5, 2022

Carlson made the remarks on the same day U.S. paratroopers, armored vehicles and jets arrived in Poland as part of the deployment of 3,000 troops into Eastern Europe in a major show of force to try to deter Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine.

The Biden administration has insisted the troops are not escalatory and are meant to reassure NATO allies the U.S. is sworn to defend under Article V of the NATO treaty, which President Biden calls a 'sacred obligation.'

Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee is the 29th Democrat to announce he's not running for re-election this year

Russia has called the new deployments 'destructive,' even while amassing more than 100,000 of its own troops around Ukraine.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday defended the U.S. commitment of military aid to Ukraine.

'We've provided hundreds of billions of dollars in aid security assistance over the course of not just the last year but long before that, and including a commitment the President made was announced around president [Volodymyr] Zelensky's visit,' she told reporters at the White House.

On Carlson's show Friday night, he told viewers that his criticism of the Biden administration's handling of the crisis in Ukraine is what pushed Rep. Cooper to ask an intelligence briefer to dig up dirt on the news program in an effort to find out if the show is tied to Russia.

Cooper had announced at the end of January that he will not seek another term and blasted Republicans in his state's General Assembly for 'dismembering Nashville' in the once-a-decade redistricting process.

His announcement comes after the Republican-controlled state assembly in Tennessee split his Nashville district into three other congressional districts.

'Despite my strength at the polls, I could not stop the General Assembly from dismembering Nashville,' Cooper said in a statement Tuesday. 'No one tried harder to keep our city whole. I explored every possible way, including lawsuits, to stop the gerrymandering and to win one of the three new congressional districts that now divide Nashville. There's no way, at least for me in this election cycle, but there may be a path for other worthy candidates.'
CNN anchor Don Lemon welled up in tears as he finally discussed Jeff Zucker's resignation for keeping secret his relationship with a co-worker and lavished praise on his former boss for all he has done for him over the years.

The host of 'Don Lemon Tonight' started Friday's show with a 'personal message' following a 'very tough day' for him after Jeff Zucker, 56, was ousted from CNN on Wednesday for not disclosing to the network that he was involved with Allison Gollust, 49, his friend and colleague of over 20 years.

They claim their romance began during the pandemic, but sources tell DailyMail.com and other outlets that their secret relationship had started years earlier.

After two days of not reporting on the downfall of one of the most powerful men in media, a teary-eyed Lemon thanked Zucker for giving him a career in TV news.

What Lemon didn't broach was the photo of Zucker and his lover Gollust at a Billy Joel concert that helped expose their relationship - and in which he is featured prominently in the row behind the couple.

Lemon - who was featured prominently in a photo of Zucker and his lover Allison Gollust at a Billy Joel concert that helped expose their relationship- offered high praise for the man he credited for his career

Don Lemon started his show with a 'personal message' after a 'very tough day' for him days following his former boss Jeff Zucker's resignation

Instead, what viewers saw was a passionate on-air farewell and defense of the man who gave him a $4 million annual salary to host his own show.

'The truth is we are all heartbroken because we lost our leader here, we lost a man who was the backbone, the glue and the spirit of his company,' Lemon began.

'The man who I personally credit with changing my life, the man who believed in me when no one else did. He is the reason you have a gay, black man with two hours of prime time, a show with my name on it. The only anchor of color on prime time cable news, think about that. You want to talk about diversity? Here it is.'

Lemon went on to discuss the low morale he and his colleagues have been facing in doing their jobs since Zucker left the building.

'It has been hard to come into work this week, not only for me but for so many of us here at CNN, more than 3,000 of us,' he said.

'Let me just say this to my colleagues who may have not been here as long as I have, younger folks who have not weathered the storms. I've been at this network for almost 16 years, we have been through ups and downs, ratings high, ratings low, everything. Regime changes, we've been through a lot and through it all our mission has remained the same: to deliver the facts, deliver the news, it is what we did when Ted Turner turned the lights on in here, it is what we did through two gulf wars, through 9/11, through Katrina, through an insurrection.'

Lemon continued: 'Jeff Zucker may not have launched this network, but he revived it, he made it relevant again. He steadied it for the last decade. He left us with a very good blueprint going forward. So for all of you at home watching, you should know that I and my colleagues will continue to do exactly what he would want us to do and that is to do what I'm going to do right now: deliver the news, no matter what it is, without fear or favor. So thank you Jeff Zucker for everything you did for everyone at this network and what you did for the entire country. So, lets just move on.'

Lemon gave the somber on-air farewell to his former boss who gave him a $4 million annual salary for hosting 'Don Lemon Tonight'

Zucker, 56, was ousted from CNN earlier this week for not disclosing to the network that he was involved with Allison Gollust, 49, his friend and colleague of over 20 years.

Zucker lost his $6 million-a-year-job for violating the company's Standards of Business Conduct when he failed to disclose his romantic relationship with Gollust, who remains CNN EVP and chief marketing officer.

'I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn't. I was wrong.'

Lemon faced his own ethical issues at the network in December after it was revealed he contacted former Empire star Jussie Smollett to tell him Chicago police didn't believe his story.

Smollett, who is gay, testified in court during his trial that Lemon sent him a text message warning him that detectives didn't believe his tale of being been beaten in the middle of the night by two white men wearing MAGA hats during a homophobic attack in 2019.

Following the revelation there were calls for CNN to fire the host.

Lemon told his viewers after the incident occurred that he was in constant communication with Smollett because the story was 'personal' to him since the pair were friends.

He claimed the actor was 'innocent until proven guilty' and will have 'squandered the good will of a whole lot of people' if he was lying.

As for Lemon's former boss, late Wednesday night it was reported that Zucker and Gollust lobbied Andrew Cuomo to appear on their network during the pandemic - violating company policy and calling into question their own condemnation of Chris Cuomo's actions.

The pair contacted the then-governor of New York directly to try and convince him to appear on his brother Chris Cuomo's show during the pandemic, despite the brotherly interviews breaching journalistic protocols.

When Cuomo's team declined, they would make direct appeals.

'The truth is we are all heartbroken because we lost our leader here, we lost a man who was the backbone, the glue and the spirit of his company,' Lemon said about his former boss

The revelations raise further questions about Zucker's handling of the Cuomo brothers saga, and call into question Gollust's continued employment by the company.

Zucker was 'outed' by lawyers working for fired anchor Chris Cuomo, who The New York Post reported went to Zucker's bosses, executives at parent company AT&T, to inform of his relationship.

After the news broke, CNN host Alisyn Camerota defended Zucker and Gollust, saying there was nothing wrong with their relationship because they are both 'executives'.

Brian Stelter, CNN's media correspondent, blamed it all on Chris Cuomo, who exposed the romance through his attorneys while negotiating an exit-package.

'These are two consenting adults who are both executives. That they can't have a private relationship feels wrong,' she said to Stelter and Victor Blackwell.

Zucker and Gollust were spotted at a Billy Joel concert last November, where they were called out for defying mask regulations. Don Lemon could also be seen during the concert standing in the row behind.

CNN staffers were left stunned by Zucker's resignation and sudden departure.

'Zucker and Gollust's relationship was one of the biggest open secrets in media. CNN staffers awkwardly navigated the pairing, since every time they dealt with her, they were keenly aware that she was involved with the boss. They were rolling their eyes at Gollust's own statement that said 'recently, our relationship changed during Covid.' It had been going on for much longer, ' wrote NYMag's Shawn McCreesh.

One suggestion is that Zucker was 'outed' by Cuomo, who is trying to get an $18 million payout from the network having been fired by Zucker in December, after it was revealed he had been helping his brother, former governor Andrew Cuomo navigate his sexual harassment allegations.

Cuomo's camp has refuted any suggestions that he had anything to do with his departure. The network has also not found a replacement for his old 9pm time slot, which was the floundering network's highest rated prime time show.

'Zucker has always had detractors inside CNN, but they are outnumbered by his loyalists, and none of that loyalty eroded today. Staffers who were initially shocked by parent company WarnerMedia's action turned disappointed and angry later in the day,' wrote CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter.

'Outside these walls, Zucker is a larger-than-life figure in the news business, but here in the office, he was the boss right down the hall, always ready with a disarming joke or a story idea. We did not see this coming,' Stelter added.

Zucker made a long-list of enemies over the years at CNN, most notable of whom is Donald Trump.

Trump celebrated his resignation on Wednesday, saying in an emailed statement: 'Jeff Zucker, a world-class sleazebag who has headed ratings and real-news-challenged CNN for far too long, has been terminated for numerous reasons, but predominantly because CNN has lost its way with viewers and everybody else.

'Now is a chance to put Fake News in the backseat because there may not be anything more important than straightening out the horrendous LameStream Media in our Country, and in the case of CNN, throughout the World.

'Jeff Zucker is gone - congratulations to all!' he said.

Megyn Kelly, former FOX News host, tweeted: 'Zucker's relationship with Gollust went on for years, and what he did to keep her near him (as he kept advancing her up the line) will be even more stunning to the CNN news room.'
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- A coal mine blast in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province killed at least five workers and injured five others, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Balochistan said on Saturday.

The incident happened due to the accumulation of methane gas in the coal mine located on the outskirts of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, according to the PDMA.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, with three of them in critical condition.

The authorities sealed off the mine after the explosion, and launched an investigation into the incident. 
A maverick member of parliament known for his controversial anti-jab stance has been spotted attending a large anti-vax mandate rally in Canberra.

On Saturday, Nationals MP George Christensen attended the march through the nation's capital to Old Parliament House as a week of intense rallies continued.

He said the protest was attended by thousands of people from 'all walks of life'.

On Saturday nationals MP George Christensen attended a anti-vax march with some 2000 unmasked protesters through Canberra to Old Parliament House

'They claim that we're fringe dwellers but look at the people here,' he said.

'All they're wanting is for this nonsense to end.

'We want our freedom back, we want these mandates to end, we want medical segregation to end, lockdowns, state border closures.'

It's believed some of the estimated 2000 unmasked protesters travelled from north Queensland and Perth to participate in the protests.

It's believed some of the estimated 2000 unmasked protesters travelled from north Queensland and Perth to participate in the protests

Over the week the protesters have held several demonstrations to 'hold the government accountable'.

On Saturday, one protester addressed the crowd gathered outside Old Parliament House and claimed the ANZACs had arrived to 'restore their rights'.

He also demanded 'Satan and his evil henchmen' leave the 'big satanic building up on the hill.'

'In the vacuum created by the departure of evil, we invite the Holy Spirit and the angels of God to descend on this place to protect us,' he said.

He said anti-vax mandate protesters are often labelled as 'fringe dwellers' but are actually from 'all walks of life'

'Please maintain your silence because this is a historic day  the 5th October 2022 will be a day to remember.

'February 5th, sorry.'

Other protesters chanted 'save Australia', 'save our children' and 'sack them all' as Aboriginal flags and Australian Red Ensign were carried and Waltzing Matilda played.

Video captured an incident where unnamed protesters turned on each other during the march with one accusing another of being an 'insider'.

The confusing conversation started with a woman telling a seated man he was 'losing the crowd' while he argued she was 'dividing people'.

'Because you're an insider that isn't a good one and that's your job,' the woman said.

Several bizarre incidents during the protest were reported including one man claiming the 'ANZAC spirit' was coming to reclaim protester right from 'the devil's henchmen' and other protesters accusing each other of being 'insiders'

'Well that's either your fear or what you are,' the man said.

Protesters reportedly 'set up camp' in front of National Library of Canberra earlier this week with the plan to remain there until at least February 8.

However police have since dispersed the illegal campers and protesters have moved to permitted camping areas throughout the city.

Some protesters were reportedly capsicum sprayed during the incident.

ACT police have confirmed one protester was arrested after she allegedly assaulted officers.

Two men who allegedly interfered with her arrest have also been charged.
A man is under police guard in hospital following a crash minutes after a pursuit on Sydney's busy Parramatta Road involving five other vehicles.

It's alleged highway patrol officers tried to stop a Subaru Outback at Leichhardt just after 6.20am on Saturday when its driver was seen to disobey a red light.

The car failed to stop and a chase was initiated before being terminated shortly after due to safety concerns.

After this, the Subaru collided with a Jeep Cherokee, a Toyota Prado, a Honda Civic, a Mazda 6 and a Toyota Corolla near the intersection of Old Canterbury Road, police say.

Officers responded and assisted the occupants of the vehicles, who were treated by ambulance paramedics.

The Jeep driver, a 40-year-old man, was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for scans.

A dramatic six-car smash on one of Australia's busiest roads led to five people being rushed to hospital on Saturday morning, including five with serious injuries

The devastation of the early-morning smash on Parramatta Road was obvious from the aftermath, leading to the busy road being closed for over seven hours

The 40-year-old man behind the wheel of the Toyota was freed from the vehicle and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a stable condition, while a male passenger, 45, was taken to St Vincent's Hospital for scans.

The drivers of the Honda, Mazda and Toyota - aged 72, 34 and 32 respectively - were assessed at the scene.

The 35-year-old Subaru driver was arrested and taken to St George Hospital, suffering minor injuries.

He has since undergone mandatory testing and remains under guard.

The driver of a Subaru, who was arrested by police and taken to hospital, ploughed into five other cars

One of the vehicles his by the Subaru which failed to stop when police attempted to pull it over around 6.20am

The aftermath of the 'major crash' left wrecked vehicles strewn across the six-lane road, surrounded by glass, car parts and other debris and led to a large section of Parramatta Road being closed in both directions

The aftermath of the crash left wrecked vehicles strewn across the six lane road, surrounded by glass, car parts and other debris

The busy road was closed in both directions for hours on Saturdays leading to frustrating delays for motorists

Five people are in hospital after a horrific six-car smash on one of Australia's busiest roads that followed an abandoned police pursuit on Saturday morning
D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Jackson, widely thought to be Biden's top pick, was elevated from her previous post as a judge on the federal district court in Washington, D.C., where she remained from 2013-2021.

During her confirmation hearing for the highly influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Jackson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that her race would add 'value' to the bench when trying to explain how it would not play a role in her decisions.

'I'm looking at the arguments, the facts and the law. I'm methodically and intentionally setting aside personal views, any other inappropriate considerations, and I would think that race would be the kind of thing that would be inappropriate to inject into my evaluation of a case,' she said.

Then Jackson added: 'I've experienced life in perhaps a different way than some of my colleagues because of who I am, and that might be valuable -- I hope it would be valuable -- if I was confirmed to the court.'

During her time as a judge, Jackson was part of the decision to order former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn to comply with the House of Representatives' subpoena as part of its impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump.

One line in the ruling impressed Democrats: 'The primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.'

Jackson, widely seen as Biden's top pick, was a lawyer for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign

Jackson also signed the recent opinion ordering Trump White House documents be disclosed to the January 6 select committee.

And in 2019, she blocked Donald Trump's fast-track deportation policy from going into effect at the southern border.

Questions on Jackson's impartiality on the high court could also come from her past political activism. On her questionnaire for the Senate Judiciary Jackson admitted she was a lawyer and poll watcher for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

She also donated $400 to Obama's first presidential bid, campaign finance disclosures show.

Jackson, 51, earned her law degree from Harvard and, fittingly, clerked for Breyer. She is also married to the brother-in-law of former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. She has two daughters with her husband Patrick Jackson, whom she married in 1996.

Patrick Jackson, a surgeon, previously donated $1,250 to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and $1,750 to Obama's 2012 re-election bid.

Campaign filings show Jackson's husband is no stranger to donating to Democratic presidential bids

Some Biden critics could also be concerned Jackson is soft on crime -- during her tenure as vice chair of the United States Sentencing Commission, the panel retroactively reduced sentences for many crack cocaine offenses.

It allowed 12,000 convicted felons to seek reduced sentences and made 1,800 eligible to be back on the streets immediately.

South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs

Childs has the backing of a powerful Democratic lawmaker from her state, longtime Biden ally and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn.

Cyburn spoke on her behalf alongside South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham during Childs' 2010 confirmation hearing to her current bench, to which she was appointed by Obama.

The U.S. District Court of South Carolina judge was tapped for a promotion last month by Biden to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but the nomination is still pending.

One of her recent high-profile rulings was dealt a defeat by the Supreme Court, when it overturned Childs' September 2020 decision to kill a measure in South Carolina's new elections bill that would have tightened security on mail-in ballots.

The South Carolina legislature passed a bill allowing all voters to vote absentee regardless of their reason in a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but an amendment to remove a provision requiring a witness signature failed.

Childs upheld the law but struck down the signature requirement in a decisive victory for state and national Democrats just before the presidential election.

Childs demonstrated a considerable deference to Congress during her 2010 Senate Judiciary hearing, which could raise alarms in the current hyper-partisan political environment

It was swiftly overturned by the Supreme Court in early October.

And in her 2010 confirmation hearing, Childs demonstrated a significant deference to Congress -- indicating she may give federal lawmakers the benefit of the doubt on some occasions.

When asked by Senator Dianne Feinstein about her understanding of Congressional authority as given by the Constitution, the judge said: 'With respect to any laws respecting your Congressional powers, I would presume that anything that you all are doing is constitutional and would approach it with that mindset, knowing that you would only enact laws that you have had due deliberance over and consider deliberation over.'

With a South Carolina School of Law degree, Childs doesn't have the Ivy League education that eight of the nine current justices hold -- a breath of fresh air that advocates for her nomination tout as an advantage in making the Democratic party appear less elitist.

But despite her progressive resume, Childs revealed her view on interpreting the Constitution is more in line with who her conservative colleagues on the court would be.

The South Carolina judge has a key ally in Rep. James Clyburn (center), a longtime friend of Biden's

Childs replied 'no' when asked on her nomination questionnaire whether she thought the Constitution is a 'living' document -- meaning its interpretation cannot be changed while society changes.

Childs' objective take is similar to how Justice Amy Coney Barrett described her 'Originalist' interpretation of the nation's laws.

But her husband, Floyd Angus, is a Democrat donor like Jackson's -- filings show he gave Obama $250 in 2008 and doubled the contribution in 2012.

California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger

Kruger would be a younger choice at 45, and is widely seen as a moderate to liberal judge in the Golden State.

But her husband, a California-based lawyer named Brian Hauck, dives further into left wing politics. As recently as 2020 he donated $1,000 to Biden's presidential campaign.

Hauck donated a whopping $3,800 to Obama's first campaign between 2007 and 2008, and then worked in his Justice Department between 2009 and 2014.

Kruger was involved in the federal government as a senior lawyer for the Solicitor General's office, though she rejected that top job twice when offered by Biden.

Kruger is the youngest prospective pick being reported at just 45 years old, though she's already turned down Biden's offer for Solicitor General twice

She served under Obama as acting Principal Deputy Solicitor General from May 2010 - June 2011 where she argued 12 cases in front of the Supreme Court. During her time at the Department of Justice, Kruger earned in both 2013 and 2014 the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, which is the agencys highest employee award.

She also clerked for late Justice John Paul Stevens who served on the Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010 and died in 2019.

Kruger was also the youngest person appointed to the California Supreme Court when then-Governor Jerry Brown nominated her in 2014. On this court, Kruger has authored a few notable opinions, including banning law enforcement from searching a woman's purse without a warrant.

Kruger also upheld a California law requiring law enforcement to collect DNA samples and fingerprints from people arrested or convicted of felony offenses.

Her more conservative approaches to criminal cases combined with her past as a private lawyer could lessen her appeal to the far-left wing of Biden's party.

In 2005 as an attorney at WilmerHale, Kruger was part of a team that successfully defended Shell Oil Company against a $500 million judgement from a Nigerian court.

Former NAACP head Sherrilyn Ifill

Ifill, a civil rights leader, could fuel political concerns as the nominee after spending decades as a left-wing activist

Her nomination would have some support from the Congressional Black Caucus, according to Politico, but her frequent television appearances and far-left social media presence would make Ifill a target for accusations of partisanship.

Her Twitter feed is full of partisan opinions atypical for a potential Supreme Court nominee.

In one recent post she takes aim at Republicans and even moderate Democrats in defending Biden's embattled Chief of Staff Ron Klain.

'If youre not talking [about] the insanity & obstruction of the Presidents opponents in frustrating his agenda & those of liberal & moderate Dems, youre doing it wrong,' Ifill wrote.

Earlier this month the civil rights activist appeared on MSNBC where she lauded Biden's controversial voting rights speech in Georgia, where he compared opponents of scuttling the filibuster to pass his bill to infamous racists like George Wallace and Jefferson Davis.

She said efforts to pass election security laws by GOP-led legislatures were 'voter suppression' measures that unfairly targeted black and brown voters.

'The purpose of it, the design of it, is to subvert our democracy and ensure the outcome of elections is controlled by one political party,' Ifill said.

Ifill isn't afraid to take shots at the court she could be nominated to, either.

She claimed the Supreme Court's decision to hear affirmative action cases against Harvard and the University of South Carolina 'seriously threatens the nations ideals of equality' in a statement published in the Harvard Gazette on Wednesday.
The face of Australia's Covid vaccine rollout has shared US data which shows states that introduced mask mandates only had slightly more cases than those which did not.

Australia's former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth used the controversial statistics to rail against calls to make N95 masks mandatory.

He also branded demands to install stringent air ventilation systems in all buildings a 'colossal cost and minimal benefit'.

The graph shared by Dr Coatsworth shows little difference in Covid case numbers in the US from November 1 to January 31, despite face mask mandates.

Australia's ormer deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth (pictured) shared statistical data from the United States which shows states that introduced mask mandates actually had slightly more cases than those which did not

The graph shows little difference in Covid case numbers in the US from November 1 to January 31, despite face mask mandates

Pictured: A Sydney shopper dons a face mask after returning from the supermarket

The data does not show that masks are ineffective against transmitting the virus, as those living in states without mandates may still be wearing face coverings at comparable levels.

It could also be possible that infection rates in states with mandates may have been far higher if the restrictions were not introduced.

But Dr Coatsworth suggests enforcing face mask mask requirements has a muted effect in society.

'When plausibility meets reality. The null hypothesis lands a knockout punch on the precautionary principle,' he tweeted alongside the graph.

But the revealing post was met with immediate backlash from the medical community with an ICU and infectious diseases specialist slamming his take on the America data.

Dr Coatsworth (pictured) suggests enforcing face mask mask requirements have a muted effect in society

Dr Coatsworth also railed against calls to mandate the widespread use of N95 masks and install stringent air ventilation systems in all buildings - calling the idea a 'colossal cost and minimal benefit'

Pictured: Shoppers in Sydney's Ashfield in the inner-west are masked up on the street

'Enough - if you don't breath it - you don't catch it. Simple. N95 masks widespread. HEPA filtration indoors. Clean air- no transmission. Done,' the Australian doctor said.

But Dr Coatsworth disagreed, saying implementing top-grade medical masks and high efficiency particulate air filter systems would come at a high price and likely have little impact.

'Perfect strategy for hospitals where it works,' Dr Coatsworth said.

'Extrapolation to other populations without evidence is scientifically flawed. Might apply in a no vax, no treatment, high mortality scenario, otherwise - colossal cost, minimal benefit.'

Indoor face mask mandates remain in place in every state and territory in Australia as the nation recorded 28,000 cases in the past 24 hours.

Dr Coatsworth suggests enforcing face mask mask requirements has a muted effect in society

American medical practitioner Vinay Prasad also chimed in on the face mask debate

Indoor face mask mandates remain in place in every state and territory in Australia as the nation recorded 28,000 cases in the past 24 hours. Pictured: A Sydneysider in an N95 mask

American medical practitioner Vinay Prasad also chimed in on the debate saying there are a lot of inconsistences in the way US mask policies are being instituted.

'Every time you walk around a city and see packed indoor restaurants of unmasked diners, while people wear masks outside, you can rest assured that you have a public health science communication failure,' he tweeted.

He also criticised 'experts' calling for masks on young children.

'There are two types of experts when it comes to masking kids. People good at evidence based medicine and people who thing masking 2 year olds definitely works,' Dr Prasad said.
Almost all Australians are now partially protected against COVID-19, with the country hitting the 95 per cent milestone of first doses despite thousands of anti-vaxxers gathering in Canberra to protest.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the achievement puts the country 'right at the front of the highest global vaccination rate'.

He said 95 per cent of Australians aged 12 and over have had at least one dose of a vaccine, as of Saturday.

'Very significantly, over the course of today we will also pass one million children between five and 11 years of age having had a vaccination,' he said.

Mr Hunt said this rate of vaccination for children was one of the highest in the world.

More than 95 per cent of Australians aged 12 and over (pictured) have had at least one dose of a vaccine, as of Saturday

Health Minister Greg Hunt (pictured) said the achievement puts the country 'right at the front of the highest global vaccination rate'

The health minister thanked Australians for getting vaccinated, adding the government was now seeing a 'decrease in pressure on ICU'.

It comes as an estimated crowd of more than 2000 protested vaccination mandates in Canberra on Saturday, flanked by police.

The group marched from Glebe Park in Canberra's city centre to Old Parliament House before moving to the Federation Mall.

A spokesman for ACT Police said by mid afternoon the majority of the group had left, the crowd reduced to a handful of demonstrators.

ACT Police and the AFP on Friday moved on protesters who had allegedly illegally camped and parked cars on lawns across from the National Library.

The milestone was hit on the day thousands of anti-vaxxers gathered in Canberra to protest (pictured)

An estimated crowd of more than 2000 protested vaccination mandates in Canberra on Saturday (pictured), flanked by police

The group (pictured) marched from Glebe Park in Canberra's city centre to Old Parliament House before moving to the Federation Mall

A 44-year-old man was charged with possessing an unauthorised weapon and ammunition after officers allegedly found a loaded rifle in his vehicle on Friday.

He appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday and was granted bail on the condition he does not re-enter Parkes.

Saturday was also meant to mark the lifting of Western Australia's hard border, before the date was scrapped by Premier Mark McGowan.

It is still not known when WA will open for free travel with the rest of the country.

However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he could understand the reasons behind the WA government's decision.

A spokesman for ACT Police said by mid afternoon the majority of the group (pictured) had left, the crowd reduced to a handful of demonstrators

ACT Police and the AFP had moved on other protesters on Friday who had allegedly illegally camped and parked cars on lawns across from the National Library (pictured, demonstrators on Saturday)

'When the Western Australian government makes a decision not to reopen that border because of their concerns about how it will impact their hospital systems ... then I can absolutely understand the decision of the premier,' Mr Morrison said.

WA reported 26 new cases on Saturday, including one case of a traveller in quarantine.

The Northern Territory government will remove an outdoor mask mandate from 6pm on Saturday, after Territorians showed 'high levels of personal responsibility' with mask wearing.

The government is urging people over 12 to still wear a mask outside when they cannot physically distance, while an indoor mask mandate remains in place.

Western Australia reported 26 new cases on Saturday, including one case of a traveller in quarantine (pictured, protestors in Canberra on Saturday)

Northern Territory government will remove an outdoor mask mandate from 6pm on Saturday, after Territorians showed 'high levels of personal responsibility' with mask wearing (pictured, protestors in Canberra on Saturday)

The announcement comes as the territory reported 968 new cases, including 122 cases still under investigation.

NSW reported 18 deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, and 8389 new positive cases, as the state continues to show signs it is beyond the peak of cases.

Victoria reported 7809 new cases and 41 deaths, while the ACT reported 372 new cases and one death, taking the territory's toll to 27.

Tasmania reported 483 new cases and the ACT reported 372 new cases in the past 24 hours, and one death.

NSW reported 18 deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, and 8389 new positive cases (pictured, protestors in Canberra on Saturday)

Victoria reported 7809 new cases and 41 deaths, while the ACT reported 372 new cases and one death, taking the territory's toll to 27 (pictured, protestors in Canberra on Saturday)

Some 8508 new cases were reported in Queensland along with 21 deaths.

South Australia reported 1289 new cases, and two deaths.

There were 83 COVID-related deaths across the country reported on Saturday, with 41 in Victoria, 18 in NSW, 21 in Queensland, two in SA and one in the ACT.

Nationally, there were more than 27,000 new infections reported on Saturday.
A hero motorbike rider cheated death as he narrowly dodged the carnage of a horrific multiple car crash - and then immediately pulled over to help the victims trapped in their vehicles.

The movie-style smash unfolded on Sydney's busy Parramatta Road when the driver of a Subaru Outback allegedly ignored a red light at Leichhardt just after 6.20am on Saturday.

He was spotted by highway patrol officers who launched a police chase through the city's inner-west before pulling the plug after just 28 seconds over safety concerns.

Moments later, video footage shows the Subaru on the wrong side of the road, smashing into oncoming traffic as it allegedly tried to weave through the cars.

A Jeep Cherokee, Toyota Prado, Honda Civic, Mazda 6 and Toyota Corolla were all wrecked in the spectacular crash near the intersection of Old Canterbury Road.

A motorbike rider (circled in red) cheated death early on Saturday morning following a horrific multiple car crash in Sydney - and then immediately pulled over to help the victims trapped in their cars

The rider could then be seen on the clip parking his bike away from the danger (pictured) and quickly running over to help the injured.

In the dramatic clip, broadcast by Channel Nine, a motorbike rider can be seen at the centre of the chaos - but miraculously escapes without a scratch.

He could then be seen on the clip parking his bike away from the danger and quickly running over to help the injured.

Officers also responded and assisted the occupants of the vehicles, who were treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics.

The mass of twisted metal and wreckage closed the main artery through Sydney's inner west for hours as a huge clean-up operation and investigation was launched.

The Jeep driver, a 40-year-old man, was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for scans.

The aftermath of a horrific six-car smash on one of Australia's busiest roads that followed an abandoned police pursuit on Saturday morning

The driver of a Subaru, who was arrested by police and taken to hospital, ploughed into five other cars - he was driving on the wrong side of the road at speed

The devastation of the early-morning smash on Parramatta Road in Sydney was obvious from the aftermath, leading to the busy road being closed for over eight hours

The 40-year-old man behind the wheel of the Prado was eventually freed from his vehicle and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a stable condition.

A male passenger, 45, was taken to St Vincent's Hospital for scans.

The drivers of the Honda, Mazda and Toyota - aged 72, 34 and 32 respectively - were assessed at the scene.

The Subaru driver, 35, was arrested and taken to St George Hospital, suffering minor injuries.

He went undergone mandatory testing and remains under police guard.

Police later confirmed the charged man was not previously known to them and his car had not not stolen.

They are still trying to determine why he evaded the highway patrol officers.

'That's one of the first questions we'll be asking him,' Inner West Police Commander Superintendent Sam Crisafulli said.

'The police initially pursuing this vehicle were out there doing their job.

'They called the pursuit off due to the dangerous driving...He's very lucky no one is dead.'

One of the vehicles his by the Subaru which failed to stop when police attempted to pull it over around 6.20am on Saturday in Sydney's inner-west

The aftermath of the major crash left wrecked vehicles strewn across the six-lane road, surrounded by glass, car parts and other debris and led to a large section of Parramatta Road being closed in both directions

The aftermath of the crash left wrecked vehicles strewn across the six lane road, surrounded by glass, car parts and other debris

The busy road was closed in both directions for eight hours on Saturday (pictured)
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Tory MPs have today warned of a blitz of 'deeply unpleasant' attacks on Carrie Johnson after Nadine Dorries gave a car crash interview backing the embattled Prime Minister as he clung onto power amid the Partygate scandal.

Boris Johnson's political opponents are said to be preparing a 'brutal briefing campaign' to discredit his wife in a bid to topple his premiership at the end of a tumultuous week.

One Tory source told The Sun last night: 'Carrie has been the target of an increasingly brutal briefing campaign to discredit her. It is deeply unpleasant.'

Mr Johnson's allies are reportedly furious that his wife will become the principal target for rebels. One explained: 'Going for his family is a new low.'

Another Johnson ally added: 'Attacking the PM is fair enough, but going for his family is a new low.'

Mrs Johnson's growing influence in Whitehall has become a central talking point in a bombshell biography published by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft and revealed in The Mail On Sunday.

The explosive book will portray Mr Johnson as little more than the puppet of his wife Carrie who enrages his advisers by allowing his wife to influence policies and appointments.

The developments come after the Culture Secretary gave a toe-curlingly awkward televised interview on the BBC this morning in which she refused to answer questions on the PM, mixed up two backbench Tory MPs and said wider Partygate criticism was a Remainer plot.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning, Ms Dorries said the PM remained optimistic and his mood was 'very positive' despite a slew of his senior advisors abandoning the Government ship earlier this week.

But the 64-year-old clashed with host Charlie Stayt as she openly questioned why she was being asked if she had recently spoken with the Prime Minister.

Mr Stayt repeatedly asked if she had spoken with Mr Johnson over the last 24 hours - to which she replied: 'Why are you asking me that question?' She briefly smiles at the veteran broadcaster before adding: 'We've communicated'.

After an excruciating pause, a puzzled Mr Stayt then says: 'I'm really confused. Is that a difficult question? I'm just asking if you've spoken to the Prime Minister'.

Ms Dorries then repeats 'we have communicated', before refusing to expand on her original remarks when pressed further.

This week, the PM was rocked by the dramatic resignation of his long-serving policy chief Munira Mirza, one of the last aides remaining from his days as London mayor at City Hall.

And Met Police officers investigating the Partygate scandal have reportedly been handed a photo of the premier holding a can of Estrella at his June 2020 surprise cake gathering.

Mr Johnson is desperately trying to see off the growing threat of brewing Tory civil war, as more than a dozen Conservative MPs have written no confidence letters and called on him to stand down.

Fresh storm clouds circle over Downing Street amid the Partygate scandal as:

An explosive book by Lord Ashcroft presents Boris Johnson as a weak Prime Minister who enrages his advisers by allowing his wife to influence policies and appointment;

Sajid Javid sides with Rishi Sunak by going out of his way to praise the Labour leader, saying he had done a good job when he was director of public prosecutions;

Police officers investigating the Partygate scandal are reportedly handed a photo of Boris Johnson holding a can of Estrella at his lockdown birthday party in June 2020;

The PM is apparently told to sack Rishi Sunak after the Chancellor publicly rebuked him over his claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile;

Dehenna Davison, who represents a former Red Wall Labour seat and was linked to the Pork Pie Plot against Boris Johnson, moves in with a married diplomat as ministers are told of their affair;

Lord Michael Grade, the former head of the BBC, says the corporation is right to hold the government to account but that its 'macho culture' was 'unnecessary' in covering the Partygate scandal.

Boris Johnson's political opponents are said to be preparing a 'brutal briefing campaign' to discredit his wife (both pictured at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester last year) in a bid to topple his premiership as fresh storm clouds circle over Downing Street at the end of a tumultuous week

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has continued to publicly back Boris Johnson after giving a toe-curlingly awkward BBC Breakfast interview in which she insisted he was truthful

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries was snapped staring at the premier by cameras in the House of Commons while Boris Johnson spoke at the despatch box at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday

Boris Johnson, pictured here after the Cabinet reshuffle in February 2020, was allegedly photographed with a beer during his lockdown birthday party in June 2020 which is now being investigated

Mr Johnson's allies are reportedly furious that his wife will become the principal target for rebels. One explained: 'Going for his family is a new low'. Pictured: the PM and Carrie in Westminster to vote on May 6 last year

The 15 Tory MPs who have called on Boris Johnson to quit over Partygate Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, 1997) Mr Gibb said his constituents were 'furious about the double standards' and he said the Prime Minister had been 'inaccurate' in statements to the Commons. Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme, 2019) The 2019 Red Wall MP has declared publicly he has submitted a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in his leader. Sir Roger Gale (North Thanet, 1983) The veteran politician said the Conservative Party leader was a 'dead man walking' politically after he apologised for attending a 'bring your own booze' gathering in the garden of No 10 during England's first lockdown. Douglas Ross (Moray, 2017) The leader of the Scottish Conservatives said Mr Johnson's position was 'untenable' after the Prime Minister admitted attending the BYOB garden drinks on May 20, 2020. Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire, 2010) The Brexiteer wrote in an article for the Daily Telegraph on January 13 that Mr Johnson presided over a 'moral vacuum at the heart of our Government' and called for him to 'go now with some semblance of grace'. Peter Aldous (Waveney, 2010) Confirming he had sent a letter to Sir Graham, he tweeted on February 1: 'After a great deal of soul-searching, I have reached the conclusion that the Prime Minister should resign.' Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East, 2005) The chairman of the Defence Select Committee said the Prime Minister had lost his support, and urged him to 'call a vote of confidence rather than waiting for the inevitable 54 letters to be eventually submitted'. Anthony Mangnall (Totnes, 2019) Mr Mangall criticised Mr Johnson's 'actions and mistruths' in a social media post, as he confirmed he had joined colleagues in calling a no confidence vote. Sir Gary Streeter (South West Devon, 1992) In a Facebook post, Sir Gary said he had formally called for a 'motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister'. William Wragg (Hazel Grove, Manchester, 2015) The chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee told BBC Radio 4's PM programme last month that Mr Johnson's position had become 'untenable'. Caroline Nokes (Romsey Southampton North, 2010) The ex-immigration minister told ITV's Peston on January 12: 'Regretfully, he looks like a liability and I think he either goes now or he goes in three years' time at a general election.' Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham, 1997) The former children's minister told constituents in a Facebook post on January 15 that he had 'regretfully come to the conclusion that Boris Johnson's position is now untenable'. David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden, 1987) The former Brexit secretary confronted Mr Johnson at Prime Minister's Questions on January 19, telling his party leader: 'You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. In the name of God, go.' Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield, 2001) In an intervention after Mr Johnson's statement to the House of Commons following the publication of the update on the Gray inquiry on January 31, the former Cabinet minister told the No 10 incumbent he 'no longer enjoys my support'. Sir Charles Walker (Broxbourne, 2005) The vice chairman of the 1922 Committee told Channel 4 News on February 1 he would 'applaud' Mr Johnson if he chose to stand down, but said it was 'his decision'. Advertisement

Saturday marked a whirlwind morning of media interviews for the Culture Secretary, who faced criticism for her 'car crash' BBC Breakfast interview, suggested a Remainer plot was contributing to the Tory Party's internal strife and mixed up two Conservative MPs with similar names.

In later comments, Ms Dorries added the premier always tells the truth 'to the best of his knowledge', and pointed at information given to him by advisors and aides.

Meanwhile, she suggested those criticising the PM over Partygate were 'ardent supporters of Remain' who saw this as their last chance to reverse Brexit.

Ms Dorries has asserted herself as one of Mr Johnson's most outspoken public defenders in recent months since she became a cabinet member in September.

She has frequently used Twitter and media interviews to shoot to the defence of the embattled PM, calling out Tory MPs who have publicly declared their intent to submit letters of no-confidence.

After surviving the brunt of Partygate criticism following Sue Gray's report, Mr Johnson's premiership was rocked further after his long-standing policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday over his refusal to apologise for his explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

In her resignation letter, Ms Mirza said she had demanded Mr Johnson publicly retract his comments, as disillusioned Tory backbenchers pressed ahead with a brewing Tory civil war.

The remarks, made to Sir Keir during angry Commons exchanges this week, have also faced noisy criticism from moderate Tory MPs already wobbly about the PM's future.

But Mr Johnson's survival battle is set to be dealt another blow by the publication of a biography portraying him as little more than the puppet of his wife Carrie.

The explosive book by Lord Ashcroft presents him as a weak Prime Minister who enrages his advisers by allowing his wife to influence policies and appointments.

Ashcroft did also refer to Carrie's 'courage and determination', however, as evidenced in her role ensuring sex-offender Warboys stayed behind bars, speaking openly of her own experience of a 2021 miscarriage and her work for animal protection, saying the complaints against her are about use of power without electoral accountability.

The Tory peer claims Mr Johnson, 57, is 'completely mesmerised' by his 33-year-old wife and cuts a 'lonely' figure surrounded by her close friends who are now among his most influential aides.

The biography of Mrs Johnson advances the theory that faultlines in her relationship with the Prime Minister have had an impact on No 10, with one source describing it as 'a Greek tragedy'.

Ms Dorries said those speaking out against the PM were 'the same names that we continually keep (hearing) cropping up' and were in 'safe seats'.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, the Culture Secretary said Boris Johnson tells the truth 'to the best of his knowledge' based on advice given to him by aides.

But she said: 'What I would say is that the Prime Minister, when he appeared for the (19)22 Committee last week, promised to change and I think anybody who picks up a newspaper or reads a newspaper, sees a television news bulletin, can see that a huge amount of change is under way at present, particularly in No 10.'

Later, in comments to Sky News, Ms Dorries claimed that 97 per cent of Tory MPs remain behind the besieged PM and insisted those plotting to oust Mr Johnson were in the 'absolute minority'.

Those watching on this morning quickly took to Twitter to react to Ms Dorries' comments as some lambasted her 'unnecessarily aggressive' answers.

@HalyconNash wrote: 'Unnecessarily aggressive and defensive answers from Nadine Dorries as per on BBC Breakfast.'

Richard Allen tweeted: 'Well that was an awkward interview with @NadineDorries, not so much with Charlie's questioning but with some guilty like reactions to them, refusal to answering them is a bit like the 'No Comment' in police interviews.'

Michael Davies added: 'Can't believe I'm saying this but I am sorry that I missed the Nadine Dorries interview.'

Andy Dobson joked: 'Nadine Dorries' insurance premiums must have skyrocketed this month with all the car crashes she's been involved in.'

The Culture Secretary also mixed up two Tory MPs with similar names while defending Mr Johnson during her round of media interviews on Saturday morning.

Ms Dorries told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that dissenting comments from Nick Gibb and Aaron Bell were 'disappointing' but said those in 'marginal seats' knew the PM had won them the election.

Now Sajid Javid distances himself from Boris Sajid Javid sided with Rishi Sunak last night as he distanced himself from Boris Johnsons explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile. In a fresh blow to the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary went out of his way to praise the Labour leader, saying he had done a good job when he was director of public prosecutions. In a marked contrast to the Prime Ministers criticisms, Mr Javid said Sir Keir deserved absolute respect for his work in the post when speaking to Sky News. Health Secretary Sajid Javid sided with Rishi Sunak last night as he distanced himself from Boris Johnsons explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile After delivering a speech in London yesterday, Mr Javid told reporters: Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it, it is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that. But the Prime Minister has also come out and clarified those remarks, and that is important. Asked if the Prime Minister still had his support, Mr Javid said: Of course he does. Absolutely. His comments yesterday came after the Chancellor took the extraordinary step of rebuking Mr Johnson for claiming his opponent was responsible for not prosecuting Savile. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: Being honest, I wouldnt have said it. Advertisement

She suggested those operating with slim majorities were 'working damn hard and they want Boris Johnson in place'.

She was then asked about the 2019 intake on Red Wall MPs - of which Mr Bell is one in his Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.

But the Culture Secretary said: 'So you want to cite Aaron Bell, again disappointing, I'll talk about Martin Vickers, who's up in the far North of England in South Tees.

'I'll talk about Martin Vickers who is out there supporting the Prime Minister, listing on Channel 4 News the other night the huge number of funding and initiatives that he's delivered in his constituency.'

Martin Vickers is the MP for Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire and has been an MP since 2010. He currently has a majority of 21,418.

But, she was likely referring to Matt Vickers, who is MP for Stockton South (majority 5,260), in the Tees Valley, and was elected in 2019.

He told Channel 4 on Wednesday: 'Teesside's got a lot to be happy about.'

Former Tory minister Nick Gibb became the 15th MP to publicly call for Mr Johnson's resignation after he said the Prime Minister had not been truthful in his explanations of parties reportedly held in No 10 and across Whitehall during Covid measures.

Tory MPs are expected to consider over the weekend whether to write to the chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham in an attempt to force a leadership contest.

In an apparent move to head off further rebels, Mr Johnson has written to Tory MPs promising them a greater role in policymaking with a 'direct line' into No 10.

But Ms Dorries told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that dissenting comments from Nick Gibb and Aaron Bell were 'disappointing' but said those in 'marginal seats' knew the PM had won them the election.

She suggested those operating with slim majorities were 'working damn hard and they want Boris Johnson in place'.

She was then asked about the 2019 intake on Red Wall MPs - of which Mr Bell is one in his Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.

But the Culture Secretary said: 'So you want to cite Aaron Bell, again disappointing, I'll talk about Martin Vickers, who's up in the far North of England in South Tees.

'I'll talk about Martin Vickers who is out there supporting the Prime Minister, listing on Channel 4 News the other night the huge number of funding and initiatives that he's delivered in his constituency.'

Martin Vickers is the MP for Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire and has been an MP since 2010. He currently has a majority of 21,418.

BBC Breakfast host Charlie Stayt (left) repeatedly asked if Ms Dorries had spoken with Boris Johnson over the last 24 hours - to which she replied: 'Why are you asking me that question?'

Those watching BBC Breakfast this morning quickly took to Twitter to mockingly react to Ms Dorries' comments, with some lambasting her 'unnecessarily aggressive' answers

Boris Johnson has reportedly been told to sack Rishi Sunak after the Chancellor publicly rebuked the PM over his claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile

Mr Johnson was hit by the shock resignation of policy chief Munira Mirza (left). Shortly afterwards it emerged the PM's communications chief, Jack Doyle (right), was also departing

Former Minister Nick Gibb brings the number of Tory MPs who have now publicly called for Mr Johnson to resign to 15 as he said the PM had not been truthful in his Partygate explanations

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, pictured with constituents yesterday, is among the favourites to replace Mr Johnson

'Sue Gray gave police photo of Boris Johnson standing next to Rishi Sunak and toasting the camera with a can of beer during his lockdown birthday party' Police officers investigating the Partygate scandal have reportedly been handed a photo of Boris Johnson holding a can of beer at his lockdown birthday party in June 2020. The picture features the Prime Minister raising a can of Estrella standing next to Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Downing Street Cabinet Room as he toasts towards the camera, according to the Mirror. The newspaper reports that a source said the photograph was taken by Mr Johnson's taxpayer-funded official photographer Andrew Parsons and has now been turned over to investigators. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured here at a Wolverhampton pub in 2019, was allegedly photographed with a beer during his lockdown birthday party which is now being investigated The image is thought to be one of the 300 photos compiled by Sue Gray who was leading the inquiry into the scandal which have now been handed to the Metropolitan Police. The Prime Minister is believed to appear in some of the 300 photos now in the hands of the Met with an earlier report claiming Mr Johnson was pictured in front of some wine bottles. Other images gathered by Sue Gray are thought to include security footage which show when certain people arrived and left each gathering that is being investigated. Sue Gray's update on the Partygate scandal revealed 12 events held in Number 10 and across Whitehall are now subject to formal police investigations. They include Boris Johnson's birthday, a bash in the PM's Downing Street flat to celebrate the exit of Dominic Cummings and Number 10's Christmas party on December 18, 2020. Two separate events held in Number 10 on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral are also being probed. Advertisement

But, she was likely referring to Matt Vickers, who is MP for Stockton South (majority 5,260), in the Tees Valley, and was elected in 2019.

He told Channel 4 on Wednesday: 'Teesside's got a lot to be happy about.'

Ms Dorries later suggested those who were against the Prime Minister were Remainers who wanted to get back at the PM for his role during Brexit.

She told Times Radio: 'There are a small number of voices, whether they are people who were ardent supporters of Remain, who see this as their last opportunity to reverse Brexit.'

Asked whether the moves against Boris Johnson were a 'Remainer plot', Ms Dorries said: 'There are a number of reasons actually, it's not just one, but that certainly is at play with a group.'

She later said it was 'important that people don't get hung up' on a 'small number' of MPs.

But her claims were rubbished by veteran Tory MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond, who told Radio 4 that it was 'complete nonsense'.

He told This Week in Westminster: 'It's predictable rubbish from a predictable source.

'I know of no coordinated plot and I think if I were in the whip's office that would worry me even more.'

He said he had not yet put a letter into Sir Graham Brady, but he said: 'I think I'm making it very clear to you that I am considering very carefully over the weekend, what are the next steps.'

Mr Hammond added: 'I think all Conservative colleagues, all of whom I know, are in it for trying to do the best for their constituents, and the country will be wrestling with their consciences this weekend.

'I've known Boris Johnson... I was on his campaign committee in 2008 and 2012, when he was running for Mayor of London, I've known Boris for all that time.

'I think the idea that I've always been against him is just nonsense.

'If you look at where the letters are coming from, I don't understand how anyone could stand up that claim, and so I think probably the Secretary of State needs to think again.'

Asked whether it was 'the beginning of the end' for the PM, he said: 'It certainly looks like that at the moment. It looks very difficult for the Prime Minister from here.'

Reacting to claims made about the number of people in work, Ms Dorries said on Saturday: 'He will have been given by advisers and researchers the fact that there were more people in work than there were at the beginning of the pandemic, not on the payroll.

'So did he tell the truth when he quoted that? Yes, he told the truth as it was given to him. The Prime Minister does tell the truth.'

'I can personally tell you that the Prime Minister, when he stands at the despatch box and makes quotes like the one you just quoted, is because the researchers and his advisers will have given him that quote, and that's... and he was truthful, to the best of his knowledge, when he made that quote,' she said.

And the Culture Secretary later said Rishi Sunak was 'entitled to his views' over the Prime Minister's claim about Sir Keir Starmer and Jimmy Savile - despite some internal calls for the PM to sack the Chancellor over his 'wavering' support.

Ms Dorries told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that 'anybody who leads an organisation, like the Prime Minister leads the Government or Keir Starmer led the Crown Prosecution Service, when something goes wrong, you take responsibility and you apologise'.

Asked about the Chancellor saying he would not have made the comments, Ms Dorries said: 'Rishi Sunak is entitled to his views and you know, he's entitled to say... make any comments that he wants to.

'What I would say is that when you lead an organisation, you are responsible, the responsibility lands on your desk for what happens within that organisation when you're leading it.'

It comes days after Ms Dorries faced a wave of online memes and mockery as a picture showed what appeared to be her staring into Mr Johnson's eyes.

The Culture Secretary was snapped staring at the premier by cameras in the House of Commons while Mr Johnson spoke at the despatch box at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

The picture soon went viral and sparked hundreds of memes on Twitter, with envious online users saying they wished their partners looked at them the same way Ms Dorries had gazed at Mr Johnson.

Some questioned whether it was a 'look of love', while others quipped that Valentine's Day is still more than a week away.

Now Sajid Javid distances himself from Boris: Health Secretary says Keir Starmer deserves 'absolute respect' after the PM claimed the Labour leader failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile

By Jacob Thorburn for MailOnline and John Stevens, Deputy Political Editor for the Daily Mail

Sajid Javid sided with Rishi Sunak last night as he distanced himself from Boris Johnson's explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

In a fresh blow to the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary went out of his way to praise the Labour leader, saying he had done a 'good job' when he was director of public prosecutions.

In a marked contrast to the Prime Minister's criticisms, Mr Javid said Sir Keir deserved 'absolute respect' for his work in the post when speaking to Sky News.

His comments yesterday came after the Chancellor took the extraordinary step of rebuking Mr Johnson for claiming his opponent was responsible for not prosecuting Savile.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: 'Being honest, I wouldn't have said it.'

Mr Johnson's premiership was rocked further after his long-standing policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday over his refusal to apologise.

In her resignation letter, Ms Mirza said she had demanded Mr Johnson publicly retract his comments, as disillusioned Tory backbenchers pressed ahead with a brewing Tory civil war.

The remarks, made to Sir Keir during angry Commons exchanges this week, have also faced noisy criticism from moderate Tory MPs already wobbly about the PM's future.

Boris Johnson has reportedly been told to sack Rishi Sunak after the Chancellor publicly rebuked the PM over his claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile

Health Secretary Sajid Javid (above) sided with Rishi Sunak last night as he distanced himself from Boris Johnson's explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile

'Culture fell short of what the country has a right to expect': Rishi Sunak ally hits out over Downing Street parties as Savid Javid also sides with the Chancellor A ministerial ally of Rishi Sunak rebuked Boris Johnson last night as Sajid Javid also sided with the Chancellor. John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the culture in Downing Street 'fell short of what the country had a right to expect'. He said the behaviour of staff in Downing Street over lockdown parties was indefensible and that he had told Mr Johnson 'how frustrated and let down we all feel'. He also dismissed suggestions that public anger had begun to ease. 'I certainly do not subscribe to the views of some colleagues who have been in the media saying that their correspondence is drying up and their constituents are moving on,' he wrote in his local newspaper, The Salisbury Journal. It came hours after Mr Javid sought to distance himself from Mr Johnson over the Prime Minister's explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile. The Health Secretary went out of his way to praise the Labour leader, saying he had done a 'good job' when he was director of public prosecutions. His comments came after the Chancellor took the extraordinary step of rebuking Mr Johnson for claiming Sir Keir was responsible for not prosecuting Savile. At a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: 'Being honest, I wouldn't have said it.' Mr Johnson's policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday over the PM's refusal to apologise. There is no evidence that Sir Keir was involved in the Savile decision. Asked about the issue yesterday, Mr Javid said: 'Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it. It is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that. 'But the Prime Minister has also clarified those remarks, and that is important.' Asked if the PM still had his support, Mr Javid said: 'Of course he does. Absolutely.' The disagreement between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation that the Chancellor wants to replace the PM. Advertisement

After delivering a speech in London yesterday, Mr Javid told reporters: 'Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it, it is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that.

'But the Prime Minister has also come out and clarified those remarks, and that is important.'

Asked if the Prime Minister still had his support, Mr Javid said: 'Of course he does. Absolutely.'

The disagreement between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation the Chancellor wants to replace the PM in No10.

According to the Times, the Cabinet descended into civil war as one member called for the Prime Minister to sack Mr Sunak while two others accused him of being 'on manoeuvres', evidenced by his public criticism of the Prime Minister.

In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Mr Sunak declined to answer three times whether he had ambitions to be the next Tory leader.

But Downing Street yesterday sought to play down tensions by insisting the pair's relationship is still 'good'.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'I don't know when they last spoke, they speak almost daily, but I don't know the exact last time.'

Asked how relations are between No 10 and No 11, he said: 'Good - they agreed to a cost-of-living package that the Chancellor set out yesterday.'

But one cabinet minister told The Times: 'He who wields the knife never wears the crown. It's just so blatant.

'Once the May elections are out the way there will be a reshuffle. Sunak has to go. I don't see how he [Johnson] can keep someone who is so openly on manoeuvres.'

Another said: 'I think very highly of Rishi but there are people around him who are not giving him good advice.

'They're encouraging him to stir things up  it isn't helping him with the backbenches. Liz [Truss, the foreign secretary] has played a much smarter game for the day when the leadership contest comes along. He's not wielding a knife, it's a penknife.'

It is thought that as many as 15 MPs have publicly written letters of no confidence, but the actual number is thought to be far higher because most do not make their actions known.

The latest MP to call on Boris to resign is former minister Nick Gibb who said the Prime Minister had not been truthful in his explanations of parties reportedly held in No 10 and across Whitehall during Covid measures.

Earlier, Huw Merriman, Conservative chairman of the Transport Select Committee, backed Mr Sunak's decision to distance himself from Mr Johnson's comments.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The Chancellor was right to say that those wouldn't have been the words that he would use and I absolutely agree with that.'

But appearing on the same programme, energy minister Greg Hands refused to say whether Mr Johnson was right to make the accusation about Sir Keir.

'It is not my job to opine on these things. I am the energy minister,' he said.

'These are very serious matters in terms of child sexual abuse and what happened through the course of the Jimmy Savile events and the inquiry and so on.

'My job is the energy minister, that is a big job. In politics you don't have to have an opinion on everything.'

Mr Johnson was rocked by the shock resignation of policy chief Munira Mirza (left). Shortly afterwards it emerged the PM's communications chief, Jack Doyle (right), was also departing

Former Minister Nick Gibb brings the number of Tory MPs who have now publicly called for Mr Johnson to resign to 15 as he said the PM had not been truthful in his Partygate explanations

Rishi Sunak, pictured with constituents yesterday, is among the favourites to replace Johnson

A THIRD OF TORY VOTERS THINK THE PM SHOULD RESIGN A YouGov survey carried out on behalf of the Times has found that one in three Conservative voters who backed Boris Johnson at the last election now think he should resign. The survey was carried out before the resignations on Thursday and Friday and found that 60 per cent had lost confidence in the PM. When asked if Mr Johnson should step down should he be fined by the police, the proportion who said yes shot up to 67 per cent. If Boris Johnson is cleared but his staff are implicated, this drops to 51 per cent, according to the Times. Advertisement

In the Commons on Monday, the PM told MPs that as director of public prosecutions Sir Keir had 'spent most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile'.

He sought to 'clarify' his remark on Thursday, telling reporters: 'Let's be absolutely clear, I'm talking not about the Leader of the Opposition's personal record when he was DPP and I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions.

'I was making a point about his responsibility for the organisation as a whole.'

During Sir Keir's tenure as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, the police sought advice from the CPS on four allegations that Savile had sexually assaulted girls and young women in the 1970s.

In October 2009, the CPS reviewing lawyer with responsibility for the cases advised that since none of the complainants was 'prepared to support any police action', no prosecutions could be brought.

There is no evidence that Sir Keir was involved in the decisions.

Sir Keir issued an apology on behalf of the CPS in January 2013 following a review. 'I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for the shortcomings in the part played by the CPS in these cases,' he said in a statement.

He announced that new guidance on how child sexual abuse cases should be handled would be drawn up.

Savile died in 2011 aged 84 having never been brought to justice for his crimes. He is now believed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.

Boris Johnson is told to SACK 'openly manoeuvring' Rishi Sunak after Chancellor rebuked him for Jimmy Saville comments - as ex-minister becomes 15th Tory MP to publicly call on PM to resign over Partygate row

By Katie Feehan for MailOnline

Boris Johnson has reportedly been told to sack Rishi Sunak after the Chancellor publicly rebuked the Prime Minister over his claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

Mr Johnson is desperately trying to see off the growing threat of a vote of no confidence, as more than a dozen Tory MPs have now written no confidence letters.

It is thought that as many as 15 members have publicly written letters while the actual number is thought to be far higher because most do not make their actions known.

The latest MP to call on Boris to resign is former minister Nick Gibb who said the Prime Minister had not been truthful in his explanations of parties reportedly held in No 10 and across Whitehall during Covid measures.

Downing Street also suffered a day of chaos on Thursday as four of Mr Johnson's most senior aides opted to resign including the shock resignation of one of his closest allies, policy chief Munira Mirza.

According to the Times, the Cabinet descended into civil war as one member called for the Prime Minister to sack Mr Sunak while two others accused him of being 'on manoeuvres', evidenced by his public criticism of the Prime Minister.

It comes after Mr Johnson was publicly criticised by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Thursday over the explosive claim regarding Sir Keir's time as DPP.

Rishi Sunak publicly rebuked the PM over the false claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute paedophile Jimmy Savile.

Addressing the issue in a live broadcast on the cost-of-living crisis yesterday, Mr Sunak said of Mr Johnson's attack on Sir Keir: 'I wouldn't have said it.'

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday became the latest minister to distance himself from the PM's criticism of Sir Keir Starmer.

In a television interview he said the Labour leader deserved 'absolute respect' for the job he did as director of public prosecutions.

The comments from Mr Sunak and Mr Javid sparked a backlash in the cabinet, according to the Times.

Pictured: Chancellor Rishi Sunak, pictured yesterday with constituents, publicly criticised and questioned the Prime Minister's conduct over claims regarding Sir Keir Starmer's time as DPP

Charm Offensive: Mr Sunak was out in West London yesterday at an Age UK coffee morning where he discussed the Energy Bills Rebate with constituents and the cost of living crisis

Health Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) also publicly distanced himself from the PM's comments about Keir Starmer this week, saying that he deserved respect for doing a good job

One cabinet minister told The Times: 'He who wields the knife never wears the crown. It's just so blatant.

'Once the May elections are out the way there will be a reshuffle. Sunak has to go. I don't see how he [Johnson] can keep someone who is so openly on manoeuvres.'

Another said: 'I think very highly of Rishi but there are people around him who are not giving him good advice.

'They're encouraging him to stir things up  it isn't helping him with the backbenches. Liz [Truss, the foreign secretary] has played a much smarter game for the day when the leadership contest comes along. He's not wielding a knife, it's a penknife.'

The Times reports that the comments were rejected by a source close to Sunak while a source close to Javid played down the suggestion that he had rebuked the prime minister.

It comes as another Tory MP has called on Boris Johnson to resign amid reports the Prime Minister was pictured holding a beer in a photograph from his alleged restriction-busting gathering which has been handed to the police.

Mr Johnson was hit by the shock resignation of policy chief Munira Mirza (left). Shortly afterwards it emerged the PM's communications chief, Jack Doyle (right), was also departing

Former Minister Nick Gibb brings the number of Tory MPs who have now publicly called for Mr Johnson to resign to 15 as he said the PM had not been truthful in his Partygate explanations

Former minister Nick Gibb said the time had come for the Prime Minister to go, and suggested he had not been truthful in his explanations of parties reportedly held in No 10 and across Whitehall during Covid measures.

Mr Gibb, who is reported to have submitted a no-confidence letter to Sir Graham Brady, brings the number of Tory MPs who have now publicly called for Mr Johnson to resign to 15.

Privately, the number is expected to be higher.

Writing in The Telegraph, the MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton said that the Conservative Party must face the 'hard truths', and added: 'To restore trust, we need to change the Prime Minister.'

It comes as The Mirror reported that the Metropolitan Police had been handed a photograph of Mr Johnson holding a beer at an alleged gathering in June 2020 to mark the Prime Minister's birthday.

The newspaper said it was one of the 300 photos handed to the Met in their investigation into 12 alleged gatherings that may have broken Covid restrictions.

The photo is reported to have also included Chancellor Rishi Sunak, holding a soft drink.

No 10 said it could not comment while the Met Police's investigation was ongoing.

The Treasury was contacted for comment but Mr Sunak has previously said he was in the room for a Covid meeting.

On Friday, the beleaguered Prime Minister sought to rally Downing Street staff with a line from The Lion King, telling them 'Change is good' after the departure of a number of aides.

He was hit with a fifth resignation in less than 24 hours when Elena Narozanski, a special adviser in the No 10 policy unit, walked out on Friday.

Backbencher Aaron Bell also declared publicly he had submitted a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in his leader.

In a statement, he said: 'The breach of trust that events in No 10 Downing Street represent, and the manner in which they have been handled, makes his position untenable.'

In an emotional question in the Commons on Monday following the publication of the Sue Gray report into lockdown parties, Mr Bell asked Mr Johnson if he thought he was a 'fool' for following Covid restrictions at his grandmother's funeral.

Sunak, pictured with constituents yesterday, is among the favourites to replace Johnson

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured here at a Wolverhampton pub in 2019, was allegedly photographed with a beer during his lockdown birthday party which is now being investigated

Aides who went in dramatic clearout THURSDAY: MUNIRA MIRZA - POLICY CHIEF QUIT AT 3:26PM Miss Mirza has worked with Boris Johnson for 14 years and her departure was a real surprise to the PM. She quit in genuine fury at Mr Johnson's refusal to apologise for his Jimmy Savile jibe at Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons. JACK DOYLE - COMMUNICATIONS CHIEF 6:10PM Mr Doyle said he quit because 'recent weeks have taken a terrible toll on my family life'. He said he had always intended to do the job for just two years, but was implicated in the Partygate scandal, having presented awards at a No 10 event. MARTIN REYNOLDS - PRINCIPAL PRIVATE SECRETARY 7:45PM Mr Reynolds became known as 'Party Marty' after sending the infamous 'bring your own booze' email to 100 Downing Street staff during lockdown. A career diplomat, he will return to the Foreign Office. DAN ROSENFIELD - CHIEF OF STAFF 7:45PM Former Treasury civil servant Mr Rosenfield resigned after weeks of hostile briefing against him. He has been accused by some Tory backbenchers of not building a strong enough relationship with the parliamentary party. FRIDAY ELENA NAROZANSKI - NUMBER 10 POLICY UNIT 7:50am Ms Narozanski became the fifth Number 10 aide to quit within 24 hours as she followed her boss, Policy Unit chief Munira Mirza, out the door. Advertisement

In his intervention, Mr Gibb said Mr Bell had been 'brave' and 'struck a chord'.

He wrote: 'He expressed the anger and frustration of millions at rule-breaking by those most responsible for making the rules.

'He was not a fool for sticking by those rules. But, whether inadvertently or not, behaviour by people at the heart of government suggests that they think he was - or worse still, that the rules don't apply to them.'

He said his constituents were 'furious about the double standards'.

Mr Gibb said: 'The Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Allegra Stratton for joking about a Christmas party that she hadn't attended, but he won't take responsibility for those that he did attend.

'I am sorry to say that it is hard to see how it can be the case that the Prime Minister told the truth.'

Other Tory MPs are expected to consider over the weekend whether to write to the chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham in an attempt to force a leadership contest.

In an apparent move to head off further dissent, Mr Johnson has written to Tory MPs promising them a greater role in policymaking with a 'direct line' into No 10.

The latest turmoil was triggered by the shock resignation on Thursday of Mr Johnson's long-standing policy chief Munira Mirza over his refusal to withdraw his 'scurrilous' accusation about Sir Keir.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Javid indicated that he agreed with Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who said he would not have made those remarks.

'Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it. It is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that,' he told reporters.

Mr Javid acknowledged Mr Johnson had subsequently 'clarified' his comments and insisted the Prime Minister still had his full support.

However, his intervention will only fuel speculation over how much support the Prime Minister really enjoys from members of his top team.

Ms Mirza's resignation was followed by the announcement that three more of the most senior figures in No 10 - chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds and director of communications Jack Doyle - were also leaving.

The Prime Minister's official spokesperson said the departures had all been agreed before Ms Mirza tendered her resignation and that they were leaving by mutual consent.

All three were to some extent implicated in the controversy over parties during lockdown.

Mr Reynolds organised the notorious 'bring your own booze' event in the Downing Street garden while Mr Doyle was reportedly at at least one of the gatherings now under investigation by the police.

While Mr Rosenfield did not join until after most of the events had taken place, he has been criticised over the Government's initial response to the report that there had been no breach of the rules.
British Gas has apologised after hundreds of thousands of customers complained about its failure to fix and service their broken boilers this winter.

Many of the 3.4million customers paying an extra 14 a month for the HomeCare scheme, which provides breakdown cover and an annual service, went without heating and hot water for weeks due to delays and cancelled call-outs.

The customers were left in the cold as temperatures are set to drop to as low as 21.2F (-6C) in parts of the country this weekend, with snowfall forecast in the North.

British Gas, which has faced criticism recently for its flexible home-working policy, promised to improve its service, blaming Covid-related staff shortages and strike action.

British Gas has apologised after tens of thousands of customers complained about its failure to fix and service their broken boilers this winter

Weve identified where the issues are and we are taking the right steps to fix them, a spokesman told The Daily Telegraph.

Our customers are the most important thing. We are sorry, and trust us that well improve.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning to British Gas over the issue.

A spokesman said: We are aware of the issues and are working with the firm to ensure these are resolved as quickly as possible and that customers are treated fairly.

It comes as Chris OShea, chief executive of Centrica which owns British Gas, is still working from home amid the national energy crisis and soaring customer complaints.

Chris OShea, chief executive of Centrica which owns British Gas, is still working from home amid the national energy crisis and soaring customer complaints

He told the Daily Mail earlier this week that he will not return to the office five days a week despite work-from-home guidance ending last month.

Instead, he will stay at home at least one or two days a week in line with the firms new flexible-working policy.

Critics blame the move to home working for plunging customer service standards at major firms, with call wait times soaring.

Complaints about British Gas rose from 105,651 in the three months to September 2020 to 154,430 in the same period of 2021.

And gripes about the firm's HomeCare cover more than doubled in the first half of last year to 191,414 from 69,665 in the same six months of 2020.

Britain is also facing a national energy crisis, with the average annual bill predicted to hit 2,000 later this year

Britain is also facing a national energy crisis, with the average annual bill predicted to hit 2,000 later this year.

On its website, the energy giant claimed its 'Flexible First' working policy for its 6,000 contact centre workers would allow staff 'to benefit from an improved work-life balance to do things like manage childcare, caring responsibility or getting fit'

Speaking from his home near Reading, Mr O'Shea  who earns 775,000 a year before benefits, bonuses and shares  said he had asked his chief people officer to look into flexible working options but was advised he would need to stick to the policy too for it to work.

'I'm of the firm belief that people pay attention to what you do more than what you say,' he said. 'I've committed to [a flexible policy] and I like to keep my word so I will not go back five days a week to the office.'

Mr O'Shea, who was appointed as chief executive in April 2020, claimed the ability to run call centres from home would help 'give customers what they want when they want it'.

But he added that while it is brilliant when it works, 'when it doesn't it's a nightmare'.
Gladys Berejiklian is tipped to follow in the footsteps of previous NSW premiers and start a new role at the 'millionaire factory' - Macquarie Bank - as she quits her life in politics.

Ms Berejiklian, 51, stepped down as leader in October over an ICAC corruption probe into her doomed relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire.

Since then she's moved on with her work life and love life, turning her back on politics and starting a new relationship with barrister Arthur Moses.

Now locals in her powerbase on Sydney's North Shore say she's ready to start a new job at Macquarie, and follow the career path of previous ex-NSW premiers, Bob Carr and Mike Baird.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian could be set to start a new role with Macquarie Bank

The decision has proven to be financially lucrative for both men.

Baird moved into finance with NAB in 2017 after stepping aside as NSW premier and was paid a reported $500,000 to work in their investment division.

At the time, Baird said he was quitting politics for good to spend more time with his family.

Ms Berejiklian (pictured, with partner Arthur Moses) resigned as NSW Premier on October 1 last year after ICAC announced a probe into her dealings with ex-boyfriend Daryl Maguire

Following his own retirement from state politics in August of 2005, Carr was also said to be on a similar salary after joining Macquarie Bank.

A source close to the MP told the Daily Telegraph that Ms Berejiklian, who this week endorsed Liberal candidate Tim James as her replacement for her Willoughby seat, has been 'inundated' with recent job offers.

The former NSW state treasurer is said to be close friends with Macquarie Bank ex-chairman Kevin McCann, giving strength to the speculation.

Berejiklian was the NSW Premier from January of 2017 until October 1 last year, when she resigned in sensational circumstances.

It followed ICAC announcing an investigation into whether Ms Berejiklian had breached public trust or encouraged corrupt behaviour during her relationship with former boyfriend, disgraced ex-Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.

The findings are yet to be released, with submissions due by February 15.

Last year's inquiry heard from public servants and MPs over two weeks, with many stating Ms Berejiklian should have disclosed her relationship with Maguire to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Ms Berejiklian defended her decision to keep the relationship a secret, saying it wasnt of 'sufficient status'.

This was despite later admitting the pair loved each other, had contemplated marriage and discussed having a child.

In December, Ms Berejiklian ruled out a return to politics amid talk she was going to run for Tony Abbott's former federal seat of Warringah, despite public encouragement from the Prime Minister.

And earlier this week, Ms Berejiklian was again in the spotlight after a leaked text exchange in which she allegedly branded Scott Morrison a 'horrible, horrible' person and was 'more concerned with politics than people.'

ICAC's findings are due later this month - Ms Berejiklian (pictured) insists her relationship with Mr Maguire didn't need to be disclosed as it wasn't of 'sufficient status'

Former NSW premier Mike Baird started a role with NAB in 2017 after quitting politics - his salary was rumoured to be at least $500,000

In the text exchange, leaked to Ten News political editor Peter van Onselen, the mystery Cabinet minister also branded the PM a 'fraud' and a 'complete psycho'.

Ms Berejiklian later stated she had 'no recollection' of the explosive text messages.

'Let me reiterate my very strong support for Prime Minister Morrison and all he is doing for our nation during these very challenging times,' she said.

'I also strongly believe he is the best person to lead our nation for years to come.'
Sajid Javid sided with Rishi Sunak last night as he distanced himself from Boris Johnsons explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

In a fresh blow to the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary went out of his way to praise the Labour leader, saying he had done a good job when he was director of public prosecutions.

In a marked contrast to the Prime Ministers criticisms, Mr Javid said Sir Keir deserved absolute respect for his work in the post when speaking to Sky News.

His comments yesterday came after the Chancellor took the extraordinary step of rebuking Mr Johnson for claiming his opponent was responsible for not prosecuting Savile.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: Being honest, I wouldnt have said it.

Mr Johnson's premiership was rocked further after his long-standing policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday over his refusal to apologise.

In her resignation letter, Ms Mirza said she had demanded Mr Johnson publicly retract his comments, as disillusioned Tory backbenchers pressed ahead with a brewing Tory civil war.

The remarks, made to Sir Keir during angry Commons exchanges this week, have also faced noisy criticism from moderate Tory MPs already wobbly about the PM's future.

Boris Johnson has reportedly been told to sack Rishi Sunak after the Chancellor publicly rebuked the PM over his claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile

Health Secretary Sajid Javid (above) sided with Rishi Sunak last night as he distanced himself from Boris Johnsons explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile

After delivering a speech in London yesterday, Mr Javid told reporters: Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it, it is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that.

But the Prime Minister has also come out and clarified those remarks, and that is important.

Asked if the Prime Minister still had his support, Mr Javid said: Of course he does. Absolutely.

'Is it a difficult question?': Nadine Dorries gives toe-curling BBC interview REFUSING to say whether she has spoken to Boris Johnson in the last 24 hours and says the PM 'was truthful, to the best of his knowledge' Nadine Dorries has continued to publicly back Boris Johnson after giving a toe-curlingly awkward televised interview in which she insisted he was truthful. Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning, Ms Dorries, 64, said the Prime Minister remained optimistic and his mood was 'very positive' despite a slew of his senior advisors abandoning the Government ship earlier this week. But the Culture Secretary clashed with host Charlie Stayt as she openly questioned why she was being asked if she had recently spoken with the Prime Minister. Mr Stayt repeatedly asked if she had spoken with Mr Johnson over the last 24 hours - to which she replied: 'Why are you asking me that question?' She briefly smiles at the veteran broadcaster before adding: 'We've communicated'. After an excruciating pause, a puzzled Mr Stayt then says: 'I'm really confused. Is that a difficult question? I'm just asking if you've spoken to the Prime Minister'. Ms Dorries then repeats 'we have communicated', before refusing to expand on her original remarks when pressed further. In later comments, she added the premier always tells the truth 'to the best of his knowledge', and pointed at information given to him by advisors and aides. Ms Dorries said those speaking out against the PM were 'the same names that we continually keep (hearing) cropping up' and were in 'safe seats'. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, the Culture Secretary said Boris Johnson tells the truth 'to the best of his knowledge' based on advice given to him by aides. Advertisement

The disagreement between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation the Chancellor wants to replace the PM in No10.

According to the Times, the Cabinet descended into civil war as one member called for the Prime Minister to sack Mr Sunak while two others accused him of being 'on manoeuvres', evidenced by his public criticism of the Prime Minister.

In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Mr Sunak declined to answer three times whether he had ambitions to be the next Tory leader.

But Downing Street yesterday sought to play down tensions by insisting the pairs relationship is still good.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: I dont know when they last spoke, they speak almost daily, but I dont know the exact last time.

Asked how relations are between No 10 and No 11, he said: Good - they agreed to a cost-of-living package that the Chancellor set out yesterday.

But one cabinet minister told The Times: 'He who wields the knife never wears the crown. It's just so blatant.

'Once the May elections are out the way there will be a reshuffle. Sunak has to go. I don't see how he [Johnson] can keep someone who is so openly on manoeuvres.'

Another said: 'I think very highly of Rishi but there are people around him who are not giving him good advice.

'They're encouraging him to stir things up  it isn't helping him with the backbenches. Liz [Truss, the foreign secretary] has played a much smarter game for the day when the leadership contest comes along. He's not wielding a knife, it's a penknife.'

It is thought that as many as 15 MPs have publicly written letters of no confidence, but the actual number is thought to be far higher because most do not make their actions known.

The latest MP to call on Boris to resign is former minister Nick Gibb who said the Prime Minister had not been truthful in his explanations of parties reportedly held in No 10 and across Whitehall during Covid measures.

Earlier, Huw Merriman, Conservative chairman of the Transport Select Committee, backed Mr Sunaks decision to distance himself from Mr Johnsons comments.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The Chancellor was right to say that those wouldnt have been the words that he would use and I absolutely agree with that.

But appearing on the same programme, energy minister Greg Hands refused to say whether Mr Johnson was right to make the accusation about Sir Keir.

It is not my job to opine on these things. I am the energy minister, he said.

These are very serious matters in terms of child sexual abuse and what happened through the course of the Jimmy Savile events and the inquiry and so on.

My job is the energy minister, that is a big job. In politics you dont have to have an opinion on everything.

Mr Johnson was rocked by the shock resignation of policy chief Munira Mirza (left). Shortly afterwards it emerged the PM's communications chief, Jack Doyle (right), was also departing

Former Minister Nick Gibb brings the number of Tory MPs who have now publicly called for Mr Johnson to resign to 15 as he said the PM had not been truthful in his Partygate explanations

Rishi Sunak, pictured with constituents yesterday, is among the favourites to replace Johnson

New poll suggests a third of Tory voters think the PM should now stand down A YouGov survey carried out on behalf of the Times has found that one in three Conservative voters who backed Boris Johnson at the last election now think he should resign. The survey was carried out before the resignations on Thursday and Friday and found that 60 per cent had lost confidence in the PM. When asked if Mr Johnson should step down should he be fined by the police, the proportion who said yes shot up to 67 per cent. If Boris Johnson is cleared but his staff are implicated, this drops to 51 per cent, according to the Times. Advertisement

In the Commons on Monday, the PM told MPs that as director of public prosecutions Sir Keir had spent most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

He sought to clarify his remark on Thursday, telling reporters: Lets be absolutely clear, Im talking not about the Leader of the Oppositions personal record when he was DPP and I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions.

I was making a point about his responsibility for the organisation as a whole.

During Sir Keirs tenure as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, the police sought advice from the CPS on four allegations that Savile had sexually assaulted girls and young women in the 1970s.

In October 2009, the CPS reviewing lawyer with responsibility for the cases advised that since none of the complainants was prepared to support any police action, no prosecutions could be brought.

There is no evidence that Sir Keir was involved in the decisions.

Sir Keir issued an apology on behalf of the CPS in January 2013 following a review. I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for the shortcomings in the part played by the CPS in these cases, he said in a statement.

He announced that new guidance on how child sexual abuse cases should be handled would be drawn up.

Savile died in 2011 aged 84 having never been brought to justice for his crimes. He is now believed to be one of Britains most prolific sex offenders.
Grade Seven results are out and were opened for online viewing yesterday, with Form One selection being done next week and classes starting on Monday, February 14.

This is just a week after almost all the other classes start, with only lower sixth classes delayed until O-level results are out.

Heads can collect results from regional offices on Monday and Form One enrolment will be done of the e-map platform.

Those seeking boarding and day places should register next week between Monday and Friday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Evelyn Ndlovu said in a statement yesterday.

These latest Grade Seven examinations showed an improvement in the pass rate to 41,13 percent from the 37,11 percent with girls hitting 44,55 percent compared to the boys 37,48 percent and most candidates with special needs doing better.

Minister Ndlovu said, in the statement read on her behalf by read by Permanent Secretary Mrs Tumisang Thabela, that parents and guardians who had indicated their wish to enrol their children for boarding places should do so between Monday and Friday next week on the e-map platform, enabling heads of boarding schools to start selecting their Form One pupils.

Kindly note that the application website is still open for applications and will remain open until the end of the selection period February 11. Parents and guardians should constantly check the application status of their children. The heads of schools will communicate with parents and guardians once their children are selected.

Parents and guardians are urged to use the five days to enrol their children. Similarly, the enrolment for day scholars will be done during the same period. This process will enable both day and boarders to join the rest of the learners on February 14, 2022, she said.

Minister Ndlovu said the school calendar for the rest of the classes for the year remains unchanged and no school should deviate from it, with the first term starting on February 7 ending 7 April, term 2 running from May 3 to August 4, and the third term from September 5 to December 8.

The opening date for the start of lower six enrolments will be prescribed by the Permanent Secretary immediately after the release of the 2021 Ordinary examination level results, she said.

Minister Ndlovu said the Government will continue to support schools with basic personal protective equipment in a bid to enhance the prevention and management of Covid-19 as well as control its spread not only in schools but among the citizens and the nation at large.

In light of this, all eligible 16 and 17 years old learners are urged to join the nations efforts to continue fighting the pandemic through taking advantage of the Governments free vaccination programme. Let us turn our schools into Covid-19 free zones.

The Ministry advises that the wearing of face masks and washing as well as physical distancing are a must in the fight against Covid-19 at all our schools and learning centres to ensure a safe learning environment for our learners as well as to assure us of uninterrupted and accelerated implementation of teaching and learning activities, she said.

Minister Ndlovu said the ministry remains committed to the provision of quality, affordable, accessible, relevant, equitable, inclusive, and wholesome education for all Zimbabweans.

Zimsec board chairman Professor Eddie Mwenje heads of Schools will be able to collect the results from their regional offices on Monday.

He noted that the results for last year, as was the case with the results for 2020, were later than usual because on both years the examinations were moved from October to December as part of efforts to minimise the disruptions to the school calendar caused by Covid-19 lockdowns.

The 2021 Grade 7 Examination session recorded a national pass rate of 41,13 percent. This is an increase of 4,02 percent in candidates performance from last years pass rate of 37,11 percent.

According to Zimsec girls passed with a 44,55 percent compared to boys 37,48 percent.

Prof Mwenje said the improvement in candidates performance can be attributed to factors including Governments interventions that led to increased learning time by pupils through the use of alternative teaching and learning strategies.

Prof Mwenje said 325 573 (51,31 percent girls and 48, 68 percent boys) sat for the 2021 exam a 0,6 percent decrease from 327 559 in 2020 with their research attributing factors as economic hardships largely induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, learner dropout as a result of pregnancies and early marriages.

He said other factors included the introduction of continuous assessment learning activities, which was not initially positively received by some candidates.

Prof Mwenje said indigenous languages recorded higher pass rates compared to all other subjects as was the case in 2019 and 2020.

A total of 379 candidates with special needs sat for a range of subjects from 5 to 6. Of these 248 wrote 6 subjects and 136 passed 6 subjects yielding an overall percentage pass rate of 54,88, he said.

Prof Mwenje said there was general improvement performance by special needs candidates, with those with hard of hearing recording 23,13 percent pass, up from 11,43 percent in 2020.

Enlarged print candidates recorded 54,84 as compared to 43,86 percent in 2020 and those physically impaired recorded 32,5 percent as compared to 13,53 percent in 2020.

The visually-impaired candidates (Braille), recorded a decrease in pass rate, from 50 percent in 2020 to 37,1 percent in 2021, he said. Herald
A college lecturer has been jailed for five years after killing a grandmother and seriously injuring her husband in a head-on crash while he 'fiddled with his radio'.

Iestyn Jones, 54, from Tredegar, Wales, was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving at Newport Crown Court in December.

Shirley Culleton, 65, died after the collision on the A4046 Cwm road, near Ebbw Vale, South Wales, on July 6, 2019.

Mrs Culleton and her husband Michael had been driving along the bypass in their red Suzuki Swift at around 1.20pm that Saturday after a shopping trip when Jones drifted into their lane and crashed into them in his Hyundai IX35.

College lecturer Iestyn Jones (pictured), 54, from Tredegar has been jailed for five years after killing a grandmother and seriously injuring her husband in a head-on crash in south Wales

Jones, an electronics teacher and sheep farmer, was accused of 'fiddling with his radio' at the time, which caused him to veer into oncoming traffic.

During a five-day trial, the court heard Jones first hit a Ford Fiesta which was being driven by Stephen Williams, who escaped with minor injuries, before ploughing into the Culletons' car.

At the scene, Jones told a number of witnesses, including an Royal Marines medic who had rushed to aid the injured, that he had been 'messing around' with his radio at the time of the incident.

'I only took my eye off the road for a second,' he told another bystander.

Shirley Culleton (right), 65, died after the collision on the A4046 Cwm road, near Ebbw Vale, on July 6, 2019. Her husband Michael (left) was also injured

However, Jones denied the charges against him and claimed he could not remember what had happened.

Matthew Roberts, defending, said his client had suffered a severe obstructive sleep apnoea episode on the day of the crash.

He admitted tuning his car radio at some point during his journey home but he insisted it was on a road before the bypass and that it did not cause the crash.

He told the jury: 'I'm a really good driver. If I thought I had done this I would put my hands up. That's why I'm here.'

Jones, an electronics teacher and sheep farmer, was accused of 'fiddling with his radio' at the time, which caused him to veer into oncoming traffic

Mrs Culleton suffered fatal injuries and died a day after the incident in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

Her husband was taken to the nearby Nevill Hall Hospital, where he remained for seven weeks.

In a victim impact statement written by their son Paul Culleton on behalf of the family, and read at the hearing by his wife Emma, they said: 'It's almost two-and-a-half years since this tragic incident happened and even though time is passing, the hurt and heartache is still as raw today as it was in 2019.

'July 6, 2019 was the day our lives changed forever and the heart of our family was taken away from us. We've been living in a nightmare ever since.

'Every day we are filled with anger, sadness, grief and many other overwhelming emotions. I continuously feel like I have forgotten something and like I have this very big whole inside me that I know will never be filled.

'If I had a bad day I would always ring my mum and she would always be there and know what to say to make everything okay. All I want to do is make that phone call, but she won't be there to answer.'

Judge Richard Williams said the sentence he would impose would be based on Jones not looking where he was going for between five and eight seconds over a distance of 120 to 200 metres.

Jones was handed a prison term of five years and six months and disqualified from driving for five years and nine months.

He will have to serve half the sentence in prison and pass an extended driving test to be able to drive legally again.
A notorious gangster been found dead after being repeatedly shot outside a luxury villa in Thailand.

CCTV footage shows Mandeep Singh, 30, being repeatedly shot at by three men as he arrived home in a red MG.

Singh, who was allegedly part of a Canadian gang, was six years ago deported for 'serious criminality' from Vancouver, British Colombia, before fleeing to the popular holiday island of Phuket.

Mandeep Singh, 30, was six years ago deported for 'serious criminality' from Vancouver, British Colombia, before fleeing to the popular holiday island of Phuket. Pictured, police at the scene

He was allegedly targeted in a gangland shooting and gunned down at around 10.30pm on Friday night outside the villa, which is part of a hotel complex.

In the chilling clip Singh can be seen arriving home in a red MG before three men emerge holding semi-automatic handguns.

They hid behind another vehicle parked in the driveway before pouncing on the gangster and opening fire, unloading at least 18 rounds into his body while he was on the ground.

Neighbours through the sound was firecrackers being discharged for Chinese New Year, but resort staff found Singh's body at around 6.30am local time before calling the police.

Nineteen torn 9mm and .830 bullets, some cash and marijuana were found when the vehicle and crime scene were investigated

Police said Singh had at least 18 bullet wounds across his body and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers cordoned off the scene and found bullet casing scattered around the ground.

Major General Sermphan Sirikong, commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, said officers are now checking CCTV around the hotel to find the killers.

He said: 'The assailants broke into the hotel complex and used two different guns to kill the victim, who died at the scene.'

Police said that Singh arrived in Thailand on January 27 on a tourist visa and that the gangster also allegedly had a home in Dubai, around six hours away by plane.

The police chief added: 'Officers examined CCTV footage at the scene of the crime and found that on February 4, at around 10.30pm, the deceased arrived in a red MG vehicle.

halong Police in Phuket told local media that the dead man had ID which identified him as Mandeep Sing or Amarjit Singh Sindu

'In front of the villa at the scene while getting out of the car to enter the villa, there were two or three male assailants running in from a dark corner using firearms to fire until Mr Singh fell to his death, with the assailant taking only 10 seconds to commit the crime. They then ran back in the original direction.

'Witnesses at the scene were a friend next to the villa and a housewife who found the body.

'They said there was a sound similar to firecrackers at the scene, but no one thought that it was the sound of guns until the morning when someone found the body, so the authorities were notified to check.'

Nineteen torn 9mm and .830 bullets, some cash and marijuana were found when the vehicle and crime scene were investigated.

After he was released on bail, he disappeared and is believed to have been travelling between Dubai and Southeast Asia ever since

Singh, who was born in Chennai, India, before moving to Canada aged seven, was allegedly part of the 'United Nations' gang in the country, the name referring to the different backgrounds of its members.

He grew up with relatives in Abbotsford before getting caught up in gang life and convicted of serious assaults in 2010 and 2012.

He was deported in 2016 the arrested in India in 2018 and charged with operating a large ketamine factory.

After he was released on bail, he disappeared and is believed to have been travelling between Dubai and Southeast Asia ever since.

The gangster was known as Jimi 'Slice' Sandhu, due to a big scar on his right cheek, the Vancouver Sun reported.

The publication also said Chalong Police in Phuket told local media that the dead man had ID which identified him as Mandeep Sing or Amarjit Singh Sindu.
A man has today been charged with assaulting a woman who was 'raped and murdered'.

Bobby Hardman, 34, has today been named as the man charged with assault, after Charissa Brown, 36, died after she was rushed to hospital in Bury on Wednesday.

Hardman has been remanded in custody and will appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court today.

Police officers had responded to a 'concern for welfare' call 24 hours before Charrissa Brown was taken to hospital.

Greater Manchester Police voluntarily referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct due to the previous police contact.

In a statement the IOPC said: 'We have received a referral from Greater Manchester Police regarding the conduct of officers who responded to a report of concern for the welfare of a woman who has since sadly died.

'We are assessing the available information to determine if any further action is required from us.'

Greater Manchester Police have arrested three men aged 32, 52 and 61, on suspicion of her rape and murder. Two have since been released without charge.

It was earlier revealed that the mother-of-three once killed a stranger by pushing him under the wheels of a moving tram.

Ms Brown, also known by the surname Brown-Wellington, had recently been released from prison after serving a five-year manslaughter sentence.

Charrissa Brown, 36, was rushed to hospital on Wednesday evening after an incident at a property in Bury, Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester Police have arrested three men aged 32, 52 and 61, on suspicion of her rape and murder. Two have been released without charge.

She was handed the prison term for the killing of Philip Carter in June 2017. Then aged 31, she pushed 30-year-old Mr Cater, who was a stranger to her, between two carriages of a tram at Manchester Victoria Station.

Mr Carter, from Blackley, was crushed by the tram as it pulled away and died at the scene of the incident, which a court later heard took place after the pair had a drunken row.

After, Brown-Wellington was heard to say: 'I didn't mean it. He got in my face. We were just play fighting.'

Brown was later charged with murder and ordered to face trial. But she pleaded guilty to manslaughter after being unexpectedly brought before a judge for a pre-trial hearing in October 2017.

Then aged 31, she was arrested after pushing 30-year-old Mr Carter, who was a stranger to her, in front of a tram at Manchester Victoria Station. Mr Carter, from Blackley, was crushed by the tram and died at the scene of the incident, which a court later heard took place after the pair had a drunken row.

Greater Manchester Police have charged Bobby Hardman with assault. Pictured: Police at the scene in Bury

In the 2017 sentencing at Manchester Crown Court, judge Mr Justice William Davis told Brown that although her actions were not unprovoked they were 'completely unnecessary' and 'aggressive'.

'There was more than one victim in this case because the effect of what you did was so dreadful.

'It is merely yet another example of you reacting violently when faced with something you did not like very much,' he said.

Senior officers at Greater Manchester Police described Ms Brown, who had a personality disorder which causes 'impulsive violence', as 'a ticking time bomb' prior to the attack.

'He (Mr Carter) suffered a brutal death all because she lost her temper,' the force said in a statement at the time.

Mr Carter's family meanwhile said he was 'missed every minute of every day', adding in a statement: 'We can try to repair our heartache although no matter how long the sentence is, it will not bring Phil back or make our loss any easier.'

On her release, Brown was made the subject to an extended licence period of three years as a 'dangerous offender'.

According to court records released at the time of her sentencing, Ms Brown had a lengthy criminal record of 65 offences, many of which involved violence.

Senior officers at Greater Manchester Police described Ms Brown, who had a personality disorder which causes 'impulsive violence', as 'a ticking time bomb' prior to the attack on Mr Carter

Police and forensic officers at a scene on Gorse Bank, Bury, on Friday. Police have arrested three men on suspicion of rape and murder

In 2013, Ms Brown was jailed for four months for criminal damage, assaulting three police officers and using racially aggravated threatening or abusive words or behaviour.

In April 2017 she was taken to court for fare-dodging on a tram. MailOnline understands Ms Brown had until recently maintained contact with the probation service having finished her manslaughter sentence in July last year.

The revelations come as today tributes have been paid to Ms Brown, including by her mother Sue Brown.

Today she wrote on Facebook: 'RIP my beautiful daughter'. She also urged friends to take flowers to the scene and lay them in memory of her daughter.

Meanwhile, friend Leigh Kelly wrote: 'Rip Charrissa Brown absolutely heartbroken.

'Loads of memories with you.. one of the funniest girls I know.. one day we will have that catch up until then may u rest in peace and be given the best bed in heaven my girl xxx.'

Another, Marie Joel Bowden-Birkhead, wrote: 'I'm going to fill Facebook full of pics of Charrissa Brown instead of sharing the horrible news that happened to her.

'She was a legend one in a million I hope ur causing chaos up there babe.'

Faith Kiely added: 'Thinking of you all. Charrissa will always be a woman who I will remember from my teens she was a whirlwind. Made me giggle. Sorry for your loss.'

The revelation comes as today tributes have been paid to Ms Brown, including by her mother Sue Brown. Today Ms Brown wrote on Facebook: 'RIP my beautiful daughter'

Meanwhile, neighbours told MailOnline how they were aware of Ms Brown's troubled past.

One said: 'Charrissa didn't talk about what happened but everybody knew about it.

'There's a lot of people in and out of there so I'm not sure who actually lived there but she was there a lot.

'It is a real party house and it could be really noisy at times.' She added: 'Her poor family.'

Another said: 'It's such a shame. Everyone knew what she had done and that she had been in jail for killing the guy by shoving him under the tram.'

Tonight around 40 people laid flowers and balloons in tribute to Ms Brown.

Her parents Sue Brown and Dean Wellington hugged family and friends at the scene.

Three fireworks were set off for Ms Brown, while the crowds chanted 'hip, hip, hurray!'

In a short but poignant statement, Daughter Tanay Brown said: 'We will love you forever.'

Another friend said: 'All the people here are family and friends. Today is a sad day. She is a legend.'

One family member said: 'She was a brilliant girl. Everybody had the upmost rep spect for her.

'She wasn't an angel but she had a heart of gold.'

The tributes come as detectives continue to probe the circumstances behind Ms Brown's death.

In an update released on Friday evening, Greater Manchester Police said: 'A post-mortem was inconclusive, three people are still in custody, and further investigations ongoing.'

Detectives are still probing the circumstances behind her death and a post mortem has taken place

Detective Superintendent Kate Atton, from GMP's Bury CID, said: 'I have no doubt that the community are shocked and are worried to hear the news about this incident but I would like to reassure them that we have a dedicated team of detectives investigating and following up various lines of enquiry to establish the circumstances around this lady's death.

'High visibility patrols and local officers will be in the area and available to speak to anyone concerned and we will release more information as soon as we are able to.

'We want to give the lady's family the answers they deserve as they are understandably devastated at the loss and our thoughts remain with them.

'We'd ask anyone with information to come forward.

'The team are following up enquiries and have been overnight since the report came into us but anyone who may have any information should contact us - even the smallest bit of information could prove vital.'

Neighbours have today described the property in which Ms Brown was found as being a 'refuge'-type home.

Others claimed today the property was regularly used for 'parties'. It is not clear if Ms Brown lived at the property.

Anyone with information can report it online at www.gmp.police.uk. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in line with normal procedure due to previous police contact.
Four tourists from the United States, the Netherlands and Belgium have been killed during a sightseeing trip in Iceland after their small plane crashed into a lake.

The Cessna 172 was discovered in Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland's second-largest, at around 11pm local time yesterday, the Icelandic Coast Guard said in a statement.

The aircraft was found in a portion of the lake about 30 miles (50 kilometres) east of Reykjavik.

The Cessna 172 plane took off from the domestic airport in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, on Thursday, for a scheduled two-hour sightseeing tour.

It last made contact with aviation authorities about an hour later. It did not send a distress signal.

The pilot, Haraldur Diego, 49, was considered one of Iceland's most prominent aviators and a pioneer of photography tours.

The Cessna 172 was discovered in Lake Thingvallavatn (pictured in a file photo) Iceland's second-largest, at around 11pm local time yesterday, the Icelandic Coast Guard said

The Cessna 172 plane (pictured in a file photo) took off from the domestic airport in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, on Thursday, for a scheduled two-hour sightseeing tour

More than 1,000 members of Icelands Search and Rescue organization, along with boats, divers and two Icelandic Coast Guard helicopters, had combed the Thingvellir National Park area in harsh winter weather for the plane.

Yesterday Asgrimur Larus Asgrimsson, head of operations at the Icelandic Coast Guard, said that 'mobile phone data has given us a reason to narrow the search area down to the Thingvellir area'.
Russia today sent nuclear-capable bombers on patrol as details of Vladimir Putin's alleged plan to overthrow the Ukrainian government after a full-scale invasion emerged in the German media.

The report, originating from a foreign secret service source, outlines President Putin's three-step plan to bring Ukraine under a new 'union state' including Russia and Belarus, with Moscow as the centre of control.

Perhaps the most concerning detail of the report is the Kremlin's 'Step Three', which according to Bild would see Ukrainian activists rounded up and put into camps once a pro-Russian government had been installed.

This would be to quell any resistance following 'Step One' - a full scale invasion - and 'Step Two' - the installation of a new parliament under Moscow's control.

The report also warned that an invasion is currently 'the most likely scenario' - adding that could happen as early as this month.

It came as the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed two Tu-22M3 bombers practised interaction with the Belarusian air force and air defence assets during a four-hour mission Saturday.

The flight followed several similar patrols over Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north and is just 50 miles from the capital of Kyiv, and came as the Kremlin moved troops from Siberia and the Far East to Belarus for sweeping joint drills.

Russia has denied plans to attack Ukraine, but urged the US and its allies to provide a binding pledge that they do not accept the former Soviet state into NATO or deploy offensive weapons, and that they roll back the alliance deployments to Eastern Europe - demands which have been flatly rejected.

Meanwhile the West has called on Russia to pull back an estimated 100,000 troops from areas near Ukraine, but the Kremlin has responded by saying it will station troops wherever it needs to on the Russian territory.

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed two Tu-22M3 bombers (pictured) practised interaction with the Belarusian air force and air defence assets during a four-hour mission Saturday

Two Russian long-range strategic bombers Tu-22M3 during joint military exercises with Belarusian Air Forces in Belarusian air space on February 5, 2022

The two Tu-22M3 bombers of the Russian air force taxi before takeoff at an air base in Russia

One of the Tu-22M3 bombers seen through the cockpit window of its twin as they take part in a military exercise over Belarus on Saturday

Details of Russia's plan to overthrow the Ukrainian government after a full-scale invasion have been detailed in the German media. An instructor trains Rumia, 59, a member of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022

In recent months, Russia has conducted a series of joint drills with Belarus and repeatedly sent its nuclear-capable long-range bombers to patrol the skies over its neighbour, which borders Nato members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Belarus' authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has increasingly relied on the Kremlin's political and financial support amid bruising Western sanctions triggered by his crackdown on domestic protests, has called for closer defence ties with Moscow and recently offered to host Russian nuclear weapons.

As war fears mounted, Ukrainian authorities launched a series of drills for civilians to prepare for a possible Russian invasion.

'I am here to learn how to defend myself, defend my relatives and also understand how to act in the situation,' Kyiv resident Ilya Goncharov said after taking part in drills on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.

'I am happy that I came here to learn the basics of self defence and first aid.'

Amid the standoff over Ukraine, US president Joe Biden has ordered 2,000 US-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifted 1,000 more from Germany to Romania in a show of the US commitment to Nato's eastern flank.

On Saturday, the unnamed secret service which leaked the report on Putin's alleged invasion plans to Bild, warned that 'a full-scale invasion is currently the most likely scenario'.

Assuming that Putin does not change his mind in the meantime, the source told Bild the invasion would happen in February, or March at the latest.

Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine but has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and says it could take unspecified military measures if its demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Kyiv.

The new report contradicts Russia's insistence that it has no such scheme, laying out Putin's potentially devastating master-plan to take control of Russia's neighbour.

According to Bild's source, Step 1 would see Russian armies surround and lay siege to Ukraine's major cities after first destroying any military resistance in the field.

Russian secret service cells and politicians loyal to Putin - already in place - would be 'activated' in the country, and would carry out the task of installing pro-Russian leadership the cities, who would then surrender to the Russian forces.

Yuri, 12, trains with members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday

A new report outlines President Vladimir Putin's three-step plan to bring Ukraine under a new 'union state' including Russia and Belarus, with Moscow as the centre of control. Pictured: Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, train close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday

Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine but has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and says it could take unspecified military measures if its demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Kyiv.

A plane carrying military aid, delivered as part of the United States' security assistance to Ukraine, is parked at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, February 5, 2022.

Russian intelligence services would subsequently 'seize strategic facilities, eliminate threats, recruit those willing to cooperate and establish a new leadership in the conquered cities', the report says.

This method would be executed in the major cities, until all key population areas have come under Russian control.

Once this is complete, Step Two would begin, with Russia installing a new pro-Moscow parliament - the so-called 'People's Rada', Bild reported.

The sham 'Verkhovna Rada' would declare Ukraine's real parliament redundant, and would then become Russia's puppet legislature, packed with representatives who have already been chosen by Russian intelligence services.

But the 'People's Rada' would only be temporary, and eventually would transition into a new government - totally dependent on Russia - to give the Kremlin's institution the illusion of democracy in Ukraine.

In order to facilitate this transition, Russia would launch a propaganda campaign in both Ukraine and the West to persuade some that the new government is legitimate.

Pro-Russian 'experts' and politicians would flood the airwaves and justify the takeover, spreading a campaign of lies, the report says.

A picture released by the Russian Defence Ministry on February 4 shows rocket launchers fire on a snow-covered field during joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus as part of an inspection of the Union State's Response Force, at a firing range in Belarus

Pictured: Military helicopters take part in the Belarusian and Russian joint military drills at Brestsky firing range on Friday

Tanks fire during the Belarusian and Russian joint military drills at Brestsky firing range, in Belarus on Friday

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives two thumbs up as he attends the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, February 4, 2022, in Beijing

Step Two of Russia's alleged plan would see Russia overthrow Ukraine's current government and install its own pro-Russian legislature. Pictured: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, seen during a meeting with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday

However, the plan acknowledges that not everyone in Ukraine will accept their new Russian leaders, and that is where the third and final step comes in.

Step Three would see any anti-Russian activists and opposition leaders rounded up and put into camps, in order to crush any resistance that remains.

According to Bild, the secret service report says: 'The task of this body would be to declare a state of emergency and, particularly threatening, to implement the Russian plan to set up camps in which those Ukrainians who showed themselves to be uncooperative would be sorted out.'

The report says these will be for 'pro-Ukrainian activists', and claims lists have already been drawn up of who will be imprisoned.

In the years that followed, the citizens of what would by then essentially be a Russian state would be controlled and oppressed by a new secret service, the report notes.

It adds that the suppression of pro-democracy activists in Belarus in 2020 will likely serve as a model for the state going forward.

Bild's report goes on to say that the ultimate goal is to create a new 'union state,' similar to the Soviet Union that crumbled in December 1991.

Russia's president Vlaidmir Putin has spoken before on the collapse of the USSR, once describing it as 'the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century'.

The plan could be seen as his first step towards a return of the former bloc, with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus forming a new 'union state', with Moscow at the head.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss revealed last month that British intelligence has discovered a plan by Putin to install a pro-Moscow puppet leader in Ukraine.

Ms Truss said the Foreign Office had established that the Russian government was looking to install a pro- Russian leader in Kiev as it 'considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine', and that Russian intelligence officers involved in the planning for an attack were in contact with sympathetic politicians in the country.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Boris Johnson spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation on the Ukrainian border.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: 'The Prime Minister spoke to French President Macron this morning on the situation in Ukraine.

'The leaders updated one another on their respective discussions with international partners, including the Prime Minister's visit to Kyiv last week. They agreed that finding a diplomatic solution to the current tensions must remain the overriding priority.

'The Prime Minister and President Macron stressed that Nato must be united in the face of Russian aggression. They agreed to continue to work together to develop a package of sanctions which would come into force immediately should Russia further invade Ukraine.

'The leaders discussed their work to strengthen Nato's Eastern flank, ensuring that allies are fully defended against malicious Russian activity, wherever and however it might occur.

'The Prime Minister re-emphasised to President Macron his commitment to work with France on the shared challenge of illegal migration in the Channel. The leaders agreed on the need to cooperate to stop people traffickers.'

Ukrainians attend military training for civil people organised by Georgian National Legion fighters in Kiev, Ukraine, February 4, 2022

Ukrainians holding weapons attend military training for civil people organised by Georgian National Legion fighters in Kiev, Ukraine, February 4, 2022

According to Bild's source, Step 1 of Putin's invasion plan would see Russian armies surround and lay siege to Ukraine's major cities after first destroying any military resistance in the field

Pictured: A woman throws a grenade during military training for civil people organized by Georgian National Legion fighters in Kiev

Russia has been pressing demands for a redrawing of post-Cold War security arrangements in Europe.

Its security demands, presented in December, include an end to further NATO enlargement, barring Ukraine from ever joining and pulling back the alliance's forces and weaponry from eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War.

Russia won China's backing in its showdown with the West over Ukraine on Friday, as Beijing agreed with Moscow that the US-led NATO military alliance should not admit new members.

The demand for NATO to stop expanding came after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing that saw Putin hail the two countries' 'dignified relationship'.

In a long strategy document, Moscow and Beijing hit out at what they said was Washington's destabilising role in global security.

'The parties oppose the further expansion of NATO and call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War era,' the document read, urging respect for the 'sovereignty, security and interests of other countries.'

The statement also said the countries were calling on nuclear powers to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in their policies, and restrict the development of anti-ballistic missile systems.

They said they were concerned with 'the advancement of US plans to develop global missile defence and deploy its elements in various regions of the world, combined with capacity building of high-precision non-nuclear weapons for disarming strikes and other strategic objectives'.

The statement added: 'The Russian side reaffirms its support for the One-China principle, confirms that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and opposes any forms of independence of Taiwan.'

The call echoes demands from Russia that have been at the centre of weeks of intensive negotiations between Moscow and the West, under the shadow of a potential conflict.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hit back at the Russo-Chinese claims.

'This is fundamentally not about NATO expansion. This is about respecting the right of every sovereign nation to choose their own path,' he told MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Members of Ukrainian army reserve forces train civilians on regional defense methods in response to the conflict circumstances in Kiev, Ukraine on February 5, 2022

Members of Ukrainian army reserve forces train civilians on regional defense methods in response to the conflict circumstances in Kiev, Ukraine on February 5, 2022

The document released by Beijing and Moscow Friday also set out criticisms of Washington's 'negative impact on peace and stability' in the Asia-Pacific region.

Russia and China also said they were 'seriously concerned' by the AUKUS defence alliance including Australia, the UK and the United States.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the latest European leader to announce a visit to the region on Friday, saying he would go to Ukraine on February 14 and Russia the next day.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Moscow on Monday and Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.

Putin's meeting with Xi - hours ahead of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games - came after the United States said it had evidence of a plan by Moscow to film a fake Ukrainian attack on Russians to justify an attack on its neighbour.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the US had 'information that the Russians are likely to want to fabricate a pretext for an invasion', but did not provide evidence.

Russia, which has repeatedly denied any invasion plans, said the US claims were absurd.

'The delusional nature of such fabrications - and there are more and more of them every day - is obvious,' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Washington's claim came on the back of visits from European leaders to shore up their backing for Kyiv, including from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday welcomed the displays of support, saying they had prevented Russia from 'further aggravating the security situation'.

'Our partners believe in Ukraine and that means Moscow's intimidation strategy is not working. Russia has lost this round,' Kuleba said.

During Erdogan's visit Thursday he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an agreement expanding the production of parts in Ukraine for a Turkish combat drone whose sale to Kyiv has angered Moscow.

Erdogan has tried to position Turkey, which is a member of NATO, as a neutral mediator close to both Moscow and Kyiv.

Following his trip, Erdogan accused the West of making the crisis 'worse'.

'Unfortunately, the West until now has not made any contribution to resolving this issue,' he said in comments published by local media Friday.

'They are only making things worse,' Erdogan said, adding that Joe Biden 'has not yet been able to demonstrate a positive approach'.

Russia's relationship with the West was severely damaged in 2014 when it annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and threw its political weight behind armed separatists in the east the country.

Nearly eight years of fighting between Kyiv and the pro-Moscow fighters have cost more than 13,000 lives and seen the West and Russia exchange waves of tit-for-tat sanctions.

In the most recent diplomatic flare-up, Putin has demanded guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO and has implicitly threatened the former Soviet state with the massive military build-up.

Russia also wants NATO and the United States to foreswear the deployment of missile systems near Russia's borders and to pull back NATO forces in eastern Europe.

These tensions have been aggravated by plans for joint military exercises between Russia and neighbouring Belarus, where Washington claims Moscow is preparing to send 30,000 troops.

Meanwhile, The first U.S. troops reinforcing NATO allies in Eastern Europe amid arrived on Saturday at Rzeszow military base in southeastern Poland.

The first batch of 2,000 soldiers depart for Europe on Feb 4, 2022 following U.S Defense Department's announcement of additional forces moving from the U.S. to Eastern Europe in support of NATO allies amid Russia Ukraine tensions

A U.S. military aircraft takes off from the U.S. airbase in Ramstein, Germany February 5, 2022

A small plane carrying what a Polish military source said were U.S. chain of command personnel landed in the morning at Rzeszow-Jasionka airport as preparations continued at the base, which is near Poland's border with Ukraine.

TV footage showed temporary accommodation being prepared at the G2A Arena in the nearby town of Jasionka, while workers could be seen building a fence around the venue.

'As announced, the first elements of the brigade battle group from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army have arrived in Poland,' a Polish military spokesman said.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from a potential spillover from the Ukraine crisis.

About 1,700 service members, mainly paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, will deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland 'over the next days', U.S. Army sources have said.

According to the Pentagon, a Stryker squadron of around 1,000 U.S. service members based in the German town of Vilseck will be sent to Romania.

The first additional U.S. troops arrived in Germany on Friday.

Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine but has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and says it could take unspecified military measures if its demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Kyiv.

The new plan goes above and beyond the 8,500 troops the Pentagon put on alert last month to deploy to Europe if needed. NATO defence ministers are expected to discuss further reinforcements at their next meeting on Feb. 16-17.
Boris Johnson's political opponents are said to preparing a weekend blitz of 'deeply unpleasant' attacks on his wife Carrie Johnson in a bid to topple his premiership.

MPs have warned that negative stories revolving around Mrs Johnson are likely to be circulated throughout the press by the Prime Minister's enemies as he clings onto power following the Partygate scandal.

One Tory source told the Sun last night: 'Carrie has been the target of an increasingly brutal briefing campaign to discredit her. It is deeply unpleasant.'

Mr Johnson's allies are reportedly furious that his wife will become the principal target for rebels. One explained: 'Going for his family is a new low.'

Another Johnson ally added: 'Attacking the PM is fair enough, but going for his family is a new low.'

It comes as fresh storm clouds circle over Downing Street at the end of a tumultuous week - with Mrs Johnson's growing influence in Whitehall becoming a central talking point in a bombshell biography published by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft.

The explosive book will portray Mr Johnson as little more than the puppet of his wife Carrie who enrages his advisers by allowing his wife to influence policies and appointments.

The developments come as police and Sue Gray were reportedly handed pictures of the PM holding a can of Estrella at his June 2020 surprise cake gathering.

Boris Johnson's political opponents are said to preparing a weekend blitz of 'deeply unpleasant' attacks on his wife Carrie Johnson (pictured together in June 2021) in a bid to topple his premiership

After surviving the brunt of Partygate criticism following Sue Gray's report, Mr Johnson's premiership was rocked further after his long-standing policy chief Munira Mirza quit on Thursday over his refusal to apologise for his explosive claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

In her resignation letter, Ms Mirza said she had demanded Mr Johnson publicly retract his comments, as disillusioned Tory backbenchers pressed ahead with a brewing Tory civil war.

The remarks, made to Sir Keir during angry Commons exchanges this week, have also faced noisy criticism from moderate Tory MPs already wobbly about the PM's future.

And Met Police officers investigating the Partygate scandal have reportedly been handed a photo of the premier holding a can of beer at his lockdown birthday party in June 2020.

Mr Johnson's survival battle is set to be dealt another blow by the publication of a biography portraying him as little more than the puppet of his wife Carrie

The Prime Minister is understood to believe that Lord Ashcroft (pictured at Tory Party Conference) has been spun a tissue of lies by disgruntled former No 10 advisers

But Mr Johnson's survival battle is set to be dealt another blow by the publication of a biography portraying him as little more than the puppet of his wife Carrie.

Tory peer Lord Ashcroft claims Mr Johnson, 57, is 'completely mesmerised' by his 33-year-old wife and cuts a 'lonely' figure surrounded by her close friends who are now among his most influential aides.

The biography of Mrs Johnson advances the theory that faultlines in her relationship with the Prime Minister have had an impact on No 10, with one source describing it as 'a Greek tragedy'.

The Prime Minister has told friends he is furious about the book, First Lady: Intrigue at the Court of Carrie and Boris Johnson, which is being serialised in the Mail on Sunday.

A spokesman for his wife described the claims as 'cruel allegations' which were part of a 'calculated attempt by bitter ex-officials to attack Mrs Johnson'.

The Prime Minister is understood to believe that Lord Ashcroft has been spun a tissue of lies by disgruntled former No 10 advisers.

But Ashcroft also refers admiringly to Carrie's, 'courage and determination,' as evidenced in her instrumental role ensuring sex-offender Warboys stayed behind bars, in speaking openly of her own experience of a 2021 miscarriage and her work for animal protection, saying the complaints against her are about use of power without electoral accountability.
A high school student was killed and another four people were injured during a shooting at a hookah lounge in Virginia, authorities said.

The Blacksburg Police Department said officers responded to reports of shots fired at Melody Hookah Lounge in downtown Blacksburg - just blocks away from Virginia Tech - on Friday just before midnight.

Police did not identify the deceased person or any of the people who were injured in the shooting. Authorities said they were taken to local hospitals, but that their conditions are unknown.

Roanoke City Public Schools wrote in a Facebook post that the deceased is a student at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, about 40 miles east of Blacksburg.

'We are saddened by the death of a member of our Patrick Henry High School family,' the school system wrote in a Facebook post. 'Our thoughts are with all those who are grieving. We understand many in our community may have feelings of grief, loss, anger, or fear and encourage you to reach out for support.'

No additional information was made available, including details on potential suspects or a motive.

Nearby, Virginia Tech was encouraging students to stay indoors, but that order was lifted three hours after the request was originally made, the university said in a post on Twitter.

Virginia Tech vice president of Student Affairs Frank Shushok Jr. confirmed Saturday afternoon that a student was among the five people shot and that he is recovering in a hospital.

'We have been in contact with his family, and they report their son is out of surgery, recovering, and seems to be doing well,' Sands wrote. 'We continue to respect the privacy of the student, and we are grateful for the outpouring of care and support directed to him.'

The school continued to ask students and residents to avoid going downtown as the investigation continues.

Police stand by as officers conduct an investigation after a shooting at a business on Main Street in Blacksburg, Va. Saturday

A police officer conducts an investigation after a shooting at a Melody Hookah Lounge

One person is dead and several injured in the shooting

Police vehicles block Main Street after a shooting in Blacksburg

Virginia Tech was the site of one of the biggest campus mass shootings in history in 2007, when a gunman fatally shot 32 and injured 17 others before taking his own life.

'Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased and we extend our support to those who were injured,' President Tim Sands said in a letter to students.'

'Events like this are difficult and unsettling to all of us,' he added. 'Please care for yourself and seek assistance if you need it. Campus resources are listed below. Our community is strong, and our strength is derived from our genuine care and concern for one another.'

At the time of the shooting, the bar had just reopened to the public after being closed for three hours for a private party, according to Melody Hookah Lounge's website.

The hookah bar - just blocks from the campus of Virginia Tech - is open until 2 a.m. typically on Fridays.

A section of Main Street near Roanoke Street in downtown Blacksburg, was closed off for over five hours after the shooting while authorities investigated.

Interior of the Melody Hookah Lounge

The bar had just reopened to the public after three hours closed for a private engagement

Blacksburg police are pursuing up to four suspects, according to USA Today, following initial reports of an active shooter.

'This incident continues to be a complex, ongoing case that has shifted to a homicide investigation,' Blacksburg police said in a statement.

'There were five individuals that were injured in the shooting, four were transported to local hospitals and one is deceased,' they added. 'The severity of the injuries of those who were transported is unknown at this time.'

Melody Hookah Lounge released a statement on Facebook Saturday morning.

'We are deeply hurt and devastated of what happened Friday night, our condolences go to the families and friends of everyone who were affected,' they said. Moving foward we will add more precautions and regulations in place for this types of situations.'
Actress Susan Sarandon has apologized for a social media comment about the funeral of slain NYPD officer where she compared it to 'fascism' and called the event 'insensitive.'

Sarandon, 75, posted a tweet about officer Jason Rivera's funeral after he was shot and killed in East Harlem on January 21.

Rivera and his partner Wilbert Mora were shot dead after responding to a domestic call which involved a mother and son.

The Oscar-winning actress tweeted a photo of Rivera's casket being carried through the streets of NYC with the caption: 'I'm gonna tell my kids this is what fascism looks like.'

She also added: 'So, if all these cops weren't needed for CRIME that day, doesn't that mean they aren't needed ANY day?'

The hashtag #abolishthepolice was also in the post.

Sarandon offered her apologies on Friday after receiving criticism for her comments.

'I deeply regret the meme I recently shared on Twitter that included a photo of Officer Jason Rivera's funeral,' she said in the post.

'I reacted quickly to the picture without connecting it to a police funeral and I realize now how insensitive and deeply disrespectful it was to make that point at that time.

'I sincerely apologize to the family of Officers Rivera and Mora for causing additional pain during their time of grieving.'

Actress Susan Sarandon, 75, has apologized for controversial comments she made about an NYPD officer's funeral last week

Sarandon had compared the funeral to 'fascism' and called it 'insensitive' on Twitter

The Oscar-winning actress said she regrets making the post and has apologized to the family or Rivera and his slain partner Wilbert Mora

Jason Rivera 22, who joined the NYPD a little over a year ago, was shot and killed at an East Harlem apartment on January 21

Thousands of officers gather outside the St Patrick's Cathedral for Rivera's funeral

Officers carry the casket of Wilbert Mora at St Patrick's Cathedral on Wednesday

Sarandon received a significant amount of backlash on social media after making the controversial post.

'People who say cops dont prevent crime have to be some of the most naive people of all time,' wrote @stevesbromike. 'Every single city that has defunded their police has seen a sharp rise in almost all crimes. If you dont think thats correlated you are literally just stupid.'

'Honestly, what is wrong with you? Do you have any idea the nightmare that is NYC right now? New Yorkers are terrified by the surge of crime, all because of people like you thinking abolishing the police is would solve anything,' wrote another user.

'It [is] the logic of a three-year-old,' wrote another user. 'I suggest she does the duties of a cop for a year and then let's see how fascist she thinks they are. Cops protect little children, rescue those in distress and vulnerable everywhere. All she does it talk for a living.'

The actress, who lived in the Chelsea neighborhood for three decades until 2020, has been historically critical of the NYPD. After she sold her huge pre-war duplex for $7.9 million, the actress told the Wall Street Journal that she intended to stay in the neighborhood and always remain a New Yorker.

In July of this year, Sarandon joined a rally outside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's office calling for 'Medicare for All,' saying that she and her fellow leftists are 'losing hope' in the progressive lawmaker through a bullhorn and calling for better leadership from 'The Squad.'

In 2018, Sarandon was arrested alongside 575 other protesters during an demonstration outside the US Senate building against a Trump-era policy that separated migrant children from their parents at the border.

Nearly a decade earlier, she was arrested in March of 1999 outside One Police Plaza after she joined a several-week-long protest after Amadou Diallo, a unarmed street vendor, was shot dead by NYPD cops in the Bronx.

Susan Sarandon, 74, said AOC made 'a lot of promises,' but that she still has 'faith' in her at a rally in July of 2021

The Academy Award winner, 74, has admitted that her strong views came at a price - leaving her shunned from people in the industry and even receiving death threats

Speaking to Sydney's Saturday Extra, the actress admitted in 2017 that she wasn't one to shy away from controversy after expressing her staunchly negative opinion on Hillary Clinton during the last US presidential campaign and having her say on the #MeToo movement in light of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Sarandon, pictured with Thelma and Louise co-star Geena Davis, said that the things she regrets are 'only things I didn't say or do' in an interview about her outspoken activism

However, the Academy Award winner, 71, has admitted that her strong views came at a price - leaving her shunned from people in the industry and even receiving death threats.

'The things that I regret are only things I didnt say or do, even though I went through a pretty scary time leading up to Iraq, and I certainly - in not supporting Hillary Clinton - ended up getting an enormous amount of heat about that.

The Thelma and Louise star continued: 'I just know for all the unkind or hurtful things, or scary things that have happened because of an unpopular stand with the war or whatever, I dont regret it.'

In 2017, Sarandon announced she was glad Hillary Clinton lost the election because she's 'very dangerous' and America would be 'at war.'

When former Mayor de Blasio lauded the NYPD for their 'tremendous restraint overall' during George Floyd protests, Sarandon tweeted 'shame on you' at him. Ultimately, the city Department of Investigation later criticizing cops for their use of excessive force during a number of 2020 protests and de Blasio apologized.

Sarandon isn't the first person to get backlash over their gripes regarding the funerals - Coney Island Prep math teacher Christopher Flanigan was fired after he posted a photo of the mass of officers, saying that they were in the 'ideal conditions for reciprocity' for officers that plowed into George Floyd protesters in 2020.

Christopher Flanigan, who taught math at Coney Island Prep, posted a photo of thousands of officers outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral for the funeral of Det. Jason Rivera, saying it was the 'ideal conditions for reciprocity'

Flanigan captioned the now-deleted photo in his Instagram story: '5/30/20: NYPD SUV drives into a crowd of protestors. Ideal conditions for reciprocity,' according to the New York Post.

The now-fired teacher said that his comment was 'misconstrued.'

'I was really just trying to show the vulnerability of all of these police officers being in the same place at the same time which seems like a dangerous situation for anyone that would be that gathered together,' Flanigan told the Post on Sunday.

New York City actress Jacqueline Guzman was let go from Face to Face Films theater company after ranting about street closures during Rivera's funeral.

In a now-deleted TikTok, Guzman pans over street traffic, showing police cars and ambulances blocking streets.

New York City actress Jacqueline Guzman received backlash for her 'disrespectful' comments regarding street closures during NYPD Officer Jason Rivera's funeral on Friday

'We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly,' she says in the video.

'They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason and we don't shut down the city for them, so.'

Her own company released a statement, calling Guzman's video 'insensitive' and that it does not 'condone' her 'comments made about fallen Officer Rivera.'

Although Guzman's post drew an incredible amount of ire, some Twitter users still griped about the traffic caused by Mora's funeral procession.

'Traffic in midtown is insane today because of the NYPD officers funeral,' wrote @adammc123. 'Cars are blowing through intersections on red lights. I almost got hit twice & yelled at drivers. Some guy on Broadway was having a MELTDOWN at a truck blocking the intersection. I dont blame him!'

'In case anyones having a bad day: I got stuck on 7th ave for two hours because of an NYPD funeral and then my power steering died so I then had to wait for a tow for another two hours while they navigated the same traffic,' wrote @NEZ2021.
One of the heads of the Colombo crime family was freed from a Brooklyn jail on a $5 million bond on Friday despite federal prosecutors' objections that he was still conducting mafia business.

Mob consigliere Ralph DiMatteo, 66, walked out prison just five months after turning himself in to the FBI in New York City after his son had posted a photo of the wanted fugitive at a sunny Florida pool.

DiMatteo was charged with 13 other mobsters on racketeering and extortion charges and has pleaded not guilty.

Despite prosecutors' claims that DiMatteo was still an active member of the Colombo crime family and offering the group advice, Brooklyn Federal Court Magistrate James Cho said the mobster was not a flight risk and that home detention and phone monitoring was enough to 'alleviate the risk,' the New York Daily News reported.

Ralph DiMatteo, 66, had surrendered himself to the FBI in September after his son posted a picture of his parents at a Florida pool. The Colombo family consigliere was freed on a $5 million bond on Friday

DiMatteo served as a consigliere, an advisor to the Colombo family boss

DiMatteo's defense lawyer, Gerald McMahon, argued his client's release was necessary to prepare for their case, and as part of the deal, the mobster has agreed to electronic monitoring and home detention.

The mobster is allowed to travel outside his home only when visiting his attorney, going to court, seeking medical treatment and attending religious services.

Biggest mafia busts in history November 14, 1957: State troopers raid a national meeting of mafia leaders at the home of mobster Joseph 'Joe the Barber' Barbara in Apalachin, New York. Dozens escape and the 58 taken into custody insisted they were there to deliver well-wishes to an ailing friend, and were eventually released. The incident raised major national awareness of the mafia. February 1985: US Attorney Rudy Giuliani indicted 11 Mafia leaders, including the heads of New York's five dominant crime families. The Mafia Commission Trial delivered a crushing blow to the mob. December 11, 1990: Detectives raid the Ravenite Social Club, arresting Gambino boss John Gotti Jr, his underboss Salvatore 'Sammy the Bull' Gravano and Gambino consigliere Frank 'Frankie Loc' LoCascio. January 20, 2011: Authorities arrested 119 organized crime suspects in what the FBI called the largest single-day operation against the Mafia in history. Advertisement

According to court documents, prosecutors said that DiMatteo was still orchestrating Colombo family business while imprisoned as officials monitored his phone calls.

During one of the calls, he allegedly advised a relative to 'stay off the phones' because of FBI surveillance and told a Colombo associate during another call to avoid using a crime family meeting spot because authorities were aware of the location.

In the court documents, the prosecutors wrote, 'In the months since his arrest, DiMatteo has continued to associate with and communicate with members of organized crime, seek their financial assistance, and remain involved in the affairs of the Colombo family.

'The weight of the evidence against DiMatteo is overwhelming. The government's evidence includes witness testimony, wiretap intercepts, consensual recordings... text messages, surveillance photographs.'

DiMatteo stands accused of colluding with fellow mobsters to devise a scheme to launder money from union healthcare contracts and payments.

DiMatteo is said to have done this through various channels linked to Joseph Bellantoni, who was named as a co-conspirator in the indictment, and eventually to the Colombo crime family's leaders, according to the federal indictment.

He was also accused of threatening bodily harm to control the management of the labor union that they were targeting and influencing decisions that benefitted the family.

Reputed Colombo street boss Andrew 'Andy Mush' Russo, 87, and his underboss, Benjamin 'The Claw' Castellazzo, 83, were also scooped up by federal agents and New York police, along with seven other members of the Colombo crime family.

Among those charged was 75-year-old capo (captain) Vincent 'Vinny Unions' Ricciardo, who was recorded during a phone call in June threatening to kill a labor union official if he didn't play ball, according to the 19-count indictment.

The other captains, or capos, arrested include Richard Ferrara, 59, and Theodore 'Skinny Teddy' Persico Jr., 58, who is the nephew of the late Colombo boss Carmine 'The Snake' Persico.

Colombo soldier Michael Uvino, 56, and associates Thomas Costa, 52, and Domenick Ricciardo, 56 - Vincent's cousin - were also booked.

Reputed street boss of the Colombo crime family Andrew 'Mush' Russo, 85, (left) and Capo Vincent 'Vinny Unions' Ricciardo (right) arrested in an early-morning raid Tuesday in NYC

Colombo underboss Benjamin 'The Claw' Castellazzo (left), 83, and high-ranking capo Theodore 'Skinny Teddy' Persico Jr. (right), were among the 13 arrested mobsters, feds said

'Everything we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat itself,' FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll said concerning the indictment. 'The underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well.'

'These soldiers, consiglieres, underbosses, and bosses are obviously not students of history, and don't seem to comprehend that we're going to catch them. Regardless of how many times they fill the void we create in their ranks, our FBI Organized Crime Task Force, and our law enforcement partners, are positioned to take them out again, and again.'

According to the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators committed and are charged with a wide array of crimes  including extortion, loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking  on behalf of the Colombo organized crime family.

In 2019, the family sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the union's healthcare system directly to the administration of the Colombo crime family.

The Colombo family is one of five major mafia organizations in the northeastern United States. The others are the Genovese, Lucchese, Gambino and Bonanno families.

The latest indictments leave it unclear who remains to take control of the Colombo syndicate on the street.

The entire administration of the Colombo crime family, including Russo and Castellazzo, already pleaded guilty to a variety of mobster activities in 2012.

The New York mafia has been weakened by several blows in recent years, including arrests, fratricidal struggles and competition from other criminal organizations, but they are still considered active.

The reputed boss of the Gambino clan, 'Frank' Cali, was shot and killed outside his home in the New York borough of Staten Island in March 2019.
A young couple and their four children fled for their lives yesterday after an arsonist attacked their home in the early hours as they slept.

Neighbours heard screams from the house in Middlesbrough just before 6am as Charlie Loughan, 24, and her partner Lewis Bond, 26, raced to get out with their youngsters.

Witnesses said a trail of fire led from the hall down the path, suggesting the attacker had poured petrol through the letterbox and set it alight.

Four children have been take to hospital after a suspected arson attack in Middlesborough

As fire crews tackled the blaze, the family were rushed to James Cook University Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. They are thought to have been discharged last night.

A neighbour said: 'I heard the man screaming 'Charlie!' and the children were screaming 'Daddy!' It was terrifying. There were little fires all down the garden path and I could see fire all in the hallway.'

A witness said: 'It is a miracle that they woke up in time and got out of there. I dread to think what could have happened. What sort of monster would set fire to a house when there are little kids sleeping in there?'

Police have begun an arson investigation. Detective Inspector Rick Mansell, of Cleveland Police, said: 'The occupants were asleep at the time. Thanks to those who raised the alarm, emergency services were quickly at the scene.'
On Christmas Day last year, Zimbabwe woke up to the news of a horrific road traffic accident that had happened just outside Mutare.

Six people died after a bus belonging to Beta Bus Services collided head-on with a petrol tanker.

Both the bus and the truck burst into flames. Five people were burnt beyond recognition.

The ferocious and menacing fire kept most people who would have wanted to assist at bay, but it could not deter one tall and heavily-built man from Kadoma.

In the face of apparent danger, Sirizani Butau literally risked life and limb rushing towards the blazing inferno in an attempt to save as many lives as he could.

He could only manage to rescue eight people who were trapped inside the bus.

However, he has had to live with the haunting images and regret after failing to extricate his friend and workmate, Rufu Zambezi, from the raging flames.

I was coming from Beira, Mozambique, and the truck that I was driving was loaded with petrol.

We were in a convoy comprising six trucks and my workmate Rufu Zambezi was driving in front of me, recounted Butau to The Sunday Mail from his Munhumutapa home in Kadoma.

As he was approaching the Mutare tollgate, he noticed a plume of black smoke billowing into the air.

As he drew closer, he realised an accident had occurred and the road had been blocked.

When I arrived at the scene of the accident, I noticed that the haulage truck that had collided with the bus was the one that was being driven by my workmate and best friend, he said.

He quickly sprang into action and dashed towards the bus.

He noticed three badly injured people whom he decided to leave behind so that they would be attended by paramedics.

Sadly, they were burnt to death when the bus caught fire.

In the end, he rescued eight passengers.

He immediately turned his attention to the haulage truck and tried to force open the door to save his friend.

I tried to forcefully open the door, but I failed. My friend was still alive and he advised me to look for an iron rod to use to open the door through sheer force.

I approached a haulage truck driver who had parked nearby and I was given the rod.

Sadly, the bystanders who had gathered around the accident scene did not lend their assistance.

Instead, they were busy capturing pictures and videos with their smartphones.

Further heartbreak was to follow.

As I was trying to open the haulage truck door, we noticed that the truck was on fire.

My legs and arms were drenched in petrol and immediately I knew the truck was going to explode.

He added: When Zambezi noticed that the truck had caught fire, he closed his eyes and bowed his head down against the steering wheel. He had resigned to fate.

Within moments, both Zambezis truck and Butaus were on fire.

After noticing that his legs and arms had caught fire, the father of three dashed to a nearby puddle and soaked his body in the muddy water.

I watched from the puddle as my friend was being consumed by the fire.

The images of his friend being burnt alive are still etched in his memory.

Zambezi was my best friend. I had gone with him on numerous trips to as far away as the DRC. Watching him die was the most painful thing that I have had to endure.

He strongly feels that had bystanders decided to help, his friend would have been alive today.

Had they helped me force the truck door to open, Zambezi would have been alive today. We should use cellphones to save lives and not to take videos as people lose their lives, he said dejectedly.

After the accident, Butau was admitted to a hospital in Mutare, before being transferred to a private clinic in Kadoma.

The hospitals in Mutare and Kadoma treated me free of charge. Since the day of the accident, I was spending US$250 after every two days on special band-aids alone. This money was coming from well-wishers, he said.

He is now on his way to full recovery.

My doctors said I should be in good health by March. I am almost there. Besides an infection on my right leg, the recovery path has been surprisingly easy.

His efforts gained him admiration, with his name commanding 47 300 search results on Google.

Despite his new-found fame, he remains grounded.

I am not sure if hero is the correct word to describe me. All I can say is that I reacted to an urgent call instinctively. I only fulfilled Gods wish to save lives, he said.

Nothing much has changed. I am still the truck driver next door. The only notable change is maybe the fact that my cellphone is now a bit busier as sympathisers, friends and relatives are always calling, checking on my condition.

Like thorns are to roses, being well-known brought its fair share of headaches for the gentle giant.

During the early days of his recovery process, some people were seemingly up to no good.

I had mysterious calls from people in India and Nigeria who were asking me very strange questions. I suspected that these people were up to no good; they must have been members of a Satanic cult, he said.

Some ladies even went as far as calling to propose love to Butau as he lay wounded in bed.

One lady, a Zimbabwean, went straight to the point: She proposed love to me. Maybe she thought that I was now very rich from the donations.

He, however, refused to disclose how much he received from well-wishers.

I am yet to sit down and do the calculations. My focus is on full recovery.

What I can say at the moment is that I am very grateful to everyone who contributed towards my welfare during this time of great need.

A member of an apostolic sect, Butau was born and grew up in the mining town of Kadoma. Sunday Mail
Schoolchildren as young as four were put through their paces at a military training camp near Kyiv today as Ukraines defensive efforts intensified efforts to push back a Russian invasion.

An intensive volunteer boot camp in snow-covered woods outside the capital saw young and old introduced to the rudiments of military skills.

Twin brothers Taras and Bohdan, four, played with wooden assault rifles as men and women in the background prepared for real-life warfare against Russia.

The boys mother Iryna, 35, said: I dont think they understand the war and what is happening but they love everything to do with the military.

If they want to be soldiers when they grow up and fight to defend their homeland I will not stop them.

She smiled and added: But for now they want to be a fireman and a policeman.

Schoolchildren as young as four were put through their paces at a military training camp near Kyiv today

Twin brothers Taras and Bohdan, four, played with wooden assault rifles as men and women in the background prepared for real-life warfare against Russia

Student Yana Komush, 20, does the splits whille taking up fighting position with her AK-47

Taras's and Bohdan's mother Iryna, 35, said: I dont think they understand the war and what is happening but they love everything to do with the military'

Irynas uncle fought with the Ukrainian Army and died in an explosion during a battle at Debaltseve, Donbas, an area now controlled by Russian separatists.

She noted poignantly: We did not get his whole body back.

Another boy, Yaroslav Pikaliyk, 10, went through drills as his war widow mother said: If he fights for Ukraine one day, I will be very proud of him.

Standing by his mother Tetiana, 35, Yaroslav said shyly: I am with my mum today. Maybe I will one day, probably, I dont know.

Yaroslav stood proudly with adults training for Kyivs Territorial Defence Force, wielding his wooden effigy assault rifle.

The would-be recruits were hoping to join Kyivs 127 Battalion of the Territorial Defence Force, and were at varying stages in their training.

Twin four-year-old brothers Taras and Bohdan play with wooden AK-47s while adults train for real-life warfare

An intensive volunteer boot camp in snow-covered woods outside the capital saw young and old introduced to the rudiments of military skills

Yesterday Russia stepped up pressure on Ukraine, sending another 10,000 troops to annexed Crimea

The would-be recruits were hoping to join Kyivs 127 Battalion of the Territorial Defence Force, and were at varying stages in their training

The boy cannot sign up as a proper volunteer as he must be at least 18 years-old before he can be considered.

But civil servant Tetiana, from Kyiv, who preferred not to be pictured, said: Yaroslav wanted to be here for training because his dad died five years ago.

He is the son of a man who gave his life for Ukraine and now it is good for him to have adult male influence and be here today.

She explained that Yaroslavs hero father Oleg died aged 38 as a volunteer driver supplying the Ukrainian army as they fought separatists five years ago.

He had a heart attack after suffering shock during a horror incident in the fighting - but she is left without a war widow pension as he was not in the regular army.

Adults train for Kyivs Territorial Defence Force at a military training camp outside Kyiv, Ukraine, this morning

Now Yaroslav idolises his 77-year-old grandfather  a decorated colonel who fought with the Soviets in Afghanistan  and wants to follow him into military service  though as things stand, the boy would far more likely be fighting against Russians than alongside them.

University student Yana Komush, 20, was dressed more for a club night out in skin-tight leather trousers as she did the splits, taking up a fighting position with her AK-47.

She said: I dress for comfort and I have my own style - but I take this very seriously and want to help defend Ukraine and do what I can.

It can be fun being here but this is actually really very serious.

Asked if she would kill to defend Ukraine she said: Its not something I particularly want to do but if I have to do it, of course I will do it.

Ukraine is facing 126,000 Russian troops on its eastern flank and 80,000 Russian and Belarusian troops to the north over the border

Saturday morning volunteers turn up for military training at a camp just outside the Kyiv in Ukraine

Volunteers Sophia, 19, and Vadym, 19, have been dating for six months but are also ready fight with the Ukrainian civilian troops.

Vadym, wielding his new wooden rifle, said he didnt think of it as fighting for Ukraine, adding: I dont see it that way - I am willing to defend Ukraine. That is how I look at it.

Yesterday Russia stepped up pressure on Ukraine, sending another 10,000 troops to annexed Crimea.

Worrying satellite imagery analysed by IS intelligence showed Russia had further built up his force.

Ukraine is facing 126,000 Russian troops on its eastern flank and 80,000 Russian and Belarusian troops to the north over the border.
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Two Crystal Cruises ships that were diverted to the Bahamas with hundreds of passengers aboard have been seized in relation to a US warrant over at least $4.6 million in unpaid fuel bills.

The Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity were commandeered by authorities in waters near Freeport, Bahamas on Friday night, crew members on both ships told Cruise Law News. Both ships had disembarked all passengers at the time of the seizure.

The cruise ships were being sought by US Marshals on a federal arrest warrant issued last month, after Crystal Cruises parent company Genting Hong Kong filed to wind up its business and a key fuel supplier sought to recoup unpaid bills.

The cruise line suspended operations through at least April, and the two ships diverted to the Bahamas to evade seizure, infuriating passengers who had expected to end their cruises in Miami or California, and cutting short one of the cruises by months.

It was not immediately clear how the ships were seized in the Bahamas, which is outside the jurisdiction of the US Marshals.

The Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity (together above) were commandeered by authorities in waters near Freeport, Bahamas on Friday night

Separately, the Crystal Endeavor is also under arrest in Ushuaia, Argentina, according to Cruise Law News.

'We were scheduled to leave yesterday. Now waiting Monday as court not working on weekend,' a source onboard the Endeavor told the outlet.

A spokesman for Crystal Cruises told DailyMail.com in a statement: 'We are unable to comment on pending legal matters at this time. Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphonys voyages ended last month and there are no guests onboard.'

'The officers and crew on board are being well cared for and staying in single accommodations some of which are guest staterooms,' added spokesman Vance Gulliksen.

'We are making sure they are comfortable and able to enjoy the various amenities on board. Crew members have been paid per their normal schedules and we are meeting and exceeding all contractual obligations,' he said.

A source close to the crew members of the Crystal Symphony confirmed to DailyMail.com that the crew had been paid and had ample food, and can now make plans to return home.

'Apart from a skeleton crew to actually operate the ship, all of the crew will be traveling home within a week,' the source said, adding that the voyages home would be covered by the cruise line.

A passenger on board the Crystal Symphony reacts with relief as a ferry arrives in Bimini to return the stranded passengers to South Florida on January 23. The ship was one of two that diverted to the Bahamas fleeing a US arrest warrant

Passengers from the Crystal Serenity are seen after their cruise was unexpectedly cut short by months

The saga first unfolded late last month, when fuel supplier Peninsula Petroleum Far East filed a complaint in Florida seeking an arrest warrant for the Crystal Cruises vessels under US admiralty law.

Crystal Cruises' parent organization, Genting Hong Kong, had filed to wind up the company, warning that it will 'imminently be unable to pay its debts as they fall due' and the fuel supplier was desperate to recoup the unpaid bills.

Peninsula alleged that Genting's subsidiaries had reneged on a total of $4.6 million in fuel payments, with $1.2 million alone attributed to the Crystal Symphony.

Judge Darrin Gayles of the U.S. District Court in Southern Florida approved the warrant, and the Crystal vessels became subject to seizure if they entered US ports.

Avoiding the warrants, the ships on active cruises diverted to Bimini instead of ending their tours in Miami and California as planned, spurring fury and frustration among passengers.

The Crystal Symphony, which was scheduled to return to Miami on January 22 to end a 14-day Caribbean cruise, instead veered off to Bimini, adding an extra night to the voyage and forcing 300 passengers to take a ferry to Florida on January 23.

British musician Elio Pace, who was performing on board the Symphony at the time, previously described to DailyMail.com how the news came as a shock to passengers and crew.

'That was quite extraordinary, to be in a position to have to perform to people, with them knowing the cruise line has gone into liquidation,' he said. 'This was a shock to everybody when we got the announcement.'

The Crystal Symphony is seen docked in Bimini after diverting from its scheduled call in Miami

The Crystal Serenity was the second ship to be diverted by the company Crystal Cruises after the cruise line announced they would be suspending operations until April

The Crystal Serenity was originally scheduled to take about 200 passengers on a three-and-a-half month expedition before the company announced it would suspend operations through April only two days after leaving Miami on January 17.

Passengers were initially told the ship would end the cruise in Aruba, but it was diverted to the island of Bimini after Aruba officials did not allow the ship to dock there.

Travelers were told of the change only two days after leaving Miami, and some said it would have been better to return to South Florida instead of ending unexpectedly in the Bahamas.

The cruise line then ferried the passengers to Fort Lauderdale where they were put up in hotel rooms.

'People are very upset, shocked and distraught because Aruba is not very convenient,' said Crystal Serenity passenger Barry Shulman, 75, in an AP interview.

Shulman, from Las Vegas, was on the expedition originally set to return to California in late May. 'It's an absolute mess,' he said.

Shulman said that after departing from Cozumel that the ship's captain made an announcement that there was an order to impound the ship in Cozumel.

'He said `I am glad we got out of Cozumel before they had a chance to arrest us,'' said Shulman. 'My eyebrows went up. If it was a joke, it was pretty inappropriate.'

Elio Pace, a British musician who had been performing on board the Crystal Symphony, previously told DailyMail.com about the ship's dramatic diversion to Bimini after the arrest warrant was issued

Crystal Cruises is owned by Genting Hong Kong, which is part of a bigger conglomerate that also includes Genting Malaysia and Genting Singapore.

The company, controlled by Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay, has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay controls the Genting Group

The Genting Group owns the Resorts World leisure park chain as well as 30 casinos across the U.K.

The company's finances were tipped into ruin after the German government last month rejected its request to draw a $88 million backstop facility related to the MV Werften shipyard in northeastern Germany.

German officials blamed Genting for refusing to contribute 10 percent to a $678 million bailout plan that would protect 1,900 jobs at the shipyard.

The shipyard filed for bankruptcy, and the events triggered the insolvency application Monday of another shipyard it owns in Germany, Lloyd-Werft in Bremerhaven.

Genting reported a $238 million net loss for the period ending June 2021, as compared to a $742.6 loss million for the same period in 2020.

Genting Hong Kong reportedly halted payments on debts of almost $3.4 billion in 2020.

'The Company and the Group have no access to any further liquidity under any of Group's debt documents and the Company's available cash balances are expected to run out on or around end of January 2022 according to the Company's cashflow forecasts,' Genting said in its filing.
British universities including Oxford and Cambridge have been handed 240 million from Chinese organisations since 2015, an investigation has found.

A number of the Chinese institutions that have donated have links to China's military, sparking fears that joint research with Britain's universities could be helping to build super-weapons for Beijing.

The investigation by The Times found that there have been more than 1,000 research collaborations between the UK and Chinese institutes, a number that has more than tripped in six years.

British universities including Oxford and Cambridge have been handed 240 million from Chinese organisations since 2015, an investigation has found. Pictured: Imperial college London, which saw almost 55 million of finding from Chinese sources

Of the total 240 million, 60 million has come from sources that have been sanctioned by the U.S. government for supplying China's forces with military hardware, including fighter jets.

The study found that the collaborations have touched technology including that used in rail guns, drones, fighter jets, missiles and other military tech.

Additionally, some academics working at Britain's top universities have worked with their Chinese counterparts on sensitive 'dual use' research, The Times reported.

'Dual use' projects involved research into technology that can be used for civilian use, but that can also be used for military purposes.

40 million of the 240 million came from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei - whose contract to roll out 5G in the UK was suspended over security concerns - and 20 million from other firms also sanctioned by the United States.

The Times listed the top five British universities to have benefited from the funding, which, in order, were: Imperial College London (54.5 million), the University of Cambridge (46.1 million), the University of Oxford (24 million), the University of Manchester (19.7 million) and the University of Edinburgh (13.9 million).

The investigation by The Times found that there have been more than 1,000 research collaborations between the UK and Chinese institutes, a number that has more than tripped in six years. Pictured: The University of Cambridge, which received 46.1 million since 2015

Of the almost 55 million Imperial College London received, 5 million came from three companies linked to the Chinese military, and went towards the research of high-tech aerospace materials.

The US has sanctioned all three of the firms, while two are subsidiaries of a defence contractor that manufactures fighter jets for China's air force.

Other collaborations at Universities reported by The Times included work on technology such as rail guns, which are high-powered weapons that use magnetic fields to fire projectiles at velocity, and with high precision.

Security officials in Britain have increasingly been warning about Chinese links in recent years, with MI5 chief Ken McCallum saying the country poses a greater threat to British interests than Russia.

And last year, Specialists at the Foreign Office, Special Branch and HMRC were said to be investigating academics suspected of passing sensitive information to China, including pioneering British technology.

That came after it was revealed by the Mail on Sunday that more than a dozen British universities were under investigation over relationships with the Chinese government.

Chairman of the Commons foreign affairs select committee Tom Tugendhat wrote in the Mail on Sunday in February 2021 that 'some in Britain's universities have lost their moral bearings and are not promoting academic freedom, but undermining our strategic interests.'

University of Oxford received the third most amount of Chinese funding of British universities. The funding has raised fears that British institutions have contributed to military research on joint projects with Chinese colleagues

The Tory MP argued that Britain is making a mistake to open up universities too much. 'We are handing over the secrets that will help an often-hostile country become the greatest military power of the 21st Century.'

'In opening the doors of our universities to China, we are bargaining away our competitive advantage  and, for a price, handing over the secrets that will help an often-hostile country become the greatest military power of the 21st Century,' he wrote.

'University leaders must recognise that the great hope of the past two decades  that China was steadily opening up politically as its economy became more competitive  has been dashed. A Maoist personality cult has been established around President Xi, with his personal 'thought' inserted into China's constitution, to be studied by all.'

Amid the concern, universities and academics were warned and told to carefully vet their collaborators, check if their research had national security implications, and to determine whether there were any ethical concerns with their funding.

Despite these warnings, The Times' research shows that British academics are working with Chinese colleagues with military links more rather than less.

Under the government of David Cameron and his chancellor George Osborne, Britain and China saw a boom in trade and collaboration.

The study found that the collaborations have touched technology including that used in rail guns, drones, fighter jets, missiles and other military tech. Pictured: Manchester University, that received almost 20 million in funding since 2015

However, diplomatic ties have grown tense over China's human rights abuses - such as its genocide of the Uighur Muslims - and Chinese interference.

According to an inquiry in 2019 issued by the foreign affairs committee, 'UK institutions are reluctant to respond to allegations of influence due to their reliance on income from student recruitment and research grants'.

MailOnline contacted Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the University of Manchester and the University of Edinburgh.

A spokesperson for the Russel Group, which represents 24 of the UK's leading universities, said research institutions take issues relating to national security 'extremely seriously'.

Russel Group Universities 'undertake robust due diligence checks in line with Government guidance and export controls before forming new international research partnerships,' the spokesperson said.

'The sector follows the lead of the Government on international collaboration, and takes a pragmatic, risk-based approach that allows the UK to participate as a global leader in research, while ensuring sensitive research is protected.'

An Imperial spokesperson said: 'These projects are fundamental scientific research, carried out with partners and collaborators around the world and research findings are shared openly.

'All partnerships and collaborations at Imperial undergo thorough scrutiny and are regularly reviewed, working closely and regularly with the appropriate Government departments, with our commitments to UK national security given the utmost importance.'

Security officials in Britain have increasingly been warning about Chinese links in recent years, with MI5 chief Ken McCallum saying the country poses a greater threat to British interests than Russia. Pictured: The University of Edinburgh

Responding to MailOnline, a University of Manchester spokesperson said:

'As a University, we collaborate with and receive funding from many different institutions and large organisations from across the globe who specialise in this kind of research. This is due to our world-renowned expertise in specialities such as smart materials and advanced engineering.

'The University undertakes checks in line with Government guidance for international collaboration which ensures sensitive research is protected. Careful consideration is given to research collaborations in the light of legislation in recent years to strengthen security measures.'

The University of Cambridge referred MailOnline to pages on its website dealing with international collaboration, and specifically regarding funding from China, on which the University breaks down its Chinese funding sources.

The University of Oxford referred MailOnline to the statement from the Russel Group.

A spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh told MailOnline: 'We are a highly collaborative university with more than 4,000 live research partnerships across 65 countries. 60 percent of the University of Edinburghs published research involves one or more international partners.

'The University of Edinburgh engages in research with Chinese Universities and companies. This encompasses diverse fields ranging from medicine to arts and fashion. As with any research partnerships that we undertake, these undergo a rigorous process of due diligence. We are keenly aware of issues of national security and comply with current UK Government guidelines.'
A robotic bartender named Cecilia - who can pour 120 drinks an hour and crack a few bad jokes - is offering a new form of bar service.

The seven-foot-tall interactive robot, who can speak 40 languages and has various features including an ID scanner, is currently residing at the Florida International University's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management in Miami to teach hospitality students about the industry.

The development of robotic bartender Cecilia.ai had taken more than three years in Israel.

To use Cecilia, customers can verbally request their order or use a touchscreen menu to choose from a variety of cocktails which comes out of a slot in the machine.

The robot can respond with the options available or even suggesting an alternative for customers.

'The idea of a robot bartender replacing human mixologists is not even close to reality,"' Brian Connors, director of the Bacardi Center for Excellence and an FIU hospitality professor, told the Miami Herald.

'This is a defined mix of high tech and high touch hospitality. In this industry, we are always going to be people first. This is a team sport.'

A new interactive robotic bartender named Cecilia is offering the opportunity for interactive bar service without the need for human to human interaction

Customers can either verbally order or use the touchscreen and pick from a selection of cocktails

Cecilia.ai took three years to develop in Israel and can make up to 120 drinks an hour

The robot can sell drinks in various venues, provide faster service to customers and even serve drinks after hours.

In addition, she generates dashboard analytics that show the popularity of drinks, what the customers are asking for as well as what the busiest times of day are.

'We see it as helping bars that may have long lines,' creator Nir Cohen Paraira also told the Herald.

'We give people an option to take a drink whenever they want. She can work 24/7 every day of the week all year long.'

The robot currently resides at the Florida International University's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management to teach hospitality students about the industry

The robot also includes features such as cashless payments, an ID scanner and dashboard analytics for bar managers

She also will help with short-staffed venues as businesses struggle to hire workers at this point in the pandemic.

'I don't think Cecilia will replace workers,' Paraira said. 'I think robots can help human bartenders sell more drinks and have more cocktails on the menu.'

Despite these impressive advancements, there are still a few setbacks as the robot is still in the development stages.

Cecilia currently is not able to provide ice or cocktail garnishes with customers also only being able to choose from 12 different liquids.
A teacher has been struck off for driving a car full of children four times over the alcohol limit on the first day of her new child-minding business.

Mum of two Christina Manning, 36, was banned from teaching for at least five years by watchdogs who said it was 'more luck than good judgement that nobody was hurt' by her shocking behaviour.

A district judge in Chester had been told the teacher had been binge drinking at a barbecue on June 23 2019 - the night before launching her own child-minding business.

Christine Manning drunkenly drove three children the day she launched a child-minding business

The next day, she downed a large glass of wine in the afternoon before setting off in her Renault Megane, with children aged 13, 10 and one to pick up her son from nursery.

On the way, Manning had pulled up in Parklands Community Primary School's car park in Ellesmere Port around 4.30pm.

Chester Magistrates Court heard staff smelled alcohol on her breath and asked her if she had been drinking. Manning replied: 'No, but I had wine last night.'

Cops arrived as Manning was getting back into the car. They told her to get out and saw she was shaking.

Manning blew 130 micrograms, nearly four times the legal limit of 35, and was arrested to appear in court the following morning.

The court heard the night before the offences she had been at a barbecue and had consumed 'a significant amount of alcohol'.

She did not teach the following day because her main focus was on her first day of childminding, it was said.

But she consumed one large glass of wine before driving as 'a coping mechanism' to calm her anxiety, the court heard.

The misconduct panel heard she had dodged custody when her 16-week jail sentence was suspended on appeal.

She had been working with disabled children and was nervous how her son would react to a child with severe autism she was to look after.

Manning, from the Cheshire village of Little Sutton, admitted drink driving and being drunk in charge of a child under seven on the morning of her court appearance, when sentence was adjourned.

She was jailed for 16 weeks the following month and was being led away to the cells when she was bailed pending an appeal. Two days later, Chester Crown Court reduced the jail term to a suspended sentence.

Manning has been struck off for at least five years after she was tested and found to be four times the legal limit

At the time, Manning was working as a supply teacher at Princes Primary School, Liverpool, and she was reported to the Teaching Regulation Agency.

Craig Underwood, who chaired the virtual TRA hearing on January 19 this year, said in his judgement: 'The panel noted that the behaviour involved in committing the offences could have had an impact on the safety or security of pupils and/or members of the public.

'The panel were clear that it was more luck than good judgement that nobody was hurt and that this could have resulted in serious injury to a pupil or member of the public.

'The panel noted that Ms Manning's behaviour ultimately led to a sentence of imprisonment, (albeit that it was suspended), which was indicative of the seriousness of the offences committed.'

The teacher was also banned from driving for five years, which was to be reduced by a quarter by her completing a drink drive rehabilitation course.

Banning her from the profession for at least five years today, Sarah Buxcey, for the Education Secretary, said: 'The panel finds that the conduct of Ms Manning fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.

'The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a finding that involved driving with alcohol above the limit and being drunk in charge of a child under the age of seven.'
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said capitalism is 'not a redeemable system' for Americans and represents a 'pursuit of profit' with disregard for any human, environment and social consequences run by an elite minority.

The New York democratic socialist slammed the US economy during an interview with Yahoo Finance's Andy Serwer on Thursday, explaining that it was controlled by a small group of capitalists who make money and 'don't have to work.'

'They can control our labor. They can control massive markets that they dictate and can capture governments,' Ocasio-Cortez, 32, said.

'And they can essentially have power over the many. And to me that is not a redeemable system for us to be able to participate in for the prosperity and peace for the vast majority of people.'

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said capitalism was not a system that benefited Americans

Ocasio-Cortez said that only the wealthy elite like Charles (left) and David Koch benefit from capitalism and use it to hold control in the U.S.

To me, capitalism is the absolute pursuit of profit at all human, environmental, and social cost. Rep. @AOC says. What were also discussing is the ability for a very small group of actual capitalists [to] capture governments.  That is not a redeemable system for us pic.twitter.com/U7RS2hkiJs  Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) February 3, 2022 Twitter Privacy Policy

Ocasio-Cortez also said that capitalism was flawed at its core, saying, 'To me, capitalism at its core, what we're talking about when we talk about that, is the absolute pursuit of profit at all human, environmental, and social cost.'

She said that under the economic system, a nation's power is held by an elite and wealthy minority, calling out billionaires Charles Koch and David Koch, whose family is worth more than $100 billion and have a hold on the fuel and oil industries.

'If it ultimately comes down to a billionaire or the Koch brothers or the Koch family having control over the vast majority or large plurality of our oil assets in the United States, if it's a handful of very wealthy families having control over - you know, private families having control over means of production, that is essentially the capitalist system that we live in, she said.

'It is a small group that is of privatized control over what we eat and how we fuel our society.'

The New York rep then touted alternatives for companies to do business by including workers in the way they operate, alluding to ideas discussed by fellow progressive U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.

'For example, Elizabeth Warren has discussed workers being elected to the governing boards of companies...you can have markets where businesses and ways of producing, trading, selling goods are really controlled and not just controlled but giving more power to workers.

'People get a fair shake. Union jobs, unionized workplaces, all of these are different steps and levels that we're talking about in a more just economy,' she said.

Ocasio-Cortez's comments on Serwer's 'Influencer' show were part of a broader interview where the Yahoo Finance host asked her takes on recent economic events, including Congress's refusal to ban representatives from buying and selling stocks.

She said it's 'not a mystery' why the legislation has not yet passed despite swelling public support, and estimated that a 'majority' of Congress trade stocks.

'An enormous amount - I wouldn't be surprised if it was a majority of members of Congress - hold and trade individual stock,' the New York Democrat told Serwer.

A push to ban lawmakers from trading stocks has gained momentum after a number of questionable trades prompted ethics concerns, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi squashed any idea that she will rally her caucus for such legislation.

'Even last year there was at least 75 members of Congress that held individual stock in Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer,' AOC said, criticizing Congress's decision not to pass legislation banning representatives from trading stock

'We're a free market economy,' Pelosi said, as she poured cold water on the idea of banning stock trades in Congress

Ocasio-Cortez said, 'Even last year there was at least 75 members of Congress that held individual stock in Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer.'

At least 75 members of Congress did hold shares in the three pharmaceutical companies that developed a Covid-19 vaccine, even as they voted on legislation to allocate billions on developing and distributing the vaccine.

'That is where we should be drawing the line,' Ocasio-Cortez said.

'I am a member of Congress. Members of Congress have access to very sensitive security clearances, access to very detailed, tailored briefings. Our job is to try to anticipate and legislate for what we see is coming. We should not have the ability to both have access to that information and to hold and trade in individual stock.'

Pelosi defended her position to reject the trading ban on December 15, saying, 'We're a free market economy. They [lawmakers] should be able to participate in that.'

She doubled down on her position in a news conference last week.

'I do come down always in favor of trusting our members,' the House Speaker said during her weekly briefing on Thursday.

In December, her husband, Paul Pelosi, disclosed that he bought millions in tech stock.

Over the course of five days, Paul Pelosi purchased stock worth anywhere between $1,750,007 and $3,600,000 - shares in Alphabet, Disney, Salesforce, Roblox, Reoff XX and Micron Technologies.

Pelosi and her husband Paul are known as some of the most prolific traders of all time. Social trading app Iris draws in customers who can track their trades and mimic them for themselves.

Asked about the recent trades, Pelosi's chief of staff and spokesperson Drew Hammill said that they had all been made by the speaker's husband and she did 'not own any stocks herself. '

'The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,' Hammill told DailyMail.com.
A mother has appealed for burglars to return an urn containing her stillborn daughter's ashes, pleading: 'If you have a heart, please return it.'

Catherine Farrell-Breen, 31, has been left devastated following the burglary at her home on Clopton Road Garretts Green, Birmingham.

The thieves struck between 2pm and 7.20pm on Thursday while the mother-of-two was working as a waitress.

After breaking through a rear door, they stole coins in a jar worth 384 and a Nintendo Switch.

But an urn containing the ashes of Ms Farrell-Breen's daughter Phoenix was also stolen from the top of a wardrobe.

Mother-of-two Catherine Farrell-Breen (above) has appealed for burglars to return an urn containing her stillborn daughter's ashes, pleading: 'If you have a heart, please return it.' The 31-year-old has been left devastated following the burglary at her home on Clopton Road Garretts Green, Birmingham

Ms Farrell-Breen, who has two daughters - Loretta, eight, and Larissa, seven - has now made a desperate appeal for the return of the urn.

She told BirminghamLive: 'I am devastated. Phoenix was my first child and was stillborn. She would have been ten in August. I cherish her ashes which I keep in an urn in my bedroom.

'On her birthday, Loretta, Larissa and myself go out bowling to celebrate. We always keep her memory alive.'

She added: 'The urn is worth nothing. They must have seen the gold colour and thought it was an expensive vase so they took it.

West Midlands police issued this image of an urn similar to the one stolen from the home. Ms Farrell-Breen, whose first child Phoenix was stillborn almost ten years ago, said: 'This has just brought everything back to me - the heartache of losing Phoenix. It is like it is happening all over again'

'It is of no monetary value but it just means the world to me. I ask these people: if you have a heart, please return it.

'This has just brought everything back to me - the heartache of losing Phoenix. It is like it is happening all over again.'

West Midlands Police have issued an appeal about the callous burglary.

They tweeted on Thursday night: 'We're asking for your help to locate a stolen urn like the one pictured. It was taken earlier today when someone broke into a home on Clopton Road, Garretts Green in Birmingham.

'The urn contains the ashes of the homeowner's first child, who was stillborn almost ten years ago, so we are desperate to get it back for her.'

The police appeal added: 'She is understandably distressed. Some cash and a Nintendo Switch were also stolen but the urn has very little monetary value.

'They may have already discarded it somewhere, so we are hoping that someone may come across it and contact us.

'Please, if you have seen it, or have any information, please get in touch via Live Chat on our website quoting crime reference 20/193726/22.

'If you want to tell us what you know, but not who you are, ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.'
The mayor of Rotterdam has refused to confirm whether he will dismantle a historic Dutch bridge so that Jeff Bezos's 400million superyacht can pass through.

Reports this week that the Dutch city had already agreed to take apart the recently renovated Koningshaven Bridge, known locally as De Hef, sparked anger.

On Facebook, locals are proposing to pelt the yacht with rotten eggs when it passes through the bridge - built in 1927 - which is blocking its passage to the sea.

However, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said on Friday that while a shipbuilder has requested temporarily taking apart the bridge this summer, no permit has yet been sought or granted.

A spokesperson for Rotterdam told CBS MoneyWatch that Dutch press reports stating the city would disassemble the bridge to make room for the Amazon founder's boat were false.

They added that if Bezos asks for an accommodation, the city would consider it.

The iconic Koningshavenbrug bridge in Rotterdam, known to locals as De Hef may be dismantled to allow Jeff Bezos's newly-built superyacht to pass through, with the bill being footed by the Amazon billionaire

The 400million, 417ft Y721 will be the biggest sailing yacht in the world when it is completed this year in the Netherlands, overtaking the current largest ocean-going passenger ship

The Amazon founder had earlier been reported to have struck a deal with Rotterdam to disassemble the bridge

Rotterdam's mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb (above) told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that 'no decision has been made yet' on the disassembly

The spokesperson said: 'The company that built the ship didn't yet ask for a permit so there is not an issue at this moment.

'When they ask for the permit, then we have to make a decision if we allow it or not, and how, and things like that.'

Mr Aboutaleb told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that 'no decision has been made yet' on the disassembly.

Earlier reports had said that the shipyard building the Amazon billionaire's 400million, 17ft yacht Y721 had asked for a historic bridge to be temporarily dismantled to get the boat to sea, with Bezos footing the bill.

It is currently being built at the Oceano shipyard in Alblasserdam in the west of the Netherlands

More than 3,900 people expressed interest in a Facebook event calling for Rotterdam residents to throw rotten eggs at the Amazon founder's mega-boat.

The Amazon founder's secretive yacht - a glimpse of which was caught in October - will feature three enormous masts and three decks, and it will be unable to fit under the bridge, even with its full clearance of 130ft (40 metres).

The Amazon founder's secretive yacht will feature three 'enormous' masts and several decks. It is being built by custom yacht builder Oceanco and is thought to be based on the company's Black Pearl ship

When the bridge was renovated in 2017, the local council pledged that it would never be dismantled again.

In 1933, a Dutchman named Lou Vlasblom made a then-record breaking dive from the top of the bridge. Two weeks later, Jan Tabbernee died trying to match the stunt.

The bridge, characterised by its two towers and the green tint to its steel, was heavily damaged in 1940 during the bombardment of Rotterdam, and is now officially protected as a landmark.

Previous attempts to permanently demolish the bridge, such as one in 1993, were met with fierce resistance from locals, who succeeded in blocking the plan.

A Facebook event to which more than 900 people have clicked 'going' has called for 'all Rotterdammers' to throw eggs at the yacht 'en masse' when it passes through De Hef in the summer

The 417ft Y721 will be the biggest sailing yacht in the world when it is completed this year in the Netherlands, overtaking the current largest ocean-going passenger ship.

The Black Pearl, which Y721 is based on, is the largest DynaRig sailing yacht in the world, with three 230ft tall (70 metre) carbon masts, and was built in 2018.

Bezos's ownership of it was confirmed in the book Amazon Unbound, which described the boat as 'one of the finest sailing yachts in existence'.

Bezos lost his place as the richest man in the world last year to space tech rival Elon Musk. He currently has a net worth of $175billion (130billion).
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Scotland won the grudge match against England today with a fine 20-17 win, crushing the English dream of a Grand Slam.

Thousands of rugby fans flocked to Murrayfield, Edinburgh, for the first time since the lifting of Covid restrictions to watch the two nations battle it out.

At the break Scotland were up 10-6 with Eddie Jones' England side facing a tough task against their Calcutta Cup foes.

Scottish hopes of a Grand Slam this afternoon are still alive after the first match of their Six Nations campaign. It is the first time Scotland have retained the Calcutta Cup since 1984.

After the match, Scotland's Matt Fagerson said the win was down to the hard work of the team. 'It shows the heart of the boys to bring it home in the end,' he told BBC Sport.

Meanwhile, England captain Tom Curry, who was leading his team for the first time, said it was an 'up down, up down' game. 'We need to reflect and do better ourselves,' he added.

Marcus Smith led England's attack from fly-half as England picked a mobile, exciting team.

No 8 Sam Simmonds is making his first England start for four years in Saturday's Six Nations opener against Scotland.

Simmonds has been selected ahead of rival Alex Dombrandt, in a new-look back-row featuring Lewis Ludlam and stand-in skipper Tom Curry.

Injuries have forced Eddie Jones to name an unfamiliar looking team for the Calcutta Cup, with lock Nick Isiekwe also making his first Test start since 2018, alongside Maro Itoje.

'As the first game, this match is hugely important to both sides and we will both want to get off to a winning start,' said Jones.

'We have a good, young team but we understand the task ahead and we'll be ready to go after it from the first kick.

'Tom Curry will captain the side for this game and has the respect of the team around him, in Owen and Courtney's absence. He also has the support of the vice captains and other leaders in the team such as Maro Itoje and Ben Youngs.

'We have prepared really well for this game. We've had a number of obstacles thrown at us, but we've overcome them as a more together group and we're looking forward to getting started.'

As revealed by Sportsmail, Elliot Daly will start in the centres alongside Henry Slade.

Ben Youngs and Marcus Smith will maintain their half-back combination from the autumn, with George Ford providing cover from the bench.

And Joe Marchant has returned a negative Covid test to start on the wing, alongside Max Malins and Freddie Steward.

Ben White of Scotland lifts the Calcutta Cup with teammates after the Guinness Six Nations match between Scotland and England

Scotland saw off an attempted comeback by a skillful English side to win the Calcutta Cup 20-17, after they also led at half-time

Stuart Hogg of Scotland celebrates in front of the Scottish faithful after his side's victory against old rivals England

England came close to levelling the match in the dying stages but were unable to grab the points needed even for a draw

Marcus Smith and George Ford of England react after the Guinness Six Nations match between Scotland and England at BT Murrayfield Stadium

Maro Itoje of England wins the ball in the lineout during the Guinness Six Nations match between Scotland and England

A young boy with his face painted with the Scottish flag showed where his allegiance lay ahead of the crunch match

Scotland's Ben White scores their first try that led to the home side going into the half-time break up against their rivals

Scotland's Ben White (centre) celebrates scoring their side's first try during the Six Nations match

The scrum prepares during the first half of the Calcutta Cup grudge match between Scotland and England

An England fan in Bristol shouts and stands up while watching Scotland against England at a pub today

The game comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon left Scotland's Covid measures unchanged, telling Holyrood a 'significant fall' in infection levels the country has seen in recent weeks had now 'levelled off'.

Scottish schoolchildren will have to wear masks in class for at least another week, Nicola Sturgeon told parents.

The country axed working from home rules and limits on gatherings a week ago.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: 'Even though the Covid data is very positive, the SNP Government are still insisting on the use of face masks in schools.

'Adults can be in pubs without a mask but young people are having their education held back by being forced to wear one in the classroom.

'The First Minister says no one wants young people to have to wear masks in class for a moment longer than necessary, so just what needs to happen for her government to finally remove this requirement?'

However, she told Holyrood that overall the 'most recent data continues to give grounds for optimism', with the First Minister saying that 'the situation we are in now is much less severe than we had thought it might be'.

She added that the fall in cases over the first three weeks of January was 'now reflected in a fall in the number of people being admitted to hospital'.

Last week, 602 patients with Covid were admitted to hospital, down from 768 in the week ending January 21.

The latest figures also showed 1,177 people in hospital have Covid  down from 1,394 a week ago  with the number in intensive care also decreasing.

Ms Sturgeon, speaking the day after a relaxation of the requirement for home working, told MSPs: 'We can continue to be optimistic, as we look ahead to spring.

'Case levels are likely to remain high for some time  and may increase further as a result of the recent easing of protections.

'But there are good grounds for confidence that we are again entering a calmer phase of the pandemic.'

Maro Itoje of England beats Grant Gilchrist of Scotland in the lineout during the Guinness Six Nations match between Scotland and England

England huddle during the Guinness Six Nations match today in a cold evening in the Scottish capital

Scotland fans showed their support during the first half, wrapped up warm with scarves and flags tied around their necks

England's full-back Freddie Steward jumps to claim a high ball during the first half, which saw the away side dominate posession

The Six Nations has made a bold move to attract younger fans by signing a four-year partnership with social media giants TikTok.

Investors CVC have been heavily involved in the 'game-changing' deal, which will span the men's and women's competitions, as well as the autumn internationals.

TikTok will become a title sponsor for the women's competition and the company will use its short-form video platform to promote rugby content to its one billion active monthly users.

Rugby has an ageing fanbase and the move could help it tap into the 'TikTok Generation' of 18-24-year-olds, who reportedly spend seven hours a week on TikTok.

Six Nations CEO Ben Morel said: 'There are a lot of areas that can be developed as we target a younger audience and get them interested, whether it's playing or following international or club rugby.

'The significance of our partnership with TikTok cannot be overstated. The first title partner in the history of the Women's Six Nations Championship, TikTok shares our ambitions. Complementing this is the collective aim of giving the sport a global shop window to reach new fans and put the women's game in front of more people.'

However, regardless of the statistics, the home side came out on top in the first half, leading the way at 10-6

A woman in a hat and Scottish rugby jersey shouts her support for the home side while holding up a Scottish flag

This youngster braved the bitterly cold weather without even a hat to keep him warm as he watched the match

England's Tom Curry gestures during the first half, which saw the away side see themselves second best

Scotland players line up to sing the Flower of Scotland ahead of the old rivalry between Scotland and England

Meanwhile, England's team also lined up in the eastern Scotland evening to sing the national anthem of God Save The Queen

A Scotland fan cheers during the Guinness Six Nations match between Scotland and England at BT Murrayfield Stadium

England's Marcus Smith celebrates scoring their first try in the second half as the away side tried to mount a comeback

Marcus Smith of England celebrates with Elliot Daly and Luke Cowan-Dickie of England after scoring his side's first try

Scotland's Jamie Ritchie goes off injured on a motorised stretcher during the Six Nations match at BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh

England's Luke Cowan-Dickie receives medical attention after sustaining an injury during action on the field

There were more than a few dejected faces from the England team as it became more clear Scotland were edging the match

Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe is tackled by England's Elliot Daly during the Six Nations rugby union match

Scotland's Finn Russell scores a penalty kick during the Six Nations match that finished with a fine win for the home side

England's Marcus Smith scores a conversion during the Six Nations match at BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh

The Six Nations have been experiencing growing tension with World Rugby, which has been making attempts to unite the sport around a global character.

The Six Nations' deal with commercial partners CVC contains a clause preventing the private equity firm selling on their stake to World Rugby.

The stipulation in the contract, which will see CVC pay 365million over five years for 14 per cent of the competitions commercial rights, shows the split in the sports leadership and governance, and the Six Nations determination to retain control of rugby in Europe.

They were pushing a new 12-team Nations Championship two years ago, which collapsed after the Six Nations baulked at the idea of promotion and relegation into their own competition despite the dismal efforts of Italy, who have not won in seven years.

World Rugby want to revive the concept after next years World Cup, but the Six Nations-CVC deal shows hostility lingers from negotiations two years ago.
A 19-year-old has turned down the offer of a free Tesla Model 3 in return for deleting his Twitter account which tracks the location of Elon Musk's private jet.

College freshman Jack Sweeney manages a Twitter account called @ElonJet which tracks the aircraft using bots to detect air traffic data.

Musk had previously asked for Sweeney to take the account down earlier in the fall in exchange for $5,000 but he ultimately refused and asked for an internship instead, he previously told DailyMail.com.

Car-hire company Autonomy CEO Scott Painter then offered Sweeney a Tesla Model 3 under a three-year contract via Twitter on Friday in exchange for the account deletion.

'I told you I'm not interested in a subscription besides, there are numerous facts that suggest this is in conjunction with Elon,' Sweeney said in response.

Sweeney said he came to the decision as he wants his own car rather than a temporary model.

'I want my own car. I don't want to have to give it back in three years,' Sweeney told the Wall Street Journal. 'If I got an actual Tesla, then I would take it down.'

College freshman Jack Sweeney, 19, has refused a proposal of a free Tesla Model 3 in exchange for taking down a Twitter account that tracks Elon Musk's jet

Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously asked Sweeney to take the account down in exchange for $5,000

Car-hire company CEO Scott Painter offered the Tesla Model 3 to Sweeney on Twitter on Friday

Sweeney, however, says he does not want the Tesla Model 3 that is being offered under a three-year contract as he wants his own permanent vehicle

Sweeney, who is studying information technology, created 15 Twitter bots tracking the private planes of tech billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos - but the account tracking Musk's jet is by far the most popular, with over 354,000 followers.

Although the information Sweeney relies on is all public, his program requires sophisticated knowledge to match transponder frequencies with separately available anonymous flight plans, according to Protocol, which first reported the saga.

The popularity of the @ElonJet appears to have discomfited Musk, who contacted the teen to request that he remove the account to prevent 'crazy people' from tracking his movements, according to Protocol.

'I don't love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,' he told Sweeney in their DM conversation.

Sweeney's sophisticated program relies on data from multiple public sources to track flight plans that are otherwise not easily available to the public.

His system requires deep inside knowledge of the aviation system, which Sweeney gained from a father who works in the airline industry, as well as his lifelong hobby of tracking planes.

When Sweeney explained to Musk how his system works, the billionaire seemed surprised that the information was publicly accessible, commenting, 'Air traffic control is so primitive.'

The teen, star-struck at being contacted by one of his idols, was nevertheless not easily cowed, and bantered with Musk, jokingly offering to remove the account in exchange for a Tesla Model 3.

Sweeney, who is studying information technology, created the tracker using a program that analyzes public information from several sources to identify planes

Sweeney's sophisticated program relies on data from multiple public sources to track flight plans for Musk's jet (above), which are otherwise not easily available to the public

After Musk asked Sweeney how much he made from the accounts, which the teen said was no more than $20 a month, Musk offered him $5,000 to remove the bot tracking his jet.

'Any chance to up that to $50k? It would be great support in college and would possibly allow me to get a car maybe even a Model 3,' responded Sweeney.

Musk said he would think about it, but so far has not paid up.

The most recent exchange of messages between the two was last Wednesday, when Sweeney said he'd prefer an internship over payment in exchange for deleting the account.

'I understand your view, but I hope that you would see my interest because I have been developing this since I was only in high school,' Sweeney told Musk.

'Options other than remuneration like an internship would make taking it down a lot easier,' he said.

Musk's private jet was last reported landing in Austin on Thursday

Sweeney tweeted that Musk had used a 'blocking program' to try to prevent being tracked, adding: 'but already found the aircraft'.

The @ElonJet account then tracked Musk's jet flying from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, where it landed at around 5.50pm ET on Wednesday.

At that moment, however, Musk was on a conference call with Tesla investors, with thousands listening in live from around the world.

'We track the plane not who may or may not be onboard,' noted Sweeney on his tracker account.


JACOB Harineki was granted a new lease on life, after spending 22 years in prison for committing murder and is debunking long-held misconceptions about ex-prisoners.

Harineki walked out of Harare Remand Prison a free man two years ago after he was granted clemency by President Mnangagwa through the Presidential Clemency Order.

Today, he is proving that ex-convicts can live a crime-free life and coexist in peace with others when given a second chance.

While some convicts, who benefit from the Presidential amnesty immediately go back to a life of crime and are thrown back into prison, Harineki has charted his own route, turning himself into a master farmer in Chegutu.

In 1997, Harineki, then aged 17, was convicted of murdering his employer after the teenage farm labourer, in a fit of rage, torched his boss farmhouse in Marondera killing his stricken manager who was inside.

The two were embroiled in a bitter dispute over outstanding wages.

It was not long before the long arm of the law caught up with him.

Standing before a High Court Judge, the teenager was facing the death penalty, which was duly dispensed by the court.

Expectedly, life in prison for a condemned murderer was no stroll in the park.

I could only see the light of day for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon, he told The Sunday Mail last week.

The rest of the day I would be confined to a very small space that cannot accommodate two people. Spending a day in there felt like ages. Now and again I would bid farewell to released inmates, wishing them well and hoping that we would probably meet again in life under different circumstances.

Through sheer resilience and the abiding hope to rewrite the story of his life, he soldiered on, oblivious of what tomorrow held.

A contrite Harineki insists up to this day that his intention was to burn down the house and never to kill his employer.

In 1998, he wrote to the then President the late Robert Mugabe pleading for clemency.

Three years later, his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

He was then moved to Harare Remand Prison to serve the rest of his sentence.

Life was to take a nasty turn in November 2003 when he suffered the heartbreak of losing his wife and child in a car accident.

The two were on their way from visiting him in prison. When he was finally freed in 2020, Harineki was received at the gate of Harare Remand Prison by his younger brother.

After his story was published widely in local media, Jedidiah Trust, a not-for-profit organisation, reached out to him to lend a helping hand. This encounter signalled the beginning of restoration.

Determined to prove that ex-convicts can make a contribution in their communities if rendered support, Harineki took up farming with the assistance of Jedidiah Trust.

The trust helped him rent a piece of land in Suri Suri, Chegutu.

Jedidiah Trust specialises in facilitating the rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates and their families so that they can cope with challenges during and after incarceration.

Armed with the farming knowledge he acquired during his days in prison, Harineki rented a small plot from where he harvested seven tonnes of maize.

He sold six tonnes to the Grain Marketing Board.

My appeal to the powers that be is that I be given my own piece of land, he said.

I am unable to venture into horticulture, which can earn me more all-year round.

If I had my own piece of land, I would drill a borehole and do necessary developments. So, I am appealing to the First Lady through her Angel of Hope Foundation to assist me to get land so I can show the nation what I can do with my own hands, he added.

Harineki, who is now a devout Christian, remarried and now has an 18-month-old child.

When I got in jail I was young, having matured during that time I began to understand the proper way of living, he said.

I am a free and honest individual. So I opened up to my current wife, Choice Mukando about my past and how I am a changed man. She chose to believe and accept me.

Harineki said he intends to donate some of his harvest from this seasons crop to Harare Central Remand, Khami Maximum Security, Chikurubi Maximum Security and Female Prisons as a way of appreciating Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) for the pivotal role it played in turning his life around.

After being released from prison, Harineki said he made concerted efforts to reach out to his victims family to ask for forgiveness, but to no avail. Sunday Mail
A startup that Elon Musk helped found and run is under scrutiny from the federal government over accusations that they lied about the entrepreneur's role at the company.

Neuralink most infamously has suggested that it hopes to implant computer chips into peoples' brains.

About a half dozen Neuralink employees, most speaking anonymously to securities lawyers out of fear of retribution from Musk, voiced concern about the billionaire.

Central to the investigation is a 2018 letter where an attorney representing the startup allegedly downplayed Musk's role with Neuralink to the SEC.

This goes against what the employees suggested, which is that Musk is the one pulling the strings.

Elon Musk reacts during the unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y in Hawthorne, California

Roel Campos - a former SEC commissioner who wrote the letter on Neuralink's behalf - said that the company's only relation to Musk's Tesla is through the billionaire's role as a 'shared mutual investor.'

Campos added that 'Musk has no executive or management role at Neuralink' and 'does not serve as an officer or director.'

The letter was sent in the days following an SEC lawsuit filed against Musk over tweets the Tesla CEO sent threatening to take the car company private. Musk paid a $20million fine and quit as Tesla CEO.

Neuralink was exempt from having to register the sale of shares with the SEC because Campos argued on his behalf that he had only minor involvement in the company and Musk avoided making misleading statements about Tesla.

The employees spoken to by the federal government said that Musk was referring to himself as CEO of Neuralink in 2018. Musk has never officially been listed as the CEO since the company was founded in 2016, but the employees said he has been consistently in charge.

The SEC's problems with Musk date back to his tweets threatening to take Tesla private

Musk has demonstrated the Neuralink brain chip in a pig and a monkey and a new job listing from the company suggests we could soon see it perform in a human brain.

The firm is now hiring a clinical trial director, which says the right candidate will 'work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers, as well as working with Neuralink's first Clinical Trial participants.'

Neuralink has not responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment.

Although the posting does not say when the trials will begin, Musk revealed last month that they are less than a year away - meaning human trials could start this year.

Neuralink's working well in monkeys and we're actually doing just a lot of testing and just confirming that it's very safe and reliable and the Neuralink device can be removed safely, Musk said during a live-streamed interview with The Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit.

An updated version of the Neuralink chip that they hope to test on humans in 2022

Neuralink's system is comprised of a computer chip attached to tiny flexible threads that are stitched into the brain by a 'sewing-machine-like' robot

'We hope to have this in our first humans  which will be people that have severe spinal cord injuries like tetraplegics, quadriplegics  next year, pending FDA approval.

I think we have a chance of being able to allow someone who cannot walk or use their arms be able to walk again  but not naturally.

Musk first unveiled his Neuralink startup in 2016, touting the technology as the key to helping paraplegics walk, the cure for depression and a way to merge humans with computers.

Neuralink's system is comprised of a computer chip attached to tiny flexible threads that are stitched into the brain by a 'sewing-machine-like' robot.

The device pickups signals in the brain, which are then translated into motor controls.

Musk says that the technology has proven to be safe in the brain and can be easily removed, so the only thing holding Neuralink back from human trials is FDA approval.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will investigate GoFundMe for 'deceptive practices,' accusing the crowdfunding website of 'fraud' after it took down a page for Canadian truck drivers protesting COVID mandates which had raised $9 million.

GoFundMe removed the fundraising page for the Freedom Convoy on Friday and said donors had two weeks to request a refund. The website announced that the remaining funds would be disbursed to 'credible and established charities.'

The website received backlash for removing the page and trying to redistribute donated funds, and in a tweet on Saturday, DeSantis said he would be investigating the company with state Attorney General Ashely Moody.

'It is a fraud for @gofundme to commandeer $9M in donations sent to support truckers and give it to causes of their own choosing,' he wrote.

'I will work with @AGAshleyMoody to investigate these deceptive practices  these donors should be given a refund.'

Following the severe criticism, GoFundMe said in a tweet that the company will be providing full refunds in the next two weeks to all those who donated to the Freedom Convoy's page.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was opening an investigation into GoFundMe for alleged 'deceptive practices' when it shut down the fundraising page for Canada's Freedom Convoy

The trucker demonstration has gone on for eight days, but GoFundMe cancelled their page due to police reports of violence and said donors would have to request or refund and that any remaining money would be donated to other charities

Following backlash from their decision, the company said it will issue full refunds to donors

The company said on Saturday: 'The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donations.

'To simplify the process for our users, we will be refunding all donations to the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser. This refund will happen automaticallyyou do not need to submit a request. Donors can expect to see refunds within 7-10 business days.'

GoFundMe did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

GoFundMe had cancelled the page for the Freedom Convoy after receiving reports from police that the one peaceful demonstration has turned 'violent' and that members were performing 'unlawful activities'

Protesters have shut down downtown Ottawa for eight days, with some participants waving Confederate or Nazi flags and others saying they wanted to dissolve Canada's government.

The protests continue into Saturday as protestors demonstrate outside Canada's Parliament, but the movement gained opposition as counter-protesters came out in droves in support of COVID mandates, The Star reported.

'The tractor rallies that are currently targeting Queen's Park and local MPP and MP offices are not organized by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA),' the OFA said in a statement condemning the demonstration.

'Throughout this pandemic, we have and will continue to work with all levels of government, supported by science and health-care professionals to find the best way to return to normal once again.'

Christian Mundean, a truck driver from Windsor, Ontario, who has been sleeping in the cab of his yellow semi for the past eight days told The Star that he's not going anywhere until two things happen: 'all COVID-19 health restrictions are lifted and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigns.'

'I know people, they are not happy, listening to all the honking and everything. But that's our voice right now... the honking is our voice,' he said.

Those demonstrating with the Freedom Convoy are calling for an end to Canada's COVID mandates and some want Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign

The protestors have gathered around the country's Parliament building in Ottawa

Hundreds of supporters have rallied at Ottawa, attracting fellow protestors and opposition

The protestors continue to line up as they want an end to the country's COVID mandates

GoFundMe issued a statement Friday night saying the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser violated its terms of service 'which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment

GoFundMe had previously released $1million to organizers after they were 'provided a clear distribution plan and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest.'

The organizers claimed the funds would be used for expenses such as fuel, food and lodging, with any leftover donations being gifted to a 'credible Veterans organization which will be chosen by the donors.'

Trudeau and some of his Liberal Party allies have accused the convoy demonstrators of extremism and racism, a charge that Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich strongly denied on Thursday.

'We are here out of love for our families, our communities and our nation. These past two years, the covid mandates have divided us,' she said in a statement.

'This protest began because of the federal government's restrictions on truckers' freedoms. Our movement has grown in Canada and across the world because common people are tired of the mandates and restrictions in their own lives that now seem to be doing more harm than good,' she added.

'We are therefore calling on all levels of government in Canada to end all covid mandates and restrictions. We will continue our protest until we see a clear plan for their elimination.'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had also accused GoFundMe of hypocrisy after the company canceled the Freedom Convoy fundraiser despite actively supporting a campaign for the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest in Seattle last year.

Freedom Convoy organizers claim the protest began because of 'the federal government's restrictions on truckers' freedoms'

Since last weekend, hundreds of long-haul truckers have blockaded Parliament Hill in Ottawa as well as a key border crossing between Alberta and Montana , railing against vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions

GoFundMe previously allowed numerous BLM-related fundraisers, some of which still remain active, that strived to raise funds for protective gear (left) and medical supplies (right) for the protestors in the Pacific Northwest

GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan, who last year urged the US government to pass emergency COVID-19 aid, has not publicly commented on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser.

Although he has previously argued the nonprofit has 'a responsibility to society' and so 'we prohibit the promotion of misinformation, or the promotion of hate or discrimination, or using a campaign to bully someone or discriminate, or to promote violence or terrorism.'

GoFundMe CEO slammed Congress over its COVID response GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan (pictured) has not publicly commented on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan has not publicly commented on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser, but some allege he likely opposes the anti-vaccine protest given his own criticisms of the US government's COVID response. Last year, during an interview with the New York Times Cadogan said: 'This is a war against a virus. If this were a war against another country at this scale, it would be no question what we would do, right? We would mobilize our society to defeat it.' He also argued that he would rather the federal government offer aid to Americans than his company. The CEO penned an open letter to Congress - which was published in USA Today - arguing lawmakers didn't to take action because many citizens were unable to afford rent, groceries, utilities and medical bills. He also argued the pandemic was making it nearly impossible for small businesses owners to stay afloat. Cadogan said that although GoFundMe aims to be 'the most helpful place in the world,' the platform cannot do the government's job for it. 'We are proud of the role that GoFundMe plays in connecting those in need with those who are ready to help,' he wrote. 'But our platform was never meant to be a source of support for basic needs, and it can never be a replacement for robust federal COVID-19 relief that is generous and targeted to help the millions of Americans who are struggling.' Advertisement

Crowdfunding platforms, including GoFundMe, have the right to ban campaigns that the companies allege violate their terms of service.

GoFundMe, for example, does not allow fundraisers for the legal defense of people accused of hate, intolerance or violent crimes. Campaigns associated to sexual content or pornography are also prohibited.

The company has also previously remove campaigns that it believes spread misinformation about COVID vaccine safety.

However, its terms of service also give it the right to prohibit 'any other activity that GoFundMe may deem, in its sole discretion, to be unacceptable.'

Last year, the company - likely bowing to pressure from progressive activists - deactivated a fundraiser established by a group of Virginia parents trying to fight the implementation of critical race theory (CRT) in Loudoun County Public Schools.

Scott Mineo, founder of Parents Against Critical Theory, created the GoFundMe campaign last March after members of the Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County Facebook group launched an 'intimidation campaign' against his organization, as well as several other parent groups.

His fundraiser had accrued nearly $4,000 by March 22 when a former Loudoun County School Board Equity Committee member reportedly urged the academic community to report the account.

He told Fox News that GoFundMe claimed the group violated the company's terms of service and refunded the contributions to donors.

Mineo argued the crowdfunding platform neglected to specify which term of service the page violated. He suspected, however, that GoFundMe didn't support his stance on CRT and believed he was spreading misinformation.

'Because I'm anti-CRT, that's it,' he said of the decision, speaking to the Virginia Star.

'The fact that I'm anti-CRT and that I'm spreading misinformation.'

He added: 'But almost everything that I post comes from the school system themselves. It's their material.'

Loudon County, a Democratic stronghold in northern Virginia, became the focal point of debate over woke policies, including CRT and transgender issues, by school boards across the country.

Parents voiced their frustration with the school board, saying they did not want their children to be taught that they're bad or good depending on their race.

The use of critical race theory, or CRT, in education has been criticized for its message that the US is built on racism with skin color determining the social, economic, and political differences between each.

Advocates say its teaching is necessary to underline how deeply racism pervades society, while critics say it is divisive and paints everyone as a victim or oppressor, with multiple Virginia school board meetings making headlines after parents were filmed clashing with staff over the decision to teach it.

Organizers and participants - although many have remained peaceful - have been accused of calling their political opponents Nazis, waving swastikas and Confederate flags, and threatening an insurrection against the Canadian government

People walk near police cars parked beside several trucks as truckers and supporters protest in Ottawa on Friday

GoFundMe has repeatedly flip-flopped over its stance on the Freedom Convoy fundraiser.

It suspended the account twice, before ultimately removing the campaign, and reportedly began refunding donations earlier this week although the company had not yet canceled the fundraiser.

Brad Maier, a convoy donor, said received an email from GoFundMe on Wednesday alerting him that his donation would be refunded but was given no explanation as to why.

'The email looks legitimate, I just want to wait and see if it actually gets refunded to my credit card,' he told the Montreal Gazette. 'Then I will know if it's legit.'

The Ottawa Police Department thanked GoFundMe for discontinuing the fundraiser

Other social media users had also reported unexplained refunds from the platform.

Since last weekend, hundreds of long-haul truckers have blockaded Parliament Hill in Ottawa as well as a key border crossing between Alberta and Montana, railing against vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions.

Organizers and participants - although many have remained peaceful - have been accused of calling their political opponents Nazis, waving swastikas and Confederate flags, and threatening an insurrection against the Canadian government, the Conservation reported.

Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly said earlier this week that 'all options' were on the table, including calling in the military, to end the ongoing demonstration that some on the city council are calling an 'occupation.'

Trudeau, responding to Sloly's remarks Thursday, said the government must be 'very, very cautious' about deploying troops on Canadian soil, adding that there has been no such request to the federal government. But he said that any formal requests for assistance from the City of Ottawa or Ontario will be considered.

The Ottawa Police Department, taking to Twitter Friday, thanked GoFundMe for discontinuing the fundraiser.

'We want to thank GoFundMe for listening to our concerns as a City and a police service,' the department wrote. 'The decision to withhold funding for these unlawful demonstrations is an important step and we call on all crowdfunding sites to follow.'

Police barricades are seen as truckers and supporters continue to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates on Friday

Protestors are pictured outside Ottawa's Parliament Hill

The Freedom Convoy fundraiser was first frozen last week, when it totaled $5million in donations, because GoFundMe wanted to determine exactly where the funds would go.

It was provided with an explanation by the organizers and two days later, seemingly satisfied, the crowdfunding site unlocked the account allowing donations to continue and released $1million in donated funds.

On Wednesday, it was frozen again, after days of political pressure from left-wing politicians who have blasted the truckers as 'mercenaries.' The company issued a statement saying: 'This fundraiser is currently paused and under review to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.

'Our team is working 24/7 and doing all we can to protect both organizers and donors. Thank you for your patience.'

GoFundMe later clarified the account met its terms and services at the time of its creation last month.

'We strictly prohibit user content that reflects or promotes behavior in support of violence - in this case, the organizer met our requirements and the fundraiser did not violate our Terms of Service at the time of creation.'

A GoFundMe campaign that was organized to support the Canadian truckers demonstration raised more than $10million CAD

The company claimed Thursday it was monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the money - raised from more than 120,000 donations - goes to the intended recipients, and went on to detail the criteria on how it intends to discern the integrity and transparency of the organizers of the fundraiser.

'As the activity surrounding the protest evolves, we have been monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the funds are going to the intended recipients and that the fundraiser remains within our Terms of Service.

'Our monitoring includes maintaining close communication with the organizer as well as collaborating with local law enforcement,' GoFundMe said.

'This process takes time and may slow down the withdrawal process. If the fundraiser does violate our Terms of Service or does not directly benefit the intended beneficiary, we will remove it from the platform,' the site added at the time.

Similarly, Facebook has also removed a page used by American truckers to organize a convoy to Washington DC.

Meta, the social media platform's parent company, told Fox News the Convoy to DC 2022 group was removed 'for repeatedly violating our policies around QAnon'.

Trucker Jeremy Johnson, who established the group, claims his personal Facebook account was also removed, prompting him to contact a civil rights attorney about his options moving forward.

'It's censorship at its finest,' he said. 'They like to silence people that speak the truth.'

Lich, who launched a TikTok account Friday night as a way to provide updates to convoy supporters, claims her Facebook account has also been suspended.
HBO host Bill Maher has defended ousted CNN boss Jeff Zucker, saying he doesn't care about consensual workplace relationships and feels the scandal was overblown.

Zucker this week resigned under pressure for violating corporate policy by not disclosing the nature of his consensual romance with second-in-command Allison Gollust, his friend and colleague of over 20 years.

'In the old days this was called discretion -- I'm not going to tell everyone who I'm f***ing,' said Maher on Friday's episode of Real Time. 'Now, I didn't tell everybody who I'm f***ing, and I'm the bad guy?'

Although HBO is also owned by CNN parent company WarnerMedia, which AT&T is planning to spin out in a merger with Discovery, Maher insisted that he had 'no dog in this fight.'

'I don't want to be on CNN, he can't do anything for me, I can't do anything for him,' Maher said of Zucker.

Warning: Explicit Language

HBO host Bill Maher has defended ousted CNN boss Jeff Zucker, saying he doesn't care about consensual workplace relationships and feels the scandal was overblown

Zucker (left) this week resigned for violating corporate policy by not disclosing the nature of his consensual romance with second-in-command Allison Gollust (right)

Maher noted that Zucker is '56 and not married' and 'was having a relationship with a 49-year-old, I think that's age-appropriate.'

'He had to resign over that? I don't understand this, why a 56-year-old and a 49-year-old can't have a consensual relationship,' he said.

Referring to Zucker's claim, disputed by some insiders, that the romantic relationship first began during pandemic restriction, Maher added: 'She's boning Jeff because of COVID. Great!'

Real Time panelist Katherine Mangu-Ward, the editor in chief of Reason Magazine also expressed her disinterest in the romantic lives of Zucker and Gollust, who are both divorced.

'I would be totally delighted to never know anything about the sex lives of CNN C-suite people. I would love to not know about that,' said Mangu-Ward.

Mangu-Ward said that she was disturbed by Zucker's potential involvement in the cozy relationship between CNN and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, but felt the workplace relationship element of the scandal was overblown.

'Every layer of the onion is just dumber and makes you cry more,' she said.

Zucker with his ex-wife Caryn in 2011 (left) and Gollust with her ex-husband Billy Hult (right) in 2008. The pair have known each other and worked together for 20 years, starting at ABC, and media sources say their affair was an 'open secret'

'Americans spend all of their time at work, they're going to f*** each other. It's perfectly normal,' added panelist Johann Hari, the British-Swiss author.

'This is completely different from sexual harassment. Actually to be honest, it sounds like quite a touching love story.'

Zucker was reportedly given no choice but to resign by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who characterized the change as his decision at an emotional meeting with CNN Washington staff members Wednesday night.

On Friday night, CNN host Don Lemon welled up in tears as he finally discussed Zucker's resignation, and lavished praise on his former boss for all he has done for him over the years.

The host of 'Don Lemon Tonight' started Friday's show with a 'personal message' following a 'very tough day' for him after Zucker was ousted from CNN on Wednesday for not disclosing to the network that he was involved with Gollust.

Don Lemon started his show with a 'personal message' after a 'very tough day' for him days following his former boss Jeff Zucker's resignation

Lemon - who was featured prominently in a photo of Zucker and his lover Allison Gollust at a Billy Joel concert that helped expose their relationship- offered high praise for the man he credited for his career

They claim their romance began during the pandemic, but sources tell DailyMail.com and other outlets that their secret relationship had started years earlier.

After two days of not reporting on the downfall of one of the most powerful men in media, a teary-eyed Lemon thanked Zucker for giving him a career in TV news.

What Lemon didn't broach was the photo of Zucker and his lover Gollust at a Billy Joel concert that helped expose their relationship - and in which he is featured prominently in the row behind the couple.

Instead, what viewers saw was a passionate on-air farewell and defense of the man who gave him a $4 million annual salary to host his own show.

'The truth is we are all heartbroken because we lost our leader here, we lost a man who was the backbone, the glue and the spirit of his company,' said Lemon.
A Clarence House spokesperson said Charles and Camilla were 'touched and honoured' by the gesture

'I know you will give them the same support you have given me,' the Queen said in her statement

Statement ends years of uncertainty about what role Charles' wife would have in the future of the monarchy

The significant announcement was made by Elizabeth II in her Platinum Jubilee message to the nation

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Camilla will be crowned Queen Consort when Charles becomes King, it has been confirmed for the first time.

The Queen assured the Duchess of Cornwall's future status in an historic Platinum Jubilee statement issued late last night, ending years of uncertainty over the issue.

In her surprise announcement, Her Majesty declared it was her 'sincere wish' for her daughter-in-law to be fully acknowledged when Charles succeeds her.

The Queen issued the message, shoring up her support for her heir and his wife, as she today marks a milestone 70 years on the Throne.

The statement also quashed speculation that the 95-year-old Monarch might abdicate, as she reiterated her Coronation pledge. She told her subjects 'my life will always be devoted to your service'  and that she would continue to honour that 'with all my heart'.

In her message to the nation  signed 'Your Servant, Elizabeth R'  the Queen said: 'When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.'

Charles and Camilla were 'touched and honoured' by the Queen's gesture, Clarence House said.

The prince will make his own public declaration on Sunday celebrating his mother's Jubilee.

A spokesman for the couple said: 'The Prince of Wales will be issuing a statement of congratulation to the Queen on Accession Day. He and the Duchess of Cornwall are touched and honoured by Her Majesty's words.'

It is the clearest sign yet not just of the Queen's unswerving support for her daughter-in-law but proof of her enduring affection for the woman who has secured her eldest son's happiness.

The Queen has used her Platinum Jubilee message to the nation to back Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to become Queen Consort in a significant move to shape the future of the monarchy on her historic milestone. Pictured: Her Majesty smiles as she leaves a reception at Sandringham House earlier today

In a statement that ends years of uncertainty, Elizabeth II has expressed her 'sincere wish' that Camilla be given the title when Charles ascends to the throne, telling the public 'I know you will give them the same support you have given me' Pictured: The Queen, the Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attend a state banquet for the King of the Netherlands

A Clarence House spokesperson said Charles and Camilla were 'touched and honoured' by the Queen's gesture, which ends years of uncertainty over the Duchess of Cornwall's role in the future of the monarchy. Pictured: The Prince of Wales and Camilla at The Prince's Foundation at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London on Thursday

With the Queen setting out her wishes and calling for people to support Charles and Camilla, the duchess will undoubtedly be crowned alongside the prince at his coronation when the time comes. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duchess of Rothesay share a laugh during a visit to Dumfries House, Scotland

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee message in full 'Tomorrow, 6th February, marks the 70th anniversary of my Accession in 1952. It is a day that, even after 70 years, I still remember as much for the death of my father, King George VI, as for the start of my reign. As we mark this anniversary, it gives me pleasure to renew to you the pledge I gave in 1947 that my life will always be devoted to your service. As I look ahead with a sense of hope and optimism to the year of my Platinum Jubilee, I am reminded of how much we can be thankful for. These last seven decades have seen extraordinary progress socially, technologically and culturally that have benefitted us all; and I am confident that the future will offer similar opportunities to us and especially to the younger generations in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth. I am fortunate to have had the steadfast and loving support of my family. I was blessed that in Prince Philip I had a partner willing to carry out the role of consort and unselfishly make the sacrifices that go with it. It is a role I saw my own mother perform during my father's reign. This anniversary also affords me a time to reflect on the goodwill shown to me by people of all nationalities, faiths and ages in this country and around the world over these years. I would like to express my thanks to you all for your support. I remain eternally grateful for, and humbled by, the loyalty and affection that you continue to give me. And when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service. And so as I look forward to continuing to serve you with all my heart, I hope this Jubilee will bring together families and friends, neighbours and communities - after some difficult times for so many of us - in order to enjoy the celebrations and to reflect on the positive developments in our day-to-day lives that have so happily coincided with my reign.' Your Servant Elizabeth R. Advertisement

Crucially, the official statement, written in Sandringham, overturns previous Palace guidance that Camilla would only ever be known as 'Princess Consort'.

Announcing the Prince of Wales's engagement in February 2005, two months before their wedding in Windsor's Guildhall, a Palace statement said: 'It is intended that Mrs Parker Bowles should use the title HRH The Princess Consort when The Prince of Wales accedes to the Throne.'

Princess Diana would have automatically been granted the title Queen Consort had she lived and the couple stayed married. But it was never certain that, as his second wife, Camilla would receive the same title.

The Queen has always been keen to sanction the union and gave a warm speech on Charles and Camilla's wedding day, telling guests: 'My son is home and dry with the woman he loves.'

Camilla's biographer Penny Junor said the Queen's endorsement was 'a hugely significant moment' for the Duchess.

'This is brilliant news because if this is the Queen's wish, then I don't think people will question it,' she said.

'The Duchess of Cornwall thoroughly deserves the title. She will not overshadow Charles when he becomes King but she will be the strength behind the throne, giving him the confidence and courage he needs.'

And Royal historian Hugo Vickers said: 'Making it clear that Camilla should be Queen is not just a wise and generous decision, it is a masterstroke and typical of a thoughtful sovereign. The timing has great symbolism. This is an important moment for the Monarchy.'

Yesterday's message was released after the Queen appeared at her first public event since October. She laughed and chatted to guests as she hosted a tea party in the ballroom at Sandringham for community groups.

Today, however, will be a moment of 'private reflection', according to Palace sources. She will remember not only her father, George VI, who died at Sandringham on this day in 1952, but also mourn the Duke of Edinburgh, who died last April, in the 74th year of their marriage.

The Queen famously referred to Prince Philip as her 'strength and stay' and is now said to feel that it is only right for her son's wife to receive the proper recognition for Camilla's future role as Consort to the King.

She is said to have been impressed by the hard work shown by her daughter-in-law and the support she has shown Prince Charles. Similarly, as she remembers her father, she recognises the role her mother played in supporting him as King.

Her statement noted: 'I am fortunate to have had the steadfast and loving support of my family. I was blessed that in Prince Philip I had a partner willing to carry out the role of consort and unselfishly make the sacrifices that go with it. It is a role I saw my own mother perform during my father's reign.'

She also thanked all those people who had shown her goodwill and support over the years, writing: 'I remain eternally grateful for, and humbled by, the loyalty and affection that you continue to give me.'

Due to her age, the Queen has increasingly relied on Charles and Camilla to shoulder some of the burden of the head of state.

In recognition of this, Buckingham Palace last year announced that Camilla was to be made a Royal Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior order of chivalry in Britain.

But there have been other signs of Camilla's elevation in status. In 2016 she was promoted to the Privy Council, a role which will ensure that she is by Charles's side when he is officially sworn in as King.

On the eve of her Platinum Jubilee, The Queen made guests laugh as she joked about cutting a cake during a special reception for the historic milestone - with attendees saying she was on 'sparkling' form

During the event, her Majesty was presented with a locally-baked cake and a large knife and was invited to cut the first slice. Plunging the blade in, she made guests laugh when she joked: 'I think I might just put the knife in it... someone else can do the rest'

Guests at the reception included members of the local community and volunteer groups including the Women's Institute

Photographs were released yesterday of Her Majesty looking at her Platinum Jubilee cards and memorabilia from the Golden Jubilee in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle

One of the photos shows her majesty taking a break from looking at memorabilia, to lean down and stroke her pet Dorgi called Candy

Camilla's journey from royal mistress to Queen Consort The Duchess of Cornwall is the former royal mistress who will now stand shoulder to shoulder as Queen with the Prince of Wales when he becomes King. Camilla's public image has been transformed after she was initially cast as the 'third' person in the Prince and Diana, Princess of Wales' marriage, before becoming a campaigning member of the monarchy prepared to serve the nation. Underneath, she was the down-to-earth Sussex girl who grew up with a love of horses and happened to fall in love with a prince. Prince Charles and Camilla on their wedding day in 2005 During the 17 years she has been married to Charles, the duchess has grown into her role and is now an assured royal host when staging events at Clarence House and a confident representative of the Queen when invited to foreign lands. She is patron or supporter of a number of literacy charities, speaks out in support of victims of domestic violence and champions several animal welfare organisations. But her most significant role is supporting the prince and being the comforting presence at home that enables him to take on the role of heir to the throne. After Charles and Camilla both divorced - and Diana died in l997 - the duchess' emergence as the prince's long-term partner was part of a carefully planned PR campaign masterminded by the heir to the throne's spin doctor Mark Bolland. Their first public appearance together was outside the Ritz hotel in London in 1999, dubbed Operation Ritz, where the mass of waiting photographers had been tipped off. The culmination of the romance was a marriage between the long-time lovers who wed in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on April 9, 2005. With Camilla by his side, Charles appears more relaxed and many times during royal events she has cajoled and encouraged him to try something new or have some fun. Now the Queen's wishes have bestowed upon Camilla the ultimate accolade in recognition of her importance to Charles and the monarchy. Advertisement

In vowing her continued service, the Queen was echoing sentiments she expressed on her 21st birthday.

Four years before she became Queen, she said: 'I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.'

Her message last night concluded with the hope her Jubilee celebrations might bring people together 'after some difficult times for so many of us... to reflect on the positive developments in our day-to-day lives that have so happily coincided with my reign'.

On the eve of her Platinum Jubilee,The Queen made guests laugh as she joked about cutting a cake during a special reception for the historic milestone - with attendees saying she was on 'sparkling' form.

The monarch joined members of the local community in the ballroom of Sandringham House in Norfolk as she just hours away from becoming the first British sovereign to reach a historic 70 years on the throne.

She cut a Jubilee cake, met members of the local Women's Institute and chatted to former cookery school student Angela Wood who helped to perfect the famous coronation chicken dish served to guests after her 1953 Coronation ceremony.

Wearing an Angela Kelly wedgwood blue crepe with white brocade dress, the Queen, who beamed with delight throughout, used a wooden walking stick to rest on and also carried her trademark black handbag.

The Queen was aptly wearing glittering platinum jewellery - The Nizam of Hyderabad Rose brooches - given to her as part of a diamond tiara set when she married Philip in 1947.

During the event, her Majesty was presented with a locally-baked cake and a large knife and was invited to cut the first slice.

Plunging the blade in, she made guests laugh when she joked: 'I think I might just put the knife in it... someone else can do the rest.'

Yvonne Browne, vice-president and chairman of the Sandringham WI, described the Queen as being on 'sparkling' form.

In her message, the Queen also reflected on the sad anniversary of the death of her father.

'It is a day that, even after 70 years, I still remember as much for the death of my father, King George VI, as for the start of my reign,' she said.

The Queen, who signed the message 'Your servant Elizabeth R', pledged to continue to 'serve you with all my heart'.

She spoke of looking forward to the rest of her Jubilee year, writing: 'As I look ahead with a sense of hope and optimism to the year of my Platinum Jubilee, I am reminded of how much we can be thankful for.

'These last seven decades have seen extraordinary progress socially, technologically and culturally that have benefitted us all; and I am confident that the future will offer similar opportunities to us and especially to the younger generations in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth.'

She acknowledged the challenges faced by the nation during the pandemic, saying she hoped the Jubilee would 'bring together families and friends, neighbours and communities - after some difficult times for so many of us'.

The Jubilee is the Queen's first without her consort Philip - her 'strength and stay'- who died just 10 months ago at the age of 99.

Today's celebration followed the release of official photos yesterday, kicking off a series of Jubilee celebrations.

The images showed the Queen looking at her Platinum Jubilee cards and memorabilia from the Golden Jubilee in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle.

In her message, the Queen also reflected on the sad anniversary of the death of her father. 'It is a day that, even after 70 years, I still remember as much for the death of my father, King George VI, as for the start of my reign,' she said

The monarch was spotted holding her stick as she left Sandringham House after the reception. Hunstanton Concert Band, played 'Congratulations' as she left

On visits to Sandringham, the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret would cycle around the estate and join their mother and father overseeing the harvest. (Above, Elizabeth with her father, George VI, at Sandringham in 1943)

Pictured: King George VI and his wife Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother (right) pose with their daughter, then-Princess Elizabeth, as they celebrate her 18th birthday at Windsor Castle in 1944

Elizabeth II was in Kenya on a Royal Tour of the Commonwealth when her father King George VI died aged 56, making her Queen. This photo of Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Philip, was taken the day before she learnt she was to become Queen

Her Majesty made sure to pay a touching tribute to her beloved 'Papa', George VI, wearing the aquamarine and diamond clip brooches he gifted her for her 18th birthday in April 1944.

National celebrations to mark the Jubilee are being held on a special four-day bank holiday weekend in June, with festivities including a pop concert at the Palace, a service of thanksgiving and a pageant on The Mall.

There have also been calls to make the extra public holiday permanent, as a 'Thank Holiday' in recognition of the Queen's extraordinary 70 years of service.

It is understood Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie are 'highly supportive of the idea', which would require a change in the law.

Elsewhere, baking royalty Dame Mary Berry is set to judge a Platinum Pudding competition to find a 'classic' dessert that fits the Queen's reign. Entries closed yesterday, with the first judging round starting on Monday.

The Queen, 95, appeared in high spirits earlier this week as she was driven in her Land Rover around her Sandringham estate ahead of the 70th anniversary of her father's death - and her accession to the throne - on Sunday

The monarch usually spends the festive period at Sandringham, but has remained at Windsor Castle since the autumn as a Covid precaution and held muted Christmas celebrations with Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex. She would usually be accompanied by her late husband Prince Philip (pictured together last year)

Wood Farm (pictured), an unassuming cottage on the edge of the Sandringham Estate close to the Norfolk coastline where the Queen will privately mark her 70 years on the throne

Her Majesty is currently staying at Prince Philips's beloved Wood Farm cottage on the Sandringham estate where she is expected to spend Accession Day, on February 6, with her family.

The monarch usually spends the festive period at Sandringham, but has remained at Windsor Castle since the autumn as a Covid precaution and held muted Christmas celebrations with Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex.

In preparation for the anniversary of her father George VI on February 6, 1952, the Queen made a special trip by helicopter followed by a short drive by car to Norfolk last month.

A source told the Mail on Sunday: 'Everything is being put in order for the Queen's visit.

'We've been told that she will stay at Wood Farm, rather than the main house, which is nice as that always had a special place in his heart.'

It started at the Ritz: Charles' 22-year campaign to win the public over to the 'non-negotiable' woman in his life

ByIan Gallagher Chief Reporter For The Mail On Sunday

How different it all was on that cold Thursday night outside The Ritz more than 20 years ago. It was Charles and Camilla's coming out, a fleeting but scrupulously choreographed appearance before the world's press.

Charles's natural inclination had been to go public with Camilla at a royal event which, in his eyes, would have lent a certain dignity, but the Queen  yet to be won over by Mrs Parker Bowles  was having none of it.

And so here they were, this middle-aged man and woman, in a dark side street in Mayfair at just before midnight.

The couple had spent the evening at a 50th birthday party and as they stepped from the hotel on to the pavement  Charles sheepish, Camilla petrified  a blizzard of camera flashes froze them in time.

Later the British Epilepsy Association would urge broadcasters not to use the footage on TV, lest it trigger seizures.

How different it all was on that cold Thursday night outside The Ritz more than 20 years ago. It was Charles and Camilla's coming out, a fleeting but scrupulously choreographed appearance before the world's press

This appearance in 1999 was the apex of the finely tuned strategy to win the British people round to the idea of the 'non-negotiable' woman in Prince Charles's life.

Everyone knew about Camilla at this juncture of course, but she had always remained out of sight  and for good reason.

Princess Diana was universally adored and cast a long shadow. For many, when Charles confessed to adultery, Camilla was public enemy No 1, irredeemably the other woman.

Now the couple were dipping their toes into uncharted water and while it wasn't exactly warm, neither was it icy. Still, there was a long road ahead.

She was public enemy No 1... but began to find a place in Britains heart

In truth, Campaign Camilla  the name given to the operation to endear her to the public  had begun 18 months earlier. In June 1997 invitations started appearing: come and join Camilla Parker Bowles for a party in aid of her charity, the National Osteoporosis Society.

Newspaper editors and a sprinkling of celebrities and publishers were sure to attend. The idea was to present Camilla in a new, softer light. But then Diana died, and the party was abandoned.

The campaign was led by Mark Bolland, the controversial PR executive hired by Prince Charles in 1996 as an assistant private secretary.

From then on, he took every opportunity to show Charles as a loving father and concerned single parent, while trying to win public acceptance for Mrs Parker Bowles.

Nine months after the crash in Paris that claimed Diana's life, Camilla met Prince William at St James's Palace.

Charles's natural inclination had been to go public with Camilla at a royal event which, in his eyes, would have lent a certain dignity, but the Queen  yet to be won over by Mrs Parker Bowles  was having none of it. Pictured: A bracelet Charles gave Camilla bearing the letters G and F for their pet names Gladys and Fred

At first, it was said to be a chance meeting, but this was untrue. In fact, William requested the meeting so he could ask her personally to help him organise a surprise early 50th birthday party for his father.

After the Ritz appearance, the campaign gained fresh momentum. Suddenly Camilla was everywhere. She and Charles were together on the yacht of a Greek businessman with four close friends.

Warm and witty, with an infectious laugh, she connects effortlessly

Then came the series of parties to mark the Prince's half century, the highlight of which was the one Camilla arranged for 300 guests at Charles's Gloucestershire home, Highgrove.

By this time it was being quietly leaked that she was spending more and more nights with Charles both at Highgrove and at St James's Palace.

Nothing, though, could alter the perception that the relationship between the Queen and Camilla was as frosty as ever.

Yet behind the scenes, Mr Bolland was working tirelessly and still had a few tricks up his sleeve. Charles and Camilla had taken an official trip to Scotland, staying at the Queen's Edinburgh residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The key moment came in 2000 when the Queen met Camilla at Highgrove during a party thrown to mark the 60th birthday of former King Constantine of Greece.

After the Ritz appearance, the campaign gained fresh momentum. Suddenly Camilla was everywhere. She and Charles were together on the yacht of a Greek businessman with four close friends

It was their first 'public' meeting and, chiefly due to the efforts of Mr Bolland, could scarcely have been more high-profile.

Sometimes, though, his ploys  mischievously spreading stories detrimental to senior royals to make Camilla look good in comparison  backfired.

But, as the years passed, Camilla learned to go her own way and quietly, steadily, it paid off and she began to find a place in Britain's heart.

If there were any lingering doubts about her acceptance by the court of public opinion, they were dispelled by the Queen's ringing endorsement yesterday.

These days Camilla is admired for her charity work, taking on issues such as rape and sexual abuse, domestic violence, literacy and medical issues including juvenile diabetes and muscular dystrophy.

Detractors have accused her of laziness, but even if she does not pack in as many engagements as some royals, she connects effortlessly with the public.

Warm and witty with an infectiously throaty laugh, she does so without sacrificing dignity or upstaging her husband.

Which is why, it seems, that the Queen is confident that she'll make the perfect consort when her husband ascends the throne.

'I'll just put a knife in it...someone else can do the rest!': The Queen marks 70 years on the throne with cake, flowers  and lots of laughs

ByKate Mansey Assistant Editor For The Mail On Sunday

The Queen laughed and joked with guests at a Sandringham tea party yesterday to mark the start of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

In her first public engagement for more than three months, Her Majesty met estate workers, volunteers and members of the local Womens Institute  and plunged a knife into a celebratory cake.

Ill put the knife in, see if it works, she joked, before leaving the cutting to an aide. Somebody else can finish it off.

Today she celebrates a landmark 70 years on the Throne.

Although yesterday was a joyful occasion, the Queen paid a discreet tribute to her late husband Prince Philip by wearing two Nizam of Hyderabad rose brooches, which had been wedding presents.

She was also seen carrying Philips trusty wooden walking stick but, despite recent health fears, was largely walking unaided.

Queen Elizabeth, 95, made cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception at Sandringham House in Norfolk

Shaun Mason (left) a junior sous chef created small tartlets filled with coronation chicken - which he offered to Angela Wood (far left), who helped create the original coronation chicken recipe in the 50s

Her Majesty quipped that she could read the decorative writing even though the cake was facing the wrong way for her, and instead was the right way round for the assembled press

The Queen was on sparkling form according to Yvonne Browne, vice-president of the Sandringham branch of the Womens Institute, which has counted Her Majesty as a member since 1943.

The Monarch was introduced to one cook who helped create the original recipe for Coronation Chicken, devised to mark the day she was crowned in 1953.

The Queen laughed as Angela Wood, 88, told her that it took days and days to perfect the dish that includes chicken, freshly-ground curry spices, apricot puree and mayonnaise.

She told the Queen: Its probably changed because in those days we did some things quite differently. Yesterday guests were invited to try a modern variation in the form of bite-sized Coronation Chicken tartlets.

The Queen raised a laugh when she told guests: Ill go away. You can tell me [what you think] when I come back.

'Sparkling': Her Majesty, who was wearing a powder blue dress, appeared in good spirits as she hosted the special event

The Jubilee is the Queen's first without her consort Philip - her 'strength and stay'- who died just 10 months ago at the age of 99

Her Majesty will spend today in a sombre mood, remembering her beloved father, George VI, who died in Sandringham at the age of just 56.

She has been staying at Wood Farm, the cottage on the edge of the Norfolk estate that Prince Philip called home.

Yesterday, the Queen stopped to chat to a group of former estate workers about the cottage, saying that the Duke had loved it because the sea was so close.

Reminiscing about the devastating floods that hit Norfolk and the surrounding counties in 1953 she said: I remember sitting at dinner, the fire alarm went off  no fire, the sea was coming in.

Its a very nasty experience, you go to the top of the [sea] wall and its there. She then raised her hand to her face as if indicating the level of the sea.

Despite the bracing temperatures, the monarch look stoic in her green winter coat. She wrapped one of her trademark headscarves around the top of her walking cane

Photographs were released yesterday of Her Majesty looking at her Platinum Jubilee cards and memorabilia from the Golden Jubilee in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle

Teresa Thompson, 70, a former housekeeper of Wood Farm, said after chatting to the Queen: All the Royal Family love Wood Farm, because its out of the way, its small, Its intimate.

You havent got lots of officials and household, its just the close staff. And they can relax in the family house.

Its wonderful. I had a wonderful 22 years down there. It was the best time of my life without a doubt.

The Queen was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a written loyal address from primary school children from West Norfolk, which read: You have shown a caring manner, determination, and dedication to help other people. We think youre doing a great job! We are very lucky to have had you as our Queen for so long.

After reading it, the Queen gave her candid verdict: Most addresses are usually pompous, she observed. This is so much nicer.
These shocking images show the Atlantic covered in a carpet of more than 100,000 dead fish.

The blue whiting, a subspecies of cod used in fish fingers, were dumped by the world's second-largest trawler off the west coast of France, prompting outrage among campaigners.

The Dutch owner of FV Margiris said it was a 'rare' accident  caused because the sheer weight of the haul caused the net to rupture.

But activists at Sea Shepherd France claimed the trawler simply dumped fish it did not want to process, in breach of EU rules.

The group's head, Lamya Essemlali, said: 'The temptation is big for these vessels at sea without any witness, any control, to just throw overboard all the bycatch [fish they did not mean to capture] and stay in the area, and keep on fishing.

Campaigners from Sea Shepherd, with their own vessel in the background, survey the massive catch dumped by FV Margiris off the French coast. Trawlermen say their net burst in a 'rare' accident

The blue whiting, a subspecies of cod used in fish fingers, were dumped (above) by the world's second-largest trawler off the west coast of France. Activists at Sea Shepherd France claimed the trawler simply dumped fish it did not want to process, in breach of EU rules

'There is total impunity at sea. There are no fines. There is a lot of money to be made and we have to improve the controls at sea, we have to put cameras on board all the fishing vessels.

'It has an impact on the fish population itself but also it has an impact on the predators, like dolphins, because the fish that these super-trawlers are fishing are the main preys of dolphins and sharks. Basically, we are driving dolphins to starvation.'

But a statement issued by trade group the Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association said the fish  which spread across 32,000 square feet off the coast of La Rochelle  had been 'involuntarily released' due to a rupture in the net 'caused by the unexpectedly large size of the fish caught'.

The industry body said the loss had been properly reported in line with EU law, and the fish 'which is of great value to our members' would be deducted from the vessel's quota, reducing what owners Parlevliet & Van der Plas could catch in future.

'It is not in our members' interest to lose any fish they take on board,' it added.

French environmental activist Lamya Essemlali said the size of Margiris  14 times larger than most trawlers  previously caused such controversy in Australia that the government changed fishing rules, and it left the country having never caught a single fish. (Above, file photo of the trawler)

'And we regret that this fish will now not be available for human consumption.'

France's maritime minister, Annick Girardin, called the images 'shocking' and said she had asked for an investigation

Trawlers such as Margiris use drag nets more than 1,000 yards long, then process the fish in on-board factories, a practice criticised by environmentalists.

Ms Essemlali added the size of Margiris  14 times larger than most trawlers  previously caused such controversy in Australia that the government changed fishing rules, and it left the country having never caught a single fish.

It was then sold to its Dutch owners, who now operate it under a Lithuanian flag.
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A five-year-old Moroccan boy who was trapped 100ft underground for four days has been found dead by rescue teams tonight - bringing a tragic end to a desperate search which had captivated the North African nation.

Rayan Awram fell into a 32-metre (105ft) well outside his home in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen, on Tuesday evening - sparking a race-against-the-clock rescue mission.

After digging vertically and then horizontally - all the while risking a landslide - rescuers finally reached the boy tonight as they were filmed removing his body before rushing him away to be treated by doctors, as thousands of gathered villagers shouted prayers and well wishes.

However government officials have now confirmed that the young boy could not be resuscitated, adding that he had tragically died before rescuers could reach him.

The boy's body was seen wrapped in a gold blanket after he emerged from a tunnel dug specifically for the rescue operation.

It came after a medical team were seen entering the tunnel with a stretcher, where they remained for over an hour.

Heartbreaking: Body of Rayan is placed into the back of an ambulance, but he could not be resuscitated

Tragic: Little Rayan Awram, aged five, was found dead on Saturday night following a four-day rescue mission to save him after he fell down a well

Heartbreaking: A beaming Rayan Awram, whose body was recovered on Saturday evening

Dozens nervously watch as Rayan is transferred from the rescue site to an ambulance

Devastated: Rayan's parents walk to ambulance after their son's body was recovered

Heart-stopping moment little Rayan is rushed to an ambulance underneath a gold blanket

Dramatic moment rescuers huddle as the body of little Rayan is brought to the surface

Little Rayan was swiftly removed from the scene by rescue teams donning red helmets

Security had to be increased at the site after thousands of villagers gathered to watch the dig reach its final stage

Dramatic moment Rayan is rushed to an ambulance after being discovered by rescue teams

An ambulance carries 5-year-old child, Rayan Awram, who has been trapped for five days in a well, to a helicopter

Parents of 5-year-old Rayan walk towards the tunnel as their son's body was being retrieved - his father had said he would hold out hope until the end

The parents of 5-year-old Rayan walk toward an ambulance after seeing their son's retrieved body

Rescue workers carry tragic Rayan to an ambulance on Saturday night

People gather during the rescue operation of 5-year-old child, Rayan Awram, who has been trapped for five days in a well, near Chefchaouen, northern Morocco

Locals could be heard shouting 'Allahu akbar' or 'God is greatest' as rescuers began to remove the boy (pictured)

The moment little Rayan was pulled from the hole on a stretcher on Saturday night

Rayan is hoisted into the back of an ambulance on a stretcher in the hopes he can be resuscitated. He was later confirmed to have died.

News cameras capture the moment Rayan is hoisted into the back of an ambulance on a stretcher in the hopes he can be resuscitated. He was later confirmed to have died.

People look on as an ambulance drives away from the scene where rescue crews worked to pull five-year-old Rayan

A family watches a televised statement as it announces the death of 5-year-old Rayan and a call between King Mohammed VI and his parents

Rescue workers carry the body of 5-year-old Rayan and place it in an ambulance after it was recovered from a well in which he was stuck for several days

Rescue workers line up after the body of 5-year-old Rayan was placed in an ambulance

Rescue workers carry the body of 5-year-old Rayan and place it in an ambulance

An ambulance (pictured) was waiting to rush Rayan to the hospital

The boy's anxious - and now devastated - parents had been escorted to an ambulance before he was pulled to the surface.

King Mohammed has since sent them his condolences, state media reported.

Meanwhile tributes to the boy have been pouring in on social media next to the SaveRayan hashtag.

One wrote: 'Rayan may you rest with the angels... I wish you knew you were not alone all those days and that everyone around the world was praying for your safe return. Morocco did you proud.'

Another said: 'Rest in peace, tears stream around the world for Rayan tonight - no regrets please from his rescuers because they honestly did everything they could to save that little boy!'

The world had watched on with bated breath as fears persisted that the cave could collapse at any moment during the tense four-day dig.

Moroccan media earlier reported that resuscitation specialists entered the tunnel alongside rescue crews, fuelling fears that the five-year-old required life-saving medical care.

Experts had warned that it was 'impossible' to confirm if the youngster was still alive, having fallen into the well five days ago, as the rescue team finally reached the stranded boy on Saturday afternoon.

Oxygen and water had earlier been given to the child, but it is not known if he was able to use them.

Onlookers applauded, sang religious songs and prayed. At one stage, they chanted in unison 'Allahu akbar' or 'God is greatest' as rescuers prepared to finally enter the cave for the final push Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday morning, the head of the rescue committee, Abdelhadi Temrani, said: 'It is not possible to determine the child's condition at all at this time. But we hope to God that the child is alive.'

Pictured: The site where rescuers were working to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco, in this still image taken from a video and obtained by Reuters on February 5, 2022

Tractors dig through a mountain as they take part in a rescue mission of a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole in the northern village of Ighran in Morocco's Chefchaouen province, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022

Bystanders watch as Moroccan emergency teams work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1, in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 4, 2022

Rescuers start to horizontal drilling operation as they continue to work to save 5-year-old boy trapped in a well in Chefchaouen, Morocco on February 5, 2022

A view shows a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco February 5, 2022

Rescuers stand near the hole of a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco February 5, 2022

Rescuers work to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco

Moroccan emergency services teams work on the rescue of five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1, in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 5, 2022

The complex, slow and risky earth-moving operation gripped residents of the North African kingdom and even sparked sympathy in neighbouring Algeria, a regional rival. Pictured: Rescue workers prepare large piping to create a tunnel

People gather as rescuers work to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco February 5, 2022

A general view shows the site where rescuers are working to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well (pictured bottom-right) in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco February 5, 2022

A massive trench was dug into the hill next to the well, leaving a gaping hole in the reddish earth. By Saturday morning they were digging horizontally towards the well, and installing PVC tubes to protect against landslides and get the boy out.

A glacial cold has gripped this mountainous and impoverished region of Rif, which is at an elevation of about 700 metres. As time went on, fears persisted over whether Rayan would have been recovered alive.

'We're almost there,' said one of the operation's leaders, Abdesalam Makoudi, earlier on Saturday, adding: 'Tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on.'

On Saturday, experts used a rope to send oxygen and water down to the boy as well as a camera to monitor him, but did not provide information about his condition.

On Friday, camera footage from the frantic rescue operation showed the boy lying at the bottom of the shaft, and he appeared to be breathing.

'I pray and beg God that he comes out of that well alive and safe,' his mother Wassima Kharchich told local television station 2M. 'Please God, ease my pain and his, in that hole of dust. The whole family went out to look for him then we realised that he'd fallen down the well,' she added, with tears in her eyes.

His father, who said he was repairing the well when the boy fell into it, was pictured nervously watching the rescue mission late on Friday night and into today.

'I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive,' Rayan's father told 2M on Friday evening. 'I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere.'

Scores of townspeople and others gathered to help and watch the rescue efforts. Nationwide, Moroccans took to social media to offer their hopes for the boy's survival, using the hashtag #SaveRayan which has brought global attention to the rescue efforts.

Thousands of people gathered around the site, surrounded by olive trees, where AFP reporters said the tension was palpable. Some applauded to encourage the rescuers.

The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky - so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.

The operation made the landscape resemble a construction site. It involved engineers and topographers, and was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils.

Red-helmeted Civil Defence personnel were at times suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face.

Pictured: Emergency service teams above the large pit watch on as their colleague continue their work. Behind them, a large crowd also watches over as the rescuers inch closer to the boy at the bottom of the well

People watch as Moroccan emergency services teams work on the rescue of five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1, in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 5, 2022

A member of the Moroccan emergency services teams works on the rescue of five-year-old boy Rayan

His father (pictured), who said he was repairing the well when the boy fell into it, was pictured nervously watching the rescue mission late on Friday night

The rescue mission was said to be entering its final stages in the early hours of Saturday morning

A member of the Moroccan emergency services gestures as teams work on the rescue of five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1, in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 5

Working non-stop through the darkness overnight, under powerful floodlights that gave a gloomy air to the scene, workers dug a horizontal tunnel to reach the pocket where Rayan was situated.

Search crews first used five bulldozers to dig vertically to a depth of more than 31 metres, according to Morocco's official MAP news agency.

Then on Friday, they started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy as experts in topographical engineering were called upon for help.

Work had to be temporarily halted over fears the ground surrounding the well could collapse, but it was later resumed.

Medical staff, including specialists in resuscitation, are on site to attend to the boy once he is pulled out, with a helicopter on standby to transport him to the nearest hospital.

The Moroccan government previously said all efforts were being made to help save the boy.

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan trending across North Africa.

'Rescuers are literally in the process of moving a mountain to save little #Rayan. I hope that their efforts will not be in vain and that those who prayed for him will see their prayers answered,' one internet user wrote.

The boy's fate attracted crowds of people to the site, where parked cars lined the roads around the village and supporters are camping.

Police reinforcements had to be sent, and the swarm of onlookers sometimes impeded the rescuers' efforts.

Authorities called on the public to 'let the rescuers do their job and save this child.'

But one volunteer said he was there to help. 'We've been here for three days. Rayan is a child of our region. We won't leave until he's out of the well,' he said.

The accident echoes a tragedy in Spain in early 2019 when a two-year-old child died after falling into an abandoned well 25 centimetres wide and more than 70 metres deep.

Julen Rosello's body was recovered after a search and rescue operation that lasted 13 days.

Rescuers continue to work to free 5-year-old boy trapped in a well in Chefchaouen, Morocco, early on Saturday morning

Horizontal drilling was carried out in attempts to save the five-year-old boy, who has been stuck since midday on Tuesday

Rescue teams have continued efforts to extricate the boy for 76 hours in Chefchaouen, Morocco (pictured Saturday morning)

The rush to save the boy was reaching a critical stage on Friday. Pictured: rescuers continuing to work to free the five-year-old

Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan, who is trapped in a deep well for over two days, near Bab Berred in Morocco's rural northern province of Chefchaoue. Diggers continued working overnight in an attempt to free the boy

Authorities said the mission was nearing its end overnight, with spokespeople reporting around 3am GMT that there was less than 20ft of earth left to dig to reach him. Pictures from the scene overnight showed multiple diggers delving deep into the earth from multiple directions in order to reach the boy, as small crowds gathered on the edge of the ever-growing pit

Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan, who is trapped in a deep well for over two days, near Bab Berred in Morocco's rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 3, 2022

Pictured: Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to get five-year-old child Rayan out of a well into which he fell on Tuesday, in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred

Rescuers prepare part of a tunnel that will be used to access little Rayan as the search reached a critical stage on Friday night

Residents watch civil defense workers and local authorities attempting to rescue Rayan as search entered third day Friday

Moroccan emergency service climbers work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1

Emergency workers are pictured preparing a tunnel which will be used to access the boy horizontally

Hundreds of villagers gathered on Friday as they anxiously watched the rescue mission unfold

The rescue attempt has captivated the entire North African nation (Pictured: Nervous villagers watch the mission from the sidelines)

The rescue effort has captivated the nation with the hashtag #SaveRayan trending across social media (Pictured: Bystanders watch as Moroccan emergency teams work to rescue the five-year-old boy)

Pictures from the scene showed multiple diggers delving deep into the earth from multiple directions in order to reach the boy, as small crowds gathered on the edge of the ever-growing pit.

Meanwhile, footage showed rescuers sending cameras down the well's shaft to monitor the boy's situation, as the rescuers turned on floodlights to continue their efforts overnight.

On Thursday local media reported that he had taken food and water that was dropped down to him using a rope.

On Thursday afternoon, news website Le360 said that 'only nine metres' (30 foot) remained to be dug 'that will allow rescuers to reach the boy'.

The MAP news agency said rescuers had been able to send him oxygen and water via pipes.

Pictured: The hole of a well is seen in the foreground where the boy is said to have fallen 100ft, while in the background diggers work from multiple angles in an attempt to rescue him

Residents watch in concern as civil defence and local authorities dig in a hill as they attempt to rescue a 5 year old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Morocco, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022

Pictured: Video showing rescue workers sending cables down into the well in an attempt to reach the boy

Moroccans were still waiting anxiously on Thursday evening after authorities and firefighters launched the dramatic operation to save the boy from the deep well. Authorities tonight said the mission was nearing its end

Pictures and video from the scene today showed multiple diggers delving deep into the earth from multiple directions in order to reach the boy, as small crowds gathered on the edge of the ever-growing pit

The shaft that the boy fell down on Tuesday was too narrow for rescuers to reach the bottom, so heavy diggers were dispatched to dig a hole alongside it. It has been over 40 hours since the boy fell

Rayan's father told Le360 he had been repairing the well when the boy fell into it.

Lead rescuer Abdelhabi Temrani told Al Oula television that the diameter of the well was less than 45 centimetres.

Baitas said the nature of the soil meant it was too dangerous to try to widen the hole, meaning major excavations around it were the only solution.

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan going viral across the North African region, including in neighbouring Algeria.

'The heart of every Moroccan is with this angel,' one person wrote on Twitter.

The boy's fate also attracted crowds of people to the site of the operation, putting pressure on rescuers operating in 'difficult conditions', Baitas said.

'We call on citizens to let the rescuers do their job and save this child,' he said.

Authorities have also prepared a helicopter to take the child to hospital once he is extracted, national news channel 2M said.

Pictured: Video captured of a screen showing a camera's footage as it was lowered down into the well where the boy fell 100ft. The shaft was too narrow for rescuers to go down themselves, so they were forced to dig down the side of the well in an attempt to reach the boy

On Thursday afternoon, news website Le360 said that 'only nine metres' (30 foot) remained to be dug 'that will allow rescuers to reach the boy'

Residents watch in concern as civil defense and local authorities dig in a hill as they attempt to rescue a 5 year old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Morocco, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022

Rescue operations are underway by Moroccan authorities and firefighters to get five-year-old child Reyan out of a well into which he fell some two days earlier, in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred, Morocco, 03 February 2022
As a child of the Instagram generation, Carrie Johnson is a longtime devotee of social media. 'This job means I get to do some incredible things,' she posted proudly in December 2015 after attending a concert by renowned pianist Daniel Barenboim.

At the time she was Carrie Symonds, an adviser in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport  a post that gave her one of the most fulfilling periods of her professional life: free access to sporting events, exhibitions, music festivals and all manner of cultural activities offered plentiful Instagram opportunities.

For example, at the annual Pride of Britain charity awards, she photographed the actress Barbara Windsor and the TV personality Kelly Osbourne.

Alongside them was the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. After Carrie posted the picture online, a friend wrote: 'My God, your life! Soooo jealous!' This was the first occasion when Johnson's and Carrie's paths are known to have crossed.

As a child of the Instagram generation, Carrie Johnson is a longtime devotee of social media. 'This job means I get to do some incredible things,' she posted proudly in December 2015 after attending a concert by renowned pianist Daniel Barenboim. At the time she was Carrie Symonds, an adviser in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. (She is seen above in 2019)

In June 2016, Carrie posted another photo on her Instagram page. It showed Johnson and two other senior politicians boarding the infamous Vote Leave red bus.

John Whittingdale, her former Brexiteer boss at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says: 'I cannot say that I introduced her to Boris, but I don't think she knew him particularly well [before the Brexit campaign] and she will have come across him when she accompanied me to Vote Leave meetings.'

Some years later, Johnson confirmed that story in a speech, while thanking the Tory MP for helping change British history by supporting Leave. Whittingdale recalls: 'He also said I'd changed his life in all sorts of ways, including the fact that I'd 'helped bring him together with Carrie.' '

Before many months had elapsed, the pair's relationship would develop swiftly and dramatically.

By the autumn of 2017, Carrie was casting around for a new job, having completed a temporary placement with Sajid Javid, who was at the time Housing Secretary. She set her sights on a whole new challenge.

Her private life, too, was in a state of flux. Things between her and her long-term journalist boyfriend had cooled and she had become close to other men, one of whom was a married Conservative MP with a high public profile.

'Completely mesmerised': Carrie embraces Boris after his speech to the Conservative Party conference in 2019

Although I have decided not to name him, I can say that he was somebody other than Boris Johnson.

They were even seen together in a quiet area of the House of Commons 'not quite kissing but certainly much closer than a woman would normally stand next to a male colleague, put it like that,' says a source. 'The body language made it obvious something was happening.'

Even so, Johnson was at the forefront of her mind. One source recalls how, at this time, she began to quiz people about his personal life. 'There was a period where she repeatedly asked about Boris, the state of his marriage and whether he was 'available',' says the source.

'It got to the point where it was impossible not to ask her if she and Boris had become involved.

At this suggestion, Carrie once made a vomiting sign by pretending to stick her fingers down her throat. I can only think she did this either to show that she genuinely found Boris physically unattractive, or just to put others off the scent.'

Hearing that then Foreign Secretary Johnson was looking for a new special adviser, Carrie approached him about the role.

John Whittingdale (pictured), her former Brexiteer boss at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says: 'I cannot say that I introduced her to Boris, but I don't think she knew him particularly well [before the Brexit campaign] and she will have come across him when she accompanied me to Vote Leave meetings'

To her chagrin, Johnson hired Lee Cain, Vote Leave's broadcast communications strategist. But the matter would not end there.

In late 2017, civil servants at the Foreign Office advised Johnson to appoint a chief of staff. Installing somebody of the highest competence would, they believed, ease their collective post-Brexit burden. This suggestion seemed at first to fall on deaf ears.

But by the beginning of the following year, Johnson seemed keener on the plan. The person he had in mind for the plum, six-figure role? Carrie Symonds.

His allies were 'aghast', according to one source. She would have been out of her depth in such a senior post, they felt, with potentially disastrous consequences.

'Everyone advised him not to do it,' says a source. 'They told him she had been over-promoted and that making her his chief of staff was ridiculous.'

By the spring of 2018, a small number of Johnson's staff had become aware the couple were having an affair. Some were dismayed that he had betrayed his wife, Marina, whom they knew and liked. Others took the view that it was none of their business.

All now understood why Johnson had been so keen to hire Carrie as his chief of staff.

How she 'demanded a taxpayer-funded 538 gold-coloured iPad' This MoS mock-up shows how Carrie may have used a gold-coloured iPad Carrie's six months working as maternity cover as Sajid Javid's adviser in the Department for Communities and Local Government is little remembered. However, one source says she 'spent the whole time trying to get the department to buy her a gold-coloured iPad'. This purchase, at public expense, was 'eventually approved by email from the Secretary of State's private office,' according to the source, even though Apple products are understood to have been incompatible with the department's computer network. A Freedom of Information request about the purchase was not answered for three months, even though such requests should normally be dealt with in 20 working days. The delay was attributed to 'public interest' reasons. The response confirmed that 'one iPad with case was purchased for a Special Adviser at a price of 538'. The recipient was not named. Our mock-up, above, shows how Carrie may have used a gold-coloured iPad. Further inquiries failed on the grounds that this is 'personal, about another individual' and releasing details would breach UK data protection legislation. Advertisement

The relationship was to spell the end of his long marriage.

For Marina, Carrie is said to have represented the final humiliation.

Johnson's infidelities had caused her and their four children much heartache over the years. In 2009 he had even fathered a daughter with another woman, Helen Macintyre. Marina told friends that she could take no more and she wanted to divorce. Johnson is said to have been stunned.

'For Boris, Carrie was a fling,' says a source close to these events. 'He never expected to be with her long-term. He was shocked when Marina said she was divorcing him.

'He never expected it. So he settled for Carrie.'

It would be only a question of time before reporters knew enough of the situation to write about it, and there was a growing list of clues for them to go on. Earlier in the summer, for example, it did not go unnoticed that Carrie and Johnson had arrived within a minute of each other at a Spectator magazine party. One who was present says: 'I remember thinking it was intriguing. I thought to myself, 'Why is she here?' '

Perhaps it was a sense of certainty that others would eventually cotton on to the relationship that emboldened Carrie to focus her interest on her boyfriend's political career.

A source who was close to Johnson at the time recalls: 'That summer, she tried to muscle in. She bad-mouthed some of his staff and tried to persuade him that he needed to hire new people on his team.'

It was a foretaste of things to come.

By the autumn of 2017, Carrie was casting around for a new job, having completed a temporary placement with Sajid Javid, who was at the time Housing Secretary. She set her sights on a whole new challenge. (She is pictured in 2019)

In September 2018, The Sun broke the news of Johnson's marital problems  quoting his daughter Lara, and saying she was 'understood to have been overheard exploding with rage at her philandering dad'. The paper added: 'She is said to have told pals at a party he 'is a selfish bastard.' '

Other media coverage in the following days named Carrie as the new woman in his life and revealed that Marina was understood to have found a string of text messages between the pair.

Although Carrie had become involved with Johnson willingly, none of this can have been easy for her. Some people point out that she perhaps failed to comprehend fully how blinding the glare of publicity would be once the truth of the affair was exposed. Indeed, not every portrait that appeared in the Press was entirely flattering.

The Times quoted an unnamed source as saying: 'She was one of these girls who would be at all the parties. I can't remember her doing any work that was really good, but she was always at every party going.'

However, Conservative MP Laura Trott told the BBC that briefings against Carrie were, in her opinion, 'distasteful'. She said: 'I used to work with Carrie. She's an incredibly talented and able person and I think there should be some consideration given about whether some of these things would be said about a man.'

By December, Johnson, who had no permanent London base following his separation from Marina, had begun staying at Carrie's flat in Camberwell, South London.

After Christmas, the couple flew to Greece together for a few days. When he returned to Westminster, fellow MPs and journalists noticed that Johnson had a sharper look about him. He had lost some weight and had his hair cut.

With then Prime Minister Theresa May's political fortunes flagging, these were taken as outward signs that he had decided to make a move for the party leadership. It was equally clear to his political allies that Carrie intended to be actively involved in the process which he hoped would ultimately take him to 10 Downing Street.

As the screw tightened on Mrs May, her potential successors, Johnson among them, began mustering their troops.

In early April 2019, Johnson asked the former Tory Minister James (now Lord) Wharton to run his bid for the party leadership as his chief of staff.

Wharton told Johnson he was happy to take the job  only to be informed by a sheepish Johnson that the offer had been withdrawn.

'Boris told him that Carrie didn't trust him, and she wanted someone different in that post,' says a source who worked on the campaign.

Wharton was astounded, having apparently barely met Carrie by this point. Meanwhile, it is also claimed that Carrie made use of Johnson's telephone to try to direct and control events.

A campaign insider of the time remembers: 'We'd spot the different ways things were written, because the style would change. We'd learn to spot when it was her writing the message.

'So a text message would appear saying, for example, that there was a particular MP whose support we didn't need or want. We realised Boris couldn't have written the message because, the next day, Boris would contradict this.'

'For Boris, Carrie was a fling,' says a source close to these events. 'He never expected to be with her long-term. He was shocked when Marina (above together) said she was divorcing him

'It was a nightmare,' reports a separate source of Carrie's involvement. 'She had no ideas. She wasn't prepared to roll her sleeves up and work hard, and yet she interfered all the time. This caused many problems and wasted a lot of very valuable time.'

A second source adds: 'The problem was she would want to control everything, but she wouldn't work with anyone. There would be a team meeting, something would be decided and Boris would agree it.

'He would go home and tell Carrie everything that'd been decided, and then the phone would ring and it would be him saying, 'We've got to change this, we've got to do that, we're not going to do it like this any more.' '

It has even been alleged that, on occasion, Carrie could be heard whispering prompts to Johnson while these phone calls were in progress.

'It was a very difficult environment to work in,' adds the second source. 'You'd think you'd got things agreed and they'd be second-guessed all the time when they were together alone in an environment to which none of us had access.'

What is more, Carrie also began to insist on a prominent role in the campaign for a friend of hers, Ben Mallett  even, one source claims, to be the campaign chief of staff.

Another source adds: 'One day, Ben Mallett walked in and announced he was now the campaign's chief of staff. We told him politely that this was rubbish.

Hearing that then Foreign Secretary Johnson was looking for a new special adviser, Carrie approached him about the role. To her chagrin, Johnson hired Lee Cain (above), Vote Leave's broadcast communications strategist. But the matter would not end there

'Boris said it was fine because he was too cowardly to confront Carrie about it. When some people threatened to quit if Ben Mallett really did become the chief of staff, Boris said, 'Can't you just call him the chief of staff?'

'He was told in no uncertain terms that this would not happen.'

Attempts were also made by some on the team to sideline Carrie. These were not without comedy value.

'It got to the point where members of the team booked taxis for her if there was a meeting that she was supposed to attend,' recalls another source.

'The driver would be instructed to take the longest route possible to wherever the meeting was being held so that she would miss it. It sometimes worked.'

But others believe such allegations and accusations to be unfair, among them Carrie's ex-boss John Whittingdale. 'The influence [Carrie is] claimed to have [is inaccurate],' he says.

'Yes, I'm sure Boris and Carrie discuss things in a way that previous spouses would not, because they were much less political. Samantha Cameron had little interest in politics. Philip May didn't have a great knowledge of politics.

'This is the first time the PM's wife has been a committed political activist and had knowledge and experience of working in politics, so of course it's going to be talked about. But she's very good. She advised me for 15 months, so I know she's good.'

FRIENDS APPOINTED TO TOP GOVERNMENT JOBS: From far left: Best friend Henry Newman, appointed an aide to Boris: Allegra Stratton who became Boris's No 10 press spokesman; and Josh Grimstone who now works for Michael Gove

... AND OTHERS WHO WERE FROZEN OUT. Discarded: From far left: Ellie Lyons, labelled as 'bad news'; James Wharton, liked by Boris but rejected as 'untrustworthy' by Carrie; and Mimi Macejkova, replaced by a friend of Carrie

Tory MP Tracey Crouch told one newspaper she disliked the way that Carrie had been portrayed as a Lady Macbeth figure. 'I think it's a bit sexist,' said Crouch. 'I also think it's really rude to Boris.'

Johnson launched his leadership campaign on June 12, 2019. He and Carrie had never been seen in public at an official event before then, despite the news of their relationship having broken nine months earlier.

'On the day of his launch, we arranged he would arrive by car,' says a campaign team member. 'What does Carrie do? She arrives separately, gets out of her vehicle and walks quite a long way to the venue with a friend by her side, so all the press became about her.

'She didn't tell the organisers she was coming, or if she did tell them, it was at the last minute. She could have gone in by a side door or something, but it had to be her big entrance. It was constant irritations like this that disrupted rather than derailed  but seriously diverted  attention from Boris, taking up a lot of people's time in a high-pressure situation.'

Another source remembers a diary clash a few days later when Johnson was due to attend a breakfast event for Tory donors. It had been arranged by Ben Elliot, the nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall, who had a reputation as a first-rate fixer with an impeccable contacts book.

Yet according to this source, Carrie insisted that Johnson should appear instead at a different event, at the lobbying firm Brunswick. 'She organised it without telling anyone,' says the source.

'In the end, he did both breakfasts because he couldn't say no to her. He shouldn't have done this. It wasn't discussed as part of the process of the campaign. This was the sort of thing that made everyone's life more difficult than it needed to be.'

It has also been claimed that Carrie's apparent personal dislike of some members of the campaign team got the better of her.

These included Ellie Lyons, a well-regarded Cambridge graduate who had worked as a researcher before becoming a special adviser to Gavin Williamson when he was Chief Whip and then Defence Secretary. Lyons did not know Carrie, but what happened next shocked some on the team.

'Boris started saying, 'Let's get rid of Ellie,' ' recalls one source.

'He said, 'Ellie is bad news.' He had to be told that, in fact, Ellie had made a brilliant contribution to the campaign and he was lucky to have her. He was just being used by Carrie to do her dirty work.'

A job was found for Ellie at No 10 but she was dismissed soon after Johnson became PM.

'She sent photo of herself to lad mag's High St Honeys' While at university, Carrie Symonds submitted a photo of herself to FHM, the monthly magazine for young men. It was running a competition called High Street Honeys  described as a 'quest to unearth the sexiest girl next door'. In the year that Carrie entered, almost 14,000 young women from across Britain sent photos of themselves in a variety of provocative poses wearing skimpy underwear or a bikini. Their pictures were posted online and members of the public were invited to vote for their favourite, who would win 10,000 and a contract to become a TV presenter. Oliver Haiste, who dated Carrie between 2007 and 2012, said: 'It was her idea to put herself forward. She's always been an attention-seeker.' Carrie was not named Britain's High Street Honey. Many years later it was reported that she had used a European data protection law known as the 'right to be forgotten' to ask internet search engines to de-list certain results for queries relating to her name, suggesting she has given some thought to her past digital activities. Describing the photo, Haiste says: 'She wore something unacceptable. It certainly wasn't a cardigan and pearls. They were relatively explicit e.g. bikini and also topless ones.' Advertisement

Another source adds: 'We learned pretty quickly there was a culture of fear around touching anything that Carrie didn't like. There was a nervousness.

'I think the people who are close to her and align with her get great benefits. Those who idolise her might get a fantastic job out of it.

'If she doesn't like you, there can be big consequences.'

A third source says: 'She doesn't like people who are more intelligent or attractive than her around her. Ellie's problem was that she is both attractive and intelligent.'

There was a previous episode when Carrie worked at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

A colleague was another young woman, Mimi Macejkova, but she left her post within a few months of John Whittingdale becoming Secretary of State. He said Macejkova 'didn't gel with the others' in his team. She was replaced by a friend of Carrie.

Later, Carrie's closest friends settled into jobs as top aides to Johnson. One was Henry Newman, who was once described by her as one of her 'favourite people'. Another was Josh Grimstone, who now works for Michael Gove.

A third was Allegra Stratton, appointed Johnson's No 10 press spokesman after it was reported that he'd said: 'Carrie will kill me if Allegra doesn't get the job.'

For some who knew and worked with Carrie, she was an energetic and effective colleague.

'She was invaluable as a media spad [special adviser],' says Whittingdale. 'She was one of the best in her field. She was also easy-going and fun. She was having to work very long hours. We became good friends. We'd go to the pub after a hard day.'

Whatever the tensions behind his campaign, Johnson became Prime Minister and won a landslide General Election five months later. Looking back, one figure who has given careful thought to Carrie's behaviour during this intense period reflects ruefully on their impression of the role she played

Another former colleague is at pains to project a positive memory of her. 'We'd go for drinks after work because we were a group of people in their twenties with time on their hands after working long days. It was quite social.

'She was always very good company and good fun, which matters in politics. I've always liked her.' Another former press office colleague adds: 'She was very bright, pretty and a lot of fun to work with. I don't think she particularly enjoyed the duller side of the job, like getting press releases out, but she was by far the best person to get you good gossip on what was going on and liked to spend time with journalists.'

Whatever the tensions behind his campaign, Johnson became Prime Minister and won a landslide General Election five months later.

Looking back, one figure who has given careful thought to Carrie's behaviour during this intense period reflects ruefully on their impression of the role she played.

'She could be utterly charming, but she was always working behind the scenes,' says this person.

'I would say Boris is trapped in an emotionally disruptive relationship. I think he's definitely scared of her and I think she dominates him. There were moments where he knew he was insisting on things that were not good for his campaign.

'In private moments he would say words to the effect of, 'Don't do anything that's going to make her torture me when I get home. You've just got to help me. My life at home's miserable. You've got to find a way to make this bearable for me.' He'd speak with exasperation in his eyes.'

One person who knows Johnson well, having worked with him when he was the Mayor of London, explains that the extent of the role in his domestic life played by his former wife Marina is perhaps under-acknowledged.

'Marina was a very important influence on Boris,' says the former colleague. 'She was always punctual, she'd remember people's birthdays and there was a basic human decency to her.

'She cared. She instilled order. And she is very intelligent.

'When the marriage ended, he lost his domestic support, the steadying influence, and he traded that in for a demanding girlfriend and strong disapproval from his children.

'Do not underestimate how destabilising all of that can be.

'Boris has always needed someone to make sure he has money in his pocket and a clean suit and shirt. There is a big management role in keeping him on a straight line. He went from having a base run by someone who knows him well  Marina  to an arrangement where home wasn't properly organised and the person in that home, Carrie, is demanding rather than supplying.

'I think it's the biggest explanation of the dysfunctionality inside No 10. Marina was his wife, but she was also, in some respects, a mother figure to him.'

According to a newspaper report, another ally of Johnson observed: 'Carrie f****d with his mind. She has him completely mesmerised.'

Someone else who knows Johnson, both politically and personally, has given much thought to the development of his character over the past four or five years. This person is in no doubt about what has happened.

'Boris changed after he met Carrie,' they say. 'He always was a bit of a lonely figure because he has few friends, but now it's worse than ever. He's fallen out with his children, he's lost Marina and, since he became Prime Minister, so many of the problems he's had to deal with have been because of Carrie.

'Deep down, I think he knows this. Sometimes I've seen him make excuses to avoid going upstairs to his flat in Downing Street. The whole thing is like a Greek tragedy.

'He could have been a great Prime Minister but his lack of discipline, which led him to get involved with Carrie, has cost him. His potential to transform the country has been squandered and, as far as I'm concerned, it's because of her. It's like a toxic relationship. He's isolated. It's very sad. Politically, there is no agenda  he's just drifting.'

Another source who knows both Johnson and Carrie well, having worked with them during his own political career, says that the reality of their marriage may be more difficult than some people realise.

'I don't think Carrie has many friends,' says this person. 'Nor does Boris. He has fewer, in some ways. She's had a lot to put up with. I don't think Boris is close to his family at the moment, so they both have few really close, loyal, personal friends. Maybe that was something they found in common.'

John Whittingdale says: 'Carrie gets a tough time. It upsets her and I feel sorry for her. It's a pretty lonely existence. I think they've struggled. She doesn't see as much of Boris as she'd like because he's trying to run the country.'

If it is true that their relationship can be described as a meeting of two people who may be more emotionally vulnerable than the majority of the British electorate appreciates, only the hardest of hearts would fail to recognise the sadness of this fact.

Yet the troubling question that, perhaps, too few people in Westminster and in Fleet Street have dared to ask publicly is what effect their perceived weaknesses have had on the way Britain has been governed since 2019.

One of Johnson's closest allies in the Cabinet has said privately to sources quoted in this book that they believe Carrie is 'the number one problem' in Johnson's administration.

Given that Carrie is unelected and unaccountable, many voters will wonder whether it would be better for the country if the Cabinet Minister in question had the courage to tell the Prime Minister this to his face.

 Michael Ashcroft, 2022

Abridged extract from First Lady: Intrigue At The Court Of Carrie And Boris Johnson, by Michael Ashcroft, published by Biteback on March 29 at 20. To pre-order a copy go to biteback publishing.com.
Climate change zealots are plotting to block oil refineries, motorways and petrol stations across Britain next month, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday has discovered.

Roger Hallam, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Insulate Britain, predicted that up to 3,000 activists could be arrested over two weekends in March for closing down the countrys oil network.

As well as paralysing oil refineries and nearby motorways, activists for the newly formed pressure group Just Stop Oil intend to occupy petrol station forecourts, tanker surf on fuel lorries and spray-paint filling points.

Campaigners want the Government to immediately halt all future exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.

Roger Hallam, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Insulate Britain, predicted that up to 3,000 activists could be arrested over two weekends in March

The sinister plan emerged during three meetings last week attended by an undercover MoS reporter who also obtained a document setting out the timeline of the groups action.

Drawing parallels to Martin Luther King and Gandhi, the document states: XR and Insulate Britain demonstrate that civil resistance works. They also show that we need to do significantly more to stop the greatest crime in humanity.

Just Stop Oil has been on a major recruitment drive in recent weeks. Despite numerous arrests for taking part in protests and an increasing cancel culture on campuses, Hallam was allowed to seek support at several universities including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The groups strategy includes forming regional groups and recruitment teams to hold more than 20 meetings a week. Later this month, it will demand that the Government make a meaningful statement to Just Stop Oil. If no such undertaking is made, a campaign of civil resistance will be announced.

The first phase would include blocking oil refineries, storage units and nearby motorways. The next move  Phase 2A  would see activists sitting in petrol forecourts as well as tanker-surfing and spray-paint(ing) filling points. Phase 2B, presumably an escalation of the protest, is simply described as high stakes resistance against oil.

The unlikely venue for one of last weeks meetings was a community centre in the picturesque town of Wallingford, near Oxford, which drew a 50-strong crowd of polite, mask-wearing residents.

The sinister plan emerged during three meetings last week attended by an undercover MoS reporter. Pictured Reverend Tim Hewes (L).

Promoted through leaflets and on Facebook, it began chaotically after Hallam was stuck on a train in Reading and, ironically, had to be picked up and driven to the event by a fellow activist.

As an intruder blared out a radio at full volume from the back of the room in a bid to drown out the proceedings, one of the organisers, Sarah Webb, was flustered as she prepared to read Hallams speech. Oh God, it really is the end of the world now, she muttered.

But while she admitted to being really quite nervous, Webb is hardly a shrinking violet. The 50-year-old, who works as a special educational needs tutor for young children and is also involved in XR, was arrested last August after locking herself to a giant pink table in Central London for 21 hours.

When she attended court a month later, she wore the red uniform of an oppressed character from Margaret Atwoods dystopian novel The Handmaids Tale.

To her relief, Hallam, 55, arrived after a few minutes and soon set about whipping up his audience. What Im here to tell you tonight is you have an absolute responsibility to take action on the greatest act of injustice and obscene evil in the history of humanity, he said.

Im not mincing my words tonight. What else is it that we face? What other description can we give to COP26, which knowingly, in full knowledge of the science, decided to condemn the next generation to a world that is uninhabitable. A world of starvation, rape and slaughter.

Special educational needs tutor Sarah Webb

Suggesting that joining the protest could enhance supporters employment prospects, he added: No one is going to lose their job for campaigning on the climate, whatever it says in your contract. If anything, its going to promote your career because it shows youve got guts.

This is quite a tangent, but I think its quite amusing  my partner, a co-founder of XR, put it on her CV and shes in middle-management of a non-governmental organisation. Shes 24.

Hallams colourful rhetoric has landed him in trouble in the past. In January, he claimed in a controversial Facebook post that failing to engage in climate action was comparable to making a cup of tea while your daughter is being raped. The same month, students at Warwick University cancelled Hallams visit after the Jewish Society said he had a history of Holocaust minimisation and trivialisation. It was prompted by an interview in 2019 when Hallam claimed the Holocaust was almost a normal event and just another f***ery in human history. He later apologised.

Speaking to the undercover reporter in Wallingford, Hallam said: What were talking about tonight is 3,000 arrests, not a big number There were 150 students in Edinburgh University this week signing up to get arrested. We can do it, its peanuts.

And for anyone concerned about the prospect of arrest? Everyone has a great time because its like being a kid again, its adrenaline, he replied.

Insulate Britain has previously occupied space on roads as part of their protest

Traffic has previously been brought to a standstill by Extinction Rebellion protests

One activist, Oxfordshire vicar Tim Hewes, even cited wellbeing perks. The 71-year-old retired dentist made international headlines last year when he sewed his lips together in a bloody protest against media mogul Rupert Murdoch. He previously glued himself to furniture at the City of London Magistrates Court.

I felt an amazing sense of liberation and I felt alive on the actions, he told the reporter on Wednesday. For me, being active [with XR] is good for my mental wellbeing.

For her part, Webb said: Im middle-aged now, Im 50 years old, and its quite exciting to be naughty and getting into shenanigans. Youve got this beautiful supportive community and I dont get that in the wider world. Were in a real bubble of love and it feels fantastic.

At a student Just Stop Oil meeting in South London on Tuesday, held in a local church, three young recruiters trotted out a similar line, albeit in slightly stronger terms, by saying that joining up had helped them realise that not everyone is a f***ing Nazi.

And while the overwhelmingly middle-aged activists in Wallingford were enticed to attend further meetings with the promise of pizza, the student recruiters chattered excitedly about a huge party in Manchester where an organiser would likely spike people with acid.

One recruiter, a former student nurse from Ireland, recalled spending the night in a police cell after scaling a Government building. She said the experience was all right because the police gave her blankets and hot drinks.

The young activists claimed 400 students had already committed to getting arrested for the campaign and that they hoped to recruit 1,000 students to block oil sites and paralyse the country.

The young activists claimed 400 students had already committed to getting arrested for the campaign and that they hoped to recruit 1,000 students to block oil sites

The Bournemouth talk on Thursday followed a similar structure. Held in a damp-smelling pub on the high street, it began with another student reeling off catastrophic science literature before launching into their havoc-causing plans.

What we are doing is disrupting infrastructure. So its sitting in the road, its putting our bodies in the way of vehicles getting to the infrastructure, its stopping it [the oil sites] running. Were escalating the issue of oil, said XR activist George Gaillet.

When the discussion moved to blocking a local oil plant, Dorset activist and Insulate Britain PR manager Melissa Carrington said: I think the key thing about Just Stop Oil is its got to cause economic disruption. Its not symbolic, creative stuff, its stuff thats going to disrupt, and thats what we need to focus on.

Unsurprisingly, some audience members at the meetings were daunted at the prospect of getting arrested for the climate. Hallam tried to assuage these concerns with promises of ruthless professionalism. Youll get an email and all the rest of it, its very organised, he insisted.

This is a British civil disobedience organisation, you dont just turn up. After that you go to a non-violence day and you learn how to be non-violent in case someone provokes you. You learn about the legal side, the practicalities, you learn about who youre going in the road with, its like designing a little mini-holiday.

For those unconvinced, Hallam suggested smaller, supportive roles: Whenever theres a group of people doing civil disobedience, theres three or four people who will do the transport, meet them outside a police station, walk their dog or donate money. Thats what it means by having this community.

Just Stop Oil declined to comment.
One of Britains top scientists is to be interviewed under oath by the US Congress over concerns that he was at the centre of a cover-up about the origins of Covid, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Sir Jeremy Farrar was among a group of scientists who initially claimed the coronavirus could have been man-made in a lab in the Chinese city Wuhan, where the pandemic began.

But after discussions with US officials and other leading scientists in February 2020, he changed his position, dismissing suggestions that the virus was made in a lab as a conspiracy theory.

Sir Jeremy Farrar was among a group of scientists who initially claimed the coronavirus could have been man-made in a lab in the Chinese city Wuhan, where the pandemic began

He will now be questioned over his role in apparent conflicts of interest and suppression of scientific discourse.

Amid an investigation into the US governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic carried out for the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Sir Jeremy will be subject to an on-the-record interview about his knowledge about the origins of the disease.

The committee has also demanded he provide all documents related to his discussions with senior figures on the subject.

An order sent to Sir Jeremy reads: Documents in the custody of the National Institutes of Health reveal how a group of scientists, including you, initially believed Covid-19 to be man-made before reversing course and claiming otherwise following discussions with senior government health officials.

It adds: This sequence of events suggests a possible co-ordinated effort to conceal evidence pointing to a lab leak in Wuhan.

Sir Jeremy then signed an article in respected medical journal The Lancet that condemned conspiracy theories alleging Covid was not natural while praising Beijings open and transparent sharing of data. Researchers are pictured above in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2017

Sir Jeremy is an expert in tropical diseases, as well as head of the Wellcome Trust, a charity that puts millions of pounds into medical research every year. He is also a former member of Britains Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

The US committees concerns about him revolve around a teleconference he led on February 1, 2020, as the emerging pandemic spread.

The call involved the two most influential scientists in America  presidential adviser Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Francis Collins, as well as 11 experts including Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK Governments chief scientific adviser. It is alleged that it was after this call that the scientists began dismissing the lab-leak hypothesis as implausible.

Sir Jeremy then signed an article in respected medical journal The Lancet that condemned conspiracy theories alleging Covid was not natural while praising Beijings open and transparent sharing of data.

A new letter seen by this newspaper shows he must now share all drafts of his papers claiming the Covid leak theory was implausible with the US Congress, and all communications regarding the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which some have pointed to as the source of a Covid leak, and those between him and Dr Collins and Dr Fauci.

Sir Jeremy told the MoS: The scientific evidence continues to point to SARS-CoV-2 [the Covid-19 virus] crossing from animals to humans as the most likely scenario.
How different it all was on that cold Thursday night outside The Ritz more than 20 years ago. It was Charles and Camilla's coming out, a fleeting but scrupulously choreographed appearance before the world's press.

Charles's natural inclination had been to go public with Camilla at a royal event which, in his eyes, would have lent a certain dignity, but the Queen  yet to be won over by Mrs Parker Bowles  was having none of it.

And so here they were, this middle-aged man and woman, in a dark side street in Mayfair at just before midnight.

The couple had spent the evening at a 50th birthday party and as they stepped from the hotel on to the pavement  Charles sheepish, Camilla petrified  a blizzard of camera flashes froze them in time.

Later the British Epilepsy Association would urge broadcasters not to use the footage on TV, lest it trigger seizures.

How different it all was on that cold Thursday night outside The Ritz more than 20 years ago. It was Charles and Camilla's coming out, a fleeting but scrupulously choreographed appearance before the world's press

This appearance in 1999 was the apex of the finely tuned strategy to win the British people round to the idea of the 'non-negotiable' woman in Prince Charles's life.

Everyone knew about Camilla at this juncture of course, but she had always remained out of sight  and for good reason.

Princess Diana was universally adored and cast a long shadow. For many, when Charles confessed to adultery, Camilla was public enemy No 1, irredeemably the other woman.

Now the couple were dipping their toes into uncharted water and while it wasn't exactly warm, neither was it icy. Still, there was a long road ahead.

She was public enemy No 1... but began to find a place in Britains heart

In truth, Campaign Camilla  the name given to the operation to endear her to the public  had begun 18 months earlier. In June 1997 invitations started appearing: come and join Camilla Parker Bowles for a party in aid of her charity, the National Osteoporosis Society.

Newspaper editors and a sprinkling of celebrities and publishers were sure to attend. The idea was to present Camilla in a new, softer light. But then Diana died, and the party was abandoned.

The campaign was led by Mark Bolland, the controversial PR executive hired by Prince Charles in 1996 as an assistant private secretary.

From then on, he took every opportunity to show Charles as a loving father and concerned single parent, while trying to win public acceptance for Mrs Parker Bowles.

Nine months after the crash in Paris that claimed Diana's life, Camilla met Prince William at St James's Palace.

Charles's natural inclination had been to go public with Camilla at a royal event which, in his eyes, would have lent a certain dignity, but the Queen  yet to be won over by Mrs Parker Bowles  was having none of it. Pictured: A bracelet Charles gave Camilla bearing the letters G and F for their pet names Gladys and Fred

At first, it was said to be a chance meeting, but this was untrue. In fact, William requested the meeting so he could ask her personally to help him organise a surprise early 50th birthday party for his father.

After the Ritz appearance, the campaign gained fresh momentum. Suddenly Camilla was everywhere. She and Charles were together on the yacht of a Greek businessman with four close friends.

Then came the series of parties to mark the Prince's half century, the highlight of which was the one Camilla arranged for 300 guests at Charles's Gloucestershire home, Highgrove.

By this time it was being quietly leaked that she was spending more and more nights with Charles both at Highgrove and at St James's Palace.

Nothing, though, could alter the perception that the relationship between the Queen and Camilla was as frosty as ever.

Warm and witty, with an infectious laugh, she connects effortlessly

Yet behind the scenes, Mr Bolland was working tirelessly and still had a few tricks up his sleeve. Charles and Camilla had taken an official trip to Scotland, staying at the Queen's Edinburgh residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The key moment came in 2000 when the Queen met Camilla at Highgrove during a party thrown to mark the 60th birthday of former King Constantine of Greece.

It was their first 'public' meeting and, chiefly due to the efforts of Mr Bolland, could scarcely have been more high-profile.

Sometimes, though, his ploys  mischievously spreading stories detrimental to senior royals to make Camilla look good in comparison  backfired.

After the Ritz appearance, the campaign gained fresh momentum. Suddenly Camilla was everywhere. She and Charles were together on the yacht of a Greek businessman with four close friends

But, as the years passed, Camilla learned to go her own way and quietly, steadily, it paid off and she began to find a place in Britain's heart.

If there were any lingering doubts about her acceptance by the court of public opinion, they were dispelled by the Queen's ringing endorsement yesterday.

These days Camilla is admired for her charity work, taking on issues such as rape and sexual abuse, domestic violence, literacy and medical issues including juvenile diabetes and muscular dystrophy.

Detractors have accused her of laziness, but even if she does not pack in as many engagements as some royals, she connects effortlessly with the public.

Warm and witty with an infectiously throaty laugh, she does so without sacrificing dignity or upstaging her husband.

Which is why, it seems, that the Queen is confident that she'll make the perfect consort when her husband ascends the throne.
A new vegan Fridays initiative in city public school cafeterias off to an uneven start, with some schools lacking fully vegan offerings and some kids and parents panning the new plant-based menu.

The new initiative was supposed to kick off in schools citywide with vegan veggie tacos and seasoned broccoli, according to the DOE school food menu. In reality, schools served a mix of entrees, some dairy-free and some not, depending on the supplies they had on hand, earning mixed reviews from students and parents.

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A cook at a city school cafeteria preps a vegan meal. (Twitter)

At Brooklyn Landmark Elementary School in Ocean Hill, students said they got a pasta dish with beans and salad.

Well, I dont like it, third-grader Laila De los Rios told the Daily News outside school, adding that she prefers when meat on the menu.

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City school cafeterias have already been completely meatless on Mondays and Fridays, but the switch to vegan Fridays means that dairy-heavy vegetarian meals like pizza and mozzarella sticks will no longer be available on Fridays. DOE officials said the shift to vegan-only Fridays is supposed to be phased in and schools still have the option to serve vegetarian choices for now.

Layla Sky Smith, 4, said she didnt mind the meal on Friday, but wish[es] we had pizza chicken with frosting.

Khartir Felder, 6, said he ate the salad. When asked if he missed meat on the menu, he shook his head no. I like to stay healthy, he said.

The plant-based school initiative, exclusively revealed by The News, was hailed by the famously health-conscious Mayor Adams, who is a vegan himself.

The reviews are in! The kids at PS 130 are loving the very first #VeganFriday lunch menu. When our kids are healthy, they're happy and they're hungry to learn. pic.twitter.com/Xw8RiIiFNe  Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) February 4, 2022

The reviews are in! The kids at PS 130 are loving the very first #VeganFriday lunch menu. When our kids are healthy, theyre happy and theyre hungry to learn, Adams tweeted.

Some observers said they support the idea in theory but werent pleased with the early results.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Manhattan) posted a picture on social media of a meager pile of vegetables with bags of Tostito chips and sliced apples on the side.

.@NYCMayor I am as much a believer in the power of healthy food as you, but this aint it. This was served to a public school student #Seenin13 for Vegan Fridays. The only real meal some of our citys kids can count on is what they get @ school. This wasnt thought through. pic.twitter.com/nJEwmHYg2T  Jessica Ramos (@jessicaramos) February 4, 2022

I am as much a believer in the power of healthy food as you, but this aint it, Ramos wrote in the tweet directed at Adams. The only real meal some of our citys kids can count on is what they get @ school. This wasnt thought through.

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Taylor Cardona, a 7-year-old in East Harlem, said her problems with school food predate the shift to vegan. Taylor said she often doesnt enjoy her lunches, and Fridays main course of grilled cheese with beans and apples was no exception.

It was not good at all...the whole thing, she said, adding that chicken drums are one of the few meals she enjoys.

Taylors mom Elizabeth Soto-Cardona said shes tried to use her perch on East Harlems Community Education Council to push for improvements to the citys sprawling school food program  the largest in the country outside of the military  but gets frustrated by the size and bureaucracy.

You feel like youre always hitting a wall, she said.

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Not all schools even had the supplies on hand to serve fully vegan options, according to cafeteria workers.

Theres no supplies in the schools for a vegan menu, said a Staten Island DOE food worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. You have to try to borrow from other schools. A Queens food manager confirmed the vegan supply shortage in several schools.

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DOE officials said that delivery interruptions and delays are normal and that schools have the discretion to serve any main item as long as it conforms to that days menu requirements.

DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer acknowledged theres room for improvement but said he cannot be more proud of what our food service employees did. Every school served food made from scratch. That is a huge accomplishment.

Today was @NYCSchools first #VeganFridays (with veg options still avail). I cannot be more proud of what our food service employees did. Every school served food made from scratch. That is a huge accomplishment.



Some behind the scenes pics from schools today. pic.twitter.com/AIKJcy1HN5  Nathaniel Styer (@necs) February 4, 2022

And for some kids, the plant-based shift was a tasty change.

Lily, a 7-year-old student on the Upper West Side whose parents asked to use only her first name, said her school served an appealing bean, corn and red pepper burrito.

Not everyone liked the veggies, she said, but I did.
William Clark, an explorer hailed as an American 'hero', secretly broke a peace treaty with Britain to conduct a massive land grab from native populations, study found.

A recently re-discovered map, owned by the famous frontiersman in 1816, has been meticulously studied Cambridge University historian Dr Robert Lee.

Historians believe that the map further discredits the idea that Clark was a 'friend' to the native population, instead finding he would go behind their back to claim land.

In 1815, after failing to buy land north of the Missouri River from the Sauks, Meskwakis and Iowas, Clark withdrew recognition of their possession.

Dr Lee said the map reveals that Clark asserted by proclamation that the US had already bought the region from the Osages by treaty in 1808.

By taking it upon himself to redraw an Indian treaty line right after the War of 1812 - an unlabelled line on the map - Clark secured an 'invasive squatter settlement'.

This added millions of acres to the US public domain in violation of the Treaty of Ghent, the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the US and UK. es.

A recently re-discovered map, owned by the famous frontiersman in 1816, has been meticulously studied Cambridge University historian Dr Robert Lee

Clark is probably best remembered as co-leader of the three-year Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Coast, which began in 1803.

The pair set off to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, establish trade with Native Americans, and consolidate the sovereignty of the young US.

When Clark died aged 68 in 1838, he was revered as a hero and a 'friend' to native Americans, but this new 'once-in-a-lifetime' discovery brings that into doubt.

The discovery has revealed that a rare map hiding behind a false identity within archives in Washington DC was actually the work of Clark.

The sketch - newly reattributed, re-dated and painstakingly decoded by Dr Lee - exposes Clark's scheming at the heart of a 'pivotal' moment in 19th Century American history.

When he discovered the map, Dr Lee was scrolling through microfilm from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington DC.

When Clark died aged 68 in 1838, he was revered as a hero and a 'friend' to native Americans, but this new 'once-in-a-lifetime' discovery brings that into doubt

WILLIAM CLARK: FAMED FRONTIER MAN AND PART OF LEWIS AND CLARK DUO William Clark (August 1, 1770  September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, and governor. He was a native of Virginia and grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky, before later settling in what would become the state of Missouri. Clark was also a planter and slaveholder during his life. Working with Meriwether Lewis, Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 18041806 across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean. This was the first major effort to explore and map much of what is now the Western United States. Before the expedition that made him famous, Clark served in a militia and the US army against the British. After the expedition he served in a militia and as governor of the Missouri Territory, which later studies suggest he played a large part in taking from native Americans. Advertisement

It had been filed in the secretary of war's correspondence archive under the authorship of Captain Eli B. Clemson.

Dr Lee quickly noticed that the basic geography of the Osage treaty of 1808 depicted by the map clashed with accepted wisdom about that cession of land.

He argued that the map was actually drawn by Clark, then governor of the Missouri Territory, and shows how he grafted 10.5 million acres of Sauk, Meskwaki, and Iowa territory onto the US after the War of 1812 by reinterpreting the 1808 Osage treaty.

The little-known land seizure violated the Treaty of Ghent with Britain, and triggered a 'stampede' of slaveholding emigrants, reshaping Missouri's political boundaries.

'This astonishing map shows how William Clark leveraged the US-Indian treaty system to promote settler supremacy in the United States at a time when he's been praised for trying to protect Indigenous land from squatters,' Dr Lee said.

'Now we can see just how scheming and disingenuous he really was.'

The historian said the unsigned, undated map was sketched in ink and pencil, and contained about 50 named features including rivers, towns, and boundaries, with about 150 unnamed features, mostly unidentified settlements along streams.

A handful of the landmarks prove that Captain Clemson cannot have drawn the map, according to Dr Lee, saying the style, spelling and symbols 'all point to Clark'.

He said it can only be a settlement map William Clark composed in 1816, which historian Clarence Edwin Carter declared as missing in 1951.

'The most revealing feature is a line between the Arkansas and Red Rivers, which Clark described in the 1816 letter that accompanied the map before the two got separated.'

Dr Lee was able to decode the surprising significance of another unlabelled line on the map, saying that Clark 'personally orchestrated the little-known scheme to steal half of what is today the state of Missouri from its indigenous owners.'

'This stray line looks like the cartographic equivalent of a Freudian slip,' he explained, adding that this is the closest thing we have to an admission in Clark's own hand that he dispossessed the Sauks, Meskwakis, and Iowas of a huge tract of land.

'Clark didn't discuss this plan in his 1816 letter and it remains largely unknown today despite playing an integral part in Missouri's colonisation.'

Clark is probably best remembered as co-leader of the three-year Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Coast, which began in 1803

Dr Lee added: 'A naive interpretation might say he found a huge loophole in the Treaty of Ghent. A realistic one would say he broke it to seize a landmass triple the size of Connecticut.

'Clark's land grab worked by denying that his post-war interpretation of the Osage treaty was new. He carefully maintained the fiction that he had clarified an old boundary, not manufactured one.

'This plan worked so well that historians have tended to either believe him or overlooked the incident entirely.'

Clark is now thought to have links to the taking of 419 million acres of indigenous land, well over a third of the dominion claimed by the US at the time of his death in 1838.

However, questions linger about whether he was a 'sentimental imperialist,' a hard-nosed proponent 'of white settler imperialism and ethnic cleansing,' or something in between.

The findings have been published in the journal William and Mary Quarterly.
Jurgen Klopp could give Luis Diaz an immediate introduction to Anfield after hailing the forwards arrival as significant for Liverpools future.

Diaz, who Liverpool signed from Porto on deadline day for an initial 37.5million, only arrived on Merseyside at 10am yesterday after waiting for work permit forms in Paris. He started the week in Argentina, where he played in Colombias 1-0 defeat.

It has been a hectic time for the 25-year-old, who only met Klopp in person for the first time on Friday. Now he could be on the bench for tomorrows FA Cup fourth-round tie against Cardiff.

Jurgen Klopp could give Luis Diaz his Liverpool debut against Cardiff in the FA Cup on Sunday

37.5m signing Diaz arrived at Anfield on Friday after finishing his Colombia international duty

Its not easy to sit around in Paris waiting for the papers, said Klopp. It is not the best time in your life and doesnt help with recovery. Lets have a look.

I wouldnt say no because I would be excited as well about giving him a few minutes at a sold-out Anfield.

Liverpool gazumped Tottenham and Manchester United to land Diaz and Klopp believes he will bring the best out of the clubs current strikers.

We need options, he said. Fresh blood as well and thats what we did with Diogo Jota when he came here and now when we signed Luis. A club has to be ready for pretty much all scenarios. We feel in a good place.
Binky Felstead has hilariously reminisced on her former career as a 'terrible' personal assistant at a hedge fund firm, before bagging herself an audition for Made In Chelsea during a drunken night out.

The reality star, 31, admitted she's 'surprised' she wasn't fired while recounting a jaw-dropping string of farcical antics, during an exclusive interview with MailOnline.

Not only did she mistake financial data company Bloomberg for a species of flower in her interview, she arrived back at the office with a head of lettuce when asked to buy celery for a Bloody Mary cocktail.

'I'm surprised I didn't get fired!' Binky Felstead has hilariously reminisced on her antics as a 'terrible PA' before auditioning for Made In Chelsea during a drunken night out

Her days as a secretary were short-lived however, since she caught the eye of a TV producer while gatecrashing a friend's gig following a couple of Espresso Martinis.

The influencer began: 'I was a terrible PA, I'm surprised I didn't get fired. I think they asked me to go and get celery because they used to do Bloody Mary Fridays at this big hedge fund and I came back with lettuce... I didn't know what celery was.

'Then in my interview they said, "Have you ever worked with Bloomberg?" and I said, "Yeah its beautiful," and they were like, "What?"

'I thought it was a flower! I think I got hired off that comment really. They thought I would be fun. I kept the office morale high, a bit stupid though.'

Throwback: Not only did she mistake financial data company Bloomberg for a species of flower, she arrived back at the office with lettuce when asked to buy celery for a Bloody Mary

Revealing she 'had no direction in life' and 'didn't know what she wanted to do', the businesswoman recounted the hysterical tale of how she was catapulted into the spotlight.

Binky confessed: 'I was with Cheska [Hull] watching a friend sing at Chelsea Cloisters, a gig. I'd had a few drinks and tried to take the microphone and sing after a few, probably Espresso Martinis.

'And this girl called Charlie, who's one of my favourite producers, came up to me with a camera guy, Barney.

'She said, "We're doing this show called Chelsea Girls [MIC's working title] and it's a bit like The Only Way Is Essex but in London. I was like, "Yeah, cool."

Reminiscing: Binky confessed: 'I was with Cheska [Hull] watching a friend sing at Chelsea Cloisters. I'd had a few drinks and tried to take the microphone' (both pictured in 2011)

'She took me outside, had a quick interview on camera. Then I got invited back for another interview and another before signing a contract ten years ago.'

Despite her exciting prospects at a career on the small screen, the TV personality revealed her brother Oliver was not so convinced.

She said: 'My family had reservations. My brother called a family intervention to try and stop me from doing it because he thought I was going to make an idiot of myself and the family.

'Actually my mum and my sister came together and said, "No, she should do what she wants to do." Anyway, now he's got egg on his face and he's very proud of me.'

Binky's mum Jane even went on to star in the E4 show herself and soon became a firm favourite with viewers in her role as an agony aunt figure to many of the show's young cast members.

Family: Binky's mum Jane even went on to star in the E4 show and soon became an agony aunt figure to many of the show's young cast members (pictured in 2020)

Binky now has a daughter, India, four, who she shares with her ex-boyfriend Josh 'JP' Patterson and welcomed her son Wolfie only eight months ago with her husband Max Darnton.

Binky and JP split in September 2018 after three years on-and-off dating, but have remained on good terms and continue to co-parent India.

Confessing she has a strict routine in order to manage her stress levels following her hectic days, the TV personality credits her Glade Aromatherapy Cool Mist Diffuser.

She said: 'Being a mummy of two now, I am a massive, massive advocate for self care and taking time out for yourself.

Family: Binky certainly has her hands full, having welcomed her son Wolfie, who she welcomed with her husband Max Darnton eight months ago

'Our son does not sleep. He's only eight months old and not sleeping, my god, so Max and I are in bed most of the time at 7:30 and we have a little routine now.

'We put on our Cool Mist Diffuser, Moment Of Zen which is the blue light there. No phones in the bedroom, we talk about the day.

'It's that part of the day where we can unwind and relax, no interruptions hopefully, so for me it's all about taking time out for yourself which is so important as a mother.'

The Glade Aromatherapy Cool Mist Diffuser is now available from all major resellers including Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons, and Wilko. More information available: https://www.glade.com/en-gb/products/glade-aromatherapy-mist-diffuser.
Sofia Vergara reflected on her past battle with cancer in a post shared to her Instagram on Friday.

The actress, now 49, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 28 after doctors discovered a lump in her neck during a routine checkup.

'At 28, 'Cancer' was not a word I expected to hear,' began Vergara, who included a photo of herself that was taken after receiving treatment.

Brave: Sofia Vergara reflected on her past battle with cancer in a post shared to her Instagram on Friday

She continued: 'It was just a routine checkup. But the doctors found a lump in my throat, and that word became part of my story.

'I spent countless hours in radiation treatments, and, eventually, in surgery. Today, I get to call myself a cancer survivor.

'This was my first acting class after diagnosis and treatment, and seeing the scar on my throat reminds me of how blessed I felt that dayand every day since.

In the shot, Sofia stood with one eye closed as she looked through the viewfinder of a film camera.

Survivor: The actress, now 49, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 28 after doctors discovered a lump in her neck during a routine checkup; Sofia pictured in 2021

Reflecting: 'At 28, 'Cancer' was not a word I expected to hear,' began Vergara, who included a photo of herself that was taken after receiving treatment

Her brunette hair was tied back behind her head, and she wore a strapless black dress.

'I'm lucky and grateful to be in a position to share my story and say: early prevention is so important!! Schedule your annual check up for this year if you haven't already [kiss face emoji] #worldcancerday #closethecaregap.'

Vergara previously opened up about her battle with thyroid cancer during a telecast for Stand Up to Cancer last year.

'When you're young and you hear that word, 'cancer,' your mind goes to so many places,' Vergara said. 'But I tried not to panic and I decided to get educated. I read every book and found out everything I could about it.'

She went on to say that early detection helped her overcome the disease, and her battle helped her grow closer to her family.

Very open: Vergara has opened up about cancer before including last year at a telecast for Stand Up to Cancer (pictured 2020 with husband Joe Manganiello)

Upcoming project: Vergara's in the process of filming a miniseries titled Griselda centered around devoted mother and cartel head Griselda Blanco

'I was fortunate to have caught it early and to have the support of my doctors and most importantly, my family,' she said. 'I learned a lot during that time, not just about thyroid cancer but I also learned that in times of crisis, we're better together.'

The Modern Family star is definitely healthy now and working very hard on a number of upcoming projects.

She's in the process of filming a miniseries titled Griselda centered around devoted mother and cartel head Griselda Blanco.

Blanco was the first ever billionaire criminal female said to be responsible for more than 200 murders as she moved cocaine throughout the Americas. She was assassinated in 2012.
Popular influencer Jade Tuncdoruk has recently been in the spotlight after copping backlash for a series of controversial posts.

And on Saturday, The Daily Telegraph's Confidential reported the socialite has opted to flog her clothing online in a bid to make some extra cash.

It is believed the 26-year-old has put more than 100 of her belongings on sale via second-hand clothing site, Depop.

Cashing in: Influencer Jade Tuncdoruk, 26, (pictured) is reportedly selling more than 100 of her wardrobe items online in a bid to pocket some extra cash

Among the items is everything from high heels, activewear pieces and even full pantsuits.

Her decision to sell her goods comes less than a week after she was reportedly at risk 'of losing thousands of dollars in lucrative partnerships and sponsorships with big name brands'.

According to The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Sunday, confectionery company Cadbury Australia are now 'reviewing their relationship' with Jade, who is an ambassador for the brand, amid the fallout from her negative headlines last month.

Jade demanded a small business refund her $2,000 honeymoon deposit after ignoring the terms and conditions, and was forced to apologise for a racially insensitive Uber Eats Facebook post from 2017 which went viral.

Quick cash grab: It is believed the 26-year-old has put more than 100 of her belongings on sale via second-hand clothing site Depop. Among the items is everything from high heels, activewear pieces and even full pantsuits

The fallout continues: The influencer 'risks losing thousands of dollars' as a brand 'distances themselves' according to a new report on Sunday - after her racially insensitive Uber Eats rant and clash with a small business over a refund

Cadbury Australia is now reportedly distancing themselves from the controversial influencer, with a spokesman having told Confidential: 'The views expressed don't reflect our values and we're reviewing our relationship with this influencer.'

In December, Jade shared a sponsored post on her Instagram of herself and fiance Lachie Brycki enjoying a Cadbury Caramilk ice cream.

Earlier on Sunday, Jade issued a grovelling apology to her fans where she apologised for her behaviour.

Under review: Cadbury Australia is now reportedly distancing themselves from the influencer, with a spokesman having told The Daily Telegraph's Confidential: 'The views expressed don't reflect our values and we're reviewing our relationship with this influencer'

Ambassador role: In December, Jade shared a sponsored post on her Instagram of herself and fiance Lachie Brycki (pictured) enjoying a Cadbury Caramilk ice cream

'Hey everyone. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I've conducted myself recently,' she wrote on her Instagram Stories.

'I'm aware that my actions were poorly thought out and lack integrity. I want everyone to know that I hold myself to a higher standard than this.

'I've made it my priority to reevaluate the aspects of my life that have led to the disconnect between my soul and my actions.'

'I just wanted to say that I'm sorry': Earlier on Sunday, Jade issued a grovelling apology to her fans in the wake of several headline-making controversies

'I'm aware that my actions were poorly thought out and lack integrity': Posting to her Instagram Stories, the brunette uploaded a short message apologising for her behaviour

To conclude, Jade wrote: 'I am sorry to anyone I've let down, including myself.'

Earlier last month, Jade copped huge backlash when a Facebook post showing her complaining to Uber Eats about their 'annoying non-English speaking delivery drivers' resurfaced.

The influencer apologised for her 'hurtful comments' after her Facebook post was uploaded by the Celeb Spellcheck Instagram page.

Negative headlines: Jade was forced to apologise for a racially insensitive Uber Eats Facebook post from 2017 which went viral, and was slammed for 'demanding' that a small business give her a refund for a deposit on her honeymoon - after ignoring the terms and conditions

The resurfaced post read: 'I order off you guys all the time and I'm starting to find it really annoying that you have so many non English speaking delivery people who can't follow basic delivery instructions.

'I got a notification today saying my food was arriving and it took the person a further 20 mins to get to my door because he didn't read my delivery instructions properly and when I called him to explain he didn't understand a word I was saying.'

She continued: 'Your GPS is consistently sending drivers to the wrong address which I've explained in my instructions which most people read and have no problem with but when foreigners are delivering it takes twice as long for me to receive my then cold food. Sort it out.'

In her apology, she wrote: 'I'm sorry to anyone I've hurt with my comments. I hold myself accountable for my actions.

Post: In the resurfaced post, Jade' wrote: 'I order off you guys all the time and I'm starting to find it really annoying that you have so many non English speaking delivery people who can't follow basic delivery instructions'

'It doesn't excuse anything but know that I have grown immensely in the past several years. I always do my best to be someone others can look up to and I know I've let people down and for that I'm truly sorry.'

It comes after Jade was slammed for 'demanding' that a small business give her a refund for a deposit on her honeymoon - after she ignored the company's terms and conditions.

She raised eyebrows by whingeing to her online fans about the financial woes of cancelling her lavish Hunter Valley honeymoon with fiance Lachie due to Covid.

Cash clash: The Instagram model was also slammed for 'demanding' that a small business give her a refund for a deposit on her honeymoon - after she ignored the company's terms and conditions

In her now-deleted post, Jade, who is frequently gifted with luxury designer handbags and clothing, explained that she'd booked her stay with premium holiday rental company Weekenda last year, putting down a $2,000 deposit.

She however decided to cancel her booking with the company Weekenda in August, after postponing her wedding due to Covid.

Jade demanded that the company refund her deposit - even though Weekenda's terms and conditions clearly states that customers aren't entitled to a refund of their deposit if they cancel.

'Incredibly poor form': She said she'd booked her stay with premium holiday rental company Weekenda last year, putting down a $2,000 deposit. After cancelling the booking due to Covid, she demanded that the company refund her deposit. Weekenda denied their request

'We requested a refund due to the pandemic, but they said the best they could do was put it back up on line to be booked by someone else,' Jade explained.

'Six weeks out of [sic] the booking and we've asked again for a refund which they've denied. They've had months to refund us for a booking that we don't need. They're taking our money just because they can,' she raged.

She added: 'It's just incredibly poor form and so disappointing that businesses are taking advantage of people in the middle of a pandemic.'

In black and white: Weekenda's terms and conditions (pictured) clearly states that customers aren't entitled to a refund of their deposit if they cancel

Jade included a link to Weekenda's Instagram page, and it didn't take long for her supporters to lash out at the company.

She later claimed she was surprised that her followers had begun contacting the company directly and demanding they refund her money.

'Not y'all following them,' she wrote, rolling her eyes.

Not long after, Jade shared another post announcing that Weekenda had agreed to refund her deposit.
Holly Ramsay was in a cheeky mood as she flashed her peachy derriere while wearing a sheer dress on Instagram on Friday.

The daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay ensured she caught the eyes of her followers as she struck a playful pose in front of the mirror while grinning from ear-to-ear.

The influencer, 22, showed off her long slender legs through thigh-high splits either side of her garment, which also gave a glimpse at her toned stomach through the see-through material.

Eye-catching: Holly Ramsay, 22, was in a cheeky mood as she flashed her peachy behind while wearing a sheer dress on Instagram on Friday

The sister of Strictly Come Dancing star Tilly Ramsay twirled in front in front of the glass which was surrounded by a large gold frame and propped up on the floor of her bedroom.

She admired her reflection as she stood tall on a pair of black open-toed Louboutin heels.

A touch of glamour was added to Holly's dress as it featured a number of carefully placed rhinestones which sparkled in the light.

Mirror image: The daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay ensured she caught the eyes of her social media followers as she struck a playful pose in front of the mirror

In style: She showed off her long slender legs through thigh-high splits either side of her garment, which also gave a glimpse at her toned stomach through the see-through material

Earlier this month, Holly admitted she feels 'lonely' in sobriety after recently celebrating a year without alcohol.

The celebrity offspring shared her personal milestone last month and, while she praises the effect life without booze has had on her mental health, she admits it hasn't been without difficulty.

Taking to her Instagram Stories last week to update her 287,000 followers, Holly said she finds it tough not to drink at her age as it's such a huge part of her peers' social lives.

Time for reflection: The sister of Strictly Come Dancing star Tilly Ramsay could be seen crouching in front in front of the glass which was surrounded by a large gold frame

Standing tall: She admired her reflection as she stood tall on a pair of black open-toed heels while wearing her backless dress

Glitterati: A touch of glamour was added to Holly's dress as it featured a number of carefully placed rhinestones which sparkled in the light

When asked 'how important is it to cut out alcohol when you struggle daily with mental health,' she responded: 'This isn't a "one size fits all" answer...

'For me, cutting out alcohol has made me so much more present, I'm able to have more fun & I'm in control.

'Alcohol + antidepressants don't mix well. I made the decision to put my physical and mental health first.

Honest: Earlier this month, Holly admitted she feels 'lonely' in sobriety after recently celebrating a year without alcohol

'It can be lonely not drinking especially at this age as it's such a big part of our social lives.. but you will find the right people who don't even care that you're not drinking and are just happy you're with them.'

Updating her followers on how she's doing so far this year, she added: 'I'd say I'm in the best place mentally & feeling more myself than I have done in years.

'This has taken A LOT of work and it doesn't come easy so go easy on yourself. Sending love to anyone who needs it.'

Tough times: She shared her personal milestone last month and, while she praises the effect life without booze has had on her mental health, she admits it hasn't been without difficulty

Holly's words come after she marked a year of being sober in December with a heartfelt Instagram post.

She wrote candidly of her relationship with alcohol, including her decision to go tee-total after reaching her 'lowest point' in 2020.

Back in May, Holly revealed she spent three months in a mental health hospital after being sexually assaulted twice when she was 18 years old. She was diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and depression.
She's the 2022 Married at First Sight bride who has drawn comparisons to none other than Martha Kalifatidis.

And it appears Ella Ding is making her own fashionable mark as she stepped out to run some errands in Melbourne on Friday, dressed to the nines.

For her outing, the 27-year-old brunette beauty donned a black dress with red roses printed all over it, which put her curves on display.

Martha who? She may have recently been compared to Martha Kalifatidis, but it appears Married At First Sight star Ella Ding is making her own fashionable mark as she stepped out to run some errands in Melbourne dressed to the nines on Friday

The bold number included a plunging neckline, hugged her figure at the waist.

It also gave fans a glimpse of her incredibly toned pins with a thigh-high split detail, too.

She accessorised with a pair of woven platform heels and a pair of large sunglasses.

Her ears were adorned with glitzy hoops and she opted for a simple gold necklace to compliment her look.

Nice pins! It also gave fans a glimpse of her incredibly toned pins with a thigh-high split detail, too

Brunette beauty: Ella's face was neutrally made up, simply filling in her thick brows in a bid to frame her stunning face. Meanwhile, she let her long dark locks hang loosely on her shoulders for her low-key trip

Ella's face was neutrally made up, simply filling in her thick brows in a bid to frame her stunning face.

Meanwhile, she let her long dark locks hang loosely on her shoulders for her low-key trip.

The reality TV star was all smiles as she made her way from the shops, to her white vehicle.

All about the accessories: She accessoried with a pair of woven platform heels and a pair of large sunglasses

Her eyes are up here! The MAFS bride made a busty display on Friday as she donned a floral gown with a plunging neckline

Happy days: The reality TV star was all smiles as she made her way from the shops, to her white vehicle

They could be twins! Ella has been labelled the 'Martha Kalifatidis of Married At First Sight 2022' thanks to her stunning looks and glamorous wardrobe

Ella has been labelled the 'Martha Kalifatidis of Married At First Sight 2022' thanks to her stunning looks and glamorous wardrobe.

Ella made her big reality TV debut on Tuesday's episode of Married At First Sight, marrying Mitchell, 26.

'The dating world is pretty brutal,' she said in her intro. 'I feel like I've tried and done it all, and what I attract is f**k boys [and] commitment phobias,' she said at the time.

'I haven't had a boyfriend, like someone to call my boyfriend, in nine years,' she admitted.

Sparks fly! Ella made her big reality TV debut on Tuesday's episode of Married At First Sight, marrying part-time model Mitchell Eynaud, 26 (right)

Despite being extremely skeptical of the experiment, Mitch was instantly attracted to Ella.

The feeling was mutual, and the couple spent several minutes complimenting each other's appearance.

'My heart is racing, she's beautiful,' he told producers. 'She has great energy, a great smile, great eyes.'

'My heart is racing!' Despite being extremely skeptical of the experiment, Mitch was instantly attracted to Ella

He then got down on one knee and proposed to her at the altar.

Once it was time for their wedding photoshoot, the pair couldn't keep their hands off each other and passionately made out while the photographer snapped away.

When asked by a producer if she felt any sexual chemistry, Ella gushed: 'F**k yeah, he's gorgeous!'

Passion: Once it was time for their wedding photoshoot, the pair couldn't keep their hands off each other and passionately made out while the photographer snapped away

Sizzling: When asked by a producer if she felt any sexual chemistry, Ella gushed: 'F**k yeah, he's gorgeous!'

Despite the attraction between them, Ella promised not to sleep with Mitch on the first night because of her 'three date rule'.

Once they got back to their hotel room, the brunette beauty seemed to struggle with sticking to the plan.

'I can't wait to see him with his shirt off,' she told producers, before adding: 'I might need a cold shower.'

Once they were in bed, the newly-married couple shared a passionate kiss underneath the blanket before rolling over and turning off the lights.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.
Katie Price's son Harvey raised his hands in the air as he won Celebrity of the Year at the National Diversity Awards at the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool on Friday evening.

His famous mother, 43, proudly stood alongside him on stage as Harvey, 19, held his prize up for all to see from behind the lectern.

The teen - who has Prader-Willi syndrome, septo-optic dysplasia, autism and a learning disability - showed his streetwise style in a black and grey T-shirt and matching jogging bottoms.

Champ: Katie Price's son Harvey, 19, raised his hands in the air as he won Celebrity of the Year at the National Diversity Awards in Liverpool on Friday

Glamour model Katie was dressed all in black and wore a white dressing on her head which she customised with a black band after recently flying to Belgium to get an eye and brow lift.

Taking to Instagram after Harvey accepted his gong, Katie shared a picture of the two of them posing together at the event, writing: 'So proud of my Harv!! @ndawards.'

She also shared a clip of Harvey laying in bed after returning to their hotel after the bash as he was tickled by his mother and her friend.

Family affair: The teen - who has Prader-Willi syndrome, septo-optic dysplasia, autism and a learning disability - showed his streetwise style in a black and grey T-shirt (pictured with Katie and her fiance Carl Woods)

Going live on the social media site beforehand, Katie said as she arrived: 'We're gonna walk through, it's probably gonna be speeches time. The thing is, Harvey normally goes to bed at half-six, seven and the awards don't start until half nine.

'He's not gonna like the three course meal, so I've just had to give him pizza, no pasta, so I've got to try and keep him entertained until it's award time.'

The duo were joined by Katie's fiance Carl Woods on the red carpet, with the former Love Island contestant rocking a gold patterned Versace black shirt, with dark trousers.

Winner: Harvey's famous mother, 43, proudly stood alongside him on stage behind the lectern after he picked up his award

Unique style: Katie was dressed all in black and wore a white dressing on her head which she customised with a black band after recently flying to Belgium to get an eye and brow lift

Evening out: Going live on Instagram as they arrived at the bash, Katie said it was a late night for Harvey as he is usually in bed by 6.30pm

Pride: Taking to Instagram after Harvey accepted his gong, Katie shared a picture of the two of them posing together at the event, writing: 'So proud of my Harv!! @ndawards'

Glee: She also shared a clip of Harvey laying in bed after returning to their hotel after the bash as he was tickled by his mother and her friend

Katie's appearance at the awards comes just after she revealed she was forced to cut off her chin bandage because it was 'driving her nuts' following her surgery in Belgium.

Having covered her two black eyes with a heavy helping of concealer, she prepared to hit the red carpet in Liverpool despite her head being tightly bound with medical dressings.

She admitted in the video: 'Oh my god, I had to cut that chin strap off. It was driving me nuts! So we're off to the awards, we are a little bit late.

Breaking free: Katie's appearance at the awards comes just after she revealed she was forced to cut off her chin bandage because it was 'driving her nuts' following her surgery in Belgium

Pose: Having covered her two black eyes with a heavy helping of concealer, she prepared to hit the red carpet in Liverpool despite her head being tightly bound with medical dressings

Dr Judy Todd, an aesthetic doctor at Clinica Medica in Glasgow, said: 'It appears like she's had a face lift, temporal brow lift, and possibly an upper blepharoplasty....

'These would all lift the features to a more youthful position, elevate the eyebrows and would reduce any sagging skin on the upper eyelid.

She is currently wearing a pressure dressing which is all over the area where the sutures would be...

Family: Katie and Harvey posed with Katie's fiance Carl who wore a jazzy shirt

Work it: Katie put on a confident display in an all-black ensemble

Happy: He was thrilled as he made the speech

Proud: Katie was every inch the doting mum as she supported him

Award: He was handed his gong and looked happy

Star: Katie Price and Liam Bairstow attend the National Diversity Awards at Liverpool Cathedral

'This kind of bruising around the eye often occurs with these procedures but the effects are only temporary and tend to dissipate within seven to 10 days.

'But some patients may experience swelling and bruising for several weeks after surgery but this will ultimately depend on the patients healing process and post-op recovery care.'

It was reported last month that Katie had plans to travel to Turkey imminently for yet more plastic surgery, amid claims she wanted to get some tweaks in after being unhappy with her latest plastic surgery work.

Expert opinion: Dr Judy Todd, an aesthetic doctor at Clinica Medica in Glasgow, said: 'It appears like she's had a face lift, temporal brow lift, and possibly an upper blepharoplasty'
Love Island's Gabby Allen stunned in a daring little black dress as she stepped out with her boyfriend Brandon Myers on Friday.

Gabby looked incredible as she headed out for dinner with her nearest and dearest to kick off her 30th birthday celebrations at Amazonico in Mayfair, London.

The reality TV star posed up a storm as she went braless in the ensemble that featured sheer mesh panels across her chest and waist.

Chic: Love Island's Gabby Allen went braless in a striking little black dress as she stepped with her boyfriend Brandon Myers to kick off her 30th birthday in London on Friday

Gabby added a pair of towering Versace platform heels as she elongated her toned legs.

The personal trainer carried a black Gucci Marmont shoulder bag embellished with a Balenciaga logo print.

She wore her blonde locks in a chic low bun that was pushed back off her face and showcased her statement gold earrings.

Incredible: The reality tv star posed up a storm as she went braless in the ensemble that featured sheer mesh panels across her chest and waist

Slender: The personal trainer added a pair of towering Versace platform heels as she elongated her toned legs

To complete her look, she opted for a glowing pallet of makeup with a shimmery bronze eyeshadow and a slick of nude lipgloss.

Brandon looked suave in a navy silk shirt with a silver snake print on the front that he left partially unbuttoned with a black T-shirt underneath.

He teamed it with a pair of smart black chino trousers and trainers that had reflective detailing.

Accessories: Gabby carried a black Gucci Marmont shoulder bag embellished with a Balenciaga logo print

Gabby and Brandon have been dating since June 2020 and went public with their romance two months later.

The television personality initially denied speculation they were in a relationship, stating at the time they were 'just friends'.

Gabby previously dated Rak-Su star Myles Stephenson until August 2019, when she accused him of cheating on her.

The reality star is thought to be worth an estimated 1.3million since finding fame on the 2017 series of Love Island.
Rylan Clark has been forced to pull out of hosting his Radio 2 show on Saturday after falling ill with the flu.

The presenter, 33, usually hosts Rylan On Saturday every week from 3 to 6pm, but has been left too poorly this week.

He will be replaced on Saturday evening's show by Gary Davies.

Ill: Rylan Clark has been forced to pull out of hosting his Radio 2 show on Saturday after falling ill with the flu

The TV star took to Twitter to make the announcement to his followers, writing: 'Gone and got the flu (not surprised) been in bed for a couple of days.

'Have lat tested and not Covid thankfully but wont be able to go on the wireless tomorrow. Be back soon x'

It comes after Rylan stepped down from his BBC Radio 2 show for four months last year after splitting from former policeman Dan Neal.

Bad news: The TV star took to Twitter to make the announcement to his followers, writing: 'Gone and got the flu (not surprised) been in bed for a couple of days

Poor Rylan: The presenter, 33, usually hosts Rylan On Saturday every week from 3 to 6pm, but has been left too poorly this week

Sources close to the former Celebrity Big Brother star told The Mail on Sunday the couple tried to reconcile at their marital home after he spent much of the summer with his mother, Linda, who appears on his Saturday afternoon show.

They said: 'Things were looking so good, like they were back together. They hoped they could avoid divorce, but it's now looking like the only way forward.'

Friends insisted the couple spent weeks 'trying to work through their problems', but the marriage is now said to be unsalvageable.

Replacement: He will be replaced on Saturday evening's show by Gary Davies (pictured)

Rylan's absence from Radio 2, social media and hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in May led to speculation.

In June, Rylan broke his silence to say: 'Following reports about Dan and I spending time apart, I feel I have to speak out as the way it is being reported is unfair.

'I have made a number of mistakes which I deeply regret and have inevitably led to the breakdown of our marriage.'

Over: Friends insisted the couple spent weeks 'trying to work through their problems', but the marriage is now said to be unsalvageable

The couple married in 2015 at Braxted Park in Essex with guests including his This Morning co-stars Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes.

They met in 2013 and got engaged in Paris. In July 2016, they stepped in for Eamonn and Ruth, becoming the first gay couple to present the ITV programme.

Returning in September to Rylan On Saturday, he assured listeners: 'I am feeling better.'
A man attacked and tried to rape a woman inside a Greenwich Village subway station, police said Saturday.

The 45-year-old woman was waiting for a train at the 14th St. No. 2 station platform at Seventh Ave. about 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 when the man ran up to her and pulled down her mask, cops said.

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The suspect, who had a light beard and was wearing a knit cap, punched the woman in the arm, knocked her to the ground and tried to sexually assault her near a subway staircase, cops said.

Police released a sketch of the unidentified suspect in an attempted rape at a Greenwich Village subway station. (DCPI)

He kissed her and was trying to unzip her pants when a nearby commuter ran over, scaring him off. The suspect jumped onto an arriving Bronx-bound train as cops were called.

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The woman was rattled but refused to go to the hospital.

Police released a sketch of the assailant and urged anyone with information regarding his whereabouts to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
Tyne-Lexy Clarson sent temperatures soaring as she headed to dinner at STK Restaurant in London's swanky West End district on Friday night.

The former Love Island contestant, 25, wowed onlookers as she went braless while flashing her ample cleavage in a plunging black top.

Slipping her toned legs into a pair of tight black trousers featuring transparent panels, she added inches to her enviable frame with a pair of coordinating heels.

Emerging: Tyne-Lexy Clarson sent temperatures soaring as she headed to dinner at STK Restaurant in London's swanky West End district on Friday night

The reality star accessorised her look with a dazzling gold necklace and played with her gorgeous walnut locks which cascaded over her shoulders in glossy waves.

She beamed from ear-to-ear and certainly put on her very own fashion shot as she strutted her way through the capital.

The influencer shot to fame on the 2017 series of Love Island, but admitted earlier this year that life after the villa has had its struggles.

Last year, she revealed that has been offered thousands of pounds for sex via her Instagram accounts.

Hot stuff: The former Love Island contestant, 25, wowed onlookers as she went braless while flashing her ample cleavage in a plunging black top

Jaw-dropping: She beamed from ear-to-ear and certainly put on her very own fashion shot as she strutted her way through the capital

Incredible: Slipping her toned legs into a pair of tight black trousers featuring transparent panels, she added inches to her enviable frame with a pair of coordinating heel

Speaking on the Victoria Derbyshire show with fellow Love Island star, Rosie Williams, she said she was just 19 when she first received a proposal of 20,000 to have dinner and drinks with a man.

'It's high-end prostitution  it's just scary to think if they've messaged me, they've probably sent it to thousands of pretty girls on Instagram,' said the blonde beauty, who boasts more than 420,000 followers on Instagram.

After her stint on Love Island came to an end, Tyne-Lexy revealed that she was contacted by her agency offering to pay her 50,000 to spend five nights in Dubai.

Included in the offer was the requirement to sign a non-disclosure agreement, ensuring that all details surrounding her trip would remain confidential.

And while she rejected the offer, Tyne-Lexy believed there are a number of young influencers with huge popularity on Instagram who may be tempted, due in large part to the pressures of portraying an opulent lifestyle.

'It's a lot of money for some people, it's life-changing amounts of money,' she said.
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Alessandra Ambrosio was in full model mode on Friday afternoon as she partook in a photoshoot for the luxury coffee/espresso brand Nespresso on the beach in her native Brazil.

The runway maven, 40, highlighted her toned and tanned physique in a skintight white one-piece swimsuit and let her natural beauty shine with minimal makeup.

Giving the day's shoot a 'surfer girl' vibe, Ambrosio posed with a bright yellow surfboard that featured the Nespresso logo and several brightly colored floral decals.

Busy gal: Alessandra Ambrosio was in full model mode on Friday afternoon as she partook in a photoshoot for the luxury coffee/espresso brand Nespresso on the beach in her native Brazil

Toned and tanned: The runway maven, 40, highlighted her toned and tanned physique in a skintight white one-piece swimsuit and dug her toes into the sand as she posed

Alessandra and the team of videographers set up shop on the scenic beaches of Rio de Janerio.

The supermodel's figure-flattering swimsuit was likely part of her Gal Floripa line that she co-founded with her sister Aline Ambrosio and best friend Gisele Coria in 2019.

Aside from her eye-catching surfboard, Ambrosio was also given a thermos to hold and sip-on during the photoshoot.

Promo mode: The pitch lady used the Nespresso surf board and a coffee thermos as props as photographers snapped away

Oceanside: Ambrosio and the team of videographers set up shop on the scenic beaches of Rio de Janerio

Super in model: Being a veteran of the modeling industry, Ambrosio dropped into several classic poses

Product placement: The legendary Victoria's Secret Angel's swimsuit likely came from her Gal Floripa line

Being a veteran of the modeling industry since she was teenager for 23-years and counting, Ambrosio flashed an array of looks, from seductive to the classic beaming smile, while the cameras snapped away.

There were times when she struck a pose with the yellow surf board upright, and then there were moments when she grabbed ahold of it and walked along the beach looking like a surf pro.

With the wind blowing a tropical breeze, the mother of two had her dark brown tresses styled long and flowing to about the middle of her back, with a wet look and a part in the middle.

Time to get wet: At one point, with the surf board under her right arm, Ambrosio was encouraged to wander her way towards the the gorgeous ocean water, which she happily obliged

Snap shot: Ambrosio got her feet wet while walking along the shoreline during a portion of the shoot

Surfin' Brazil: There were times when she struck a pose with the yellow surf board upright, and then there were moments when she grabbed ahold of it and walked along the beach looking like a surf pro

Team work: At one point she was greeted by a woman holding a microphone pack, who looked to be part of the team for the shoot

At one point, with the surf board under her right arm, Ambrosio was encouraged to wander her way towards the the gorgeous ocean water, which she happily obliged.

Wanting to get a feel of the water temperature, she dropped the board on the sand and inched her feet into the water for a bit of frolicking.

After felling playful for a few moments, she then picked her board back up and walked up away from the ocean, only to be greeted by a woman holding a microphone pack, who looked to be part of the team shooting the advert.

Beach bum: Being that they were on the beach, stylists had Ambrosio go with the wet look

Safety first: The video team made sure to wear protective face masks amid COVID-19

Jet setting: Ambrosio had spent the holidays in her native Brazil, returned to the U.S., only to return to her home country

Then it was back to work for some more standstill shots alongside her surf board. Bit not before workers had to adjust the gear that was set up in the sand to help get the lighting just right.

In keeping with a safety first mentality, all of the workers on the set wore protective masks over their mouths and noses amid the lingering and varied variants of COVID-19.

'Growing up in Brazil, Gisele, Aline and I spent most of our summers together by the beach, immersed in the natural beauty of Florianopolis, known as 'The Magic Island', and spending almost every moment of the day in our swimwear,' Ambrosio reveals on her Gal Floripa webpage, adding, 'It makes sense that swimwear became like a second skin.'

Back at it: The pitch lady did several more takes for the Nespresso video shoot before calling it a day

Double duty: Ambrosio often is her own best advert by modeling swimsuits from her Gal Floripa collection

End of the day: At a certain point, Ambrosio covered up with a classic white robe
She's the former Neighbours star who went on to become one of the biggest Aussie pop stars of the '90s.

And while she is three years shy of fifty, it seems Natalie Imbruglia has barely aged a day in the three decades since she shot to fame.

Posting to Instagram to mark her 47th birthday, Natalie showed off her youthful visage in a smiling photo.

Ageless: Natalie Imbruglia showed off her youthful looks in a selfie to celebrate her 47th birthday on Saturday

And while she's certainly maintained a fresh-faced appearance over the years, the brunette beauty also admits that she feels young at heart.

'Happy Birthday to me!!! 47 today and I still feel like a teenager!!! Thanks for the birthday love,' she captioned the photo.

In Australia, Natalie became a household name when she played the role of Beth Brennan on Neighbours from 1992 to 1994.

She was then catapulted to worldwide fame in 1997 after the release of her debut album, Left of the Middle.

Remember this? Natalie was catapulted to worldwide fame in 1997 after the release of her debut album, Left of the Middle. Pictured in her video clip for her hit song Torn

Her smash hit single Torn topped the charts and was even nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

But the former soap star lost to Celine Dion's hit My Heart Will Go On.

She has gone on to release six more studio albums, has starred in films, and made judging appearances on the British and Australian versions of The X Factor.

Her most recent album, Firebird, was released in September last year and peaked at No. 10 on the UK charts.

Motherhood: Natalie welcomed her first child, a son named Max, in 2019 at the age of 44 with the help of IVF and a sperm donor

Natalie welcomed her first child, a son named Max, in 2019 at the age of 44 with the help of IVF and a sperm donor.

Last year, she told the Spinning Plates podcast she'd given other women her personal phone number so she could counsel them during the stressful IVF process.

'I think what's important on the journey is to have support,' she said.

'So, if I ever meet even strangers at a dinner party and they're talking about wanting to do IVF, I give them my number and say "ask me anything" because it would have been really nice to have that.'
MasterChef Australia: Foodies vs Favourites has resumed filming after a Covid outbreak forced production to abruptly shut down.

Contestants were seen on the Melbourne set last week, shuffling onto waiting transport before filming scenes for the new season.

Among them was Julie Goodwin, 51, who won the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia in 2009.

Back: MasterChef Australia: Foodies vs Favourites has resumed filming after a Covid outbreak forced production to abruptly shut down. Among them was Julie Goodwin (pictured)

Channel 10's hit cooking show closed shop earlier in January when the virus spread amongst the cast and crew on set and several members tested positive.

A green light was given for filming to continue at the MasterChef camp in Ascot Vale, Victoria, late last month.

Cast and crew members shared several photos from the set to their individual social media accounts, confirming that the cameras were rolling on the series once again.

Busy cast: Contestants were seen on the Melbourne set last week, shuffling onto waiting transport before filming scenes for the new season

Work interrupted: Channel 10's hit cooking show closed shop earlier in January when the virus spread amongst the cast and crew on set and several members tested positive

Production was initially forced to wait almost a week until those who were infected recovered from Covid and followed the mandatory isolation period.

Endemol Shine Australia, the company producing MasterChef: Foodies vs Favourites confirmed that production had shut last Saturday when it was revealed there had been an outbreak.

'Shooting on the upcoming season of MasterChef Australia has been temporarily suspended due to several positive COVID cases within the production,' an Endemol Shine Australia spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

Winner: Julie won the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia in 2009

'Our judges, cast and crew are fully vaccinated, and we look forward to resuming filming shortly.'

The 2022 season of MasterChef will see 12 amateur 'foodies' facing off against franchise 'favourites', several of whom are professional chefs.

Among those set to return to the series are Julie Goodwin, Michael Weldon, Tommy Pham, Alvin Quah and Sashi Cheliah.
Mario Cantone, best known for playing the hilarious character Anthony Marentino on Sex And The City and the spinoff And Just Like That, recently recalled the tragic passing of co-star Willie Garson.

Garson, who played Cantone's TV husband Stanford Blatch, died of pancreatic cancer in the midst of shooting the reboot after keeping the severity of his health secret from most.

'I had no idea until he told me,' Cantone confessed to People, adding, 'I thought he was kidding. And then he turned his head and I saw his look and I went, and then I sat down next to him. We both cried and it was horrible.

Back to the future: Mario Cantone looked back at the shooting of the 10-episode season of And Just Like That, and forward about the future the Sex And The City spinoff

As previously reported, Sarah Jessica Parker was the only person on set who knew how gravely ill Garson was, which has since been confirmed by Kristin Davis (Charlotte) ad Cynthia Nixon (Miranda).

Stunned by his death on September 21, 2021, a short time after most the cast had only learned of his cancer diagnosis, shooting for the series forged forward with Standford being written out of the show in the fourth episode by having his character move to Tokyo to work with his TikTok star client.

While it was devastating for Anthony that his husband suddenly left him, Cantone thinks the storyline surrounding Garson's absence was handled 'very well.'

Heartbreaking: Cantone, 62, opened up about the moment he learned his co-star, Willie Garson (left) told him about his cancer diagnosis, which wasn't too long before his death in September 2021

'I love that scene [where Anthony tells Carrie about Stanford leaving]. I think it's beautifully written,' Cantone reveals.

So far, there's been no official word on whether HBO wants to move forward with a second season.

If enthusiasm from the cast is any indication, then fans just may get another batch of episodes for a second season.

'I think we all want to do it,' Cantone revealed, before clarifying his response ever so slightly, 'I hope so. We had a great time this season.'

Comic relief: The Anthony and Stanford character made for plenty of comedic moments during Sex And The City and the spinoff And Just Like That

Cantone already has a few ideas in mind for his character, Anthony, if they all return, and they involve his relationships with the three main ladies in his life: Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte.

'I hope I'm still in Carrie's life, in Charlotte's life and I hope to be in Miranda's life more too, since she has had a shift in her life' Cantone explained.

'I hope that the business continues. I would love to meet somebody, you know, a man that I can have a relationship with whether it works out or not. I'd like a little bit more.'
Susan Carland is not a fan of husband Waleed Aly's penchant for mullets.

On Friday's episode of The Project, the academic was shown footage of Waleed, 43, sporting the bogan hairstyle behind the scenes on the show.

'I see him so differently now,' she said, laughing uproariously at the footage as the panel joined in her giggles.

Laughs: Susan Carland (pictured) is not a fan of husband Waleed Aly's penchant for mullets

'I can't go home, that's it, that's the end!' she added, to which co-host Lisa Wilkinson replied, 'I can neither confirm or deny that on that day, he also got a tat!'

The footage was from 2019, and showed Waleed wearing a mullet wig in the dressing room before an episode of The Project.

Susan has become almost as famous as her Gold Logie-winning husband as she uses her platform to provide commentary on social issues.

A look: On Friday's episode of The Project, the academic was shown footage of Waleed, 43, sporting the bogan hairstyle behind the scenes on the show. Waleed is pictured

'I see him so differently now,' she said, laughing uproariously at the footage. 'I can't go home, that's it, that's the end!'

Back in 2016, Susan spoke about her decision to convert from Christianity to Islam at the age of 19, saying it 'felt like coming home'.

The sociologist admitted she originally thought Islam was a 'barbaric, outdated and sexist religion', but after detailed research she realised this was not the case.

She told The Australian Women's Weekly these misconceptions still permeate society, with many still believing 'Muslims are all terrorists and kill people'.

Bogan chic: The footage was from 2019, and showed Waleed wearing a mullet wig in the dressing room before an episode of The Project

Susan, who attended the Uniting Church in Sydney as a child before switching to the Baptist Church as a teenager, said her mother had initially opposed her decision to convert to Islam.

But she was determined, saying: 'Becoming Muslim felt like coming home. It felt like a natural fit for me as a person.'

The university academic shares two children with Waleed, who describes himself as a 'moderate Muslim'.

Back then: Speaking at an RTi Talk, Susan said that when people in the Muslim community suggested she and Waleed would make a good couple, she would tell them: 'I wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth'

She has previously said she didn't change religion for her husband, as her faith journey had actually started long before they met.

Speaking at an RTi Talk, Susan said that when people in the Muslim community suggested they would make a good couple, she would tell them: 'I wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth.'

Susan clearly changed her mind and the couple have now been married for 20 years.
He earned his spot in one of the most iconic places in Hollywood.

But for Andy Cohen the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony wasn't the only reason the day was special as he was also celebrating his son Benjamin's 3rd birthday.

The 53-year-old Bravo executive and host took to Instagram on Friday to share snaps of his son's birthday party with a sparkling cake captioning the post: 'Ben had the best 3rd birthday ever!!!'

Happy Birthday! For Andy Cohen, 53, the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony wasn't the only reason the day was special as he was also celebrating his son Benjamin's 3rd birthday

Daddy's boy: The host took to Instagram on Friday to share snaps of his son's birthday party with a sparkling cake captioning the post: 'Ben had the best 3rd birthday ever!!!'

Andy's mother could be seen clapping next to him as Ben smiled at his birthday surprise.

In one photo, musician John Mayer held Ben as the pair smiled for a picture at the ceremony.

Cohen - who hosts late night talk show Watch What Happens Live on Bravo and Radio Andy on Sirius XM - also posted several videos including his son waving to onlookers.

Another video showed B. J. Novak carrying Ben and pointing towards a billboard of Andy saying 'Never seen that guy before. Who's that?' with his son replying 'Da-da'.

Buddies: In one photo, musician John Mayer held Ben as the pair smiled for a picture at the ceremony

Cohen revealed that he was expecting to welcome a child into his life during a 2018 episode of his talk show.

He also pointed out that he was very grateful for the assistance of his son's surrogate mother in his statement.

The media personality went on to announce that he was expecting a baby boy while co-hosting CNN's New Year's Eve special with longtime friend Anderson Cooper.

Crowd pleaser: Cohen - who hosts late night talk show Watch What Happens Live on Bravo and Radio Andy on Sirius XM - also posted several videos including his son waving to onlookers

Who's that? Another video showed B. J. Novak carrying Ben and pointing towards a billboard of Andy saying 'Never seen that guy before. Who's that?' with his son replying 'Da-da'

Andy was honored with a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday as he carried his beloved son at the ceremony.

He ended his speech by saying: 'This is all my honor and my privilege and thank you so much all of you and thanks for coming out to my friends and family.

'And happy birthday Ben! Happy birthday Ben! It's your birthday! We've got cookies waiting for you man.'

What a moment: Andy was honored with a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday as he even carried his beloved three-year-old son Benjamin at the ceremony

Squad goals: The star brigade was there in support as Garcelle Beauvais, John Mayer and Lisa Rinna are seen left to right

Aww: The 53-year-old Bravo executive and host proudly held his son at the event

Bond: Andy grinned from ear-to-ear

Mark on history: Andy proudly showed his only child his star

Touching: The ceremony wasn't the only reason the day was special in the Cohen household as they were also celebrating Ben's third birthday

Cohen had the support of his famous friends including Lisa Rinna, Garcelle Beauvais, and John Mayer who all spoke at the event.

The radio and television personality also posed for some precious family snaps with his only child as they posed with his newly unveiled star.

Earlier during the event Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills stars Lisa Rinna and Garcelle Beauvais hit the podium to shares some words about the Bravo boss.

Sweet: Earlier during the event Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills stars Lisa Rinna and Garcelle Beauvais hit the podium to shares some words about the Bravo boss

Rinna concluded their speech by saying: 'Ladies and gentlemen, our mazel of the day goes to you, Andy Cohen, to all that you have accomplished and to all amazing things that you will accomplish in the future'

Beauvais joked: 'And we're not just saying that because you're our boss'

Then Andy fist pumped as Rinna hyped up the crowd at the end of their speech by yelling: 'So I would like to say and congratulate you and tell you all to get up on a table and dance for Andy Cohen and his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame now!'

Ravishing: Lisa donned a bright red suit

Cute: Andy greeted Garcelle with a big hug before the ceremony began

Stunning: Garcelle looked stylish in a grey an black floral patterned coat with a feathered detailing

Rinna concluded their speech by saying: 'Ladies and gentlemen, our mazel of the day goes to you, Andy Cohen, to all that you have accomplished and to all amazing things that you will accomplish in the future.'

Beauvais joked: 'And we're not just saying that because you're our boss.'

Then Andy fist pumped as Rinna hyped up the crowd at the end of their speech by yelling: 'So I would like to say and congratulate you and tell you all to get up on a table and dance for Andy Cohen and his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame now!'

Musician John Mayer also hit the stage to give a touching dedication to his friend Andy as he said: 'He is utterly original, he consults with nobody wondering what is funny, what's compelling, what's soothing, and what's satisfying.

Musician John Mayer also hit the stage to give a touching dedication to his friend Andy as he said: 'He is utterly original, he consults with nobody wondering what is funny, what's compelling, what's soothing, and what's satisfying'

John also sweetly said: 'He belongs just a little to every culture and can connect to anyone from any walk of life and he has something that every politician would give everything they would have for: the public's trust'

Pals: Andy greeted his friend with a hug before the event began

Just us: Earlier in the day the two sat down next to each other

Hamming it up: After the unveiling of the star, the two posed by it doing a hands on hips prom pose

'His inner compass is unshakable, he's a rule breaker, he's an icon, and an iconoclast, a Madonna Stan and a Dead Head. He's an A-lister who parties like a B-lister with the free spirit of a C-lister. He moves through all levels and truly appreciates each and every person he comes in contact with.

'He belongs just a little to every culture and can connect to anyone from any walk of life and he has something that every politician would give everything they would have for: the public's trust.'

Andy looked handsome in a teal suit over a crisp white dress shirt, black tie, and black leather dress shoes for his big day.

He has worked hard to get to the place he is in as he began his career in the late 1980s working in television as an intern at CBS News where he spent 10 years and eventually served as senior producer for The Early Show. He also served as a producer for 48 Hours and CBS This Morning.

Handsome: Andy looked handsome in a teal suit over a crisp white dress shirt, black tie, and black leather dress shoes for his big day

His place in history: He stood over his newly unveiled star with a big smile on his face

He went on to join pop culture network Trio in 2000 which was bought out by Bravo in 2004 and Andy eventually became vice president of original programming.

In the summer of 2009, he began hosting a weekly late night chat show titled Watch What Happens Live which later expanded to a weeknight series and still is on air to this day.

The proud St. Louis, Missouri native made history with the gig as it made him the first openly gay host of an American late-night talk show.

As if that already wasn't enough, in September 2015 Sirius XM launched a new radio channel curated by him, known as Radio Andy.

Paved the way: He has worked hard to get to the place he is in as he began his career in the late 1980s working in television as an intern at CBS News where he spent 10 years and eventually served as senior producer for The Early Show. He also served as a producer for 48 Hours and CBS This Morning

More recently Andy joined pal Anderson Cooper as co-host of CNN's New Year's Eve coverage as he replaced Kathy Griffin in 2017.

Andy commemorated the occasion by sharing a gallery of snaps featuring one of him with son Benjamin prominently.

He captioned the post: '[star emoji I got a STAR!!! [star emoji] And Im gonna be floating from today for a long time. Thank you John, Garcelle & Lisa for helping make today incredibly special.'
The stars turned out in droves for the Twilight Beach Polo on Saturday.

Mia Fevola led the charge as she posed up at storm at the event, held at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne.

The 22-year-old opted for a flirty summer frock with triangular cut-outs at the sides, showing off a hint of skin.

Looking good: The stars turned out in droves for the Twilight Beach Polo on Saturday. Mia Fevola (pictured) led the charge as she posed up at storm at the event, held at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne

The maxi dress, which was in a white, cotton fabric, was paired with towering clear heels.

Mia opted for a bronzed makeup palette with a nude lipstick and wore her hair down in soft waves.

She kept her accessories minimal, and carried a pastel grey purse tucked under her arm.

All white! The 22-year-old opted for a flirty summer frock with triangular cut-outs at the sides, showing off a hint of skin

Max style: Mia opted for a bronzed makeup palette with a nude lipstick and wore her hair down in soft waves

High and mighty: She paired her dress with towering clear heels and a white pedicure

Looking good: She kept her accessories minimal, and carried a pastel grey purse tucked under her arm

Also turning heads was Tottie Goldsmith, 59, who had on a retro style dress in burnt orange tones, with a knotted portion at the bust.

It featured a thigh-high split, which flaunted he toned legs, and she chose a pair of high heels in orange and red tones that matched her dress.

The I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star opted for a warm-toned makeup look with nude lipstick and wore her hair down around her face in 1970s style layers.

Turning heads! Also turning heads was Tottie Goldsmith (pictured) who had on a retro style dress in burnt orange tones, with a knotted portion at the bust

Retro: The I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star opted for a warm-toned makeup look with nude lipstick and wore her hair down around her face in 1970s style layers

Newly-single Alex Pike dared to bare in a fitted white skirt and matching puffed midriff top.

The 44-year-old flashed some thigh thanks to a high split in her skirt, which she matched with pointed, strappy white heels.

The cosmetic nurse chose a glowing makeup look with lots of highlighter, and wore her brunette hair down in semi-curls, while donning an oversized hat.

Stylish: Newly-single Alex Pike (pictured) dared to bare in a fitted white skirt and matching puffed midriff top

Stunner: The cosmetic nurse chose a glowing makeup look with lots of highlighter

Details: She wore her brunette hair down in semi-curls, while donning an oversized hat

Sharon Johal made sure all eyes were on her as she donned a bright pink, vintage style dress with plats, with a deep v-neck that showed off lots of cleavage.

She wore a bright green and red hat atop her head, and accessorised with a chunky necklace, pink strappy heels and a purse in the shape of lips.

The former Neighbours actress, 32, chose a bold makeup palette to match her outfit, with smoky eyes and a deep red lipstick.

Pretty in pink: Sharon Johal (pictured) made sure all eyes were on her as she donned a bright pink, vintage style dress with plats, with a deep v-neck that showed off lots of cleavage

Ready for fun: She wore a bright green and red hat atop her head, and accessorised with a chunky necklace, pink strappy heels and a purse in the shape of lips

Wowing them: The former Neighbours actress chose a bold makeup palette to match her outfit, with smoky eyes and a deep red lipstick

Chelsie McLeod looked just darling in a soft lavender dress with puffed sleeves and a ruffled, waterfall skirt.

The former Bachelor star, 28, added a pair of strappy nude heels and statement hoop earrings.

She chose a natural makeup look with a soft pink lipstick while wearing her hair down in waves.

Lavender dreams: Chelsie McLeod (pictured) looked just darling in a soft lavender dress with puffed sleeves and a ruffled, waterfall skirt

Flirty: The former Bachelor star added a pair of strappy nude heels and statement hoop earrings

Summer fun: She chose a natural makeup look with a soft pink lipstick while wearing her hair down in waves

Shaynna Blaze looked fantastic in a nude, statin tank top contrasted with a ruffled maxi skirt with a muted orange floral pattern and a chunky beige belt.

The Block star, 58, added a layered peal necklace and matching earrings, was well as a pair of pastel pink moccasins.

She chose a glowing makeup palette with highlighted cheeks and pink lipstick, while wearing her blonde hair off her face.

Retro style: Shaynna Blaze (pictured) looked fantastic in a nude, statin tank top contrasted with a ruffled maxi skirt with a muted orange floral pattern and a chunky beige belt

Pearls: The Block star added a layered peal necklace and matching earrings, was well as a pair of pastel pink moccasins

Fancy like that: She chose a glowing makeup palette with highlighted cheeks and pink lipstick, while wearing her blonde hair off her face

Daria Varlamova also chose apricot for her beach party look, stunning in a fitted frock with cutouts at the waist and oversized puffed sleeves.

The Miss Universe Australia 2021 had on a peachy makeup look that matched her outfit, and had her hair in an up-do with a bun and tendrils around her face.

The 26-year-old carried a bright orange clutch and chose pointed white heels as well as blue statement earrings to pull the ensemble together.

Peachy: Daria Varlamova (pictured) also chose apricot for her beach party look, stunning in a fitted frock with cutouts at the waist and oversized puffed sleeves

Made up: The Miss Universe Australia 2021 had on a peachy makeup look that matched her outfit, and had her hair in an up-do with a bun and tendrils around her face

Orange you glad she came! The 26-year-old carried a bright orange clutch and chose pointed white heels as well as blue statement earrings to pull the ensemble together

Florence Alexandra was all white on the day, in a one-shoulder top and fitted, pleated maxi skirt.

The former Bachelor star carried a black Gucci purse and added a pair of blue, strappy heels to her look.

The 31-year-old chose a peachy makeup palette with a pink lipstick and kept her accessories minimal, wearing a choker necklace.

Matching: Florence Alexandra (pictured) was all white on the day, in a one-shoulder top and fitted, pleated maxi skirt

Reality Past: The former Bachelor star carried a black Gucci purse and added a pair of blue, strappy heels to her look

Beach babe: The 31-year-old chose a peachy makeup palette with a pink lipstick and kept her accessories minimal, wearing a choker necklac

Jacinta Stapleton was a bronzed goddess on the day, choosing a fitted brown dress with cut outs that flaunted hints of skin.

The Neighbours actress hung a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses around her neck, and opted for a glowing makeup look with nude lipstick.

The 42-year-old added a pair of pale pink espadrilles to her outfit, and had her blonde hair half-up with strands around her face, while carrying a black purse.

Sunset style: Jacinta Stapleton (pictured) was a bronzed goddess on the day, choosing a fitted brown dress with cut outs that flaunted hints of skin

Stylish: The Neighbours actress hung a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses around her neck, and opted for a glowing makeup look with nude lipstick

Kylie Gulliver also chose white for the event, showing off her amazing figure in a corseted dress with a fitted cut and a thigh-high split that flaunted her trim pins.

The Winners & Losers added a chunky gold necklace and flat sandals with metallic details that matched.

She had on a bronzed makeup palette with a shiny lipstick, while wearing her hair straightened around her face, and had on sunglasses.

Flaunt it: Kylie Gulliver (pictured) also chose white for the event, showing off her amazing figure in a corseted dress with a fitted cut and a thigh-high split that flaunted her trim pins

Heavy metals: The Winners & Losers added a chunky gold necklace. She had on a bronzed makeup palette with a shiny lipstick, while wearing her hair straightened around her face

Liam Cooper and his boyfriend Samuel Levi went along together, both men looking smart in casually chic outfits.

The Married At First Sight groom, 30, chose a pale blue shirt and black skinny jeans with tan leather shoes.

Samuel, a model and star of Married At First Sight New Zealand, 30, was chic in a black button-up shirt and khaki trousers worn with brown loafers.

Loved up: Liam Cooper (left) and his boyfriend Samuel Levi (right) went along together, both men looking smart in casually chic outfits

Close up: Samuel, a model and star of Married At First Sight New Zealand, 30, was chic in a black button-up shirt and khaki trousers

Chic: Married At First Sight groom Liam, 30, chose a pale blue shirt and black skinny jeans with tan leather shoes

Stars: Liam also posed alongside fellow Married At First Sight star Jaimie Gardner (left)who chose a cream toned mini dress which she matched with pearl heels

Liam also posed alongside fellow Married At First Sight star Jaimie Gardner, 35, who chose a cream toned mini dress which she matched with pearl heels.

She had on a soft pink makeup look with drop earrings and wore her hair blonde down in waves.

Married At First Sight grooms Nick Furphy and Jesse Konstantinoff also attended, posing together on the red carpet in smart shirt and skinny trouser combos.
The Graham Norton Show viewers have accused Courteney Cox of looking 'bored' and 'glazed over' during her appearance on the programme on Friday night.

The Friends star, 57, was on the show to talk about her latest comedy-horror series called Shining Veil, but people watching commented that she 'looked like she would rather be somewhere else'.

One pointed out that while Graham is 'superb at managing guests', the interview was 'awkward' due to her 'dissociated' demeanour.

Oh dear: The Graham Norton Show viewers have accused Courteney Cox of looking 'bored' and 'glazed over' during her appearance on the programme on Friday night

Taking to twitter the viewer said of Graham: 'He really is superb at managing the guests. It was a tough one tonight, too - Courteney Cox looked like she wasn't present at all, almost dissociated.

'Her eyes looked glazed over, which isn't how she used to come across.'

Another said: 'Courteney Cox looks bored. Such a shame #GrahamNortonShow.'

A third tweeted: '#Courteneycox looks like she wants to be somewhere else. So awkward'.

Awkward: The Friends star, 57, was on the show to talk about her latest comedy-horror series called Shining Veil, but people watching commented that she 'looked like she would rather be somewhere else'

A fourth added: 'Don't think #courtneycox wanted to be there.'

The BBC and Courteney have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.

The day after the show was aired, Courteney stepped out in London to head to film the John Bishop Show.

She looked typically stylish in a black and white checked coat which she wore with a cream roll neck jumper.

Reaction: One pointed out that while Graham is 'superb at managing guests', the interview was 'awkward' due to her 'dissociated' demeanour

Unimpressed: One viewer wrote on Twitter: 'Don't think #courtneycox wanted to be there'

During the show Courteney admitted that playing piano in front of the iconic music star Elton John, 74, was the 'scariest, most nerve-wracking' thing she's ever done.

Last June, she showed off her impressive musical skills as she partook in a hilarious rendition of his track Tiny Dancer with the Rocket Man hitmaker himself.

The Friends actress also reveals that she called up her piano tutor for an emergency practice session before Sir Elton came over.

Style: The day after the show was aired, Courteney stepped out in London to head to film the John Bishop Show

Stepping out: She looked typically stylish in a black and white checked coat which she wore with a cream roll neck jumper

The look: She completed her outfit with a pair of grey jeans and black trainers and was with her security team

Last summer, Courteney was joined by the music legend, her close pal Ed Sheeran, 30, and Brandi Carlile, 40, for a rendition of the hit shared on Instagram last year.

And the Scream actress has revealed she phoned up her piano tutor as soon as Ed invited Elton over for dinner because she was so nervous about the prospect of tinkling the ivories in front of him.

Courteney told Graham: 'I learned to play in lockdown but then Ed Sheeran invited Elton John to dinner at my house and suggested we all perform together.

Glam: She later wrapped her coat up and wore a red dress underneath teamed with black boots

Having their say: Another said: 'Courteney Cox looks bored. Such a shame #GrahamNortonShow'

Scary! During the show Courteney admitted that playing piano in front of the iconic music star Elton John, 74, was the 'scariest, most nerve-wracking' thing she's ever done

'So, I called my piano teacher and 20 minutes later he was walking out as Elton was walking in. It was the scariest, most nerve-wracking thing I've ever done, and it was the thrill of my life!'

It wasn't just any cover of Tiny Dancer, as they did the version Friends character made famous by Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) where she sings 'Tony Danza' instead of 'Tiny Dancer'.

Courteney shared a video of the musical performance to her Instagram at the time, and captioned the clip: 'One of the greatest moments of my life. This one's for you.'

To which, Lisa reacted in the comments: 'Whaaaaaat??? That's the most exciting thing ever!!!!'

Meanwhile, Ed previously said Courteney might have made an appearance on one of his albums.

Speaking about his latest studio effort, , the Bad Habits hitmaker said: 'She sings. I'm pretty sure she sings on background vocals on the album. I think she's on Visiting Hours. If not, she was definitely on  somewhere.'

The chart-topping pop star subsequently explained how he came to work with the Hollywood star.

He said: 'Well, my producer and songwriter, Johnny [McDaid] is dating her. Me and Johnny write most, like, we wrote Shape of You together. We wrote Bad Habits together. We work together a lot.'

The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One 10.35pm on Friday and is available on BBC iPlayer.
Vicky Pattison ensured all eyes were on her as she left her hotel on Friday for a night out in Manchester with her pals.

The former Geordie Shore star, 34, looked phenomenal as she flaunted her sensational figure in a green leather jumpsuit.

She completed her head-turning ensemble with a pair of transparent stilettos and a nude handbag.

Stunning: Vicky Pattison, 34, ensured all eyes were on her as she left her hotel on Friday for a night out in Manchester with her friends

Vicky wore her long blonde tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a glamorous makeup look.

It comes as Pete Wicks and Vicky admitted they struggled with being single over the age of 30.

Speaking on the Vicky Pattison: The Secret To podcast, TOWIE star Pete, 33, said 'people just assume no one wants you, or that it's a red flag' not to be in a relationship after the age of 29.

Wow! The former Geordie Shore star flaunted her sensational figure in a green leather jumpsuit, teamed with transparant heels and a nude bag

Former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! winner Vicky, who is now coupled-up with boyfriend Ercan Ramadan, said: 'When I left the jungle, I remember I couldn't be seen with any fella

'I was frustrated I couldn't be a single woman, who was really focused on her career and keen to make a name for herself without having a significant other. Do you ever feel like that?'

Pete responded: 'Yes, 100% especially in 30s and people are like 'you're 30 what's wrong with you?' People just assume no one wants you, or that it's a red flag.

Happy within herself: Former I'm A Celebrity winner Vicky previously said she wanted to focus on her career after she turned 30 rather than rushing into a relationship

'I'm going to get married one day, I believe in soulmates, but I'm not going to be in a relationship if I don't see it as the person, I'm going to spend the rest of my life with.'

While Pete may be happy waiting for the perfect partner, he allegedly sent Married At First Sight Australia star Jessika Power a message asking her out on a date.

Reality star Jessika 30, gushed of Pete: 'He is very good looking! He actually messaged me and he's like, ''Baby, let's go dating''. And I was like, ''Yeah!'''

Vicky Pattison: The Secret To podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.
A top-echelon Colombo crime family leader was freed Friday on $5 million bond over the objections of federal prosecutors.

Mob consigliere Ralph DiMatteo, 66, walked out of a Brooklyn jail just five months after making headlines when his son posted a photo of his fugitive father lounging in a in sunny Florida pool following a September 2021 federal indictment.

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DiMatteo eventually surrendered and was charged with 13 other reputed mobsters on racketeering and extortion charges for the attempted takeover of a local labor union.

DiMatteos release wont be a day at the beach. Under the agreement, the reputed Mafioso agreed to electronic monitoring, with freedom from his home limited to attorney visits, court appearances, medical treatment and religious services.

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Defense attorney Gerald McMahon argued that DiMatteos release was important in preparing their case. The $5 million bond was co-signed by his wife, daughter and niece.

DiMatteo, indicted alongside family boss Andrew Mush Russo and underboss Benjamin Castellazzo, turned himself in three days after the charges were made public. Prosecutors lost the battle to keep him inside the Metropolitan Detention Center, just as the 87-year-old Russo was freed last October on a $10 million bond.

In court papers, authorities asserted that DiMatteo continued to orchestrate family business from inside the Brooklyn federal lockup, even making calls from inside the jail to Colombo members on the outside. In one recorded chat, he somewhat ironically advised a relative to stay off the phones because of possible FBI surveillance.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

Another call cited by prosecutors captured DiMatteo advising a Colombo associate to avoid a garage once used as a crime family meeting spot because the feds were aware of the location.

In the months since his arrest. DiMatteo has continued to associate with and communicate with members of organized crime, seek their financial assistance, and remain involved in the affairs of the Colombo family, prosecutors alleged.

Ralph DiMatteo (Obtained by Daily News)

The weight of the evidence against DiMatteo is overwhelming, the eight-page court filing continued. The governments evidence includes witness testimony, wiretap intercepts, consensual recordings ... text messages, surveillance photographs.

But Brooklyn Federal Court Magistrate James Cho ruled DiMatteo was not a flight risk, ultimately deciding home detention and phone monitoring was enough to alleviate the risk posed by the senior citizen gangster.

The indictment detailed a long-running mob operation to loot money from the union representing construction workers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with an eye on taking over the operation and its lucrative health care fund.

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Court papers mentioned Colombo capo Vincent Ricciardo threatening to whack a union official who was already forced to turn over part of his salary to the mob.

Ill put him in the ground, right in front of his wife and kids, right in front of his f---ing house, said Ricciardo, according to court documents. You laugh all you want, pal. Im not afraid to go to jail. Let me tell you something, to prove a point?
Katie Price addressed her head bandage and bruises in her speech at the National Diversity Awards while supporting son Harvey on Friday night.

The former glamour model, 43, was at the event held at the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool in what was her first public appearance since flying to Belgium to get an eye and brow lift.

Katie was on hand at the awards ceremony to support her 19-year-old son Harvey who won the Celebrity of the Year gong.

Elephant in the room: Katie Price addressed her head bandage and bruises in her speech at the National Diversity Awards while supporting son Harvey on Friday night

Addressing the audience at the cathedral, Katie immediately referenced her strange look.

According to The Mirror she said: 'Hi everyone, good evening. By the way, I know I look like this but I couldn't let my son down because it's a special occasion tonight because my son's up for an award.

'I wouldn't normally come out after surgery, but you know, I can't let him down. It is a privilege to be presenting the disability role model award because it is such a special occasion.'

Confident: The former glamour model, 43, was at the event held at the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool in what was her first public appearance since flying to Belgium to get an eye and brow lift (pictured with fiance Carl Woods and Harvey)

Taking to the stage and posing on the red carpet on the night, Katie looked a far cry from her bruised self from earlier on in the day as she wore a full face of makeup complete with a wash of foundation and fluttery eyelashes.

Having cut off her chin bandage, Katie still sported white dressing around her head as she joined fiance Carl Woods, 32, and son Harvey at the event.

Katie's blonde tresses, partially hidden by the bandages, were styled poker straight and left to tumble over her shoulders.

Proud: Katie was on hand at the awards ceremony to support her 19-year-old son Harvey who won the Celebrity of the Year gong

She wore an all-black ensemble, made up of a black shirt and leather trousers that clung to her legs.

The mother-of-five added a pair of heeled black boots and a smart blazer for the black tie event, and attempted to jazz up her bandages with a sparkly black ribbon.

Katie's appearance at the awards came just after she revealed she was forced to cut off her chin bandage because it was 'driving her nuts'.

Speech: Addressing the audience at the cathedral, Katie immediately referenced her strange look, saying: 'I wouldn't normally come out after surgery, but you know, I can't let him down'

She made the confession during an Instagram Live while travelling to the awards.

Having covered her two black eyes with a heavy helping of concealer, she prepared to hit the red carpet in Liverpool despite her head being tightly bound with medical dressings.

She admitted in the video: 'Oh my god, I had to cut that chin strap off. It was driving me nuts! So we're off to the awards, we are a little bit late.

Thrilled: Harvey looked over the moon as he picked up the award on stage alongside a proud Katie

'I'm so hot in the back here. Ah, it's so itchy here. I'm really hot in this, I can't even take it off. I have covered the bruises up well.

'I'm only doing this for you Harv. Really I should be resting. Look at me! I should be resting,' before he replied, 'Oh for goodness sake.'

When a fan commented, 'You'll fit right in Liverpool with that headband,' the reality star shouted, 'Oh shut up Marcello!' before getting Harvey to repeat her.

Katie continued: 'We're gonna walk through, it's probably gonna be speeches time. The thing is, Harvey normally goes to bed at half-six, seven and the awards don't start until half nine.

'He's not gonna like the three course meal, so I've just had to give him pizza, no pasta, so I've got to try and keep him entertained until it's award time.'

Dr Judy Todd, an aesthetic doctor at Clinica Medica in Glasgow, said: 'It appears like she's had a face lift, temporal brow lift, and possibly an upper blepharoplasty....

'These would all lift the features to a more youthful position, elevate the eyebrows and would reduce any sagging skin on the upper eyelid. She is currently wearing a pressure dressing which is all over the area where the sutures would be...

'This kind of bruising around the eye often occurs with these procedures but the effects are only temporary and tend to dissipate within seven to 10 days.

Cover up: Having covered her two black eyes with a heavy helping of concealer, she prepared to hit the red carpet in Liverpool despite her head being tightly bound with medical dressings

'But some patients may experience swelling and bruising for several weeks after surgery but this will ultimately depend on the patients healing process and post-op recovery care.'

It was reported last month that Katie had plans to travel to Turkey imminently for yet more plastic surgery, amid claims she wanted to get some tweaks in after being unhappy with her latest plastic surgery work.

A friend of Katie's reportedly told The Sun: 'Katie's telling everyone she thinks her bum implants make her look too big and wants them out - plus more lipo.

Work it: Katie put on a confident display in an all-black ensemble at the event where she covered up the bruises with makeup

However Katie's latest surgery was on her face, not her body like her pal had suggested. The source added: 'When Katie has an idea in her head, she just does it. Who knows if she'll actually go through with it, but she's told friends she's going.'

The mum-of-five last visited Turkey just six months ago, where she underwent full body liposuction, eye and lip lifts, liposuction under her chin, and had fat injected into her bum.

Following Katie's surgery last summer she was said to be in 'horrific pain', but she admitted she was still prepared to go under the knife again.
Pierce Brosnan looked in great spirits after leaving a romantic diner with wife Keely Shaye Smith at Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica on Saturday.

The James Bond legend, 68, who put on an animated display for the cameras, cut a smart figure in a brown suede blazer.

He teamed his jacket with a pale blue shirt, dark trousers and shiny black lace-up shoes.

Looking good: Pierce Brosnan looked in great spirits after leaving a romantic diner with wife Keely Shaye Smith at Giorgio Baldi restaurant in Santa Monica on Saturday

Meanwhile, Keeley, 58, looked elegant in a black top teamed with a flowing black skirt.

She added a simple pair of black pumps to her look and held onto a black coat, with the beauty accessorising with a black bag and a beaded necklace.

The pair looked relaxed as they made their way down the street, with Keeley seen just ahead of her film star husband.

The couple, who are parents to sons Dylan, 25, and Paris, 20, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last year.

Date night: The James Bond legend, 68, who put on an animated display for the cameras, cut a smart figure in a brown suede blazer, while Keeley looked elegant in a black top and skirt

Pierce, who exchanged vows with Smith in his native Ireland in August of 2001, took to Instagram this past summer with a touching tribute to his spouse of two decades.

'Happy anniversary my darling Keely, my love forever grows with you' the actor wrote, adding emojis of a clover and a heart.

In September, Brosnan wrote a touching post to his wife in celebrating her 58th birthday: 'My beautiful luscious love Keely on her 58th trip around the sun yesterday apres swim, making coconut water ... Happiest of birthdays it was!'

Pierce in April of 2017 opened up to People about how the pair enjoy one another's company.

'My wife and I took a short road trip up to Santa Barbara - we were going for a romantic weekend and to look at houses and drink great wine,' he said. 'We didnt listen to any music, but we just listened to the sounds of each others voices and sorted out the world.'
Fred Collins has suffered significant damage to his arm after a terrifying injury from his tractor, which saw the limb trapped for a considerable amount of time.

The TV farmer, who shot to fame on BBC's The Farmers' Country Showdown and is based in Devon, has been told he may have lost as much as 80 percent of its capacity.

Having raised 4,000 so far through a GoFundMe page set up by his friend Julie Giles, the incident happened when a jack failed while changing the vehicle's tyre.

Sad: Fred Collins has suffered significant damage to his arm following a terrifying injury from his tractor, which saw the limb trapped for a considerable amount of time

Fred is said to be aware of the advert, where a goal of 5,000 has been set, and is being supported by his wife Kimmy, as well as their daughters, whose names are unknown.

His pal wrote on the site: 'As some of you may have seen in the last day Fred was going about his busy farm chores when a tragic accident occurred which was just a job that he had undertaken many times before.

'Sadly while changing the tyre on his tractor the jack failed and His arm was trapped for a considerable time.

Tragic: The TV farmer, who shot to fame on BBC's The Farmers' Country Showdown, has been told he may have lost as much as 80 percent of its capacity

'At the moment we dont fully know the extent of the long lasting damage. But he has been told he may only have 20% of his arm fully functioning.

'This is terrible news for Fred Kimmy and the Girls, if any of you watched the BBC One series The Farmers Country Show Down recently you will know how the family as a unit work so hard to make that farm work.

'Times are hard for everyone but please give generously and help make things this little bit easier at this horrendous time for the family.

'We all wish you a speedy recover, and by looking at all the well wishes on social media it shows how much Fred and his family are thought of by everyone.

Worrying: Having raised 4,000 so far through a GoFundMe page set up by his friend Julie Giles, the incident happened when a jack failed while changing the vehicle's tyre

Supportive: One fan commented: 'I watched you and your lovely family on T V last week, I truly hope that you are back on your farm fit and well very soon'

'Fred is aware of this page and we will update his progress along the way.'

One fan commented: 'I watched you and your lovely family on T V last week, I truly hope that you are back on your farm fit and well very soon.'

Another added: 'Stay positive, Fred and positive things will happen. Focus on getting better, everything else will fall into place. Good luck & God bless.'

A third chimed in: 'Get fixed and kick on best of luck. People like you deserve a bit of support at times like this I know only too well! Best wishes to you and your family.'

Fred recently starred in The Farmers Country Show Down, which is now in its sixth series.

The BBC One programme follows farming families and the rural events where they showcase their hard work and try to win the top prizes.
Viewers accused her of looking 'bored' and 'glazed over' in 'awkward' interview with Graham Norton on Friday.

And Courteney Cox, 57, didn't appear to have perked up as she headed out to film the John Bishop Show, in London on Saturday.

The actress looked stony-faced as she headed out in a stylish black and white checked coat ahead of her second television appearance this weekend.

Frosty! Sourteney Cox, 57, didn't appear to have perked up as she headed out to film the John Bishop Show, in London on Saturday, after being accused of looking 'bored' in an interview

Struggling to crack a smile, Courteney added a pop of colour to her look as a red dress peaked out from beneath her long coat.

To complete her ensemble Courteney wore a pair of knee high heeled leather boots and cross-body black bag.

Her brunette tresses were worn with a centre parting and styled in neat waves for a relaxed hair style.

Glum: The actress looked stony-faced as she headed out in a stylish black and white checked coat ahead of her second television appearance this weekend

Guarded: Courteney struggled to crack a smile as she headed into the building accompanied by a security guard

Stylish display: Courteney added a pop of colour to her look as a red dress peaked out from beneath her long coat and did a small smile

All in the details: To complete her ensemble Courteney wore a pair of knee high heeled leather boots and cross-body black bag

Chat show: Speaking about her future aspirations Courteney muses in the upcoming episode: 'I want to be in Downton. I think I'd like to be a posh one - they've got better frocks'

The Friends star stepped out to chat with John on the ITV chat show, set to air on Saturday, alongside Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville, 58, about her new Starz series, Shining Vale.

Speaking about her future aspirations Courteney muses in the upcoming episode: 'I want to be in Downton. I think I'd like to be a posh one - they've got better frocks. I wouldn't want to play another competitive neat freak.'

On Friday, Courteney put in an appearance on The Graham Norton Show where viewers have accused her of looking 'bored' and 'glazed over' during the programme.

Chic: Her brunette tresses were worn with a centre parting and styled in neat waves for a relaxed hair style

A smile! The actress managed to display a happier appearance later

The actress, was on the show to talk about her latest comedy-horror series called Shining Veil, but people watching commented that she 'looked like she would rather be somewhere else'.

One pointed out that while Graham is 'superb at managing guests', the interview was 'awkward' due to her 'dissociated' demeanour.

Taking to twitter the viewer said of Graham: 'He really is superb at managing the guests. It was a tough one tonight, too - Courteney Cox looked like she wasn't present at all, almost dissociated.'

Oh dear: The Graham Norton Show viewers said she 'looked like she would rather be somewhere else' and the interview was 'awkward' on Friday

Awkward: The Friends star was on the show to talk about her latest comedy-horror series called Shining Veil, but people said she 'looked like she wasn't present at all'

Reaction: One pointed out that while Graham is 'superb at managing guests', the interview was 'awkward' due to her 'dissociated' demeanour

He added: 'Her eyes looked glazed over, which isn't how she used to come across.'

Another said: 'Courteney Cox looks bored. Such a shame #GrahamNortonShow.'

A third tweeted: '#Courteneycox looks like she wants to be somewhere else. So awkward'.

The John Bishop Show airs February 5 on ITV at 9.35pm
Storm Keating has rebuked her former cleaner's claims she and her husband Ronan refused to cough up a 500 bill for her services at their 5 million mansion in Buckinghamshire.

The fashion designer, 40, hit out at Jasmina Dimitrieva in a Saturday Instagram post which saw her insist the cleaning agency supervisor had 'lied' following an agreement she 'would be paid regardless'.

Storm also shared a number of grimy-looking photos, which she claims were taken after Jasmine and her team had provided their services and said the house was left in a 'disgraceful state'.

Clapping back: Storm Keating has rebuked her former cleaner's claims that she and her husband Ronan unlawfully refused to cough up a 500 bill for her services

Macedonia-native Jasmina previously told The Sun how the task had been sabotaged from the beginning since JMV Cleaning Services had been double-booked with a removal service who were 'walking around making a mess'.

However, Storm has now alleged that the removalist company 'categorically denied' her story, adding she then spent five hours cleaning the home herself after the contract price had unilaterally been increased by 120 percent.

She wrote on the social media platform: 'Since we discovered the disgraceful state you left our house in, we considered publicly sharing the service we got from JMV Cleaning Services with our followers to caution others from hiring you.

'You promised us a service you didn't perform & then unilaterally increased the agreed contract price by 120% AFTER you supposedly did the clean without any consultation, pre notice or agreement.

Vile: The fashion designer, 40, hit out at Jasmina Dimitrieva in a Saturday Instagram post which saw her claim the cleaning agency supervisor had 'lied' to the press

Disgusting: She also shared a grimy-looking slew of photos and videos taken after Jasmina and her team provided their services

Defending: The Macedonia-native previously told how the task had been sabotaged from the beginning since JMV Cleaning Services had been double-booked with a removal service

'You then broke our trust by demanding payment saying the job was complete, when in actuality the house was left in no acceptable state for handover.

'We however restrained ourselves from going public because we were hoping this level of service was not acceptable by your own standards & that you would want to remedy the situation professionally & amicably.

'But today you have proven this is not the case & left us no choice but to share the truth on this matter.

'THE FACTS: * You quoted 500 * You then google mapped our house and increased the price to 550 which was accepted.

'* The Removalist company categorically deny your claims that they prevented you from fulfilling your duty and that the house was "full of furniture".

'They spent three days prior emptying the house and the carpet cleaning company have stated they were able to provide their service effortlessly on the same day too.

Angry: However, Storm has now insisted the removalist company has 'categorically denied' her story

Gruelling: The blogger added that she then spent 5 hours cleaning the home herself after the contract price had unilaterally been increased by 120 percent

Dirty: She allegedly raged: 'I have never seen anything so appalling for an end-of-lease clean. There is no way I'd leave a place looking so grimy'

'Our Removalists are the most prestige and professional high end relocation company we have ever encountered.

'They have forwarded a series of photos demonstrating how impeccable the space was left by them and are producing their own response to your false claims.

'* I forwarded you exactly 50 photos (incl video) evidencing the disgusting state of the house and demonstrating hardly anything had been cleaned at all.

'* I then spent 5 hours cleaning the house myself because I was mortified by how it was left and we had to give the keys back to our landlord.

'* The checkout official came to inspect the property on handover and questioned if professionals were hired to clean the house at all.

'When my husband confirmed yes, she said 'DON'T PAY THEM' (and this was after I had been through cleaning as much as I could in the time I had: cupboards, shelves, floors, bathrooms, window sills, stair risers, marks on walls - the list goes on).

Oh dear: Storm reportedly went on to claim that dead flowers and old food had been left on their shelves, while skirting had been left uncleaned and the bathroom was 'appalling'

What?! Alongside her caption, Storm's photos included black scribbles on the wall, a stained toilet bowl, another which had been unflushed, dirty fingerprints on a skirting board

Grubby: Storm reportedly went on to claim that dead flowers and old food had been left on their shelves, while skirting had been left uncleaned and the bathroom was 'appalling'

'* Despite this advise, I texted you and said I wouldn't do that and that I would pay you regardless but had to wait for the official checkout report from the landlord in order to make a fair assessment and educated decision on how to remedy the situation.

'* Unsurprisingly the report was not great and this was sent on to you outlining the areas that still needed correcting. You estimated it would only take you 2-3hours.

'* I then offered for you to go back and remedy just those areas (not the 'whole house' as you claim) and I would pay you the full amount agreed.

'* CCTV cameras prove your cleaners did no extra hours so there is no justification for increasing the price.

'* Photos prove that during the time they were there, even the most basic level of clean was not performed.

Filthy: She's thought to have added: 'Surely, you can't be happy with this? Cobwebs. Floors weren't vacuumed or mopped  there were dead bugs and hair and food bits'

Feud: The couple, who hired Jasmina's agency JMV Cleaning Service before their move to Rickmansworth in Hertforshire, had not been clear from the outset, according to her

Claims: It wasn't until she arrived, that she realised it actually had seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and three kitchens, according to the publication

'* Text messages prove that everything I've said is the truth and that you have lied. Multiple times.

'We acted fairly and gave you every opportunity to do the right thing. Anyone else in our position would have done the same.'

Alongside her caption, Storm's photos included black scribbles on the wall, a stained toilet bowl, another which had been unflushed, dirty fingerprints on a skirting board, cobwebs, uneaten food, uncleaned windows, strands of hair on the carpet and sink.

Jasmina declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

Jasmina previously claimed that Storm sent her angry messages as well as photos of the house which included her own dirty socks after walking through the home.

She allegedly raged: 'I have never seen anything so appalling for an end-of-lease clean. There is no way I'd leave a place looking so grimy.'

Mucky: For a job this large, Jasmina would estimate the cost of her services to be 1,100 - more than double the price offered to her by the Keatings, she said

Upset: She concluded: 'The Keatings are wealthy people. They should not be treating me this way. How Storm replied was terrible'

Woah! Storm said: 'You promised us a service you didn't perform & then unilaterally increased the agreed contract price by 120% AFTER you supposedly did the clean without any consultation, pre notice or agreement'

Storm reportedly went on to claim that dead flowers and old food had been left on their shelves, while skirting had been left uncleaned and the bathroom was 'appalling'.

She's thought to have added: 'Surely, you can't be happy with this? Cobwebs. Floors weren't vacuumed or mopped  there were dead bugs and hair and food bits.'

Storm has since said she will pay up but is waiting on the landlord to see whether they will be deducting costs for cleaning before deciding on a figure, according to the publication.

The couple, who hired Jasmina's agency JMV Cleaning Service before their move to Rickmansworth in Hertforshire, had not been clear from the outset, according to her.

Protesting that she had to pay for her staff 'out of her pocket', the cleaner claimed she had been told the property would be a 'regular five-bedroom house'.

Fighting her corner: She wrote on the social media platform: 'Since we discovered the disgraceful state you left our house in, we considered publicly sharing the service we got from JMV Cleaning Services with our followers to caution others from hiring you'

It wasn't until she arrived, that she realised it actually had seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and three kitchens, according to the publication.

For a job this large, Jasmina would estimate the cost of her services to be 1,100 - more than double the price offered to her by the Keatings, she said.

The Hemel Hempstead resident told how it was also her daughter's birthday and she was unable to buy a special present for her due to the setback.

She concluded: 'The Keatings are wealthy people. They should not be treating me this way. How Storm replied was terrible.'

It has also been said that the Loose Women guest panellist told Jasmina she 'might' pay her the original 500 if she were to go back and clean the house again.

Ronan and Storm's representatives were contacted for comment by MailOnline at the time.
Lauren Goodger nailed winter chic while enjoying an adorable day out to London's Southbank with her daughter Larose on Saturday.

The former TOWIE star, 35, wrapped up in a black padded coat as she took to Instagram to share the heartwarming evidence with her fans, before revealing she had been filming content for her YouTube channel.

She's currently facing her second pregnancy alone following her split from on-off boyfriend Charles Drury, 24, and recently admitted to being 'stressed, depressed, burnt out, crying, and struggling'.

Cute: Pregnant Lauren Goodger saw the London sights with her daughter Larose on Saturday... after sharing post about being 'stressed and depressed' following her split from Charles Drury

Keeping warm with a grey plaid scarf, Lauren posed alongside her six-month-old child who kept comfy under a blanket in her pushchair.

The TV personality put on a stunning display as her chocolate locks cascaded over her shoulders, with an iconic backdrop of Parliament and Big Ben behind her.

In her caption, she wrote: 'Beautiful day @sea_life_london and some sights making memories for @babylarose.x she loved it will be uploading to my YouTube Chanel link in Bio #londonaquarium #babygirl #london #dayout #makingmemories.'

She later shared a sweet snap of Larose wearing a trendy pink headband while laying in the buggy, along with the words, 'Family day out.'

Adorable: She later shared a sweet snap of Larose wearing a trendy pink headband while laying in the buggy, along with the words, 'Family day out'

Doting mum: In her caption, she wrote: 'Beautiful day @sea_life_london and some sights making memories for @babylarose.x she loved it will be uploading to my YouTube Chanel'

The influencer will have two daughters under one when she welcomes her baby later this year, and shared an Instagram quote stating 'mothers are superheroes' on Thursday evening.

It read: 'Being a mama is not easy. You still have to be a mama when you're stressed, depressed, burnt out, crying, and struggling. Mothers are superheroes. You won't change my mind on that.'

Lauren split from builder ex-boyfriend Charles after learning he had had slept with Amy Gilbert during their November 2021 break-up while he knew Lauren was expecting their baby.

Last month, the former couple revealed they were expecting their second daughter together, with Lauren 16 weeks pregnant.

Candid: It comes after Lauren shared a post about being 'stressed, depressed, burnt out, crying, and struggling' as she faces her second pregnancy alone

The reality star's daughter Larose will turn one in July, and she will be due with her second child in June.

The candid post comes after Lauren hinted she could reconcile with ex Charles in the near future.

While the couple, who only got together in October 2020, have had a rocky romance, Lauren has now admitted she hasn't ruled out getting back together.

Asked by New! Magazine if this feels like the 'final break-up this time', an optimistic Lauren replied: 'Not really. It's weird  men are weird!

'Stressed, depressed, burnt out': The former TOWIE star shared an Instagram quote stating 'mothers are superheroes' on Thursday evening

'[I have] more self-respect, because if you're not treating me how I should be treated, then you're not here. Who knows what's going to happen next week, next month. But I just know you can't come and go when children are involved.'

Lauren also admitted that her love for the father of her children 'will never go' and said the exes still need to work out 'a co-parenting schedule'.

She explained: 'What we're doing now is different to what I've done before because last time we broke up we'd talk or see each other.

Single mother: Lauren split from builder ex-boyfriend Charles after learning he had had slept with Amy Gilbert during their November 2021 break-up

'Every day he was coming round, which I don't think is fair, so this is a learning game.'

The TOWIE original recently revealed she's already planning to undergo surgery on her 'whole body' after she gives birth to her second child this summer.

Speaking to OK! Magazine, Lauren confessed she's hoping to transform her body once she's given birth to her daughter, with two pregnancies taking a huge toll on her breasts.

She said: 'The t**s are on the floor  they're getting carpet burns. I'm getting my whole body done after having the baby. I've been looking at surgeons already.

'It's been a rocky time and it's been really hard for me. But I've got to focus on the pregnancy and the baby.

'I'm a very hands-on mum, it's all on me, so it doesn't feel much different.

'I'm here on my own with my mum and my baby. Charlie's really hurt me so I don't know what the future holds.'
Julia Fox relived her 32nd birthday festivities as she thanked her friends for coming to the celebrations with a slew of photos on Saturday.

The star posted to her one million Instagram followers pictures with Kanye West and captioned the post, 'And of course special thanks to Ye '.

Julia was in a full leather outfit as she was captured next to the 44-year-old rapper in the various pictures.

She posted a second set of pictures from her birthday night and said: 'Thank you so much to everyone that came out to celebrate me! I usually never celebrate my bday but this year was so fucking hard that it felt like I actually had something to celebrate!!

'PS. I used to be so scared of getting older but Ive found that life just keeps getting better and better! '

The new couple was photographed at her birthday dinner, which Kanye gifted the actress and all of her friends Hermes Birkin bags.

Julia recently enjoyed a birthday party to remember as she danced the night away while drinking wine and eating cake on Wednesday.

The actress celebrated in style with a lavish bash at Lucien restaurant in New York City.

The Uncut Gems star, who went public with Kanye in late December, showcased her flat midriff in a tiny leather bandeau top and matching low-rise skintight trousers as she made the most of her special day.

It's my party! Julia Fox enjoyed a birthday party to remember as she danced the night away while drinking wine and eating cake at Lucien in New York City on Wednesday

Julia added all black leather accessories including knee-high boots and gloves to round out another Kim Kardashian-inspired look.

Joined by her new man and a huge army of pals, the mother-of-one was having a ball as she celebrated her birthday and made sure to showcase her affection for the musician with a typically PDA-packed display.

It's no wonder Julia was smiling after she and her friends were gifted Hermes bags during the meal, which can range in price from $25,000 to almost $200,000.

Kanye presented Julia with a large Birkin, while her visibly delighted friends received baby Birkins.

Birthday suit: The Uncut Gems star showcased her flat midriff in a tiny leather bandeau top and matching low-rise skintight trousers as she made the most of her special day

The group posed with their gifts with a smiling Kanye inside the restaurant as the actress and her friends held up their luxury bags for the snaps and videos.

Birkins have been a favourite luxury brand for the Kardashian/Jenner family for years, in yet another nod to Kanye's estranged wife Kim Kardashian, 41.

Julia was also rumoured to have been 'gifted two Birkin bags' by Kanye's former rival Drake, according to Page Six.

She is said to have become involved with Drake after her split from her ex Peter Artemiev, with whom she shares her son Valentino, 12 months.

Gifts all around! Julia and her friends were gifted Birkin bags by her new boyfriend Kanye West

Drake is alleged to have contacted Julia via Instagram DMs to praise her performance in Uncut Gems while she was still with Peter.

Once she became single again 'she got back in touch with Drake on the social media app,' an insider told Page Six.

Drake is said to have 'showered her with gifts including two Birkin bags' around Valentine's Day 2020 while they briefly dated in the early part of that year.

Julia and Kanye were first seen together over New Year's weekend in Miami and she has since said they had an 'instant connection'.

Birthday girl: The actress turned 32 in style with a lavish bash on Wednesday night at Lucien restaurant in New York City

Since their weekend of love in Florida to kick off the year, the duo have been seen sharing PDA moments together in Los Angeles, New York and at Paris Fashion Week last month.

Julia recently alluded to all the rich men she has previously dated as she hit back at claims she is only dating the father-of-four for 'clout'.

'It's funny cause I'm getting all of this attention, but I really couldn't care,' the star said on the Forbidden Fruits podcast.

'People are like "Oh, you're only in it for the fame, you're in it for the clout, you're in it for the money".

PDA: Joined by her new man and a huge army of pals, the mother-of-one was having a ball as she celebrated her 32nd birthday and made sure to showcase her affection for the musician

'Honey, I've dated billionaires my entire adult life, let's keep it real. Watch my movie, read my book. That is more thrilling to me now than eyes on me. I couldn't care less.

'I met Ye in Miami on New Year's Eve and it was an instant connection. His energy is so fun to be around.'

After just two dates Kanye and Julia posed up for a raunchy Interview magazine photo-shoot.

Lavish: It's no wonder Julia was smiling after she and her friends were gifted Hermes bags during the meal, which can range in price from $25,000 to almost $200,000

She gushed that he surprised her with a hotel suite full of clothes, which was 'every girl's dream come true' and 'felt like a real Cinderella moment'.

Kanye's estranged wife Kim Kardashian filed for divorce in early 2021 after six years of marriage and four children together; North, eight, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, two.

The reality star is now dating Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson, 28.

Since Kim filed for divorce in February 2021, Kanye was briefly linked to supermodel supermodel Irina Shayk, 36, and emerging model Vinetria, 22 before dating Julia.
Colin Firth may have finally found the perfect partner to plot a fairytale romance.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal the Oscar-winner is dating US screenwriter Maggie Cohn after they fell for each other on the set of his latest drama, The Staircase.

Friends say the 61-year-old  who played handsome lawyer Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones films  has been in a relationship with Ms Cohn since they met on the project last year.

The couple were spotted last week as they enjoyed a romantic lunch at Mr Firths local Lebanese restaurant, Grilandia, in West London.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal the Oscar-winner is dating US screenwriter Maggie Cohn after they fell for each other on the set of his latest drama, The Staircase

Dressed casually in jeans, quilted jacket and flat cap, he smiled as the couple left the restaurant for a relaxed stroll in the winter sunshine.

Ms Cohn, right, producer of the TV series American Crime Story, wore a turquoise-check wool coat and flat black shoes. The pair laughed and joked as they chatted on their walk.

They were deep in conversation together and looked very happy, an onlooker said. Colin appeared to be cracking a couple of jokes and they giggled together. They might not have been holding hands but they certainly appeared to be close.

Los Angeles-based Ms Cohn is a sought-after screenwriter who has won major awards for American Crime Story from the Writers Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.

Friends say the 61-year-old  who played handsome lawyer Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones films  has been in a relationship with Ms Cohn since they met on the project last year

She has also written episodes of the popular Netflix crime drama Narcos: Mexico.

The writer, thought to be in her 40s, had jetted in from her base in the US to visit Mr Firth, who still lives near the home of his former wife, Italian film producer Livia Giuggioli.

The couple spent months working on The Staircase, a crime drama written by Ms Cohn as a TV mini-series and based on the 2004 true crime docu-series of the same name.

Mr Firth plays the lead role of Michael Peterson, a writer convicted of murdering his wife Kathleen Peterson, portrayed by Toni Collette, who was found dead at the bottom of the staircase in their home.

Mr Firth still lives near the home of his former wife, Italian film producer Livia Giuggioli. They are pictured together above in May 2019

After splitting from Ms Giuggioli in 2019, the MoS revealed that the Love Actually star had grown close to BBC newsreader Joanna Gosling after they were spotted on a stroll in a London park.

Announcing their split after 22 years of marriage, Mr Firth and his estranged wife insisted they would remain united in their love for their sons.

The actor, who won an Oscar in 2011 for his performance in The Kings Speech, remained at the familys 4 million family home in Chiswick, West London, while Ms Giuggioli has spent much of the time since then back in Italy.

Their separation came after Ms Giuggioli, 52, admitted an affair with a childhood friend. Mr Firth also has a son with Meg Tilly, his co-star in the film Valmont.

His spokesman declined to comment.
Brendan Cole is seen in a heated exchange with a taxi driver in pictures taken this week, with the Dancing On Ice contestant swearing at the chauffeur through the open driver side window.

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan, 45, leant down towards the black vehicle, with an onlooker saying of the star: 'He looked like he was about to explode.'

The television personality took to Instagram on Friday to explain his actions after news of the incident emerged, with the furious celeb insisting the driver 'deserved' to be sworn at due to his 'unacceptable' behaviour.

Fuming: Brendan Cole, 45, is seen in a heated exchange with a taxi driver in pictures taken this week, with the Dancing On Ice contestant swearing at the chauffeur

In the pictures, Brendan angrily confronted the driver, before slamming the car door shut.

The New Zealand native was dressed in a grey hoodie and shorts with blue tape strapped to his leg, with the star either heading to or from skate training with pro partner Vanessa Bauer at the time.

Defending the tense moment on his now-deleted Instagram story, he wrote: 'To the driver who just drove like a maniac because I was 30 minutes late for my pick up

Unimpressed: Former Strictly professional Brendan could be seen next to the black vehicle, with an onlooker saying of the star: 'He looked like he was about to explode'

Defending himself: The television personality took to Instagram on Friday to explain his actions after news of the incident emerged

Bold words: The furious celeb insisting the driver 'deserved' to be sworn at due to his 'unacceptable' behaviour

'Once again, Ive very sorry for messing up my pick up time, it was indeed my mistake and my sincere apologies for that!

'However, your attitude and behaviour after that was unacceptable and you deserved the expletive you got from me as I left your vehicle I stand by it!'

The former Strictly Come Dancing pro concluded: 'I hope you have a better day from now on and your next client doesnt make a mistake like I did.'

MailOnline contacted representatives of Brendan for further comment.

End of the road: Brendan was could seen angrily confronting the driver and shouting at him, before slamming the car door shut

Speaking out: Despite apologising for being late, the furious dancer stood by his expletives as he insisted the driver 'deserved' to be sworn at due to his 'unacceptable' behaviour

'However, your attitude and behaviour after that was unacceptable and you deserved the expletive you got from me as I left your vehicle I stand by it!'

The former Strictly Come Dancing pro concluded: 'I hope you have a better day from now on and your next client doesnt make a mistake like I did.'

MailOnline have contacted representatives of Brendan for further comment.

And while Brendan appeared to be hot-headed out of the rink, he certainly was as cool as ever on the ice as he bagged the first nine in this year's series of Dancing On Ice.

The ballroom dancer graced the rink with professional skating partner Vanessa Bauer, 25, on Sunday night as they exhibited their efforts to Shallow from A Star Is Born.

The closing dance of the evening earned them an overall score of 33.5, with Diversity choreographer Ashley Banjo awarding them the one-point away from perfection.

Meanwhile Oti Mabuse scored 8.5 and Jayne Torvill and Chris Dean opted for 8.

He's got the moves: While Brendan appeared to be hot-headed out of the rink, he certainly was as cool as ever on the ice as he bagged the first nine in this year's series of Dancing On Ice

The TV personality said: 'It's so beautiful to be on the ice. I watch Vanessa, I watch these skaters doing such beauty. I love it. That was a lovely one.'

Brendan's second skate comes after it was reported that his wife of eleven years has been feeling 'anxious and emotional and p***ed off at times' during his Dancing On Ice stint.

While wife Zoe, 37, has been 'fully supportive' of her spouse's decision to partake in the show, she is said to have described herself as a 'Dancing On Ice widow'.

According to The Sun, the former Strictly star rented an apartment in the same block as Vanessa near the Slough Ice Arena, despite his Bucks home being just a 40-minute drive away.

Routine: The ballroom dancer graced the rink with professional skating partner Vanessa Bauer, 25, on Sunday night as they exhibited their efforts to Shallow from A Star Is Born

Meanwhile, Zoe and their children Aurelia, nine, and three-year-old Dante were holidaying in their Mallorca holiday home, where the strains of solo parenting had been claimed to take their toll.

A friend of the blogger's told the publication: '[Zoe] is fully supportive of Brendans decision to do Dancing On Ice, but it has not been easy looking after the kids by herself for so long while he is skating.

'She has felt anxious and emotional, and p***ed off at times. She has said in the past months that she feels like a Dancing On Ice widow.'

However, the source confirmed that Brendan had been 'checking in' on his family while they were abroad, adding: 'She doesnt believe he would cheat on her - she would not be with him if she did. But she has found the past few months challenging.'
Vouge editor Edward Enninful is to stage whats described as the A-list event of the year when he marries his long-term partner in a lavish star-studded ceremony at Longleat House.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Ghanaian magazine chief will tie the knot with his film-maker fiance Alec Maxwell on his 50th birthday later this month.

Three hundred guests, including Leonardo DiCaprio, David and Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss and fashion designer Donatella Versace, are expected at the stately home in Wiltshire that boasts a 9,000-acre safari park famed for its lions.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, who had a well-publicised falling-out with Mr Enninful, a friend for 30 years, is expected at the wedding later this month after they settled their differences.

Edward Enninful will tie the knot with his film-maker fiance Alec Maxwell on his 50th birthday later this month

The Vogue supremo also counts Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, Orlando Bloom and US models Gigi and Bella Hadid among his close circle, leading to speculation that they may also join the guest list.

Supermodels Eva Herzigova and Irina Shayk are also expected to be invited, but it is not known if Dame Anna Wintour, Vogues editor-in-chief, will be there following rumours of tension between Mr Enninful and her.

Some believe he may invite her if only to scotch further rumours of a rift.

It is believed that Mr Enninfuls close friend Emma Weymouth, the Marchioness of Bath, has given him the use of Longleat where she lives with her husband Ceawlin Thynn, the 8th Marquess of Bath.

The model and socialite, Britains first black marchioness, is a contributing editor to Vogue and is regularly seen socialising with the fashion magazines staff at swanky restaurants in London.

Mr Enninful and Mr Maxwell, who live in West London, are expected to bring their beloved black-and-white Boston terrier Ru to the event for a double celebration that will also mark the Vogue editors milestone birthday.

Three hundred guests are expected at the stately home in Wiltshire that boasts a 9,000-acre safari park famed for its lions

This is going to be the wedding of the year  there will be no expense spared and no detail ignored, a source said.

Edward is one of the best-connected people in Britain, and across America too, so expect super-famous guests. People are already saying you wont see so many A-listers in one room ever again.

Edward appears to have saved some money on the venue as he is thought to have been given it by Emma Weymouth as a wedding present.

Edward and Alec have been wanting to marry for some time and Edwards 50th birthday seemed such a special day to do it.

Last month, Mr Enninful and Mr DiCaprio were seen shopping together on the Caribbean island of St Barts, where they were holidaying with their partners.

They worked together when the Vogue boss was a fashion stylist.

In an interview in 2019, Mr Enninful confirmed that he had proposed to Mr Maxwell, whom he met at a party 15 years earlier.

It is not known if Dame Anna Wintour, Vogues editor-in-chief, will be there following rumours of tension between Mr Enninful and her

Over dinner I just asked if we should get engaged. Well marry eventually  theres no rush, he said then.

The journalist also revealed that he would like to be a father.

Trowbridge Register Office confirmed last week that Longleats licence to carry out weddings had been renewed and that Mr Enninful and Mr Maxwell would be among the first couples to hold their weddings there, this spring.

A spokesman for Mr Enninful last night declined to comment.
Thieves cleaned out a pricey SoHo boutique making off with $48,000 worth of merchandise and injuring a security guard, police said Friday.

Two of the theft crew walked into the Celine store on Wooster St. near Broome St. just before 12:25 p.m. Thursday, posing as shoppers, cops said.

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The suspects browsed the boutique and appeared to be on their way out  but as the security guard opened the door for their exit, three other thieves pushed past the guard into the store, police said.

Celine store in Soho. (Google )

The guard struggled with the band of thieves and tried to close the door on them.

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In the chaos, the guard injured his elbow and thumb, cops said.

After snatching $48,000 worth of designer handbags, the thieves fled the store and sped off in a car. Police were still searching for the bandits late Friday.

The block on Wooster St.  home to high-end stores such as Gucci and Moschino  has recently seen a number of big-ticket heists.

In September, three crooks broke through two walls from a neighboring building to get into the What Goes Around Comes Around pop-up boutique on Wooster St. near Spring St.

The thieves loaded up a car with the stolen goods and then brazenly returned about two hours later to steal some more, cops said at the time.

The robbers in that heist made off with $385,000 in designer bags and clothes.
Kathryn Hunter holds a bachelor's degree in Forest Resource Management from the University of Idaho and a Master of Forestry from Yale University. She has worked with the USDA Forest Service locally as well as living and working in natural resource management and protected area conservation in eight foreign countries.
Cliff Couch is a former police chief, graduate of the FBI National Academy and holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Florida State University. Hes also attended Harvards Executive Education Program and Northwestern Universitys School of Police Staff and Command. You can follow him on Twitter at @CliftonDCouch or on his blog, www.LifeofaLawman.com
An argument turned violent on a Brooklyn street Saturday when a man whipped out a gun and shot another man twice in the leg, police said.

The 57-year-old victim got into a disagreement with the gunman on DeKalb Ave. near Irving Ave. in Bushwick just after 1:40 p.m., cops said.

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Police gather at the scene of a shooting Saturday afternoon on DeKalb Ave. near Irving Ave. in Brooklyn, where a man was shot twice in the leg. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

The shooter pulled out a gun and fired off two bullets into the victims left calf, police said. He then bolted north north on Irving Ave  leaving the wounded victim on the sidewalk.

Medics rushed the man to Woodhull Hospital where he was expected to recover.

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Workers at a local wine shop at first mistook the gunfire for a car crash.

It didnt really sound like gunshots at first, said employee Ben Miller, 26. I thought it was like a car hitting something, because you dont hear gunshots in the middle of the day here.

Gil De Jesus moved away from the neighborhood around 2016. It was in its first stage of re-gentrification  all the hipsters moving in, said De Jesus, 50. It was beautiful.

When I came back to visit, crack became a thing again, dope is more popular than ever. Im like, Whoa, this is crazy, said De Jesus, who still has family in the neighborhood and was visiting Saturday.

Gun violence in general in New York is ridiculous, he said.

Police were looking for the shooter, who was last seen wearing a blue coat.
The last time I was in the Legislative Office Building was March 10, 2020. I testified against a bill on involuntary outpatient commitment. Two days later, I woke up with a fever. I thought Id be back to work in two weeks but didnt return for months. Meanwhile, the state shut down.

Last week, I read with bewilderment an opinion piece on reopening the Legislative Office Building. Full disclosure: I am a registered lobbyist for the Connecticut Legal Rights Project. I have spent many hours at the LOB. There is an energy about the building when the General Assembly is in session, especially when controversial bills have public hearings. I will concede that testifying over Zoom is not quite the same.

However, here is a list of things I do not miss. Circling the parking lot looking for a space to park. Standing in line to sign up for a hearing. Sitting around all day waiting to testify.

People clamoring for the building to reopen without restriction and for all legislative business to return to the way it was prepandemic may not realize that if that were to happen, many Connecticut residents couldnt come into the building. People with disabilities who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 could not participate in hearings if they were held only in person.

Remote hearings provide a level of accessibility to disabled people that simply was not present before. Granted, not everyone has equal access to technology, and many need help with Zoom hearings. Advocacy groups like the Keep the Promise Coalition have helped people sign up for hearings. The efforts of legislative staff to accommodate people with disabilities so they can participate in the legislative process have been phenomenal.

I am still recovering from my bout with COVID. Last session, I couldnt have gone the LOB even if it had been open. But I testified at many public hearings. Instead of driving to Hartford, finding a place to park and then finding a place to wait until it was my turn to testify, I needed only to log onto my computer. I could rest until it was my turn on the speaker list. I would sit up in my chair to testify, and when I was done, I would turn off the camera and go back to bed. Multiple hearings on the same day? Repeat the process. And yes, on more than one occasion I was logged into different Zoom meetings on different devices. Almost as much fun as running between hearing rooms!

People should not have to be physically present and in legislators faces to have their voices heard; indeed, they do not have to be. Remote hearings have enabled many of us to connect to our legislators. In fact, people in inpatient psychiatric facilities operated by the state were able to testify remotely to the legislative Connecticut Valley Hospital-Whiting Task Force. I am hoping that, having seen it works, the legislature will ensure that people in state facilities are able to testify on proposals that will directly impact them.

The disability community has a saying: Nothing about us without us. We need to keep civic participation accessible. Oregon recently enacted a law allowing people to participate in public hearings remotely.

Connecticut should do the same.

Kathy Flaherty is executive director at the Connecticut Legal Rights Project.


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The agency initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of a case registered by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad, for illicit purchase, manufacture and inter-state sale of a scheduled drug under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985.  DC Image

Hyderabad: Officials from enforcement directorate (ED) provisionally attached fixed deposits worth Rs 1.93 crore belonging to Hygro Chemicals Pharmtek Pvt Ltd in Bolarum under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002, for illegally manufacturing a scheduled drug DextroPropoxyphene Hydrochloride (DPP HCL). When in the wrong hands, DPP HCL can be used as a raw material to make narcotic substances.

The agency initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of a case registered by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad, for illicit purchase, manufacture and inter-state sale of a scheduled drug under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985.

The company, which had a licence from Central Bureau of Narcotics, Gwalior, for manufacture of DPP HCL, had misused it to illegally dispatch 6,450 kgs of DPP HCL to a partnership firm J.K. Pharma Agencies in New Delhi from 2004 to 2006.

The drug was sold at Rs 3,000 per kg by which the company generated revenue to the tune of Rs 1,93,50,000. The agency traced the money that was in the form of fixed deposits.
HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a six-hour tour to Hyderabad on Saturday. He will spend three hours in Chinna Jeeyar Swamy Ashram at Muchintal on the city outskirts and take part in the Ramanujacharya Sahasrabdi Samaroham.

He will visit the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) campus in Patancheru to launch its 50th anniversary celebrations.

Later, he will dedicate to the nation the Statue of Equality at a ceremony to be held at Chinna Jeeyar Ashram at Muchintal. The 216-foot statue commemorates the 11th century Bhakti saint Sri Ramanujacharya.

Modi will arrive at Shamshabad international airport at 2.10 pm. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will receive the Prime Minister at the airport. The Prime Minister will reach Icrisat by helicopter at 2.45 pm. The Chief Minister will accompany the Prime Minister to the venue. They will take part in the golden jubilee celebrations from 2.45 to 4.15 pm.

They will leave Icrisat at 4.25 pm and reach the ashram in Muchintal at 5 pm. The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister will take part in the Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samkaroham for three hours from 5 pm, where Modi will unveil the statue.

Modi will reach Shamshabad airport by road at 8.20 pm and leave for Delhi at 8.40 pm.

As per protocol, the minister-in-waiting should be nominated to receive and see off the Prime Minister at the airport during his visit. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has approved the nomination of minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav as minister-in-waiting.

The last time Modi had visited Hyderabad was on November 28, 2020, when he went to Bharat Biotech, the pharma company that developed India's first Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin.

The state government had made unprecedented and tight security arrangements for the Prime Minister's visit by deploying over 8,000 police personnel.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and DGP M. Mahendar Reddy visited Muchintal ashram on Friday and reviewed the security arrangements for the second consecutive day. A special police command control centre has been set up at the ashram to monitor the security measures.
Bengaluru: Amid row over wearing Hijab in classrooms in some colleges in Karnataka, the BJP state chief Nalin Kumar Kateel said the state government will not allow 'Talibanisation'.

"There is no scope for such things (wearing Hijab in classrooms). Our government will take stringent action. People have to follow the rules and regulations of the school. We will not allow Talibanisation," he told reporters here.

Asserting that bringing religion to educational institutions was not right, Kateel said what children require is education.

"There is no scope for Hijab or any such thing in the schools. Schools are the temples of 'Sarasvati' (Goddess of knowledge). It is the duty of the students to learn and abide by the regulations of the school," the BJP leader said.

Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said some people were intentionally demanding permission for wearing Hijab in classrooms.

"Once that demand is fulfilled, they will seek permission to wear Burqa and then to construct mosque inside the school," he alleged. "The demands will go on. Those who are supporting them are the real traitors."

Yatnal said those behind such movements should be exposed.

The MLA suspected the involvement of some anti-national forces in 'disturbing' the peace in the state.

To a query on Lord Ganesha being worshipped in educational institutions and people entering schools and colleges sporting vermillion on their forehead, Yatnal said, "This is India and our country is founded on the Indian culture. We have already given them Pakistan on the basis of religion for them to wear Hijab."

Protests continued on Saturday as well with Burqa clad women in some parts of the state holding protests including the one in Kalaburagi led by Gulbarga North Congress MLA Kaneez Fathima demanding their right to wear Hijab in classrooms.

Raising slogans like 'We want justice' and 'Gundagardi Nahi Chalegi' (Hooliganism will not be tolerated), burqa-clad Muslim students and others holding placards and banners staged demonstration in the district headquarters town of Kalaburagi.

The MLA said she would raise the matter in the Karnataka assembly demanding permission for Hijab in the classrooms.

In Udupi too, a similar demonstration took place where students came to the campus wearing Burqa and sought permission for Hijab.

Protesting against wearing Hijabs inside the classroom, Hindu boys and girls started coming to some schools and colleges wearing saffron scarves.

The Karnataka government had on Friday asked educational institutions to follow existing uniform related rules, until the High Court comes out with an order in this connection.

With the issue snowballing into a major controversy, spreading to other educational institutions, and the matter coming up before the High Court, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had held a meeting with Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh and top government officials.
Prime minister Narendra Modi visits ICRISAT as he attends the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of ICRISAT in Hyderabad on Saturday. (Photo: By Arrangement)

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India had set a net-zero target by 2070 while calling for a pro-planet people movement to combat climate change.

Addressing the 50th Anniversary celebrations on the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus on Saturday, Modi said, We have highlighted the need for life-lifestyle for the environment and also called for a pro planet people movement - a movement that is crucial to combat climate change and connects every individual with climate. The Prime Minister added that the pro-planet people movement was not limited to just words, but also reflected in the actions of the government.

"Natural calamities due to climate change have been a major challenge. The most affected people due to calamities are the economically backward sections. Besides the loss of lives, infrastructure loss resulting from calamities has a devastating effect on people, he said.

Modi said the union budget 2022-23 was focused on building a green future, natural farming and digital agriculture. Our focus is on more than 80 per cent of farmers of the country, who are small-size landholders and who need us the most, he explained.

He lauded the efforts of ICRISAT in the agricultural sector in the last five decades. Your research and technology have helped make agriculture easy and sustainable, he said. ICRISAT has an experience of five decades in helping other nations in making agriculture easy and sustainable. Today, I am hopeful that they will continue to deliver their expertise to strengthen India's agricultural sector, he said.

Stating that the farmers of Telangana state set big targets in palm oil production, Modi said that the Centre would assist the farmers in every possible manner.

The Prime Minister also said the government was aiming to take the cultivated land usage in the palm oil sector to 6.5 lakh hectares in the next few years. "We are focusing on food security as well as nutrition security. We have developed several bio-fortified varieties in the last seven years," he said.
A man was shot in the stomach during a fight at a Brooklyn celebration early Saturday, cops said. (Isabel Slepoy/New York Daily News) (Isabel Slepoy/New York Daily News)

A man was shot twice early Saturday after a fight broke out at a Brooklyn party, police said.

The victim, 31, was attending a celebration inside Kingz Secret Gem, a rental hall on Flatbush Ave. near Fillmore Ave. in Mill Basin, when he got into an argument with another man around 3:30 a.m.

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The shooter pulled out a gun and fired, hitting the victim twice in the stomach, police said.

EMS rushed the victim to Kings County Hospital where he was expected to recover. The gunman ran off and no arrests have been made.

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Police were scouring the area for surveillance footage to help identify the shooter.

It was the second time a shooting has broken out at a southern Brooklyn event space in recent weeks.

On Jan. 13, Shawn Jeffrey, a local DJ who goes by the handle Shawn J, was one of four victims wounded when violence erupted at the weekly Dream Wednesdays party inside the E&R Rental Hall on E. 92nd St. near Remsen Ave. in Canarsie.

Jeffrey was trying to calm the outraged gunman when he was shot in the head, cops said. He died of his wounds two days later. The triggerman was still at large Saturday.
Shah denied the allegation and asserted that he was discharging his responsibility as an independent journalist (Representational image: PTI)

SRINAGAR: Fahad Shah, editor and owner of news portal The Kashmir Walla, was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police on Friday for his publishing 'anti-national' content which, it said, could also instigate people for violence.

Shah had while speaking to this newspaper earlier this week denied the allegation and asserted that he was discharging his responsibility as an independent journalist for which he had been summoned to police stations several times in the past.

A statement issued by the police here on Friday evening said that some Facebook users and portals have been uploading anti-national content including photographs, videos and posts with criminal intention to create fear among public and could also provoke the public to disturb law and order.

"It was also learnt that these Facebook users are uploading such posts which tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities and causing dent to the image of law enforcing agencies besides causing ill-will and disaffection against the country" , the statement read.

It said that the police in southern Pulwama district took cognizance of these activities and registered an FIR under relevant sections of the law and initiated the investigation. It further said that during the course of investigation, one of the accused person Shah was arrested and was now on police remand.

Earlier on Monday, Shah and three others journalists were summoned to a police station in Pulwama over propagation of statements of a local family claiming that one of its young members killed in a gunfight a day ago was not a militant.

The police and Army officials had said on Sunday that one of the four Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants killed in a gunfight with security forces in Pulwamas Naira village was Inayat Ahmed, the son of the owner of a private house where the clash took place.

They had also said that while taking on the hiding militants Ahmed was asked to surrender but he along with other terrorists opened fire at the security forces and got killed. Inspector General of Police, Vijay Kumar, had said that Ahmed was a hybrid terrorist. He had also said that the house-owner was being booked under the relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 for providing shelter to militants.

The family had refuted the police claim and insisted on Ahmed not being a militant or associated with JeM or any other militant outfit. A video in which his sister pleads his innocence went viral on social media on Monday itself.

Late on that evening, the Pulwama police issued summons to Shah, another prominent journalist and political commentator Majid Hyderi and two local reporters in connection with the case registered under Sections 307 IPC and 7/25 IA Act and Sections 16, 18,20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 following the gunfight at Naira.

The police sources had said that the journalists were summoned to the police station for their incorrect reporting of the clash. They said that the summons were issued by the area Station House Officer under section 160 of the CrPC which empowers a police officer investigating a case to require attendance of witnesses. The summons read, It appears that you are acquainted with the circumstances of FIR and your presence is necessary to give such information as you may possess relating to FIR for the finalization of the investigation and arrest of the accused person.

Shah had told this newspaper that The Kashmir Walla had published stories on the encounter as well as the statements of the police and the family on it and had also reported on the viral video of the slain youths sister. He had said that he would visit the police station on Wednesday.

Hyderi had said that he reported to the police station earlier during the day on Monday where he was asked about his sharing the girls video on social media. I told the officer that we are journalists of a conflict zone stuck between the devil and the deep sea and as such have to report and share varied versions of a story, he had said.
With less than two weeks left after that for the polling on February 19, campaigning is expected to be a hectic affair. (Representational image/DC)

Chennai: The mad scramble to file nominations for the 12,838 wards in 649 urban local bodies across the State on the last day for nominations marked the beginning of a pitched electoral battle that will see not just the prime parties, the DMK and AIADMK, but also the smaller ones reaching out to the people through all means.

All premises of local body offices that were receiving nominations bustled with people on Friday since many candidates were waiting for the official lists of their parties to be released. The DMKs list for the prestigious Chennai Corporation came out only late at 10 pm on Thursday, giving not much time for the nominees to get ready with the relevant papers and rush to meet the returning officers.

Candidates of many other parties, too, chose the last day for various reasons that led to the chaos in many places, even requiring police interventions occasionally. Though the police were alert in Chennai and did not allow huge groups to march towards the returning officers, smaller towns witnessed spectacles that were unbecoming of the Covid protocols put in place by the authorities.

Local bands of musicians and folk dancers accompanied some candidates as they marched with supporters to submit their papers. In Trichy a candidates attempt to barge into the office premises perched on top of a bullock cart was thwarted by the police through a timely intervention.

In Vellore a minor scuffle was witnessed when cadre of the DMK and NTK were marching towards the new Corporation office. With the group that was ahead not giving way for the one that was following it, an argument broke out leading to fisticuffs. Police immediately separated the groups.

One reason for the mad rush on the last day was also due to the lists of some parties coming out only on Friday and also because many aspirants whose names were not in the lists decided to file papers as independents, hoping to sort out the matter with the leaders.

Seeing the crowds streaming in since morning the election authorities decided to issue tokens till 5 pm and continue collecting the nominations even after office hours. So the final picture on the line up of candidates would emerge only after the withdrawal of nominations on February 7.

With less than two weeks left after that for the polling on February 19, campaigning is expected to be a hectic affair, what with the new restrictions on meetings and also groups going for door-to-door canvassing announced by the State Election Commission (SEC).

Though it is too early to know the possible candidates for the top posts of Mayors, Municipal Chairpersons and Town Panchayat chairpersons, speculations were being made based on the lists announced by the parties, which revealed that the DMK and AIADMK were in a direct fight in 165 wards.

Since the Chennai Mayors post has been reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman, the question as to who might get the opportunity to contest as the DMK candidate is in the minds of many. A couple of women nominated by the party are said to be likely contestants for the top job, sources said.

Tamilarasi Somu, contesting from ward No 183 in Sholinganallur, and Kayalvizhi Jayakumar from ward No 179 in Virugambakkam were touted as potential Mayoral candidates if the DMK-led alliance wins most of the 200 wards in Chennai.

The other leaders of DMK who are in the race for ward councilors are aspiring for the Deputy Mayors post and there are too many of them, too. Is ex-MLA Alexander of Ambattur one of them, many wonder.

In the other Corporations, some prominent leaders being nominated to fight in the ward elections have given rise to the speculation that they might be prepared to contest for the indirect Mayor election that would be held on March 4.

Former MLA K N Sekaran contesting in Trichy, Ex-MLA Gunasekaran and Jegan Periyaswamy, brother of Minister Geetha Jeevan in Thoothukudi are some of the candidates who have to be watched.

Though some leaders like AIADMKs Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam have announced tour plans, it is doubtful if they would be able to address rallies. Even Chief Minister M K Stalin is expected to concentrate on speaking to voters through video conference.
Ukraine has reduced its debt by buying back part of its 2022 Eurobond and some securities linked to economic growth, known as GDP warrants, the finance ministry said late on Friday, citing "favourable market conditions".

Market prices for Ukraine's Eurobonds have dropped amid fears of a potential Russian attack. Russia has amassed some 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine.

Ukraine repurchased 10% of its dollar-denominated Eurobond maturing in September, cutting the bond's outstanding volume to $912 million, the finance ministry said in a stock market announcement.

Read more: In Ukraine, US is repeating its Afghanistan mistakes

It also said that "as a result of its liability management exercises" conducted by February 4, it had doubled its holdings of GDP warrants to 20%. Ukraine bought back 10% in 2020.

Ukraine issued $3.6 billion of GDP warrants to sweeten its 2015 restructuring of $15 billion of debt, which forced investors to write off 20 percent of the original value of their holdings. They have been trading at around 76% of face value.

Ukraine's debt management strategy for 20212024 allows it to buy back government securities in order to smooth "the state debt service profile and reduce peak pressure on the state budget," the ministry said.

Under that strategy, it "may buy back, at any time and from time to time, additional outstanding securities of Ukraine".

These include but are "not limited to the GDP-Linked Securities or the 2022 Notes, in open-market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or otherwise depending on prevailing market conditions," the finance ministry said.

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India has promised to unveil a new policy to promote battery swapping in electric vehicles, but industry insiders and academic experts said the practice of substituting freshly-charged batteries with discharged ones faces many hurdles before it might see many takers.

For starters, manufacturers are innovating with different kinds of battery technologies and, in turn, working with varying cell chemistries. Swapping batteries with such differences will cause issues.

In a tropical country like India, a lot of good work needs to happen in thermal management and battery chemistry if swappable batteries are to be considered as a viable option, said Sagar Mitra, an IIT Bombay professor who is researching lithium-ion cells that power electric vehicles.

Some industry insiders worried more about how EV battery swapping could stifle innovation.

Also read: Ather to set up 1,000 fast charging stations across Karnataka

Nilay Chandra, Ather Energys Vice-president of Marketing and Charging Infrastructure, said he was not convinced with the idea of standardisation of batteries for personal vehicles since brands would find it very difficult to fulfil the core requirement, resulting in decreasing innovation.

Also, you dont want to take the heart of the vehicle and swap it around, Chandra said.

There is also the problem of competition. It might be difficult to get the EV manufacturers to agree on interoperability which will not allow them to give their customers a strategic advantage in terms of superior range over their rivals.

Having been in the thick of all things battery swapping, we can say it is still very early to introduce an interoperability standard for an industry-wide implementation, said Arun Sreyas, a co-founder of EV infrastructure company RACEnergy.

Sreyas also pointed out the evolving cell chemistries and varying applications of EVs as factors impacting the progress of the battery swapping market if curtailed by standardisation.

Others focused on the higher costs tied to swapping stations.

While battery swapping is a good concept, it is not that easy and hence we see only a few successful ventures across Taiwan, China and maybe a few emerging ones in the US, Rajeev Singh, partner and automotive leader at Deloitte India, said, highlighting the issues with standardisation and the high cost of putting up swapping stations.

While this will take out a significant cost from the vehicle, we will need large players who are willing to invest and do business in the space of Battery as a Service (BAAS), Singh said.

To be sure, while electric car maker Teslas chief Elon Musk tried and abandoned the idea of battery swapping, the practice has started to gain popularity in China, which has seen many EV buyers in recent years.

China is also home to the worlds biggest battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology, which has been rooting hard for EV battery swapping.

Also read: Battery swapping policy big booster for EV mobility, startups, says industry

Why do we still need it?

EV adoption in India has been snail-paced due to the range anxiety issue arising out of poor charging infrastructure. That has made its nascent EV sector desperate for an alternative to charging electric vehicles, making it impossible for the country to not look at battery swapping.

The need is urgent: In 2021, India saw 1.6 times more buyers jumping on the green mobility bandwagon. Indians invested in 3,11,360 EVs, more than the combined sales of 2020 and 2019.

Nirmala Sitharamans Budget promise of a new battery swap scheme should help in addressing these issues and enable a quicker transition to green mobility.

Nearly 1 in 4 Indians rated the lack of public charging infrastructure as the greatest concern regarding EVs, revealed a recent global consumer study by Deloitte.

Some industry players and policymakers said standardisation of battery packs would boost EV adoption in the worlds second-most populous nation. The standardisation will allow consumers to easily swap batteries without any fitment issue and keep the rider on the go, said Naveen Munjal, the managing director of Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd.

Athers Chandra was not for standardisation of battery packs in the private vehicle segment, but said it made sense in the commercial segment including fleet operators and delivery aggregators.

Others focused more on the execution aspect of the proposed battery swap standards.

Its great to see the push for green energy in this Budget. Now, what would be interesting to see are the interoperability standards that have been laid out by the government and how the industry conforms to these standards, said Ashwin Shankar, founder of BatteryPool, a startup providing battery swapping services.

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Two in three Indians believe that Union Budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 will have a positive impact on the economy, according to the latest survey by LocalCircles.

Although many citizens had pinned hopes for some sort of relief in times of pandemic, there were only a few changes made to the personal income tax structure, none that provide relief.

The survey, which received more than 40,000 responses from citizens residing in 342 districts of India, indicated that 24 per cent of citizens are thrilled with the Budget and see many benefits ranging from infrastructure growth to boosting spending and creating employment, while 42 per cent believe it will drive progress in at least one area.

Read | Budget reflects India's commitment to 'green future': Modi

Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman deliberated the Union Budget 2022 in Parliament on February 1. There were a host of measures announced for several sectors. However, 29 per cent of citizens do not see any impact of such spending.

When asked about overall rating, 42 per cent of citizens find Union Budget 2022 meeting or exceeding expectations while 56 per cent find it below expectations with lower rating largely driven by no personal tax relief.

Also Read | 'Nirmala', 'Bitcoin founder' protest tax on crypto in lecture for MPs

The Union Budget allocated Rs 86,200.65 crore for the health sector. The spending on medical and public health has been reduced from Rs 74,820 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 41,011 crore in 2022-23. However, 48 per cent of citizens believe that the Union Budget 2022 allocation to health is not sufficient to handle the pandemic while 40 per cent believe it is.

Among the host of announcements, the decision to tax sales of digital assets has caught some serious attention.

According to the survey, 58 per cent of citizens support the launch of RBIs digital currency while 54 per cent of citizens support taxation of digital assets at 30 per cent.

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Soon after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining, party state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said the party must choose someone "honest and with a clean track record".

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to announce the party's chief ministerial candidate in Punjab during his virtual rally in Ludhiana on February 6 and Channi is stated to be the front runner. Punjab goes to polls on February 20.

"If you choose someone devoid of moral authority, devoid of ethics or someone who is dishonest and part of some corruption and mafia, then people will vote for change and bury you like a mooli," Sidhu told NDTV, adding that any Chief Minister choice should have the backing of at least 60 MLAs.

Also read: Punjab polls: Who is fighting against Channi from Bhadaur?

"We need an honest candidate. Your destiny depends on what you choose. It is choice, not chance that determines your destiny. A 'mafia-type person' cannot implement your programmes. A person who himself is mafia protector-in-chief, how can he crackdown on the mafia?" he asked.

ED sources told PTI that Bhupinder Singh alias Honey was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late Thursday night after several hours of questioning at the agency's office in Jalandhar.

Meanwhile, Congress hit out at the BJP for its "political gimmicks" by unleashing the ED against the chief minister and his relatives, alleging the saffron party is taking revenge on the people of the state for extending their support to the farmers' agitation.

(With PTI inputs)

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Is the BJP sounding desperate that it is inviting Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudhary to join hands with it in Uttar Pradesh? Else, why would Union Home Minister Amit Shah, campaigning intensely in western UP, reach out to Chaudhury, an ally of BJP rival Samajwadi Party (SP), twice in less than 10 days?

Jayantbabu is the right man on the wrong side; Jayant thinks (SP leader) Akhilesh Yadav will listen to him; Jayantbabu, you are mistaken. Someone who does not listen to his father and uncle, why would he listen to you; If at all the SP government is formed, you would be sidelined on the third day and (SP MP) Azam Khan will be released from jail and take your place; Akhilesh will drown Jayantbabus voice; Akhilesh said they (SP and RLD) are together, but for how long? It is only till the day of counting.

These were the remarks of Shah who was clearly seeking to woo the RLD leader.

Also Read | Despite rebuffs, Shah seeks RLD tie-up for UP polls

Chaudhary, who has rebuffed Shahs offer, has also accused the home minister of calling up RLD leaders and asking them to join the BJP, telling them that he would make them Hema Malini (film star-turned-BJP MP from Mathura).

We dont want to be Hema Malini, said Chaudhary. The invitation was a ploy to prevent RLD from getting Muslim votes. What will you get by pleasing me?...What have you (BJP) done for the families of 700 farmers (killed during the farmers agitation)?

The BJP is trying to create communal tension, I will never join hands with them; where were these BJP leaders when farmers were out in cold and sun for one year in Delhi and when farmers were killed at Lakhimpur?

The overtures

Why is Shah, second top leader of the BJP, making these overtures? Is the BJP scared of not getting a clear majority so that it may need the RLD for support? Is it to confuse voters just a week ahead of the first phase of polling? Do they believe that the RLD may change and join hands with the BJP?

Also Read | 'Removal' of Chaudhary Charan Singh's photo from university calendar in Haryana fuels Jat anger in UP

The RLD is known to be a party of Jats who wield considerable influence in western UP, also called Jat belt of the state.

Jats, who supported the BJP in the last three successive elections (2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha and 2017 Assembly polls), are said to be angry with the saffron party because of the now-repealed farm laws and other issues, and are likely to vote against the party this time. Hence the outreach. Wooing Chaudhary means wooing Jats.

Shah has been touring the western parts extensively since about three weeks and may have come to know the pulse of the people. He may have realised that the BJP may not do well in the region. Shah also met a delegation of Jat leaders at his residence in Delhi.

Jats are said to hold influence in 40-50 seats in Paschimanchal, or Harit Pradesh as Chaudharys father Ajit Singh used to call the region, so they make or mar the chances of any party.

The community is predominantly the farming class in these parts. While Jats and Muslims (also in significant numbers in the west) lived in near harmony till 2013, the scene changed after the Muzaffarnagar riots that ruptured the unity and gave a boost to the BJPs electoral prospects in the region.

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With the onset of the Assembly elections, business is booming for astrologers and pandits in Uttar Pradesh.

Political leaders and candidates, cutting across party lines, are known to consult astrologers for a favourable time for filing nominations and starting their campaign.

Pandit Arun Tripathi, a well-known astrologer and numerologist, said: "Candidates now want to know the auspicious colour of their dress, direction from which they should launch their campaign and even the favourable food items they should consume during the election period to ensure success."

He said that some candidates also wanted to know the colour of vehicle they should use for campaigning.

A large number of candidates are holding 'puja' to remove the ill-effects of 'Rahu kaal', 'Pitra dosh', 'Mangal dosh' and 'Kaal Sarp dosh' in their horoscopes.

A priest from the Prayagraj Jyotish Sansthan said: "The first query is regarding the auspicious time for nominations. Even candidates who normally are not known to follow religious practices, are consulting us. They want to know the favourable time as per birth ascendant and birth sign in the horoscope and are willing to spend huge amounts of money for corrective 'puja'."

Also read: BJP has Muslim ministers too, not against any religion: CM Yogi

A number of candidates are also consulting astrologers about their wives' horoscopes.

"In one case, I found that the wife's horoscope had more favourable planetary positions and now the candidate makes sure that his wife accompanies him on his campaign," said Acharya Sandeep, an astrologer in Kanpur.

He said that while he had told one of his clients that the green colour would bring him luck and he has now taken to wearing green kurtas even though his party colour is not green.

The astrologer had asked another client to give up eating fish since Rahu was dangerously positioned in his horoscope. He has turned vegetarian completely.

Priests in Varanasi, Prayagraj and Lucknow also have their hands full with requests for elaborate pujas including 'Rudhrabhishek' on Mondays, 'Sunderkand path' on Tuesdays and Shani puja on Saturdays.

The largest number of pujas are scheduled for February 5 which happens to be 'Basant Panchami' and is considered auspicious.

Gem stones are also much in demand in the election season.

Parimal Rastogi, a well-known jeweller in Lucknow, said that poll aspirants were placing orders for rings and bracelets after consulting their astrologers for favourable gems.

"Customers are giving us barely a day or two to make their rings and bracelets and are even offering a higher price for urgent delivery. It seems that stakes are much higher in these elections, compared to previous ones," he said.

One candidate, interestingly, has asked a local florist to supply him 10 bouquets of yellow roses every day till polling.

He has apparently been told by his astrologer that yellow colour will bring him luck.

These bouquets are strategically placed in his house.

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In Graham Greenes 1955 novel The Quiet American, Thomas Fowler is a British journalist in his mid-50s, and posted in Saigon. He is a fearless reporter and believes in conveying facts to the reader. Fowler is the epitome of an ideal journalist who is driven by the missionary zeal to expose wrongdoing and injustice in society.

The role of the media, as we know it, is to present news to the reader in all its shades  white, black or grey. For a journalist, it takes guts and conviction to go against the grain and stand up for what he or she believes in.

Bollywood movies have largely shown journalists in an unflattering light. They have been depicted as manipulative social climbers and morally fallible because they are aware of which side their bread is buttered. There have also been some films that have portrayed them as idealists and social crusaders.

In Mashaal (1984), Dilip Kumar is an honest journalist who runs a newspaper called Mashaal. He exposes business and political shenanigans through his investigative stories. Trouble starts brewing when he blows the lid off a drug trafficking business run by a wealthy and respected businessman. That magnate (Amrish Puri) then tries to buy his silence by offering him money but the ploy doesnt work as the journalist is honest.

Scam 1992 (2020), an edge-of-the-seat web series, deals with the infamous Harshad Mehta scam of the 90s. The series revolves around Sucheta Dalal, an intrepid woman journalist of that era. Her untiring efforts get to the bottom of Harshad Mehta's financial shenanigans and piece together the jigsaw puzzle that link the scamster to the stock market.

Sucheta (played by Shreya Dhanwanthary) succeeds in focusing public attention on how Mehta threw the banking system and stock markets into turmoil. The show is a paean to courageous women journalists in our country who display immense commitment in the face of challenges.

The hugely disturbing New Delhi Times (1986) conveys the fundamental duality that plagues all journalists  the adrenaline rush of chasing a good story that is also a human tragedy. Fearless newspaper editor Vikas Pande (Shashi Kapoor) manages to save press photographer Anwar in a communally volatile Ghaziabad. When they reach their hotel room, Anwar says, "On reaching here, I found out that riots have erupted. I was thrilled. I just jumped at it." A visibly surprised Pande asks him, "You are thrilled by riots?" and Anwar says, "You understood exactly what I was saying. You found a good story. I clicked some good photographs. What else?"

In the satirical comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), a canny and opportunistic female editor of a magazine exploits two young and gullible photographers by asking them to shoot snaps of a killer so that she could blackmail him to extort money. The movie scathingly exposes the seamier side of journalism where even an editor can misuse his or her authority for money.

In Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008), the fiance of a successful female TV reporter dies in a bomb explosion in the first-class compartment of a local train. The news channel she works for decides to milk her personal tragedy to ramp up its TRP rating.

Peepli Live (2010), a dark comedy on TV journalism, adroitly captures the desperate hunt for TRP ratings among channels. In the movie, an impecunious farmer decides to commit suicide knowing well that after his death, his family will get a hefty compensation from the government. When a journalist gets wind of this, he immediately gloms on to this incident and goes live, with the viewers glued to their TV sets watching the minute-by-minute spectacle unfolding before their eyes.

In web series Paatal Lok (2020), the megalomaniac editor of a news channel (Neeraj Kabi) with a Machiavellian streak, is so blinded by his image and popularity that truth hardly matters in the larger scheme of things. His social conscience has hit the buffers.

Every profession has a few bad apples but there are a large number of equally dedicated members who keep their noses to the grindstone in pursuit of excellence and journalists are no exception.

(The writer is a Delhi-based journalist)
At least 318 media outlets in Afghanistan have closed since the Taliban took over the country in August last year, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said.

In a report released this week, the IFJ expressed concerns over the status of Afghan media community, reports TOLO News.

"The crisis has hit newspapers the hardest with just 20 out of 114 continuing to publish," the report read.

"Fifty-one TV stations, 132 radio stations and 49 online media outlets have ceased operations."

Based on the report, only 2,334 journalists are still employed "from a pre-Taliban high of 5,069".

Seventy-two per cent of journalists who lost their jobs are women, according to the IFJ. Currently, 243 women are still employed.

Also read: India offers 80 Afghan cadets 1-year training programme

"From threats to draconian reporting restrictions and from economic collapse to the withdrawal of development funding the picture is catastrophic, not just for journalists who have lost their jobs or been forced to flee but also for citizens who are being denied access to information," IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said.

The Afghan media community called on the Taliban government to help the media gain access to information.

"If the immediate steps are taken towards the situation of the media in the country, only some certain number of media organisations will be active in Afghanistan in the near future," TOLO News quoted Hujatullah Mujadidi, head of the Head of the Afghan Independent Journalists Association, as saying on Friday.

"We call on the international community to invest in media to protect the process of access to information in the current Afghan situation," said Hafizullah Barakzai, head of the Afghanistan Journalists Council.

Some journalists called on the international community to address the collapse of the Afghan media community.

"If the restrictions imposed on media remain in force, the media organisations will stop operating and will collapse," said Samiullah Pam, a journalist.

"We call on the international community to seriously consider the situation of the Afghan media. We call on the government to assist with the media in access to information," journalist Naseem said.

This comes as the Taliban announced earlier that the Media Violation Commission and a Joint Commission of media and the government would be established soon.

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An unhinged commuter attacked two MTA conductors during a violent 7-minute spree at a Bronx train station, police said Saturday.

The suspect, who was wearing a black bubble coat, grey hoodie and was carrying a cup of coffee, appeared agitated and was pacing on the Manhattan-bound platform at the Prospect Ave. station near Longwood Ave. in Foxhurst at 3:13 p.m. Thursday when a No. 5 train came rolling into the station.

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When the conductor opened his window to perform a safety check, the straphanger punched him in his arm before the train went onto the next station.

Police Saturday released an MTA surveillance image of a man suspected of attacks on two conductors. (DCPI)

The man remained at the station for another few minutes as a No. 2 train stopped on the other side of the platform.

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When the conductor on that train put down his window, the suspect reached into the cabin, punched him in the face and spat at him, cops said.

Both conductors were taken to Lincoln Hospital with minor injuries.

MTA surveillance image of a suspect in two MTA conductor attacks was released Saturday. (DCPI)

Their attacker ran off. No arrests have been made.

Police Saturday released MTA surveillance footage of the commuter in the hope someone recognizes him.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
The "milder" outcomes of infection from the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 are likely due to more population immunity rather than the virus' properties, according to researchers in the US.

The Omicron variant was first documented in Botswana and South Africa in late November 2021.

Compared with earlier variants, Omicron resulted in notably lower hospitalisation and death rates, leading some to conclude that the variant causes less severe outcomes or is less virulent than previous variants.

In a perspective article, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers noted that the perceived lower severity of Omicron infections is most likely due to factors related to the level of immunity in infected people.

By the fall of 2021, much of the South African population had been vaccinated or probably infected by another variant during earlier waves of the pandemic.

Also read: Why cant children aged 15 years and below get Covid-19 booster?

The researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the US argue that previous exposure would likely have reduced the severity of a subsequent Omicron infection.

The milder symptoms may also be due in part to Omicron's ability to cause breakthrough infections and reinfections, including in people with stronger immune systems who are better equipped to fight off an infection, they said.

According to the researchers, the situation in South Africa is intrinsically different than that of other countries -- especially the young age of its population -- meaning that Omicron could progress differently in other populations around the world.

Based on their analysis, the researchers stress that as many people as possible globally should be vaccinated, and those most vulnerable to disease should receive a third booster shot.

"There must be a renewed push to vaccinate and boost those not yet protected, because Omicron is not necessarily intrinsically milder," said William Hanage, associate professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"This is especially true for those struggling to access vaccines, whether in the United States or elsewhere in the world," Hanage added.

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth kicked off celebrations for the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne by inviting local community groups on Saturday to her Sandringham residence in the east of England.

Sunday will mark the queen's platinum jubilee, a first for a British monarch.

Elizabeth, 95, became the queen of Britain and more than a dozen other realms including Canada, Australia and New Zealand on the death of her father King George VI on February 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya on an international tour.

Also Read | Queen Elizabeth quietly marks 70 years on the British throne

Buckingham Palace said her guests at Sandringham included Angela Wood, who as a cookery student in 1953 helped to create Coronation Chicken, a curry and mayonnaise-based dish invented to celebrate Elizabeth's reign and that is still enjoyed today.

The queen also cut a celebratory cake baked by a local resident and heard a rendition of "Congratulations" played by a concert band.

Elizabeth has continued to carry out official duties well into her 90s, but has been little seen in public since she spent a night in hospital last October for an unspecified ailment and was then instructed by doctors to rest.

However, Buckingham Palace on Friday released footage ahead of Sunday's landmark, showing her viewing items from previous royal jubilees, such as a fan given to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to mark her 50th year on the throne in 1887, signed by family, friends and politicians.

Ironically Elizabeth was not destined to be monarch at her birth, and became queen only because her uncle Edward VIII abdicated to be with American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

But in 2015, she overtook Victoria as Britain's longest-reigning sovereign in a line that traces its origin back to Norman King William I and his 1066 conquest of England.

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The US Department of Defense (DoD) has said the August 2021 attack at the Kabul airport that killed 183 people, including 13 American service members, was carried out by using a single explosive device.

The attack took place on August 26, 2021, at the airport's Abbey Gate as US service members worked to evacuate American citizens and Afghans following the fall of the country to the Taliban.

The victims comprised 170 Afghan civilians and among the American personnel were 11 Marines, a soldier and a sailor. Forty-five others were also injured.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terror group's Khorasan unit (IS-K), which has carried out several other bombings since the Taliban came to power.

While presenting the findings of an investigation into the attack, Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command, said on Thursday: "The investigation found that a single explosive device killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US service members by explosively directing ball bearings through a packed crowd into our men and women at Abbey Gate.

"The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire either US or Afghan. This conclusion was based upon the careful consideration of sworn testimony of more than 100 witnesses, and especially those witnesses and Observation Towers both American and British who were in locations unaffected by the blast, and that had commanding views of the scene before, during and after the explosive attack."

McKenzie went on the say that at the time of the attack, "the best information we had indicated that it was a complex attack by both a suicide bomber and IS-K gunmen".

"We now know that the explosively fired ball bearings cause wounds that look like gunshots, and when combined with a small number of warning shots, that lead many to assume that a complex attack had occurred.

"The fact that this investigation has contradicted our first impression demonstrates to me that the team went into this investigation with an open mind in search of the truth," he added.

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China's UN ambassador said Friday the US should come up with more attractive and more practical policies and actions to reduce tensions with North Korea and avoid a return to a vicious circle of confrontation, condemnation and sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

Zhang Jun said that the solution lies in direct dialogue and that if the Biden administration wants to see a breakthrough with Pyongyang they should show more sincerity and flexibility.

In rare remarks to reporters on Beijing's views on the US-North Korean nuclear dispute, the Chinese ambassador said, What I see is the key in solving this issue is already in the hands of the United States.

Asked what else the United States should do since it has already said it is prepared to talk with North Korea, Zhang pointed to talks between then US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore and Hanoi.

Also Read | Over half of UNSC condemns N Korea's 'significant escalation'

We have seen the suspension of the nuclear test, we have seen the suspension of the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea, he said. And then what has been done by the US?

Zhang said the Biden administration should be asked, in what way they can accommodate the concerns of DPRK ... to really bring the tension down and then to put things under control.

Zhang spoke before joining a closed UN Security Council session called by the US following North Korea's most recent test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the American territory of Guam. The US had sought approval by the 15-member council of a press statement condemning the launch, one of a record nine tests in January, as a violation of council resolutions and sanctions.

After the consultations, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield read a joint statement on behalf of eight council allies, joined by Japan, calling the Jan. 30 launch a significant escalation in North Korea's recent violations of UN resolutions. It called on North Korea to cease its destabilising actions and respond positively to the offers from the United States and others to meet without preconditions.

Also Read | US calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting on North Korea

The signers also urged all council members to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and unlawful acts.

The cost of the council's ongoing silence is too high, the statement said. It will embolden the DPRK to further defy the international community; to normalize its violations of Security Council resolutions; to further destabilize the region, and to continue to threaten international peace and security. This is an outcome that we should not accept.

The statement was signed by council members Albania, Brazil, France, Ireland, Norway, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and US. The seven council members that didn't sign are China, Russia, India, Kenya, Mexico, Ghana and Gabon.

Asked about Zhang's call for stepped-up US action and whether President Joe Biden should get directly involved in diplomacy, Thomas-Greenfield reiterated that the US is willing to meet with North Korea without preconditions.

But," she added, "before we can commit our president to meet, we need to have a better sense of what there is to achieve. I can't comment on what the Trump administration achieved. We had ballistic missile testing throughout the past four years. It never stopped him. So we have to keep up the pressure.

Also Read | North Korea plunges to 174th spot on international corruption index

She said that so far we've not been able to bring them to the diplomatic table for any discussions whatsoever.

Zhang called this a critical moment and said all concerned parties, including Security Council members, should stay prudent in words and actions and avoid further escalation of tensions.

We have seen a vicious circle -- confrontation, condemnation, sanctions, and then coming back to condemnation, confrontation and sanctions again, Zhang said. So, what will be the end?

He said that is why China and Russia, which border North Korea and have friendly relations with Pyongyang, proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution in November that would lift some sanctions.

It stressed the North's economic difficulties and called for lifting sanctions that include a ban on exports of seafood and textiles, a cap on imports of refined petroleum products, and a prohibition on its citizens working overseas and sending home their earnings.

We do not think that draft resolution will solve all the problems, Zhang said. But then, at least we are doing something in facilitating the further improvement and avoiding the escalation of the tension.

Asked whether the Security Council should respond to the nine missile launches by the DPRK in January, Zhang said council members are still consulting.

The question is in what way we can keep the situation under control and avoiding the escalation, the further escalation, the out-of-control of the situation and avoiding going back to a vicious circle, he said. That's the point.

Zhang said the answer lies in the hands of the United States.

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French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine crisis by phone with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and underlined the need "to maintain dialogue to de-escalate (the situation)," the French presidency said on Saturday.

Macron is due next week to visit Russia, which has massed troops near Ukraine, stoking Western fears of an invasion. Moscow denies planning to invade Ukraine.

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The first US troops reinforcing NATO allies in Eastern Europe amid a Russian military build-up on Ukraine's border arrived on Saturday at Rzeszow military base in southeastern Poland.

A small plane carrying what a Polish military source said were US chain of command personnel landed in the morning at Rzeszow-Jasionka airport as preparations continued at the base, which is near Poland's border with Ukraine.

TV footage showed temporary accommodation being prepared at the G2A Arena in the nearby town of Jasionka, while workers could be seen building a fence around the venue.

"As announced, the first elements of the brigade battle group from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army have arrived in Poland," a Polish military spokesman said.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from a potential spillover from the Ukraine crisis.

About 1,700 service members, mainly paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, will deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland "over the next days", US Army sources have said.

According to the Pentagon, a Stryker squadron of around 1,000 US service members based in the German town of Vilseck will be sent to Romania.

The first additional US troops arrived in Germany on Friday.

Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine but has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and says it could take unspecified military measures if its demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Kyiv.

The new plan goes above and beyond the 8,500 troops the Pentagon put on alert last month to deploy to Europe if needed. NATO defence ministers are expected to discuss further reinforcements at their next meeting on February 16-17.

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US steps on lifting sanctions are "good but not enough", Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday, hours after Washington announced it was waiving some sanctions on Iran's civilian nuclear programme.

"The lifting of some sanctions can, in the true sense of the word, translate into their good will. Americans talk about it, but it should be known that what happens on paper is good but not enough," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

The US State Department on Friday said it was waiving sanctions on Iran's civilian nuclear programme in a technical step necessary to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Also Read | US waives sanctions for Iran civil nuclear program

The waiver allows other countries and companies to participate in Iran's civilian nuclear programme without triggering US sanctions on them, in the name of promoting safety and non-proliferation.

Iran's civilian programme includes increasing stockpiles of enriched uranium.

The step came as talks to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which then president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, were at an advanced stage.

Amir-Abdollahian reiterated that one of the "main issues" in the talks is obtaining guarantees that the US will not withdraw from the 2015 deal again.

"We seek and demand guarantees in the political, legal and economic sectors," he said, adding that "agreements have been reached in some areas".

The Vienna talks, which include Iran, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, are at a stage where the parties have to make important "political decisions", different parties to the negotiations said last week.

"Our negotiating team in the Vienna talks is seriously pursuing obtaining tangible guarantees from the West to fulfil their commitments," Amir-Abdollahian said.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said: "Naturally, Tehran is carefully considering any action that is in the right direction of fulfilling the obligations of the JCPOA", local media reported.

Talks on reviving the nuclear deal were halted last week and the negotiators returned to their capitals for consultations.

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The largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, led by powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, announced Saturday a boycott of a session called next week to elect the country's president.

The 73-member bloc's parliamentary chief, Hassan al-Izari, told a news conference they will not attend Monday's session in the 329-seat house, making a vote unlikely although technically a quorum could be reached.

Also Read: Iraq struggles to make use of Saddam's crumbling palaces

The vote for president, a largely ceremonial role traditionally reserved for Iraq's Kurds in post-Saddam Iraq, primarily pits the incumbent Barham Saleh against his top challenger, former minister Hoshyar Zebari, candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The latter's candidacy has stirred controversy due to years-old corruption accusations against him in court that led to his 2016 dismissal from the post of finance minister.

"Our withdrawal is a message to the Kurds, in particular to the KDP, for them to agree on a single candidate," a Sadrist MP told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The MP, whose bloc's triumph in general elections last year has left Sadr in the driving seat in complex negotiations to select a new prime minister, said Zebari was "not a consensus (candidate)".

After having served for a decade as foreign minister followed by two years as finance minister, parliament fired Zebari in September 2016, notably over charges that $1.8 million of public funds were diverted to pay for airline tickets for his personal security detail.

Zebari has always denied any corruption accusations.

"I have not been convicted in any court," he said in a television interview on Friday night as the charges resurfaced alongside forecasts he would unseat Saleh, candidate of KDP's rival in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

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Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Saturday urged the African Union to withdraw Israel's accreditation, bringing simmering tensions to a head as the 55-member bloc opened a two-day summit in Addis Ababa.

Even as the continent reels from a spate of military coups and the coronavirus pandemic, the relationship with Israel is expected to figure prominently during the summit this weekend.

The dispute was set in motion last July when Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, accepted Israel's accreditation to the bloc, triggering a rare dispute within a body that values consensus.

As heads of state gathered in Ethiopia's capital on Saturday, Shtayyeh called on the body to reject Faki's move.

Read | Amnesty accuses Israel of enforcing 'apartheid' on Palestinians

"Israel should never be rewarded for its violation and for the apartheid regime it does impose on the Palestinian people," he said.

"Your excellencies, I'm sorry to report to you that the situation of the Palestinian people has only grown more precarious."

The summit may see a vote on whether to back or reject Faki's decision, which could yield an unprecedented split in the bloc.

Israel's accreditation last year drew quick protest from powerful members, including South Africa and Algeria which argued that it flew in the face of AU statements supporting the Palestinian Territories.

Earlier Saturday Faki said the AU's commitment to the Palestinian push for independence was "unchanging and can only continue to go stronger".

He defended Israel's accreditation, however, saying it could be "an instrument in the service of peace" while calling for "a serene debate" on the issue.

This year's summit comes as the continent grapples with a string of military coups and the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Four member states have been suspended by the AU's Peace and Security Council since mid-2021 because of unconstitutional changes of government -- most recently Burkina Faso, where soldiers ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore last month.

Addressing African foreign ministers this week, AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat denounced a "worrying resurgence of military coups".

But the AU has been accused of an inconsistent response to the putsches, notably by not suspending Chad after a military council took over following the death of longtime President Idriss Deby Itno on the battlefield last April.

The summit should discuss how to be more proactive in addressing factors that spark coups, including terrorism-related instability and frustration over constitutional revisions that extend leaders' time in power, said Solomon Dersso, founder of the AU-focused Amani Africa think tank.

"It is only when crisis hits that we say, 'Gosh, how come this country is falling apart like this so quickly?'" Solomon said.

On Saturday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is attending the summit virtually, is expected to provide an update on Africa's response to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly two years after the continent's first case was detected in Egypt.

As of January 26, only 11 per cent of Africa's more than one billion people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The African Union is also facing pressure to push for a ceasefire in Ethiopia, where a 15-month war has killed thousands of people and, the UN says, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.

It is unclear whether and how leaders will address the conflict, which pits Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government against fighters from the northern Tigray region.

The fact that Ethiopia hosts the AU makes any intervention by the bloc especially delicate, and Faki waited until last August -- nine months after fighting began -- to appoint Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo as a special envoy tasked with trying to broker a ceasefire.

Ethiopia has also held a seat on the Peace and Security Council, though it failed in a bid to stay on the 15-member body this week, diplomats said.

"AU member states should not ignore the serious crimes committed by all warring parties, including federal government forces, in Ethiopia's conflict," Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Friday.

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When President Biden's administration was asked for evidence to back up dramatic claims about national security developments this past week, it demurred with a simple rejoinder: You'll have to trust us on that.

No, they would not reveal what led them to say they knew that Russia was plotting a false flag operation as a pretext to invade Ukraine. No, they would not explain their confidence that civilian casualties were caused by a suicide bombing rather than US special forces during a raid in Syria.

The administration's response took a particularly caustic turn as spokespeople suggested that reporters were buying into foreign propaganda by even asking such questions.

The lack of transparency strained already depleted reserves of credibility in Washington, a critical resource diminished over the decades by instances of lies, falsehoods and mistakes on everything from extramarital affairs to the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The exchanges were also a sign of increased skepticism of the Biden administration when it comes to intelligence and military matters, particularly after officials failed to anticipate how swiftly the Afghan government would fall to the Taliban last year and initially defended a US missile attack in Kabul as a righteous strike before the Pentagon confirmed the action had killed several civilians but no terrorists.

This administration has made statements in the past that have not proven accurate, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kabul wasn't secure. The drone strike did kill civilians. The press is doing its job when it asks, How do you know that?'

The latest scrutiny seemed to have struck a nerve, resulting in barbed interactions with White House press secretary Jen Psaki and State Department spokesman Ned Price that stood out even amid the typically contentious relationship between the government and the press.

Jamieson described the responses, which included insinuations that reporters were being disloyal, as completely inappropriate.

These are cases in which the reporters' role is even more consequential because the matters  the use of lethal force by the US military and a potential war in Europe  are so important, she said.

The first exchange took place Thursday aboard Air Force One en route to New York as Psaki fielded questions about the US special forces raid in Syria, which resulted in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

US officials said al-Qurayshi killed himself and his family with a suicide bomb, but NPR's Ayesha Rascoe said there may be people that are skeptical of the events that took place and what happened to the civilians.

Psaki asked whether the reporter was suggesting that ISIS is providing accurate information as opposed to the US military.

I mean, the US has not always been straightforward about what happens with civilians, Rascoe responded.

Asked about her comments, Psaki said Friday that we welcome tough questions and good faith scrutiny.

She said officials were committed to providing as much detail as possible about the Syria raid and she was relying on firsthand reports from our elite servicemembers" to describe the incident.

Price similarly sparred with a reporter at a State Department briefing on Thursday after US officials said Russia was preparing a false flag operation as the opening act for an invasion of Ukraine. The alleged scheme included a staged explosion and enlisting actors to portray people mourning the dead.

"Where is the declassified information?" asked Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.

I just delivered it," Price said.

"No, you made a series of allegations," Lee responded.

Price said US officials needed to protect sources and methods. After a contentious back and forth, Price said that if reporters want to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do.

He later walked back his comments.

Rep. Jim Himes, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the administration hoped to prevent Russia from following through on a false flag plot by publicly airing the allegations.

This really isn't a question of winning over the public, said Himes, D-Conn. "This is about altering Vladimir Putin's behavior.

Richard Stengel, a former editor of Time magazine and onetime senior State Department official, said the government frequently has to make difficult decisions about balancing sensitive information and the need to be transparent.

There's a cost benefit analysis, he said. That's the judgment they're making every day.

But there are long-percolating concerns that the scales have tipped too far toward secrecy. Even Biden's director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said the government classifies too much information.

In a Jan. 5 letter to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Haines said that deficiencies in the current classification system undermine our national security, as well as critical democratic objectives, by impeding our ability to share information in a timely manner.

She added that this erodes the basic trust that our citizens have in their government, especially as the volume of classified material produced continues to grow exponentially.

Politicians have routinely promised to restore trust in Washington, but it remains a scarce commodity ever since the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Soon afterward, President Jimmy Carter won office by telling voters I'll never tell a lie." He was voted out after one term.

Scandals have tarnished subsequent administrations, from secretly funding the Contras in Nicaragua by selling weapons to Iran under President Ronald Reagan to President Bill Clinton covering up an affair with a White House intern.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W Bush claimed the US needed to invade Iraq to eliminate Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, but no such weapons were found and American troops spent years wrestling with a bloody insurgency.

President Donald Trump routinely misrepresented basic facts about his administration throughout his term and continues to spread falsehoods about the last election.

Biden promised to restore truth in Washington after defeating Trump, but trust appears to be in short supply one year after taking office. Not only did the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan undermine his administration's credibility, Americans have grown exasperated with shifting public health guidance during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to a CNN/SSRS poll conducted in December, only 34% of Americans said Biden is a leader you can trust." Another 66% said they "have some doubts and reservations.

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An armed suspect accused of breaking onto the grounds of a Colorado ranch owned by former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and then kidnapping the housekeeper was searching for the billionaires daughters, prosecutors said.

Joseph Beecher allegedly plowed his truck through the ranchs front gate Wednesday morning. Once on the property he encountered a female worker, Amanda Edinger, and demanded to know whether Bloombergs daughters were there, claiming that he wanted to make an international scene. Beecher then forced her to drive from the property in Meeker  in the western part of the state  to the Denver area and north to Wyoming, according to court documents.

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Joseph Beecher is pictured in an undated photo provided by the Laramie County, Wyo., Sheriff's Office. (AP)

The Bloombergs were not at the ranch.

Edinger told investigators that at one point, Beecher kissed her on the forehead and told her he would kill her if she were a man, according to an arrest affidavit. He additionally allegedly forced her to withdraw money from an ATM. The 48-year-old suspect also claimed he had gone to the local airport over the summer in search of the 79-year-old billionaire businessman.

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She also said he referred to Bloombergs daughters by name when he asked about their whereabouts. The former presidential candidate has two adult daughters, Emma and Georgina.

Beecher was ultimately arrested Thursday, after investigators tracked Edingers iPad to a motel in Cheyenne. He was armed with an AR-15 and a handgun at the time.

The sheriffs office in Rio Blanco County, where the ranch is located, said in a statement that Beecher had no connection to the Bloombergs or the alleged victim. His motive for going to the ranch, purchased in April 2020 for $44.8 million, remains under investigation.

Beecher lives in Craig, Colo., about 70 miles from Bloombergs ranch. He worked as a handyman at an apartment complex and received housing in exchange for his work but recently learned he would lose his job and would need to leave the building, according to an arrest affidavit.

He was being held in Cheyenne. No state charges have been filed against him yet in Wyoming but he was charged with kidnapping in federal court Thursday.

With News Wire Services
Mali's military-dominated authorities on Saturday published a bill designed to further shore up the powers of junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita.

The text, adopted by a cabinet meeting late Friday, provides for the "abolishment of the post of vice-president (of the transition government) to avoid mission duplications and allow the minister charged with defence and the minister charged with security to recover and exercise the full extent of their traditional remits."

The change further tightens Colonel Goita's grip on power in the West African country.

Also Read: EU imposes sanctions on Mali's PM, coup leaders

Goita led an August 2020 coup ousting elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was facing angry protests at failures to stem the jihadists, before a second coup last May gave the army more control.

The bill was published a day after the government called a meeting of the National Transition Council (CNT), Mali's military-appointed legislative body.

The session is tasked with "charting the transition" and drawing up electoral law.

The bill published Saturday is set to raise the number of CNT members from its current 121 to bring about "increased inclusivity" in reshaping the state powers.

It also commits to "adapting the duration of the transition" on the recommendation of a process of national consultation, which began in December and is designed to set out a path back to democratic rule.

The consultation in December proposed a transition period under the junta of between six months and five years.

Neighbouring states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, reacted with alarm and have slammed the potential length of the transition as unacceptable.

Both blocs on January 9 passed a package of tough economic and diplomatic measures against Mali to show their displeasure and suspended trade and financial transactions with the country, save for essentials.

Following their two coups, Mali's military leaders have reneged on an initial promise to hold presidential and legislative elections on February 27 aimed at returning a civilian administration.

Mali has over the past decade been wracked by Islamist violence with vast swathes of the country in thrall to myriad rebel groups and militias.

The army has for its part been accused of abuses of power.

Violence which erupted initially in the north in 2012 rapidly spread to the centre and then into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands of civilians and soldiers and leaving hundreds of thousands more displaced despite the effects of UN, French and African troops.

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Queen Elizabeth marks 70 years on the British throne on Sunday, a milestone never reached by any of her predecessors over the last 1,000 years, and one which only a few monarchs across the globe have ever achieved.

Elizabeth, 95, became the queen of Britain and more than a dozen other realms including Canada, Australia and New Zealand on the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya on an international tour.

The news was broken to her by her husband Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99 after more than seven decades by her side.

Elizabeth will mark 'Accession Day' in private as is customary, not viewing it as something to celebrate. But there will be four days of national events to mark her Platinum Jubilee in June.

Also Read | Queen Elizabeth II's reign: A second 'golden age' for Britain?

"While it is a moment for national celebration, it will be a day of mixed emotions for Her Majesty as the day also marks 70 years since the death of her beloved father George VI," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament on Wednesday, thanking the monarch for "her tireless service".

Elizabeth has continued to carry out official duties well into her 90s but has been little seen in public since she spent a night in the hospital last October for an unspecified ailment and was then instructed by doctors to rest.

However, Buckingham Palace on Friday released footage ahead of Sunday's landmark, showing her viewing items from previous royal jubilees, such as a fan given to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to mark her 50th year on the throne in 1887, signed by family, friends and politicians.

Ironically Elizabeth was not destined to be monarch at her birth, and only became queen because her uncle Edward VIII abdicated to be with American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

But in 2015, she overtook Victoria as Britain's longest-reigning sovereign in a line that traces its origin back to Norman King William I and his 1066 conquest of England.

Milestones

"Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones - my own is no exception," said Elizabeth in 2015, adding that the record was not one "to which I have ever aspired". Her son and heir Prince Charles said it was a moment other people were more excited about than she was.

While small in stature - standing at 5ft 3in according to reports - she has been a towering figure in Britain for seven decades. During that time, she has overseen huge social, economic and political change, including the end of the British Empire.

When she ascended the throne, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong and Harry Truman were running the Soviet Union, China and the United States, respectively, while Winston Churchill was British prime minister.

Also Read | The world's longest-reigning monarchs

Including Churchill, she has been served by 14 prime ministers - a quarter of all there have been in Britain since Robert Walpole 300 years ago. During her reign, there have been 14 US presidents, all of whom she has met bar Lyndon Johnson.

As the world's current oldest and longest-reigning monarch, her global presence has also been profound, and she retains an almost unrivalled mystique.

"What's telling is when heads of state meet, whether it be at the G7 or the COP conference, they want to meet the queen," said Anna Whitelock, Professor of the History of Monarchy at London's City University.

"They may be presidents or heads of state in their own country, but there is something quite magical about this miniature woman."

Only a handful of monarchs are ever thought to have reigned for longer than Elizabeth. King Louis XIV of France, who built the palace of Versailles, is considered to hold the record for a sovereign state, ruling for 72 years, while Sobhuza II was king of Swaziland for almost 83 years until his death in 1982.

While public affection for her remains strong, with about four in five Britons holding a favourable view, the monarchy itself has suffered a number of recent knocks, including a US sex abuse court case against her second son Prince Andrew, raising questions about the long-term future of the institution.

"She's almost beyond criticism, I think," said Professor Vernon Bogdanor, an expert in British constitutional history.

"It's not that she's never put a foot wrong, it's more positive than that. She somehow instinctively understands what you might call the soul of the British people."

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The head of the World Health Organization said on Saturday he had discussed with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang the need for stronger collaboration on the origins of Covid-19, a subject of controversy that has strained Beijing's relations with the West.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has previously pressed China to be more forthcoming with data and information related to the origin of the virus.

"Pleased to meet with Premier Li Keqiang," Tedros tweeted. "We discussed Covid-19 and the need for an aggressive effort on VaccinEquity this year to vaccinate 70% of all populations," he said, referrring to the WHO campaign for fair access to vaccines around the world.

Pleased to meet with  Premier Li Keqiang. We discussed #COVID19 and the need for an aggressive effort on #VaccinEquity this year to vaccinate 70% of all populations. Solidarity is key to ensuring access and affordability of vaccines. pic.twitter.com/9aMgWR2j7R  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 5, 2022

"We also discussed the need for stronger collaboration on Covid-19 virus origins, rooted in science and evidence," he added.

The WHO last year established the Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) and called on China to supply raw data to help any new investigation. China declined, citing patient privacy rules.

China has consistently denied allegations that the virus was leaked from a specialist laboratory in the city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first identified at the end of 2019.

A joint study by China and the WHO published last year all but ruled out the theory that Covid-19 originated in a laboratory, saying that the most likely hypothesis was that it infected humans naturally, probably via the wildlife trade.

Last November, China said a declassified US intelligence report saying it was plausible that the pandemic originated in a laboratory was unscientific and had no credibility.

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At the core of the Ukraine crisis is a puzzle: Why would Russian President Vladimir Putin push Europe to the brink of war to demand the West not do something that it has no plan to do anyway?

Russia says NATO, the American-led alliance that has on its hands the biggest European crisis in decades, must never offer membership to Ukraine, which gained independence as the Soviet Union broke apart about 30 years ago.

Ukraine has long aspired to join NATO, but the alliance is not about to offer an invitation, due in part to Ukraine's official corruption, shortcomings in its defense establishment, and its lack of control over its international borders.

Putin's demands go beyond the question of Ukraine's association with NATO, but that link is central to his complaint that the West has pushed him to the limits of his patience by edging closer to Russian borders. He asserts that NATO expansion years ago has enhanced its security at the expense of Russia's.

Also read: In Ukraine, US is repeating its Afghanistan mistakes

The Russians demand a legal guarantee that Ukraine be denied NATO membership, knowing that NATO as a matter of principle has never excluded potential membership for any European country  even Russia  but has no plan to start Ukraine down the road toward membership in the foreseeable future.

The principle cited by NATO is that all nations should be free to choose whom they align with.

Why, then, is Moscow making an issue of Ukraine's relationship with NATO now? The answer is complicated.

Why is Putin worried about Ukraine joining NATO?

The stated reason is that a further eastward expansion of NATO would pose a security threat to Russia. Washington and its allies deny this is a valid worry, since no NATO country is threatening to use force against Russia.

More broadly, Putin wants NATO to pull back its existing military presence in Eastern Europe, which includes a regularly rotating series of exercises in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, all former Soviet states. There are no US troops based permanently in those three Baltic countries; currently there are about 100 serving a rotational tour in Lithuania and about 60 in Estonia and Latvia combined, the Pentagon says.

Putin also opposes NATO's missile defense presence in Romania, a former Soviet satellite state, and a similar base under development in Poland, saying they could be converted to offensive weapons capable of threatening Russia. President Joe Biden this week approved sending an additional 2,700 American troops to Eastern Europe  1,700 to Poland and 1,000 to Romania  plus 300 to Germany.

Also read: Erdogan says Biden, West didn't help solve Ukraine crisis

Ukraine has deep historical and cultural ties to Russia, and Putin has repeatedly asserted that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. He has said that large chunks of Ukrainian territory are historical parts of Russia that were arbitrarily granted to Ukraine by communist leaders under the Soviet Union.

Putin recently described his Ukraine concern more specifically. He sketched out a scenario in which Ukraine might use military force to reclaim the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, or to recapture areas in eastern Ukraine that are now effectively controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

Imagine that Ukraine becomes a NATO member and launches those military operations, Putin said. Should we fight NATO then? Has anyone thought about it?

Indeed, some in NATO have thought about the prospect of an expanded war with Russia inside Ukraine. It is a reminder of what NATO membership means  an attack on one is an attack on all, which in the theoretical case of Ukraine being attacked by Russia would mean a legal commitment by every NATO member to come to its defense.

What are Ukraine's prospects for joining NATO?

The prospects are extremely unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Although Ukraine has no membership offer from NATO, it has drawn closer to the alliance over time, starting with the establishment in 1997 of a NATO-Ukraine Charter to further develop cooperation.

NATO heads of government did publicly declare in 2008 that Ukraine, and its fellow former Soviet republic Georgia, will become members of NATO. They did not say when or how, but the statement could be seen as explaining Moscow's concern that Kyiv eventually will join the alliance.

On the other hand, the US and other NATO leaders who signed the 2008 statement about Ukraine and Georgia decided against giving them what is known as a Membership Action Plan  a pathway to eventual membership. Germany and France strongly opposed moving Ukraine toward membership and the broader view within NATO was that Ukraine would have to complete far-reaching government reforms before becoming a candidate for membership.

This seeming contradiction has never been resolved, which means that while NATO's door is open, Ukraine won't fit through anytime soon.

How is Putin pressuring Ukraine?

Moscow says it has no intention of invading Ukraine, yet over the past several months it has assembled a robust array of combat forces along Ukraine's borders and has implied it will take action of some kind if its demands of Washington and NATO are not met. The Biden administration says Russia is now capable of a wide range of actions, including a full-scale invasion to capture Kyiv.

Putin says NATO has gone too far not only by providing Ukraine with weaponry and military training but also by stationing forces in other Eastern European countries that compromise Russian security.

It's also true that increases over the past decade in the US and NATO military presence in Eastern Europe were triggered by Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its incursion into eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Those Russian actions prompted NATO to redouble its focus on collective security. In September 2014, NATO leaders established a new rapid-response force capable of deploying within days, and they reaffirmed pledges to boost their defense spending.
The US and eight other countries have called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to condemn North Korea's recent missile tests after the council's closed meeting apparently failed to take any concrete action against Pyongyang.

Friday's meeting marked the second attempt by the US and other like-minded countries in just about two weeks to hold North Korea to account for its recent series of missile launches, Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday.

North Korea staged its seventh and last round of missile launch of the year on January 30.

"The DPRK's January 30 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a significant escalation in the DPRK's recent violations of multiple Security Council resolutions and seeks to further destabilise the region. We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a joint statement.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Also read: Over half of UNSC condemns N Korea's 'significant escalation'

The statement was signed by the UN representatives from eight other UNSC member countries -- Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

They noted the IRBM marked the longest-range test conducted by North Korea since late 2017, also adding Pyongyang has so far fired nine ballistic missiles in the seven rounds of missile tests this year.

"The nine ballistic missiles launched in January is the largest number of launches the DPRK has conducted in a single month in the history of its WMD and ballistic missile programs," they said in their joint statement.

"We call on all Council members to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and unlawful acts," they added.

North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing since November 2017 when it last test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, following its sixth and last nuclear test in September that year.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to "reaffirm our vitally important strategic partnership" when they are in Australia for a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Quad bloc next week, said Daniel Kritenbrink, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific.

At the Quad meeting, "I'm confident that part of that discussion will relate to the challenges that China poses to those values (of the Quad) and to that rules-based order in a number of sectors", Kritenbrink said on Friday.

The meeting will take place as the world's attention is focused on the situation in Europe where the US is facing off Russia over Ukraine, and will be an opportunity for Washington to reaffirm its continuing commitment to the Indo-Pacific strategy and to the Quad.

The message that Blinken will project through the meeting is that "in this era of intense competition, changing strategic landscapes, economic coercion, and, of course, this very difficult global pandemic, there is no greater global partnership than what we are trying to accomplish through the Quad with Australia, India and Japan", Kritenbrink said.

The meeting is being hosted by Austria's Marise Payne and Japan's Hayashi Yoshimasa will also be there.

Jaishankar tweeted on January 27 that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and, according to media reports, Australian officials had hoped that the schedule of the meeting would allow time for him to recover.

In opting for a direct meeting instead of a virtual consultation despite the pandemic, Kritenbrink said that "there is simply nothing like these face-to-face meetings to solidify and institutionalize what we view as a foundation of our foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific".

This will be the fourth meeting of the Foreign Ministers and it follows last September's Quad summit of US President Joe Biden, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Scott Morrison of Australia, and Yoshihide Suga, who was the then premier of Japan.

Although, as Kritenbrink said that Jaishankar and Blinken speak frequently, this will be their first in-person meeting since they last met in October in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

Last year's annual 2+2 India-US ministerial meeting of Jaishankar and Blinken, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin that was expected to have taken place in December had been postponed because of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India around that time.

Asked if Ukraine would figure at the Quad ministerial, Kritenbrink said: "As leaders of for the world's key democracies, I think it will be natural for them to address all of the important issues of the day, and I'm sure Ukraine will be one of them, given the seriousness of the issue and the threat it poses to the rules-based global order.

"I would underscore at the outset that the primary reason why Secretary Blinken is going on this trip is to demonstrate, first, the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to the prosperity and the security of the United States and the American people. The Indo-Pacific is absolutely central to our national interests and will have a great impact, again, on our own security and prosperity.

"Secondly, the Secretary will demonstrate the strength and the credibility of America's commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, and specifically to our most important partners and democratic allies in the region."

Talking about China, Kritenberg said: "The Quad is an informal grouping of like-minded democracies who share many interests, principles, and values vis-a-vis the kind of region that we want to live in a region based on a rules-based order in which all countries big and small follow the rules, a region in which disputes are resolved peacefully, and in which countries have the freedom to make their own sovereign choices.

"It's through this partnership that we're strengthening the security environment in the region to push back against aggression and coercion."

The Quad has evolved into a cooperative for joint action in the Indo-Pacific region on health and development going back to its roots when the four countries came together to provide relief in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

A key programme during the Covid-19 pandemic is to jointly provide 1 billion doses of vaccines to countries in the region by the end of the year.

The vaccines are being manufactured by India with US and Japanese financing, and Australia is to provide the logistics for their distribution.

"It is through our partnership with these three democratic countries that we are moving so fast to deliver vaccines around the world and to build a stronger health infrastructure," Kritenbrink said.

"And it will be through this partnership that we help support global economic recovery. We intend to demonstrate that our partnerships deliver, and they deliver practical and real benefits to our own peoples and to the peoples of the region."

Blinken will also visit Fiji where 18 leaders from Pacific Island nations have been invited to participate in a hybrid meeting with him.

Besides the pandemic and climate change, they will "issues related to the maritime domain from maritime security to illegal fishing", Kritenbrink said.

Maritime issues in the region centre around China's claims, operations of its fishing fleets and actions by its coast guard against fishing personnel of other countries.

Blinken will end his trip in Honolulu with a meeting with Admiral John Aquilino, the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and a trilateral ministerial with South Korea's Foreign Minister Chung Eui-Yong.

North Korea's recent missile tests and the security situation in the region be on the trilateral's agenda, State Department spokesperson Ned Price had said earlier.

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A bridge being constructed by China across the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh is in an area that is under the illegal occupation of that country since 1962, the government told Parliament on Friday.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said in Lok Sabha that India's approach in talks with China over the eastern Ladakh standoff is guided by three key principles.

The principles, he said, are that both sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control; neither side should attempt to alter the status quo unilaterally, and all agreements between the two sides must be fully abided by in their entirety.

Also Read | China continues to illegally occupy 38,000 sq km of Indian territory, says government

The comments came a day after India decided to diplomatically boycott the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics over China fielding a military officer involved in the Galwan Valley clash as a torchbearer for the mega sporting event.

"The government has taken note of a bridge being constructed by China on Pangong lake. This bridge is being constructed in areas that have continued to be under the illegal occupation of China since 1962," Muraleedharan said.

He said India has never accepted this illegal occupation.

"The government has made it clear on several occasions that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral part of India and we expect other countries to respect India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he added.

On the eastern Ladakh border row, Muraleedharan India and China have maintained dialogue through both diplomatic and military channels for disengagement in the remaining areas.

"Our approach in these talks has been and will continue to be guided by three key principles, that, (i) both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC (ii) neither side should attempt to alter the status quo unilaterally; and (iii) all agreements between the two sides must be fully abided by in their entirety," he said.

Muraleedharan said the last round of talks between the senior commanders of India and China was held on January 12 and they agreed that both sides should follow the guidance provided by their leaders and work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest as this would help in the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the region and enable progress in bilateral ties.

Satellite images of the bridge being built in the Khurnak area surfaced last month following which military experts said that the aim of it is to ensure that the Chinese PLA is able to quickly mobilise its troops in the region.

China has been focusing on strengthening its military infrastructure after Indian troops captured several strategic peaks on the southern bank of the Pangong lake in August 2020 after the Chinese PLA attempted to intimidate them in the area.

Muraleedharan also said that the government has noted reports of renaming of some places by China in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

"This is a futile exercise that will not alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh has always been, is and will always be an integral part of India," he said.

The minister said the government gives careful and specific attention to the improvement of infrastructure for the development of border areas in order to facilitate the economic development of these areas and also to meet India's strategic and security requirements.

"The government also keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India's security and takes all necessary steps to ensure that our security interests are fully protected," he said.

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Two fake notices on celebrating Valentines Day, attributed to two important educational institutions in West Bengal, have allegedly been circulated on social media. Jadavpur University has lodged a police complaint about the notice.

A fake notice, allegedly doing the rounds, has the forged signature of the university registrar. Sources suggest that the notice asked departments to take certain steps for Valentines Day celebrations. The students should look for a Valentine in their college and participate in a celebration, and get themselves registered, it said.

A similar fake notice in the name of another major university is also in circulation. It also claims to have been signed by a registrar and directs the departments and students on the celebration.

Issuing a statement, Jadavpur University said: It is to be notified for information of all concerned that a fake notice is being circulated in the social media with the signature of the Registrar, JU, regarding the celebration of Valentines Day, which is a total forgery and with the intention to malign our prestigious University.

All are requested to please ignore the notification. University had already lodged (a) complaint against it to the appropriate authority to take necessary action against it, it said.

Snehamanju Basu, the registrar of the university, told DH that such a thing is really unfortunate and the notice is fake. My signature has been imitated and submitted. We have complained against it in Jadavpur police station, and in the cybercrime branch also, she said.

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RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday sought to quash speculation that he would step down from the post and son Tejashwi Yadav could be the next party chief.

Interacting with media persons in New Delhi, he said that those who are saying it, are absolutely fools and spreading lies in the media.

"There is no truth in it. We are not planning anything like this. It is a complete rumour spread in the media," Lalu Prasad said.

There were rumours within the party that Lalu Prasad may step down during the national Executive Committee meeting scheduled on February 10 and hand over the responsibility to Tejashwi Yadav as he is ill and reportedly unable to actively participate in the party's activities.

Tejashwi Yadav is Leader of opposition in Bihar Vidhan Sabha.

Prasad's wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi is also against the move of him giving the top party post.

"There is no basis in giving the national President post of the party to Tejashwi Yadav so far. The party has not decided this," she said in Patna.

Sources have said that Tejashwi Yadav's elder sister Misa Bharti and elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav are also against any such move.

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An eight-month-old boy has been hospitalised in Surat city of Gujarat after being allegedly thrashed and tortured by a woman babysitter, whose act was captured on a CCTV camera installed at the child's house, police said on Saturday.

The woman, identified as Komal Tandelkar, has been detained on the charge of attempting to murder the baby, they said.

The boy, who is one of the twin babies of a working couple, has suffered a brain haemorrhage as per the doctors of a city-based private hospital, where he has been admitted, inspector P L Chaudhari of Rander police station said.

Talking to reporters, ACP (G-division) Z R Desai said, "An FIR was registered against Tandelkar on the basis of the CCTV footage, in which she can be seen thrashing the baby in her lap for nearly one-and-a-half minute before twisting his ears and repeatedly throwing him against the bed. It appears to be a case of attempt to murder."

The babysitter was employed by the couple in September last year, four months after the birth of their twins, he said.

The baby's father, Mitesh Patel, had got the CCTV camera installed at his house only two days back after his neighbours complained of hearing the cries of the babies when they are under the care of the babysitter, Desai said.

"Yesterday, when Patel was away at work, he received a call from his mother, who informed him that one of the babies was crying and fainting. The child was immediately taken to a hospital. Later, when the family members checked the CCTV footage, they found the babysitter thrashing the child, twisting his ear and throwing him against the bed," Desai told reporters. After that, Patel approached the police and lodged a complaint.

"As per the CCTV footage and on the basis of the complaint, it was clear that the woman knew what she was doing. During her interrogation, we realised that she appears to have some kind of frustration," he said.

The babysitter was booked under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt). She has been detained, but will be formally placed under arrest after the police get her Covid-19 test report, he said.

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A Milwaukee man who was on FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list was arrested Thursday in Mexico, authorities said.

Octaviano Juarez-Corro, who had been on the run for 16 years, was wanted for double homicides and multiple attempted homicides in Milwaukee.

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Juarez-Corro is believed to have fatally shot two people and wounded three others  including his estranged wife  at a large holiday picnic on May 29, 2006. He was added to the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on September 8, 2021.

FBI Milwaukee, in conjunction with the FBIs International Operations Division, and Mexican authorities successfully located and apprehended the suspect in Guadalajara, Mexico on the evening of Feb. 3.

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Octaviano Juarez-Corro was listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive (FBI)

Octaviano Juarez-Corro spent the last 16 years running from law enforcement, hiding in another country, and believing time and distance was on his side, Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle, of the FBIs Milwaukee Field Office, said in a statement.

The FBI has a long reach and extraordinary law enforcement partnerships across the globe. I commend the tireless efforts of all our partners from Milwaukee to Mexico in closely coordinating with the FBI in capturing this wanted fugitive and helping to bring this violent offender to justice, as well as closure to the victims and their families, he added.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

The suspect, whos now 47, showed at the South Shore Park, on the banks of Lake Michigan, where hundreds of people were celebrating the Memorial Day holiday, and struck a conversation with some of his soon-to-be-ex wifes friends, authorities said.

The two, who share a daughter, were reported to be in the final stages of their divorce.

He reportedly demanded to see their daughter, who was 3 years old at the time. After he was told that he wouldnt be able to see the child, he demanded five people to get down on their knees and began shooting them execution-style, the bureau said.

All of a sudden within this split second, it turns into a massive shooting scenario, where five people are ultimately struck, Special Agent Steve Whitecotton, with FBIs Milwaukee Field Office, said.

His wife suffered two gunshot wounds in the chest but survived. Two others were also injured, one of them gravely.

He was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, along with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

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Juarez-Corro was the 525th person to be placed on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, which was first established in 1950.
Three special observers of the Election Commission (EC) reviewed Punjab's preparedness on Friday for the February 20 state Assembly polls. They expressed satisfaction and confidence that the polls would be held in a free, fair and transparent manner, according to an official statement issued here. Meanwhile, BJP's JP Nadda will be addressing multiple rallies in Uttar Pradesh today. Come back tomorrow for more live updates.
The Supreme Court has said market value of price of the land must be determined, keeping in mind various factors including proximity to developed areas and the roads etc.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramaian emphasised the importance of considering location of the land in deciding its price for acquisition.

"It is not the nature of land which alone is determinative of the market value of the land. The market value must be determined keeping in view the various factors including proximity to the developed area and the road etc," the bench said.

The top court allowed an appeal filed by Madhukar against the Bombay High Court's order which has set aside a judgement by the reference court enhancing the compensation for land acquired as Rs 1,95,853 per hectare.

On a plea by Vidharbha Irrigation Development Corporation, the High Court assessed the compensation for the land as Rs 56,700 per hectare.

"The High Court has erred in law in setting aside the determination of market value of the land by the reference court," the bench said.

The top court restored the order by the reference court, saying the High Court's reasoning is fallacious and not sustainable.

The High Court distinguished the lands earmarked for acquisition between those irrigated and ones not irrigated.

"It is not the reasonable yardstick to determine market value of the land as the land in question is close to already developed area," the bench said.

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There is no gender gap in administration of Covid-19 vaccines, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Also, as on January 31, 2022, 70 per cent of the total vaccine doses have been administered at Covid-19 vaccination centres located in rural areas, the minister said.

As on January 31, 2022, around 48.8 per cent of the total Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered to women which approximates to the estimated proportion of women in the country's population which is 48.5 per cent according to Census 2011, Pawar said in a written reply.

Also Read | Govt panel recommends emergency use authorisation for single-dose Covid jab Sputnik Light

"Hence, there is no gender gap in administration of Covid-19 vaccines," she said.

Pawar further informed that as on January 31, 2022, a total of 20,73,71,863 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in tribal districts across the country, out of which 11,88,71,511 are first dose, 8,69,71,913 are second dose and 15,28,439 are precaution doses.

The Government of India is regularly reviewing the pace of Covid-19 vaccination and has issued multiple advisories to states and UTs to cover eligible beneficiaries with both doses of Covid-19 vaccine, the minister said in the reply.

All efforts have been made to maximise the convenience of the beneficiaries for availing Covid-19 vaccination, including tribal communities and those without access to digital technology, e.g., walk-in registration, facilitated cohort onsite registration and vaccination, assisted registration through Common Service Centers (CSCs) or 1075 Helpline/State's Call Centre, special sessions for people who don't have any of the specified identity cards etc.

The Government of India has also initiated 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign wherein missed beneficiaries for the first dose and due beneficiaries for the second dose are identified and vaccinated through house-to-house activity, Pawar said.

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Two militants affiliated with The Resistance Front, an affiliate of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were killed in a predawn gunfight with security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar on Saturday.

"2 terrorists of terror outfit LeT/TRF neutralised by Srinagar Police. One of the killed terrorists Ikhlaq Hajam was involved in the recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at Hassanpora Anantnag. Incriminating materials including 02 pistols recovered (sic)," Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.

Reports said that the gunbattle erupted after police and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Zakura area on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Also Read | 439 terrorists, 109 security personnel killed since Article 370 was abrogated, says govt

A police official said that the hiding militants were given a chance to surrender, but they refused and fired at the search party. In retaliation, both the hiding militants were killed, he said.

It's Pertinent to mention that on 29th January a head constable Ali Mohammad Ganie was shot at by the militants near his residential house at Hasanpora Tabala area of Bijbehara Anantnag.

23 militants, including eight from Pakistan, have been killed in Kashmir this year in a dozen encounters while last year 171 ultras were neutralized.

According to police figures, 156 ultras, including 73 foreigners, were active in Kashmir on December 31.

This is for the first time that the number of active militants in the Valley has come down to less than 200 since the insurgency erupted in Kashmir in 1990.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed the contributions of the Telugu film industry in promoting the glory of Telugu culture.

He noted that the Telugu film industry is making its presence felt globally and much beyond the Telugu speaking areas.

"This creativity is reigning on the silver screen and OTT platforms. It is being praised even outside India. This dedication of Telugu speaking people towards their art and culture is an inspiration for all," the Prime Minister said while unveiling the 'Statue of Equality' on Saturday.

Modi also elaborated on the richness of the Telugu culture and how it has enriched India's diversity. He recalled the long traditions of kings and queens who were torchbearers of this rich tradition.

The Prime Minister talked about the 13th century Kakatiya Rudreshwara Ramappa temple being declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Pochampalli being recognised as India's best tourism village by the World Tourism Organisation.

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, and Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, G Kishan Reddy, were among those present on the occasion.

Earlier, Modi unveiled the 216-feet tall Statue of Equality commemorating 11th-century Saint Ramanujacharya.

"India is giving concrete shape to India's human energy and inspirations through this grand statue of Jagadguru Sri Ramanujacharya. This statue of Sri Ramanujacharya is a symbol of his wisdom, detachment and ideals," he said.

The Prime Minister recalled the Indian tradition of its scholars that views knowledge above rebuttal and acceptance-rejection.

He noted that along with the pinnacle of 'gyan' in Sri Ramanujacharya, he was the founder of the Bhakti Marg too.

"In today's world, when it comes to social reforms and progressivism, it is believed that reforms will take place away from the roots. But when we see Ramanujacharya ji, we realise that there is no conflict between progressiveness and antiquity. It is not necessary to go far from your roots for reforms. Rather it is necessary that we connect with our real roots, and become aware of our real power," the Prime Minister said.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the country is robbing the future of its daughters by letting the hijab come in the way of their education.

Coming out in support of hijab-wearing Muslim girl students not allowed entry in educational institutes in Karnataka, he said the goddess Saraswati does not differentiate and gives knowledge to all.

"By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India.

Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn't differentiate. #SaraswatiPuja," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Also read: Hijab-clad students denied entry to college in Udupi district

Saraswati is worshipped as the goddess of knowledge.

Saraswati Puja, also known as Basant Panchami, is one of the Hindu festivals that marks the arrival of spring. It is being celebrated in the country on Saturday.

By letting students hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesnt differentiate. #SaraswatiPuja  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 5, 2022

The hijab row issue has snowballed into a major controversy in Karnataka.

The issue started in early January at the government girls pre-university (PU) college in Udupi, where six students attended classes wearing headscarves in violation of the dress code in classrooms.

The college had allowed hijab on the campus but not inside the classrooms. The students protested against the directions, but they were barred to attend the classes. The girls continued their protest by sitting outside the classrooms for about a month.

One of the six protesting students at the college had moved to the Karnataka High Court on January 31, seeking interim relief to attend classes wearing the hijab till the issue is settled.

The Udupi incident was followed at the pre-university college in Kundapur in the same district, with the authorities disallowing 28 Muslim girl students wearing hijabs from attending classes in the institute, citing a government direction. The girls protested against the order outside the classes as well.

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After the security fiasco in Punjab last month, the Central and Telangana agencies laid special focus for a safe and successful tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Modi was in Hyderabad on Saturday for around seven hours, first kickstarting the golden jubilee celebrations of the International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and later to inaugurate the 216 feet Sri Ramanujacharya statue at Muchintal near the city.

Modi was in the Sri Ramanujacharya Samata Kendram temple complex for close to four hours. He went around the premises that included 108 small shrines, watched a laser show and also took part in the ongoing maha-yagnam conducted by 5,000 rutviks.

Read | Rs 135 cr 'Statue of Equality' made in China

State DGP Mahender Reddy along with chief secretary Somesh Kumar and other top cops examined the security arrangements at the Statue of Equality on Friday. Reddy reportedly said that about 8,000 cops are being deployed for a fool proof security arrangement.

ICRISAT, Muchintal where the Sri Ramanujacharya complex is and the nearby Hyderabad international airport were reportedly divided into three sectors, with rounds of dog, bomb squad inspections.

In what is seen as a major security lapse, on January 5, Modi's convoy was held up for about 20 minutes on a flyover in Punjab's Ferozepur due to a protest ahead by farmers. While the Punjab government and police were blamed for the omission, the MHA viewed the matter seriously and initiated a probe. The matter was also reviewed by the Supreme Court.

However, most of the traveling Modi did in Telangana on Saturday was by air, flying in a Mi-17 helicopter from the airport to ICRISAT and then to Muchintal.

Sri Ramanujacharya statue will inspire many generations to come. It will glorify our Indian cultural heritage, Modi said after dedicating the humongous statue to the world.

The PM said that Ramanuja's equality spirit professed a thousand years back provided inspiration for the Constitution.

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Amidst the election heat in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and other states, Modi was in the southern state for the inaugural ceremony of a grand 216 feet metallic Statue of Equality of the 11th century saint Sri Ramanujacharya. He also participated in the International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) golden jubilee celebrations.

KCR instead deputed animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav to receive and send off Modi.

The CM stated the reason for his absence to be a 'mild fever'.

He has, in recent months, taken a confrontational path, criticising the central government over issues like its alleged refusal to procure Telangana Paddy and the lack of funds, support to the state on various fronts.

Following the Union Budget announcement earlier this week, KCR further lashed out at Modi with several snide remarks, which the BJP has termed as objectionable.

In a statement during a live press conference on Tuesday, he proclaimed that the country needs a new Constitution. KCR complained that the Centre was usurping the powers of the states with the excuse of 'concurrent list'.

During the course of his attack on the BJP led Union government, he said he is touch with Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and would meet him soon.

The BJP held protests, condemning KCR's need to change the Constitution remarks as an insult to Dr BR Ambedkar.

KCR has been regularly insulting the Constitution. And now he is violating the protocols. It is an idiotic and shameful act on part of the CM. He stooped to a new low by sending an unimportant minister, following Chandrababu, Channi footsteps. You will be paid back, state BJP leaders said in a series of tweets with hashtag - #ShameOnYouKCR.

The CM, known to be speaking for the need of a federal front which is a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance, had recently met with the Left, RJD and DMK leaders. Later, Rao appealed to the public to think and throw out the anti-farmer BJP.

KCR's TRS has nine seats in the Lok Sabha and six in Rajya Sabha. Analysts say Rao's outbursts are indicative of his ambitions of a larger role in the national politics, while retaining power in the state in the 2023 assembly elections.

The CM, along with his wife participated in the Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham on Thursday, two days before the PM visit.
Sri Ramanuja's social reforms are 'close to our hearts too,' Chief Minister M K Stalin said, extending his wishes to Chinna Jeeyar Swami on the occasion of unveiling of the statue of the reformist saint on Saturday in Hyderabad.

"I whole heartedly wish the function a grand success and this Statue of Equality remain as the symbol of national integration," Stalin said in a message to Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swami who conceptualised and constructed the saint's statue at the Telangana capital.

On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to dedicate to the nation the 'Statue of Equality' to commemorate the 1000th birth anniversary of Sri Ramanujacharya and to underscore the saint's preaching.

Read all about the Statue of Equality here

"The social reforms advocated by Ramanujar are close to our hearts too. In one of our reformist approaches, my government appointed archakas in temples from all castes and ensured equality for all in performing poojas in the sanctum sanctorum of the temples in Tamil Nadu," Stalin said.

Late DMK patriarch 'Kalaignar' M Karunanidhi had brought out the essence of Ramanujar's life by scripting a tele-serial on the seer's life and times, he recalled. "It was also the last of his (Karunanidhi) literary and theatrical works, but that is living and will live on to take the life and works of the great social reformer to future generations too - especially among the young masses of our country."

The Chief Minister said his government has ensured that the temple administration in the state is streamlined and has been allocating necessary funds for the proper management of temples and by duly taking care of the welfare of all priests.

"It is the HR & CE (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments) Department which implemented numerous schemes and welfare measures that benefited priests and devotees. Today, Tamil Nadu is having one of the best temple administrations among the states in the country."

The Jeeyar Swami had recently visited Stalin and invited him to take part in the statue unveiling function.

"I respectfully thank you for inviting me for the consecration of the golden Ramanuja. On this noble occasion, I wish that Ramanujar's voice of equality spreads across the country elegantly and emphatically. This symbol of Statue of Equality is the need of the hour for the inclusive and progressive development of the nation as a whole."

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Because of repeated complaints from the residents of Gandhipuram in Nambiyur village here, the forest officials said they have installed three close circuit cameras to find out a killer - a suspected leopard.

According to the officials, some days ago 29 hens, four goats were mauled to death. The villagers said it is due to the straying of a leopard in their area that killed their cattle and poultry.

Also Read | Living with leopards in Mumbai's Aarey

The forest officials installed the cameras in the area. On Friday, the residents of Irugalure said they heard a leopard in a quarry, so the officials on Saturday visited the area and installed six cameras.

The forest officials told the people not to move out of the house after sunset. If any movement of the leopard or other wild animal was captured by the camera, they would place a cage to trap the animal.

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Windy City residents could hardly believe their eyes as they watched a man walk on water Friday morning.

Harrowing footage shot from a WGN helicopter shows an unidentified 24-year-old man unwittingly walking roughly 500 yards onto a partially frozen Lake Michigan on Chicagos southeast side. First responders told the station the man was a college student who didnt know hed walked onto the lake, then had a hard time making it back to the shore. He was spotted by someone in a nearby high-rise who called for help.

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A police helicopter soon comes into the frame as the unwitting man below tried to find his footing. On the ground, cops and firefighters set forth to reach the man on foot. One first responder reportedly fell through the ice, but was not harmed. The temperature was around 12 degrees at the time.

[ Mr. T is pumped for Team USAs curling team to defend its winter Olympics title ]

Our lake front spans 25 miles, said Chicago Fire Department Deputy District Chief Jason Lach. (The ice) is not always inches thick.

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Rescue workers made their way to the man with a raft and brought him to safety. He was examined by EMS officials and cleared. Police said he was issued an Administrative Notice of Violation for Disorderly Conduct. The incident unfolded near the University of Chicago campus.

WGN announcers marveled at how far the walker made it from the lakefront. An on-screen measuring took indicated he was more than a quarter-mile from land.
Barely a fortnight after a family of four including two children from Gandhinagar district were found frozen to death on the Canadian border while attempting to enter the United States, a firing over a monetary dispute Friday night busted a somewhat similar plan in which a couple was to be taken to the US by agents for a whopping Rs 1.1 crore.

In the fresh case, a couple from Kalol town, Gandhinagar district had flown to Delhi on their way to America but had to return after their agents fought over the first installment of money. Police said that after the couple took off to Delhi Friday night, the agents opened fire at their relative here in Kalol. Police have arrested one accused while three others are still at large.

"We have arrested one accused while the search is on to find others. The couple who had reached Delhi also returned following the incident", said police sub-inspector MH Desai of Kalol Taluka police station who is investigating the case. The accused have been booked for an attempt to murder and under the arms act.

Incidentally, Kalol town is barely 10 km from Dingucha village from where a family of four including Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife Vaishali, 37, daughter Vihangi, 11, and three years old son Dharmik were found dead in the snow near the Canada-US border in Manitoba province on January 19. They froze to death while walking towards the US border.

Vishnu Patel, a resident of Maruti Bungalow in the Panchvati area of Kalol town, filed an FIR stating that he had struck a deal with two agents-Rutivk Parekh and Devam Brahmbhatt, both residents of Ahmedabad. The duo is said to be travel agents who agreed to send his niece Vishal and his wife Rupali to America for a cost of Rs 1.1 crore.

Patel, who runs a grocery store, has narrated in the FIR that he came to know about these agents through his friend Mahesh Vyas. He has said that the "American file" of Vishal and Rupali was not working out despite repeated attempts. A policeman explained that the couple was not able to procure a valid visa to visit America and that's why their uncle contacted the agents.

The FIR states that as per the deal, Patel had to pay half of the amount to the agents in two days of reaching America while the rest was to be paid in one-and-a-half months. According to the FIR, after the couple was flown to Delhi accompanied by one of the agents, Devam Brahmbhatt, the other agent Rutvik Parekh and three others came to Patel's house at around 1 AM and sought the first installment of payment.

Patel has told the cops that he had to show them Rs 10 lakh cash which he had kept at the house but he was willing to give it only after his niece reached the US. An argument between Patel and the agents ensued which turned violent as one of the agents identified only as Reyan shot at Patel. FIR states that Patel moved aside and the bullet hit the sofa nearby. Patel had said that hearing his screams, the neighbours came rushing. Reyan and two others managed to escape while Rutvik was caught due to an injury in his leg.

An NRI from Dingucha village told DH, "Money is not an issue once you reach America. The entire community chips in to help them. The person would earn and return them over the years. Collecting a few crores is not a big deal."

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By James Stavridis,

If Russia invades Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin will face an immediate and difficult choice: how far to go. Most analysts believe he will probably move forward with an invasion, but is likely to have his military stop within the pro-Russian enclaves of southeastern Ukraine. This would allow him to declare independence for the Donbas region and secure a land bridge from Russia proper to its annexed territory in Crimea.

But what if he decides to drive to Kyiv, and overturn the democratically elected government of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy? Putin has positioned enough firepower on the border  troops, tanks, missiles  as well as naval and cyberwarfare assets to conduct a shock-and-awe campaign similar to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

This is something the US and Western allies are thinking about seriously. In the aftermath of such a total invasion, would there be a strong Ukrainian resistance movement? And what would the West do to support it?

Also Read | Ukraine not joining NATO so why does Putin worry?

In my visits to Ukraine as the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations military commander, I found its troops and government officials to be fiercely proud of their language, heritage and national sovereignty. Ukrainian troops deployed to Afghanistan under my command, and also participated in several other NATO missions. What they may have lacked in training and equipment they made up through determination and toughness.

The Ukrainian collective memory stretches back through many involvements with Russian troops in the interwar years of the 20th century, during the famines and fighting of World War II, and during the Cold War years of the Soviet Union. As Timothy Snyder points out in his book Bloodlands, the Ukrainians suffered greatly and at the hands of Russians over the past century. They can and will fight. And the Western democracies can help.

The US has been on both sides of insurgencies, of course. It fought a long war in Vietnam that it ultimately lost to the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. More recently, the Taliban simply outlasted US patience in Afghanistan.

Also Read | In Ukraine, US is repeating its Afghanistan mistakes

On the other hand, Washington supported a successful insurgency, ironically, against the Soviets during their occupation of Afghanistan  American Stinger missiles may have been the key technology that helped turn the tide. Allied support to the French resistance in World War II was a crucial element in undermining German control over the population in the months leading up to D-Day.

This kind of support can be done clandestinely, led by the Central Intelligence Agency. But in the situation of a democracy overrun by an authoritarian neighbor, there seems little value in hiding the ball. If the US makes the decision that it will support a potential Ukrainian resistance movement, it should be laying the groundwork immediately, while Russian tanks are still parked on the other side of the border.

This means getting supplies into the hands of Ukrainian special forces, who would be a central part of such a resistance force. They would need the ability to move out of the population centers, organize and live off the land, communicate collectively, and above all inflict damage on the occupiers.

This implies a need for transportable explosives, light but lethal handheld missiles to use against Russian tanks and close-air support, and plenty of conventional ammunition and hardware including sniper rifles, high-end optical sights and night vision devices. Cyberwarfare support would be a must. And trainers in-country  both military and CIA.

One key would be for the Zelenskiy government to get out of Kyiv before the Russians consolidated control. The government-in-exile should be welcomed in a NATO capital, and provided full support from the alliance administratively and diplomatically. It should continue to function via its system of ambassadors worldwide, and communicate effectively with the resistance leadership within the country. The model of Charles de Gaulles Free French government  despite occasionally being a challenge to the World War II allies  would be suitable.

And much as the mujahideen of the 1980s gradually turned Afghanistan in a killing field for Russian troops, so could a well-armed and supported resistance force make Ukraine a very deadly experience. This would entail cutting Russian supply lines, targeting senior officers, destroying Russian heavy equipment, using cybertools to damage Russian command and control, and rallying the populace for civil resistance (strikes, shop closures and transportation shutdowns).

No one wants to see an invasion of Ukraine, and we should all hope diplomacy and common sense will prevail. And if Putin chooses to unleash his forces, its likely they will be limited to the southeast of the country.

But combat has a way of getting out of control, of climbing the ladder of escalation. If Russian tanks roll across the Dnieper River to the capital, Ukrainians will fight  and a powerful resistance movement may be the best hope. The West should start preparing now to help.

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Twenty years is a long time to learn lessons. Five months is a short period in which to forget them. Yet as Europe stands on the brink of a potential military conflict over Ukraine, the United States risks repeating one of its major mistakes in Afghanistan, from where it withdrew chaotically last August.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has in recent days criticised the West and, in particular, the Joe Biden administration for their apocalyptic warnings of an imminent Russian invasion. Ukraine's foreign minister has added his voice to calls asking Washington to tamp down its public statements suggesting an invasion by Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces as a given.

With more than 100,000 Russian troops amassed on its borders, Kyiv could be excused for feeling jittery. So why is it vocally dissenting with the assertions of the US and its allies  countries that are opposing Moscow?

Also read: Erdogan says Biden, West didn't help solve Ukraine crisis

Ukraine will want to avoid any panic that could spark exits from investors and a crash of the stock market. The last thing the country needs is an economic collapse even before a shot is fired.

But Zelensky's government has also made clear that it harbours deeper angst over the way the Biden administration has at times ignored Kyiv's interests while negotiating directly with Putin. In January, after the US, Britain, and Australia withdrew some of their embassy officials citing the threat of war, Zelensky told reporters: "I can't be like other politicians who are grateful to the United States just for being the United States."

And after Biden began direct talks with Russia  over the fate of a third country, Ukraine  late last year, Kyiv decided it couldn't wait for Washington to give it a seat at the table. Instead, the Zelensky government began its own negotiations with Putin's team.

All of this has stunning parallels in the relationship between the US and the elected governments of Afghanistan, especially in recent years. There too, the US accepted the Taliban's insistence on talking directly with Washington, without Kabul's government in the room. Ultimately, the US struck a deal with the Taliban  overriding Kabul's protests  to withdraw its troops in a time-bound manner. That lack of trust between Kabul and Washington manifested itself frequently in bitter, public comments, with each blaming the other for Afghanistan's struggles.

To be sure, Afghanistan's governments under presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani were beset by corruption. In Ukraine, Zelensky's administration faces criticism for doing little more than lip service when it comes to tackling institutional graft.

Also read: EU has 'robust' Russia sanctions ready if needed over Ukraine

And with the world's second-most powerful military, Russia is far from a guerilla outfit like the Taliban. Moscow, to be fair, has repeatedly insisted that it has no plans to invade Ukraine and that all it is seeking is a series of security assurances from NATO.

The US clearly doesn't believe Moscow's claims, but Washington's actions are only strengthening Russia's hands in the long run. At a time when there is little public appetite in America for fresh wars or overseas military adventures, the Biden administration's best bet in countering Russia lies in strengthening the elected government of Ukraine  not just militarily, but in terms of its credibility.

Yet by agreeing to keep it out of talks with Russia and thereby effectively claiming to speak for Ukraine, America is only lending credence to the Putin administration's argument that the government in Kyiv is actually just a puppet of the West.

It's the exact same error that the US made in Afghanistan, where in recent years, it undermined the legitimacy of elected governments by allowing the Taliban to cut them out of the most important talks on the future of the country. Washington ended up spending more of its strategic and diplomatic capital on convincing the Taliban to agree to a face-saving deal than on bolstering elected administrations that it claimed represented Afghanistan's people.

The end result: a weak, discredited Afghan government that collapsed even before the US had pulled all of its troops out, handing Kabul over to the Taliban.

What about Ukraine? The withdrawal of diplomats from Kyiv by the US and its allies signals a lack of faith in the former Soviet nation's ability to defend itself militarily. The sidelining of Kyiv in talks with Moscow shows a lack of trust in Ukraine's ability to argue for itself diplomatically. All of this weakens the standing of Zelensky and his government in the eyes of ordinary Ukrainians and Putin's team. Even if diplomacy pulls the world back from the edge of war this time, Ukraine's dependence on America in the face of any future Russian aggression will only increase.

The US just got out of a forever war that bled thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. Unless it's careful, it risks getting sucked into a fresh one.

(Charu Sudan Kasturi is a journalist.)
After lying low for long, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo, Mayawati, is now trying to impress upon all that she is much in the political reckoning in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, where a seven-phase assembly election commences on February 10.

Addressing her first election rally at Agra on Wednesday, followed by the next one on the following day in Ghaziabad (both in western UP from where the polling begins), she explained why she has plunged into the electoral arena somewhat late in the day. "I was busy doing the backroom work of putting the party organisation in place and select candidates for the state's 403 assembly seat," she said.

As if to further impress her audience, who had turned up in large numbers, despite the Election Commission's restrictions, she declared, "My party is all set to bounce back to power as we did in 2007." She stressed, "Every other political party may have written us off, and the media has chosen to ignore the BSP, but our return to power is the writing on the wall." To the media, she said, "Don't repeat your mistake of ignoring the BSP as you did in 2007."

Also Read | Despite rebuffs, Shah seeks RLD tie-up for UP polls

In her usual style, she read out her long speeches in Agra and Ghaziabad from a written text, believed to be prepared by herself. And interestingly, she chose to train her guns more at the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) than at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While she termed the Congress "anti-Dalit", she attacked the SP for "bad governance" and for "poor law and order". Her only attack against the ruling BJP came when she sought to remind people how the ruling dispensation had discontinued the welfare schemes initiated for the good of Dalits. In what appeared to be a milder and restrained attack, she said, "The BJP's policies have been guided more by the RSS, which has always tilted towards the upper castes."

Explaining why she considered the Congress totally "anti-Dalit", she recounted how the party did not consider conferring the Bharat Ratna on BR Ambedkar. "The Congress party never cared to recognise the great contribution of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar towards the upliftment of Dalits in the country, and that was the reason he was not even considered for a Bharat Ratna during Congress rule," she pointed out. "It was only as late as in 1990 after Congress ceased to be in power that Ambedkar received this honour", she added. She criticised the Congress for "not declaring even a day's official mourning on the death of BSP founder Kanshi Ram."

However, it was surprising that the BSP chief chose to spend a lot of time reminding the audience of what she had done during her chief ministership for the larger good of Dalits. Both in Agra and Ghaziabad, her utterances reflected a common "anti-SP" sentiment that is also pronounced in the speeches of BJP leaders. Much like the BJP, Mayawati too pointedly blamed the SP for communal rioting in the state. It seemed pretty apparent that she intended to tell Muslims that they were "unsafe" during the SP rule. "Remember that the Muzaffarnagar riots happened because of poor handling by the Samajwadi Party government," she said.

Also read: Amid Jat anger at BJP, Amit Shah looks to lure Jayant Chaudhary

Another common ground with the BJP to attack the SP was her running down Akhilesh Yadav for "neglecting Dalits and the extreme backwards." She was clearly worried about the alliances that Akhilesh Yadav has stitched with prominent groups of extreme backwards. Curiously, Mayawati criticised the SP for actions the party had not taken. Without buttressing her claim with an example, she said, "The SP government changed the names of towns which I had named after Dalit icons as a token of recognition for their great contribution towards the cause of the downtrodden."

Even while blaming the BJP for being partisan in booking people for "criminal acts", her criticism was sharper of the SP's "patronising of criminals", which the BJP also does in equal measure. Yet, she promised that once her party is back in power, she will ensure that innocent people are out of jails and only criminals, outlaws, and anti-social elements put behind bars.

Significantly, she was guarded in accusing the BJP of spreading communalism. There was no word on how the ruling dispensation was going hammer and tongs on using religion for politics. She also refrained from even making a passing reference to the BJP's blatant bid to polarise Hindus and even going to the extent of turning a blind eye against those seeking to spread hatred against Muslims.

To reassure people that she was all set to stage a comeback, Mayawati listed promises for the larger good of Dalits and weaker sections of society. Interestingly, she skipped commenting on the opposition's accusation that was she was "Team B" of the ruling BJP.

The BSP chief claimed her decision to award a large number of tickets to Muslims aimed at giving them larger representation than her political rivals. However, the strategy was understood as a game plan to divide the Muslim vote, which is widely perceived to be falling in the SP's lap this time.

With the sword of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate dangling over her on account of the cases of disproportionate assets pending against her and her family members, she is believed to be under pressure. Her prolonged silence and absence from the political mainstream ever since the last state election in 2017 was thought to reflect that intimidation.

Also Read | 'Removal' of Chaudhary Charan Singh's photo from university calendar in Haryana fuels Jat anger in UP

Far from caring to take a plunge into the hotbed of ground politics, she had, for some time now, detailed her party general secretary Satish Mishra to hold political rallies in different parts of the state. Subsequently, she also assigned the task to her younger brother Anand Kumar and her nephew, both of whom are seen as political non-entities.

Emphasising that she would address a series of rallies over the coming days, Mayawati repeatedly reminded her audience that the party symbol was "elephant". She also considered it necessary to ask them to turn out in large numbers to press the 'elephant' button on polling days. She, however, failed to explain how she was hoping to raise her party's stock from a paltry 19 seats to a winning count in the 403-member UP assembly.

While she could continue to retain a chunk of her traditional vote bank of Jatav Dalits, it is unlikely that her last-minute entry into the electoral battlefield would make any difference to the non-Jatav Dalit vote over which she commanded complete sway until her party was voted out of power in 2007. Her party is not seen as among the key players in the current political battle primarily perceived to be between the BJP and the SP.

(Sharat Pradhan is an author and a journalist based in Lucknow.)
An eerie calm pervades Aarey Milk Colony as soon as the sun sets. Leopards have attacked humans on several occasions last year, and sightings are frequent.

At the places I visit, on the periphery of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park sandwiched between the eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai, people are alert. From dusk to dawn, if they have to step out, they carry torches or sticks or both.

Humans and leopards co-exist in Mumbai  and one cannot take chances. The park and several green pockets around it, like the Aarey Milk Colony, Film City, IIT-Bombay are leopard territories, and are spread around 140 sq km.

This is a miracle city forest, the lung of Mumbai. On my visit, I meet Imran Iqbal Udat, a long-time Aarey Milk Colony resident, and Ranjeet Jadhav, media professional and conservationist. With pandemic restrictions in force, the bustle is muted.

You cant let down your guard, says Mohammed, a teen living in the area. A few days ago, I saw a female leopard crossing the road with two cubs.

Mohammeds father Shiraj Salim owns a buffalo farm. Shiraj takes me to a corner of his farm, where a leopard regularly visits and sits on a hay-stack. Once, it entered the farm but did not attack the buffaloes, he says.

The farm has 16,000 to 17,000 buffaloes at any point. About 500 owners and 1,700-plus workers come here, says Shiraj.

The area is shrubby, and among the hillocks are watering holes  two perennial ponds, and a seasonal one. Many streams flow in the area. Vast pastures of the Marutian Para grass are maintained and harvested to provide fodder for cattle.

This area was the site of several human-leopard conflicts between 2002 and 2004, but now, thanks to the Maharashtra forest department and the park authorities, the casualties have come down.

If you look at the number of leopards in Mumbai and the attacks, it clearly reflects co-existence, a senior forest official says.

Imran and Ranjeet, with filmmakers Kunal Chaudhar and Satish Lot, Kaushal Dubey, Wasim Athaniya and Hitendra Pachkale, regularly set up camera traps and document the leopards in Aarey.

The attacks take place mostly in slums, where the leopards spot dogs, pigs and poultry. These are easy prey, Imran says.

The smaller the physical features, the greater the chances of an attack. People squatting in the open to defecate are more vulnerable, as are children out playing. The families do take precautions but at times the attack happens, says Imran.

Darshan Satish Kumar, a 14-year-old, was attacked in October last year. It was scary, he says, showing his wounds. He had gone into the woods to relieve himself but strayed into a bushy area.

The leopard pounced on him and carried him away some distance. His screams alerted people. It was Navratri time and people were dancing the garba-dandiya. They rushed to his rescue, and scared the leopard away. The memories still haunt him.

People in the know warn others, but not everyone takes the dangers seriously. A couple walk their dog every evening. They bring bread, buy milk from my farm and feed the dog. I told them not to bring the dog but they lectured me. One day, I heard screams I rushed out with a torch to see the couple running. The leopard had made an attempt to grab the dog, but thankfully, the dog escaped, he says.

Kiran Bhoir, resident of an adivasi hamlet, saw a female with two cubs last week. Six eyes were glowing. Immediately I informed people in the vicinity, he says.

Nikit Surve, researcher with Wildlife Conservation Society-India, has carried out extensive camera trapping in the area. Our research indicates that human leopard interactions are common. The Warlis, the indigenous tribes inhabiting the area, accept the presence of leopards. They also appear to know about their behaviour, he says.

Bibash Ghosh, resident of Mumbais western suburbs, has seen leopards several times. Some time ago, a leopard visited our complex. We heard the barking of dogs throughout the night. The next morning, we saw CCTV footage of a leopard resting here, he says.

In September last year, 68-year-old Nirmaladevi Singh was attacked by a leopard, but she repulsed it, and the CCTV footage went viral online. She fell back twice before she mustered the courage to jab the leopard with her walking stick. She suffered injuries on face, neck, elbow, chest and back.

Hearing her screams, her family and neighbours rushed out. The leopard retreated and vanished into the jungles.

NATIONAL PARK SNAPSHOT

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) is a good case study to understand of the man versus nature conflict. The SGNP is pure wilderness in the heart of Mumbai, surrounded by a population of two crore people. In terms of space, the SGNP is around one-sixth of Mumbai. Its a miracle that a jungle exists in Mumbai.

Considered the Green Lung of Mumbai, the SGNP is the only national park in the world to be located within the metropolitan limits of a hustling-bustling city. The SGNP and its neighbourhood is home to 47-odd leopards  the highest leopard density in the world.

It is spread over 104 sq km. If one includes the green cover of areas like the Aarey Milk Colony, Film City, and Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay in Powai, it is around 140 sq km.

The SGNP is not only important for Mumbai but the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region which comprises parts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts. Leopard (Panthera pardus) is the top carnivore in the park. Often, the park is in the news for human-animal conflict involving leopards.

WHO IS WATCHING THEM?

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) initiated a radio-collaring project last February. Ecologist Vidya Athreya from Bengaluru and wildlife researcher Nikit Surve from Mumbai, both associated with Wildlife Conservation Society-India, are playing key role.

So far, they have radio-collared and released four leopards aged three to eight. Their names are Savitri, Maharaja, Kranti and Jeevan.

An ongoing study has revealed that Maharaja, a male leopard, has walked from SGNP to Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary crossing the busy Chinchoti Bhiwandi Highway and Vasai-Diva railway line in Mumbai. He walked around 62 km in six days, covering 8 km during day time and 54 km at nights.

On November 9, 2021, another female leopard (C33-Delta), radio-collared by Bilal Habib of Wildlife Institute of India, was seen in a housing complex in Goregaon East in Mumbai.

The forest department and a team of researchers are continuously monitoring its activity and there is nothing to panic, says G Mallikarjuna, the director of SGNP. One more would be released in weeks to come, says Vidya.

Ajobas movements

A 2014 Marathi film was based on a radio-collared leopard who walked 120 km, criss-crossing human settlements to reach home, the jungle. The leopard and film were called Ajoba.

April 16, 2009: Full-grown male leopard rescued from a well in a village near Pune.

May 1, 2009: Fitted with a radio collar and released at Malshej Ghats in the Western Ghats.

May-July, 2009: Tracked crossing tracks, highways, and pockets of civilisation, swimming across the Vasai creek, and entering one of the main areas of SGNP, Mumbai.

July 17, 2009: No reading from GPS collar as the tracking device malfunctioned.

Dec 1, 2011: Killed in an accident by a heavy vehicle on NH 8.

Warlis worship Waghoba, the big cat deity

The indigenous Warli people of Maharashtra worship a deity called Waghoba, primarily for protection from the big cats.

About 150 shrines for Waghoba have been documented across Maharashtra, and some are in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park-Aarey and its vicinity.

It is because of Waghoba that we are here, says Prakash Bhoir, tribal leader who commands respect in the closely-knit tribal community. The deity combines characteristics of the leopard and the tiger.

In this area, the leopard rules, and we have to respect Waghoba, says Prakash, a resident of Keltipada.

A look at his house reveals the artist in him. It is filled with musical instruments, and Warli paintings hang on the wall.

There are 27 adivasi hamlets in the Aarey area, 11 inside the national park and two near IIT-Bombay. We have been living here for ages. We have co-existed with the deity. The leopards do not harm us and we take all precautions, says Prakash, recalling how his generation used to sleep out in the open at night.

Now that is not possible because leopards are on the lookout for prey. Actually, it is not the leopards straying out but people encroaching the jungle, he says, adding that the adivasi settlements have existed for centuries.

Just like birds and animals, we live in the jungle and Waghoba protects us, said Prakash.

For his sons wedding, the family had decorated the house with lights. Just as the rituals were about to begin, a leopard appeared. Waghdev blessed the couple and left, he says, smiling.

Prakash is giving the finishing touches to a painting of the leopard.

Sharing Spaces and Entanglements With Big Cats: The Warli and Their Waghoba in Maharashtra, India is the name of a study released last year.

Authored by Ramya Nair, Dhee, Omkar Patil, Nikit Surve, Anish Andheria, John D C Linnell and Vidya Athreya, the paper was published in a special issue of the journal 'Frontiers of Conservation Science'.

The study was conducted by researchers from WCS-India, NINA, Norway, and Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and supported by the Wildlife Conservation Trust.

The Warlis believe Waghoba protects them from the negative impact of sharing space with big cats if humans worship the deity and conduct rituals, especially during the annual festival of Wagh Baras.

Researchers suggest that such reciprocal relationships facilitate the sharing of spaces between humans and leopards.
Somasekhara Kallappa Kudachi leads the way along a dusty path towards ochre sandstone cliffs. Two langurs on sentry duty atop a large boulder seem slightly alarmed at our intrusion, and follow our progress with interest.

Closer, the cliffs appear to be cubical blocks stacked on one another. Several of them have smooth vertical faces, as if someone had sliced them with a giant cleaver.

On one of the smooth vertical faces, under an overhang, is a sketch incised into the rock. It is a drawing of Ganesha, with a peacock to his left, and a pair of camels to his right. An inscription in 8th century Kannada characters informs us that this is the quarry of Sri Dharmasangata.

We are at Shankaralingana Gundu, one of the quarries where sandstone was extracted more than 1,200 years ago, to construct the well-known temples of Pattadakallu, on the banks of River Malaprabha, in Bagalkot district of Karnataka.

Kudachi was a part of the team which discovered these quarries in the early 2000s. All around us is evidence of ancient quarrying  wedge holes for splitting stone, masons marks, more sketches and inscriptions, and lots of debris from stoneworking.

Several stone slabs lie stacked, as if ready for transport to some building site.

Moving past a small engraving of a camel, and a second image of Ganesha with a trishula, we encounter a drawing of a Shiva linga, with a flower adorning it, and yet another camel, seemingly in attendance.

By now, the sheer profusion of camels among the sketches is intriguing.

It is a hot day. Seeking respite from the sun, we spot the temple spires of Pattadakallu to the south. It is exhilarating to think that more than a millennium ago, this windswept hilltop five km to the north of the temples would have been a hive of activity, with stonecutters splitting sandstone and shaping them into blocks of suitable sizes, blacksmiths forging steel wedges and hammers for the masons, artisans sketching out their conceptions and planning those very temples and their sculptures.

Early monuments

The temples of the Early Chalukyas in the Malaprabha Valley are some of the earliest stone monuments in southern India.

Interestingly, there are temples in the northern Nagara as well as the southern Dravida styles among these.

Along with Mahakuta, near Badami, and Aihole, Pattadakallu too boasts of several Nagara structures. The origins of these two main styles in Indian temple architecture are shrouded in mystery. Since the Nagara monuments of the Malaprabha Valley were erected during the 6th to 8th centuries CE, somewhat coeval with the erection of temples of the late Gupta period in central and northern India, some scholars opine that this region too contributed considerably to the shaping of Nagara architecture.

In fact, this view has earned the Malaprabha Valley the sobriquet Cradle of Indian Temple Architecture.

Though it is probably incorrect to state that the Nagara style partly originated at Aihole, Badami and Pattadakallu, Early Chalukyan architects certainly experimented with temple form in the Valley.

The contrasting curvature and proportions of the shikharas of the Kadasiddheshwara and the Galaganatha temples at Pattadakallu show advancement from awkwardness to elegance. The Papanatha Temple even shows an attempt at fusion of Nagara and Dravida elements.

Origins of artisans

Who were the artisans who worked on these monuments, and where did they hail from?

Did the architects who planned the Nagara monuments come from northern India, or were they from nearby regions? Several artisans have left their signatures on the monuments, and clues about their nativity in these inscriptions.

For instance, while most of the artisans have inscribed their names in Halegannada script, some have also used Siddhamatrika characters to spell out their names. Prof Shrinivas Padigar, in his compilation of the inscriptions of the Early Chalukyas, suggests that the use of Siddhamatrika script might imply the presence of craftsmen from the north. He feels that Nagara temples like the Kashivishwanatha were most likely built by craftspeople from Gujarat, Malwa or Rajasthan.

The camels of Shankaralingana Gundu seem to back this hypothesis. Camels are not native to Early Chalukyan heartland, and are not part of the sculptural programme at any of their temples.

The camel entered the sculptural vocabulary of temples in Karnataka possibly as late as the Hoysala context. Camel imagery being more common in the temples of central India, it is likely that the camel sketches at the quarry were made by artisans from the north. Parts of Gujarat and Malwa were annexed by the Early Chalukyas during the rule of Pulakeshi II, making migration of artisans from these lands a distinct possibility.

However, if the camel was not meant to be part of the imagery at the temples, why were they drawn at all? We might never know, but maybe they were the artistic outpouring of an itinerant sculptor dreaming of camels from a homeland left far behind.

(The author is with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.)
District-in-Charge Minister V Sunil Kumar said that a drive to clear pending files in all the government offices from gram panchayat to district-level offices in Dakshina Kannada will be taken up from February 19 to 28.

"Pendency of files and applications are more in Dakshina Kannada for clearing. The drive will ensure that no files are kept pending on the table of the officer. With the drive thousands of pending applications will be cleared in the district," he told media persons during an interaction organised by DK Working Journalists Association in Mangaluru on Saturday.

"I have already directed the Deputy Commissioner and Zilla Panchayat CEO to prepare a timetable for the drive. A revenue mela will be held in all the constituencies after the drive to inform the beneficiaries on the status of their applications," he said.

Kumar said that a Rs 8,000 crore project under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) of the Centre will be taken up by the energy department to improve the quality of electricity and also check the transmission loss.

Solar-powered IP sets

To a query on solar-powered IP sets of the farmers, the Minister said that Rs 108 crore has been sanctioned to the state for solar-powered irrigation pump (IP) sets under the PM-KUSUM scheme. About 10,000 farmers will benefit from it. Under the KUSUM scheme, solar panels will be installed on the electricity feeders, to supply electricity to farmers IP sets. This will cover about two and a half lakh farmers in Karnataka. The scheme will be implemented in BESCOM and GESCOM. "I have written to the Centre seeking permission to implement it in a few pockets of MESCOM so that farmers in the area will be benefited."

On vacant posts, he said that 1500 posts will be filled in KPTCL. The work order has been issued for 1899 people who were selected for various posts three years ago.

Sand row

To a query on shortage of sand and illegal sand extraction, the Minister said that steps will be taken to solve the issue at the earliest. The meeting of the state-level high power committee will be held on February 14 to decide on sand extraction in the CRZ area.

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Adding to the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel has said that following school rules is the duty (dharma) of the students and it is not right to mix religion in it.

"There is a BJP government in Karnataka. We will not give any scope for the row over hijab. School is like a Saraswathi temple. It is the duty (dharma) of the students to follow the rules prescribed by the schools and engage in the learning process. It is not right to mix religion in it," Kateel said.

He was speaking after inaugurating the office of District-in-Charge Minister Sunil Kumar at DC office premises in Mangaluru. "Those who do not wish to follow the rules of the schools can look for alternative options. We will not allow Taliban in the coastal region."

Also read: Hijab-clad students denied entry to college in Udupi district

"Former CM Siddaramaiah who disrupted communal harmony by holding Tipu Jayanthi is now speaking on individual freedom when it comes to the row over headscarf. He tried to divide through schemes like Shaadi Bhagya. He should introspect on incidents that affected communal harmony in the state during his tenure as a CM," he added.

Meanwhile, Kumar termed the row over the headscarf as an organised conspiracy. "There is no problem in students wearing hijab from their house till the school/college compound. However, they should enter the classrooms in the uniforms prescribed by the college or school authorities. The government will try to bring in rules for the uniforms. Those who are raising the issue of individual freedom should ensure the entry of women inside the masjids. The women were given security by banning Triple talaq by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Muslim women should keep this in mind rather than listen to the statements of SDPI or Siddaramaiah or Khader."

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The hijab row that has rocked the communally-sensitive coastal region and spread to other places in the state, turned political on Friday with the Congress backing the Muslim girls and the BJP espousing uniforms without religious symbolism.

A BJP minister went a step further and vowed that the government will not allow the Talibanisation of Karnataka.

The hijab-saffron controversy spread on Friday to a government PU college in Navunda, Byndoor (also Udupi) and Ramdurg PU College in Belagavi. Similar incidents were reported from Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga last month. Meanwhile, a group of girls demonstrated at Bannimantap (Mysuru) in favour of the hijab.

Also Read | The headscarf in focus  once again!

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah supported the Muslim girls right to wear the hijab to class, making it the first assertive statement from the Congress on the ongoing controversy.

Denying the girls entry inside a college, that too a government college, is a violation of the students fundamental rights, Siddaramaiah said.

The principal of a government college closing the gates on the girls who were cryingit is inhuman.

The Congress leader accused the BJP government of allowing the issue to escalate. He said there is no prescribed uniform for students. These girls have been wearing the headscarf from the time they enrolled. But the boys wore the saffron mufflers only two days ago. That shows there is an attempt to politicise the issue, he said, adding that the BJP is using the coastal region as a laboratory for communal experiments.

The BJP deployed two RSS-origin leaders to defend the government -- Primary & Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh and Kannada & Culture Minister V Sunil Kumar.

Nagesh pointed to a 2018 rule that he said was introduced by the then Siddaramaiah-led Congress allowing institutions to enforce a uniform. There should be a limit to playing politics, he said, adding that the agitating students had agreed in writing to follow the uniform. Everything was fine until January. I dont know whose mischief caused this issue.

Also Read | Hijab row intensifies: Girls, parents stage protest

Kumar was more aggressive. Uniform is a matter of code of conduct and wearing religious clothes cannot be tolerated, he said. We wont allow Karnataka, Udupi or the Mangaluru district to become another Taliban. He wondered how poor students enrolled in a government college can move the High Court. Who is behind

this?

Siddaramaiahs deputy U T Khader said the hijab or the headscarf is a religious essential for Muslim women. Today, the skirmish is happening in Udupi. Tomorrow it may happen in Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

There seems to be some wariness within the Congress over the hijab row given the alleged involvement of the PFI and SDPI, outfits that threaten to eat into its votes. Were told that the girls are ready to go to class without hijab. But the Campus Front of India, SDPI and PFI want to keep the issue alive, a senior Congress leader said.

KPCC president D K Shivakumar declined to take a stand. The court has intervened....as party president, I cant make my stand public. These are sensitive issues involving children, customs and tradition, he said.

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The state government on Friday reiterated that all students must adhere to the uniform dress code as per the Karnataka Education Act and that it will allow students to wear hijab or a saffron robe.

During the meeting with Education Minister B C Nagesh and the officials of the department on Friday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai directed the schools and colleges to maintain the status quo until a final order by the Karnataka High Court.

Bommai discussed the issue with the department of pre-university education and Law department at length. The chief minister also directed the Law department officials to convey the state government's stand to the High Court which is hearing a petition pertaining to the issue.

Also Read | The headscarf in focus  once again!

Speaking to media persons, after the meeting, Education Minister B C Nagesh said, "The CM has advised us to take an opinion from the Advocate General and accordingly submit our stand to the court." Recalling that there had been similar judgments in the past, Nagesh said, "The Bombay High Court and the Kerala High Court had also delivered judgments relating to similar issues. In one of the judgments by the Kerala High Court, the court has clearly ruled against wearing headscarves on school premises."

The officials also discussed the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, and the rules that were made pertaining to uniform dress code on campuses in 2013 and 2018. "Even in the Act there is provision only to wear and follow the uniform decided by that particular school or college and the right to decide about the uniform has been given to School Development and Management Committees. Now, until the court pronounces judgment the colleges have to maintain the status quo," explained the minister.

The department had already issued a circular asking colleges to maintain the status quo. "Despite the communication, some students are creating unnecessary problems. We will be issuing another circular insisting that all must maintain the status quo in the matter," Nagesh said.

In the meantime, Karnataka State Wakf Board Chairperson Moulana N K Muhammad Shafi Sa-adi also appealed to the students and community members to maintain the status quo until the High Court of Karnataka delivers its judgement and follow the circular issued by the education department.

"Students of our community have been wearing hijabs and attending schools in many places. In such places, the practice shall be continued. But in some places objections have been raised when students began wearing hijab recently and the government has ordered status quo in such places," he told media persons.

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Gunfire erupted inside a Virginia hookah lounge overnight Friday, leaving one dead and four wounded.

Police responded to the Melody Hookah Lounge in Blacksburg, not far from the Virginia Tech campus, just before midnight. When they arrived on the scene, officers discovered five people suffering gunshot wounds, including four who were taken to the hospital.

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Their conditions are not known at this time.

A police officer conducts an investigation after a shooting at Melody Hookah Lounge on Main Street in Blacksburg, Va., on Saturday. (MATT GENTRY, The Roanoke Times/AP)

The fifth victim was pronounced dead on the scene, according to authorities.

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The violence triggered a lockdown for Virginia Tech in the early hours of Saturday morning. The school was deemed secure around 3:20 a.m., according to university alerts.

University President Tim Sands in a statement posted online said one of the wounded is a student at the university.

Police investigate a the scene of a fatal shooting on Main Street in Blacksburg Va., on Saturday. (MATT GENTRY/AP)

Events like this are difficult and unsettling to all of us. Please care for yourself and seek assistance if you need it. Campus resources are listed below Sands said. Our community is strong, and our strength is derived from our genuine care and concern for one another.

Authorities on Saturday continued to search for the suspected shooter.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are assisting in the area and following up on leads, police said in a news release.

Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Blacksburg police.
Karnataka on Saturday registered a further decline in daily coronavirus infections, as the state reported 12,009 new cases and 50 fatalities, taking the tally to 38,87,733 and toll to 39,300.

The state on Friday had reported 14,950 fresh infections. There were 25,854 discharges today, taking the total number of recoveries to 37,39,197, a health bulletin said.

Of the new cases, 4,532 were from Bengaluru Urban. It saw 10,420 people being discharged and 15 virus-related deaths.

Also Read | Centre orders for 5 crore doses of Corbevax Covid vaccine each costing Rs 145 sans tax

The total number of active cases across the state is now 1,09,203. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 9.04 per cent, the case fatality rate (CFR) was 0.41 per cent.

Of the 50 deaths, 15 are from Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada (5), Mysuru (4), Kalaburagi (3), Ballari, Belagavi, Raichur, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Udupi and Uttara Kannada (2), followed by others.

After Bengaluru Urban, Belagavi recorded the second-highest number of cases with 1,028, Mysuru 763, Ballari 481, Chitradurga 436, Shivamogga 419 and Hassan 413.

Also Read | Govt panel recommends emergency use authorisation for single-dose Covid jab Sputnik Light

Bengaluru Urban district now has a total of 17,53,636 cases, Mysuru 2,26,369 and Tumakuru 1,57,474.

According to the bulletin, Bengaluru Urban tops the list among discharges with 16,91,234, followed by Mysuru 2,18,968 and Tumakuru 1,51,072.

Cumulatively, a total of 6,25,74,309 samples have been tested, of which 1,32,796 were on Saturday alone.

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Thousands of students led by Congress MLA Kaneez Fathima staged a protest in front of the deputy commissioner's office here on Saturday condemning the denial of the entry of hijab-clad girl students into PU colleges in Udupi and Kundapur.

Holding placards that read-Hijab is our rights, the students shouted slogans against the decision taken by the college administrative board.

"Wearing hijab is the fundamental right of Muslim women. Why are you imposing curbs which were not in force hitherto? Muslim women have been wearing hijab for decades. Girl students who went to college by wearing hijab as usual, have been prevented from entering the college premises. It is illegal and unconstitutional," the agitators accused.

Gulbarga North MLA Kaneez Fathima said, "Being an MLA, I have taken part in the Legislative Sessions wearing hijab and has thrown lights on the problems faced by the people of my constituency. Will you stop me from entering the session from now onwards?"

"Forcing the Hijab-clad students to stand near the gate of schools and colleges is the extremity of the cruelty. Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh should take steps to ensure that such incidents don't recur in the future. Communal harmony should be maintained besides taking precautionary measures against disrupting the National unity," she appealed.

A memorandum was submitted to the deputy commissioner.

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County Derry will be represented at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Bellaghy woman Brooke Scullion got the nod from the public and the judges during tonight's Late Late Show Eurosong special on RTE.

Hosted by Ryan Tubridy, the show saw six hopefuls compete for the chance to represent Ireland at the competition later this year in Turin, Italy.

Brilliant song and performance by Brooke Scullion this evening. Fun, funky, polished and very catchy. #ThatsRich is the perfect choice to represent Ireland in the Eurovision! You've got the Murray vote

#Eurosong #LateLateShow pic.twitter.com/PvCEqpf8DW February 4, 2022

Performing last, Brooke drew a raucous reception from the crowd gathered in the RTE studio as she performed her new single 'That's Rich' to the live audience.

Her efforts were warmly received by the panel, with one judge saying the song brought back happy adolescent memories.

"She's so confident, she's so young and looks like she's having fun. I want to watch it again. There is that kind of youthfulness to this song and it makes you feel like a teenager," said Blathnaid.

"It's fun, it's playful and we've all felt those emotions before. There was a definite 'we're in fourth year, let's stamp on the stage' feel."

Paul described it as a 'powerhouse of a song', while another admired the confidence of the former St Patrick's College, Maghera student.

"It's very slick, catchy, happy. It's definitely very Eurovision-ready," they said.

"She really commands the stage. She knows who she is as a performer and it comes across really well."

The international jury awarded Brooke the maximum 12 points to kick off the scoring, before the jury awarded her four points, drawing a bemused reaction from the crowd.

Janet Brogan nailed the 12 points from the judges to go into the lead with 20 points, with Brooke tied in second place.

The developments left the result in the hands of the public, who handed Brooke the maximum 12 points to see her clinch a place in the Eurovision Song contest for 2022.

A delighted Brooke took a tumble leaving her seat, but recovered to tell host Ryan Tubridy she felt there was room for improvement.

"My nerves are shot. That was brutal. I wasn't happy with the performance, I can't wait to do it again," she said.

Panti Bliss said Brooke was going to make a 'great representative' for Ireland in the contest.

Before the performance, Brooke told Green Room host Marty Whelan she was delighted to be there.

Shell be more delighted now.
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A protest has been held at Glasnevin Cemetery after a decision to discontinue a memorial wall that would have marked the deaths of British soldiers, civilians and IRA volunteers killed during the years of the Irish revolution.

The small protest, attended by the families of some of the civilians who died during the period as well as RTE broadcaster Joe Duffy, came after the Dublin Cemeteries Trust made the decision following repeated acts of vandalism at the wall.

It had been planned that the wall would bear the inscription of the name of every person who died or was killed in the revolution and conflict in Ireland between 1916 and 1923.

However, it had proved controversial after it was decided to include the names of British security force members who died.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the trust said: The board of Dublin Cemeteries Trust, following several acts of vandalism to the Necrology Wall within the grounds of Glasnevin Cemetery, which caused significant damage, has taken the decision, with great regret, to discontinue the Necrology Wall element of its 1916-1923 remembrance activity.

The damaged Necrology Wall will be replaced by plain black granite panels on a date yet to be finalised. The original wall on which the Necrology Wall is inscribed has been in place since the inception of the Glasnevin Cemetery Visitor Centre in April 2010.

It is the firm view of Dublin Cemeteries Trust that if the wall were to be repaired for a third time it would be vandalised again. Dublin Cemeteries Trust is not in a position to cover the costs of continually repairing the wall or in the position to provide the security that would be necessary to ensure its protection, nor to guarantee the safety of staff and visitors in the case of further attacks.





The spokesperson said that while a review process looked at a range of options to repair and preserve the wall, no option could provide a viable, long-term solution, given the inevitability of further attacks.

The spokesperson said the trust will continue the process of researching the names and stories of those who died because of the conflict during this period in Irish history.

He added that remembrance and reflection of this time period will be continued by the trust in other formats.

That decision was criticised by those in attendance on Friday.

Mr Duffy, a near-daily presence on Irish airwaves who has written a book on the children killed during the 1916 rebellion, said any decision to discontinue the wall was effectively giving in to vandals.

He said it was a shocking decision.





Its the only place in a world where the civilians killed in the Easter Rising, and the women killed in the Easter Rising, and the children killed in the Easter Rising are actually named. Most of the civilians have never been remembered.

Its a wall of necrology. Theres no judgment. Its for everyone to come and look at the wall and do their own reflection if they wish.

Were a mature society and the fact that two or three, I dont know what they call themselves, got in with sledgehammers and a bucket of cheap old paint, and they destroy this thing in perpetuity, is just horrific.

Its heartbreaking.

Ann Baker, whose husbands cousin Eleanor Warbrook was 15 when she was killed during the Easter Rising, said: This wall here, everybody, no matter who they were, was remembered.

She said it was wrong to say the cemetery cant afford security.
Douglasville, GA (30134)

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Windy with thunderstorms this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High around 85F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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Louths Sinn Fein member of the Public Accounts Committee, Imelda Munster TD, has called upon the Committee to make a review of mental health services a top priority.

Deputy Munster requested that an urgent meeting be scheduled in the coming weeks to engage with the HSE on the matter.

Teachta Munster said:

The harrowing reports from South Kerry Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have focused minds as to the failures within our mental health services.

While politicians often speak to making mental health a priority, this has never translated into the delivery of frontline services of the needed quality and scale.

It was highlighted at the Committee today that while the World Health Organisation recommends 12% of health funding be directed towards mental health services, in this state it is under 6%.

In this context, we require significant investment in mental health services in a short period of time, but it is equally critical that these funds be invested in a manner that guarantees efficacy, delivering frontline services to those people who need them.

Today at the Committee I highlighted that I feel that the Public Accounts Committee has a role to play in achieving this through examining the historical levels of investment and as to what has and has not been delivered.

Mental Health should be a priority for government, and I intend to see it made a priority for the Committee.

As such I will be pressing for a hearing to be held in the coming weeks, she concluded.
When Amazon owner Jeff Bezos gets his $500 million mega-yacht in June, it may come primed in egg yolk.

More than 1,200 Dutch protesters have organized to shell the big boat with eggs when it passes through the post city of Rotterdam. Thats where the historic Koningshaven Bridge may have to be dismantled so Bezos more than 400-foot long vessel, which is being assembled in Alblasserdam, Netherlands, can pass through en route to its billionaire owner.

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Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com. (Susan Walsh/AP)

The nearly century-old bridge hangs 131 feet above water level, which may not be high enough for Bezos trio of masts to pass under safely.

[ Dutch city agrees to dismantle historic bridge to make room for Jeff Bezos superyacht ]

Calling all Rotterdammers, take a box of rotten eggs with you and lets throw them en masse at Jeffs superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam, reads a Facebook page dug up by Business Insider.

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This is a iew of a yacht being built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, on a wharf near Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Guy Fleury/AP)

The Hef is how locals know the Koningshaven Bridge, which was built in 1927.

Rotterdam was built from the rubble by the people of Rotterdam, and we dont just take that apart for the phallic symbol of a megalomaniac billionaire, protesters continued on Facebook. Not without a fight!

This is a view of the Koningshaven Bridge, known as De Hef, (The Lift), in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Thursday. (Peter Dejong/AP)

A spokesman for the mayor of Rotterdam told AFP that Bezos, whose worth $175 billion, would have to pay to have The Hef dismantled and reassembled. He also said getting there are no other options for getting the monster yacht to open water.

Its the only route to the sea, the spokesman said.

Oceano, the company building the vessel, has not confirmed the yacht is being made for Bezos. But a report in 2021 seemed to confirm the project, dubber Y721, is for the 56-year-old businessman who also dabbles in rocket shop construction.
Claremont, NH (03743)

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The Georgia man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery withdrew his guilty plea in a federal hate crime case Friday.

Travis McMichael made the same choice as his father, Gregory, who reversed his decision Thursday night.

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Travis McMichael looks on during the sentencing in his trial along with his father Gregory McMichael and neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan in the Glynn County Courthouse, on Jan. 7, 2022, in Brunswick, Ga. (Stephen B. Morton/AP)

Both McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison in January for murdering Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, as he jogged down a Georgia back road in February 2020. Gregory drove a truck to chase down Arbery, and Travis hopped out and shot him dead.

In addition to the murder convictions, the McMichaels face federal hate crime charges. Travis and Gregory reportedly reached a plea deal in the hate crimes case Sunday night.

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But a judge tossed that plea deal Monday, after Arberys family said lawyers with the Department of Justice had completely betrayed them.

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I have made it clear at every possible moment that I do not agree to offer these men a plea deal of any kind, said Arberys mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones. She said federal prosecutors went behind my back to offer the men who murdered my son a deal to make their time in prison easier for them to serve.

The McMichaels had agreed to plead guilty to the hate crimes, admitting that they targeted Arbery because he was Black. In exchange, they wouldve spent the first 30 years of their sentence in a nicer federal prison rather than a Georgia state facility.

Gregory, 66, and Travis, 35, got life without parole for the murder, so there wasnt much else for the feds to offer.

I fought so hard to get these guys in the state prison, Cooper-Jones said Monday. I told them very, very adamantly that I wanted them to go to state prison and do their time.

With the deal falling apart, both McMichaels withdrew their pleas and agreed to stand trial. Jury selection is expected to begin Monday.

William Roddie Bryan, the McMichaels friend who recorded the murder on video, is also charged in the hate crime case but wasnt part of the plea deal. At the murder trial, Bryan was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years.

With News Wire Services
Improvements to make the Curry County Courthouse more accessible to people with disabilities will receive a boost of $230,472 in Community Development Block Grant funds awarded by the New Mexico Community Development Council.

The grant to Curry County government for the courthouse was one of 15 projects statewide that will receive a total of $10.5 million in grant funds, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). The Community Development Council worked with the Local Government Division of the DFA to secure the funding, the news release stated.

The council announced the awardees on Jan. 12 after hearing after hearing appeals from organizations seeking grant funds for water, drainage and public facilities projects, according to the news release.

The DFA stated in the news release that an additional $1.6 million will be awarded for economic development and planning projects.
By the Staff of The News

A man convicted in October of aggravated battery has been sentenced to seven years in New Mexicos Department of Corrections.

Aiden Carpenter, 24, was sentenced by Judge Drew Tatum for his assault on a former girlfriend, according to a news release from District Attorney Andrea Reeb.

On the afternoon of May 25, 2021, Mr. Carpenter approached his then-girlfriend at Hillcrest Park and confronted her for ending their relationship, Reeb stated in the release. He proceeded to strangle her, shoot a BB-Gun at her, and attempt to take her phone.

A jury found Carpenter guilty of aggravated battery of a household member with strangulation, aggravated assault against a household member by user of a deadly weapon, and larceny, the release stated.
This week Cork County Council announced that a significant project for Beal na Blath will be completed in advance of the national event to commemorate the centenary of the death of Michael Collins in August this year.

The council released new visuals showing how the historic site will look when the upgrade works are completed.

Located between Bandon and Crookstown, Beal na Blath is one of the most famous sites in Irish history.

Crowd gathered at the Beal na Blath commemorative event, 1982.

It was at this site on August 22, 1922, that General Michael Collins, commander-in-chief of the Irish army was ambushed and killed by Anti-Treaty troops.

The annual commemoration takes place each year on the Sunday closest to August 22.

Delving through The Echo archives, there are a plethora of images from commemorations over the decades.

On the tenth anniversary of Collins assassination, people gathered in their droves at the Beal na Blath site.

Members of the Army Comrades Association, many of whom served under him ten years ago, played a prominent part in the solemn and sorrowful commemoration, an Echo article from August 22, 1932 stated.

General Richard Mulcahy speaking at the tenth Beal na Blath commemorative event, 1932.

The large gathering was said to be swelled by contingents of the people of Cork city, Dublin, Limerick and other important Irish centres.

The Railway Company ran special trains to Crookstown and a bus service brought people to the commemoration site.

General Richard Mulcahy, TD, ex-Commander-in-Chief of the National Army, and Minister for Local Government, delivered the oration and the other speakers included Mr Batt OConnor TD; Col PJ Coughlan, Army Comrades Association, and Commandant Cronin, the article stated.

General Mulcahy received a great ovation when he commenced to speak.

A party from the 4th Battalion firing three volleys at the Beal na Blath commemorative event, 1949.

In his address, General Mulcahy said the people of Ireland saw Collins appearing on their horizon from out of the bedraggled ranks of Pearses army in 1916.

They saw him die in the uniform of the Commander-in-Chief of an Irish Army here in this spot.

But great and necessary as Collins work as a soldier was, the work on his part that made it possible to have a State here in Ireland was much wider flung and much bigger and much less spectacular than the work of a soldier, he said.

Another particularly momentous commemoration was the 1972 event which marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Michael Collins.

An Echo article in the days leading up to the event underscored the importance of the occasion.

Senator Professor John A Murphy meeting old IRA members accompanied by Cllr John L. O'Sullivan, 1982.

Sundays commemoration will have special features. Mr John A Costello will give the oration and it is known that contingents will be present from every county.

There will also be many visitors from overseas, the piece stated.

It said that of special interest would be the presence of survivors of The Squad and The Active Service Unit.

These men who were all particularly close to Michael Collins were on duty every hour of the day or night when their special services were required.

Tim Pat Coogan giving the oration at Beal na Blath, 1990.

Collins realised that every national movement up to this had failed because of spies and informers and, with a huge reward on his head, working out of various addresses, which he called his joints or dumps, he led a hunted life, the article noted.

With the official annual commemoration axed for the last two years due to Covid-19, the 2022 event will no doubt see a return of hordes of people to the Beal na Blath site, particularly as this year marks 100 years since the death of 'The Big Fella'.
THE Government is being urged to instruct University College Cork and Munster Technological University to open campuses on the northside of the city.

Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould raised the issue in the Dail, where he praised Corks universities but noted that there is no university campus on the northside of the city.

He said there are low levels of university attendance on the northside and described how students from the area can face longer travel times to attend university than students from elsewhere.

Mr Gould said he had met with UCC on the issue but that disappointingly, they arent considering expansion into the northside, despite acknowledging the benefits this could have and the low take-up of third level in the area.

He said he had also requested a meeting with MTU to discuss the matter.
A Virginia police officer accused of fatally shooting a motorist who had just crashed his car has been indicted on a voluntary manslaughter charge.

If he is convicted, Henrico County Police Officer Timothy Grant Million III could face anywhere between one and 10 years behind bars for the death of Tony Singleton. He was the first officer on the scene after the 57-year-old from Tidewater flipped his vehicle the on Interstate 64 the evening of Nov. 6.

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Henrico Countys Commonwealths Attorney Shannon Taylor said Million was not the only responding officer, but he was the only one who discharged his weapon. She did not say what exactly led up to the fatal gunfire, just that there was brief altercation between Million and Singleton, who was white.

A grand jury on Thursday unanimously agreed to indict Million on the manslaughter charge based on evidence and witness testimony. One person said Singleton had what appeared to be a knife tucked into his waistband when the deadly incident occurred.

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Authorities said a knife was recovered from the scene.

Millions attorney, Andrew Meyer, said he was taken aback by the indictment.

We are sure that once the facts come out, the shooting will be shown to be justified and my client will be cleared, Meyer said.

Circuit Court Chief Judge Judge L.A. Harris ordered Million released on an unsecured bond following an initial court appearance on Friday. Millions next court appearance is set for Feb. 28.

With News Wire Services
Reported concurrent with the Lunar New Year and Year of the Tiger on February 1, 2022, a study from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows that tiger populations are finally showing an increase after more than a century of steady decline.

The study notes that since 2010, or the last Year of the Tiger, tiger populations have increased, in part due to several restoration efforts. During that time, the first Tiger Summit gathered experts to determine ways to conserve tiger populations across 13 countries. The first record of recovering tiger populations happened in 2016, the first uptick in over a century.

The 2010 Tiger Summit launched an unprecedented set of tiger conservation initiatives, said Stuart Chapman, head of the Tiger Summit. The results show what can be achieved through long-term partnerships for species recovery. The dedication of field teams, conservation partners and communities living in tiger territories has led to these extraordinary results.

In the new Impact on Tiger Recovery 2010-2022 report, WWF outlines tiger conservation successes, including numbers that have tripled in Land of the Leopard, a national park in Russia and a new, designated tiger protected area, the worlds largest, in China.

To improve tiger population numbers, WWF and its partners have implemented several tactics: restoring tiger habitats, combating the illegal wildlife trade and poaching, expanding the tigers range and allowing them to safely cross borders between nations, carefully relocating tigers to reserves to improve breeding, and training volunteers on handling human-tiger conflicts, among several other methods.

India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and China have demonstrated what it takes to increase wild tiger numbers and conserve their habitat, said said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF-US. As these countries show, the communities living alongside tiger habitats are instrumental stewards of the nature around them and their partnership is vital. Hopefully, the success of these countries will inspire others, particularly in Southeast Asia, to step up efforts to protect wild tigers and secure the species future beyond 2022.

In a recent survey of PT Alam Bukit Tigapuluh (ABT), or The Thirty Hills Forest Company, in Sumatra, WWF and its partners were able to identify five critically endangered Sumatran tigers and 14 other protected species, showing the importance of these conservation areas. Experts believe there could be more Sumatran tigers in the Thirty Hills area.

The discovery of three adult female and two male tigers along with prey and many other endangered and threatened species shows that the surveyed area is an important habitat for the survival of Sumatran tigers and other wildlife, said Dody Rukman, CEO of the ABT company.

While the Impact on Tiger Recovery report and the survey of wildlife in Thirty Hills is encouraging for tiger conservation, WWF warns that these animals are still facing serious threats. Tigers are likely extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and populations faced decline in Malaysia over the past 12 years. Their range is still declining, and WWF estimates their current range to be about 5% of their historic range.

The second Tiger Summit is slated for September 2022 in Vladivostok, Russia. The goal is to determine the next phase of the Global Tiger Recovery Plan, with a focus on setting goals to further expand range and reintroduce tigers to their former habitats.




Philippines imposes ban on pork imports from Thailand and Italy

The Philippines' Department of Agriculture has issued a memorandum order banning imports of swine and pork products from Thailand and Italy following reports of African swine fever (ASF) in those countries, Business World reported.

The order signed by William Dar, Philippines Agriculture Secretary, has suspended imports for domestic and wild pigs and their products, including pork, pig skin, and processed animal proteins.

According to the Department of Agriculture, ASF was detected at a slaughterhouse in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand as well as in Ovada Province of Alessandria, Northern Italy.

Italian pork imports are still permitted if they were produced or slaughtered before December 23, 2021.

- Business World
Effingham, IL (62401)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning. Increasing clouds with periods of showers this afternoon. High near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Thundershowers overnight following a period of rain early. Low near 60F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
"They were so attentive about every little aspect of the program," Ochana Daniels said of the family's April 7-9 visit to Nebraska's campus. "I mean, the entire staff met us and I was like, 'Wow, this is totally different than any official or unofficial visit we've ever had.'" NU's work obviously paid off handsomely.
Washington, MO (63090)

Today

Cloudy skies with showers and a possible thunderstorm this afternoon. High 67F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain this evening with thunderstorms developing overnight. Low around 60F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Russia on Saturday sent a pair of long-range nuclear-capable bombers on patrol over its ally Belarus amid spiraling tensions over Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the two Tu-22M3 bombers practiced interacting with the Belarusian air force and air defense during a four-hour mission. The flight followed several similar patrols over Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north.

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The mission came as the Kremlin has moved troops from Siberia and the Far East to Belarus for sweeping joint drills. The deployment added to the Russian military buildup near Ukraine, fueling Western fears of a possible invasion.

In this photo taken from video and released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, a view of a Tu-22M3 bomber of the Russian air force seen from the cockpit of another such plane during a training flight. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) (AP)

Russia has denied any plans of attacking Ukraine, but urged the U.S. and its allies to provide a binding pledge that they wont accept Ukraine into NATO, wont deploy offensive weapons, and will roll back NATO deployments to Eastern Europe. Washington and NATO have rejected the demands.

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The West has called on Russia to pull back an estimated 100,000 troops from areas near Ukraine, but the Kremlin has responded by saying it will station troops wherever it needs to on Russian territory. As the tensions over Ukraine soared, the Russian military has launched a series of war games spreading from the Arctic to the Black Sea.

The Russian troop deployment to Belarus raised concerns in the West that Moscow could stage an attack on Ukraine from the north. The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is just 50 miles from the Belarus border.

In recent months, Russia has conducted a series of joint drills with Belarus and repeatedly sent its nuclear-capable long-range bombers to patrol over Belarus, which borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Belarus authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has increasingly relied on the Kremlins political and financial support amid bruising Western sanctions triggered by his crackdown on domestic protests, has called for closer defense ties with Moscow and recently offered to host Russian nuclear weapons.

In an interview with a Russian state TV host aired Saturday, Lukashenko charged that the Russian-led security alliance demonstrated its quick deployment capability when its members briefly sent forces last month to Kazakhstan to help stabilize the situation after deadly riots.

" While they (NATO) will be still getting prepared to send some troops here, we will already stand at the English Channel, and they know it, he said in a reference to Western allies.

The Belarusian leader downplayed the threat of war, but added that if it still erupts it will last for three or four days at most.

There is no one there to fight us, he said about Ukraine.

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On Saturday, the German newspaper Bild published a report alleging that Russia is poised to attack Ukraine from several directions, capture major cities and install a puppet government. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova angrily dismissed the allegations.

As war fears mounted, Ukrainian authorities launched a series of civil defense drills for residents.

I am here to learn how to defend myself, defend my relatives and also understand how to act in the situation, Kyiv resident Ilya Goncharov said after taking part in drills on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital. I am happy that I came here to learn the basics of self defense and first aid.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

In Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city just 15 miles south of the Russian border, thousands of people took to the streets Saturday carrying giant yellow-and-blue banners in the colors of the national flag in a show of determination to protect the city.

We want to show that there are people in Kharkiv who are ready to defend it and fight back, said marcher Svitlana Galashko.

Amid the standoff over Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered 2,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifted 1,000 more from Germany to Romania in a show of the U.S. commitment to NATOs eastern flank.

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Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled Moscows readiness for more talks with Washington and its NATO allies. As part of high-level diplomacy to ease the tensions, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to head to Moscow and Kyiv on Monday and Tuesday, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Kyiv and Moscow on Feb. 14-15.

On Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a call with Macron and they agreed that finding a diplomatic solution to the current tensions must remain the overriding priority.

Johnsons office said he and the French president also stressed that NATO must be united in the face of Russian aggression and agreed to continue to work together to develop a package of sanctions which would come into force immediately should Russia further invade Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also spoke Saturday with European Council President Charles Michel, saying on Twitter that the tensions around Ukraines situation must be de-esclated.
Athens, AL (35611)

Today

Mostly sunny. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
In 2020, federal police used a geofence warrant to obtain location data from Google as part of an investigation into an attempted arson against a police union headquarters in Seattle, according to recently unsealed court documents posted by The Verge . The attempted arson took place on August 24th, one day after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin prompted a resurgence of racial justice protests across the US. Amid broader acts of civil disobedience in Seattle and parts of the country, two individuals threw makeshift firebombs at the rear entrance of the Seattle Police Officers Guild headquarters.

While the building itself wasnt significantly damaged in the attack, the incident prompted a substantial police response. At one point, the FBI offered a $20,000 reward for any information related to the attempted arson. Court documents show the agency also pressed Google for information on the two suspects. The FBI used a geofence warrant to obtain location data from Android devices that were in the vicinity of the attempted arson before and after it occurred. Google complied with the request one day later.

As with all law enforcement requests, we have a rigorous process that is designed to protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement, a Google spokesperson told the outlet. We've reached out to the company for more information.

As The Verge points out, the fact the FBI later made a public appeal for help in the case suggests any location data obtained from Google may have not helped it get any closer to finding the two suspects.
Enid, OK (73701)

Today

Occasional thunderstorms - possibly severe during the afternoon hours. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 82F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Gusty winds diminishing after midnight. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 41F. Winds NNW at 20 to 30 mph.
In 2016, Donald Trump overtook the Republican National Committee through a shock and awe campaign that stunned party leaders. In 2020, the party was obligated to support him as the sitting Republican president.

Heading into 2024, however, the Republican Party has a choice.

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The RNC, which controls the partys rules and infrastructure, is under no obligation to support Trump again. In fact, the GOPs bylaws specifically require neutrality should more than one candidate seek the partys presidential nomination.

But as Republican officials from across the country gathered in Utah this week for the RNCs winter meeting, party leaders devoted considerable energy to disciplining Trumps rivals and embracing his grievances. As the earliest stages of the next presidential contest take shape, their actions made clear that choosing to serve Trump and his political interests remains a focus for the party.

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If President Trump decides hes running, absolutely the RNC needs to back him, 100%, said Michele Fiore, an RNC committeewoman who has represented Nevada since 2018. We can change the bylaws.

Former President Donald Trump prepares to take the stage during a rally in Perry, Ga., on Sept. 25, 2021. (Ben Gray/AP)

The loyalty to Trump is a fresh reminder that one of Americas major political parties is deepening its alignment with a figure who is undermining the nations democratic principles. As he fought to stay in the White House, Trump sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. More recently, he has explicitly said that former Vice President Mike Pence could and should have overturned the election results, something he had no power to do.

Away from the ballrooms of the RNC meeting, Pence rebuked Trump on Friday, saying he had no right to overturn the election and that his former boss was wrong to suggest otherwise.

That kind of dissent was rare in Salt Lake City. In censuring two GOP lawmakers who have criticized Trump and joined the committee probing the Jan. 6 insurrection, the RNC channeled the former president in assailing the panel for leading a persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.

Pence, whose life was threatened on Jan. 6, is one of a few Republicans making moves toward a 2024 campaign regardless of whether Trump wages a comeback bid. If he were to run for the White House again, Trump is such a powerful force with the GOP base that he probably wouldnt need the partys help to become the nominee.

Some Republicans said thats beside the point.

Theres probably some disagreement there, said Bruce Hough, a longtime RNC member from Utah who lost to a Trump ally in a race for party co-chair last year. The RNC has to provide a level playing field for any and all comers for president. Thats our job. Thats what we have to do.

But a stark divide has emerged between veterans like Hough, who are devoted to the GOP as an institution, and a larger group of Trump-aligned newcomers, who argue theyre bringing new energy to the party. Their chief loyalty, however, seems to be to the former president.

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Leading up to 2020, or most of the time Trump was in office, he sent around his minions to populate the committee with very loyal Trump folks in a lot of red states, said Bill Palatucci, an RNC committeeman from New Jersey and frequent Trump critic. And they still enjoy that strong majority.

The RNCs continued embrace of Trump more than two years before the 2024 election is a decided shift from the partys position in past elections.

In 2012 and 2016, for example, Reince Priebus as RNC chair went to great lengths to ensure each of the candidates was treated equally. The party sanctioned 12 debates, including early rounds that featured up to 17 candidates.

Clearly, theres a bias that didnt exist in the past, said Tim Miller, who previously worked for the Republican National Committee and has since emerged as a fierce Trump critic. Its all Trump all the time coming out of there.

A year ago, just after President Bidens inauguration, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel declined to encourage Trump to run again when asked, citing party rules that require neutrality. She also discouraged attacks on those Republicans who voted for Trumps impeachment.

Ronna McDaniel, the GOP chairwoman, speaks during the Republican National Committee winter meeting Friday in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

This week, however, she backed an effort by Trump loyalists to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a move triggered almost entirely by their fight against Trumps enduring influence in the party beyond the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

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The censure, which passed on a voice vote Friday, says the two support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022.

McDaniels shift coincides with the RNCs reliance on Trump for fund-raising. The party has issued hundreds of fund-raising appeals since Trump left office evoking his name. One offered this message to prospective small-dollar donors on Tuesday: YOU must stand with President Trump and YOUR Party.

In speeches made minutes before party leaders voted to censure Cheney and Kinzinger, McDaniel and co-chair Tommy Hicks did not mention Trump and stressed the need to unify for the 2022 midterm elections.

Tommy Hicks, Republican National Committee Co-Chair, speaks during the Republican National Committee winter meeting Friday in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

Though the committees moves demonstrated a sustained loyalty to the former president, outside the winter meeting the censure was condemned by opponents as divisive and contrary to frequent appeals from leaders to expand the partys tent.

The RNCs discipline shows more about them than us, Kinzinger said in an interview. It shows that Trump and Trumpism has overtaken the RNC.

Cheney in a statement said the move demonstrated how the party had become hostage to Trump.

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Indeed, this weeks focus on debates that wont take place until 2024 and on anti-Trump Republicans overshadowed the partys preparations for the midterm elections. Thats notable because the GOP could reclaim control of at least one chamber of Congress and several governors mansions.

But this week, Trumps grievances with his Republican critics took center stage instead.

We should be focused on what the voters are focused on, said Caleb Heimlich, chair of the Republican Party in Washington state, where two of three Republican House members voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Ive been talking to voters in Washington state, traveling around and nobody talks about Cheney. Thats a D.C. topic.

Others disagreed.

Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC committeewoman from California, said it was imperative to send a clear message about Cheney and Kinzinger for her and the legions of volunteers working to elect Republicans this year.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), seen in 2021, have caught heat from their fellow Republicans. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The midterms are about a party electing its leaders, and what Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney did here is defy their partys leadership, Dhillon said. I do not want to elect people in the midterms who do what these two did.

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Beyond the censure, Republicans set in motion a rules change rooted in another of Trumps long-standing grievances. A measure advanced that would force presidential candidates to sign a pledge saying they will not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates advanced. It is expected to be voted on when RNC members convene again in August.

We are not walking away from debates, McDaniel said. We are walking away from the Commission on Presidential Debates because its a biased monopoly that does not serve the best interests of the American people.

The eventual 2024 nominee, however, will have final say on whether to participate.

Another Republican eyeing a White House campaign, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, decried the RNCs push to punish Trumps rivals.

The GOP I believe in is the party of freedom and truth, the frequent Trump critic tweeted Friday. Its a sad day for my party  and the country  when youre punished just for expressing your beliefs, standing on principle, and refusing to tell blatant lies.
Wherever you stand on the purpose of comedy, you're likely to agree with us - and most people - that British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr's recent "joke" about the "positives" of the Holocaust goes way, way, WAY beyond the pale.

What's worse, this isn't something the comedian haplessly said on Twitter or in a random stand-up routine - somehow, these comments made it onto Netflix.

The comment came from his Netflix special His Dark Material - and surely, he knew it would be heavily controversial, because he opened it with "Strap in everyone, you ready?"

"When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of six million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine. But they never mention the thousands of gypsies that were killed by the Nazis.

No one ever talks about that because no one wants to talk about the positives."

This disgusting comment is the proliferation of a type of racism that has been widespread across the globe for literal centuries. "Gypsies" - most of whom prefer to be referred to as Travellers, or Roma - have been marginilized across cultures, constantly pushed from their homes by intolerant populations who don't understand - or care to understand - their way of life.

The fact that the audience even laughed at this joke at all is horrifying, and shows exactly how much veiled hatred still exists for this group of people. The fact that it made it onto Netflix is worse.

One advocacy chairty, Friends, Families & Travellers, tweeted a statement asking Netflix subscibers to tell the platform to remove this extremely offensive content from their list of offerings.

How Many Times Are We Going To Have To Learn This Lesson, Netflix?

This request comes only a few months after several Netflix employees staged a walk-out over the platform's decision to keep Dave Chappelle's The Closer on, despite what were widely regarded as openly transphobic comments being a main talking point in the special.

In that situation, Netflix released this statement:

"We value our trans colleagues and allies, and understand the deep hurt that's been caused. We respect the decision of any employee who chooses to walk out, and recognize we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content."

They ultimately decided, however, to keep The Closer on Netflix, as Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said that he didn't believe the jokes fell into the category of "hate speech."

He also wrote, in a letter to senior executives:

"As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom - even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful."

Still, even given the content of that letter, we doubt that a joke outright saying that the deaths of countless Roma people over the course of the Holocaust, one of the most horrific and disturbing events in human history, will be allowed to stand.

And if it does, we foresee a lot more walkouts and protests coming for Netflix.
Offering a response to the annual budgetary exercise has become as rhetorical as the government making new promises to people in every annual budget. The critique of such an exercise argues that this involves a simple act of carrying forward promises from the last budget. This carrying forward is without sharing with the people the action taken or expenditure in terms of utilisation and underutilisation. Vibrant governance needs to be judged on the basis of the utilisation. But this budget has been criticised for underutilisation of the provisions made in the last one. For example, the government has been criticised either for its underutilisation of the provisions made in the previous budget or the inadequate provisions in the current budget. One may ironically choose to treat the budget as progressive only in the absence of budgetary provisions for the crucial sectors such as employment. The editorial in the current EPW issue throws lights on the budgetary inadequacies in this regard. The budget is progressive when the action taken as promised or when the provisions and expenditure are matched. Promises also give rise to a new vocabulary, but which is less informed by the fulfilment of promise and more by the wisdom in free imagination that is reflected in the expression Amrit Kaal. As has been pointed out by the critique of the budget by the opposition, the assessment of the budget has to be taken up rather sincerely on a yearly basis. Such an exercise can offer a realistic and convincing account of the performance of the government in power. This would mean a solution to the problems that have to be sought in terms of the here-and-now problems of the people, in a concrete and not an abstract time frame of Amrit Kaal, which offers metaphysical satisfaction rather than a material solution.

When we think of the budget in concrete terms, we need to ask the following question: Should not the infrastructure, such as highways, be provided, leading to existing schools or hospitals? Does this not mean we need hospitals and schools? Or should we not ask the question that government subsidies, such as medical insurance, make sense only in terms of the access to the actual facility being available to those holding a health insurance policy? Should not the government acknowledge that the success of budgetary provisions depends on the availability of conditions for such provisions enactment?
It is as if each of us possesses an ever-expanding mental gallery where we keep adding aterialimages, memories, and thoughts that are us.

From the time I knew about Lautrec in school and pronounced his name in my bad French (only to be corrected by a close friends sister who dabbled in art and learnt French at Alliance Francaise), he was my hero. The torso of a man sitting on a childs legs, a man naturally quiet and serious but high on absinthe all the time, and the official artist of the most famous cabaret in Paris, perpetually obsessed with prostitutesan outsider in a world centred around luminous Parisian evenings. An equal enigma possibly could not exist in the mind of a boy who was learning to apply colour on paper. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and his works have been etched in my minds gallery since then. In July 2017, I was invited to deliver a lecture at the eighth Urban Sketchers Symposium in Chicago. Urban Sketchers is a global community of artists, who, as part of the communitys mandate, sketch on location. It is an unwritten rule that a lecture delivered at a specific location should have some local references to make it chatty and relate to the audience. I knew about the renowned impressionist and post-impressionist collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. I also knew about the East Asian collection and the Japanese collection of Frank Lloyd Wright at the museum. But I needed to be thorough this time.

By the second day of my stay, we had already done a sketch-crawl (meaning sketching on location, a term made a part of art vocabulary by the community) at the Robie house, the iconic residence designed by Wright in 1909. I then decided to cross-check my virtual walkthrough of the museum with a real visit to see the pieces I was going to mention in my lecture. I knew that Georges Seurats A Sunday on La Grande Jattemost representative of his style and on the bucket list of every visitorwould be there but could not locate the pen-and-ink Minotaur of Pablo Picasso. It must be off view, I thought. Or was it my mistake in not locating it? Distracted, I moved into the impressionist gallery and stood mesmerised in front of Pierre Renoirs Two Sisters. The freshness of the treatment till this day, the luminance, and the stillness, I thought, surpassed his more famous party scenes that celebrated the exuberance of the youthful spirit. A painter of sensuous afternoons? And evenings? Thats how Renoir remains in my personal gallery.
Saturday, February 5, 2022

By Scott Lorenz

Westwind Communications

If youve written a book and are ready to publish it, you may be wondering what to do next. Fortunately, youve come to the right place. Weve compiled this handy authors checklist to help you navigate through the publishing phase and beyond. By following it, you can set your book up for unparalleled success.

Choose the Right Title

Theres no denying your title can make or break the success of your book. Its what will attract readers and get your book noticed. If youre unsure of how to name your book, I encourage you to check out my award-winning bestselling book, Book Title Generator: A Proven System in Naming Your Book. I implore you to consider all options in the quest for the perfect book title. From using numbers, alliteration, idioms, and keyword research, Book Title Generator covers them all.

Its packed with solid tips and tricks that will help you craft the best title for your book.

Get a Compelling Book Cover

The truth is readers and media members will judge a book by its cover. Thats why its important to ensure your cover is professional and ideal for your target audience. Fortunately, there are plenty of incredible book cover designers on websites like Book Covers for All and Killer Covers. Its a good idea to visit some bookstores to get some inspiration for your cover. Also, dont forget to check out my article on the 46 Book Cover Designers to Create Your Best Selling Cover.

Ask for Feedback

As a writer, its easy to spend hours upon hours trying to perfect your writing. While your opinion of your book matters, the feedback of others can be invaluable. Ask friends, family, acquaintances, and those in the industry to give your book a fresh set of eyes. Not only are they likely to help you catch typo and grammar issues, they might give you some ideas on how to tighten up and improve your book. In the end, trust book professionals when it comes to the make or break decisions.

Hire an Editor

By hiring an editor, you can receive professional feedback on your book. Before you commit to one, however, make sure you check out their portfolio and references. Not all editors are created equal and you want to ensure the one you choose has the skills and experience to set your book up for success. Take a look at my article on How Editing, Copyediting, and Proofreading Make Your Book Shine.

Figure Out Your Target Audience

Target audience refers to the people who will buy and read your book. Think about your genre and theme to determine who they might be. Make sure the Amazon categories you select are relevant and focused about the topic and genre and not general in nature. Once you nail down your audience, youll find it easier to promote and market your book.

Design a Book Marketing Strategy

Before you publish your book, think about book marketing. Will you create a standalone website for it? Do you have plans to promote it via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets? Or will you host book signings and mail review copies of your book to members of the media and potential reviewers? When it comes to book marketing success, having a plan that you execute well is just as important as the creativity that went into writing your book.

Consider a Literary Agent

There are many benefits of working with a literary agent. Depending on the agent you choose, they can pitch your book to their known publishing contacts and give you a competitive edge. Many publishers will only work with agents because they vet the books and weed out the books that are not a good fit for their publishing house. To find the right agent check out my article about How to Sign a Top Literary Agent on my blog Book-Publicist.com.

Decide Whether to Use a Distributor

A distributor delivers books to retailers. Since most libraries and bookstores wont usually accept sales pitches and books from self published authors, a distributor may be worth exploring. By working with one, you can bridge the gap between you and large audiences.

Figure Out When to Publish

Contrary to popular belief, the holiday season isnt the best time to publish your book. If possible, publish your book at any other time. January, February, and March are ideal because the weather is usually colder and people are stuck inside with more time to read. If you are deciding to publish in December or January, choose January because youll have a new copyright date. If you publish in December itll look one year old in January even though its only been out one month.

The Bottom Line: Remember, pilots use checklists before each flight and authors need a checklist before they hit publish!

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether its their first book or their 15th book. Hes handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Womans World, & Howard Stern to name a few.

Learn more about Westwind Communications book marketing approach at https://www.book-marketing-expert.com/ or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenzs new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net.

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For years, Lori Abney has asked the city to do something about the water gushing behind her house when it rains, leaving tins of cat food, loose screws and shards of glass in its wake. She has called San Antonios 311 customer service hotline but hasnt gotten anywhere near to solving the problem.

It feels like we are a collection drain, Abney said. Because it doesnt flow through the streets, it flows onto and through our properties first and then into a collection drain down in the bottom.

When the water comes, we are living in a web of risk, she said.

Last year, she grew hopeful. Abney and a group of neighbors banded together to advocate for a drainage project as part of the citys $1.2 billion 2022 bond program. Every five years, San Antonio plans a bond and puts it before voters to cover the cost of infrastructure repairs, park upgrades and more.

Abney and others saw the 2022 bond as a way to call for what they see as the bones of a city: drainage. But their hopes were dashed when a citizen committee didnt include their project in a list of recommendations to City Council, which will vote Thursday on sending the proposed bond to voters. Even though the lists arent final, the overarching details are unlikely to change much.

The need for drainage in the city is so great  $3.1 billion  that the $165 million saved for those projects only covers a small fraction of the cost. Abney and others recognized City Council has to prioritize its infrastructure. But the neighbors felt like they didnt have a chance because their project wasnt on the list from the start.

Abney and her neighbors live in Monte Vista Terrace  a small neighborhood sandwiched between Monte Vista and Olmos Park on the near North Side. The houses arent in a designated flood plain, and it wasnt until 2019 that state law required home sellers to disclose if the property sits in a flood-prone area.

Mary Johnson, president of the neighborhood association, said she was shocked at how many people showed up to the drainage bond committee meetings last fall to advocate for projects in their neighborhoods.

These were just the neighborhoods that knew how to navigate the process, she said. The problem is, they allocate that money way before it ever gets to the meeting stage.

William Luther /Staff photographer

The bond money wasnt officially allocated at that point, but city staff already had lists of recommended projects, and most bond committees, filled with residents appointed by the council members, made minimal changes.

The flooding issues in our neighborhoods should be front and center, Johnson said.

Tracie Carillo, another Monte Vista Terrace neighbor, said a lot of deserving projects were included on the 2022 drainage bond list  drainage infrastructure that could save peoples lives. She knows her area of the city isnt particularly underserved.

But she wanted to call attention to just how great the drainage need is in San Antonio, where climate change could increase rainfall totals and make flooding more severe.

Razi Hosseini, director of the Public Works Department, said theres no unimportant drainage project, but staff members have a lot to consider when selecting projects for the bond.

They look for areas where water floods into residents homes, rather than just the yards. They also consider safety, picking projects in areas where low-water crossings make it hard for emergency vehicles to navigate. Public works staff also hear from City Council members about priorities.

The order in which the city funds drainage projects also is important, said Assistant City Manager Rod Sanchez. Some projects need to go first so as not to worsen flooding for others.

Its eye-opening to hear some of these stories, Sanchez said. But at the end of the day, were gonna put a $1.2 billion package before the council, and were excited about that.

Were going to be able to put a big dent in the infrastructure needs of our city. But our work never ends.

Drainage accounts for nearly half of all infrastructure needs in San Antonio, Hosseini said. Officials hope to fund some of it with federal money from the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year.

While Abney and her neighbors full $6.8 million project did not make the bond list, San Antonio agreed to fund a $400,000 interim drainage project for the neighborhood. But some neighbors worry it will just be a bandage over the larger issue of floodwaters encroaching upon their homes.

Tough to get on the bond list

William Luther /Staff photographer

Carillo moved to Monte Vista Terrace with her husband, Dan Carillo, in the fall of 2019. The couple said they didnt hear anything about flooding when they purchased their home.

But they learned about the issue quickly from neighbors and after experiencing their first moderate rainfall at the house.

We would get 6 to 8 inches in our backyard coming up toward the house, Tracie Carillo said. But not getting in the garage yet.

Now theyre concerned about water getting underneath the house and causing damage to the foundation. Without proper drainage infrastructure, theyve taken a do-it-yourself approach and bought sandbags from the hardware store.

District 1 City Councilman Mario Bravo, who represents the area, has been helpful and responsive to the neighborhoods worries, Johnson said. Theyve communicated with staff from the citys Public Works Department who also have been accessible.

But since they havent been able to get their project onto the 2022 list of bond projects, they arent sure where to turn with it anymore.

For his part, Bravo said his office worked to appoint people from District 1 to citizen bond committees and then stepped back and let them lead the way to select or remove projects. He didnt want to give them marching orders, but he did want to build trust in the community engagement process.

Its difficult for residents to advocate for a projects inclusion in the bond program when they dont know the ins and outs of the process, Bravo said. He said the city needs to do a better job of explaining the guidelines.

He agreed with Monte Vista Terrace residents that its hard to make a case to join the bond when doing so would mean removing something else already recommended.

They are absolutely right, Bravo said. If youre not on the recommended list from day one, its tough to get on the list.

If anyone has a drainage or other infrastructure project they want funded, Bravo said they should contact their City Council representative about it.

I think our mistake was thinking that going to the bond meetings and presenting our case was going to be enough, Dan Carillo said. I think what we really need to do next time around is just bombard our councilman.

The value of a home

William Luther /Staff photographer

When Jim and Sylvia White built their Monte Vista Terrace home a decade ago, they set their floors higher than usual to mitigate any flooding issues. They think the precaution has helped protect their foundation.

The empty lot next to them used to be flat, but they pointed out the gullys in the yard that have appeared after years of rainfall washed away plants and eroded the land.

In another North Side neighborhood, William Schiller can relate to their concerns. He used to own a house near North New Braunfels Avenue and Nottingham Drive and said hes been pestering the city for 30 years to complete a drainage project that would protect the area.

He recalled an unparalleled flood event in 1998 when he and his son worked for hours to keep the water at bay using push brooms. They put towels and blankets in front of the house and managed to keep the rainfall outside, although they couldnt keep it from the garage and laundry area.

The flood in 1998 was unprecedented, news reports show. Schiller remembers spending two hours to get home from work that year because highways were closed. By the end of the day, he was exhausted.

Hes been pushing for drainage that would help ever since, even though hes moved away from the area. Schillers been a longtime member of the neighborhood association there and has advocated for the projects inclusion in past bonds as well as the 2022 bond. The city has budgeted a study for the issue, but the funds for the full project havent been set aside.

The largest single investment most people have is their home, Schiller said.

In Monte Vista Terrace, Abney agrees.

Since experiencing the initial rush of water  during the first moderate rainfall the summer she moved in  Abney has added concrete and rock landscaping to assuage her fears about the water that runs up against her house.

Sometimes when it rains, she looks out her sons window to watch the water flow. While she doesnt want to move right now, she worries about her ability to sell the house in the future.

Theres no way, Abney said. I couldnt do what was done to me. I could not in good faith just sell it without telling them.

megan.stringer@express-news.net
In the days leading up to this weeks winter storm, panicked shoppers bought out many local grocery stores.

Santia Martinez said thats one of the reasons why she, her partner, Christopher Flores, and their two children turned to the San Antonio Food Bank for help Friday afternoon.

This is our first time, Martinez said from the passenger seat of her car.

She hoped to stock up on what Flores termed the essentials: milk, bread, eggs and other staples.

While the current cold snap is mild compared to the now-infamous February freeze of 2021, it has still rocked a state known for its warm climate, causing power outages, traffic accidents, road closures and flight cancellations. Roughly 30,000 Bexar County residents did not have electricity Thursday morning. Several neighborhoods, including Elm Creek on the North Side, still were waiting for it to be restored Friday afternoon.

In response to the increased need, the food bank extended its daily curbside pickup service by several hours Friday and Saturday. On an average day, some 150 vehicles typically come by, according to Melanie McGuire, the food banks chief program officer. By 2 p.m. Friday, around 250 had been served, she said.

The San Antonio Independent School District also distributed meals at 13 of its campuses Friday afternoon for children who were missing school meals due to weather-related closures.

Josie Norris /Staff photographer

When cold weather descends, gas and grocery prices tend to increase, forcing financially unstable individuals and families to start to pick and choose between necessities.

Because people are living so much paycheck to paycheck, its really difficult when these unplanned events occur, like weather, McGuire said. Its very difficult for them to bounce back.

As she waited for volunteers to pack their trunk full of eggs, butter, pastries, vegetables and other food products, Martinez indicated the poor weather conditions  the low temperatures, the high winds, the icy roads  were indirectly responsible for their difficulty accessing food. Some supermarkets had reduced their hours, and many of those that hadnt were low on many items.

H-E-B and maybe Walmart, I believe, they shut down early yesterday, Martinez said. It was all over Facebook (that) they closed at six oclock.

Flores noted the 5- and 7-year-old children, bundled in coats and hats, peering out the car windows from the backseat. They hadnt been in school since Wednesday.

Its also too cold to go get food from the stores because we have two kids, Flores added. We dont want them out in the cold.

caroline.tien@hearst.com
Cheers from thousands of San Antonians accompanied the clickety-clack sound of longhorns, sheep and horses Saturday morning as herds made their way through the citys downtown streets.

The 14th annual Western Heritage Parade & Cattle Drive kicked off the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, which runs from Thursday through Feb. 27.

Kimble Cattle Co.owner Scott Kimble brought 61 of his 200 longhorns  a crowd favorite for many of those lining Houston Street from Interstate 35 to the Alamo.

Kimble, who has brought cattle to the parade from Karnes County for about eight years, said walking the animals that played a role in supporting the defenders of the Alamo is an emotional experience.

And for him, nothing beats seeing the shock and awe on peoples faces, many of whom have never seen cattle up close, as the herd leads the parade.

On ExpressNews.com: The Old West comes alive on downtown streets at San Antonios Western Heritage Parade & Cattle Drive

Were putting an impact in peoples heads and in their memories for the rest of their life, Kimble said.

Parade Chairman Alex Pena said it would have been the 15th annual event had the festivities not been canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The parade was one of several Western Heritage Weekend events that brought downtown to life Saturday. Free food was available at the Wrangler Breakfast on Santa Rosa Street from 9 a.m. until noon while a 5K run and walk preceded the parade. Market Square was also home to this years Vaquero Cook-Off where people served chili and menudo to compete for a $1,500 cash prize.

But Saturdays freezing temperatures did present some challenges.

Sam Owens /Staff photographer

About 35 organizations participated in this years parade, which Western Heritage Weekend event coordinator Veronica Flores said is slightly lower than normal. Flores said some groups coming from out of town had to cancel because of the weather.

For Robin Bailey, owner of High Stockings Miniatures & Shetlands, the cold kept her from trimming the coats of the 15 small horses she brought as much as she normally would have for an event like this.

Bailey has been coming to the parade for the past six years. She teaches children to ride horses.

I just love the parade, said Bailey, 62. I feel like it's an honor that they have always asked me to come to represent the miniatures.

On ExpressNews.com: Theyre the ones that take care of the citizens: Cowboy Breakfast celebrates police and firefighters

The cold is not the only hurdle that parade participants had to jump.

Ken Theus, herding dog trainer at Texas Herding Association, said having six border collies herd 50 sheep and goats through downtown is the biggest herding challenge the dogs will ever face since they are used to working on a farm. Hes been taking part for the past eight years.

Sam Owens /Staff photographer

Motorized vehicles and anything with rubber tires are not allowed in the Heritage Parade & Cattle Drive, so the event is a perfect time for the Buggy Barn Museums vehicles to shine.

The Blanco-based museum brought nine of their 200 buggies, carriages and wagons out to the parade, one of the oldest being a wagon from 1878, according to Buggy Barn Museum manager and coordinator Amanda Smith. The old-timey vehicles were pulled by a variety of horses including Clydesdales.

We love to keep history alive, said Smith, 38.

Long after the longhorns had walked past him, 2-year-old Cruz Banda Neff continued to wave and moo at parade participants from his perch on father Alan Neffs shoulders.

Hes in a farm animal phase, Martha Banda, 40, said as she explained what brought them to the event. And this is the first time hes seeing livestock.

Hes obsessed with them and always saying what they say, added Neff, 43.

Sam Owens /Staff photographer

The Moreno family of three watched the parade from Milam Park. As 7-year-old Alayna Moreno waited with her parents for the parade to start, her mother, Cynthia Moreno, said she grew up in Beeville and seeing the longhorns reminded her of her small-town roots.

Angela McCorkle, 40, took her 1-year-old son, Mateo McCorkle, to the parade with her neighbor Mandiee Neff, 40.

Being from San Antonio, the rodeo has been a part of the friends lives for many years and is now something to pass on to Mateo.

Im just excited to share his first parade with him, McCorkle said, adding that shes looking forward to taking her son to check out the stock show.

Aside from livestock, the parade also included performances from groups Grupo Folklorico de Bendiciones and the Jefferson High School Lassos.

Christina Neal, head dance director at Jefferson, said it was exciting to have the parade back after last years hiatus.

Not only are we a San Antonio staple, I feel like we are a rodeo staple, she said. So it felt like home.

megan.rodriguez@express-news.net
Hes dictating the terms.

A U.S. hacker working solo claims hes the person behind multiple internet outages across North Korea in the past month.

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The man, identified only by the handle P4X, said he was targeted by a North Korean government hacking scheme last year and was upset enough to fight back, tech magazine Wired reported.

North Korea experts noted the various countrywide internet down periods in January. Some suspected the outages were connected to the countrys recent missile launches, perhaps a please stop signal from the U.S.

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But P4Xs screen recordings proved he was behind the attacks, according to Wired. The man claimed that because of the tiny dictatorships outdated internet technology and small cyber infrastructure, it wasnt really that hard.

In a photo taken on June 14, 2018, students wearing Korean People's Army uniforms sit before computer screens as they attend a class at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School outside Pyongyang. (ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)

For me, this is like the size of a small-to-medium (cybersecurity beaching test), he told Wired. Its pretty interesting how easy it was to actually have some effect in there.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

Access to the internet is severely limited in North Korea, and observers believe only a few dozen websites are hosted inside the isolated nation, Wired reported. But P4X was still able to take them all down in his revenge campaign.

In January 2021, Googles threat analytics group posted an announcement about hacks targeting private sector security researchers, which came from a government-backed entity based in North Korea.

After a quick personal investigation, P4X realized he was one of the security researchers that Kim Jong-uns regime was apparently interested in, according to Wired. So he fought back.

It felt like the right thing to do here, he told the magazine. I want them to understand that if you come at us, it means some of your infrastructure is going down for a while.

P4X said his goal was to simply annoy the North Korean government, counting that as success given that he was working alone from his office.

I definitely wanted to affect the people as little as possible and the government as much as possible, he told Wired, comparing the effort to tearing down government banners or defacing buildings.

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The North Korean government did not comment on the internet outages and has not responded to the Wired report. No one else has claimed responsibility for the countrys internet problems.
Hundreds of drivers were trapped in their vehicles overnight in bone-chilling cold when a big rig jackknifed on Interstate 10 near Kerrville, bringing traffic to a standstill for 18 hours.

The line of long-haul trucks, cars and pickups stranded motionless in the interstates westbound lanes stretched some 18 miles east to Comfort. Motorists huddled in their cars, pleading for help from authorities and texting updates to family and friends who were following their plight on social media.

On Thursday night, several hours after the tie-up began, a tractor-trailer that was approaching the line of idled vehicles was unable to stop in the icy conditions. It flipped onto its side and slid into a Ford F-350 pickup, seriously injuring two people inside, police said.

Both were taken by ambulance to Peterson Regional Medical Center in Kerrville, where one of them died Friday morning. Police did not identify either person in the pickup.

Among those trapped in the long, snaking queue was Anita Solis Avila, a San Antonio-based trucker. She was hauling a load of groceries to New Mexico when she saw a wall of stopped vehicles ahead of her around 5:30 a.m. Friday.

She came to a stop near a rest area at mile marker 514. She was still there when a San Antonio Express-News reporter reached her by phone around 12:30 p.m.

Avila was luckier than many of those stuck in the backup. She could relax in her rigs heated cabin, with a bunk for sleeping, and she had plenty of water, Gatorade and snacks.

You really cant see too far, Avila said. You just see miles and miles of trucks.

She added, Some have been out here since 9 oclock last night. Im sure theyre hungry. Some might not have essential needs to accommodate their stay. Hopefully, everyone gets through this safely.

The backup began after a semi-trailer jackknifed in the westbound lanes Thursday evening near mile marker 504, about a mile west of the Harper Road exit. Rescue crews struggled to reach the scene in the icy conditions.

By late morning Friday, authorities had opened one eastbound lane of traffic. By early afternoon, traffic was moving slowly in both directions, but the situation remained challenging, said Bob Kaufman, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Among the complications: Some truck drivers were beyond their maximum permitted driving time and could not or would not move their rigs, Kaufman said.

Nick Sheridan, an Army veteran and founder of the nonprofit Homeland Emergency Rescue Operations, said his team of Army veterans and first responders took back roads to the interstate to bring gasoline and water to those marooned in their vehicles.

People have been stuck for hours in the freezing cold with no gas, no water and no food, Sheridan said. I cant live this close and at least not try to do something to help.

The tie-up was one of the most severe consequences of a winter storm that delivered snow, ice, sleet, rain and high winds across Texas. Unlike last years Winter Storm Uri, this years freeze didnt hobble the states electrical grid, although thousands of households and businesses across San Antonio lost power Thursday.

At midafternoon Friday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manager of the statewide grid, reported that demand had reached 57,615 megawatts, with an additional 81,465 megawatts still available.

In San Antonio, city-owned CPS Energy said only a few dozen customers, out of more than 886,000 total, were still without power Friday afternoon. At the height of Thursdays storm-related outages, more than 30,000 customers lost electricity.

In a Friday morning update, CPS said the few remaining blackouts were in the Elm Creek development on the North Side and the Luckey Ranch subdivision on the far West Side.

In Elm Creek, there are multiple trees in lines, and our crews have to climb trees to trim them because it is work that cant be accessed from a bucket truck, the utility said. It attributed the Luckey Ranch outage to equipment failure.

Customers in Universal City, where fallen tree limbs also knocked out power, had their service restored Friday morning, CPS said.

The bone-chilling weather was a dreaded reminder of Uri, which dumped snowfall on San Antonio twice in one week in February 2021 and left hundreds of thousands of people without power and heat for days.

That weeklong cold snap was the regions worst since 1989. Pipes burst in many San Antonio homes, and the freeze shut down San Antonio Water System pumping stations, cutting off water to households, clinics, businesses and other locations.

Forecasters said this years storm would be shorter and far less intense, and the predictions were proved correct as the skies cleared in the early hours Friday. The National Weather Service lifted its winter weather advisory for San Antonio at 9 a.m. Highway connectors and overpasses that had been closed because of icy conditions reopened as temperatures rose into the 40s.

Most schools and colleges in Bexar County and the surrounding area were closed Friday, as were city-run COVID-19 testing sites and attractions that included the San Antonio Zoo and the Tower of the Americas.

The Alamo, however, reopened at 11 a.m. Visitors who bought tickets for Thursday, when the historic site was shuttered, will be given refunds or can reschedule their tours. For reservation changes, email tours@thealamo.org.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff unofficially declared the weather crisis over shortly after 1 p.m.

Im fixing to walk outside, Wolff said. I can still see the ice on my fountain, but Im beginning to see the water kind of percolate over it. Itll get a little cold again tonight, but I think were in great shape.

Saturdays forecast calls for sunny skies and a high near 46 degrees, with an overnight low near 26. Sunshine and a high of 54 were predicted for Sunday.

I-10 and other roads around Kerrville were still a mess Friday afternoon, nearly 24 hours after the big backup began.

Beginning Thursday night, TxDOT roadside cameras showed tractor-trailers, cars and pickups idled on the interstate, with sleet clearly visible on both sides of the road.

Tierra Zabster, a trucker headed to Florida, told the Express-News on Friday morning that she has been stuck since 10 p.m. the night before.

I am extremely exhausted and disappointed in Texas, Zabster said. Im a truck driver, and I checked state DOT and there was no update. Not even a warning on the highway communication traffic displays.

Avila, the San Antonio-based trucker, said she was carrying her load of groceries to Anthony, N.M., a flyspeck town a few miles outside El Paso, when she hit the Kerrville logjam.

Im doing good, she said by phone. I came a little prepared because I expected that the road would be kind of bad. I prepared myself with all of my essentials I needed, just in case.

Im just tired. I lay down in the back, in my bunk. I have to get up every 15 minutes with the alarm. I keep waking up thinking the trucks are moving.

In a Facebook post, she joked that family and friends following along at home should give her a heads up if they saw traffic moving again. She was going to take a nap, she said.

Road conditions in the area remained bad Friday, and the Kerr County Sheriffs Office appealed to residents not to venture out if they didnt have to.

We do not have reports of long-term water or power outages in the county right now, the Sheriffs Office said, making STAYING HOME an attractive offer.

Staff writer Taylor Pettway contributed to this report.

sigc@express-news.net
STANTON  The story of St. Josephs Carmelite Monastery is a classic tale of the Old West, where the priests were about as rugged as anyone.

Led by Father Anastasius Peters, six members of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, or Carmelites, came here from Scipio in east central Kansas in August 1881 and celebrated what may have been the first Mass in the region that would one day be known as the Permian Basin.

They changed the settlements name from Grelton Railway Station to Marienfeld, which is German for Marys Field, and built the monastery and a church, St. Josephs, that was the first Catholic church between Fort Worth and El Paso. Established alongside the Texas Pacific Railroad, the town was renamed Stanton in 1890.

The Martin County Convent Foundation has spent $1.25 million restoring the two-story adobe building with 4-foot-thick walls and a stone foundation and is planning a $500,000 expenditure to construct a nearby building with a ballroom, kitchen, bathroom, brides room, gift shop, lecture hall, library and offices.

When you walk through it today, the monastery is an interpretive center much like a museum with rustic Victorian furnishings, said Reggie Baker, who chairs the foundation. There was eventually a population of 35-45 monks who left a large footprint all over West Texas.

They were renegades who didnt have permission to do what they did. They got crossways with the leader of the Carmelite hierarchy, loaded their wagons at night and came south with farm implements that they felt belonged to them.

Some people called them scoundrels, and others said they were entrepreneurs. Whatever else they were, they were tough guys.

Baker said the Marienfeld Carmelites sold the grounds, monastery and church in 1897 to the Sisters of Mercy, who built a parochial school for boys and girls and used the monastery for their living quarters and a chapel.

The First Baptist Church Sunday school teacher said the monks moved on to New Orleans and eventually to Straubing, Germany, and Boxmeer, Netherlands. The sisters stayed until a tornado damaged the buildings in 1938, and they moved to Slaton, where they still operate the Mercy Retreat Center.

Baker said a book by Rosa Latimer, The Spirit of Mercy on the West Texas Wind, tells the story of the monks and sisters. Its available at the monastery for $14.50.

He said the 40-by-80-foot building, which also has a basement, was in a serious state of disrepair when the foundation took possession of it 30 years ago.

It had eroded and been vandalized, he said. Two families had lived there over the years. The Slaton Jaycees opened it as a haunted house and then gave it to a nonprofit for the living quarters of wives and kids whose fathers were serving overseas during World War II. Its a unique combination of Mexican adobe with Gothic windows.

The Very Rev. Michael Sis, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo, said the Carmelites traveled throughout West Texas and eastern New Mexico spreading the Catholic faith to the growing population of immigrant families.

This monastery is one of the best-preserved examples of West Texas architecture from the 1880s, the bishop said. It has withstood tornadoes, droughts and periods of disuse, and I am very impressed with the restoration work that the local community has been doing over the past few years.

When you go to the monastery, you might see a beautiful German Bible. I arranged for a German-American Catholic family from Wall to donate that magnificent Bible to the monastery. It was published in Philadelphia for German-speaking Catholic Americans in the 1880s, so it likely would be the same sort of Bible that they used in Stanton, he added.

Tours may be scheduled at hcmstanton.org/get-involved/visit.
Latino voting initiatives nationwide have centered on increasing that communitys representation at all levels of government.

Theyve sought to inform voters, get them registered and then to the polls. These projects have trained Latinos to run for office in hopes theyll serve on boards and commissions, even in Congress.

New generations of candidates have emerged. Its exciting to watch the growth and diversity among them.

Newer initiatives have focused on preparing qualified Latina candidates.

Theyre appealing to Latino voters (non-Latino, too), giving them the opportunity to elect someone who looks like them and who brings similar life experiences to office that better reflect their needs.

But what if the Latino voter finds all of those qualities in a non-Latino candidate, choosing that candidate over a Latino or Latina in the same election?

How will Latinos vote when presented with options that include a non-Latino candidate with an equal or better track record, higher name recognition in the Latino community and who may even be beloved by it?

Thats at least part of whats at play in the Democratic primary race for county judge. It has some Democrats wishing fewer candidates were in it.

While there are four people seeking the spot, Democratic primary voters really have three viable candidates. The outcome will determine wholl succeed County Judge Nelson Wolff, who has held the post for more than two decades.

Texas State Rep. Ina Minjarez is taking her shot, as is first-time candidate Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, who left her job as Mayor Ron Nirenbergs chief of staff.

Both have received some impressive endorsements.

Then theres former 225th District Court Judge Peter Sakai, who stepped down from the bench to run for county judge. Hes best known for his judicial experience, innovation and for the specialty courts that have protected abused and neglected children and victims of family violence.

He has kept families together. Sometimes, he has separated them for their own safety. He has made mistakes and dealt with that agony in a public way, endearing him to the public.

All three candidates enjoy deep, personal connections with voters, perhaps especially with Latino voters.

Sakai has been recognized for increasing the adoption rates of foster children in Bexar County and for creating a national model for childrens court. He implemented a family drug treatment court for parents with addictions and children in foster care.

His campaign points to his ability to garner the highest number of votes countywide in various election cycles. Hes 67.

As far as I know, no polls can tell us how voters are likely to vote. Ive talked to dozens of die-hard Democratic voters, most of them Latinas who get out the vote, have worked on campaigns and/or give money to them.

While most cite Sakai as the best choice, several remain torn and undecided.

Im most moved by Sakais personal story, his exceptional experience and a record thats hard to beat. He may be the best prepared to pick up where Wolff leaves off, assuming he can beat the winner of the Republican primary.

Hes a McAllen native whose father grew up in an internment camp during World War II.

Both his grandparents emigrated from Japan, thus hes Sansei, he said, what Japanese call those who are second generation U.S.-born.

For Sakai, it also means he doesnt speak Japanese except for a few words, most used to swear, he said.

His father joined the Army to get out of internment and ended up in South Texas, where he met his wife, also Japanese American, and had four children. Sakai was their first born.

He points to several seminal moments in his life, including a family vacation to Arizona and the camp where his fathers family was held. Sakai saw the barely visible ruins of wooden barracks.

Sakai grew up on a farm and did farm work, even on breaks from law school at the University of Texas at Austin.

He endured prejudice, mostly from Mexican Americans. Teased and taunted, he learned to defend himself against bullies.

The late actor Bruce Lees martial arts fame helped. When people asked Sakai if he knew martial arts, hed say Yes. When they wondered if he knew Lee, hed say, Hes my cousin.

He remembers asking God why he hadnt been born with round eyes.

Yet he grew to identify with Mexican Americans, including an understanding about their political and legal struggles. He was cognizant of the Chicano Movement and La Raza Unida Party.

He attended Pan American University, now a UT campus, but graduated from UT-Austin and was the only Asian American in its law school at that time, he said. He didnt feel comfortable there because there were too few Mexican Americans.

Sakai was a member of the Chicano law students association and joked that, in part, it was because of his fajita cooking skills.

He admits he didnt have great grades and, at one point, thought about leaving. A fellow student convinced him to stick it out.

He helped me stay on path. I give him credit for that, Sakai said.

It was Orlando Garcia, chief U.S. district judge of the Western District in San Antonio, who has remained a mentor and friend.

In San Antonio, Sakai got his first job in the District Attorneys Office and met his wife, longtime educator Raquel Rachel Dias-Sakai. In March, shell be part of a new crop of inductees into the San Antonio Womens Hall of Fame.

Shes the heart and soul and conscience of my campaign, he said.

We have a lot of work to do, Sakai said, the challenges of a post-pandemic, the economy, infrastructure and the digital divide.

We need to break the silos of bureaucracy and find solutions at the local level, he said. This election is so crucial.

There are three viable Democratic candidates for county judge on the March 1 ballot.

Sakai may be right in thinking he has earned the voters trust.

They have about a month to decide and vote.

Early voting is Feb. 14-25.

eayala@express-news.net
Ive always had the sense that Rey Saldana is one of those rare individuals who figured out his lifes mission at an early age and has never wavered.

The former San Antonio councilman finds a way to convey irrepressible optimism without ever coming across as naive.

A first-generation American who grew up on the South Side in an economically challenged environment, Saldana has long been driven by a compulsion to close opportunity gaps, to enable others to reduce the distance between potential and achievement.

The thing about potential, Saldana once said, is that you dont really know you have it until somebody tells you that you have it.

For Saldana, that somebody was a Communities in Schools (CIS) coordinator who mentored him during his days as a South San Antonio High School student, encouraging him to apply to prestigious out-of-state colleges and later helping him navigate his way through his experience at Stanford.

Saldana, 35, is now the president and CEO of the organization that altered the trajectory of his life. This past week, he celebrated the most momentous moment in Communities in Schools 45-year history: the announcement that philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $133.5 million to the educational nonprofit.

Scotts gift will be divided between the national organization and various CIS affiliates, with the San Antonio chapter getting $7 million.

To put the scale of Scotts donation in perspective, if you took all the revenue that the national Communities in Schools organization received over four fiscal years from 2016-2019, it would add up to $127 million, according to tax returns filed by the nonprofit.

Scotts act of generosity will enable CIS to do two major things:

First, it will be able to extend its reach to more public-school campuses. Currently, Communities in Schools has coordinators in 3,000 schools, about 4 percent of this countrys 70,000 Title I-eligible schools (those with at least 40 percent of their enrollment coming from low-income families).

Second, it will be able to supplement its services at campuses where CIS already has a presence.

This is life-changing work, designed to address critical social and emotional needs of kids so they have a chance to flourish in the classroom. Its about freeing teachers to teach and freeing children to learn.

Students cant get turned on to learning unless theyre turned on to living, Saldana said during a Thursday interview with CBS Mornings. And the living is the hard part.

All of Saldanas work has been leading up to this.

As a teenager, he participated in Books in the Barrio, a local group that fought to bring a bookstore to the perpetually neglected South Side.

During his eight years on City Council, Saldana zeroed in on two issues: education and transportation.

He championed Julian Castros Pre-K 4 SA program and worked hard to secure its approval by voters in 2012.

He relentlessly pushed to get more funding for VIA Metropolitan Transit, a commitment that carried over to his brief post-council tenure as the chairman of VIAs board of trustees.

Both issues for Saldana were about equity, what he referred to during his 2011 insurgent council campaign as the ecology of the community.

At CIS, particularly with its astounding new source of funding, Saldana can combat inequities on a scale he only dreamed about at City Hall.

One of the most moving moments in the CBS Mornings story about Scotts donation was a clip of Saldana sharing the good news with CIS founder Bill Milliken.

Saldana handed Milliken a slip of paper with the donation amount written on it.

Milliken looked at the paper, took a deep breath and shook his head in disbelief.

Holy mackerel! he exclaimed.

Milliken created the nonprofit in 1977 under the name Cities in Schools. By his own account, Milliken struggled in school because of an undiagnosed learning disability. At the age of 17, he got kicked out of his Pittsburgh high school.

I felt embarrassed when I raised my hand and Id get put down for saying the wrong things, Milliken recalled in a 1996 interview. It made me angry so I acted out.

The teenage Milliken spent much of his time hanging out at a pool hall, where a young adult from a nondenominational youth organization motivated him to go back to school and graduate.

Milliken fashioned CISs mentoring program on what had worked for him.

Programs dont change people, Milliken said. People do. He also said, Were not about charity. Were about change.

That approach has been rooted in the desire to provide five basics for kids: a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult, a safe place to learn and grow, good health; the development of a marketable skill and the chance to give back to peers and the community.

Saldana has never stopped giving back.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
Several months ago, I sought out the muralist who painted a replica of a chola-styled Medusa. A photo of it appeared in the Express-News. I made a few calls and found out the artist worked at San Anto Cultural Arts.

Located at 2120 El Paso St., San Anto Cultural Arts is just a few blocks from my childhood home. It has helped hundreds of young people develop design skills and drawing techniques, and learn mural painting. Professional artists teach them critical thinking skills, the importance of creativity, and steer them away from graffiti. The murals they produce become public art.

This mural is titled La Gloria and is part of Bills Pawn Shop, between West Commerce and Zarzamora streets. In this wall space, Ashleigh Valentine Garza painted an image of a woman with two snakes with flickering red tongues wrapped around her neck: One side has an arrow penetrating the chest of the snake, while the other has a drooping tongue indicating defeat. She wears one dangling heart-shaped earring and has puffy ruby lips; her demurred face is set against a dark mane reminiscent of the 70s and 80s bouffant chola hairstyles.

Garza, a former graffiti artist, is an art history major with a penchant for philosophy. One thing I want my audience to remember about my art work is the originality of it  the eyes staring at you, she said.

Many of Garzas portraits remind me of period pieces of the 1930s, decades before she was born.

How did you come up with the idea? I asked.

The snakes are symbols of my demons. The original illustration has barbed wires linking the two, as if I had them under control. This meant I was finally gaining control over my inner demons, learning to have patience and be kind to myself, Garza said.

All her paintings and etchings are beyond the archetypes of Chicano muralists  namely, protest art, lowrider depictions of cars with women as tools, even gazing Adelitas, those male-dominated handmaidens of early Mexican revolutionaries without equity or equality.

Other pieces in her oeuvre are depictions of herself as a young woman, as Madonna and Child, even as the archetypal Lilith taming the snake of knowledge and procreation.

Her next painting is a rendition of Madonna and Child called Homegirl with Pinto. Thats how she refers to her baby boy, as little Pinto; she has drawn a portrait of herself in lively royal blues, a nimbus on the Madonna with an artist pen and a guiding lighthouse in the background.

Atop the portrait is the Arc de Triomphe with the Bertrand Russell quote, The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

Ashleigh Garza is an artist to watch as she engages the world with all its expectations and devaluations.

Rafael Castillo, who teaches writing and humanities at Palo Alto College, is a member of PEN America, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Book Critics Circle.
Weve long said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is at his strongest when he governs in an inclusive way that serves all Texans. Hes at his best when he focuses on the issues rather than flaming the culture wars.

Assuming Abbott cruises to a win in the upcoming GOP primary and on to a general election challenge from Democrat Beto ORourke, perhaps we will see that type of leadership again. Perhaps.

In some ways its easy to recommend Greg Abbott in this years GOP primary. Just look at his main GOP challengers: retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West and businessman Don Huffines, a former state senator. They are firebrands who have castigated Abbott as, somehow, not conservative enough, especially after he issued a statewide mask mandate in July 2020 as COVID-19 was surging across Texas.

The mandate was right at the time  given the lack of vaccines, spread of the disease and how little we knew about COVID. And although we criticized Abbott about reopening the Texas economy too quickly last March, with hindsight, we see a governor who initially responded to the pandemic with a sincere interest in balancing public and economic health. How did he go from that attitude to refusing to allow school districts to make their own choices about mask mandates during another COVID surge?

This question gets to the challenge of recommending Abbott: He has bent in response to Huffines and West during this primary.

Bring back the governor who modeled inclusive and compassionate leadership in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Lets see the governor who urged the Legislature to create the bipartisan Texas Commission on Public School Finance in 2017 and helped lead the way to a significant boost in school funding. Lets see a governor who continues to discuss school finance, commits to improving foster care and ends this senseless posturing on the border. How about not demonizing transgender kids and then alienating the business community?

Abbott is easily the best choice in the GOP primary, but this is a reflection of his challengers. He gets our recommendation. But its not exactly glowing.
When people in this town refer to the judge, they are speaking of Nelson Wolff.

For two decades, Wolff has served as Bexar County judge with authority, transforming county government  and this seat  in dynamic and powerful ways. In the modern era of San Antonio, no politician has been more influential than Wolff, who also has served as a state lawmaker, City Council member and mayor. He took his experience and remade county government.

Pick your issue: economic development (Toyota), conservation (the Mission Reach), transportation infrastructure, a relentless push for criminal justice reform, the local COVID-19 response. Wolff has led on each with a gravitational force, transforming San Antonio.

With Wolff retiring, voters will determine the next chapter for Bexar County leadership.

In the Republican primary, we recommend public relations executive and former County Commissioner Trish DeBerry.

Readers of these pages know we have had sharp differences with DeBerry over public contracts held by talkStrategy, her PR firm. We wont rehash those concerns beyond this: Given the intersection of county government with other governmental entities, if elected, DeBerry should sever ties with her firm. To maintain those contracts would be a terrible look and undermine much of her agenda.

But she is certainly more than qualified to be county judge. In her year in office, DeBerry was a force on Commissioners Court. She is a fiscal conservative and social progressive. She has pushed for a reduction in property taxes, more open government, the prompt release of body-cam footage and professionalization of the Bexar County Adult Detention Center. Her sparring with Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar has been ugly. But her passion to address root causes of domestic violence and solve community problems is evident.

The Democratic side features four candidates  former mayoral adviser Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, state Rep. Ina Minjarez, former District Court Judge Peter Sakai and perennial candidate Gerardo Gerard Ponce.

Sakai has built a reputation as an innovative collaborator in helping children and families. He served as a district judge for nearly 15 years before resigning from the 225th District Court bench Oct. 31. His work in the judicial system has been nationally recognized. His understanding of the courts is an invaluable strength.

Gonzalez was chief of staff for Mayor Ron Nirenberg, gaining firsthand experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While each is a strong candidate, our recommendation goes to state Rep. Ina Minjarez, someone we have viewed as a rising star in Bexar County politics.

Minjarez, who was elected in a 2015 special election to represent House District 124 on the West Side, served as a prosecutor in the Bexar County District Attorneys Office. She understands the courts and is versed in the need for criminal justice reforms.

She has been remarkably effective in the Legislature. At the end of the 85th session, Texas Monthly named her Rookie of the Year. Shes no rookie now, and Bexar County would benefit from her experience and key relationships.

A member of several key committees over the years, including appropriations, transportation, and health and human services, Minjarez has successfully pushed legislation that secured more than $1 billion for local priorities, including co-sponsoring a bill to get $60 million in property tax relief for Bexar County homeowners.

In the Republican-dominated Legislature, Minjarez has been undeterred. She played a pivotal role in ensuring San Antonio and Bexar County secured federal COVID-19 relief funds and more equitable political maps during redistricting.

She advocates for children and families, working to expand access to health care and education, and shes pushed criminal justice reform, efforts she says she will continue.

Minjarez told us shes ready to take the helm of Bexar County  and we agree. Its Minjarez in the Democratic primary.
I grew up in the Philippines without ever seeing Black people around, much less knowing any. Only after I came to the United States as an international student in 1977 would I meet Black people for the first time.

Little did I expect that within 10 years, as a Filipino immigrant, I would be working side by side with one of the most successful Black businessmen in American history. Our professional relationship gave me a ringside seat at what it could be like to be Black in this country in the 1980s and 1990s.

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Reginald Lewis, my former boss, came from a tough Baltimore neighborhood. But he pushed hard enough to buck the odds and earn a degree from Harvard Law School. He founded his own Wall Street law firm. At his peak, he served as chairman and CEO of TLC Beatrice International, then the largest company in the U.S. owned by an African-American, with 64 operations in 31 countries, and the first to generate a billion dollars a year in sales.

Lewis overcame it all. (Ira Block / TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc.)

Yet race for Lewis was a non-stop, all-consuming battle. In our six years together, as one of his closest advisers, I witnessed how a Black man could be treated in the nation that embodies democracy better than any other, even if he owned a duplex on Fifth Ave., occupied an office on W. 57th St. that overlooked Central Park, and rode around town in a chauffeur-driven Bentley.

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One day I saw a white man arguing with him on Fifth Ave. about who had hailed a taxi first, only for the cabbie, an Indian, to signal that he preferred to pick up the white man. Episodes like that happened more than once. I would join him for lunch together at fine restaurants, only to wind up seated at a table next to the mens room, with the service suspiciously slow (prompting him to object angrily).

In my naivete as an immigrant, these instances of glaringly obvious bigotry came as a surprise. I grew up in Manila, soon after the Philippines, a U.S. colony for almost 50 years, gained independence. I loved everything I knew about America. I had a candy-cane vision of this land, probably shaped by all the movies Id seen with heroic characters played by Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper.

My father served in the U.S. military during World War II, fighting at Bataan and enduring the infamous Death March. We listened to World Series games together on U.S. Armed Forces Radio. He had seen Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig play in Manila in an all-star tour of East Asia, and loved the New York Yankees so much so that this newspaper ran a profile of him.

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The Philippines was under martial law as I arrived in the U.S. So Id gotten a taste of oppression, and it tasted awful. I came here to get a fresh start, but ran into prejudice myself. Strangers occasionally taunted me as a chink. Colleagues at the professional services firms where I worked warned me that my Asian heritage would prevent certain white-shoe investment banks and law firms from hiring me.

So Lewis and I were both outsiders. No wonder I came to feel such a special kinship with him. Both of us pursued our version of the American Dream, no matter how high the price might be.

But nothing stopped Reginald Lewis anyway. Even in the teeth of racial injustice, he managed to get the last word, savoring his success. He appeared on magazine covers, smiling broadly with a big cigar clenched between his teeth. He owned a jet. He had an apartment in Paris and a mansion in the Hamptons. He donated $3 million to his alma mater, the Harvard Law School, where a building on campus is now known as the Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center.

He called his autobiography Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun? But he died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 50. The book came out posthumously and a movie based on it is now in development. In tribute, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins said, Reginald Lewis accomplished more in half a century than most of us could ever deem imaginable.

Among the many lessons Black History Month teaches us this year is that more and more African-Americans are doing good business. Yes, the Black community still has far to go. A recent survey showed that Blacks hold only 3.3% of executive or senior management roles. But a study from Babson College showed that from 2014 to 2018, nearly one in every five Black Americans either started or ran businesses. Its increasingly common for African-Americans to take the helm as a CEO at a global corporation. Think Richard Parsons at Time Warner, Marvin Ellison at Lowes and Ken Frazier at Merck.

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Reginald Lewis broke through those barriers, and then some, more than 30 years ago. As Black History Month is celebrated, let us make sure to celebrate him as well.

Meily is author of the upcoming memoir From Manila to Wall Street and Back  An Immigrants Journey with Reginald Lewis, the First Black Billion-Dollar Dealmaker.
FAIRFIELD  If a primary aspect of diversity, equity and inclusion work is education, Fairfield Public Schools new DEI director certainly has a good pedigree.

Digna A. Marte is approximately three months into the job, and said she sees her role primarily as one of a facilitator in looking at and questioning everything the school district does.

How can we push ourselves to reflect on everything that we do and question if thats the best that it can be and if its supporting every student? she said. How can we validate that its truly supporting and equipping every student to thrive? Where are the gaps and why are the gaps?

Marte said there is a lot of work that has already been done or started in Fairfield in line with that goal, but its happening in isolation. Since she started, shes been touring the district to listen to administrators on their school improvement plans.

The reality is that diversity, equity and inclusion is not something that is supposed to be happening in isolation, she said. Its supposed to be happening in every conversation and everything that we do. So, by having the meetings with the principals independently, it gave me one perspective. But by seeing it play out in their school improvement plan, it gave me a better vision of where it landed.

Marte said taking the time to see how the districts policies, curriculum and practices impact students who need it the most is an important goal for the district. She said data, such as that on the achievement gap between Black and Hispanic students and white and Asian students, highlights how that mission is important.

Fairfield Superintendent of Schools Mike Cummings said the district created the DEI program director role because officials found students different needs were challenging educators. He said officials knew they had to be more culturally responsive to their students, adding they also were seeing more students struggling with engagement.

We knew that our staff wanted to support all students but was not sure how to do that, he said. Digna has quickly taken on the task of filling these needs. We are going to be a better district for all students as a result of her work.

Marte, who was born and raised in New York City, said education is her second career in life, adding she worked in housing and community development before that. She studied interior architecture and Spanish as an undergrad, and later got a masters in regional planning  going on to work at a nonprofit and, later, for the city.

She then left that field to go to seminary school and received a masters of divinity, which led to her working at Messiah Baptist Church in Bridgeport. While there, she said she learned young people were not getting a lot of support in big academic choices, such as selecting a college.

Marte said she was working as a world language teacher in Fairfield in 2008 as she got her master in business administration from University of Bridgeport. She went on to teach or work as an administrator in schools in New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford.

That kept motivating me to do more for the students, she said. I wanted to explore what was happening in the elementary schools and middle schools in our districts that was not preparing some of our students enough for high school.

Now that she finds herself as the diversity, equity and inclusion director for Fairfield Public Schools, Marte said her takeaway from her prior experience is that the education system needs to be re-imagined and re-worked.

Its baffling to me that a student is able to be in school from pre-K through eighth grade and enter high school and not be able to read, she said. Its something that were finding is not just in districts that are predominantly Latino and African American. We have those pockets even (in Fairfield).

Whether it be students of color or other subgroups with disabilities or giftedness, Marte said there are some students who are not being served by the system. She said she thinks the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed schools to explore everything they do to support students.

Education is interesting in the fact that, the world has evolved and education is the slowest to evolve, she said.

Marte said a lack of knowledge has resulted in some people disliking the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion in schools, adding change is difficult. She said her parents were immigrants from the Dominican Republic, and she grew up questioning the norms of her parents, tying it back into how people view DEI in schools.

The way people were brought up is now being questioned, she said. Everything they learned in school is now being questioned. Theres a natural pushback.

Marte said the work is very reflective, and she has to be aware that every conversation concerning DEI will have people reflecting. If the foundation is not laid for that, she said, walls come up and people shut done.

Part of my work as an educator is knowing that, for children, if were not creating an inclusive environment and were not helping them feel comfortable and like they belong, they dont learn because their brain shuts down, she said. Adults will have the same reaction if I dont take the time to help them understand the different layers of identity.

Creating an environment in which she helps facilitate reflection and openness to it is her job, Marte said.

She said her time in Fairfield has been amazing so far.

Its not like Im coming to wake up people. Theyre already woke. Its to continue to engage in the work with them, she said, later adding, For me, the end goal is making sure that we capture every single child. My goal is for every child and every person I come in contact with, to grow to their next level.

joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com
HARRISBURG, Pa.  The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has added Ravenna grass, glossy buckthorn and common buckthorn to a list of noxious weeds  plants that cannot be legally sold or cultivated in the state.

The non-native plants spread aggressively into wooded areas and fields, crowding out beneficial plants and disrupting native ecosystems. The ban on sale and cultivation will take effect April 5 with enforcement phased in over the next year.

Pennsylvania is working to repair the damage done by plants that were introduced to our landscape decades ago without foresight into how they might harm our environment and food supply, said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. Banning the sale of invasive plants and educating homeowners and consumers to plant native species today are both vital for protecting our environment, our food supply and our economy tomorrow.

Property owners should consider eliminating these plants and seek native alternatives when choosing plants for landscaping.

Ravenna grass

Ravenna grass (Tripidium ravennae), also known as hardy pampas grass, is a 6-foot tall, perennial, ornamental grass commonly sold in nurseries. Its seedy plumes allow it to spread rapidly, choking out native plants and reestablishing easily.

The department will begin enforcing the ban on its commercial sale in September 2022.

Find more information on Ravenna grass and native alternatives on the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources website, dcnr.pa.gov.

Glossy buckthorn

Glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus) is a small tree or shrub whose berries are eaten by birds, spreading the plant. It aggressively spreads in wetlands, choking out native plant and animal habitats. It has a commercially available cultivar called rhamnus fine line.

The department established an exemption procedure for breeders who own the rights to varieties that have been researched and proven sterile, and will consider exempting these varieties from the ban. The department will begin to enforce the ban on glossy buckthorn sale in 2023.

Common buckthorn

Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) is a deciduous tree that reaches 22 feet high, with dark green leaves and berries. It forms dense thickets, choking out native ecosystems. It is not sold commercially.

Merchants with questions should contact ra-plant@pa.gov.

For more information about noxious weeds, controlled and poisonous plants in Pennsylvania visit agriculture.pa.gov. For comprehensive information about controlling all invasive species in Pennsylvania, visit the governors Invasive Species Council. Photos of the plants can be downloaded at invasive.org.
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If youre thinking about moving to Turkey, Cals, with its long stretch of beach, sparkling seas, cooling afternoon breeze, and beautiful sunsets is a popular destination for both locals and holidaymakers alike, could be the perfect place for you.

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Mario Cantone is opening up about the heartbreaking moment he learned of his TV husband Willie Garsons cancer diagnosis.

The Sex and the City co-stars were in the midst of filming the series HBO Max revival, And Just Like That..., when Garson, who played one of Carrie Bradshaws best friends, Stanford Blatch, confided in Cantone, 62, about his battle with pancreatic cancer.

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I had no idea until he told me, Cantone, who played Anthony Marentino  with whom Stanford tied the knot in 2010s Sex and the City 2, told People in a new interview.

Willie Garson and Mario Cantone attend "Sex & The City 2" After Party on May 25, 2010 in New York City. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Image)

Garson, who was initially supposed to appear in every episode of the revival, died in September. He was 57.

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I thought he was kidding, Cantone said of the diagnosis. And then he turned his head and I saw his look and I went, and then I sat down next to him. We both cried and it was horrible.

Due to his sudden death, Garsons Stanford was only seen in the first three episodes of And Just Like That..., which resulted in an off-screen announcement that he was moving to Japan to manage his client, a TikToker. Anthony in that scene shares that Stanford asked for a divorce.

I love that scene, Cantone told People. I think its beautifully written.

Showrunner Michael Patrick King, who also directed and wrote Sex and the City, and penned and helmed both movies, told Variety this week that Stanford was always supposed to have a midlife crisis, relating to his borderline career as a manager.

It was going to be Carrie and him, feeling the shifts, said King, noting that while he and Anthony likely still would have gone their separate ways, There was a series of really fun, flirty, hilarious confidant scenes with [Stanford and] Carrie that I loved ... which is based totally on the uniqueness of Willie and Sarah Jessica [Parker]s history.

Of Stanfords sendoff, King called it the most threadbare writing Ive ever done just to move him along without much maneuvering, because it was just so sad.
The official trailer for Gangubai Kathiawadi is finally out and it is better than anyone would have ever imagined. Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Jim Sarbh and Vijay Raaz feature in the trailer in a slew of important snippets from the movie. There were many doubts whether Alia Bhatt was the best casting choice for the role of a madam of Kamathipura but those go out of the window once you watch the trailer. Alia reigns supreme and delivers snappy dialogue after snappy dialogue in a voice that shakes but never trails away.

Of course, any Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie is bound to have fantastic sets and this one is no different. The colour palette is cool and heavily tinted towards blues and whites. The movie itself, Gangubai Kathiawadi tells the story of Gangubai who was the most feared pimp of Kamathipura and was an icon in the sense that she stood up for the rights of sex workers.

"A story of strength, inspiration and resilience. This year, we celebrate the journey of a girl who not only rose to power but reigned supreme. Presenting the official trailer of the much-awaited, Gangubai Kathiawadi," reads the snippet under the trailer video on YouTube. Gangubai Kathiawadi is set to release in theatres on 25th February this year.
BEIJING, Feb. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- During the visit of the Russian delegation headed by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Beijing today, PJSC Rosneft Oil Company and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) agreed on oil supplies to China and cooperation in low-carbon development.

Rosneft and CNPC signed an agreement to supply 100 million tonnes of oil to China via Kazakhstan over a 10-year period. The crude will be processed at refineries in northwest China to meet the country's needs for petroleum products.

Rosneft is the leading oil exporter to China, supplying 7% of the country's total crude needs every year. Since 2005 the company's total shipments to China have amounted to 442 million tonnes of oil. Rosneft is also one of the leaders in supplying petroleum products to China, having exported around 41 million tonnes of petroleum products since 2009.

In addition, the companies will cooperate in several areas of low-carbon development, particularly in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, energy efficiency technologies, and CO2 capture and storage (CCS). The parties will also consider other potential cooperation areas in low-carbon development. Low-carbon technologies developed by the companies, including smart and digital solutions, could be applied in the future in large-scale joint oil and gas projects in Russia or China.
Tampa, FL (33646)

Today

Sunshine and a few clouds. High around 90F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke listens to testimony during his sentencing hearing in 2019. Van Dyke was sentenced to six years in prison for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Joe Rogan is addressing his use of the N-word after a viral video showed clips of the controversial podcaster using it repeatedly in past episodes.

Rogan, 54, took to Instagram early Saturday to apologize for a lot of s--t from the old episodes of the podcast that I wish I hadnt said, or had said differently. This is my take on the worst of it.

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Im making this video to talk about the most regretful and shameful thing that Ive ever had to talk about publicly, Rogan said.

Joe Rogan introduces fighters during the UFC 269 ceremonial weigh-in on Dec. 10, 2021 in Las Vegas. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

While he now agrees there is no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word and said he hasnt done so in years, Rogan pointed to previous discussions about the slur, in which he would just say the word rather than referring to it as the N-word.

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Though Rogan thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing, he said his view as changed and its not my word to use.

I never used it to be racist, because Im not racist. But whenever youre in a situation where you have to say, Im not racist, you f--ked up. And I clearly have f--ked up, he continued. Theres nothing I can do to take that back. I wish I could. But obviously thats not possible. I do hope that if anything, that this can be a teachable moment.

Rogan also addressed an 11-year-old clip in which he made a racist joke about a Black neighborhood, which he admitted was unacceptable even in context.

[ Off-Broadway show about legendary comedian Lenny Bruce is sending PC millennials to the exits with its jarring use of the N-word ]

It makes me sick watching that video, said Rogan. But hopefully, at least some of you will accept this and understand where Im coming from. My apologies and much love. My sincere, deepest apologies and much love.

The compilation video was initially posted by Grammy winner India Arie, who this week called out music streamer Spotify for problematic Rogans language around race.

Aries remarks came on the heels of fellow musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from the platform due to misinformation about COVID-19, which was featured on the podcast hosted by Rogan, the services most listened-to broadcaster.
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Its celebration time for Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen hosted a reception Saturday morning at her Sandringham estate, her largest public event since she was hospitalized in October 2021.

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Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake as part of the reception that kicked off her Platinum Jubilee celebration Saturday at Sandringham House. (WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Elizabeth, 95, cut a cake and greeted guests, occasionally using a walking stick to lean on. The BBC described her as on sparkling form.

The Queen hosted the reception one day before her Platinum Jubilee, which will mark 70 years since her ascension to the throne on Feb. 6, 1953. She often celebrates the anniversary of her reign at her Sandringham estate in east England.

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Queen Elizabeth II receives a posy from Harriet Reeve, 9, during a reception to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee in the Ballroom of Sandringham House on Saturday in King's Lynn, England. (WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Elizabeth, the longest-reigning British monarch ever, had to cancel a trip to Northern Ireland in October after her doctors recommended tests and rest. But she wasnt down for long, participating in an official event just six days later.

If Elizabeth spends three more years on the throne, shell surpass Louis XIV of France as the longest-reigning monarch in European history.

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FILE - Hundreds of Afghan men gather to apply for the humanitarian aid in Qala-e-Naw, Afghanistan, on Dec. 14, 2021. As winter deepens, a grim situation in Afghanistan is getting worse. Freezing temperatures are compounding the misery from the downward spiral that has come with the fall of the U.S.-backed government and the Taliban takeover. Aid groups and international agencies estimate about 23 million people, half the country, face severe hunger and nearly 9 million are on the brink of starvation. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov, File)
Local entrepreneur and philanthropist Buzz Wheeler is handing the reins of Coastal Farm & Ranch to a Southern California-based investment firm.

Under Wheeler's ownership, the store chain has grown from three locations in Albany, Woodburn and Eugene to 20 across Oregon and Washington. Coastal employs some 1,100 people and sells everything from chicken feed to cowboy boots with the motto: "Just What the Country Needs."

Ownership of Coastal Farm & Ranch now falls to Nolan Capital, the retailer announced in December. Wheeler will sit on the board and retain a minority stake in the company, Coastal announced.

"Building Coastal Farm & Ranch into the company it is today has been one of the greatest accomplishments of my life, and I am proud of our support for Northwest communities," Wheeler said in a news release. "We are transitioning Coastal from one West Coast family to another, and I am confident that the business is set up for continued success."

Wheeler has been one of the Willamette Valley's most visible philanthropists since he moved to Oregon in 1990 after taking the helm of Coastal from the Orscheln Company. The University of Northern Colorado graduate is a familiar face at charity drives where he's handed out Carhartt stockings and pretzels.

Wheeler and his wife, Sheila, support a number of charities, including the SafeHaven Humane Society and the Mid-Willamette YMCA. In 2014, he received the Albany Chamber of Commerce's Distinguished Citizen award.

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Wheeler also sat on Albany's Citys Public Safety Facilities Review Committee in 2014. The citizen group of 14 people spent a year determining the need for a new police station and replacement of Fire Station 11 after a city bond measure to fund both failed in 2013, City Councilor Marilyn Smith said. He played a key role, she said, in campaigning in support of the general obligation bond measure for both buildings, approved by voters in 2015.

He was among the original trio of entrepreneurs, BWG Partners, which planned to redevelop downtown Albany's vacant Wells Fargo building. The project had stalled in light of rising costs. Smith said the project is back on track, not with Wheeler but with developer Gerding Builders, the "G" in the BWG.

Del Mar Ventures CEO Larry Hayward, an investor in Coastal Farm & Ranch, will join the board as a non-executive chair, Coastal announced.

Coastal CEO Lori McKinnon will also remain at the helm since boarding the company in 1995.

Editor's note: This article was edited to clarify Buzz Wheeler's role with a city committee and update the status of the Wells Fargo building redevelopment.

Tim Gruver covers the city of Albany and Linn County. He can be contacted at 541-812-6114 or Tim.Gruver@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @T_TimeForce.

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Sunday service: Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 2650 NW Highland Drive in Corvallis, will share Gods Word and Holy Communion at 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, both in the sanctuary and via livestream worship, accessible at www.svlccorvallis.org and facebook.com/shepherdcorvallis.

Pastor Eric Bohlmanns sermon topic will be Fishing and Aquariums. The congregation continues to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to protect worshipers health, and asks individuals to wear masks.

Multi-Gen Bible study will follow worship at 10:30 a.m., both in church and via Zoom. The study of Genesis 28:10-22, will concern Jacob, the son of Isaac. For access to the Zoom meeting, call the church office at 541-753-2816.

Friendship discussed: First United Methodist Church, 1165 NW Monroe Ave. in Corvallis, will hold services at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, at https://www.facebook.com/CorvallisFUMC/live.

The service will include discussion of what the Bible has to say about friendship, including that of Jesus, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, based on John 11:28-36.

Bahai devotions and discussion: God's Eternal Covenant: What Now? is set for 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, via Zoom.

All the religions anticipate and promote a harmonious, peaceful future for humanity. How will we get there? All sorts of organizations are working on bringing this about: Think of StoryCorps One Small Step and the Braver Angels workshops on depolarizing our thinking and conversations. The Bahai writings state that we all must cleanse (our) heart from even the slightest trace of hatred and spite, and be loving to all humankind. This is a tall order.

All are invited to join in exploring what the Bahai writings say we must do to achieve this hoped-for future.

All are welcome. The Zoom room will open at 10:15 a.m. Zoom instructions for the meeting and a downloadable copy of the readings can be found on the local Baha'i website: https://linnbenton.local.bahai.us/. Open the "meetings to pray and meditate" tab, and then "Corvallis" to access the link and the readings.

The Zoom room will open at 10:15 a.m. Instructions for the meeting and readings can be found on the local Bahai website.

Dinner and program: After 5 Connection, affiliated with Stonecroft, will host dinner and a program at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, at Mas Restaurant, 2416 S. Santiam Highway in Lebanon.

The event is open to all women.

The theme of the event is How Sweet It Is. Sonja Jorgensen of Lacomb will speak about starting her business, Sprinkle Barn Sweets, baking custom cakes and cookies for special occasions.

Pam Pingle also will speak. She is retired from teaching and works as a travel agent. She loves traveling, spending time with young children and playing bridge. She will talk about learning to weave the good and bad times into the tapestry of your life.

Cost is $15, inclusive. The group is not credit card-ready. Reservations are available from Sherri at 541-258-6414, or Nancy at 541-259-1396 or NancyPinzino@comcast.net.

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While the national COVID-19 death toll surpassed 900,000 on Friday, Feb. 4, Oregon numbers climbed by 33 after two consecutive days of 18 deaths, in data released by the Oregon Health Authority.

The statewide death toll now stands at 6,214 people, OHA said Friday. None of the new deaths were in Linn or Benton counties.

The Oregon Health Authority also reported 4,872 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19, raising the state's total case count to 654,343.

Oregon health officials continue to stress the urgency of getting vaccinated as the optimal way to ward off the pandemic.

Locally, Linn County reported 262 new cases on Friday, bringing its total caseload to 24,189. Linn Countys death toll remains at 222.

Benton County reported 98 new cases, bringing that countys total caseload to 13,582. The county's death total remains at 54.

Hospitalizations: Currently, there are 1,092 Oregonians hospitalized with COVID-19, 172 of whom are in intensive care unit beds. Of 634 ICU beds, 51 are unoccupied, an availability rate of 8%. Two hundred forty-seven of 4,124 adult non-ICU beds are available, or 6%.

In the region that includes Linn and Benton counties, four adult ICU beds are unoccupied, or 5%, and four adult non-ICU beds are available, or 1%.

Vaccinations: OHA reported that 10,526 coronavirus vaccine doses were added to the state immunization registry on Feb. 3. There are now more than 3.1 million Oregonians who have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and more than 2.8 million who have completed a vaccine series. More than 1.4 million Oregonians have received a booster dose.

Nationally: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 331,810 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, raising the nationwide case total to nearly 76 million.

Tim Gruver covers the city of Albany and Linn County. He can be contacted at 541-812-6114 or Tim.Gruver@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @T_TimeForce.

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Woodville, AL (35768)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

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Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds light and variable.
Snap! Orlando's new exhibition, This Empty World, shows work by Nick Brandt featuring large photos taken in East Africa that comment on the destruction of habitats for animals and the ways that humans also suffer. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

A new exhibit at Snap! Orlando considers the decline of our natural world and the ways that humans also suffer through giant, detailed photos with elaborate sets.

This Empty World by London-born, California-based photographer Nick Brandt features 19 photos taken in East Africa that show wild animals facing habitat loss and the impact on people affected by the tide of progress.

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Brandts Orlando exhibit represents the shows East Coast premiere with works made by first photographing elephants, giraffes and hyenas in their natural habitat. Then the photographer crafted urban backgrounds and hired local people to show the encroachment of citylike environments on wild lands.

After taking a photo of the wild animal and capturing the set in the same locked-off frame, sometimes weeks apart, Brandt superimposed the images onto one another with similar lighting and atmosphere.

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I am a great believer in trying to keep everything as in-camera as possible. I think there is not just aesthetic integrity to doing that, but also emotional integrity, Brandt said. I was very deliberately selecting where there is a connection, an emotional similarity between human and animal  Both are victims of the destruction of the natural world.

The photographer made these images close to Amboseli National Park, which sits near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. Building the sets required dozens of artists and assistants, and sometimes hundreds of East Africans hired to stand in the frame. The Snap! exhibit displays some behind-the-scenes photos and processes to help viewers understand how the images came to be.

Brandts work has long revolved around the disappearing natural world as he champions environmental preservation through stunning visuals. In this particular series, he makes clear that the people shown arent the ones to blame for habitat destruction.

Once you see the expressions on the faces, and the in the prints in the exhibition are huge, you see that these people are also a very much not the aggressors, they are not the villains, he said. They are also swept along by this tide of progress.

"This Empty World at Snap! Orlando shows 19 photos by Nick Brandt, which examine the decline of the natural world and how humans are affected as well. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Meticulously crafting these frames became an obsession for Brandt once he formed the idea for This Empty World.

Once I get a concept, I dont have a choice. Even if I dont have the money to begin with  I have to go out and just do it, I have to scratch the itch, he said. Thats the way I am with photography and this need to express my feelings about what is happening to the planet.

Brandt chooses to use these photos and his Big Life Foundation, which is focused on preserving the wildlife and habitats in East Africa, to help imagine a better outlook for the natural world.

Things to Do Weekly A look at entertainment and sporting events in Orlando and around Central Florida. >

Its better to be angry and active than angry and passive, Brandt said. Even though the work looks quite bleak, I wouldnt be taking these photographs if I did not feel there was some kind of hope. The hope, even if its a compromised future, is nevertheless a future where we can still mitigate the damage.

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In choosing to bring this exhibit to Central Florida, Snap! Orlando founder and executive director Patrick Kahn noted the energy and relevance of this series.

We thought that this exhibition is very powerful and meaningful. People need to understand the effect of our civilization with climate change and discussions in that area, he said. With these monumental-sized photos, youre in the scene. You can appreciate every detail and feel the impact of the photo itself.

Ultimately, Brandt hopes this series of images leaves viewers with a sense they can be a part of the solution.

This Empty World considers that the planet we know will be so much poorer, so much more devoid of extraordinary beauty and wonder, and thus empty if we dont take necessary actions, Brandt said. Im a cog in an incremental wheel of change. However the viewer chooses, hopefully, to apply themselves, Ive been part of that catalyst to get them to engage in a more meaningful, actionable way.

If you go

This Empty World is on view at Snap! Orlando beginning with an opening reception 7-10 p.m. Feb. 4 at 420 East Church St. in Orlando. Timed-entry tickets are available with a suggested $10 donation. The works will be on display to the public 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday through April 2. For more information, visit snaporlando.com.

Find me @PConnPie on Twitter and Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun things, follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Braden Manning, Gettysburg baseball: Braden went 9-for-13 with 2 doubles, 2 triples and 7 RBI over 4 games. He also struck out 11 batters in a win over South Western.

Amy Anderson, Delone Catholic softball: Amy went 5-for-12 with 6 RBI, 3 runs scored and a triple over 3 games. She also struck out 17 batters and went 2-1 in those games.

Parker Sanders, Bermudian Springs Tennis: Parker won 3 matches on his way to a fourth-place finish in the YAIAA Class 2A Singles Tournament.

Andrew Koons, Fairfield baseball: Andrew went 5-for-11 with 8 RBI, 4 runs scored and 2 home runs over 3 games, including a grand slam. He was also the winning pitcher against Biglerville.

Ben Angstadt, Biglerville baseball: Ben went 8-for-17 with 7 RBI, 4 runs scored, a double and a home run over 4 games for the Canners.

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Envision Painting owner Peter Schnepp and his company recently were saluted by First Bank for its charitable endeavors.
TORONTO, Feb. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FuelPositive Corporation (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTCQB: NHHHF) (the Company) is informing its investors of unsanctioned, misleading and potentially manipulative stock promotion being conducted by unidentified third parties. The Company became aware of some misleading promotional material on February 3, 2022. The Company is not aware, however, of the full nature and content of the promotional activity, the extent of the dissemination, or who is behind it. The Company is actively investigating the matter.



There has been some misleading anonymous third-party promotion that has come to our attention. It is not sanctioned or sponsored by FuelPositive and the information should not be relied upon. It has not affected our trading activity, however we felt it was important to advise investors that it is going on. We are taking this action to protect our reputation and to prevent investors from being misled, said Ian Clifford, FuelPositive Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair.

FuelPositive has an ongoing agreement for investor relations services with RB Milestone Group, which has been identified on the Companys website (https://fuelpositive.com/leadership/) and is registered with the TSX Venture Exchange and the OTCQB.

We are not saying that all third-party content should not be relied upon, as there is positive and balanced media coverage that we want to encourage. But we cannot assure the accuracy of information published by third parties. Investors should only make decisions based on the advice of registered advisors, added Clifford.

About FuelPositive

FuelPositive is a Canadian growth-stage technology company committed to providing commercially viable and sustainable cradle to cradle clean technology solutions, including green ammonia (NH3), for use across a broad spectrum of industries and applications.

By focusing on technologies that are clean and economically advantageous/realizable, the Company aims to change the course of climate change through practical solutions that can be implemented now.

The Companys core technology, a modular and scalable green ammonia system, takes air, water and sustainable electricity and synthesizes it into a non-polluting chemical for multiple applications, including fertilizer for farming, fuel for internal combustion engines and a solution for grid storage. Green ammonia is being considered as a replacement for fossil fuels and as a key enabler of the hydrogen economy.

The Companys most recent corporate update, presented in November, can be found here.

Cautionary Statement

Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. 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 Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) that are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this release about future plans and objectives of the Company, including the expected expenditures of the proceeds of the private placement, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time they were made and involve 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 such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company 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 forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of providing information about managements expectations and plans relating to the future. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable law.

For Media or Investor enquiries, please contact:

Ian Clifford

Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair

mailbox1@fuelpositive.com

www.fuelpositive.com
Medea (Olga Intriago) shares a moment with her young sons, strikingly depicted with puppets created by Breanna Roberts for the Renaissance Theatre's production of "La Medea." (Ashleigh Ann Gardner / Courtesy photo)

Onstage at the Renaissance Theatre in Orlando, Max Pinskys La Medea joins the string of adaptations, interpretations and other homages to Euripides Greek tragedy of 2,400 years ago.

Director Edmarie Montes oversees a gorgeously atmospheric production that, even if the plays subject matter leaves you cold, is worth seeing to appreciate the theatricality.

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Theres a sensuality to the production at the Ren, but its sensuality with an icy current running through it  appropriate for a love story so twisted it leads to the unthinkable.

"La Medea" is set in a hoodoo shop, designed by Rachel Del Valle Lupo at the Renaissance Theatre in Orlando. (Ashleigh Ann Gardner / Courtesy photo)

Burning incense sends wafts of smoke in the air as it perfumes the room under suspended candles. For those who know the story  is it a spoiler if the tale has been around more than 2 millenniums?  Rachel Del Valle Lupos scenic design also gives an air of the macabre to simple childhood toys: A plastic dump truck, a stuffed monkey.

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Philip Lupos lighting suggests the otherworldliness of witchcraft, with striking moments of the cold light of truth.

Hanging over it all is Cesar de la Rosas fascinating music. Haunting, pleading, desperate, the music is a character all its own  a recurring portent of the next plot development.

A cry from Cecilia (Dani Montalvo) reflects the tragic nature of "La Medea," onstage at the Renaissance Theatre in Orlando. (Ashleigh Ann Gardner / Courtesy photo)

Things to Do Weekly A look at entertainment and sporting events in Orlando and around Central Florida. >

If this all sounds a little much, well, welcome to Greek tragedy. In the original Medea, the title character is a wronged wife who achieves her revenge by poisoning philandering husband Jasons new love, a princess, as well as the womans royal father. She then murders the two young sons she and Jason share as a way to further punish him before escaping with the help of the gods.

Pinsky has set the story in a modern city and made Medea a bilingual immigrant from the Dominican Republic and a powerful practitioner of hoodoo. Jason is still a social climber  but now he has left Medea for the daughter of the borough president.

Through his infidelity, Jason (Bryan Lopez) sets the events of "La Medea" in motion. The drama, adapted by Max Pinsky from the Greek tragedy "Medea," is being presented at the Renaissance Theatre. (Ashleigh Ann Gardner / Courtesy photo)

The assistants in Medeas hoodoo shop serve as the Greek chorus  and they are the ones who lend their voices to the chanting, singing and disquieting oohing that bring de la Rosas music to life. Two of the chorus, Joseph Quintana and Adonis Perez, also bring Medeas sons to life by manipulating Breanna Roberts entrancing puppets. Somehow the combination of the grown mens vocalizations  childrens laughter and cries  juxtaposed with the puppets  half stick figures, half rag dolls  is more affecting than real-life juvenile actors could be.

Pinskys story, delivered in English and Spanish, has some tonal issues that Montes cant quite overcome. The formality of the Greek-style prose jars against Jasons modern vibe. And when you have a contemporary setting, it can demand a more contemporary realism: No one would ever believe Medeas sudden (and fake) change of heart as presented. A modern audience, too, would like to see Medea more fully explain her rationale for doing the dirty deed.

In the title role, Olga Intriago has a burning intensity that never lets up. This is a single-minded woman, and Intriago, seething even when outwardly placid, never forgets that. Danielle Montalvo makes an appealingly down-to-earth confidante to Medea. Bryan Lopez, as Jason, and Esmeralda Nazario, as his lover, drift toward opposite ends of the tonal spectrum: Lopez feels like a real city slicker; Nazario is almost comically artificial as his snobby paramour.

Olga Intriago plays the title character in "La Medea" at the Renaissance Theatre. (Ashleigh Ann Gardner / Courtesy photo)

Playwright Pinsky uses this Medea to also flirt with serious ideas about identity and assimilation. English is described as the language of money and power  and its used as a weapon. Speak English! wails Jasons new squeeze when Medea berates her in Spanish for forgetting her roots. An enigmatic character, also Dominican, downplays her heritage to maintain a friendship with a shallow white woman. It feels like a missed opportunity to have not pursued these ideas further, but what is explored onstage is full of those theatrical treats.

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La Medea

Length: 90 minutes, no intermission

90 minutes, no intermission Where: Renaissance Theatre, 415 E. Princeton St. in Orlando

Renaissance Theatre, 415 E. Princeton St. in Orlando When: Through Feb. 13

Through Feb. 13 Cost: $28.76

$28.76 Info: rentheatre.com

Find me on Twitter @matt_on_arts, facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Want more theater and arts news and reviews? Go to orlandosentinel.com/arts. For more fun things, follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
CHICAGO, Feb. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Health and habits play a large role in calculating life insurance premiums, so some insurance companies require a medical exam before they issue many types of policies. This means smokers tend to pay more in premiums, since the medical exam will detect that they use nicotine.

Luckily, smokers also have options that don't require a medical exam. These types of policies can be great life insurance for smokers because the insurer won't factor smoking into the premiums. Here are several life insurance policies that do and don't require a medical exam to help smokers pick the best policy type for their needs.

Life insurance policies that require a medical exam

The following types of policies generally require a medical exam, which could cause a smoker's premiums to be higher. But these types of plans also come with other benefits that can make the extra cost worth it:

Term life insurance

Term life insurance lasts for a specified timeframe, such as 10 or 20 years. If the coverage expires before the policyholder dies, they will have to get another policy  usually at a higher rate  to continue coverage.

Whole life insurance

Whole life insurance lasts for a lifetime. It also has a cash value growth component that grows at a fixed rate and can be withdrawn from or borrowed against. Keep in mind that whole life policies require medical exams and cost even more than term life insurance. So, these can get expensive for smokers.

Universal life insurance

Universal life insurance also lasts for a lifetime and comes with adjustable premiums and death benefits. Policyholders can withdraw from or borrow against the cash value if needed.

Indexed universal life insurance

Indexed universal life insurance is the same as universal life insurance, but the cash value is invested in a fund tracking a stock market index. This type of life insurance usually offers a minimum guaranteed rate for cash value.

Life insurance policies that don't require a medical exam

Smokers that want life insurance coverage without taking a medical exam should consider the following policies:

Guaranteed issue life insurance

Guaranteed issue life insurance is a small whole life policy that insurers will issue without requiring a medical exam. Many guaranteed issue policies have a waiting period of 2 to 3 years until the policy is fully in force. If the policyholder dies during the waiting period, the insurer won't pay the death benefit to their beneficiaries. Instead, the insurer will return the premiums paid plus interest. This will likely be smaller than the death benefit, but the beneficiaries will still get some financial support.

Final expense insurance

Final expense insurance is a type of small whole life policy designed to cover end-of-life costs, such as hospital bills and funeral expenses. It helps protect loved ones financially and avoid excess debt while ensuring the policyholder's final wishes are met. The death benefit is smaller than traditional policies, so there's no medical exam and premiums are cheaper.

The bottom line

Smokers can still get traditional forms of life insurance, but the medical exam could make their premiums quite expensive. Fortunately, smokers who don't need as much coverage can get life insurance with no medical exam. Guaranteed issue life insurance is useful for any purpose, as long as the policyholder lives through the waiting period. Smokers can also get final expense insurance with no exam if their beneficiaries simply need help paying for the funeral and medical bills. All that said, smokers should carefully consider how much coverage they need to determine if life insurance with no medical exam is the right type of policy for them.

For all media inquiries, contact:

Laura Zimmerman, Chief Marketing Officer

laura.zimmerman@fidelitylife.com, (312) 288-0068

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Feb. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vigil Health Solutions Inc. (Vigil or the Company) (TSXV: VGL) announced today that further to the previously announced statutory plan of arrangement (the Arrangement) involving the Company and ABLOY Canada Inc. (the Purchaser), a subsidiary within the ASSA ABLOY Group, an interim order of the British Columbia Supreme Court (the Interim Order) has been obtained. The Interim Order provides for, among other things, the calling and the holding of a special meeting (the Meeting) of holders of common shares in the capital of Vigil (Common Shares) and holders of options to purchase Common Shares (collectively, the Securityholders) to consider and approve the Arrangement. The granting of the Interim Order was a condition to the completion of the Arrangement.



The Meeting is scheduled to be held at 11:00 a.m. (Vancouver time) on March 16, 2022 at The Vancouver Island Technology Park, 2201-4464 Markham Street, Victoria, British Columbia. The record date for the Meeting is January 27, 2022. The notice of special meeting and management information circular (the Circular) relating the Meeting will be mailed to Securityholders in due course. A copy of the Circular will also be available under Vigils profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All Securityholders are urged to read the Circular once it is available.

If approved by Securityholders, and subject to the final court approval and satisfaction or waiver of conditions to closing, including receipt of the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV), the Purchaser will acquire all of the Common Shares of Vigil at a price of $0.67 per share in cash. The total equity value of the transaction is approximately $12.55 million. The transaction is expected to close on or around April 1, 2022. The Common Shares will thereafter be delisted from the TSXV.

About ASSA ABLOY

The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global leader in access solutions. The Group operates worldwide with 48,000 employees and sales of SEK 88 billion. The Group has leading positions in areas such as efficient door openings, trusted identities and entrance automation. ASSA ABLOY's innovations enable safe, secure and convenient access to physical and digital places. Every day, ASSA ABLOY help billions of people experience a more open world.

About Vigil

Vigil offers a proprietary technology platform combining software and hardware to provide comprehensive solutions to the expanding seniors housing market. Vigil has established a growing presence in North America and an international reputation for being on the leading edge of systems design and integration. Vigils objective is to offer solutions for the full continuum of care. Vigils product range includes the innovative wireless Vitality Care System featuring discreet 'mini pendants', a nurse call system, mobile fall and incontinence monitoring, resident check in and the award-winning Vigil Memory Care System. Learn more about the company at www.vigil.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). The words "anticipates", "believes", "budgets", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "may", "might", "plans", "projects", "schedule", "should", "will", "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements about: the potential acquisition of Vigil by the Purchaser in an all-cash transaction; the special meeting of Securityholders; the expected timing of closing; the expected timing of the mailing of materials for the Meeting and the holding of the Meeting; and the delisting of the Common Shares from the TSXV.

With respect to the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, Vigil has made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the Purchasers ability to finance the transaction; and the ability of Vigil and the Purchaser to satisfy all of the closing conditions to complete the transaction. Readers are cautioned that the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in any forward-looking statements and underlying assumptions may not be achieved and that they should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations, and assumptions expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements as a result of numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those relating to: the possibility of not satisfying all of the closing conditions to complete the transaction; the possibility that Vigil's securityholders do not approve the transaction at Meeting; the possibility that the applicable court does not approve the Transaction; the possibility that all required regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSXV are not received; competition from other healthcare technology companies; and economic and capital market conditions.

For a more thorough discussion of the risks associated with Vigil's business, see the "Risks and Uncertainties" section in Vigil's managements discussion and analysis for the year ended March 31, 2021, filed with the securities regulators in Canada at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actual results or events to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and Vigil undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof.

For further information please contact:

Troy Griffiths, President and CEO

Tel: (250) 383-6900

Fax: (250) 383-6999

Email: information@vigil.com



Vigil Health Solutions Inc.

2102-4464 Markham Street

Victoria, BC

V8Z 7X8

Website: www.vigil.com





Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW) investors with significant losses to submit your losses now.



Class Period: Aug. 11, 2021  Nov. 14, 2021

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Feb. 15, 2022

Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/RDW

Contact An Attorney Now:

RDW@hbsslaw.com

844-916-0895

Redwire Corporation (RDW) Securities Class Action:

The action arises out of Redwires allegedly false and misleading financial statements leading up to its merger with Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. (GPAC) in early Sept. 2021.

Specifically, Defendants misrepresented and failed to disclose: (1) that there were accounting issues at one of Redwires subunits; (2) that, as a result, there were additional material weaknesses in Redwires internal control over financial reporting; and (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

The truth began to emerge on Nov. 10, 2021, when the company announced it would not report its Q3 2021 financial results as expected that day. Redwire explained that an employee raised concerns about potential accounting issues with a business unit 5 days before and that its audit committee was investigating the employees claims.

Then, on Nov. 15, 2021, before the market opened, Redwire announced that due to the pending investigation, the Company has not been able to finalize its financial statements [for the period ended Sep. 30, 2021] or its assessment of the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures and any impact on the report.

These disclosures drove the price of Redwire shares sharply lower.

Were focused on investors losses and proving Redwire manipulated its financial results to deceive investors, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you invested in Redwire and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firms investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Redwire 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 RDW@hbsslaw.com.
Gloucester, MA (01930)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers this afternoon. High 51F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Occasional rain. Low 43F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Since she was little, Noemi Pinilla Alonso was interested in science, mathematics and looking at the sky beyond the stars.

Now, the planetary scientist at the Florida Space Institute based at the University of Central Florida says shes living the dream of being one of the few hundred scientists to have the opportunity to access the information provided by the James Webb Space Telescope.

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Scientists will use the telescope, named after the NASA administrator who designed the Apollo program and was a strong supporter of space science, to find new galaxies, explore star formation and better understand the physical and chemical properties of stars and planetary systems, including our own.

Pinilla Alonsos proposal was one of more than 1,100 proposals from 44 countries that were submitted to the Telescope Assignment Committee in late 2020 to study data obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb).

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Only 286 proposals evaluated by a committee of 200 astronomical experts from around the world were chosen, and Pinilla Alonso is the principal investigator of one project and co-investigator of two others that will explore trans-Neptunian objects, the moons of Pluto and Uranus. A total of 6,031 hours of telescope time were approved from the more than 24,400 hours requested and Pinilla Alonso will be in charge of 100 of these.

Noemi Pinilla Alonso is in charge of a group investigating the Webb. they have a total of 100 hours. (UCF)

Pinilla Alonso studied in her native Spain until she finished her doctoral thesis specializing in astrophysics. She also did a masters degree in the Canary Islands in one of the best observatories in the northern hemisphere. After the masters degree I did a doctorate in the field in which I have continued working since then, which is the study of the surface properties of the icy bodies that exist in the solar system. Being able to expand her research on these topics that she is so passionate about is for her an honor.

Pinilla Alonso and her team will work on three studies, including an ambitious project to study 59 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and centaurs in our solar system.

This orbiting infrared observatory will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA explained.

Pinilla Alonso points out that, unlike other telescopes and studies, with this one we are going to have a longer wavelength coverage and a much more advanced sensitivity.

The longer wavelengths allow Webb to look much closer to the beginning of time and look for the unobserved formation of the first galaxies, as well as peer into dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming.

This is a unique opportunity to get a never-before-seen insight into the TNOs and the secrets they hide, she said, excitedly.

This artists conception of the James Webb Space Telescope in space shows all its major elements fully deployed. The telescope was folded to fit into its launch vehicle, and then was slowly unfolded over the course of two weeks after launch. (NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierre)

The Webb is considered the largest and most complex space science telescope in the world. The fact that we have the opportunity to study the data and the findings of this telescope is simply a triumph for science, said Pinilla Alonso.

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It is designed to look back more than 13.5 billion years to capture infrared light from celestial objects at higher resolution, and to study our own solar system and distant worlds.

Gregory L. Robinson, Webb Program Manager at NASA Headquarters, noted that this is the first time that a NASA-led mission has attempted to complete a complex sequence to deploy an observatory in space, a remarkable feat for our team, NASA and the world.

Pinilla Alonso said this is not only a big win for her team, but for generations to come.

It is quite exciting to work with so many experts at a global level in which there are people with all kinds of backgrounds and expertise. Even this will help improve our Ph.D program since now our students are going to have the training of this great telescope from the beginning, she said.

For her, this is like a countdown to the beginning of humanity as we know it. With the Webb we have in our hands such a powerful tool to explore the universe.

The Webb, which was launched Dec. 25, reached its orbit around the second Lagrange point, commonly known as L2, nearly 1 million miles from Earth, its final orbital position.

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According to NASA, the space telescope will be able to see what the universe looked like about a quarter of a billion years (possibly up to 100 million years) after the Big Bang. Sometimes called JWST, the telescope will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang with our own Milky Way.

Pinilla Alonso emphasizes that its importance lies in the fact that these studies help to understand and observe the era in the history of our universe when galaxies began to form.

Noemi Pinilla Alonso says working along her peers on this proyect is "a dream come true." (Courtesy)

This orbiting infrared observatory will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage and improved sensitivity.

Pinilla Alonso said that there is much to learn and the Webb will give us the answer to what we have not been able to see in high resolution. The Webb could tell if some Earth-like planets have enough water to have oceans. We will be able to search about the history of the acceleration of the universe. Webb is going to show us a lot of things never before seen by any other telescope.

What we get out of these 100 hours could transform our understanding of the earliest stages in the formation of the universe, of the nature of the seeds of life on habitable planets, and to complete the picture of the birth and growth of solar systems, including the ours.
SHIPSHEWANA [mdash] Lorene Miller, 69, Shipshewana, died at 7:15 p.m., Saturday, April 30, at Life Care Center, LaGrange. She was born Sept. 8, 1952 in LaGrange, to Lester and Mary Alice (Miller) Hochstetler. On Oct. 24, 1974 in Shipshewana, she married Chris B. Miller, he survives. Survivor
Florida Atlantic University will soon be the site of a free preschool for low-income families  courtesy of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The preschool, run by the Bezos Academy, will open this fall at FAUs Boca Raton campus as part of a 10-year lease agreement.

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FAU is the first university in Florida to partner with the nonprofit. The Boca Raton campus will be the fourth Bezos Academy preschool in the state and the 20th in the United States. The academy has additional Florida locations planned in Orlando and Kissimmee.

Bezos is among the richest in the world, with a net worth of more than $183 billion, according to Forbes. Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, have made significant philanthropic donations over the past few years.

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In 2020, Scott donated almost $4.2 billion to charities across the world, including many in South Florida such as Meals on Wheels South Florida in Plantation; United Way of Broward County; United Way of Miami-Dade; United Way of Palm Beach County; the YWCA South Florida and Easterseals South Florida.

At FAU, the Bezos Academy preschool will have six classrooms and offer year-round programming.

[ RELATED: MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, donates millions to charities in South Florida ]

Its fitting that we are the first state university in Florida to host Bezos Academy since it directly aligns with FAUs long history of providing the whole community access to an excellent education, said Joel Herbst, assistant dean for FAU PK-12 Schools and Educational Programs, in a news release.

The school will be open for children between the ages of 3 and 5 from families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level. According to Health and Human Services, the poverty level is $23,000 for a family of three, meaning a family making up to $92,000 would be eligible.

Eligible students will be selected by a lottery process.

The first Bezos Academy school opened in Des Moises, Washington, in 2020, making the first of nine schools in the state. The academy also has seven schools in Texas.

We share their belief that everyone deserves access to a great education, president of the Bezos Academy Mike George said in a news release. We look forward to helping members of the community FAU serves pursue their dreams with the knowledge their children are learning in a safe, warm, and welcoming environment at no cost.
BMW of North America and Electrify America announced an agreement to provide 2022 BMW EV customers with two years of 30-minute complimentary charging sessions at all Electrify America public charging stations, from the date of vehicle purchase.





The program will launch with the sale of the new all-electric BMW iX xDrive50, BMW i4 eDrive40 and BMW i4 M50 in March. With no additional cost to the vehicles purchase price, customers will immediately have access to complimentary charging at more than 3,000 Electrify America chargers across the US. Additional models and benefits will be announced.

Utilizing in-car navigation, the myBMWapp or the Electrify America app, BMW drivers will be able to locate nearby charging stations, verify charger availability, and navigate to the charging stations.

Electrify America operates the largest open network of ultra-fast chargers in the US. The companys ultra-fast chargers are capable of delivering from 150 kilowatts (kW) to 350kWthe fastest charging speed available today. This can allow BMW iX and BMW i4 drivers to charge up to between 90 and 108 miles in as little as 10 minutes, respectively.

Electrify America has 800 EV charging stations and about 3,500 individual ultra-fast chargers open or with construction completed in the US. By 2026, the company plans to more than double its infrastructure with 1,800 charging stations comprising 10,000 individual chargers in the United States and Canada.

Electrify Commercial and NYPA. Separately, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) in collaboration with Electrify Commercial announced the opening of a new ultra-fast charging station in the Town of Plattsburgh in New Yorks North Country. The four new parking lot chargers mark one of the northernmost sites in New York State for NYPAs EVolve NY high-speed charging network and offer a fast, convenient EV charging stop between Albany and Canada. NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the nation.





The Plattsburgh site has three 150 kilowatt (kW) ultra-fast DC chargers and one 350kW charger, which is operated and maintained by Electrify Commercial.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), Helicopter Association International (HAI), National Air Transportation Association (NATA), and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), on behalf of the Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, urged the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide greater opportunities for the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as the agency updates the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

The coalition said that with the right changes, the RFS can go a long way to helping the US meet the Biden administrations SAF Grand Challenge goal of bringing 3 billion gallons of SAF to the market per year by 2030.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan in response to a request for comments on a proposed RFS rule, the Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel called on the agency to expand the list of eligible feedstocks, which would make new sources available for biofuels and SAF; approve new process technologies and biointermediate opportunities; and ensure that the volumes for advanced biofuels are set at levels that will allow greater supplies of those fuels.

We hope EPA and this Administration recognize the opportunity for SAF moving forward as part of the RFS program. The growth in SAF will not happen if EPA does not responsibly improve the regulatory structure of the RFSby finalizing biointermediates, by updating the opportunities for both feedstocks and technologies, and by increasing the RVO volumes accordingly, the coalition wrote in its comments.

EPA should ensure that municipal solid waste and woody biomass are included in the definition of biointermediates, according to the coalition. On the volumes, the coalition asked EPA to ensure that cellulosic, non-cellulosic advanced and biomass-based diesel are set at levels that will increase the volumes of each of these fuels to help support the SAF market.

Congress created the RFS program in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and later expanded it in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to reduce the nations reliance on imported oil and greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to working with EPA, the coalition is collaborating with the White House, US Department of Transportation (DOT), US Department of Energy (DOE), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the SAF Grand Challenge. The coalition will continue its efforts to educate key government, industry, and community stakeholders on the value of SAF in achieving shared environmental goals.

The Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a coalition of international aviation organizations committed to expanding the availability and use of sustainable aviation fuel, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. The coalition works with a wide range of stakeholders to advance the proliferation of alternative fuels at all the logical touchpoints: the manufacturers, the ground handlers, fuel and SAF suppliers, and the operators, at the regional, national, and international levels.
A white house on Bruton Boulevard served as a sanctuary for women to give birth for decades when much of west Orlando and surrounding Central Florida was lined with orange groves.

Mary Jane Johnson lived there and delivered about 1,500 babies  including four of her eight children  as a midwife in the Central Florida area, including many in the west Orlando home. She was 80 years old when she died in 1985, her grandson said.

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At one point in the 1970s, she was the lone remaining licensed midwife in Orange County, and a necessity for Black women who couldnt give birth in hospitals due to segregation, and others without the financial means to do so.

A lot of these babies she didnt get any money for because the people just could not afford it, said Arthermon Johnson Jr., one of her sons. We had one kid who was born and his mother was not able to pay, so when he got grown, he came back and paid her for the delivery.

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The Orlando City Council is expected to vote on Monday to designate the now boarded-up home and property as historic, which protects it from being demolished and redeveloped.

The Johnson family still owns the home, which now sits on a developed block near Washington Shores. Arthermon Johnson, 83, said the family found herbs on the property that Mary Jane Johnson used in her work decades prior.

Much has changed in that time.

Family members recall orange groves and woods surrounding the home, which was one of the only ones around when Mary Jane Johnson was delivering babies.

The block now has churches, a city Neighborhood Center and is surrounded by single-family homes.

With the historical designation, Arthermon Johnson Jr. said the family was pursuing grants to fix it up and was considering making it a community center of some kind dedicated to midwifery.

Supervising births, or midwifery, ran in Mary Jane Johnsons family, according to a 1975 Orlando Sentinel story. Her mother and grandmother were midwives, and she worked well into her 70s delivering babies throughout Orlando, Oviedo, Kissimmee and other surrounding areas.

It was handed down from god, she said at the time. As long as God gives me strength, I dont give up Gods work.

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The profile states she was the last licensed midwife in Orange County and one of just 57 statewide. Decades prior, about 4,000 midwives worked in Florida, according to the Midwives Association of Florida.

In the 1800s, most births were supervised by midwives, according to an article by Dr. Dominique Tobbell, a University of Virginia professor, while in the 1900s hospitals and physicians became responsible for more births, and midwives attended fewer births.

Mary Jane Johnson stopped attending school after the third grade, and eventually had seven sons and a daughter of her own. But she told the paper in the 1970s she was proud that six of her children went on to graduate from college, and several had careers in education. Her husband was a janitor at Jones High School.

I was promoted to fourth grade but never got to go. I never got to read or write well, but we sent the children to college, she said at the time.

Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. >

The story details the home, including a second-story ward for mothers with three beds, a television and ashtrays.

Growing up, people always said they were our cousins and they said that because my grandma birthed their parents, or they called her Granny, said Ralph Johnson, one of Mary Janes grandchildren who lives in Orlando.

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City officials havent been able to pin down the precise year the home was constructed, though have estimated it was built in 1925, according to the application to the citys Historic Preservation Board. The application states, Ideally, the property could be used as an informational park or museum to the mid-wife profession through an adaptive reuse rehabilitation.

There is also a lack of representation for preserving the history and providing historic designation for the west side of Orlando, African-American heritage sites, and those that focus on women and their contributions to society, the application for historic preservation reads.

Ralph Johnson said the house had once fallen victim to vandalism but the family was working on bring(ing) it back to its original state to honor her the best way possible.

If you picture your grandmother, she was it times 50, Ralph Johnson said. Im tickled pink this process is moving forward as well.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com
The US Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) is urging congressional leadership to continue working on tire policy and related transportation sustainability initiatives. While the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes several provisions that would advance scrap tire markets and improve the resiliency of the nations infrastructure, USTMA has identified six specific policy proposalsranging from tax incentives to additional research dollars and procurement commitmentsthat will strengthen the American tire manufacturing industry and help the country develop roadways with the future in mind.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to truly transform the countrys infrastructure by focusing on our shared priorities. The tire industry is ready to lead, with innovative technologies that not only improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles but also enhance the performance and durability of our roadways. By embracing these new technologies, we can create highly resilient infrastructure capable of carrying our nation well into the future, while bolstering the American tire manufacturing industry and propelling the United States as a leader in tire technology research. Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and CEO

The six policy areas identified in the letter to Congressional leadership by USTMA and its members, representing 12 of the worlds largest tire manufacturers, include:
Greene County historian Tim Massey is an award-winning writer for Civil War News with more than 40 photos featured on various magazine covers. He has served on various boards and held positions in several historic organizations. He can be reached at horses319@comcast.net.
Police are seeing a rise in mail theft across Fairfield County.

Berlin, Fairfield, Westport and Greenwich police departments recently announced the increase. Some thieves will commit check washing, where they steal paper checks from mailboxes and alter the amount and recipient before depositing the money into their account, police said.

Greenwich Police Department said the theft is occurring in Fairfield and Westchester counties, and home mailboxes are the target.

Capt. Mark Zuccerella said Greenwich has seen these reports surge since July 2021.

The police department has made a few arrests, but there are logistical issues that have made it difficult, Zuccerella said.

For one, the time between the actual theft and when the victim notices can be weeks, he said. This causes issues with our crime analysis.

In the Greenwich arrests, police have discovered that most suspects are from New York even though the theft affects Connecticut residents. This means the police department has to engage with multiple agencies, including both the New York and Connecticut postal inspectors, banks and police departments, Zuccerella said.

Its also tricky for police to determine where the theft actually occurred  from an outgoing mailbox in Greenwich or where the mail was delivered, Zuccerella said.

Incidents have been reported regarding outgoing mail waiting to be picked up from home and public mailboxes, as well as mail that was delivered to peoples home mailboxes.

These all complicate the issue, he said.

Though investigations are taking place, Zuccerella said the police department is trying to disrupt the thieves and community engagement has proven successful with this type of crime in the past.

Police are advising residents to do everything they can to prevent mail theft, including collecting their mail as soon as possible, going paperless and depositing outgoing mail inside a local post office instead of an outdoor mailbox.

Police also suggest residents require signatures for packages, install cameras or a video doorbell and put a hold to their mail while on vacation. Residents can also use the informed delivery service to receive notifications about what is delivered.

Anyone who witnesses these crimes, or believes they are a victim, should contact their local police department.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
PRESCHOOL

The Gifted and Talented Education program will be accepting applications for the pre-kindergarten program for SY 2022-2023 starting Feb. 7. GATE offers physical, social, emotional and intellectual activities and curriculums for students. To qualify, your child must:

Be a resident of Guam.

Be 4 years old by July 31, born between Aug. 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018.

Be able to interact with others without a parent or guardian.

Participate in the visual-motor integration test, vocabulary test and the visual-closure test and score a minimum of 130 on any of the tests or obtain an overall minimum score of 350.

Applications are available at tinyurl.com/yckwr9ft or any of the following GATE pre-kindergarten school sites:

Astumbo Elementary School.

B.P. Carbullido Elementary School.

Harry S. Truman Elementary School.

Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School.

M. U. Lujan Elementary School.

Machananao Elementary School.

H.B. Price Elementary School.

Along with the application, a copy of your childs birth certificate is required. If a legal guardian is listed on the application, guardianship documents must be included.

Applications can be submitted at gate@gdoe.net or at GDOEs central office in Tiyan. Deadline to submit is April 15. Testings will be done between March 1 and May 13. Rescheduling of testing is not guaranteed. For more information, contact the Division of Curriculum and Instruction at 671-300-1635 or at gate@gdoe.net.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Academy of Our Lady of Guam

Business office is open 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Payments may also be made at www.aolg.edu.gu electronically or with PayPal. You may also email the school inquiries at acad@aolg.edu.gu.

February schedule:

Feb. 18: Dismissal 1:35 p.m.

Feb. 21: Presidents Day holiday, no classes.

Feb. 25: Dismissal 1:35 p.m.. Professional Development 1:45 p.m.

Calling all AOLG alumnae: Wed love to hear from you! Register online at www.aolg.edu.gu under Alumnae/Alumnae Registration.

For a prayer request for living or deceased loved ones, complete the prayer request form at www.aolg.edu.gu under Alumnae/Prayer Request or call 671-477-8203.

SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS

Bank of Guam LIFE Scholarship

Full-time students at Guam Community College and University of Guam can apply for a $2,500 LIFE scholarship from the Bank of Guam. Two students will be awarded the scholarship. Applicants must submit a project proposal and video, and undergo an interview. Other criteria include having a minimum of 24 completed credits attending the same institution for two consecutive semesters. More details, including an application packet, are at bit.ly/3H0Ng5D. Deadline to apply is Feb. 28.

SAME Guam Post Charlie Corn Scholarship

The Society of American Military Engineers Guam Post sponsors this one-year scholarship for students interested in obtaining a bachelors or advanced degree in engineering or architecture. The following are available:

A $3,500 scholarship for students who will be attending their first or second year in an engineering or architecture program at a college or university approved by the Guam Post.

A 5,000 scholarship for students in an upper level engineering or architecture program approved by the Guam Post

Permanent residents of Guam, Northern Marianas, Federated States of Micronesia or Palau can apply. Dependents of active duty or reserve military personnel also from those islands can apply.

Applicants must show a sincere interest in obtaining an engineering or architecture undergraduate degree and returning to their island to start their career.

Applicants must submit an application, essay, letters of recommendation, school transcript, standard achievement test results, latest grades, and upcoming class schedule. For more information and to download an application, go to bit.ly/3H2zlMa. Deadline to apply is 4 p.m. Feb. 25.

UOG Cares Emergency Grant

University of Guam students can get up to $3,000 through the a grant funded by the federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III.

The UOG Cares Emergency Grant provides students with pandemic-related financial assistance on top of the third round of direct aid, which will be distributed to eligible UOG students this semester  in amounts up to $700 per student.

Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. Feb. 25, or until all funds have been awarded.

Eligibility requirements:

Students enrolled full-time or part-time at the University of Guam between March 13, 2020, to now.

Demonstrate need and financial hardship.

To apply for the UOG Cares Emergency Grant and for more information, visit: https://url.uog.edu/caresgrant2022. For questions, email: heerf@triton.uog.edu.
Kylie Taitano would be the first Filipina-CHamoru woman in Congress if she wins the congressional race in Californias 50th district.

Although one of two opponents on the Democrat ticket include incumbent Scott Peters, she feels she has a good shot at winning. Thats because the 50th district was redrawn after the 2020 Census, tilting the area toward a more progressive constituency.

Although Ill be elected to represent the people in my San Diego district, my job as a congresswoman will be to create laws that will impact the entire nation, including our territories, Taitano said.

I will be able to lend my voice and advocate for Guam on national issues, she continued. I cant do this alone. I need the help of my community within San Diego, on Guam and beyond, to help us get to Washington.

Because she is not taking a penny from corporations or lobbyists, she is counting on everyday working people to support her on her campaign  whether thats through making a donation in any amount, volunteering their time to knock on doors or making phone calls and sending text messages to constituents. But the most important support comes from a vote on election day.

Guam roots

The 29-year-old was born on Guam and is the daughter of Louvie and Edward Taitano. Her Filipino grandparents are Luis and Vilma Benitez from Latte Heights, and her CHamoru grandparents are John Lloyd Salas Taitano and Taffy Quintanilla Taitano from Yigo.

She attended Trinity Christian School for pre-K and kindergarten, then moved to Wettengel Elementary School. In 2003, she moved to Murrieta, California, and graduated from Vista Murrieta High School in 2007.

After graduating in 2014 with a computer science degree from the University of California, San Diego, she entered the technology industry. She has been a software engineer at Intuit and a co-founder of Code With Her, a nonprofit organization that provides coding experience to students in California and other states. Its main mission is to increase diversity in the industry.

Her platform

One of her goals is to address the climate crisis and support the Green New Deal, a decade-long plan that transitions the United States to clean and renewable energy by 2050.

The issue is close to her heart as a former Guam resident who grew up with the challenges of devastating typhoons that struck the island.

After Typhoon Pongsona in 2002, the island did not have power for months and her family suffered since her mother was an elementary school teacher who did not get paid for awhile as the island struggled to recover.

Shortly after, her family moved to San Diego where her father got an accounting job and her mother continued with her teaching career.

Typhoons are just going to be more disastrous and more impactful to the lives of people in the islands, and all that is going to be due to climate change, Taitano said. We definitely need bold change now.

Health care

Aside from climate change, Kylie Taitano also plans to work on health care issues if elected.

She recalls that her grandfather would travel to California for medical needs because of the lack of medical resources and specialists on the island.

We all deserve to have access to equitable health care, she said. Its a shame that we live in a society where people have to choose whether, Am I going to pay the bills? Or, can I go to the doctor?

For inspiration she looks to other nations, such as South Korea, the United Kingdom and Canada  places that have government-subsidized health care. One of her goals is to enact Medicare for everyone.

Cost of education

Kylie Taitano also is an advocate for equal access to education and will work toward free tuition for students from pre-K to beyond high school.

Education is something that can unlock a world of possibilities for us, especially for us growing up on the island, where there are only a few right types of jobs that you could do on Guam, she said.

As a woman running for Congress, Taitano hopes to inspire other women from the Pacific to take leadership roles in politics.

The reason why I am so wholeheartedly behind all of these policies is because I am CHamoru, and I really take the word inafa maolek to heart when I think about what I fight for, she said. Be inspired by our culture and heritage to make change, because I know I am.
Vibes Justine Xu and Kasey Xu took first place in violin and piano, respectively, in the Guam Symphony Societys 2022 Young Artists Competition.

Open to musicians ages 6 to 21, the competition took place Jan. 26 and 27 at the University of Guam Fine Arts Theater. A panel of judges evaluated musicians in elementary, junior and senior divisions according to grade levels.

I was extremely happy and grateful that my hard work and commitment paid off, said Kasey Xu, who is not related to Justine Xu. Both are juniors at St. Johns School who competed in the senior division in their categories.

Kasey Xu had been practicing her piece, Liszts Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F minor, for about a year, she said. I prepared for the competition by running through my piece multiple times and playing it at a slow tempo to work on specific techniques.

This year is the third year in a row that she has taken top honors in the music competition. A pianist for about a decade, she has won other competitions such as the Tumon Bay Music Festival and the Chopin Plus Online International Piano Competition.

Im very thankful for my teachers guidance and my parents support throughout the whole process, she said.

Justine Xu, meanwhile, took top honors against six other musicians in the senior violin category with her piece, Tchaikovsky in D Major Op. 35 3rd Movement.

She has been participating in the competition since the third grade, and winning the violin category since the sixth grade.

Ive been playing the violin since I was 5 years old, and the one thing that hasnt changed is the fact that I want to convey my emotions to my audience, Justine Xu said. Even though we werent performing for people this time due to COVID restrictions, I gave it my all and through my violin, my body movements, and my expressions I feel that I was able to tell my story.

When I saw that I had won I was so excited and overjoyed that my hard work had paid off. Ive worked on this piece for about 6 months, and I can definitely say that with time, I was able to hone in on my skills which I am very proud of.

Tchaikovskys Concerto in D Major is widely considered one of the hardest violin concertos of all time; the techniques using my bow including spiccatto, the insanely fast speed, all while painting a picture and expressing it to an audience is a difficult task that I was motivated to achieve.
Zekiya Sage N. Mapilisan, 2022 Guam Poetry Out Loud Champion, discusses selecting her poems and her recitation strategies for the competition on April 28, 2022. The segment of the National Semifinals featuring Mapilisan will be broadcast online at 8 a.m. May 2, 2022, at Arts.gov/Poetry-Out-Loud.
FILE - Participants wave signs as they walk back to Orlando City Hall during the March for Abortion Access on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. State-by-state battles over the future of abortion in the U.S. are setting up across the country as lawmakers in Republican-led states propose new restrictions modeled on laws passed in Texas and Mississippi even as some Democratic-controlled states work to preserve access. (Chasity Maynard/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File) (Chasity Maynard/AP)

As an anti-abortion bill moves through the Legislature, its becoming clear that Florida lawmakers are all too willing to play politics with the bodies of vulnerable women.

Even women who have been sold into sexual slavery. Even women who have been raped.

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Even underaged girls whose futures will be warped and diminished if they are forced to carry a child to term. Even girls who cant defend themselves against predators in their own families.

The message is calculated. Its deceptive in its attempt to redefine basic biology. And despite the pall of fear it casts across womens reproductive freedom, it probably wont do much to lower the number of so-called elective abortions in Florida.

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FILE - Participants wave signs as they walk back to Orlando City Hall during the March for Abortion Access on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. State-by-state battles over the future of abortion in the U.S. are setting up across the country as lawmakers in Republican-led states propose new restrictions modeled on laws passed in Texas and Mississippi even as some Democratic-controlled states work to preserve access. (Chasity Maynard/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File) (Chasity Maynard/AP)

What, exactly, are lawmakers trying to accomplish?

Thats a question all Floridians should be asking as they consider the real-world implications of this legislation. They wont like the answers, and they should let lawmakers know they see through the calculated cruelty of this ploy.

Start with statements by the legislations backers. After the Senate Health Policy Committee refused on Wednesday to amend the legislation to exclude victims of rape, incest and human trafficking, sponsor Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said 15 weeks was sufficient for victims of horrific sexual crimes to terminate their pregnancies. Thats completely out of touch with reality: Girls and women who are targets of sexual violence  particularly long-term molestation or human trafficking  are the most likely to face difficulty in getting access to abortion services.

Meanwhile, Aaron DiPietro, a representative of the Florida Family Policy Council, said it was fine to deny abortion to victims of rape because its the rapist who is the guilty party, not the innocent child. His careful omission of rape victims innocence conveys the taint of victim-blaming.

Things are even more difficult for girls under the age of 18, who must get permission from their parents or seek approval from a judge before terminating a pregnancy. For a real-world view of how thats playing out, consider the injustice visited on a 17-year-old Tampa girl who was told by a judge last month that she wasnt intelligent enough to make decisions about her own body  citing her 2.0 GPA. An appellate court overturned that decision this week, finding that the trial judge had abused his discretion and more than once misrepresented the girls own testimony.

Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. >

Finally, there are the burdens Florida law already places on abortions, including the requirement that women view an ultrasound and receive state-directed counseling aimed at persuading them not to abort.

All that takes time. And under the bill approved Wednesday, the clock will be ticking  even faster than lawmakers will admit, because the bill (SB 146) also redefines the start of pregnancy to the first day of a womans last menstrual period, even though conception usually occurs a few weeks later. Thats assuming women have regular, predictable cycles  but very young girls, and women who are under high stress, often dont.

Thats what happens when lawmakers try to impose governmental oversight on biological reality, says Dr. Shelly Holmstrom, a Tampa obstetrician who is also a professor at the University of South Florida medical school. I see women in really terrible situations, she says. They have little to no access to health care. Some of them dont even know they are pregnant.

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Heres the vicious kicker: As punitive as this bill is toward vulnerable women and girls, it wont stop the vast number of abortions in Florida. State records show that nearly 95 percent of abortions take place before the 12-week mark.

There are a few escape hatches in the bill  and in the nearly identical House version, which is also moving briskly toward passage. If two doctors certify fatal fetal abnormalities, or find that continuing the pregnancy would endanger a womans life or create significant health problems, later terminations would be possible. But those exemptions could exclude many situations where continuing a pregnancy would present a lifelong hardship or significant health impacts.

Wednesdays vote makes it clear: Lawmakers want to claim victory on an issue thats a far-right priority, even if it means they must trample the most desperate, the youngest, the most victimized. Its a heartless, deceptive ploy, and Floridians should let legislators know they see through it.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio, Jay Reddick and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
Guam hospitals had 42 COVID-19 patients Saturday.

Guam Memorial Hospital had 25 patients, including two in the ICU and two on ventilators, according to a Joint Information Center news release. Guam Regional Medical City had 17 patients, with one in the ICU.

Of the 46 hospitalized, 24 were vaccinated.

There were 397 new cases of the virus from 869 specimens analyzed Feb. 4, the Department of Public Health and Social Services on Friday reported. Additional results are pending analysis and submission from other clinics and will be reported Monday.

Guam has had 35,769 officially reported cases, including 296 deaths. There are 7,141 people in isolation.

Guam DOE cases

The Guam Department of Education on Friday reported 106 students tested positive for COVID-19, as did 14 employees.

There were 25 cases in elementary schools.

One case each at Agana Heights Elementary, Astumbo Elementary; Harry S. Truman Elementary; Maria A. Ulloa Elementary; Tamuning Elementary; and Upi Elementary.

Two cases at Wettengel Elementary.

Three cases each at: Captain H.B. Price Elementary; Juan M. Guerrero Elementary; Merizo Martyrs Memorial Elementary; and M.U. Lujan Elementary.

Four cases at B.P. Carbullido Elementary.

There were 19 cases in middle schools.

One case each at Jose L.G. Rios Middle and Inarajan Middle.

Two cases each at Jose L.G. Rios Middle and Vicente S.A. Benavente Middle.

Three cases at Oceanview Middle School.

Five cases each at Astumbo Middle and Luis P. Untalan Middle.

There were 64 cases in high schools.

Four at Southern High.

Sixteen each at George Washington High and John F. Kennedy High.

Twenty-eight cases at Okkodo High.

Guam DOE notified teachers and parents of students who may have been in contact with positive cases to schedule testing.

Of the employee cases, six were at George Washington High, three at John F. Kennedy High, two at Okkodo High and one each at Maria A. Ulloa Elementary, Upi Elementary and Jose L.G. Rios Middle.
The Guam Department of Education on Friday reported 106 students tested positive for COVID-19, as did 14 employees.

There were 25 cases in elementary schools.

One case each at Agana Heights Elementary, Astumbo Elementary; Harry S. Truman Elementary; Maria A. Ulloa Elementary; Tamuning Elementary; and Upi Elementary.

Two cases at Wettengel Elementary.

Three cases each at: Captain H.B. Price Elementary; Juan M. Guerrero Elementary; Merizo Martyrs Memorial Elementary; and M.U. Lujan Elementary.

Four cases at B.P. Carbullido Elementary.

There were 19 cases in middle schools.

One case each at Jose L.G. Rios Middle and Inarajan Middle.

Two cases each at Jose L.G. Rios Middle and Vicente S.A. Benavente Middle.

Three cases at Oceanview Middle School.

Five cases each at Astumbo Middle and Luis P. Untalan Middle.

There were 64 cases in high schools.

Four at Southern High.

Sixteen each at George Washington High and John F. Kennedy High.

Twenty-eight cases at Okkodo High.

Guam DOE notified teachers and parents of students who may have been in contact with positive cases to schedule testing.

Of the employee cases, six were at George Washington High, three at John F. Kennedy High, two at Okkodo High and one each at Maria A. Ulloa Elementary, Upi Elementary and Jose L.G. Rios Middle.
Corrections & Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that the Marianas Audubon Society received 10% of all food proceeds from Jeff's Pirates Cove during the event. Different information appeared in previous versions of the story.

Hundreds of curious residents celebrated migratory birds on Guam at Jeffs Pirates Cove in Talofofo Saturday.

Hosted by the University of Guam College of Natural and Applied Sciences, the event was the brainchild of Olympia Terral, a research associate at UOGs Western Pacific Tropical Research Center. She started plans for the celebration in September 2021.

I want to celebrate the migratory birds on Guam because we dont have many other birds and it is a great way to get people connected with nature, Terral said.

Guests had the chance to meet a koko, purchase bird-themed items and participate in art activities. The Marianas Audubon Society received 10% of all food proceeds from Jeff's Pirates Cove during the event.

Jane Dia, program coordinator for the Division of Aquatic & Wildlife Resources at the Guam Department of Agriculture, said there are tips residents should follow to help protect migratory and native birds on the island.

One way is to spay and neuter cats to keep their population low because they hunt birds. Another is to reduce litter in the environment where birds live. Planting native plants so species can live and eat in their natural habitat also helps.

Santa Rita resident Rose Iacovino, 34, attended the event with her husband and two children. She said it was a good opportunity for the family to get out of the house on a Saturday.

The kids are having a blast with the coloring and painting station, Iacovino said.

She said she learned more about bird migration patterns and that Guam plays a role by providing a place for them to rest on their travels.

There also were tables set up by UOG Sea Grant and the Guam Department of Agricultures Forestry Division with informative pamphlets and examples of native plants for participants to learn more about conservation.
Teacher Bernie Aguon-Hernandez distributes copies of schedules to seniors attending her American government homeroom class during their return to face-to-face learning at the Hagatna school Aug. 6, 2021.
The owner of a manpower agency in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands was sentenced Friday to 21 months in federal prison on charges of fraud and visa fraud, according to a news release from federal prosecutors.

Alejandro T. Nario, 65, is the owner and president of A&A Enterprises, CNMI. Prosecutors said since the business was incorporated in January 2019, it facilitated an unlawful scheme to acquire CW-1 nonimmigrant visas so foreign citizens could enter the CNMI.

Petitions were submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for at least 99 foreign citizens. The petitions included contracts of employment that specified terms, hours and wages to be paid.

But the company never intended to employ the workers and once the foreign nationals paid $1,500 to $2,000 for the visas, they were placed in undocumented jobs such as construction, groundskeeping and housekeeping. The company also charged them $194 every two weeks to maintain their status, the release stated.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered three years of supervised release, a $7,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment fee.

The CW-1 program continues to be abused by certain employers in the CNMI, U.S. Attorney Shawn Anderson stated in the release. The public and the workers deserve a visa system that is free from fraud and waste. We will prosecute this unlawful conduct to hold employers accountable and to promote fairness among those seeking employment in the CNMI.

These business owners defrauded many people who believed they were coming to the CNMI for legitimate jobs, said John F. Tobon, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Honolulu.

Abejo sentenced

Another defendant, Rosalee Bangot Abejo, 47, was sentenced to six months of home confinement and 36 months probation for conspiracy to defraud the United States. The court also ordered 72 months of supervised release, 50 hours of community service and a $100 special assessment fee.

Homeland Security investigators discovered Abejo was assisting the company by providing documents and other templates included with fraudulent visa petitions by A&A Enterprises. Abejo also relied upon staff at A&A Enterprises to electronically modify documents, which she used to fraudulently submit CW-1 and CW-2 petitions for two friends and her husband, the release stated.

Both Nario and Abejo are Philippine citizens residing in the CNMI.
Stephen Hsu, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Guam, receives a resolution from Sen. Amanda Shelton, center, and other members of the 36th Guam Legislature during his farewell party and the offices Lunar New Year celebration at the Talo Verde Estates in Tamuning, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022.
Over a year ago, Manuel Garrido put in a request for his mothers death certificate with the Department of Public Health and Social Services Office of Vital Statistics so he could claim war reparations for her death.

The 84-year-old resident of Lincoln, California, couldnt recall what year his mother, Maria Taitano Garrido, died, but was certain that it was during the Japanese occupation of Guam in World War II.

A letter sent by the Office of Vital Statistics told him there was no record of his mothers death on file.

During the time of the war, not all deaths were registered with the Office of Vital Statistics. You may also check the churches where the individuals resided, the letter stated.

A search with the Archdiocese of Agana also came up short, Manuel Garrido said. The churchs death records before and during the war were lost.

Garrido said he was informed by the U.S. Department of Justice that, with no death certificate, he had no proof his mother died during the war. Under the federal war reparations program enacted in 2016, descendants of those who died during the war were distributed $25,000.

Manuel Garrido wanted to share the money with his younger sister, Pilar. But his war claim was denied and as of last week, he was seeking an appeal.

Certificate found

In response to a recent follow-up request by the Pacific Daily News for Maria Taitano Garridos death certificate, Vital Statistics was able to locate the document.

But, according to the office, Maria Taitano Garrido died in 1940.

The Japanese didnt invade Guam until Dec. 8, 1941.

I was always told that she died during the war. I just took it that way, Manuel Garrido said Friday, after hearing about the death certificate. I was only 3 years old. I cant remember anything. Im 85 in a few months. Its been a long time.

Garrido said he paid the administrative fee and was waiting for the death certificate to arrive through the mail.

I dont think Im going to pursue the plan to get the reparation until I get the (death) certificate in my hand, he said. If it doesnt work out, it doesnt work out. We tried and I dont want to break the law.

Even if hes not eligible for the $25,000 payout, he said that discovering his mother didnt die during the war still brought him some peace.

I am happy where Im at. Now I know when she did pass away and my sister will, too. Shes happy to know, he said.
President Harry S. Truman (seated) signs the Organic Guam Act in 1950. From left: Sen. Joseph C. OMahoney, Wyoming; Carlos Taitano, legislative representative of Guam; Harold Seidman, Bureau of the Budget; Secretary of the Navy Francis Matthews; Sen. Clinton P. Anderson, New Mexico; Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman; and Sen. Hugh Butler, Nebraska.
Astra Space came close but scrubbed another attempt to make its first launch from the Space Coast today. The Rocket 3.3 aborted an attempt from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station right as it was set to lift off, but launch officials decided to not try again during the three-hour window.

Unfortunately the abort that was around our T-0 time was a minor telemetry issue that the team needs to work to resolve, so unfortunately we need to stand down from todays launch attempt, said Astra Space Director of Product Management Carolina Grossman.

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Weather was looking good and the engines ignited at 1:50 p.m. before a shutdown without the rocket taking flight. This followed an unexpected abort on Saturday stemming from a malfunctioning radar system on the Eastern Range, which is managed by the Space Launch Delta 45 unit of the U.S. Space Force.

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The company confirmed late Tuesday it would retry the launch on Thursday during a three-hour window that opens at 3 p.m. SLD 45s Weather Squadron issued a new weather advisory Tuesday for a potential Thursday launch with less than 10% chance of unfavorable conditions. A 24-hour delay sees a 70% chance for good weather.

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The company, which is based in Alameda, California, successfully sent a Rocket 3.3 into orbit last November for the first time on a demonstration mission for the Space Force with a dummy payload from the companys second spaceport in Kodiak, Alaska.

This new rocket is carrying four satellites as part of NASAs CubeSat Launch Initiative for three universities and one NASA space center. The company was one of three chosen through NASAs Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract, and secured $3.9 million for the launch.

This mission is called ELaNa 41, as in the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites, the payloads of which come from the University of Alabama (BAMA-1), New Mexico State University (INCA), the University of California at Berkeley (QubeSat) and NASAs Johnson Space Center (R5-S1).

BAMA-1 will test a drag sail that will allow a faster deorbit of the satellite. INCA, as in Ionospheric Neutron Content Analyzer, is geared toward improving space weather models. QubeSat is flying to demonstrate quantum gyroscopes to measure angular velocity. R5-S1 looks to demonstrate speed and cost efficiency in a particular design of CubeSats.

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The target is to put the satellites into orbit at around 310 miles altitude.The timeline calls for delivery of the satellites eight minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff, which will mark the first time the company is able to put an operational payload into space.

If successful, it will be the first under the VCLS Demo 2 contract to follow through with a launch. Another of those, Relativity Space Inc. of Long Beach, California, also looks to launch from Cape Canaveral in 2022, but has yet to produce a final version of its first rocket. The third company, Firefly Black LLC of Cedar Park, Texas, had to destroy its rocket on its lone launch attempt last September.

Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (John Kraus, for Astra Space, Inc.)

Astra Space received a new type of launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday that allows for more frequent launches, and clearing the way for its attempt from Space Launch Complex 46.

Much smaller than established rockets like the SpaceX Falcon 9 or United Launch Alliance Atlas V, this version of Astra Spaces hardware stands only 43 feet tall and advertises a payload capacity up to 331 pounds to sun-synchronous orbit. The company is looking to fill a market that allows for small payloads such as CubeSats, standard-sized satellites about the size of a loaf of bread, an opportunity to fly to space for much less money. CubeSats typically weigh from 3-18 pounds.

Astra Space has attempted seven previous launches with the November mission the only one to reach orbit. This launch vehicle is dubbed LV008, as each launch vehicle is expendable.

While it cant recover its rocket stages like SpaceX, Grossman said the company has other avenues to keep costs down.

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Go For Launch - Space News Weekly Fix your telescope on all space-related news, from rocket launches to space-industry advancements. >

Reusability is only one piece of the equation when it comes to cost, she said. The ways that Astra focuses right now on cost is using simple materials. We stay away from a lot of composites and fancy aerospace types of materials and we use a lot of automation in our systems.

Astra Space contracted with Space Florida, the states aerospace economic development agency, for use of SLC 46, which was previously used in the 1980s for Trident II missile tests, the late 1990s for Lockheed Martin Athena rockets and more recently the Ascent Abort-2 mission for the Orion capsule to be used in Artemis missions to the moon.

The attempt would make it the seventh rocket launch from the Space Coast in 2022 following five SpaceX and one ULA launch from either Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center.

CEO Chris Kemp who founded Astra Space in 2016 discussed his companys role in the growing market recently in a meeting with former Vice President Al Gore and others discussing the benefits and drawbacks of launching so many satellites into space.

I think there is a moment we have now that has not ever existed in human history where space is now accessible to entrepreneurs, to the private sector in a way that it has never been before, Kemp said. We now have the opportunity to build sensors and to put them in space to help us see our planet for the first time.

Astra Space has already secured a second $7.95 million NASA contract for three launches, which Kemp said would all be from Canaveral, to put six satellites into orbit to support the TROPICS mission, which stands for Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats. The cubesats, which need to be placed into three different orbits during a 120-day window before July 31, 2022, will measure temperature, humidity and precipitation with much quicker storm pass over time  less than an hour  than what is currently available to forecasters.

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Were beginning an era of innovation like weve never seen before, Kemp said, Im incredibly excited and honored to be a part of that and to enable all these entrepreneurs through Astra to get all their new satellites into space and then to make it easier to operate in space.




Haiti - Assassination Moise : Hearing postponed to March 4, Palacios will plead not guilty in the USA





Friday February 4 in Miami, the former Colombian military officer Mario Antonio Palacios (43) suspect number one for the Haitian justice in the assassination on July 7, 2021 of President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by his lawyer Me Alfredo Izaguirre went to the miami district court.



During a short hearing Palacios' lawyer requested a postponement of the hearing, explaining that he could not meet his client due to visitation restrictions, Palacio being in isolation as part of the Covid-19 pandemic. Federal Judge Jacqueline Becerra accepted the request and postponed the hearing to March 4th.



Me Alfredo Izaguirre on leaving the court told AFP that his client will plead "not guilty" to the two charges brought against him ("conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and of providing material support resulting in death, knowing that such material support would be used to prepare or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.")



Let's remember that if Palacios is found guilty faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35867-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35696-haiti-flash-palacios-confessed-that-the-final-plan-was-to-assassinate-the-president-of-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35640-haiti-flash-palacio-extradited-to-the-usa-first-official-indictment-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html



S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - USA : Donation of parts and materials from the US Coast Guard to the Haitian Coast Guard





The U.S. Coast Guard's Cutter Dependable docked in Haiti on February 2, 2022 at 9:00 a.m., to deliver vital parts and supplies for the maintenance and enhancement of Haitian Coast Guard fleet services, another example of joint efforts between Haitians and Americans to ensure stronger maritime security in the region.



The Commander of the Haitian Coast Guard, the Director General of the National Port Authority of Haiti and the staff of the Embassy of the United States welcomed the ship upon its arrival at the port.



After docking, the port authorities facilitated the unloading of 9 pallets of cargo destined for the Haitian Coast Guard, worth more than US$200,000, provided by the Office of Security Cooperation of the Embassy of the United States. United States with funding from the US Department of Defense Southern Command.



The cargo included essential boat repair parts, as well as two marine engines. These parts will help establish a fully operational Haitian Coast Guard fleet.



U.S. Coast Guard Operations Officer Lt. Frank Williams said, "The crew of the Dependable is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Haitian Coast Guard in deterring and interdicting illicit activity in the maritime domain. Todays delivery of vital support equipment represents an enduring commitment to aiding the Haitian government in building capacity to conduct the safety and security missions across its 1,700 kilometers of coastline. Our hope is this visit is the first of many as our partnership continues to grow."



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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Quincy, IL (62301)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. High 64F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
The mother and brother of a 6-year-old North Chicago, Illinois, boy found dead in Gary last month were indicted Wednesday on first-degree murder charges, records show.

The indictments against Jannie Perry, 38, and Jeremiah Perry, 20, were filed in a way that allows the Lake County (Illinois) state's attorney's office to see natural life sentences for the killing, a spokesman said.

The indictments were filed one day after 6-year-old Damari Perry was laid to rest, the state's attorney's office said.

Jannie Perry and Jeremiah Perry are accused of forcing Damari to take a cold shower for prolonged period of time Dec. 30 to severely punish him after becoming upset with the boy Dec. 29.

Damari died from hypothermia, Lake County (Indiana) Coroner David Pastrick said.

Authorities found Damari's body Jan. 8 wrapped in a plastic trash bag outside an abandoned home in an alley between the 700 block of Van Buren and Harrison streets in Gary. The boy was partially naked and had a bruise on his right leg, an extremely cold core temperature and partially frozen internal organs.

He also had thermal injuries and charring all over his body, which occurred after his death, Pastrick said.

Watch Now: Riding Shotgun with Munster Officer Luke Tambrini

A 19th Judicial Circuit judge in Lake County, Illinois, set bail last month at $5 million for Jannie Perry and $3 million for Jeremiah Perry.

One of Damari's juvenile siblings also is facing undisclosed charges, the Lake County (Illinois) state's attorney's office said.

Jannie and Jeremiah Perry were jointly indicted by a grand jury on eight counts of murder, aggravated battery of a child, dismembering a human body, conspiracy, aggravated domestic battery, concealment of a homicidal death, endangering the life or health of a child, abuse of a corpse and obstructing justice.

Jannie Perry also was indicted on one count of failure to report the death or disappearance of a child under 13 years of age.

The grand jury found evidence the murder was "exceptionally brutal and heinous," which allows prosecutors to seek natural-life sentences on the murder charges for each of the defendants, the state's attorney's office said.

Evidence that the family burned Damari's body after his death led to the count of dismembering a human body. Prosecutors may seek up to 60 years in prison for that count alone, the state's attorney's office said.

Evidence in the case showed Damari was removed from the cold shower after he became unresponsive, but his family did not seek medical care for him, an assistant state's attorney said during a court hearing last month.

Damari was reported missing Jan. 5 at the Skokie (Illinois) Police Department.

Family members told police Damari was last seen Jan. 4 and may have traveled to Skokie, but investigators determined the family's story was false, North Chicago police said.

Officials working with multiple agencies interviewed several children in the family in the days after Damari was reported missing and took Jannie, Jeremiah Perry and a juvenile sibling into custody Jan. 7, police said. The boy's body was found in Gary the following day by North Chicago police and the FBI.

Lake County (Illinois) State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said it became clear, as prosecutors reviewed the crime scene, that "this was a calculated plan against a small child."

"Damari's final minutes warrant the sentencing enhancements that accompany such 'brutal and heinous' circumstances," Rinehart said. "The defendants' stunning failure to seek medical attention demonstrates their intent to end Damari's life. Transporting and burning the body as part of a cover-up also warranted the additional serious charges we filed."

Rinehart commended his staff, victim advocates at the Children's Advocacy Center and detectives at the North Chicago Police Department for their work.

"Our prosecutors have worked weekends and nights to find the truth of this awful case," he said.

Damari's homicide spurred calls last month from three Republican Illinois House members for hearings into the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Capitol News Illinois reported.

The news organization reported Damari was taken into the state's care in 2015, but he and his siblings were returned to his mother's care two years later.

Two subsequent abuse allegations were received by DCFS, including an allegation that the mother wrote a note threatening harm to Damari, Capitol News Illinois reported.

Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail
Hartford City, IN (47348)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 66F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

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Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low near 55F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Hastings, NE (68901)

Today

Windy. A steady rain. The rain may be heavy at times in the morning. High 42F. Winds NE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Higher wind gusts possible..

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Periods of wind driven rain this evening. Remaining cloudy overnight. Low 34F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible.
There are no easy ways to address the severe shortage of housing. Land is scarce, 
25-year-old sentenced to life in prison for 2018 Sullivan Park murder

A 25-year-old Hendersonville man on Friday was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of a 42-year-old man at Sullivan Park in Green Meadows in the summer of 2018, District Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced.

Superior Court Judge William H. Coward, handed down the sentence in the first-degree murder trial of Kenneth Mills, who was convicted in the shooting death of Lavoris Jermaine Brown (AKA Breeze). According to court trial records and the sentencing hearing, at around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 23, a gorgeous day, Hendersonville police officers responded to a 911 call reporting multiple shots fired at the park with a downed victim.Officers and medics arrived on scene within minutes to a chaotic scene with multiple citizens/witnesses around the victim, who had been shot multiple times. Despite the best efforts of the first responders, Lavoris Brown died at the scene. An extensive investigation ensued that included the interviews of many that were at or near the park that day. Hendersonville police detectives quickly determined from the available evidence, including a brief video recording of the shooting voluntarily surrendered by a bystander, that Mills had discharged 10 rounds into the crowd from a semiautomatic handgun and then fled the scene. Officers located Mills four days later riding as a passenger in a car on Four Seasons Boulevard and arrested him.

The investigation by the Hendersonville Police Department led by Detective Kyle Thiel determined a public affray had occurred between two women in their mid-twenties. The two had mutually agreed to meet at the park to settle their argument. A hand-to-hand fight ensued between the two females before both parties went to the ground, with one of the females involved in the hand-to-hand combat clearly gaining control of the fight. One of the females was on her back while the other female had her pinned to the pavement with her weight while pummeling her. The female on her back, who was clearly at a disadvantage and in distress, was Browns, girlfriend. Brown attempted to intervene and pull the female, who had his girlfriend pinned to the pavement, off her. At that time another female bystander, Shameil Baker, attacked Brown from behind. When he immediately disengaged and spun around to confront Baker, Brown was instantly gunned down by Mills. The female aggressor was the defendants girlfriend. Mills fired 10 rounds at Brown and into the crowd with no regard for the safety of innocent observers, including children. Six of the bullets struck Brown and one bullet struck a bystander that was in close proximity to the deceased. The bystander was rushed to the hospital and survived his gunshot injury.

At trial, the defendant claimed self-defense and testified from the stand that the victim/deceased was carrying a weapon, and that he was fearful for his life and the life of his girlfriend. No other witnesses besides the defendant testified at trial that they actually witnessed the deceased with a weapon on the date of this incident. There is also no indication on the video clip of the incident that the deceased was carrying a weapon. The video did briefly capture the defendant with a .40 caliber Glock handgun raised towards the deceased, followed by sounds of multiple shots being fired and the crowd screaming. Responding law enforcement officers, that were on scene within minutes of the shooting, found no weapons on or near the body of the deceased.

A Henderson County jury of 12 citizens, after hearing all the evidence presented during a weeklong trial, deliberated for an hour and fifteen minutes before returning a unanimous verdict of guilty to first-degree murder.

Assistant District Attorneys Heather Brittain and Beth Dierauf handled the prosecution and sentencing of what Murray described as a horrific and senseless murder. Murray thanked the Hendersonville Police Department officers for their expedient response to a dangerous crime scene, and their thorough and meticulous investigation of a chaotic crime that included a multitude of witness, many of whom were reluctant to become involved.

"Their steadfast commitment to locating and securing a cold-blooded murderer before anyone else could be harmed is commendable," he said. "Their diligence, unwavering commitment to find the truth, and tireless efforts undoubtedly saved the lives of countless other possible victims."
Greenville, TX (75401)

Today

Mostly cloudy this morning then windy with a few scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 84F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with thunderstorms becoming likely overnight. Low 66F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've all known individuals who have done more than their share to help their neighbors and communities with food, comfort, care, companionship and dozens of other needs. If you know of such a person, you can nominate them to be featured in our upcoming H
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The vice-president of the Libyan Presidential Council, Abdullah al-Lafi on Saturday discussed with some members of the House of Representatives (Parliament) and representatives of the municipalities of the country's west coast, some security issues affecting the region
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Federal prosecutors in Houston and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have charged former Pacific Summit Energy President Matthew Clark with operating an illegal scheme involving insider trading of natural gas futures and financial kickbacks.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas indicted Clark on Thursday on multiple counts of wire fraud, insider trading and making illegal commodities transactions. If convicted, he faces up to 130 years in federal prison.

At the same time, federal commodities regulators filed a lawsuit Thursday in Houston charging Clark with revealing his companys confidential information on natural gas futures orders to an energy broker in exchange for a share of the brokerage commissions.

The 36-page CFTC complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Houston states that Clark engaged in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate material, nonpublic information from his employer, where Clark initiated a tipping chain that enabled others to trade on the basis of this material, nonpublic information, and to enter into fictitious trades at non-bona fide prices.

While the CFTC lawsuit does not identify Clarks employer, his LinkedIn page states that he worked at Pacific Summit Energy for more than nine years, including his 2017 to 2019 as president. He is 54 and lives in Spring, Texas.

Court documents show that Dan Cogdell, partner in the Houston office of the Jones Walker law firm, is representing Clark in both matters. Neither Cogdell nor Clark responded to requests for comment.

The CFTC claims that Clark, who was a long-time energy trader with Dominion Resources, Credit Suisse and American Electric Power, improperly disclosed his companys block trades in natural gas futures to a Houston energy broker named Matthew Webb with Classic Energy.

The federal lawsuit states that Clark knew that Webb would share the confidential details with Puerto Rico-based trader named Peter Miller with Omerta Capital.

Clark also devised and engaged in a fraudulent scheme in which he extracted a portion of the brokerage commissions  paid to Classic as a kickback for sending [Pacific Summit Energys] business to Classic and Webb, the CFTC states. From 2009 through 2019, Clark and Webb had an arrangement whereby Webb would pay Clark a percentage of the brokerage commissions paid by [Pacific Summit] to Classic. In turn, Clark would direct [Pacific Summits] natural gas block trading business to Classic and instruct other [Pacific Summit] traders to do the same. 

The CFTC complaint alleges that Clark concealed his receipt of kickback payments in several ways.

For example, the CFTC states that Clark demanded that Webb hire his fiancee and later wife as a marketer and pay her a percentage of the commissions Classic earned from trades brokered for Clark from 2009 to 2012.

The CFTC permanently banned Webb as a registered trader and Webb has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and one count of wire fraud.

The federal agency sued Miller in December for his role in the scheme. Miller pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and will be sentenced in May.

For a longer version of this article, please visit TexasLawbook.net.
This is an excerpt from the Houston Chronicle's HouWeAre newsletter about race, culture and identity. You can sign up here.

What is a community? Is it a place or a culture  or can it even be simply an event?

I thought about this question on a recent evening while watching teenaged lion dancers assemble their ornate costume for a Lunar New Year celebration at Mikoto, a ramen bar in west Houston. The lions colorful body and fierce visage, shaped by thousands of years of tradition, glared at the teenagers huddled on their phones.

Here was an ancient art form from China, practiced by a decades-old troupe, performing in a modern Japanese restaurant on the Texas prairie. I was fascinated by the continuity-in-discontinuity of the lion dance and other Lunar New Year traditions in Houston.

The traditions, enduring and highly visible, celebrate the one unbroken experience of Asian American communities established by people who left homelands and crossed half the world: the passage of time.

Although I grew up moving around the city, I wasnt very familiar with local versions of these customs. Houstons fabled diversity is as much a labyrinth as it is a tapestry. I had long navigated the peculiar experience of being surrounded by diverse cultures yet isolated, and sometimes singled out, as one of the few Asian students.

Culture without community is an alienating and even dangerous condition, but what defines a community is complicated. It was only when I started volunteering with civic and cultural efforts in Asiatown, the center of gravity of Houstons Chinese and Vietnamese populations, that I began to understand what it meant to be part of an Asian American community.

These communities aren't simply a culture or a neighborhood, but a constantly woven social fabric that embodies the complex relationships of immigrant life and generations of history not visible at first glance.

Understanding these communities, too, requires more than a glance. When I started at the Chronicle, I decided to try to do what I had never seen in local news: detailed and sustained coverage of Asian American communities as they experience fundamental changes.

Lunar New Year on February 1 marked two years since false rumors of an early COVID outbreak in Asiatown emptied hundreds of its restaurants. An increasing number of older and smaller restaurants have since closed, their retiring owners taking traditional Chinese culinary techniques with them. They are often replaced by renovated storefronts with trendier franchises from Asia.

The past few years have shown the notion of an Asiatown community cannot be taken for granted, as the pandemic inflicted profound economic turmoil and time itself wrought generational change. An older generation, whose immigrant and working-class way of life formed the social fabric of Asiatown and the downtown Chinatown before it, is now fading away.

The loss of their living history has left a sense of community as an experience  a set of cultural motifs and a series of recurring events that advertise a consumable Asian aesthetic.

When I talked with Asiatown business owners, it was clear they had to appeal to a broader audience to survive the competition. But its not only businesses that foster the idea of culture as consumption. When I watch and read our local news, stories about Asian Americans and other cultural communities inhabit two broad categories: tragedies and festivities.

This sporadic and dramatic coverage expresses a logic of community as a spectacle. But viewing culture as simply a commodity easily leads to fetishizing people as objects of desire and hatred. When this portrayal of culture exists without a strong community, its only a matter of time before our very lives are consumed.

In the aftermath of tragedies like last years mass murder of six Asian female spa workers in Atlanta, news outlets all over the country scrambled to find sources in Asian American communities where they had little presence before. As a journalism student, I saw national media striving to give voice to the voiceless without reflecting on who had flattened our stories.

Today, the surge in violence targeting Asian people during the pandemic continues amid nonstop coverage framing China as a menacing threat.

My series of stories ran on Lunar New Year, but I wrote them to add nuance and dimension to simple narratives of Asiatown as facing gentrification or pandemic hardship. My own assumptions were frequently challenged; one restaurateur I interviewed disagreed with the notion that authenticity could only come from serving traditional dishes  the flavor profile is key, she said. Another stressed that Asiatown is no longer uniquely suffering, except for the constant fear of anti-Asian harassment.

These perspectives cant be found by looking in the most obvious places. During the past nine months, Ive gone to community events introducing myself as the Chronicles unofficial Asiatown reporter to build a network of local sources that helps us better understand Houstons Asian American communities. These relationships foster trust, but better coverage keeps it.

We need media spaces like HouWeAre that express the logic of community as belonging and foster dialogue. When communities are only covered from the angle of culture or diversity, people are seen as perpetual others whose lives are spectacles to consume.

But the Houstonians who form communities like Asiatown, many of whom have been here for generations, are much more than their stories, told and untold.
2 1 of 2 courtesy of the Montgomery County Police Reporter Show More Show Less 2 of 2 courtesy of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less



A teen boy and the man charged in his killing had an ongoing beef with the situation escalating to a shooting yesterday as the victim drove through a Willis neighborhood.

Sherman Dewayne Griffin III, 24, of Willis, is charged in the murder of 17-year-old Willis resident Keimauri Rogers, according to the Willis Police Department and county jail records. Griffin is being held with no bond at the Montgomery County Jail, online records there show.
Houston City Councilmember Michael Kubosh was in a sunny mood on Friday, despite spending much of the week studying some of the most distressing murders the region has seen of late. He had just filed a grievance against District Judge Hazel B. Jones, the eighth such grievance he filed this past week.

At issue was a sickening crime: the murder of a 5-year-old boy, Samuel Olson, who was reported missing in May 2021 and whose little body was discovered in a motel room in Jasper the following month.

This week, Theresa Raye Balboa  a former girlfriend of the boys father  was charged with capital murder and tampering with evidence of a corpse. According to authorities, she at one point stashed the childs body in a storage unit.

And Balboa, notably, was out on bond at the time of the murder, having been charged in November 2020 with a third-degree felony for allegedly assaulting the boys father.

The criminal justice system failed this little boy, Kubosh said, summarizing this grievance  a point that would be hard to argue with.

But was the critical failure point, in this case, the decision by the judge? How can a judge anticipate, without the benefit of hindsight, if a person charged with assaulting an adult will go on to commit more heinous acts?

Those are among the questions Kubosh is raising, at the moment.

The at-large councilmember last week announced that he plans to file grievances with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct against most of Harris Countys district court judges, who oversee felony cases. At a press conference, he read off the names of 156 murder victims  all of whom were slain, allegedly, by people who were out on bond at the time. All of the countys elected state district judges are Democrats ; Kubosh is elected on a nonpartisan basis.

His issue, Kubosh explains, is particularly with personal recognizance bonds, also known as PR bonds or free bonds, and with low bonds being set for defendants with violent pasts. In his view, the judges in question have been cavalier about the risks such individuals pose to the public, with tragic results. He argues thats partly a result of the historic misdemeanor bail reforms that Harris County agreed to in 2019, which in his view created a climate. Under the ODonnell settlement, as its often referred to, most people charged with non-violent, low-level crimes in Harris County can be released without a cash bail requirement .

The Constitution doesnt say everybody gets a bond, Kubosh told me Wednesday.

Critics decried his press conference as a publicity stunt, and Kubosh himself didnt dispute that publicity is his goal, in a sense.

I really believe that what we have to do is, we have to shine a bright light on what theyre doing so that they will be discouraged from giving out free bonds to these habitual violent offenders, he said, adding: The goal was to send a strong message to the judges to stop doing this.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the agency responsible for investigating judicial misconduct, might take some form of action, too, against the judges in question, he suggested Friday. Perhaps theyll send them to a training course.

Defenders of the judges in part point the finger at bail bondsmen. This was Kuboshs profession for years, although he insists that he is retired from the business and retains in it only a spectators interest.

Theres a longstanding assumption, for example, that bond rates are set at 10 percent. An October 2021 investigation by the Houston Chronicles Nicole Hensley and Samantha Ketterer found this is not gospel anymore in Harris County and likely never was. Some bondsmen in the city are accepting fees of as low as 1 or 2 percent, they found.

That is probably something we should address, emphasis on we. The bondsmen themselves are private-sector actors. If their business is inadequately regulated, its up to us to change that. Houston voters may have an opportunity to do so, under the $44 million One Safe Houston initiative that Mayor Sylvester Turner announced this week. Turner said Thursday that he has asked city lawyers to draft an ordinance, as part of the citys overarching crime reduction efforts, requiring the citys bail bondsmen to charge the 10 percent fee.

Oh re-e-ally?! said Kubosh in response, scoffing at the mayors horse and pony show.

There can be no doubt that Kubosh is highlighting an issue of real and profound concern to Houstonians. However, lets not storm the criminal justice center before we consider the context.

The judges may have made some unpopular decisions. They definitely have, based on the response Kubosh has received.

But its not clear that those decisions were due to the ODonnell settlement.

The ODonnell settlement was misdemeanors only, affirms Sandra Guerra Thompson, a professor at the University of Houston who also serves as an independent deputy co-monitor of the agreement.

Nor are the judges acting outside the law, when they issue felony bonds. As Kubosh said, the Constitution doesnt say everybody gets a bond, nor is that the case in Harris County. But the Texas Constitution does say that most people get a bond, even after being charged with a felony  a category in Texas that includes offenses such as stealing a package from someones porch or possessing a gram of heroin as well as offenses such as murder and assault.

And judges have to respect the rights of defendants, who are presumed innocent, when they set bail  as well as consider factors such as the risk an offender might present to the public.

A bond is not to be used as an instrument of oppression, explains Harris County Criminal Court at Law Judge David Fleischer  a term of art, he explained, that appears in the Texas Criminal Code in this context. (Harris County Criminal Courts of Law handle misdemeanor cases.)

As we talked, he pulled up the section of the Texas Constitution that lays out the circumstances under which a defendant may be denied bond outright  if he or she has been charged with a capital offense, for example, or a handful of other circumstances.

And as Kubosh himself acknowledged, Harris County voters who have issues with our district court judges have a form of recourse, separate from the grievance process.

Look, theyre judges, they can do whatever they want to, said Kubosh. But they are answerable to the voters at the ballot box.

Hes certainly delivered a message to Harris County judges this week. But ultimately, voters are equipped to do that themselves, and better suited to the task.

erica.grieder@chron.com
A Harris County Precinct 5 sergeant accused County Judge Lina Hidalgo of being disruptive at a funeral for a deputy earlier this week.

Sgt. Roy Guinn in a video posted to YouTube by the Michael Berry Show said Hidalgo was standing in the wrong place during an outdoor procession and refused to move when he asked her. Guinn also said Hidalgo also disrupted the proceedings when she attempted to speak with Constable Ted Heap, Guinns boss.

The edited video, which had been viewed more than 86,000 times by Friday evening, depicts a few moments before the service for Precinct 5 Corporal Charles Galloway began Tuesday.

Guinn said Hidalgos actions were disrespectful to the slain deputy, who was killed Jan. 23 during a traffic stop.

Rather than honoring his sacrifice, you chose to disgrace yourself by hijacking his services for your own purpose, Guinn said in the video.

Heap, a Republican, declined to comment. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also attended the funeral, said in a Twitter post Friday this video is 100% accurate and described Hidalgos behavior as disgraceful.

Hidalgo spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said in a statement that the county judge would not engage in the same type of smear campaigns and cruel political games started by Patrick or others.

As this video so clearly shows, women  and particularly women of color  in workplaces across America are still living in a time where many still find it appropriate to tell them to stay in their place, regardless of their duty or responsibilities, Lemaitre said. Thats just not something Judge Hidalgo has ever acquiesced to.

Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker came to Hidalgos defense.

As the highest ranking Harris County official at the funeral of a slain Harris County public safety officer, Judge Hidalgo is expected  by long standing protocol  to be at the front of the ceremony as the representative of the county he served, she said on Twitter.

Hidalgo frequently is at odds with the countys constables, especially the Republicans, who have said they believe the Democratic majority on Commissioners Court has insufficiently funded law enforcement agencies.

zach.despart@chron.com
Harvey gutted Houstons criminal justice complex  and the Jury Assembly Plaza with it.

The gathering place for prospective jurors at 1201 Congress is set to reopen Monday with a fraction of normalcy not seen since August 2017, when floodwaters broke into the predominantly underground facility from the roof. The difference? A fresh look with walls and chairs that can be hosed down and cleaned in case of  knock on wood  another flood.

The return to downtown Houston follows the completion of the $11.9 million renovation project  partially funded through insurance and FEMA reimbursments  among Texas busiest court system.

About 525 people are expected Monday. Full occupancy, which can account for up to 2,000 people, is not anticipated until the pandemic subsides, Harris County District Clerk Marilyn Burgess said.

A COMMUNITY MOURNS: 11-year-old is gunned down at NE Houston apartment complex

Burgess toured the building before construction started in February 2020 and what she saw was a shadow of what it once was.

The place was gutted, completely, to the rafters, said Burgess, who in 2019 took over the office. Everything had been sheet rock and theater cushion seats before. All of that had to be trashed.

The project wrapped up last fall with furniture  delayed, of course, because of pandemic production lags  being one of the last items to go in, she said.

Construction crews in 2011 built the jury building with Tropical Storm Allison in mind. Car-sized flood doors were installed to protect the lower section from potential floodwaters in the tunnels to other county buildings. Despite the Harvey flood damage, jury service continued inside a cramped basement at the countys administrative building at 1001 Preston.

But following Harvey, in 2018, an average 19 percent of summoned jurors showed up on their requested day. That number dropped to 17 percent the following year and increased to 20 percent in 2020  during the pandemic, when jurors, lawyers, prosecutors and sometimes judges were forced to commute to NRG Arena instead. There, social distancing could be accommodated.

Meanwhile, the backlog in the Harris County courts ballooned. Last month, the Justice Administration Department counted more than 89,000 pending felony and misdemeanors cases  a slight decrease from September.

Burgess described her staffs 18 months at the NRG venue as, at times, bothersome.

They were sitting on concrete floors with desks  no offices, no cubicles. Nothing. Nowhere to put their coat, Burgess said.

And the occasional event  anything from cheer leading competitions, conventions or rodeo-related events  would force her team to tear down their jury set-up for three days or more. Those crews picked up their things one final time last week. The countys lease for jury duty at the arena was slated to end for the rodeo.

County officials have warned that another COVID-19 variant outbreak could send jurors back to NRG.

The new downtown facility comes with perks: more stalls in the womens restroom to avoid pre-pandemic lines and free parking at the county-run 1401 Congress parking garage for the first 600 jurors. Free coffee is also a feature in the renovated basement. Increased pay has not yet happened for jurors, though Burgess in 2021 asked the Commissioners Court for a compensation bump.

Jurors are currently paid $6 on the first day and $40 for subsequent days. Burgess has asked for $50 on the first day and $80 for each day of jury duty that follows. The request, she said, will be reviewed when jury duty returns to normal operations.

For jurors who show Monday, those selected for voir dire  a preliminary examination by a judge or lawyer  will be shuffled to the nearby Family Law Center. Jurors picked from that pool will continue to courtrooms in the nearby civil and criminal courthouse where needed.

Anyone who receives a jury summons is asked to register on the district clerk's website or call 713-755-6392 to be given the date, time and location of where to be. Jury calls will be held at 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
The image of frantic faces are burned into the memory of Arrika Watson, who watched Harris County deputies attempt to revive an 11-year-old boy shot just outside her doorstep.

I saw him fighting for his life, literally, Watson said, as she tried to light memorial candles on a windy Friday at the site of the shooting the night before in northeast Harris County. I remember seeing the mom distraught, she was freaking out.

Harris County Constable 3 deputies found the boy with at least one gunshot wound around 6:50 p.m. in the 12200 block of Tidwell Road, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies attempted to revive him before he was taken by EMS to a local hospital and pronounced dead, HCSO added.

Authorities said the boy had gone to his mothers car to grab something. Four shots rang out before neighbors heard the mothers cries for help, residents told the Chronicle Friday morning.

Witnesses at the apartment complex told investigators seeing a male with a white shirt and dark pants running from the area before jumping over a wooden fence, authorities said.

The gunshots were so loud that I knew it was close by, neighbor Sharde Williams said. I just heard screaming and I said Oh man, someone must have just got shot.

Williams added the boys brother carried him from where the shooting happened to to the foot of the stairs, where he performed CPR until authorities arrived.

Residents in the 2-year-old apartment complex said that Thursday nights violence caught them off guard.

Ive been here for going on a year now but ever since Ive been here its been relatively quiet, although you do hear shooting, resident Diana Torres said alongside her two daughters. When I heard he went out there, I was like, I dont know how many times Ive sent mine to go out there for something. Never again.

The shooting has made Watson contemplate leaving the place shes called home for almost two years.

Im scared to walk my dog at night now. For it to have been a child, that should just shine more light on how we all should be doing better out here, she said. Im traumatized. Im ready to move.

The Harris County Sheriffs Office encourages anyone with information to call the homicide unit at 713-274-9100 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.

joel.umanzor@chron.com
Theres no confusion, on our part or anybody elses, about who is the front-runner in this 11-way GOP primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady in the 8th Congressional District.

Retired Navy Seal Morgan Luttrell, 46, an adviser to Energy Secretary Rick Perry in the Trump administration, had raised more than $1 million as of the first of the year, and has been spending on polished ads. Hes also picked up a slew of endorsements from conservative groups and other politicians.

We too admire his service to his country, and his pledge to serve no more than three terms is appealing in a power-hungry political arena. Voters who hearken to Luttrells alarmist rhetoric about a socialist attack on our values and the like need look no further. But given that this is an open race, without any incumbency to consider, well take another path, one that offers hope to conservatives rather than fear, and centers on the needs of ordinary citizens rather than inflammatory sound bites that poll well.

Republicans would do well to dial down the talk of war here at home when there are so many other pressing needs for leadership.

Our choice in this crowded field has done that. Small business owner Jessica Wellington of Montgomery County, 44, spent three years as an aide to former Congressman Ted Poe, R-Humble, learning the intricacies of constituent service  a key and often overlooked aspect of a Congress members job. She also believes, and this is increasingly rare in her party, that government  even the federal government  has the power to do good in America.

She told us too many people feel they are ignored by Washington and that too few, especially young people, think it is important to be involved at all.

They want their voices heard, Wellington said, regardless of who is in charge. People want to feel like they matter. What they see is so much discord, and are naturally left wondering, what about me?

Wellington told us that she hears too often from people who dont even want to vote any more. Our country needs to boost morale and remind people what we are all about.

Wellington trails in fundraising but told us Friday that shes raised another $10,000 in January and is building a larger volunteer team. She stressed her conservative credentials, telling us in our meeting that shed fight to stop sending foreign aid to any country whose government hates us. She also said shes running because too often conservative women are left out of debate. She wants to change that  in Congress, if she can, and by setting an example on the trail even if she loses.

Five of the candidates took part in our boards screening for this race. In addition to Wellington, we heard from Michael Philips, Chuck Montgomery, Taylor Whichard and Dan McKaughan.

More Information Early voting in the March 1 primaries begins Feb. 14 and ends Feb. 25. To learn more about how and where to vote, visit harrisvotes.com. See More Collapse

We were also impressed by Philips, 67, whose primary focus is on taking steps to balance the federal budget. His even-keeled approach to climate change and renewable energy made sense to us. Unlike many of his rivals, for instance, he did not think federal tax subsidies should be discontinued for renewable fuels. His focus instead would be on ensuring they dont create an unfair playing field for fossil fuels, which also receive tax subsidies.

Whichard, 36, public works director for the city of Willis, north of Conroe, said hell work to boost the oil and gas industry. Its the lifeblood of this area and they (Democrats in charge) are trying to kill it.

We were less impressed with his call to end subsidies for green energy, and his lament about hundreds of Jan. 6 Capitol riot participants supposedly being held without charges. Thats false, and suggests poor judgment for someone aspiring to a congressional seat.

By contrast, Montgomery said protesters who turn violent should face consequences, whether theyre carrying the banner of President Donald Trump or Black Lives Matter: A protest is a protest until people or property get hurt, the 40-year-old told us.

McKaughan, 48, told us his goal is to shrink the federal government  and to repeal the 16th Amendment to end the federal income tax. I want to make the government operate the way it is supposed to, he said. I want the government out of my life.

Thats all well and good. But first, government has to work. We believe Wellington has the vision and character to see that it works in her district. We urge voters to give her their support.

Other candidates in the race include Betsy Bates, Candice Burrows, 41; Jonathan Mitchell, 31; Christian Collins, 33; and Jonathan Hullihan, 41. Collins, a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz who has won the senators endorsement, and Hullihan. a former Navy JAG officer, have each raised over $100,000.
A libertarian constitutional law scholar named Ilya Shapiro sent out some ugly tweets last week. Shapiro, whod recently been hired by Georgetown Universitys law school, criticized Joe Bidens pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Indian-born judge Sri Srinivasan was objectively the best pick. But Srinivasan, wrote Shapiro, alas doesnt fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so well get lesser black woman. He claimed that if Biden considered only Black women, whoever he chose would always have an asterisk attached.

Many people were rightly incensed by Shapiros suggestion that a Black woman  any Black woman  would necessarily be lesser. It is, after all, far from unusual for presidents to consider issues of representation when making Supreme Court nominations. (Maybe I missed it, but I couldnt find any instance of Shapiro claiming that Amy Coney Barrett had an asterisk beside her name because Donald Trump promised to choose a woman to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg.) Shapiros tweets implied disdain not for a specific nominee, but for the entire universe of Black female jurists. He himself seemed to realize his tweet was indefensible; he apologized and deleted it.

Thats where the matter should have stayed. But Georgetowns law school  where Shapiro was to serve as a senior lecturer and executive director of its Center for the Constitution  overreacted, placing Shapiro on leave pending an investigation into whether his tweets violated school policies on professional conduct, discrimination and harassment. Georgetowns Black Law Students Association started a petition demanding his firing; as of Thursday morning it had more than 1,000 signatures. Shapiros racist rhetoric and continued association with the university sends the visceral message that even if Black women attend the best law schools, hold the highest clerkships and serve on the most prestigious courts, they still are not good enough, it said.

I wouldnt argue with anyone who interprets Shapiros insulting tweets that way. Nevertheless, it is a mistake for Georgetown to investigate or punish him, for two reasons  one abstract and one strategic. The abstract one is that however offensive Shapiros words were, theyre also the sort of political speech that should be protected by basic notions of academic freedom, which is why a number of people who detest what Shapiro said criticized Georgetowns move.

But punishing Shapiro for his tweets isnt a bad idea just in principle. It also threatens to undermine the value of academic freedom at a time when that value is under sustained assault in many red states.

Theres recently been an explosion of censorship in conservative parts of the country, including prohibitions on the teaching of critical race theory and an orgy of school library book bans. So far, this censorship has mostly, though not exclusively, targeted K-12 schools. But thats changing. As PEN America, a free speech organization, recently reported, In 2022, educational gag orders are being aimed squarely at colleges and universities to exert ideological control over what is being taught and read in classrooms and lecture halls.

The audacity of some recent red state proposals is stunning. A new bill in Oklahoma forbids teaching that one race is the unique oppressor in the institution of slavery and that another race is the unique victim in the institution of slavery. It would apply to school districts and charter schools as well as any type of state-funded online education or personnel of any state agency. According to Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education at PEN America, this wording encompasses higher education. Public universities, public colleges, are state agencies, he said.

A South Carolina proposal would, among other things, prohibit an instructor in any state-funded entity from teaching in a way that advertises or promotes ideologies or sociopolitical causes or organizations. The bill would create a hotline for people to report violations, similar to the one that Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia has pioneered for K-12 schools.

Of course, just because something is proposed doesnt mean it will be enacted into law. But when it comes to right-wing extremism at the state level, weve seen a consistent race to the bottom.

Texas abortion bounty law, for example, would have been hard to imagine a few years ago. Now its a model for far-right legislators in states including Arizona, Missouri and Ohio.

I am not naive enough to think that most Republicans will back off if they see liberal institutions upholding free speech protections for conservatives. But progressives will need allies if theyre to have any hope of mounting a political response to this new mania for academic repression.

Goldberg is a columnist for the New York Times.
Texas electric grid withstood the worst of this weeks winter storm without encountering major issues, providing a political boost to Gov. Greg Abbott as he stares down attacks from his opponents over the states response to last years disastrous storm.

At a news conference Friday morning, Abbott said Texas electricity demand had peaked hours earlier at 69,000 megawatts, according to projections by the states grid manager  well below the 86,000 megawatts Abbott said was available at times during the storm and shy of the 75,000 megawatts of demand projected by state officials earlier this week.

As I said yesterday, and I can say again today, the Texas electric grid is more reliable and more resilient than its ever been, Abbott said.

In El Paso, meanwhile, Democrat Beto ORourke embarked on what he said would be a 12-day Keeping the Lights On tour of the state, designed to draw attention to Abbotts handling of the February 2021 power grid failure. At the first stop of his tour, ORourke  who has made the grid a central focus of his campaign  told reporters he did not view this weeks storm as a legitimate measure of the grids reliability.

We are so grateful that yesterday was relatively mild when compared to last February, and we didnt have the kind of outages that so many people feared, ORourke said. But theres a reason that you are seeing record sales of power generators  across the state of Texas. Theres a reason that so many people had a traumatic reaction to seeing the weather reports that the temperature was going to plunge across the state of Texas, because it reminded them of what they went through.

UPDATES: Texas winter storm

About 20,000 homes were without power Friday morning across Texas, all the result of local outages from downed power lines and other issues unrelated to the grid, according to Abbott and Public Utility Commission Chairman Peter Lake. The statewide outages had dropped from a high of 70,000 Thursday, they said.

Austin energy consultant Doug Lewin said Texas was lucky that the storm turned out to be a fairly typical weather event, producing far less demand than in 2021. Still, Abbott noted the states power generators collectively provided enough electricity this week to meet the heightened demand of last years storm.

Its unclear, however, how the states natural gas companies  which fuel the power generators  would have fared under harsher conditions. The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, has yet to draft new requirements for weatherizing equipment, and a Chronicle investigation found that just 41 percent of the oil and gas sites visited by Railroad Commission inspectors had successfully tested their winterized equipment or procedures.

But while natural gas production dipped amid the storm, according to data from S&P Global Platts, the drop did not appear to cut into the states excess power supply. During the early stages of the storm, natural gas operators said they had largely avoided major disruptions from the low temperatures and were holding plenty of fuel in storage to send to power generators.

Still, ORourke noted that energy experts have cast doubt on the ability of Texas natural gas facilities to hold up under conditions akin to last Februarys storm, citing a report that predicted power shortfalls of up to 40 percent during severe weather unless the facilities are fully upgraded and winterized.

Translation: We will lose power again in this state if we have another severe weather event, because we are not ready, ORourke said.

Lewin noted that the grid had been boosted by wind power, which significantly outperformed projections by the grid manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT. Abbott bashed wind and solar energy during last years storm, saying they had thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power in a statewide basis, even though the state is powered mostly by fossil fuels.

In any case, the grids performance this week likely helped Abbott avoid major political blowback. A poll released Thursday by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found that 49 percent of Texans would hold Abbott responsible  trailing only ERCOT, at 70 percent  if Texas were to experience power outages in line with those of February 2021.

Nearly one quarter of Texans said officials response to the 2021 storm would be a very important factor when they head to the polls this year. An additional 32 percent listed the storm response as one of several factors they would consider when voting for governor, lieutenant governor and members of the Legislature.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
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Ex-Chelan County PUD employee publishes book about the abuse of power at the utility in the 2000s
Inspired by the vast anti-vaccine protest in Canada, Shelton to host event to support Americas version
We'll explain the power and the science behind it shortly. But first -- trust me on this -- a pause:

One one-thousand.

Two one-thousand.

Three one-thousand.

Four one-thousand.

OK, that's enough. Statistically, we're probably at the end of your patience. Any longer and this article would start to get awkward. And that's the point.

Based on science

This trick is based on the work of psychologist Namkje Koudenburg of the psychology department at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Writing in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology a decade ago, Koudenburg said she'd figured out why conversations that have no reason to become difficult can nevertheless become quite awkward.

In short (which is itself an amusingly ironic conditional given the circumstances), it's because silence past a certain point incites emotion: fear, longing, just-plain uncomfortableness.

And that certain point is four seconds.

One Mississippi.

Two Mississippis.

Three Mississippis.

Four Mississippis.

"They immediately sense that there is something wrong"

Koudenburg's experiment involved dividing 162 graduate student subjects into two groups, each of which watched a different version of a six-minute video clip. They were asked to imagine themselves playing the part of one of the women in the video.

In one version of the video, the woman made a controversial comment, which was followed immediately by other participants' reactions.

In the other version, the woman made the same controversial comment, which was followed by four seconds of silence, and then followed by the other participants' identical reactions.

The four seconds made a huge difference, with those who'd been asked to identify with the girl in the "pause video" feeling "distressed, afraid, hurt, and rejected," and self-reporting higher levels of negative emotions.

"Even when people are not consciously aware that there is a silence, they immediately sense that there is something wrong," Koudenburg told NBC News.

One Piccadilly.

Two Piccadillys.

Three Piccadillys.

Four Piccadillys.

(This is for our British readers, who apparently say "Piccadilly" instead of "Mississippi" to count off seconds.)

Achieve your ultimate objectives

Emotionally intelligent people might not have read Koudenburg's study, and they might or might not identify four seconds as exactly the cut-off between awkward and not-awkward.

But they certainly understand that patience empowers, and there is in fact a statistical, temporal point where comfort gives way to discomfort.

They understand that emotional intelligence is about more than just being nice to other people. Instead, it's the studied practice of leveraging emotions -- both yours and other people's -- so as to make it more likely that you'll achieve your ultimate objectives.

So, they use this understanding both strategically and ethically. For example, they know that sometimes in a conversation or a negotiation, you want to ease someone else's emotional discomfort.

Thus, when a pause approaches the awkward threshold, they might have planned a way to break it, either with a substantive response, a humorous interjection, or just: "Hmmm, let me think about that for a second."

But they also know that sometimes awkwardness might be a tactical advantage.

And they might not want to break it at all.

They intentionally let four seconds turn into five, then 10. Let the other side feel the need to interject, and then either repeat what they've already said or else even start negotiating against themselves.

One steamboat.

Two steamboats.

Three steamboats.

Four steamboats.

(That's the Canadian version, apparently. I might suggest "One Manitoba," since that would be the same number of syllables. But it's really none of my business.)

The organizational advantage

There's one more strategic advantage to utilizing the four-second rule. It has to do with the theory that all conversations can be broken down into a series of shorter conversations.

Still, the momentum from each shorter conversation winds up affecting the overall.

I've probably done 5,000 or more recorded and transcribed interviews with people over a 20+ career as a lawyer and writer.

The No. 1 thing I can tell you is that no matter how hard you pay attention, no matter how hard you try to remember every single thing that you talked about, the best you'll do is to hover around 30-percent recollection.

Four-second pauses, however, make it easier to divide conversations into sections.

That makes it easier to control the pacing and tone, but it also makes it easier to remember what the heck you talked about in between each pause.

I probably can't convince you of this in a vacuum, so just give it a try next time you have a conversation -- or especially a negotiation -- that you expect will last more than a few minutes. Count it off yourself:

One Bill Murphy.

Two Bill Murphys.

Three Bill Murphys.

Four Bill Murphys.

(I'll bet this gets you closer to 1 second between counts than Mississippi or Piccadilly or steamboats. Plus, it would be cool if people started using my name to count seconds.)

Empowering indiscriminately

This is where we land. I'm confident that I've uncovered a litany of simple, rhetorical tricks that make people more persuasive. The dilemma is whether to share them broadly, without knowing whether the people reading and implementing them will advocate for the greater good.

It puts me in the same boat, so to speak, with Socrates, who debated the question 2,500 years ago, in the fifth century BC: Should you teach the tactics of rhetoric, regardless of what your student might advocate for?

As someone who has literally compiled a lot of this into an entire free e-book -- 9 Smart Habits of People With Very High Emotional Intelligence -- I can see only one solution:

Empower indiscriminately, while hoping that just as both the good and the bad among us will employ them and their audiences will be aware of their effect, and thus better able to disarm and discern.

In other words?
Teddy Roosevelt's determination to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central America is immortalized in the palindrome: "A man. A plan. A canal. Panama." My company -- SynFiny Advisors -- began with a plan in Panama as well. It had nothing to do with waterways or ships, but that plan was crucial in navigating the series of choices we had to make as our business set sail.

It starts with a plan

It began as just scribblings on a napkin while a group of us were in Panama City on business, socializing and talking about the course we wanted to chart for the rest of our lives. Those scribblings got fleshed out and became SynFiny's multi-year vision and strategy document. This has served as a great guide but it did little to help us in making decisions crucial to the company's future. For that, we needed to start making priority calls on what to do, and, more importantly, what not to do.

There was a tidal wave of critical decisions to make as we embarked on our startup odyssey. Should we prioritize getting clients, or building brand equity, or systems and processes, or advertising, or a company website, or social media, or recruiting personnel, or the company yacht? (That last one was a joke.) Each of these needed to be addressed, but what level of sophistication would be required for each area? We were left with many questions:

How much should we invest in these priorities, and when?

How do we raise capital? Should we borrow?

Do we use equity?

Will our revenue support our growth?

All these decisions were sure to have significant impact on the future of the business. As Teddy famously said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Making the right calls

Too often, the founder or leadership team of a company does not make the right priority calls. Valuable time and resources are wasted on the wrong choices. Money dwindles. The founder desperately seeks new sales or a fresh round of fund-raising, but no one will pour good money after bad. A great idea and vision come to naught, as the company finally sinks.
Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community!

Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region.




During the December 2021 quarter, crude steel production of India operations increased by 4% yoy and 2% sequentially at 4.81 MT. Interesting sales to automobile OEMs remained steady despite 9% cut in auto production.



Europe revenues were up 56% yoy and 7% sequentially at GBP2.25 billion. Tata Steel spend Rs.2,790cr for capex at Kalinganagar. Gross debt increased to Rs72,603; however, net debt was lower with Rs17,376cr repayments. Tata Steel Ltd reported 44.95% yoy growth in total sales revenues for the Dec-21 quarter on consolidated basis at Rs60,783cr. On a sequential basis, the revenues were up by 0.66%.During the December 2021 quarter, crude steel production of India operations increased by 4% yoy and 2% sequentially at 4.81 MT. Interesting sales to automobile OEMs remained steady despite 9% cut in auto production.Europe revenues were up 56% yoy and 7% sequentially at GBP2.25 billion. Tata Steel spend Rs.2,790cr for capex at Kalinganagar. Gross debt increased to Rs72,603; however, net debt was lower with Rs17,376cr repayments.

For the Dec-21 quarter, the operating profits were up on a yoy basis by 64.3% at Rs15,853cr. During the quarter, the EBITDA of the India business was up 41.7% yoy at Rs12,434cr.



However, the India steel EBITDA was lower sequentially due to a spike in operating costs, especially a more than proportionate rise in material costs and other expenses. Tata Steel India and Tata Steel Europe contributed the bulk of the EBITDA growth in the quarter.



Operating margins improved sharply from 23.02% in the Dec-20 quarter to 26.08% in the Dec-21 quarter. The operating margins were lower on a sequential basis by 144 bps.

Net Profit after tax (PAT) for the Dec-21 quarter was up 158.92% yoy at Rs9,573cr on operating performance getting transmitted to PAT. However, the company also had sharply higher gains from associates and joint ventures in the latest quarter.



PAT margins improved from 8.82% in the Dec-20 quarter to 15.75% in the Dec-21 quarter. The PAT margins were higher on a sharply lower on sequential basis by 400 bps.


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On February 4, 2022, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) commemorated the 35th anniversary of the martyrdom of Meena, the founding leader of RAWA. The program was attended by a number of members and supporters of RAWA from different parts of Afghanistan. There were speeches, poetry, revolutionary songs, as well as excerpts of received solidarity messages from different world progressive organizations, parties and individuals.

At the beginning, the host said:

"Today, we commemorate the epic woman, who, thirty-five years ago, sacrificed her life for her great ideology. We sincerely thank each and every one of you for attending this event during the rule of the theocratic and fascist regime of Taliban and during the difficult days of poverty, misery and cold.

Meena was only 22 years old when she laid the foundation of RAWA, with the aim of salvaging the women of our country, and at the age of 31, she lost her life with a heart full of great aspirations. In her short life, she taught her followers the great lessons of struggle, courage and resistance, and to never stay silent against the enemy, even for a moment."

She added:

"Sisters! During the twenty years that the United States had occupied our homeland, under the guise of democracy, human rights, and women's rights, Afghanistan became the stronger hub for fundamentalists, terrorists and the most corrupt and insecure country in the world; majority of the US minions embezzled and looted as much as they could; the vast majority of women were deprived of everything, except for the corrupt and yes-women who made to the top, due to their supererogation to the arc-criminals of the ruling regime. Despite the cascading of billions of US dollars, domestic and sexual violence, abuse of women, enforcement of medieval laws, honor killings, forcing women into prostitution, became routine.

The Taliban are a tool in the hands of the destructive and bloodthirsty US government, which were replaced by their Jihadi and Technocrat brothers, and whenever they do not meet the needs of the American masters, they will be refurbished as ISIS."

The poem, "Oh Secret Fire", was recited.

Then RAWA activist spoke on the current situation and the stand of the organization on some burning issues:

"Fortunately, Afghan women are aware enough that Taliban can no longer impose any of their Stone Age laws on them. If Taliban are trying to deprive women of education and the right to work, they know that with this policy, women can be suppressed and their cries can be neutralized and thrown out of the political life. A woman who has no share in the economy of society, automatically becomes the slave of a man. Therefore, women's movements must defend these women's rights to the last extent. If every women's movement do not put the struggle against fundamentalism, imperialism and for secular democracy on its agenda, that uprising will be swallowed up by traitorous rulers.

In the period of despotism and oppression, even the small freedom-loving and progressive movements have profound effect on society as a whole and should not be underestimated. The Taliban are now so shivered by these small protests of women that they are arresting and repressing them because they know that from these seemingly small movements, bigger waves of justice-seeking movements will emerge and overthrow their shaky rule. However, the significant condition is to be noted, that we shouldnt be afraid of imprisonment and torture. Majority of the revolutionaries have turned the prison into the biggest battlefield and have made a deep impact on thousands of others in order to continue on their path."

Referring to the current situation in our tormented homeland, she added:

"Taliban are currently cheerishing with the power and the gun and the support of the United States, Pakistan and other countries, but it will not last long because this group is hated by the people. This bunch of terrorists have gained the hatred of the people with their explosions, suicide bombings, killings and strange backwardness. The Taliban were created not by the people but by foreign intelligence, and just as the other despotic regimes in Afghanistan which have fallen one after another, Taliban are also doomed to destruction.

In the recent days, we have seen the Taliban were invited to the Norwegian summit, which has been well received by the United States and its allies. Naturally, the United States prefers to recognize the Taliban under the guise of an all-inclusive, participatory government, and many of tricks. The hosting by Norway and the opening of the doors of Europe to the Taliban means that the Western Governments, nourishing criminal, the rule of the Taliban or any other fundamentalist and savage force is not important; they only want a puppet government in Afghanistan to act according to their aims and regional strategy.

Worst of all is the invitation of puppet and pro-establishment women like Mahbooba Saraj, who for years, under the name of women, filled their pockets of US dollars and have acted according US policies. In the past, some showpieces of the West, such as Habiba Sarabi, Fauzia Kofi, Nahid Farid, etc. have also played a treacherous role in Doha, each of whom had become an indirect spokesperson for the Taliban. A large number of awaken Afghan women have clearly stated that these women do not represent Afghan women and that Afghan women can never forgive the Taliban for their crimes and betrayals."

In the event, a clip containing pictures and quotes of women fighters and prisoners of Iran such as Sepideh Qulyan, Zeinab Jalalian, Athena Daemi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Marzieh Amiri, Neda Naji, etc. was shown. And the presenter added:

"The history of the struggles of the masses of Iran is full of the existence of revolutionaries who each sacrificed their lives to keep the flag of resistance and revolution of this land high and red. These great people are not only an inspiration to the Iranian revolutionaries but also a role model for us. On the one hand, the bloodthirsty Islamic regime of Iran is always trying to silence the political activists and opponents by torture and terror, however, on the other hand, we have epic figures such as Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam Holi, Shahrokh Zamani and Baktash Abtin who did not surrender, and left the most obvious examples of humane honor and resistance."

A Persian hymn, Sun of Freedom, and a Pashto hymn, Salute to Meena, were performed by several members of RAWA, and an instrumental piece, composed by a young artist dedicated to Meena, was played.

In the very oppressive conditions of the bloodthirsty Taliban regime, the main message of the event was to emphasize on the steadfast continuation of the path of Meena until the dawn of freedom and justice.
One of India's most wanted terrorists, Abu Bakr a key conspirator behind the 1993 Mumbai blasts has reportedly been apprehended in the UAE.

Abu Bakar, a close aid of Dawood Ibrahim was held in the UAE, where he had been living for years, at the request of Indian authorities.

India Today, quoting sources reported that Indian agencies are in process of extraditing Abu Bakar to the country to face the law.

BCCL

Abu Bakar, whose full name is Abu Bakar Abdul Gafur Shaikh, was involved in the smuggling of gold, clothing and electronics from Gulf countries to Mumbai with Mohammad and Mustafa Dossa  key lieutenants of Dawood Ibrahim.

He was also detained in 2019, in the UAE, but managed to get away.

About 257 people had died while 713 others were injured after a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai, orchestrated by Dawood Ibrahim.

While Dawood Ibrahim, who enjoys the patronage of Pakistan's ISI continues to live in the country, several of his accomplices have been arrested and sentenced.

File Image

One of those who managed to get away, Salim Gazi, reportedly died in Karachi, Pakistan last month.

Gazi died of heart problems, said the sources. He was suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other ailments.

He was accused of abetting the blast and soon after the incident, he had fled to Pakistan along with other gang members of Dawood Ibrahim.

Since then, Indian authorities failed to nab him.

Last year, Yusuf Memon, brother of Tiger Memon, one of the conspirators of the blast, had died at Nashik Road Central Jail.

Another convict Mustafa Dossa had died in 2017.

BCCL

His other brother, Yakub Memon who was also convicted for his role in financing the bombings, was executed at Nagpur Central Jail on 30 July 2015.

Another key plotter, gangster Abu Salem was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle.

The Supreme Court of Portugal, in 2012, had dismissed an appeal of the CBI which had challenged the termination of his extradition.

BCCL

In June 2017, Salem was convicted and later awarded a life sentence for his role in the 1993 serial blast case in Mumbai.

Salem was found guilty of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai ahead of the blasts.

On March 12, 1993, the country's commercial capital had witnessed unprecedented coordinated attacks with a series of 12 bomb explosions that took place one after another in about two hours.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Real-time social media posts from local businesses and organizations across Northern Virginia, powered by Friends2Follow. To add your business to the stream, email cfields@insidenova.com or click on the green button below.
Two men have been arrested in Dublin following the discovery of 220,000 of drugs in Dublin.

"As part of ongoing investigations into the local sale and distribution of controlled drugs, Gardai from Blanchardstown searched a premises in the Mountview area of Dublin 15 shortly after 4pm on Friday," said a garda spokesperson.
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A college in Limerick is in talks to purchase a number of derelict apartments with the aim of turning them into student accommodation.

Mary Immaculate College (MIC) confirmed that discussions are at early stages regarding the purchase of a building near Courtbrack Avenue, for the purpose of housing students.

The buildings, built in the 90s, have around 40 apartments and would be able to accommodate around 60 students.

They are located meters away from MICs campus, and have previously been used to house students, and then asylum seekers, up until 2017, when they became vacant and fell into a derelict state.

Labour councillor Joe Leddin said he had been pushing for the councils derelicts site team to use the means offered to them, such as levies, in order to get apartments back in use.

He claimed that the owner had now "agreed to a request by the Council to refurbish the departments and we develop them," while at the same time, had entered into discussions with MIC.

Mr Leddin said that while the apartments remain boarded up, students are still checking into hotels or living in unsuitable or overcrowded accommodation or simply driving long distances, he said.

He welcomed the news that the apartments will now be brought back to the market, as Limerick is currently struggling with an accommodation crisis.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate news reports that lifelong Democrats living in retirement homes in South Florida had their party affiliation changed to Republican without their permission.

I am especially concerned about the civil rights implications of this reported disenfranchisement because the victims are elderly, low income, and many do not speak English, Fried said in a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday.

Fried is asking the DOJ immediately begin an investigation into these reports.

Also writing a letter to county State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle was Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, according to an WPLG Channel 10 report.

On February 2nd, a local news station reported on the seemingly fraudulent changes made to the voter registration status of a local resident of Haley Sofge Towers, a Miami-Dade public housing building, the mayor wrote. Under the alleged guise of voter renewal efforts, canvassers entered the building and engaged with elderly residents, who claim they did not approve sudden changes to their party affiliation.

The affected people would still be allowed to vote in general elections, although not in Democratic Party primaries. Theyd have to participate in GOP primaries.

Fried is campaigning for the Democratic nominee in the 2022 gubernatorial election against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Frieds letter cites reports from WPLG Local 10 News, which first reported on such an occurrence in December.

Florida Republicans have been crowing about a registration drive that for the first time has positioned them ahead of Democrats in registered voters.

Local 10 reported that an 84-year-old woman found that her voter registration card showed her as a registered Republican after being a lifelong Democrat.

Follow-up reports have found more seniors who experienced a similar scenario, reporting that victims of third-party registrations are coming forward to report that their voter registration was altered without their permission.

The report continued: All of the victims were older than 65 years old, live in Miami-Dade County, and all of them were outraged when they learned they were registered as Republicans.

These concerns have caught the attention of Sen. Annette Taddeo, a Democrat who represents part of Miami-Dade County. Taddeo is also campaigning in the gubernatorial election.

Taddeo tweeted Thursday: Every one of these voters has said they have been Democrats their entire life. They werent trying to switch. Its very concerning especially since this doesnt seem to be an isolated event.

She sent a letter to the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections, noting that her office has also received calls from voters who claimed that their registration was changed to Republican without their consent.

Parts of this report first appeared on the website of the Florida Phoenix, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to coverage of state government and politics from Tallahassee.
Trinity, TX (77320)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Three Vietnamese women claim Asia Innovation Awards

Three female Vietnamese scientists have been honoured at the Hitachi Global Foundation Asia Innovation Awards.













Dr. Pham Thi Thuy Phuong wins Best Innovation Award



The local scientists were presented with the Best Innovation Award, the Outstanding Innovation Award, and the Encouragement Award.



The Best Innovation Award went to Dr. Pham Thi Thuy Phuong of Vietnams Institute of Chemical Technology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. She was recognised for her A Novel Biosensing System for Rapid Estimation of BOD5 and Sensitive Detection of Toxicity in Water (BODTOX) project.





Unlike costly commercial biosensors, BODTOX is based on a packed-bed bioreactor that can easily be self-built from either a variety of cheap materials such as biochip, porous ceramic, or pumice stone. It then uses the natural bacteria consortium presented in the target wastewater, or sodium alginate capsules from the commercial microorganisms for specific purposes.













Professor Le Minh Thang grabs the Outstanding Innovation Award



Elsewhere, the Outstanding Innovation Award was given to Professor Le Minh Thang of the Department of Organic and Petrochemical Technology at Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST). She won the honour due to her "Catalysts from transition metal oxides and technologies for the treatment of exhaust gases and waste water to protect the life on land and below water" project.



Meanwhile, Dang Thi Tuyet Ngan grabbed the Encouragement Award for her project ESMS  the smart solution to recovery valuable metals (Indium, Cobalt, Europium) from difficult treated wastewater as well as e-waste forward to circular economy in Vietnam.



Originally launched in 2020, the Hitachi Global Foundation Asia Innovation Award aims to promote science, technology, and innovation which contributes to solving social issues and realising a sustainable society in the ASEAN region.



The awards serve to recognise individuals and groups that have undeniably served public interests through their outstanding achievements in research and development (R&D) in the fields of science and technology. This includes their visions of an ideal future society and social implementation plans for R&D as a means of achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).


Skelos, Cuomo, Silver

In 2013, New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, and Governor Andrew Cuomo conspired to pass rigid and likely unconstitutional restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms by residents of New York State. The law was passed with a rushed vote under a controversial measure in the New York Constitution which gives the Governor and legislative leaders enormous power. The members of the legislature were forced to vote on it without any time to read it. From syracuse.com:

The NY Safe Act was passed with no hearings, no testimony, no time for opponents to make a case to their legislators.

It's not the first time a controversial bill was turned into a midnight emergency.

Others include same-sex marriage, pension reforms, requiring annual teacher evaluations, and, in some years, the entire state budget.

There has been massive resistance to the SAFE act. From the dailystar.com:

One of the most controversial components of the New York SAFE Act  mandatory registration of assault weapons  kicks in today. Those who fail to comply could end up facing criminal charges.

But local sheriffs and gun rights advocates said they expect the vast majority of those who own such firearms will defy the requirement. And state police offered no details when asked to outline what, if any, plans the agency has for enforcing the statute, which was pushed through the Legislature in January 2013 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"I don't know a single person who is even thinking about complying with registration," said Jim Losie, owner of Losie's Gun Shop in Oneonta. Losie called the registration requirement a prelude to eventual confiscation of such weapons by state government.

Large parts of the SAFE act have proven to be impractical to implement. Some pieces have been ruled unconstitutional. One part was so idiotic the state legislature, with the agreement of the governor, repealed it very quickly. .....
Jacksonville, TX (75766)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

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Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 71F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Up to the roof and gone: Three on loose after Sullivan jail break
Has the UKs economy imploded in a firework of Brexit carnage yet? Youd certainly expect so given what politicians, economists, bankers, and lawyers warned about

Saturday, 5 February 2022  Komatsu, Japan

By Nick Hubble

Editor, The Daily Reckoning Australia

Brexit Britain is booming

Should Aussies invest in UK stocks?

The EU might go boom too

Dear Reader,

Has the UKs economy imploded in a firework of Brexit carnage yet? Youd certainly expect so given what politicians, economists, bankers, and lawyers warned about.

Indeed, the UKs FTSE 100 Index has been a notable underperformer for quite a few years now.

But what if this was just a buying opportunity for Aussie investors who can see through themisguidedclaims about Brexit?

You see, news of Brexit Britains demise has beenwell, there hasnt been any. The news has been impressively good instead. Project Fear, as Brexit doom-mongers are now known in the UK, was utterly humiliated.

I believe this gives those investors willing to see past the spin an opportunity to invest in undervalued stocks. Lets see if you agree

And lets start with the aggregates. The IMF forecasts the UK economy to be the fastest growing in the G7 for the second year in a row.

The UK looks set to be the first major economy to escape the clutches of COVID restrictions.

The Bank of England was the first major central bank to tighten monetary policy  a sign of strength.

It took less than two years from the referendum for the pound to recover against the US dollar and its up since the official Brexit date too.

Heck, these Brexit days, even the car industry in Britain is looking up. Bentley just unveiled a 2.5 billion investment to build its first fully electric car, securing 4,000 jobs.

Nissans CEO, who had been one of the most quoted Brexit doom-mongers around, recently announced an increased investment in production instead:

Europe will take the lead on electrification around the world for Nissan

In Europe, Sunderland is the one which will take the lead towards electrification.

Contrast that with Tesla, which couldnt be bribed enough to put up with German red tape for its Gigafactory. I wonder if Elon Musk is a Brexiteer now?

Britains biotech sector may be in for a golden age according to corporate leaders in the sector after figures from the BioIndustry Association (BIA) showed biotech and life sciences companies secured 4.5 billion in public and private fundraisings in 2021  a 60% increase on 2020.

Part of this boom may be because companies would be mad to base themselves in the EU after how vaccine producers were treated there during the pandemic dramas

One of the most important Brexit issues was how the City of London would fare. Thats a reference to the financial centre side of things, not the literal place.

And theres no better example of how Project Fear was proven wrong.

While talk of an exodus of 232,000 finance jobs was remarkable enough, this doom-mongering was my favourite, in The Guardian:

City firms plan to move 10,500 jobs out of the UK on day one of Brexit, with Dublin and Frankfurt the financial centres most likely to benefit from the UKs departure from the EU.

The job tracker compiled by the accountants EY, which counts job announcements to the end of November, found that the number of roles likely to be affected had fallen from estimates of 12,500 a year ago.

By the middle of 2021, the European Banking Authority had the number of bankers that left London for the rest of Europe at 95

No, not 95,000. Just 95.

In fact, these days, you can read stories about how the City is booming

The Telegraph reports that:

London has retained its crown as the worlds top destination for financial and professional services

The Square Mile outperformed other major financial hubs, including New York, Singapore and Paris, as firms quickly adapted to Brexit.

Using 95 metrics, the report:

Found that the City had an unmatched international financial reach, while it also excelled as a hub for tech and innovation and its share of headquarters of Fortune Global 500 companies rose by a third over the past year. It also remained Europes leading destination for investment in financial services and was the worlds leading foreign exchange trading centre.

Not bad, eh?

Especially given Project Fears claims. After the Brexit referendum in 2016, a KPMG survey of 1,300 CEOs found 76% were looking to relocate, and 29% felt forced to by Brexit.

Meanwhile, one of the largest firms in Europe, Shell, moved its HQ from Amsterdam to the UK

Also in The Telegraph was news that the doom-mongers former favourite statistic had staged a rather extreme turnaround:

EY report finds nine in ten major financial services firms plan to establish or boost operations in the Square Mile.

The survey found that investor confidence in the UK financial services sector was at an all-time high, having risen significantly in recent months as pandemic restrictions recede and Brexit fears fail to materialise.

The Brexit fears failed to materialise and so the bankers stayed? Heck, the Brexit fears were that they would leave in the first place

The Express pointed out how this optimism translates to boots on the ground and investment in local real estate:

Multinational investment banking giant Citi launched a 100million overhaul of its 42-floor Canary Wharf tower, despite foreign banks having been expected to leave London as a result of Brexit. James Bardrick, head of UK at Citi, said the investment showed the bank's commitment to London for 25 years and beyond.

Since Brexit, Citi has added more than 1,000 jobs in London, bringing it up to 9,000 staff. I wonder how many of them are EU citizens.

So what changed? Why didnt Londons financial district implode in an exodus of staff, money, and companies?

It turns out that Europe needs access to the City to sort out its own rather fragile finances, just as much as vice versa. Thats why the EU has proposed prolonging a temporary waiver for European banks and fund managers to use UK clearing houses until June 2025, and the same for euro derivative clearing rights.

In fact, as The Telegraph reported back in September:

Financial service exports to the European Union rose in the months after Britain left the EU despite warnings that the City would be hit by a collapse in trade, official figures show.

The comparison was of 2021 to 2019, so no pandemic distortions here.

So not only was there no plunge in financial services exports, but there was also an increase!

Yes, the figures undermine claims by chief executives and politicians that Brexit would devastate the Square Miles ability to trade with the Continent, but heres the interesting bit:

European firms appear to have suffered most of the damage [from Brexit]. Financial services exports from the EU to the UK slumped by more than a third, predominantly hitting companies in Ireland, France and the Netherlands.

Yikes, European finance firms had the Brexit crisis instead?

And all this is for the industry that was not included in the Brexit trade deal, a concern that caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth at the time.

But thats just the financial district. The UKs stock market index turned from an underperformer to an outperformer recently, with its oil and gas firms helping to give a boost while the USs tech stocks and Europes manufacturing struggle.

According to Schroders, the UK is home to a far higher percentage of 10-baggers than even the US, meaning that the share price rose more than 1,000%.

If you ask me, the UK is booming. And that boom is set to continue, depending on how the self-governing nation decides to make the most of its new-found powers.

But Im not entirely sure this is good news for Aussie investors. Because it poses a series of extreme financial risks too.

You see, Europeans are waking up to the realisation that Brexit is benefitting the UK. That having your own economic policy, exchange rate, and democratically-elected government is a good idea.

Frexit (France exit) campaigner Francois Asselineau really let em have it in a video posted online:

Macron even said that he would have the red carpet ready for the hundreds of thousands of people working in the city of London who would cross the Channel to settle and take refuge here in France.

What has happened one year after Brexit?

The UK has 4.5 percent unemployment, half the amount of France.

No, but wait. Did I dream it or not? We were told that Brexit would be the apocalypse, but it is not the apocalypse! The UK's growth is higher than our growth.

Google, Boeing and Shell have transferred their headquarters to London.

The City has regained its position as Europe's leading financial centre and the French know very well that migrants want to enter the UK.

We were told that in international matters, the UK would isolate itself and not at all.

With the United States and Australia it made an alliance and this is the origin of us losing the contract for the submarines in Australia.

Project Fear, meanwhile, hasnt changed its tune. The analysis from Gregory Claeys, a researcher at the think tank Bruegel, may sound familiar to you:

Frexit would lead to a freezing of financial flows and bring the global financial system to a cardiac arrest.

The failure of Lehman Brothers could look like a small shock in comparison, and even that had major real economic implication.

Yes, yes, Im sure it would, just as it would for Brexit.

Except, Bruegels researcher might actually be right. The desire to leave the euro really could trigger a major financial crisis because it would likely risk a sovereign debt crisis too.

And so, I think we should be weary of celebrating Brexit as a success story. It might become a little too popular

Regards,

Nickolai Hubble,

Editor, The Daily Reckoning Australia Weekend

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Joplin, MO (64801)

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Morning rain followed by strong thunderstorms in the afternoon. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 69F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

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Opinion Columnist

Chris Powell has worked for the Journal Inquirer since 1967, first as a reporter, then as an editor, and now as a columnist. He was managing editor from 1974 until retiring from that position in 2018.
Refuting the allegation of Tamil Genocide in the final phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka

by Harsha Kumara Navaratne

The term genocide is used to describe one of the gravest crimes against humanity, comprising of specific acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Therefore, the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canada notes with serious concern attempts by certain parties in Canada trying to portray the final phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka which ended in 2009 as a genocide against the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka community in Canada, is multi-ethnic and multi-religious. In this context, the Private Member Bill 104 on Tamil Genocide Education Week passed in Canadian province of Ontario has caused strain in intercommunity relations among the Sri Lankan community by the depiction of a false narrative against one community.

In addition, we are disappointed that on January 31, 2022, at an event to announce funding for Tamil students with targeted mental health and wellness programs and resources, Mr. Stephen Lecce, Ontarios Minister of Education made comments including we are very deliberate in our choice of words that we recognise a genocide that transpired against the innocent Tamil people and in a genocide that has left over 140,000 innocents perished at the hands of the regime in Colombo. Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam, MPP Scarborough  Rouge Park, who was also present referred to Tamil genocide in his remarks.

We are appreciative that the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in a Diplomatic Note dated 7th April 2021 responding to a clarification stated that the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development clarify Canadas official position with regard to allegations of genocide in Sri Lanka, the department can officially confirm that the Government of Canada has not made a finding that there was genocide in Sri Lanka. Further, the Government of Canada has proscribed the Liberation Tamil Tigers Eelam Organisation (LTTE).

In this background, the repeated use of the word Tamil Genocide only generate dissention and prejudice amongst the children and community of Sri Lankan Canadians living in Ontario. Therefore, such allegations need to be refuted in the interest of social harmony and to prevent the spread of fallacies about Sri Lanka in the international community.

During the final phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka, the government forces confronted the internationally proscribed terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), one of the most brutal terror groups the world has witnessed. The aim of the LTTE was to divide Sri Lanka on ethnic lines and carve out a separate State. With this objective, they conducted a three decades long terrorist campaign which brought much suffering and destruction on all communities.

During the last stages of the military conflict in 2009, when the LTTE was facing inevitable defeat, it resorted to holding Tamil civilians hostage as a human shield and refused all efforts to move civilians away from conflict areas. The allegation of civilian casualties and the exaggeration of the numbers was the means by which the LTTE sought to force foreign intervention to halt the government advance.

Nevertheless, the government forces managed to rescue approximately 290,000 Tamil civilians from the clutches of the LTTE, cared for them and resettled them. In addition, over 12,000 armed LTTE cadres were rehabilitated and released, proving thereby that the Sri Lankan government had avoided causing unnecessary deaths even among enemy combatants, not to speak of non-combatant civilians.

Therefore, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest any act and/or intent of the spurious allegations of genocide during the military engagement with the LTTE. Neither was there a pattern of events even to suggest genocide. Military experts have noted that the tactical options were, justifiable and proportionate given the situation in the last phase of the military conflict.

Some parties, including LTTE remnant groups and sympathisers, have seized on hypothetical figures of civilian casualties contained in certain seriously flawed Reports commissioned by the UN, to push a claim of genocide of Tamil people in Sri Lanka during the final stage of the military conflict. However, not even the much disputed UN Secretary Generals Panel of Experts report (PoE) carry the accusation of genocide against the Government of Sri Lanka. The principal findings of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), in 2015 in to the alleged war crimes of Sri Lanka does not even suggest genocide.

Groups espousing the claim of genocide have seized the claim, made without any proof, in the PoE report that there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths during the final months of the conflict. The PoE report came up with the hypothetical figure of 40,000 civilian deaths by setting off the actual number of people finally rescued by the Sri Lanka Army which was approximately 290,000 against the hypothetical figure of 330,000 which they deemed to be the number of civilians who had been in the area (Vanni) before military operations commenced in that region. This hypothetical number of 330,000 civilians used by the PoE is a purely arbitrary construct. Nobody, in Sri Lanka or outside, really knew exactly how many civilians the LTTE was holding in captivity during those months in 2009.

In addition, PoE report mentions a lower figure of 7,721 deaths (up until 13 May 2009) reported by the United Nations Country Team in Sri Lanka. However, this figure is later disputed by the PoE report without it explaining how it is that over 30,000 people could have been killed in the final days up until 18 May 2009 when the conflict ended, if the figure of 40,000 is ever to be correct and accurate.

It may be noted that in July 2011, the data collected by Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka in the Northern Province, found that in 2008 and 2009 when the final battles raged in the Northern Province, the total number of persons who died of causes other than natural causes, was 9,283. The field data collection required for the project, the first enumeration of its kind in that part of the country since the census of 1981, was carried out by the predominantly ethnic Tamil government employees serving in the Northern Province. The number of fatalities suffered by the Sri Lanka Army during the final war against the LTTE between July 2006 and May 2009 was 5,876. It would only be logical to assume that the LTTE would have suffered a greater number of fatalities than the armed forces of Sri Lanka, and that of those reported (9,283) to have died in the Northern Province due to other than natural causes in 2008 and 2009, the vast majority would have been LTTE cadres or those directly involved in hostilities.

Legal experts have identified that the use of the disputed figure which is the central weakness in the PoE report, is exacerbated by the standard of proof that it professed to adopt. A non-legal analysis (I felt sure, I felt reasonably confident, I was absolutely convinced, I had my suspicions etc.) is used in a document dealing with alleged criminality on a major scale  that name those who may be responsible and who merit further judicial and other process. They note that international courts and tribunals have not placed reliance on reports of this nature as being probative evidence to prove allegations in trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Since the end of the conflict in 2009, Sri Lanka has pursued a policy of restoration, reparation, re integration, rehabilitation and reconciliation within the overall concept of restorative justice. At a time when Sri Lanka is moving ahead with these processes, certain groups, including remnants of LTTE international network, have been trying to discredit and destabilise the efforts undertaken by Sri Lanka by pushing agendas such as Tamil genocide.

As seen in the comments made by Mr. Stephen Lecce, who cited a figure of 140,000 deaths, the contents of unverified reports have succeeded in misleading the international community and influencing opinion-formers and decision makers. If, with the passage of time, the dubious nature of the evidence on which the UN reports are based on is forgotten, their accusations, which are in fact unproven, may become potent over repeated use.

The allegations of genocide impacts on Sri Lankas relations with the international community, at a time when it is engaged in a long-standing cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms and the UN Human Rights Council and is delivering on its commitment to address accountability and reconciliation through domestic processes and institutions.

Therefore, the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka extends an open invite to all those who are committed to the peace and reconciliation process of Sri Lanka to visit, meet and have a dialogue with him on this subject.

The writer is the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada
Reporter

Susan covers the towns of Somers and Enfield. She joined the JI in May 2021 and graduated from Skidmore College. She recently completed docent training for the Wadsworth Atheneum and hopes to start giving tours some time next year.
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Areas of patchy fog early. Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. High around 85F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

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A few clouds. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.

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Partly cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 84F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and members of the Nordic countrys indigenous Sami community on Saturday protested against a possible iron ore mine in northern Sweden.

The government is next month to decide whether to greenlight the controversial project led by UK firm Beowulf, which has promised to create 250 to 300 jobs in the area.

But the Sami, an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 of whom live in Sweden, say the plan will prevent reindeer herding, disrupt hunting and fishing, and destroy the environment in their homeland.

We believe that the climate, the environment, clean air, water, reindeer herding, indigenous rights and the future of humanity should be prioritised above the short-term profit of a company, Thunberg said in an English-language video message.

The Swedish government needs to stop the colonisation of Sapmi, she added, using a term for Sami land.

Stina Lanta, a young resident of the village of Jahkagasska near the proposed Kallak mine, said she was worried.

A mine would have a permanent negative impact on our grazing lands, she said.

The European Unions only indigenous population, an estimated 100,000 Sami live across the vast Arctic wilderness of northernmost Finland, Norway and Sweden as well as Russias Kola peninsula.

For much of the 20th century, governments denounced the indigenous people and their culture as uncivilised and inferior.

In the last five years, Finland, Norway and Sweden have stepped up moves to atone for past injustices, setting up truth and reconciliation commissions and repatriating stolen Sami artefacts.

But the Sami argue that their rights continue to go unrecognised, pointing for example to government plans to open up parts of their mineral-rich homeland to mining companies.
The newest OCN thriller drama "A Superior Day" starring award-winning actors Jin Goo, Ha Do Kwon and Lee Won Geun entices potential viewers with its two new posters!

Jin Goo Shows Determination To Catch the Serial Killer in 'A Superior Day'

Sterling actors Jin Goo, Ha Do Kwon and Lee Won Geun work together in creating the newest OCN masterpiece "A Superior Day." The drama follows the story of a father who tries to save his kidnapped daughter from a murdering serial killer who lives next door.

The drama stars Jin Goo as fireman Lee Ho Chul whose daughter gets kidnapped by a serial killer who lives next door. Ha Do Kwon, on the other hand, plays the role of professional hitman Bae Tae Jin who's also hunting down the killer.

Finally, Lee Won Geun, who recently portrayed the role of a prosecutor in "One the Woman" with Lee Honey, now becomes a serial murderer named Kwon Si Woo. He believes that he's superior to anybody else in the world.

In the newly released posters, Lee Ho Chul's determination in catching the murdering culprit is captured.

His face is tinted in blank and white, darting his gaze into the camera. Lee Ho Chul fears for his daughter's safety and well-being. In the background, an analog clock is seen, hinting at how Lee Ho Chul gets trapped in a 24-hour timeframe.

The next poster shows the original face of the webtoon character. An analog clock is also present, perfectly showing the similarities between the webtoon character and the actor.

The phrase on the poster reads, "My daughter is kidnapped, I have to catch that culprit!," highlighting the tension.

Attention is focused on how Lee Ho Chul saves his daughter from the madman. Curiosity about the real identity of the serial killer is also heightened.

'A Superior Day' Release Date, Further Details and Where to Watch It

OCN's newest action thriller drama "A Superior Day" is based on the popular webtoon of the same name.

The drama is helmed by "Substitute Human" director Jo Nam Hyung, who has shown immense passion for his work.

"A Superior Day" airs for the first time on Sunday, March 13 at 10:30 p.m. KST on OCN.

What are you looking forward to seeing in the new Jin Goo action drama? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Follow KDramaStars for more K-Drama, K-Movie and celebrities updates!

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
"Squid Game" cast Lee Jung Jae, Jung Ho Yeon, Park Hae Soo and more alongside director Hwang Dong Hyuk hint their appearance at the 2022 SAG Awards.

Following their trip to the United States in November 2021 to attend a series of events, the cast members of the Netflix series plan to return to join the prestigious ceremony on February 27, 2022, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.

During their interview for the "VOTE FOR KOREA: Shoot Well, Choose Well" campaign conducted by YTN Star, the actors expressed their thoughts about the historic nomination.

Will' Squid Game' Cast be Present at the SAG Awards 2022

"Squid Game" villain Heo Sung Tae revealed that all the cast members are thrilled to go to the U.S following the nomination at the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

"I don't know if it will be possible due to the schedule, but all actors are planning to go to the U.S. After this shoot, I have to go take a picture of my passport first. Not only me but also all the actors who participated are excited," he said.

Moreover, he also shared that the experience of being nominated was surreal and "felt like a dream."

The same goes for Lee Jung Jae, who was overwhelmed receiving another nomination, but this time at the SAG Awards 2022.

"It was the most meaningful and happiest announcement of the nomination above all else," the "Squid Game" star shared.

As for the Best Ensemble in a Drama Series nomination, the renowned South Korean actor compared it to receiving the best picture award, noting that he is "happy" being considered for the category.

IN CASE YOU MISSED: 'Squid Game' Star Oh Young Soo Becomes the First Ever Korean to Win Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes

Meanwhile, Jung Ho Yeon showed confidence admitting that she "was expecting the SAG Ensemble Award nomination for "Squid Game.'"

As for her individual nomination, the newcomer revealed that she was surprised to receive the Best Female Actor in a Drama Series nomination.

"I was happy to be nominated, but I was really surprised and bewildered at first because it was something I was not expecting to be nominated for the Best Actress Award. I really thought that many people loved 'Squid Game.' It was more honorable and meaningful to be chosen," the model-actress explained.

Lastly, Wi Ha Jun, who played detective Hwang Jung Ho, described it as a "once in my lifetime" experience.

'Squid Game's' Historica SAG Awards Nomination

The nine-part episode series continues to receive recognition globally after taking the world by storm with its unique visuals and heart-stopping story.

"Squid Game" welcomed the year with a bang after receiving four nods at the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

As mentioned, the Netflix series was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Female Actor in a Drama Series, Male Actor in a Drama Series for Lee Jung Jae's portrayal of player 456 Seong Gi Hoon and Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.

Interestingly, "Squid Game" is the first-ever non-English-language series and the first Korean series to receive a nomination.

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Geca Wills
The time of the year has come again! February is now here, filling the air with romance, butterflies and love.

What better way to spend Valentine's Day than by watching the best Korean films of all time? Here are the classic Korean films you must watch this month of love!

1. 'Temptation of Wolves'

Like many other teen romances, "Temptation of Wolves" follows the typical heart-fluttering love triangle between three good-looking characters.

It depicts the story of Jung Han Jung (Lee Chung Ah), an orphan girl who moves downtown, and the two handsome boys Hae Won (Jo Han Sun) and Tae Sung (Kang Dong Won) who both fall in love with her.

To movie enthusiasts and rom-com junkies, this film has the best elements of the genre-sharing an umbrella under the pouring rain, secrets to unravel and the usual childhood love story trope!

"Temptation of Wolves" is a heartfelt and beautiful love story that can be enjoyed by the whole family, friends and loved ones.

2. 'Innocent Steps'

Moon Geun Young and Park Gun Hyung's "Innocent Steps" is an oldie but a goodie!

The classic film follows the story of a young Chinese girl who travels to Korea in the guise of her sister to learn how to dance. In order to stay in the country, she needs to pretend to be married to a Korean man who is a former ballroom dancer.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check Out These 3 Feel Good Films to Boost Your Mood

It's a tickling love story between strangers who pretend to be in love with each other, not knowing that they finally fell for real.

"Innocent Steps" is an incredibly slow yet sweet journey to love.

3. 'My Love, My Bride'

Shin Min Ah and Jo Jung Suk's megahit romance film "My Love, My Bride" doesn't look romantic at first glance at all.

"My Love, My Bride" depicts the harsh realities of married life. Unlike many other Korean films, the story doesn't start out fun and flirty, instead it skips over the early romance spiel between couples.

As the two characters feel unappreciated by one another, they become dangerously close to cheating. But despite the imperfect fairytale love story of the film, it makes viewers appreciate relationships, people and sacrifices more.

"My Love, My Bride" just makes you want to fall in love again and again.

4. 'Always'

So Ji Sub and Han Hyo Joo combine one another's acting skills in the popular romance film "Always."

The film stars So Ji Sub as Cheol Min, a parking lot attendant who falls head over heels for Jung Hwa (Han Hyo Joo), a sweet girl who is blind.

Some viewers might find the film "boring" but unlike other films, "Always" is purely about the progression of a relationship. It talks about the misunderstandings, reconciliations and dramatic struggles of couples.

"Always" is without a doubt a convincing film that will make any viewer swoon with affection.

5. 'The Classic'

Rom-com queen Son Ye Jin and Korean heartthrob Jo In Sung promise a great romance story through the film "The Classic."

The film tells the story of a love that is lost and once found again, a challenged relationship told through the memoirs of the female lead (played by Son Ye Jin), which is read by her daughter (also played by Son Ye Jin).

The title lives up to its name as it's a Korean classic movie that everyone should watch at least once in their life.

"The Classic" is a masterpiece that absolutely inspired many Korean films in today's generation.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - The Butte County Sheriffs Office and the Butte County District Attorney provided more information following a mass shooting in Oroville Wednesday night.

Authorities said 21-year-old Asaahdi Coleman of Sacramento was arrested following the shooting on a Greyhound bus that killed a 43-year-old woman and left four people injured. The name of the person who was killed is not being released at this time.

Sheriff Kory Honea said an 11-year-old girl was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition. He said the other people who were injured, include a 25-year-old woman who is pregnant and is in critical condition, a 38-year-old man with minor injuries who is expected to be released from the hospital, and a 32-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds and is in critical condition after he underwent surgery.

Honea said people on the bus called 911 around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday from from the bus stop at the AM/PM market on Oro Dam Boulevard East.

As deputies were responding to assist the Oroville Police Department, they diverted to more 911 calls from Walmart at 465 Cal Oak Rd., which is about half a mile from the AM/PM store.

Honea said it appears Coleman had left the bus after the shooting and ran south across Oro Dam Boulevard through a commercial area, dropping the firearm at a construction site. The weapon was later recovered by authorities.

Honea added that Coleman continued south and made it to the Walmart. He reportedly walked over to the cash register and at some point he became involved in a verbal altercation with a woman who was with her boyfriend. Honea said that alteration escalated to a physical altercation.

Shortly after, Honea said Coleman then began to remove clothing. Once deputies arrived, they identified Coleman by the description they were given and arrested him without further incident.

At a news conference Thursday, authorities provided information about the events that led up to the shooting.

Honea said Coleman had boarded the southbound bus Wednesday afternoon in Redding, which made stops along the way in Red Bluff and Chico.

Coleman made a phone call from the bus as it passed through Chico and then started a conversation with other people on the bus, Honea said from information gathered from witnesses. Coleman then began acting paranoid and started to show people on the bus he had a firearm.

According to Honea, when the bus got to Oroville, Coleman fired a series of gunshots inside the bus. District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Coleman fired shots toward the front of the bus. During the news conference Ramsey referenced a photo that showed a bullet hole through the front windshield of the bus.

Ramsey said the Department of Justice came down from Redding to investigate the crime. He said investigators found a dozen 9mm shell casings, which was consistent with witness statements who described more than 10 shots fired.

Coleman had a criminal history, including a juvenile record and was wanted out of Alameda County for a felony warrant for a probation violation. Coleman was prohibited from possessing a firearm, according to Ramsey.

Coleman will appear in court Friday at 3 p.m. when Ramsey plans to file charges.

The identification of the person who was killed had not been released and authorities must notify next of kin.

The investigation is ongoing and authorities will release the information of the person who died in a news release after the family has been notified.
Travis Reinking, seen here in Nashville, Tennessee, Friday February 4, was sentenced Saturday to life in prison without parole.
Our request is loud and clear, Mr Minister and the team; please change your attitude and try to live in the present. If you are not able to do the job assigned to you, hand it over to someone who can do it and leave.

Editorial

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo has responded by paying extraordinary attention to a series of comments made by an individual who is, according to her own description, a human rights activist. It is a limping response that has no meaning and should not be done at all. The particular individual once served as a commissioner of the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission. She has the right to express her opinion and to express it freely. Sri Lanka, unlike many other so-called guardians of democracy, is a paradise where anyone can utter anything they wish. See how our folks handle social media tools; nothing but complete rubbish. Especially when an individual works for a non-governmental organization, s/he should do his best to satisfy the funders. But the people of this country owe a much heavier national task from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

An attempt by an individual to please the parties who are financing her with a very carefully selected set of words is an innocent exercise, especially in a time of foreign currency deficit. But the national responsibility of a country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a completely different and complicated process. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must have a clear understanding of how to respond and who to respond to. But, by looking at the manner they are performing duties, neither the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is a professor of law nor his staff members have this basic understanding.

The ministry took the opportunity to expose its stupidity when Afghanistan was regained by the Taliban terrorists. But, the ministry buried its head in sand when Scotland Yard announced the ending of its training programmes for the Sri Lankan police. At least the significant improvements that have taken place in the Sri Lankan Police in the recent past should have been documented and made public. Unfortunately, the Ministry has no proactive plans to deal with anything vital for the country. Most of those who claim to be diplomats totally depending on the taxpayers money of the country do not fulfil their responsibilities commensurate with their salaries except giving priority to their personal comforts.

Like many other government agencies in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is an institution full of opportunists and political henchmen who squander public assets. Although the country and the nation are in shambles, for most of them only their prosperous lives are important. Isnt it a smokescreen to hope that such gangs of procrastinators have an understanding of national responsibility? Their lame and futile response to an individual proves the magnitude of the deterioration of our diplomatic head.

There is no proactive mechanism in the Ministry to demonstrate the commitment of our nation despite the ad-hoc based reactions to selected events and individuals. Take the profound achievement during the war on terror that ended in 2009. We as the small nation with minimum capabilities have rescued nearly three hundred thousand unarmed civilians brutally used as the human shield by the LTTE. But the most advanced military in the world deliberately killed the same amount of innocents in just two days to end the so-called World War II. At the end of the day, our folks are named war criminals but theirs have been crowned as the guardians of human rights.

As a small nation that fought for her survival, we must speak this truth. That is where the role of our diplomatic community lies. If ministry officials have the right understanding of diplomacy, there is no need to send half-cooked responses to individuals who are thirsty for cheap popularity. Our request is loud and clear, Mr Minister and the team; please change your attitude and try to live in the present. If you are not able to do the job assigned to you, hand it over to someone who can do it and leave.
Civilization in all its forms began when people first learned how to measure time, and the only way they had to do it was to measure the cycles of the moon.

From one new moon  when the moon was a sliver of light in the dark sky  to another new moon was one month.

Twelve cycles of the moon were one year  well not exactly one year. The lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year.

What this meant was that if the ancient calendars were needed to mark precisely when to plant and when to harvest, they were going to be a little early every year and eventually the planting month would drift into the harvest time.

A new year festival that fell in the spring would eventually fall during the winter. This was acceptable to Islam, which to this day uses a purely lunar calendar in its Hijri calendar to mark the arrival of, for example, the holy month of Ramadan.

Every year Ramadan comes 11 days earlier. Muslims have a beautiful greeting that reflects this lunar/solar gap, May you live to celebrate Ramadan in every season of the year.

Judaism, by contrast, which had holidays that were tied to the harvest cycle (like Sukkot), had to introduce occasionally an extra month (Adar II) to bring the holidays back into their appropriate season.

Chinese and Hindu calendars are also lunisolar, with additional months added periodically to correct for seasonal drift.

This is all the result of the fact that 12 cycles of the moon are not quite equal to one trip around the sun. The lunar new year brings us back to the important truth that the way we measure time is a cultural choice, not a natural event. Calendars provide spiritual support and spiritual structure for our lives.

Year of the Tiger

In any event, the lunar new year, also called Chinese New Year, was Feb. 1 this year.

Its the Year of the Tiger, which I am sure is encouraging to all you Cincinnati Bengals fans.

In China, Vietnam and Korea and indeed throughout Southeast Asia, this is a very big time for celebrations.

Lets examine some of the Asian New Years customs.

In South Korea, the lunar new year celebrations last for three days and are called Seollal. In Malaysia, the holiday lasts for 15 days.

I love the fact that all Asian customs involve the remembering of ancestors and the honoring of elders with visits and deep bows (seh bae) after which the kids get some New Years money in red envelopes called seh bae don. In Singapore, the red envelopes have the word fu printed on them, which means good luck.

Special New Years garments are worn to honor the holiday. They are called hanbok in Korea and ao dai in Vietnam.

Of course, holiday foods also are used to convey holiday hopes. Fish is eaten on New Years because fish are a symbol of bounty. Also, round foods appear in many cultures as a way of expressing the hope that we will all be alive and well after one more cycle of the year.

In the Philippines, people wear clothing with polka dots because round is good. In Korea, the round dumplings are called mandu.

Long is also good. Long noodles (japchae) convey the slurpy hope for a long life. The typical New Years foods in Singapore include a salad called yusheng.

My favorite Korean custom is that of flying a kite in honor of the new year (yeonnalligi). In Korea, and especially in China, red (and also gold) is the typical New Years color.

There are also superstitions associated with the new year. It is considered bad luck to buy new shoes, cut or wash your hair or throw anything out during Chinese New Year.

In Singapore, there is a big parade called chingay that celebrates the large Chinese population. Throughout the world the lion dancers are a beloved feature of the Chinese New Years Chingay parade.

Throughout Southeast Asia, it is also customary for Buddhists to pay respect to Buddha by going to a temple and lighting incense.

There is a need to mark the passage of time and the first way to do that was to watch the moon. I like that link to nature provided to us by moon time. I like it more than our sterile digital world, where time has nothing to do with the flow of nature and the universe.

The moon has given us something to look up to that does not burn our eyes like the sun. It invites us to enter the mystery of sacred time ... and eat some noodles.

So, in Cantonese, I wish you gong hei fat choy, which means wishing you great happiness and prosperity. In Mandarin, the same greeting is gong xi fa cai.

Happy Year of the Tiger!

Send questions and comments to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including Religion for Dummies, co-written with Father Tom Hartman.

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Dannisha Dee Weatherspoon might have been the perfect mother. Diligent, loving and did whatever she could to make her two little girls happy.

It was really important to (Dannisha) to raise her daughters the right way, said Weatherspoons sister, Angelica Reed. She never skipped a beat. Shed always have them at school, always give them breakfast. It was just a routine to make sure the girls  the girls was number one for her. They asked for something, she made sure she got it done for them.

Weatherspoon, of Racine, died at the age of 29 on Jan. 21 in a car crash on Highway 32 in Somers. She was a passenger in the car, on her way to work as a cook at the dining hall at Carthage College.

Her family is currently looking after her two children, Deonna, 9, and Savannah, 4.

They created a GoFundMe fundraiser (gofund.me/dbd0b62e) with a goal of raising $20,000 to help care for the girls schooling, home transitions and other expenses. As of Friday morning, the fundraising site has raised almost $4,000.

Growing up

Weatherspoon was born on Nov. 29, 1992. She went to Gifford Elementary School in Caledonia, was homeschooled throughout middle school and graduated from Case High School in Mount Pleasant.

She pursued a higher education at Gateway Technical College and finished her studies online through Penn Foster College. In March, she would have started beauty school in Kenosha to become an esthetician.

In 1995, Weatherspoon was adopted by Kelvin and Debra Weatherspoon, who had already adopted her biological brother, Landon Weatherspoon, prior.

According to her obituary, Dannisha had five maternal siblings, seven foster siblings and two special foster siblings.

Both Landon and Reed described Dannisha as the baby of the family.

She would cling to me. She would follow me everywhere I was, said Reed, the next older sibling to Dannisha.

Landon described Dannisha as loving, caring and super fun. She always said things to make you smile.

She liked everything I liked. Arthur, Magic School Bus, he said.

Though she had a lot of siblings, there was one thing that made Dannisha such a special sister. She came to each individual sibling and spent time with them, Landon said.

Their fond memories with Dannisha include attending the Wisconsin State Fair and her trying to eat absolutely everything, her obsession with cheese and ramen noodles and her presence at every birthday, no matter what.

Caring for her kids

Dannisha was planning a surprise trip for her and her daughters to go to Disneyland before she died. Not for a birthday, not for doing well in school specifically. It was for a vacation just because, Landon and Reed said.

The siblings children all go to the same schools and all keep their eyes on each others children as one big family.

For now, the Weatherspoons oldest sister, Sondra, is now the primary caretaker of Deonna and Savannah, while the girls other aunts and uncles also take turns watching them.

Landon and Reed thanked all who have contributed to the fundraising site so far. From close friends to strangers, they have been overjoyed from the support they have received. Not one person has said no, Landon said.

Just knowing that a girl was on her way to work, and a tragedy happened. That shows her character, Landon said. Thats one thing that  that breaks my heart, because thats what she was doing. My sister wasnt doing anything out of the ordinary, but living life. Trying to get to work on time.
This is painful. The people we are up against are people we have known for years. Our lives are intertwined. Speaking from rural California, Jane explained what school board conflict is doing to her community.

She is not alone. Many communities are being torn apart as parents fight for their childrens future  but with different views of what that future should be.

In many ways, this energy around school boards is wonderful. Parental involvement has increased. People have decided to run for office who never expected to do so. While so much involvement is great for our democracy, often missing are the basic elements of engagement, openness and learning, transparency and trust, collaboration and shared purpose. Many times, people are not listening to each other and solving conflicts together.

There are reasons these conflicts are happening.

School boards have become ground zero for our culture wars, often stoked by people outside the school community: mask and vaccine mandates, history teaching methodologies, school and mascot name changes.

There are also legal complications. A big one is liability, making board members reticent to reveal much to the public. Another is regulations governing school boards. In Virginia any gathering of three of the five school board members is legally considered an open meeting  even an email exchange between three or more members within a certain number of hours. These legal issues constrain the members of boards ability to communicate with themselves and the people they serve.

Many school boards now are setting the years policies and strategies. Reacting to the disruptive and sometimes dangerous meetings of the previous year is top of mind. A first impulse often is to call police to help with security. Another is to limit public comment or curtail open hours. After what the last school board experienced in 2021, they just withdrew. Walls went up, a newly-elected Virginia school board member noted.

But these reactions tend to deepen the conflict, making parents feel angrier and more unheard.

However, this does not need to be. Here are ways to improve the situation.

School board members can:

Reach out, listen, and make people feel heard. After emailing parents who had made their one-minute public comments, then been cut off with a quick thank you, the Virginia school board member said, People write back and say, this is the first time someone from the board has ever written me. They know Ive tried to really see and understand them. It helps.

Consider different formats for receiving public input, such as listening sessions, mediated conversations, or other methods of productive listening, learning and leaning into the conflict.

Get conflict literacy and de-escalation training.

Others can help. Faith leaders, Rotary-style service organizations, and community mediation centers can convene community-wide conversations outside the restricted school board format, which school board members can attend unofficially.

Many resources exist to support such constructive public-school board engagement. Community mediation centers have highly skilled conversation facilitators. Living Room Conversations offers conversation agreements with tips for setting ground rules. The Bridging Divides Initiative has de-escalation guides for community meetings.

This intense community engagement is a wonderful opportunity. For the sake of the children watching and learning from us, let us make this engagement constructive by being informed, inclusive and participatory.

D.G. Mawn is president of the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) and CEO of Intuitive Synergies, a consulting firm that supports systemic change through the lens of cultural intuitiveness and power differentials.

Melinda Burrell, PhD, is a humanitarian aid worker who researches and trains on communication and conflict, and a member of the NAFCM board.

D.G. Mawn is president of the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) and CEO of Intuitive Synergies, a consulting firm that supports systemic change through the lens of cultural intuitiveness and power differentials. Melinda Burrell, PhD, is a humanitarian aid worker who researches and trains on communication and conflict, and a member of the NAFCM board.

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The new plan to offer more college classes to inmates in Wisconsins prison system is a little surprising. Virtually everyone acknowledges educations role in giving people hope of a better life, but theres usually little interest in offering those opportunities to those who have transgressed against societys rules to the point theyre placed behind bars.

No less surprising is the source of this initiative: outgoing University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson.

Thompsons long tenure as governor saw significant increases in the size of the states prison system. Hes not an outlier for that time. Statistics from the Bureau of Justice shows there were slightly more than 250,000 people in state or federal prisons in the mid-1980s, shortly before Thompson became governor. By the early years of this century the population was more than 1.5 million.

I built too many prisons. I think we need to be much more interested in rehabilitation, Thompson told the Wisconsin State Journal.

Education must be a component of that shift. Thanks to a $5.7 million grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., it will be.

The grant, given to the UW System and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, allows a pilot program for inmates to begin at five campuses, including UW-Parkside. Neither UW-Eau Claire nor UW-Stout is part of that initial effort, but administrators at both locations will undoubtedly be watching the results closely.

Contrary to popular perception, most inmates in Wisconsin have an educational foundation to build on. Approximately 70% have a high school degree or the equivalent. Wisconsins prison system has some two-year programs in partnership with technical colleges. Finishing off a bachelors degree generally waits until after release, and thats no small hurdle for someone readjusting after years in prison.

At its base, this really isnt all that different from what we wrote about last October, when we put a spotlight on the financial literacy class taught at the Chippewa Valley Correctional treatment Facility. A degree is more formal, but the fundamental goal of preparing people to re-enter society and become productive is the same.

There are those who object to such efforts. We understand the concerns. When people with clean records are struggling to afford education, offering it to people whose own actions resulted in prison sentences feels off. It seems like rewarding bad behavior at the expense of those who stay within the law.

But lifetime incarceration is, and always has been, the exception. The vast majority of people sent to prison are released at some point, and its usually not as long as people think. Only 10% of Wisconsin inmates serve sentences of five years or more. Two-thirds of inmates being released are between the ages of 20 and 39. That means they have decades to live.

It is in the best of interests of society and the inmate if the person being released is better prepared for life outside prison walls. Returning to prison is a failure for both. It means that, rather than the person holding down a job and contributing, society is once again footing the entire bill for the persons needs.

Simply put, would you rather your tax dollars go to feed, house and clothe inmates, or that former inmates work and pay taxes to help support society?

Working toward that end also fulfils the mandate of the system itself. Prison systems arent usually called that. Theyre far more often labeled as a states department of corrections. Thats the case for Wisconsin as well. Implicit in that title is the goal of correction and rehabilitation. True, that requires willingness on the part of the inmate as well. But words matter. The words used by society to describe this system focus on the potential for correction, not the requirement of punishment.

Shifting, as Thompson suggests, to an approach focused on helping people find restoration as productive members of society is realization of the departments purpose. In the long run its more likely to produce people with an incentive to live within societys constraints, rather than serve as a finishing school for criminality.

This work wont be finished quickly. Results will take time. But this is a step in the right direction for Wisconsin.

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Hopkinsville, KY (42240)

Today

Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. High 84F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Rain showers early with scattered thunderstorms arriving overnight. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
With independence the government was expected to embrace all the 7.2 million People with diverse cultural identities as equals, but it did not.

by Kusal Perera

In spite of the reverses which the ideal of One Ceylon, Free Ceylon, has received recently we hold our faith in it. The conception of a free country where politics is free from the ideas of race and caste calls for courage and imagination and true statesmanship. We shall not subscribe to anything less than that, for nothing less will save Ceylon. - Handy Perinbanayagam

Grumblings against this government preparing for Independence Day celebrations on 04 February is blamed as waste of money when the economy is bankrupt. People are hungry. What celebrations? goes the argument. Complaints of bankruptcy, 74 years after independence with every government accused of failure is what should be dug deep. What in fact was the responsibility of the People who were declared independent, 74 years ago?

Encyclopaedia Britannica has this to say almost 25 years after independence. The consensus that the government represented, embraced only a small fraction of the populationthe English-educated Westernized elite groups that shared the values on which the structure was founded. To the great mass of Sinhalese- and Tamil-educated residents and unschooled citizens, these values appeared irrelevant and incomprehensible.

With independence the government was expected to embrace all the 7.2 million People with diverse cultural identities as equals, but it did not. The Stateg declared independent did not include and treat all Citizens as equal. When a government embraces a select privileged few though elected by a majority, the responsibility of establishing a secular, inclusive and an independent Nation State is violated.

Total lack of any serious and collective social campaign that generated a social consensus on an Independent Nation State, resulted in leaving backdoor negotiations for independence with the English-educated Westernized elite groups. Exception was the Jaffna Students Congress formed in 1924 and metamorphosed into Jaffna Youth Congress (JYC) in 1929 with Perinbanayagam as its ideological leader. They stood for Poorna Swaraj defined as total national independence for One Ceylon and Free Ceylon. It was on this very principled stand the JYC opposed the Donoughmore Commission proposals as not going far enough in the direction of self-government. They therefore called for a very successful boycott of the 1931 State Council elections in North and East.

Pro-Sinhala politics held sway through all negotiations for independence and that did not alter with D.S. Senanayake government adopting two bills in parliament in 1948 to de-citizenise and dis-franchise the plantation Tamil labour. Plantation labour then constituted nearly 800,000 or nearly 11 per cent as a minority in a population of 7.2 million.

During the first 30 years after independence, governments were not lobbied by even the educated and the intelligentsia to establish an inclusive, pluralistic nation State. Instead, governments were elected to feed the people. Governments were therefore ousted for not making life easy for the larger majority, who were poor and lower middleclass wage earners.

During the next 40 plus years to date, the political culture rotted worse in a free market economy with voters turned selfish, self-seeking. competing consumers. Ethics and morals discarded as irrelevant for democratic representation and daily life, they ganged behind individual politicians for favours, positions, political power and shady deals. The educated urban middleclass voters were no different. Next government was only spoken about when the urban middleclass wanted the existing government ousted on their petty terms but with no alternate programme offered.

Leaving aside the discussion on what economic model could best deliver socio-economic aspirations of the people for a moment, the firm and forgone conclusion is, all through 74 years we have not addressed the basic issue that should have been addressed; establishing an inclusive, independent, sovereign nation State for a culturally diverse polity.

Senanayake created a precedent in the first parliament itself, openly violating the responsibility of working towards an inclusive nation State. Creating distrust among the Tamil society, he and his government was instrumental in breaking up the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) in 1950 to form the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), popularly called the Federal Party (FP). In turn it strengthened the Sinhala-Buddhist resolve in establishing their dominance in the State with Bandaranayakes Sinhala Maha Sabha dissociating itself from the UNP in 1951 to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

What was unmistakably clear by then and thereafter is that no political leadership including the politically aggressive traditional Left ever realised the necessity of politically working towards a secular, democratic Nation State. Democratic and fundamental rights of citizens necessary for a democratic nation State were never in the political agenda of any political party. For the first time 71 insurgency threw open the curtain on arbitrary arrests, disappearances, torture, and rights of detainees. They were taken up by Ms. Sooriya Wickramasinghe, with Senior Advocates Desmond Fernando and Bala Tampoe the trade unionist who intervened on behalf of the accused youth. Sooriya and Desmond in 1971 established the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) to campaign for rights with Amnesty International support. CRM was the first social organisation in Sri Lanka to advocate human rights.

It was thereafter a Section on Fundamental Rights (No.18) came to be included under Chapter VI in the first Republican Constitution of 1972 while also assuring the Sinhala-Buddhist hierarchy of special State patronage under Section 06 of Chapter II. Section 18 of the 1972 Constitution was later expanded as Article 14 in the second Republican Constitution of 1978 and did not fail to include Section 06 as Article 09 under Chapter II as well.

Despite human rights entering the political discourse in urban circles, political parties weaned themselves off from even the touch and go democracy there was in their organisations. That de-linked leaderships from responsibility to their scattered membership. No political party pledged thereafter to remove Article 09 of Chapter II to establish a secular democratic Nation State structured on ethnoreligious equality, civil liberties and human rights. All political parties in mainstream politics instead began competing for Sinhala-Buddhist votes, with presidential elections held nationally. The two main political contenders catered to the 70.2 percent Sinhala-Buddhist constituency to muster the largest possible vote bloc. All elections therefore were about political leaderships competing to be a better Sinhala-Buddhist leadership than the other.

Thus the 24-year history of independent Ceylon and the 50-year history of Sri Lanka prove the two main political parties on their own and in alliance with Sinhala groups and political clans have not taken responsibility for the task of nation building with an inclusive, independent State. They have only been catering to Sinhala-Buddhist sentiments and nurtured them to be extreme and violent, at the expense of Tamil and then Muslim minorities.

Tracking anti-minority politics of mainstream players since independence begins with the UNP government of PM Senanayake de-citizenising and dis-franchising plantation Tamil labour in 1948, followed by PM Bandaranayake legislating Sinhala as the only official language in 1956 and Tamil MPs protesting in Galle face green physically attacked by organised goons. That was followed again by the protest march to Kandy against the B-C Pact in 1957 led by J.R. Jayawardne. First anti-Tamil riots followed thereafter in 1958. Madam Bandaranayakes government in 1962 deployed the military for the first time against peaceful civil disobedience campaign called for by the FP in North and East. Thereafter in 1968, the Opposition parties led by Madam B with SamaSamaja and Communist parties launched a protest march against provisions of the 1965 Dudley-Chelva Pact resulting in novice monk Dambarawe Rathanasara succumbing to shooting at Kollupitiya. After the 1970 elections Madam Bs coalition government with SamaSamaja and Communist parties left out Tamil representation from promulgating the 1972 Constitution that did away with provisions safeguarding minorities, classifying all as Citizens of Sri Lanka

After 1977 with Jayawardne heading the government, Sinhala racism was given a violent Mathew-turn with 1977 and 1979 Tamil riots, enactment of the PTA in 1979, massacre of Jaffna town and the burning down of the prestigious Jaffna library followed by the infamous Tamil pogrom in July 1983 that completely discarded the political responsibility of establishing a secular, inclusive and a pluralistic Nation State. It paved for armed Tamil rebellion for a separate Tamil State. Rest is all history with a protracted 26 year long civil war brought to an end on military exploits in 2009 May under Rajapaksa presidency and replacing the anti-Eelam campaign with a more violent extremist campaign against the Muslims.

In any country where political leaderships do not believe in respecting cultural diversity, and social activists do not challenge the sectarian, racist ideology of the dominant ethnoreligious majority, socio-economic development and prosperity has never been possible. In fact, neither prosperity nor democracy can ever be the luxury of the majority ethnoreligious community alone. Bankruptcy the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated during the past 02 years was growing and was inevitable. This bankruptcy cannot be answered by mere economic manoeuvrings as advised by Experts. This bankruptcy is not about economics per se, but about plurality, democracy and nation building with diversity and dignity and nothing less.
Austral Islands DXpedition

Several members of the Perseverance DX Group (PDXG) will activate Raivavae Island (Austral Islands), French Polynesia, April 15 - April 29, 2022, for approximately 12 operating days.

The plan is to have radios on the air continually, as propagation allows. The call sign TX5N was issued for this project.

Team members include:

Steve/W1SRD, Doris/K0BEE, Rob/N7QT, Melanie/N7BX, Heye/DJ9RR, Walt/N6XG and Gene/K5GS. The team is planning to operate 160m - 10m (including 60m), CW, SSB and Digital.

The team will meet in Papeete, Tahiti, on April 12th and fly to Raivavae on April 15th, returning to Papeete on April 29th. The team expects to make between 60,000 - 80,000 QSOs.

The operating location, Tama Raivavae Resort, will provide a small bungalow for each team member and a separate building for radio operations. Tama Raivavae has hosted many past DX-peditions.

Equipment will include Elecraft K3 transceivers with 500 and 1.5K watt linear amplifiers. Antennas will be verticals and a hexbeam, antenna placement will be on the beach. We expect to have some internet availability for daily log uploads to M0URX.com

This project is self-funded by the team. We welcome donations via the Donate button (https://tx5n.net/donation-page/) or with OQRS to offset equipment shipping expenses.

We are hoping that Covid doesn't interfere with the project.

OPDX
Gov. Tom Wolfs speech is expected to not only outline his policy requests but also look back at his administrations turn at the helm of government.
Convicted felon found with an illegal firearm, passed out in vehicle with toddler
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Improving the quality of amateur radio Indonesia's ORARI reports the communications regulator has asked amateurs to improve the quality of radio amateurs through local meetings



A translation of the post by the national amateur radio organistion ORARI reads:



Directorate General of Postal Resources and Devices and Informatics of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics encourages the improvement of amateur radio quality through local meetings.



Head of ORARI Center Doni Imam Priambodo stated that the ODKS Improve Quality Member Program which was held before the implementation of the Amateur Radio State Examination (UNAR) would provide technical and organizational knowledge and skills.



"New ORARI members will know the correct communication procedures, know the band plan, the frequency band used," he said



According to Doni, ORARI Center will launch the ORARI Digital application, one of its functions is to provide E-KTA services.



"Callsigns that can be downloaded, delivery of letters or documents through the Application and others. So that the service can be faster and more accessible to members, "he explained.



Chairman of ODKS Ahmad Yani, said that improving the quality of Orari members has become a work program for ODKS activities.



"This activity has been carried out in stages, because it is still in the COVID-19 pandemic situation. I hope that the Orlok-orlok ranks will also take advantage of member meetings," he said.



According to Ahmad Yani, every local meeting will be able to convey the material and how to communicate well via radio.



"That's when simple materials can be conveyed, such as good and correct communication procedures, then discussed together so that radio amateur members obey the rules used. This can be done considering the limitations in Orlok-orlok. he explained.



The event with the theme One Day ODKS Improve Quality Member 2022 was filled with the ATARI Competition (Amateur Radio Skills Sharpening), Fixed Fox Hunting (Slalom Test Antenna) and the gathering of ORARI Members of the South Kalimantan Region with the General Chair of the Central ORARI for the period 2021-2026.



Source: https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/39564/tingkatkan-kualitas-amatir-radio-lewat-pertemuan-lokal/0/berita_satker



ORARI https://orari.or.id/


Colaiste Pobail Osrai rock band Salann Min have taken the top prize in the hotly-contested senior groups category of the All-Ireland final of Scleip music competition.

The prestigious music competition is a long-running event in Gael Linns calendar, and was held live for the first time in two years.

The band, all of whom are 6th year students in the school, travelled to Dublin on Wednesday 2nd February to take part in the showcase. This was broadcast live on Youtube, and the award ceremony followed.

The band members, Stephanie, Ella, Aodhan, Thomas, Tom, and Diarmuid, were faced with an agonising wait until the end of the evening, as their category was among the last to be announced. They were surprised and delighted with the win, though it came as no surprise to all who viewed their polished performance. Their winning piece was their translation to Irish of Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club.

1st Year student Seth O Scanlain also put in a great performance in Wednesdays final, playing a medley of Faded by Alan Walker and Hes a Pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean on the piano. He is surely one to watch in the coming years!

Well done, also, to teachers Siobhan Ni Fhearghail and Grainne Sabhaois for all their hard work with the groups who competed in Scleip this year
Province supports the New Westminster Amateur Radio Club

The New Westminster Amateur Radio Club is among the 250-plus not-for-profit organizations across B.C. (Canada) that are receiving community gaming grants to support environmental conservation and public safety programs.

According to the New Westminster Amateur Radio Club website, the group was created to promote the hobby of amateur/ham radio and emergency communications. It has received an $8,000 community gaming grant for emergency radio communications.

The pandemic has reminded us how important it is to stay connected to our loved ones and communities, New Westminster MLA Jennifer Whiteside said in a news release. In an emergency, the New Westminster Amateur Radio Club provides additional communications support, and Im pleased that we are able to aid them their work.

The province is providing grants for public safety work, such as volunteer firefighting, marine and land search and rescue operations, crime reduction and restorative justice, and emergency response and communications.

Read more of he New Westminster Record's article at:

https://www.newwestrecord.ca/in-the-community/province-supports-the-new-westminster-amateur-radio-club-5005618
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Rain. High 52F. Winds ENE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 42F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Some Israeli sources said the resignation followed an argument with Barnea.

The commander of Mossads 'Caesarea' special operations division has reportedly quit due to "disagreements" with director David Barnea, seven months after the latter assumed the post from Yossi Cohen. This is the fourth Israeli spying apparatus's official to quit in a few months.

Some Israeli sources said the resignation followed an argument with Barnea.

The officer, who can only be referred to by the Hebrew initial Bet, resigned after a heated meeting with Barnea, in which the latter said the unit and its subordinates have became a burden on the organization, the Times of Israel news outlet cited a Channel 13 news report.

Barnea wanted to make major changes to how the department headed by B. works because of difficulties in operating Israeli agents abroad, and B. did not implement them as requested, the Haaretz reported.

Division in Mossad and security crisis

In recent months, there have been reports of disagreements among Mossad commanders and agents, which has exacerbated the internal rift within the organization. The head of Mossad's counter-terrorism unit resigned due to deep differences with the director of the spy agency. The reason for this, in addition to the internal differences among the commanders and the head of this organization, can be attributed to the failures and inability of Mossad in recent years to pursue and achieve its goals in the region and the world.

Additionally, in recent months the organization has had problems recruiting and employing new agents in different parts of the world, which has led Barnea to make radical changes in the Mossad. How to implement and apply these changes has proven challenging to Mossad, analysts suggest.

Moreover, in recent months, the number of cyber attacks on various departments, institutions, and facilities of the Israeli regime has increased and a lot of information has been revealed, demonstrating the weakness of Israeli security and intelligence institutions. The successful attacks question the competence of the Israeli security and intelligence bodies in saving national security.

The repercussions of crisis in Israel

News of the resignation of a number of senior Mossad agents and commanders, along with issues such as numerous cyber attacks on the regime, news of the arrest of people accused of spying against in Israel, spy recruiting challenges, destruction of spy networks by some regional countries, inability of the Internal Security Service (Shabak) and Mossad to contain the Palestinian resistance and the Axis of Resistance states including Iran, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine, the opposition of Mossad members to the changes planned by Barnea, and possible resignation of other Mossad agents and officials in the coming days indicate the escalation of the security crisis inside this regime.

At a recent conference, tiled What Strategy Does Israel Need?, hosted by Institute for Policy and Strategy of Reichman University, the participants shared the notion that the regime faces home and foreign threats, saying that one of these threats is the lack of a basic strategy in the decision-making of the Israeli internal security Institute.

Also, Yuval Diskin, the former head of Shabak, published an article in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper underscoring the possibility of Israel's collapse in the future.

"The threat Israel is facing is not Iran nuclear program, Hezbollah, or radical Islam. Rather, it is the internal approaches and structural problems that pose a real threat to Israel," Diskin's article read.

The conclusion can be that the efforts to restructure Mossad by Barnea show that the Israeli security commanders and officials do not unanimously agree on the approach and strategy of Mossad in the face of foreign threats, which would make the organization suffer even a greater efficiency crisis in the mid-term. In addition, despite the abundance of foreign threats against the regime, the Israeli authorities focus on internal threats more than the external ones, because these threats, while revealing the Israeli weakness in managing and resolving them, show the reality that the internal divisions and crises of Israel have made the citizens and officials of this regime more doubtful about Israel survival. Continuation of this situation, in addition, can prepare the ground for the Israeli collapse in not-so-distant future.

Source: AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA)
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Workers said the administration continues to respond by doing nothing to keep them safe, but the administration said specific concerns had not been shared with them.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday reiterating his call for the Justice Department to prosecute unruly passengers and place them on a "no-fly" list.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Generally cloudy. High 58F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 49F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
The United States Views Russians Just as the Nazis Did in World War II

by John Stanton

There is a sense of open, almost joyful viciousness in all this pro-war, anti-Russian sentiment on opinion pages and television broadcasts. It is certainly racist and demeaning in tone. Such is the first step in convincing the public that the transgressor is equivalent to a retrovirus.John Stanton, Dissident Voice, 2015

Vietnam 2.0 is in the making in Ukraine. The US civil-military establishment, Republicans and Democrats alike, want a shooting war with Russia, even though it was the US that caused the carnage in Ukraine, not the Russians. Yet, that inconvenient reality has been nullified by the US propaganda campaign which, of course, the Russians have responded to with their own. John Stanton, Counterpunch, 2015

Preparing for War with Russia Since 1992

As President Joe Biden announced the transfer of 2000 US troops to Poland and Germany on February 3, 2022, and the movement of an additional 1000 troops from Western Europe to Romania, I shook my head and looked to the sky thinking, the United States and its elites really want a war with Russia, both economic and military. US generals want to use tanks, missiles, and aircraft against a near-peer competitor. They cant beat sandal wearing insurgents in Afghanistan, so they want to mix it up with the A-Team, i.e., Russia.

Americanscant get over hating the Russians, ever. Heres President Harry Trumans comment on the Russians and Germans during WWII, If we see that Germany is winning, we ought to help Russia and if Russia is winning, we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible, although I don't want to see Hitler victorious under any circumstances.

The announcement by the US administration that US troops would not be sent into Ukraine does not square with the fact that since post-February 2014 (US sponsored coup overthrew elected pro-Russian government), the US has been providing Foreign Internal Defense (FIDO) to the Ukrainian military, a fighting force riddled with neo-Nazis like the Azov Brigade.The US military and defense contractors have been busy supplying Ukraine with the tools, and training, of war making since 1992 For example, theJoint Contact Team Program-Ukraine (JCTP), the International Military Education and Training (IMET), the Foreign Military Sales/Foreign Military Financing, AeroVironment, Inc. (drones), Harris, Inc, (multiband radios).John Stanton, Pravda.ru 2015

Clark Gets the Last Laugh?

General Wes Clark (USA, Ret.) visited Ukraine in 2014 and gave the following recommendations to Washington, DC, military, and political leaders in As I wrote in April 2014,: General Clark and a former strategy advisor to Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger named Dr. Phillip Karber, indicated in a report that the two participated in 35 meetings with senior officials, military commanders and various politicians; with Karber visiting front line formations on the Northern, Eastern and Southern Fronts. The two aging Cold War Warriors recommend immediate shipments of American Body Armor, Night Vision Devices, Communications Equipment, Aviation Fuel and to maximize their defense potential Clark and Karber recommend the acquisition of Mig-29s, T-72 tanks, Man-Portable Air Defenses, and Anti-Tank weapons. John Stanton, Dissident Voice, 2014

The Washington Post and New York Times and the major networks, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, FOX, et al, are salivating at the prospect of a Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine, specifically the Donbass, home to separatist republics in Luhansk and Donetsk. As I wrote in April 2014, There is a sense of open, almost joyful viciousness in all this pro-war, anti-Russian sentiment on opinion pages and television broadcasts. It is certainly racist and demeaning in tone. Such is the first step in convincing the public that the transgressor is equivalent to a retrovirus. John Stanton, Dissident Voice, 2014

NATO: Causing Trouble since 1949

Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barak Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden have pushed NATO expansion right up to Russias border. For example, Estonia and Latvia are NATO members. Estonia is 120 miles from St. Petersburg.NATO is purely a military alliance led by the USA. Its members serve simply military bases (some probably with tactical nuclear weapons) for US military forces and its many military contractors.

Is there any wonder that the President of Russia Vladimir Putin should be concerned?Are NAZIs in the USA and NATO pushingthe expansion of NATO, the racial hatred of Russians, and seeking a hot war? It is revolting.

And then there is the bashing of the Winter Olympics in China. Here is station KDRO in Colorado reporting on the authoritarian nature of the Olympics hosted by China. The attendance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Egypts President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and others, will send out an image not just of Chinas increasing distance from the West, but of an emerging bloc of Beijing-friendly authoritarian leaders.

Just who has been selling weapons to Al-Sisis dictatorship in Egypt? The USA. Who has supported Saudi Arabias war in Yemen? The USA. Who Talk about double standards!

Attack Scenario, just a Guess: If Russias Hand is Forced by USA-NATO

Russian military forces fought in Ukraine during World War II against NAZI Germany. For example, the Battle of Kiev and The Battle of the Dnieper. There is an historical record for Russian military planners to refer to. The Battle of Grozny in Chechnya will weigh heavily on Russian military planners as the decide which communities to take control of.

Let us take the Dnieper River as a demarcation point for a Russian advance into Ukraine. Specifically, the eastern shores of the river, not the West. Then let us divide that Ukrainian territorythat is immediately east of that river into North, Central and South.

There is a lot of talk in the mainstream media about the Russians taking the city of Kharkiv (second largest in Ukraine at 1.5 million) in the North. The Russians are unlikely to expend the manpower and ammunition stocks necessary for a siege of that city. Again, the Battle of Grozny will still be fresh in the minds of the Russian military, plus the fate of cities in Syria that were leveled by artillery and airpower just to get at a few hundred ISIS fighters.

Bypassing Kharkiv and heading West to Poltava might be part of Russian military planning. The city has two rail lines that connect north to Kiev and to Kharkov. The population is roughly 280000. Two large airfields sit just outside the city.

North

If the Russians advance from the North, they will likely use military resources from Belograd (tank battalion), Kursk (MIG aircraft, Iskander short range missiles) Bryansk (mechanized forces) and Smolensk (recon units), Voronezh (special forces, MIGs). Attacking forces would likely be led by autonomous Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs) for a ground push to Poltava, if thats in the cards.

The pattern of attack may be the use, initially, of drones, electronic/cyber warfare, missile fires/airpower and then the BTG advances. Such an attack from the north to the southaiming for Poltava and bypassing Kharkiv and leaving Kiev on the western banks of the Dnieper River alone would split the two largest cities in Ukraine apart.

Of course, there are dozens and dozens of smaller communities in the path that could provide headaches to the advancing forces, but it is apparent that much of the success for a Russian assault into North, Central and Southern Ukraine, just shy of the Dnieper River, depends on the support of the civilians in communities that are overrun, bypassed,or even laid siege. Good military planning suggests thatRussians have partisans, sympathetic Ukrainians, or native Russians willhave infiltrated areas where the Russian forces are aiming.

Central

Russian military forces are already in Donetsk and Luhansk, just as US military advisors/defense contractors are in the trenches outside those cities training Ukrainian forces in antitank warfare, unconventional warfare.

A Russian offensive could start from any one of these locations or all of them: Millerova (MIGS), Shatky (mechanized troops), Gukovo(infantry), Kamensky (infantry). It is difficult to figure. Russian forces might eliminate the Ukrainian defenses outside the Donbass and drive north toward Pavlohrad bypassing Dnipro. Forces from Poltava in the north could drive south and hook up with those in Poltava. Zaporizhzia, a city split between the eastern and western side of the Dnieper, could be an enticing target for its airfield and its proximity to Western Ukraine. According to Wikipedia, Zaporizhzhia is known for its island of Khortytsia and Dnieper Hydroelectric Station. It is also an important industrial center producing steel, aluminum, aircraft engines, automobiles, transformers for substations, and other heavy industry goods. Roughly 56 percent of the citys 700,000 plus population are Russian speakers, so avoiding a Grozny scenario would depend a lot on Russian support within the city.

South

Melitopolis a transport hub with a rail system and a key highway system: the European E58 which runs from Vienna to Rostov-on-Don and the E105 that stretches from St. Petersburg to Yalta. Out of a population of approximately 150,000, 62,000 are Russian, according to the Results of the Intercultural Cities Index. Whether they would help support a Russian takeover of the area is up for question, but control of the highways and rail lines inMelitopol would be helpful perhaps as a Russian military jump off point to targets further in any direction.

Maripol and Kherson have to be in the planning for a takeover. Maripol sits on the Sea of Azov and the key M-14 highway runs through the city along the Ukraines southern coast. Kherson, a key Ukrainian port sits on the mouth of the Black Sea. Taking it would provide Russia with another naval base. Kerhson has a population of about 285,000 with roughly 45 percent of them Russian speakers. Mykolaiv, with a population of approximately 450,000 must be of particular interest to Russian military planners for its location right on the eastern side of the Dnieper, its airfield, and the fact that it is a key shipbuilding center. Again, Grozny comes to mind and so overtaking Ukrainian forces would be difficult without Russian partisans and sympathetic Ukrainians in the city.

Russian attack forces will probably come from Armyansk (Crimea, infantry, BTGs), Dzahnskoy (, Crimea, attack and transport helicopters), Tanganrog (airlift/AWACS, A-100s, A-50s). Russian warships and submarines are capable of firing cruise missiles at any of the targets in this attack scenario. It is unclear if Russia will chance an amphibious operations against Ukraine.

The Russians, with their T-90s and upgraded T-72s (tanks) will face US trained antitank platoons armed with deadly tank killer Javelin missiles (not wire guided). Theyll likely face Predator drones of some type armed with Hellfire missiles. The Ukrainians are dug-in all around Donetsk and Luhansk and on the border with Crimea. Minefields are a part of the Ukrainian defense mix of infantry, drones, and weaponry like the M141 bunker buster missile. News reports claim that the Ukrainians have been supplied with Stinger missiles, as well. Ukraine fields a tank called the T-64BV, an upgrade from older models.Ukraine will receive intelligence information from the USA.

No one knows if Russias Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, will play any role in an attack on eastern Ukraine or if Transnistria, a separatist enclave in Moldova will play some supportive role for Russia.The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that includes China, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistanand other nations-- may or may not support a Russian move into eastern Ukraine.

John Stanton can be reached at jstantonarchangel@gmail.com. Thanks to Google Earth, Wikipedia, and News Reports for information.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. High near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 49F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh first met in 1934, when she was 8 years old at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Prince George, Duke of Kent.

by Victor Cherubim

2022 quietly or perhaps, not so quietly marks 70 years on the British throne of

Queen Elizabeth II. It will see year-long celebrations enjoyed throughout the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and around the world, as communities come together to celebrate and give thanks to The Queens Platinum Jubilee.

On 6 February 2022, Her Majesty will become the first British Monarch to have been on the throne of United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth Realms. She has remained the Head of State of many countries of the Commonwealth as well British Overseas Territories which we once Colonies.

Queen Elizabeth II has been a constant presence in British life and has been able to galvanise Great Britain and Northern Ireland at peace time and at moments of national crisis, from the 1956 Suez Crisis, the changes of Colonial governments, as well as the difficult years of change  the year 1992which she called AnnusHorribilis, the tension between the media and the royals, events such as the publication of Princess Dianas memoirs, the Duchess of York affair, and more recently the revelations of Prince Andrew, and Prince Harry, beside 2005 terror attacks in London, also the agony and deprivation of life of her beloved husband and Consort, The Duke of Edinburgh in April 2021 as well as her citizens during the Corona virus pandemic of 2020/21.

Queen Elizabeth II, as the eldest daughter of King George Vth youngest son King George VI, could not have foreseen the early death of her father in February 1952, whilst she was in Kenya and when she was just 25 years, she was thrust into the responsibility of statehood and the limelight.

Today, The Queen has ruled for longer than any other monarch in British history, being at the same time a much loved and respected figure across the globe. She is known for her sense of duty to the nation and her devotion to a life of service.

The Queen has had 170 individuals serve as Prime Ministers around the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories. She has had 14 British Prime Ministers, travelled around the world, made five (5) official visits to the United States during her reign. She has sat for 129 portraits during her reign.

Did you know?

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh first met in 1934, when she was 8 years old at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Prince George, Duke of Kent.

The Late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip is The Queens Third Cousin related through Queen Victoria through his maternal side and The Queen through her paternal side.

The Queen does not have an alarm to wake her up in the morning, but a Piper who plays outside of her window for 15 minutes every morning at 9 A.M.

The Queen has owned over 30 Welsh Corgis, has a string of pedigree horses and is a well-known Pedigree Horse Breeder, speaks fluent French, loves Dubonnet, does not need a Passport, or Driving Licence or a nameplate for driving her vehicles. She receives 70,000 letters of correspondence a year or 200 to 300 letters a day from her citizens, and reads quite a lot of them personally. Prince George, her Great Grandson calls The Queen, Gan, Gan and is very attached to her.

The Queen was born on 21 April 1926,celebrates two birthdays a year, her official birthday is officially set as the second Saturday in June each year, with the Trooping of the Colour at Horse Guards Parade.

The Queen is Patron to so many organisations in UK and abroad. She has been so popular for the single reason that she reigns, but does not rule. The Queen has been an important link with the Commonwealth. During times of enormous and constant change, she has the ear of many leaders of State, both of the Commonwealth and the world.

Everything about the monarchy in United Kingdom is by custom and tradition. She has never given a Press Interview. The Queen is not known to discuss her personal opinions in public. Much of what is known about her has been compiled from impressions and descriptions by those whom she has met during her private audiences,

It is said that one way her Courtiers have come to know her custom and tradition as laid down, is how she uses her handbag which she always carries in her hand. If The Queen is not enjoying the meeting or conversation with a guest, The Queen would generally indicate by laying her handbag on the floor. It is by these signals that she communicates her wishes and are understood. She has been seen to observe a strict code of conduct. It is a tradition that no one may shake hands with The Queen unless she takes the lead and offers her hand. It is also a custom, for men to bow and for women to courtesy when meeting or being introduced to Her Majesty.

Custom and tradition rule in meeting with The Queen. It is a well-known fact, beside tradition that Queen Elizabeth II that nobody who has met her has ever been left feeling ignored with her charm, her gracious manner and her diplomacy.

In recognition of this important historical milestone in the life of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, many Philatelic Bureaus around the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories will not only issue sets of stamps and First Day Covers released on 4 February 2022, as well as special Commemorative Coins, and memorabilia, much sought after the celebration of this event.

This year the celebration is a week long holiday in June 2022 in UK,during The Queens Official Birthday. An additional Holiday in June isalso been mooted every year in Thanks for theServices the Queen has made to the country and its citizens, over these long years.

Queen Elizabeth II throughout her reign has had much to do with The Commonwealth. In fact the first of meetings with her Prime Ministers after her Accession was with Hon. Dudley Senanayake as Prime Minister of The Dominion of Ceylon. Her most recent individual meeting in UK this year was with Hon Philip Davis, Prime Minister of the Bahamas.
LIVINGSTON, MT- The Starbucks Coffee Corporation is looking to move into Livingston, Montana.

According to business leaders in the area, the corporation is looking at the old Arbys building on Park Street.

The Livingston Business Improvement District says they understand why tourists would like it but say it would be bad for the city and the small business across the area.

The closest Starbucks to Livingston is in Bozeman. Within the same parking lot, Starbucks is looking to invest in, is also a coffee stand called Coffee Creek Espresso.

"Livingston has a wealth of locally-owned small coffee shops and kiosks that not only fuel the community with caffeine and tasty treats but serve as community social hubs; many of the most vibrant conversations in town take place in our coffee shops, Kris King, Executive Director, Historic Downtown Livingston Business Improvement District, and Explore Livingston Montana Coalition said.

King went on to say local businesses support causes 250% more for the town than corporations, pointing out that when you shop local, your dollar has quadruple the effect on Livingston's economy than when you shop through corporations.

When you buy your coffee at an independent small business you create jobs, maintain our town's historic downtown charm, get superior service, and have access to unique goods. We are saddened to learn of plans for a Starbucks to go into the old Arby's space near exit 333, when there are already so many independent coffee shop options, including one in the same parking lot as the planned Starbucks location, King said.

A change.org petition has been started and has over 200 signatures.

The petition reads:

Livingston, MT is unique for its abundance of small businesses that make up our strong community. Larger franchises such as Starbucks diminish our small town's character and take business away from other locally-owned coffee shops in town. Help us say no to a Starbucks in Livingston by signing the petition below.

One signature against the corporation reads This town doesnt need a corporate Starbucks. We have many wonderful local coffee kiosks that need our support instead.

We'd prefer to not have a Starbucks move to our town, but if it does, we encourage locals and visitors alike to continue to support small locally-owned coffee shops and businesses, King said.

This webcopy will be updated as more comes out.
Florida reported 19,138 new coronavirus cases on Saturday as the number of infected hospital patients continued to decline for the 15th consecutive day, according to federal data.

The number of patients in the hospital with COVID has declined 21% over the past week to 7,634 on Friday. The number of COVID-infected patients in intensive care dropped to 1,196  below 1,200 for the first time since Jan. 7. The data combines patients admitted for COVID with those infected while hospitalized.

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The 7-day average for new cases was 18,286 on Saturday and is at its lowest level since Dec. 28. The average number of daily cases has dropped every day for 25 straight days.

The number of cases in the omicron surge, the fourth wave of the pandemic, has now fallen by more than 70% from its peak on Jan. 8. Deaths have continued to rise as they lag behind case reports with 1,360 deaths added to the states pandemic total of the past week.

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[ RELATED: Floridas fourth COVID surge came fast and strong. Heres what the omicron wave tells us about whats ahead. ]

To date, Florida has had 5,629,602 known cases of COV ID-19 and at least 66,007 have died. As of Friday 65.3% of Floridians have received both doses of the vaccine and 37.4% have received booster shots.

here are the latest key statistics:
The number of COVID-19 cases across the state and in South Florida declined to less than half the level of two weeks ago, Floridas weekly report shows. But new deaths continue to rise as the full toll of the omicron wave is becoming more apparent.

On Friday, Florida reported 132,622 new cases for the past seven days, a drop from 198,719 new cases a week ago and 289,204 two weeks ago.

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In another encouraging sign, the positivity rate declined this week, too, dropping to 18% from 23.5% last week.

But as evidence that omicron proved severe for some individuals, the death toll rose by 1,324.

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With the omicron surge waning, vaccinations have slowed down significantly in Florida as well.

One of the busiest weeks for vaccination in Florida was the one ending on Dec. 3, when 631,912 people got vaccinated. Now, 105,262 doses were given out for the week ending Feb. 3.

The 1,324 new deaths added to the states total is even greater than the 1,192 new deaths last week and 605 new deaths the week prior. That brings the states overall death toll to 66,279 people.

The weekly count reported Friday reflects all deaths over the past week or even weeks prior that are newly confirmed with COVID as the cause of death.

Throughout the pandemic, a total of 5,610,370 people in the state have had a confirmed case of COVID-19. That does not include Floridians who learn their positivity status using rapid at-home tests.

[ RELATED: Heres where to find coronavirus vaccines in South Florida ]

New cases

South Floridas three counties reported fewer new cases for the week ending Feb. 3.

Palm Beach County on Friday reported 5,793 additional cases, a drop from 8,741 additional cases a week ago. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 353,799.

Broward County on Friday reported 7,869 additional cases, down from 12,024 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 581,106.

Miami-Dade County on Friday reported 16,617 additional cases, down from 23,596 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 1,137,694.

Test positivity

Health officials reported a drop in the statewide positivity rate  18%, which is down from 23.5% a week ago. At its worst during the delta wave, Floridas test positivity climbed as high as 20.5% for the week ending Aug. 19, however, the positivity rate soared as high as 31.3% during the omicron surge.

In South Florida, the new case positivity rate declined in all three counties.

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In Broward, it was 11.3%, down from 15.5% a week ago; in Palm Beach County, it was 15.1%, down from 19.7% a week ago; and in Miami-Dade, it was 10.5%, down from 14.8% a week ago.

Hospitalizations

Hospitalizations for COVID are stabilizing, and intensive care units have fewer patients than last week.

As of Friday, 8,132 people with COVID were hospitalized compared to 9,868 people a week ago. During the height of the delta wave this summer, more than 17,000 COVID patients were hospitalized in Florida.

Florida hospitals intensive-care units saw a decrease in COVID patients this week. On Friday, COVID patients occupied 19.7% of ICU beds compared to 22% a week ago.

In Broward County, the number of COVID-positive patients in hospitals has been trending downward. COVID patients now make up only about 12% of people in hospitals compared with 19% a week ago.

[ RELATED: COVID summer surge: Is the virus seasonal in Florida? ]

Vaccines

Floridians received 105,262 doses of a COVID vaccine for the week ending Feb. 3. Of those, 26,828 were first doses of a vaccine.

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Of Floridians ages 5 and older, 74% now have at least one dose.

Floridians received another 45,290 booster shots this week. That brings the total number of Floridians boosted to 4.92 million.

More than 15.3 million people in Florida ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. Of those, 8.2 million have completed their two-shot series, 2.1 million people have received only a first dose, another 4.9 million have received an additional or booster dose.

[ RELATED: Back to the office during COVID. What are your rights? ]

The most heavily vaccinated age group in Florida is 65 and older, which is 95% vaccinated with at least one dose.

With the vaccine eligibility lowered, 21% of Floridas 1.68 million children between ages 5 and 11 now have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.

Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com or Twitter @cindykgoodman.
WATERFORD  Two students at Waterford High School were suspended and cited by police last month following apparently unrelated incidents allegedly involving a racial attack and a threat posted in a video to the social media app TikTok.

Newly released police reports show that both incidents occurred at the high school, 611 W. Main St., in mid-December shortly before the schools winter holiday break.

It was not immediately clear whether the incidents were related.

Both students, neither of whom has been publicly identified, were cited by police for disorderly conduct and were suspended from school for three days, the reports state.

On Dec. 17, police were dispatched to the high school shortly after 10 a.m. to investigate a report that a student two days earlier had posted a threat in a TikTok video.

The nature of the threat has not been disclosed, although Dec. 17 was a day when a number of schools across the country  including one high school in Lake Geneva and several others in the state  closed due to apparent hoax threats posted on TikTok.

Police reported that the same student also was trying on Dec. 17 to organize a fight in a school gymnasium during a lunch period.

Reports indicate that the students mother was notified and that the student was issued a disorderly conduct citation shortly after 3 p.m. that day.

Police were back at the high school on Dec. 20, to investigate a racially motivated incident that had allegedly occurred on Dec. 15  the same day the TikTok video was posted.

According to police, one student directed a racial slur at a Hispanic student during a lunch period. The suspect allegedly made the comment: Show me your green card, you border-hopping piece of crap.

When the Hispanic student objected, the suspect kicked him in the groin, police reported. Police issued the alleged aggressor a disorderly conduct citation.

In releasing public records of both incidents Thursday, Waterford police redacted both the cited students names as well their ages and other details.

Waterford High School Superintendent Lucas Francois said that, although he was unfamiliar with either incident, he said both were unusual student conduct at Waterford High School.

We have a tremendously strong and respectful student body overall, Francois said.

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Citing growing violence against health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the past decade, state Republican lawmakers are introducing a bill to make threatening or attacking the workers a felony.

Its a welcome move to Dr. Chris Eberlein, an emergency medicine provider with Gundersen Health System in La Crosse. He said hes seen more verbal and physical assaults against frontline workers recently, often in response to requests such as asking patients to wear face masks.

You get the, No, Im not doing that, and then theyll start to take out their IV or stand up and walk toward staff, yelling at them, said Eberlein, who noted some patients have punched paramedics and nurses. Peoples fuses seem much shorter than they had been.

At SSM Health St. Marys Hospital in Madison, staff reported 117 incidents of physical assault last year, spokesperson Lisa Adams said. Staff have been punched, kicked, scratched, pushed, bitten and hit with objects like phones or bed remotes, she said.

A 2020 state law made battery against certain health care workers a felony, but it didnt make threats of violence a crime, the legislators said. The new bill would do that, treating battery and threats of violence against health care workers like those against law enforcement officers, court officers and certain state employees, they said.

The stress, pressure, and violence the health care profession has endured over the past two years is unprecedented and has contributed to higher attrition rates among nurses and hospital staff when we can least afford to lose them, said a statement from Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg; Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester; Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine; and Rep. Gae Magnafici, R-Dresser, who started circulating the bill Thursday for co-sponsors.

They also cited federal data showing violence-related health care worker injuries increased by 63% from 6.4 per 10,000 full-time workers in 2011 to 10.4 per 10,000 in 2018.

UnityPoint Health-Meriter has experienced the problem, prompting steps such as a tighter visitor policy and daily safety huddles to identify risks, said spokesperson Nicole Aimone.

UW Hospital has a robust security staffing system and safety protocols in place to prevent and protect against threats of violence to staff, spokesperson Emily Kumlien said.

At SSM Health, workers receiving threats of violence include registration staff, clinical technicians, nurses and doctors, Adams said. People have threatened to come back and kill staff, sent letters to homes of providers that include threatening or abusive messages, and called facilities threatening violence against staff, she said.

Unfortunately, threats, verbal abuse and physical attacks against health care workers have increased over the past decade, Adams said.

In 2020, the Madison hospitals adopted policies against discriminatory behavior by patients and visitors toward providers and staff, after what some say had been an increase in such incidents in recent years.

Eric Borgerding, CEO of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, said in a statement that health care workers are leaving their jobs at an alarming rate and growing threats being made against them and their families are forcing them to prioritize their personal safety over the increasing danger they face doing what they love.

Eberlein agreed the specter of violence is contributing to staffing shortages among frontline workers.

Its a difficult job at base line. You do it ... to take care of your community and to help others, Eberlein said. When youve got people that are acting that way, either verbally or physically assaulting you, it really will make people question whether this is the right thing for them.

Under current law, battery is a misdemeanor. But in special circumstances  such as attacking a nurse, emergency medical care provider or someone working in an emergency department  it is a class H felony.

The new bill would make battery or threats against health care workers or their family members a class H felony when done in response to actions taken by the workers or situations at health care facilities. Violators would face three years in prison plus three years of extended supervision, up to a $10,000 fine, or both.
Anyone in the mood for lobster ice cream from Maine, pear and blue cheese ice cream from Oregon or fish and chips ice cream from England?
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], February 5 (ANI): Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Parkash Singh Badal, who was the Chief Minister of Punjab on five occasions, on Saturday, went to Fortis Hospital, Mohali to get his routine check-up done.

Harcharan Bains, who is the Principal Advisor to SAD President S. Sukhbir Singh Badal, in an official statement, said that Badal was advised to undergo regular check-ups by doctors twice or thrice a week as a precaution, especially after being infected by COVID-19 and he is doing it dutifully.

Also Read | Gurugram: Police Inspector Suspended for Taking Money From Accused in Murder Case.

At the age of 94, Badal will contest the Punjab Assembly polls from his home turf Lambi. He will become the oldest candidate to contest any type of election in the country.

Badal, who still makes political appearances, was the youngest sarpanch when he got elected from Badal village of Punjab in 1947.

Also Read | Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: Navjot Singh Sidhu To Take On Bikram Singh Majithia In Amritsar East; Here Are Key Electoral Battles To Watch Out For In Punjab Vidhan Sabha Polls.

He also became the youngest Chief Minister in 1970 at the age of 43 years. Later, he became the oldest Chief Minister in 2012.

Badal held the Chief Ministerial position in Punjab five times from 1970-71, 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-17.

He was the president of SAD from 1995 to 2008 and has also been a member of Lok Sabha once.

Punjab will go to the polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

(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], February 5 (ANI): Shimla recorded its lowest temperature this year with the mercury dropping to -2.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

As the cold intensified in Himachal Pradesh in the past 24 hours, the temperature in Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district dropped to -12.5 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, Kalpa, popular for its apple orchards in the Kinnaur district, recorded -7.0 degrees Celsius while mercury dropped to -4.4 degrees Celsius in Manali.

Also Read | Manipur Assembly Elections 2022: From Heingang to Thoubal Vidhan Sabha Seat; Here Are Five Key Constituencies.

The IMD warned that a feeble Western Disturbance is likely to affect the Western Himalayan Region from February 6, 2022. It also said that there will be another Western Disturbance that is likely to affect Northwest India from February 8.

In the past 24 hours, tourist spot Kufri recorded 60.0 cm snow, the highest in the state while 45.7 cm and 32.6 cm snowfall occurred in Chopal and Shimla respectively.

Also Read | Earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir: PM Narendra Modi Speaks to Lt Guv Manoj Sinha After Quake Jolts Union Territory.

Himachal Pradesh Police issued the travel advisory on Friday after many roads got blocked due to the heavy snowfall. Despite the heavy snowfall, tourists are arriving in Himachal Pradesh. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Panaji, Feb 5 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Saturday said his party took a brave decision to not give tickets to defectors for Goa Assembly polls scheduled for February 14.

Also Read | Hijab Row: Wont Allow Talibanisation of Education System, Says Karnataka BJP Chief Nalin Kumar Kateel.

The All India Congress Committee general secretary said several BJP ministers in the state were ready to join his party.

Also Read | Mumbai Shocker: Man Strangles 2-Year-Old to Death Fed Up of Her Constant Crying, Arrested.

"We did something politically very brave. We decided we will not take back people (into the party) who have defected and soiled the political landscape of Goa. BJP ministers (in Goa) were ready to join but Rahul Gandhi, Dinesh Gundu Rao (state in charge), Girish Chodankar (Goa unit chief), Digambar Kamat (Leader of Opposition) and the party decided not to accept them," he said.

"It was decided we would rather have a Kargil war hero, a housewife, young persons, engineers, entrepreneurs and young faces who represent the ethos of Goa than defectors who wanted to come back," Surjewala added.

Referring to the "oath of loyalty" taken by candidates in presence of senior leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, Surjewala said this process is not for Goa alone, adding that "this oath is the commencement of a new political culture in the country".

Surjewala said the Aam Aadmi Party was responsible for a fractured mandate in the 2017 Assembly polls here, when the Congress emerged as the largest party but the BJP managed to cobble up a coalition government.

He (AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal) is again trying to do it (split opposition votes) for the BJP, please be forewarned, Surjewala alleged.

The Congress completely understands the ethos of Goa since its Liberation, but there are '"electoral tourists like Kejriwal" who come here to destroy the future of the state, Surjewala said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
West Godavari (Andhra Pradesh) [India], February 5 (ANI): A seven-year-old girl from Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district sustained severe burn injuries after hot water was poured on her allegedly by her guardian for not doing household work.

Speaking to the ANI, Bala Suresh, Station House Officer (SHO) of Jangareddigudem said that the accused Yanamadala Lakshmi poured hot water on the seven-year-old girl Midula, resulting in severe burn injuries.

Also Read | Gujarat Schools To Reopen For Offline Teaching For Class 1 To 9 From February 7 Amid Decline In COVID-19 Cases.

He said that the girl was studying at a school in Balajinagar and her mother Durga lives in Kuwait and hails from Tadepalligudem. The kid had been residing at the house of her mother's friend Lakshmi.

The police said that the girl's father died years ago and since her mother lives abroad, she placed her daughter under the care of her friend as the grandmother or uncle of Midula were not taking care of her.

Also Read | Odisha: Journalist Rohit Biswal Killed In IED Blast Near Maoist Poster In Kalahandi District; CM Naveen Patnaik Expresses Grief.

The police has registered an FIR against accused Lakshmi and has shifted the girl to a hospital for treatment.

Earlier, Lakshmi had accused the girl of committing a theft at her house.

The police officer informed that the girl would be shifted to the government's hostel. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Thane, Feb 5 (PTI) A court at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday set February 10 as the date of commencement of day-to-day trial in the defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Also Read | Hijab Row: Wont Allow Talibanisation of Education System, Says Karnataka BJP Chief Nalin Kumar Kateel.

The court was scheduled to begin the trial in the case from today. But counsel for the complainant requested the court to postpone it saying his client was out of town for some personal reason.

Also Read | Mumbai Shocker: Man Strangles 2-Year-Old to Death Fed Up of Her Constant Crying, Arrested.

In his order, civil court judge and judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) at Bhiwandi, J V Paliwal, fixed February 10 as the date of commencement of trial.

Advocate Prabodh Jaywant, counsel for RSS activist Rajesh Kunte, who is the complainant in the case, submitted in the court that since his client was out of town for personal reasons, trial be postponed.

Rahul Gandhi's counsel, advocate Narayan Iyer, told the court that his client was busy with the Assembly elections in Goa, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. He, however, said the court can nevertheless go ahead with the proceedings.

After hearing both the sides, the court postponed the trial.

During the last hearing in the case on January 29, the court had cited a recent order of the Supreme Court, which called for speedy disposal of cases involving elected representatives. The Bhiwandi court had said that the case against Gandhi fell under the same category and hence needs to be taken up on priority, fast-tracked and heard on a day-to-day basis.

Kunte, a local worker of the RSS, had in 2014 filed the case against Gandhi after watching his speech in Thane's Bhiwandi township, where the Congress leader alleged that the Sangh was behind the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. Kunte had claimed that this statement slandered the reputation of the RSS.

In 2018, a court in Thane had framed charges against Gandhi in the case, but he had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says hell decide whether to take any action against Sheriff Gregory Tony after a state investigation concluded Broward Countys top cop lied on numerous forms about his murder arrest and other key parts of his past.

The governors acknowledgement this week has called attention to the many outcomes that could take place in the coming days: The governor soon could act to suspend Tony from office. He could wait for a state ethics panel to recommend whether any discipline or penalty is warranted  and delegate that task to the ethics panel. Or he could decide to do nothing at all.

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The inquiry, recently concluded by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, didnt lead to any criminal charge for Tony  some of the sheriffs false statements happened too long ago to prosecute. Still, the investigation found that Tony knowingly and willfully misled various agencies by making false statements on paperwork pertaining to his traffic citations, drug use and arrest history.

Heres whats known about what penalties, if any, the sheriff could face.

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[ Investigation: Lies and omissions helped propel Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony to the top ]

What action could DeSantis take?

The states investigation kicked off during a fierce election campaign in 2020. In his defense, Sheriff Tony has dismissed it as dirty politics aimed to undermine him as he successfully ran for election that year. In a radio interview this week, Tony criticized the state investigation as a nearly two-year political slander campaign thats meant to turn me into the boogeyman. He vowed that this will not slow me down.

Still, DeSantis this past week said he will look at the findings of FDLEs investigation with his staff. It will be something we will be reviewing, DeSantis said Tuesday, without commenting further.

Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony speaks on Jan. 11, 2019, after being introduced by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Broward County Sheriff's Office Fort Lauderdale headquarters. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

State law allows Floridas governor to suspend someone for malfeasance and misfeasance, which is tantamount to wrongdoing, among other considerations. DeSantis previously has shown no hesitation in removing people from office. In his first 10 days in office in 2019, he suspended three elected officials.

In 2019, DeSantis forced Broward Sheriff Scott Israel out of the job, blaming his agencys disastrous response to the 2018 Parkland high school massacre on grounds of neglect of duty and incompetence. It was then that DeSantis appointed Tony to Broward Countys highest law enforcement post.

But in May 2020, news broke that Tony had concealed the fact he was arrested as a teen on a murder charge in Philadelphia in 1993, a killing that Tony called an act of self-defense and for which he was found not guilty.

The murder arrest was a secret he kept from DeSantis, with state investigators finding he concealed his arrest in paperwork when applying to be a cop. The governor distanced himself from the sheriff that he appointed. Its not like hes my sheriff, DeSantis said in 2020. I didnt even know the guy. It was not like he was a political ally of mine.

Since Tonys appointment:

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that the states vetting of Tony appeared hurried and failed to uncover the shooting in Philadelphia.

Police records showed that Tony was rejected for a police job in 2004 after admitting he used LSD one time and that he concealed the drug use after that, going on to secure his first job as an officer with Coral Springs police.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2020 began investigating to what extent Tony was untruthful about the Philadelphia shooting in paperwork required of law enforcement officers.

The Sun Sentinel detailed the sheriffs lies in a news article last March.

What could figure into DeSantis decision?

Tonys case can be a complicated matter to decide, said attorney Burnadette Norris-Weeks. She successfully represented Brenda Snipes, Browards former elections supervisor, when Gov. Rick Scott suspended Snipes in his final weeks in office in 2018 for misfeasance, incompetence, neglect of duty.

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The governors decision to remove an elected official from office can be subjective, Norris-Weeks said. Legal standards, quite frankly, can be a little blurry sometimes, she said.

After a lawsuit, DeSantis lifted Snipes suspension and accepted her resignation. Sometimes the bar can be lower or higher depending on who is in the position to make the decision, Norris-Weeks said. Its not something thats easily discernible.

In Tonys case, the issues are dated, Norris-Weeks said. Some of these things came up during the election, and people still decided they wanted to see him in that seat. I think hes been doing a good job.

Still, Republican activists say they think this latest development with the sheriff will give DeSantis no choice: He must weigh whether to suspend a sheriff he put in the job in the first place.

[ RELATED: Public defender will review Sheriff Gregory Tonys cases from when he was a cop in Coral Springs ]

I would be upset somebody wasnt truthful with me when appointing them to such an important position, said Browards Republican Party chairman, Tom Powers, who is also a former Coral Springs city commissioner and decades-long cop with the Arizona State Police.

Law enforcement has a higher standard than most professions, Powers said of the job of sheriff, who has the power to hire or fire officers for dishonesty.

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He said DeSantis truly wants to do the right thing and play by the rules. He has been careful to do things the way they are supposed to be.

[ RELATED: State finds Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony lied about his murder arrest and much more. But he wont be prosecuted. ]

What could the ethics panel tell DeSantis?

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it is sending the results of its investigation to the Florida Commission on Ethics, a panel that investigates complaints of breach of the public trust by public officers and employees.

The ethics commission could fine Tony, censure him, or make a recommendation that the governor remove him from office.

DeSantis appointed half the commissions members, who are lawyers, a nonprofit executive, a businessman, a former state government employee, a former state attorney, and a small-business owner and former public official.

[ RELATED: Sheriff Gregory Tony concealed his past, and even a lie detector didnt catch it, records show ]

One of the eight commission members listed on the commissions website is Jim Waldman, a lawyer and former Florida state representative and former Coconut Creek mayor.

He was appointed by DeSantis more than a year ago. No matter, he says, the board members are loyal only to the facts in front of them.

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In the time he has served, The commission has acted independently and certainly not beholden to the person thats appointed them, he said. Decisions are based on facts and not based upon politics, he said.

The ethics commission doesnt typically suggest that people be removed from office. Its happened only five times since its inception in 1974, and most of those cases were finance-related, records show.

Theres no guarantee action would come swiftly if the commission were to recommend an officials removal. Of the five cases where the commission has recommended for removal from office, three of the cases are languishing years later, still unresolved in Tallahassee.

DeSantis has been criticized in the past for being slow to act on several recommendations from the ethics commission, said Ben Wilcox, research director for Integrity Florida, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and government watchdog. Its damaging to the commission on ethics if their findings and recommended penalties are not enforced, Wilcox said.

But a decision on the fate of the sheriff seems to be drawing larger attention, he said.

Well see, Wilcox said. Given the fact hes said hes going to be looking into this, that would seem to indicate [hes] going to be putting more of a priority on this investigation than maybe some of the others.

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Do the states findings raise an ethics concern?

The FDLE inquiry made several findings: Tony made false statements to the police academy, lied on an employment application to the Tallahassee police, lied to the Coral Springs police, and lied to the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles regarding past drivers license suspensions.

The FDLE investigation centered on several forms and applications but said too much time had gone by.

Although it appears that Tony knowingly and willfully [misled] public servants by making false statements in writing, those violations had exceeded the statute of limitations, or happened too long ago to be eligible for prosecution.

Another instance of falsehoods in Tonys paperwork came 22 days after he became sheriff in 2019. Thats when Tony falsely answered no to the question, Has your driving privilege ever been revoked, suspended, or denied in any state? when applying for a replacement drivers license in Lauderdale Lakes, even though his license in Pennsylvania had been suspended five times.

Tony didnt speak with the investigator, the FDLE records show. Unlawful acts relating to a drivers license is a felony, the FDLE agent wrote in his report.

But the case was not pursued by prosecutors because the clerk couldnt say 100% she remembered asking him the question as she was required to do, since she was trying to move him quickly through the process. The clerks uncertainty, prosecutors wrote, precludes the state from being able to prove the criminal allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Although the FDLE determined Tony was untruthful in answers for his application to the police academy and Coral Springs Police Department  that happened before he was actually employed, said Mark Herron, a Tallahassee attorney who served on the state ethics commission from 1984 through 1988. Herron today practices as a defense attorney for clients who appear before the commission.

That could present a challenge for the ethics commission because it focuses on what public officials have done while in office, not before.

To be subject to the code of ethics, you have to be a public employee, Herron said. Therefore, any wrongdoing would hinge on the improper performance of your duties.

What about the sheriffs certification?

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement this week declined to say whether the findings of the state investigation would be referred to the states Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, which certifies officers and may review instances where an officer is found in violation of commission standards.

The commission also may consider any false statements during the employment application process, which is a factor to be considered for decertification.

Such cases are exempt from public disclosure until after the panel were to find probable cause. Still, anyone whos been elected sheriff would be eligible to serve even if they arent certified as an officer. Certification as an officer is not a requirement to be the sheriff.

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Former Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne was a lawyer and politician, but was never a lawman. It meant he could do the job as sheriff but couldnt wear the uniform. Instead, he wore business suits.

This will not slow me down

Neither the sheriff nor his defense attorney responded to repeated requests for comment from the South Florida Sun Sentinel this past week about the FDLE investigation.

When Tony was asked in an interview on the radio Wednesday with First News with Jimmy Cefalo about the FDLE investigation, Tony said the last resort was to pull every single employment application and college application from 1998 ... in hopes to discover some criminal violation.

He praised prosecutors who he said did not get sucked into this nonsense of the Sheriff is hiding a crime.

About his opponents, he said, Its amazing what people will do for power.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash
Mathura, Feb 5 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday hit out at the Samajwadi Party for its "appeasement politics" and also launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi for his comment on the Galwan clashes, saying the Congress leader only "trusts" the Chinese media.

Speaking in Farah town of Baldeo assembly constituency, while campaigning for BJP candidate and sitting MLA Puran Prakash, the union minister said politics should be above religion.

Also Read | Karnataka Hijab Row: 'Respect Culture of the Land', Says BJP MP Pratap Simha to Protesting Students.

Targetting the SP, he said, "The basic purpose of politics is not just running a government but working for the welfare of the society and the country," he said, adding the BJP will never accept politics based on division.

Singh also accused Gandhi of trusting the Chinese media and not the valour of Indian soldiers.

Also Read | Gurugram: Police Inspector Suspended for Taking Money From Accused in Murder Case.

"Rahul Gandhi claims three-four Chinese soldiers were killed in Galwan. He trusts the Chinese media. According to the Australian media, 38 to 50 Chinese soldiers were killed. But the Congress leader has no trust in the valour of our army jawans," he said.

Singh also made a reference of how Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerji had mentioned in the 1951 election manifesto about eliminating Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir.

"Now the dream of Mookerji has been made a reality by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Singh said.

He also invoked Rajiv Gandhi's remark that only 15 per cent of a rupee sent from Delhi reached the village to say that now hundred per cent is utilised owing to the administrative capability of Modi.

Farmers under Kisan Samman Nidhi now get hundred per cent, while labourers and poor who lost their jobs during Covid are being provided free ration twice a month, he said.

Singh asserted that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcement that the government will pay Rs 2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP operations is a proof of the Centre's concern for farmers.

He hailed Modi's leadership in strengthening India's position in the global arena.

He also lauded the Indian army for destroying terrorists camps in Pakistan after the Pulwama incident, saying it demonstrates that India cannot be taken lightly.

Singh also highlighted successful implementation of various welfare schemes of the Yogi Adityanath government and attributed better law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh for the allround development of the state.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), Feb 5 (PTI) The son of a farmer who was killed in Lakhimpur Kheri incident wants to settle scores with union minister Ajay Mishra Teni in the political field.

Farmer Nachhatar Singh's elder son Jagdeep Singh said he wants to contest against Teni in the 2024 general election.

Also Read | Earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir: Quake of Magnitude 5.7 on Richter Scale Hits Union Territory.

He said he has declined offers of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress to fight current assembly polls, and has instead asked them to field him in the Lok Sabha polls.

Teni's son Ashish Mishra has been declared the main accused in the chargesheet filed by Special Investigation (SIT) in the incident that took place on October 3 last year.

Also Read | India Reports 1.27 Lakh New COVID-19 Cases, 1,059 Deaths in Past 24 Hours; Positivity Rate Drops to 7.98%.

Mishra is currently in jail in connection with the matter.

In the incident that shocked the nation, four farmers, including Nachhatar Singh, were crushed to death under the wheels of a convoy of cars, including the one belonging to the Minister.

Four others, including a journalist, were also killed when the convoy ran over a group of farmers demonstrating against the visit of deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Teni's native place for a programme.

Jagdeep Singh, a resident of Namdar Purwa village, told PTI that he was offered ticket from Dhaurahara assembly segment in Lakhimpur Kheri district, but he did not accept it.

"SP and Congress insisted that I should contest from Dhaurahara seat but I told them that I would not fight a small battle. Give me a ticket for Lok Sabha elections in 2024. I will fight directly against Teni. If I have to fight, I will fight it properly," he said.

The 31-year-old said no one in his family has a political background.

"I am not a supporter of anyone including SP, BSP, and Congress. At present we are standing with farmer leader Tejinder Singh Virk in the elections.

He is fighting our battle as well. Wherever he is fighting from, we will stand with him," he said.

Virk was among those injured in the violence. Recently he was seen with Akhilesh Yadav at a press conference in Lucknow.

Jagdeep thanked the opposition parties and said if there was no opposition, then the Tikoniya incident would have been shown as an accident.

"If the opposition had not stood up and there was no pressure from the farmers' union, no action would have taken place in this matter," he said.

He said Teni was not removed by the party because of Brahmin vote bank.

"Teni not being removed from the post of Union Minister of State for Home is a very big election issue. The government is not removing Teni out of fear of losing Brahmin votes.

As long as he remains in the post of Minister of State for Home, justice cannot be done to us," Jagdeep said.

Teni is a second term BJP MP from Kheri.

Asked how big an issue the Tikoniya incident is in terms of assembly elections, Jagdeep said, "Only time will tell, but it is certain that if people do not stand united against this incident in the elections, then the farmers will be crushed under the jeep. Those with such a mentality will be encouraged."

Out of the four deceased farmers, Nachhatar Singh of Dhaurhara, and Lovepreet Singh, a resident of Palia, belonged to Lakhimpur Kheri district.

The other two farmers hailed from neighbouring Bahraich.

Sikhs of the area are angry in particular with the minister over the incident.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mysore (Karnataka) [India], February 5 (ANI): The war of words on the issue of Hijab continued on Saturday as BJP Lok Sabha MP Pratap Simha asked the students wearing the hijab to go to 'madrassa' for which the government has set aside funds, instead of going to a school.

Speaking to the reporters here, Simha said, "Everyone comes to college to be able to secure a good job, but these students want to come to college to sport their hijabs. If you want, you (students) wear a hijab or a burkha or a skull cap or pyjamas. But, don't go to school, go to a madrassa then. Respecting your sentiments, the government has set aside funds for the running of madrassas. You visit them."

Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Security Guard At Shelter Home Rapes 16-Year-Old Differently Abled Girl In Vasant Kunj; Arrested.

Earlier, Congress leader Siddaramaiah had said that "shawls" are new while Hijab has been in practice for several years adding that the Basavaraj Bommai government in the state is depriving the female students of education.

Hitting out at the Opposition leader, Simha said that Siddaramaiah can be Sidda'Rahim'aiah.

Also Read | AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi Over Attack on His Vehicle, Says 'Those Who Fired Bullets Were the Ones Who Killed Mahatma Gandhi'.

"He can be Sidda'Rahim'aiah," the MP said.

On February 4, students wearing hijabs were allegedly denied entry into a government college in the Kundapur area of Udupi in Karnataka, amid a row on wearing the headscarf in classrooms.

State Education Minister BC Nagesh had told reporters, "They were not wearing the hijab earlier and this 'problem' started only 20 days ago."

In a similar incident in the state, students at a Chikkamagaluru college wore saffron shawls to mark their protest against girls wearing hijabs on campus. On Tuesday, many students also staged a dharna over the same. The cops then entered the college premises and brought the situation under control. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London [England], February 5 (ANI): Scientists at UCL have developed a novel cancer therapy that uses an MRI scanner to guide a magnetic seed through the brain to heat and destroy tumours.

Their findings have been published in 'Advanced Science'.

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The therapy, demonstrated in mice, is called "minimally invasive image-guided ablation" or MINIMA and comprised a ferromagnetic thermoseed navigated to a tumour using magnetic propulsion gradients generated by an MRI scanner, before being remotely heated to kill nearby cancer cells.

Researchers said, the findings established 'proof-of-concept' for precise and effective treatment of hard-to-reach glioblastoma, along with other cancers such as prostate, that could benefit from less invasive therapies.

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Senior author, Professor Mark Lythgoe (UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging) said: "MINIMA is a new MRI-guided therapy that has the potential to avoid traditional side effects by precisely treating the tumour without harming healthy tissues. Because the heating seed is magnetic, the magnetic fields in the MRI scanner can be used to remotely steer the seed through tissue to the tumour. Once at the tumour, the seed can then be heated, destroying the cancer cells, while causing limited damage to surrounding healthy tissues."

In the study, the UCL team demonstrated the three key components of MINIMA to a high level of accuracy: precise seed imaging; navigation through brain tissue using a tailored MRI system, tracked to within 0.3 mm accuracy; and eradicating the tumour by heating it in a mouse model.Ferromagnetic thermoseeds are spherical in shape, 2 mm in size and are made of a metal alloy; they are implanted superficially into tissue before being navigated to the cancer.

Lead author, Rebecca Baker, (UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging) said: "Using an MRI scanner to deliver a therapy in this way allows the therapeutic seed and the tumour to be imaged throughout the procedure, ensuring the treatment is delivered with precision and without having to perform open surgery. This could be beneficial to patients by reducing recovery times and minimising the chance of side effects."

MRI scanners are readily available in hospitals around the world and are pivotal in the diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. The work at UCL showed that MINIMA has the potential to elevate an MRI scanner from a diagnostic device to a therapeutic platform.

Professor Lythgoe added: "We are now able to image and navigate a thermoseed in real-time through the brain using an MRI scanner. As MRI is already used to detect the boundaries of cancers, the seed can be moved precisely to ensure it does not stray into surrounding healthy tissue. As the seed is guided through the tissue it can be heated to destroy the cancer. This combines therapy and diagnosis into a single device, creating a completely new class of imaging therapy."

Co-author Dr Lewis Thorne, a consultant neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, said: "I treat patients with the most common form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. Following surgery, the average survival time is 12-18 months. MINIMA can successfully destroy cancer in a mouse and has the potential to extend survival and limit damage to adjacent brain tissues in patients."

Professor Mark Emberton (UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science), lead cancer clinician in the study, said: "Improving the precision of our cancer treatments is arguably one of the greatest unmet needs we have today.

"One in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. While treatments such as radiotherapy and surgery can be effective, they often cause unwanted and debilitating side effects such as incontinence and impotence. MINIMA may allow us to precisely target and destroy prostate tumour tissue, reducing harm to normal cells."

"In the longer term", Professor Lythgoe added, "we will change the shape of the seed to act as a tiny cutting scalpel that could be guided through tissue, which would allow surgeons to perform remotely controlled operations, revolutionising non-invasive surgery." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London [UK], February 5 (ANI): A 12-member jury in Kingston Crown Court in London, which is hearing the case of Muttahida Qaumi Moment (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain for inciting people to violence, was told on Friday that "democracy in Pakistan is immature and the real power lies with the Pakistani army".

The British Crown Prosecution has filed a case against MQM chief Altaf Hussain under the Terrorism Act 2006 for inciting people to violence through a speech from London on August 22, 2016. However, Altaf Hussain denies the allegations.

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On Friday, Dr Nicola Khan, a British writer, appeared before a jury as an expert researcher.

Explaining the background behind the formation of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) from Muttahida Mohajir Mahaz, Dr Nicola, a lecturer at Brighton University in the United Kingdom said that MQM is a party representing the Muslims who migrated from India to Pakistan on the occasion of Partition of India.

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In the early decades of Pakistan's existence, the majority of Mohajirs settled in Karachi, and they have been voting for Jamaat-e Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e Pakistan.

Dr Nicola said that when students in Pakistani universities started taking up arms which were readily available to them due to Afghan Jihad in the 1970s, Altaf Hussain also formed an organisation called 'All Pakistan Mohajir Student Organisation.'

Altaf Hussain founded the Mohajir Qaumi Mahaz in 1984, one of the initial demands of which was to recognise the Mohajirs as the fifth nationality of Pakistan. She said that after the formation of MQM, there was a fierce battle between the Mohajirs and the Pashtuns in Karachi.

The Pakistani military conducted several military operations in Karachi to contain the violence, and Altaf Hussain left Pakistan for Britain in 1992.

Dr Nicola said that when the violence in Karachi was at its peak, the MQM was very successful politically and it emerged as the third largest party in the country in the 1988 general elections.

Dr Nicola said that Mustafa Kamal was very popular and he did a lot of development work in the city but after some time Mustafa Kamal left Karachi and went to Dubai. Dr Nicola Khan said that in 2015, Rangers raided MQM headquarters Nine Zero.

She said that the raid of Pakistan Rangers on MQM headquarters was carried out a day after Altaf Hussain announced his support for PPP in the Senate elections.

Describing the organisational structure of the MQM, Dr Nicola Khan said that the MQM has three wings which include political, militant and welfare. She said that the welfare wing of the MQM was known as Khidmat-e Khalq while the MQM had never recognised its militant wing.

Dr Nicola Khan said that MQM is painted badly in the Pakistani press and Pakistani politicians like to hate MQM.

She told the jury that three judges of the Lahore High Court in an order directed the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority to block Altaf Hussain's speeches from London which was successfully implemented by PEMRA.

Dr Nicola Khan said that after Altaf Hussain's speech on August 22, 2016, two leading leaders of MQM, Dr. Farooq Sattar and Izharul Hassan were arrested and released the following day.

Responding to a question, Dr Nicola Khan agreed that Pakistan Rangers had a history of extrajudicial killings and was accused of extrajudicial killings of MQM workers.

When asked what she meant by extrajudicial killing, she said "killing illegally." Dr Nicola said that all methods have been used to suppress the MQM.

Dr Nikola Khan said that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had said in many of his speeches that this was the way to get rights.

Replying to a question regarding the ideological basis of MQM, she said that MQM is not a completely secular but politically moderate party.

Dr Nicola Khan admitted that the residents of Karachi have suffered financially a lot due to MQM. She cited estimates by the Karachi Chambers of Commerce, which claimed that the MQM's strikes in Karachi caused a daily loss of USD 37 million. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Warsaw [Poland], February 5 (ANI/Sputnik): The first group of American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived in Poland on Saturday following Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby's announcement about 1,700 additional troops from the United States to be sent to the country, Polish media reported.

On Wednesday, Kirby said that the US will temporarily deploy additional forces to Europe amid escalating tensions with Russia. The deployment includes 1,700 soldiers to be sent to Poland and 1,000 US personnel based in Germany will be relocated to Romania and another 8,500 troops will "remain ready to move if called for the NATO response force," Kirby said.

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The US forces that will station in Poland landed at the Jasionka airport near the Polish city of Rzeszow, the PAP news agency reported.

On Friday, Poland received a US frontline team to make preparations for the arrival of the troops and ensure material and technical support.

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Russia denies the West's and Kiev's accusations of alleged preparations for invading Ukraine and reiterates that it has no plans to attack any country. Moscow also views similar allegations as a pretext for NATO to deploy more military equipment near Russian borders. (ANI/Sputnik)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], February 5 (ANI): Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister G L Peiris is scheduled to visit India from Sunday on a three-day visit to strengthen bilateral ties including in areas of trade and connectivity.

He will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

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Jaishankar met Peiris in September last year in New York and held a comprehensive discussion on the close partnership between the two countries.

Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa's visit to India in December last year had focused on measures concerning the economic crisis faced by the island nation.

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Jaishankar had a virtual meeting with Sri Lankan Finance Minister on January 15 and conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka and will continue to extend support.

The US$ 400 million SAARC currency swap facility has been extended to Sri Lanka and the ACU settlement of $ 515.2 million has been deferred by two months. Another $ 500 million LOC for the purchase of fuel from India has also been extended.

India delivered 100,000 Rapid Antigen Self Test Kits to Sri Lanka on Friday to assist it in the fight against COVID-19. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Beijing [China], February 5 (ANI): Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on Saturday informed that the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were "very successful".

Le told reporters that Friday's talks were rich in content and yielded fruitful results.

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In recent years, the two leaders of China and Russia held talks about 38 times and communicated with each other over 100 times through various means including phone calls and letters, Xinhua news agency reported. This is unique among leaders of major countries, Le said.

"In a cordial and friendly atmosphere, President Xi and President Putin had an in-depth and thorough exchange of views on China-Russia relations and a series of major issues concerning global development and stability, drawing up a blueprint and charting the course for China-Russia relations under the new historical conditions," he said.

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The two presidents issued a joint statement, which will have an important and far-reaching impact on improving the global governance system under the new situation, Le said, adding that the joint statement has become the most important political achievement of their meeting on Friday.

China and Russia signed nearly 20 documents on cooperation in areas including economy and trade, investment, energy and sports, laying a solid foundation for deepening bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

Putin, who is on a visit to China, attended Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Salt Lake City(US), Feb 5 (AP) In 2016, Donald Trump overtook the Republican National Committee through a shock and awe campaign that stunned party leaders. In 2020, the party was obligated to support him as the sitting Republican president.

Heading into 2024, however, the Republican Party has a choice.

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The RNC, which controls the party's rules and infrastructure, is under no obligation to support Trump again.

In fact, the GOP's bylaws specifically require neutrality should more than one candidate seek the party's presidential nomination.

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But as Republican officials from across the country gathered in Utah this week for the RNC's winter meeting, party leaders devoted considerable energy to disciplining Trump's rivals and embracing his grievances.

As the earliest stages of the next presidential contest take shape, their actions made clear that choosing to serve Trump and his political interests remains a focus for the party.

If President Trump decides he's running, absolutely the RNC needs to back him, 100 per cent, said Michelle Fiore, an RNC committeewoman who has represented Nevada since 2018. We can change the bylaws.

The loyalty to Trump is a fresh reminder that one of America's major political parties is deepening its alignment with a figure who is undermining the nation's democratic principles.

As he fought to stay in the White House, Trump sparked a violent insurrection at the US Capitol. More recently, he has explicitly said that former Vice President Mike Pence could and should have overturned the election results, something he had no power to do.

Away from the ballrooms of the RNC meeting, Pence rebuked Trump on Friday, saying he had no right to overturn the election and that his former boss was wrong" to suggest otherwise.

Pence is one of a few Republicans making moves toward a 2024 campaign regardless of whether Trump wages a comeback bid.

If he were to run for the White House again, Trump is such a powerful force with the GOP base that he probably wouldn't need the party's help to become the nominee.

Some Republicans said that's beside the point.

There's probably some disagreement there, said Bruce Hough, a longtime RNC member from Utah who lost to a Trump ally in a race for party co-chair last year.

The RNC has to provide a level playing field for any and all comers for president. That's our job. That's what we have to do.

But a stark divide has emerged between veterans like Hough, who are devoted to the GOP as an institution, and a larger group of Trump-aligned newcomers, who argue they're bringing new energy to the party. Their chief loyalty, however, seems to be to the former president.

Leading up to 2020, or most of the time Trump was in office, he sent around his minions to populate the committee with very loyal Trump folks in a lot of red states," said Bill Palatucci, an RNC committeeman from New Jersey and frequent Trump critic.

And they still enjoy that strong majority.

The RNC's continued embrace of Trump more than two years before the 2024 election is a decided shift from the party's position in past elections.

In 2012 and 2016, for example, Reince Priebus as RNC chair went to great lengths to ensure each of the candidates was treated equally. The party sanctioned 12 debates, including early rounds that featured up to 17 candidates.

Clearly, there's a bias that didn't exist in the past, said Tim Miller, who previously worked for the Republican National Committee and has since emerged as a fierce Trump critic. It's all Trump all the time coming out of there.

A year ago, just after President Joe Biden's inauguration, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel declined to encourage Trump to run again when asked, citing party rules that require neutrality. She also discouraged attacks on those Republicans who voted for Trump's impeachment.

This week, however, she backed an effort by Trump loyalists to censure Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a move triggered almost entirely by their fight against Trump's enduring influence in the party beyond the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The censure, which passed on a voice vote Friday, says the two support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022.

McDaniel's shift coincides with the RNC's reliance on Trump for fundraising. The party has issued hundreds of fundraising appeals since Trump left office evoking his name. One offered this message to prospective small-dollar donors on Tuesday: YOU must stand with President Trump and YOUR Party.

In speeches made minutes before party leaders voted to censure Cheney and Kinzinger, McDaniel and co-chair Tommy Hicks did not mention Trump and stressed the need to unify for the 2022 midterm elections.

Though the committee's moves demonstrated a sustained loyalty to the former president, outside the winter meeting the censure was condemned by opponents as divisive and contrary to frequent appeals from leaders to expand the party's tent.

The RNC's discipline shows more about them than us," Kinzinger said in an interview.

It shows that Trump and Trumpism has overtaken the RNC.

Cheney in a statement said the move demonstrated how the party had become hostage to Trump.

Indeed, this week's focus on debates that won't take place until 2024 and on anti-Trump Republicans overshadowed the party's preparations for the midterm elections. That's notable because the GOP could reclaim control of at least one chamber of Congress and several governor's mansions.

But this week, Trump's grievances with his Republican critics took center stage instead.

We should be focused on what the voters are focused on, said Caleb Heimlich, chair of the Republican Party in Washington state, where two of three Republican House members voted to impeach Trump following the January 6 insurrection.

I've been talking to voters in Washington state, travelling around and nobody talks about Cheney. That's a D.C. topic.

Others disagreed.

Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC committeewoman from California, said it was imperative to send a clear message about Cheney and Kinzinger for her and the legions of volunteers working to elect Republicans this year.

The midterms are about a party electing its leaders, and what Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney did here is defy their party's leadership," Dhillon said.

I do not want to elect people in the midterms who do what these two did.

Beyond the censure, Republicans set in motion a rules change rooted in another of Trump's longstanding grievances.

A measure advanced that would force presidential candidates to sign a pledge saying they will not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates advanced. It is expected to be voted on when RNC members convene again in August.

We are not walking away from debates," McDaniel said.

We are walking away from the Commission on Presidential Debates because it's a biased monopoly that does not serve the best interests of the American people.

The eventual 2024 nominee, however, will have final say on whether to participate.

Another Republican eyeing a White House campaign, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, decried the RNC's push to punish Trump's rivals.

The GOP I believe in is the party of freedom and truth, the frequent Trump critic tweeted Friday. It's a sad day for my party - and the country - when you're punished just for expressing your beliefs, standing on principle, and refusing to tell blatant lies.(AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], February 5 (ANI): The Afghan women that came to Oslo as part of a delegation of the Taliban applied for asylum in Norway, a media report said on Saturday.

The Taliban delegation paid a visit to Oslo last month to hold talks with Afghan politicians, civil activists, diplomats of Norway and other countries.

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"The women who were invited to a meeting in Norway now asked for asylum there," said Khairullah Shinwari, the director of information technologies department of the Taliban led Afghan Foreign Ministry, as quoted by Russian news agency Sputnik.

Shafi Azam, another Afghan official of the country's Foreign Ministry, tweeted that women and the youth often "hide behind" the protection of civil rights to receive asylum abroad.

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Last month, the UN International Labour Organization revealed that employment of women in Afghanistan dropped by 16 per cent in the third quarter 2021, after the Taliban seized power in Kabul.

In December 2021, the Taliban issued a decree on women's rights which acknowledged that women are not property and cannot be forced into marriage.

Later in January this year, the movement made it obligatory for women to wear face-covering hijab in public which caused protests in Kabul. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Fort Lauderdale  There is no bringing Rubin Stacy back. No erasing the memory of his lifeless body hanging from a pine tree. No wiping the smiles from the faces of those who came to gawk at the dead Black man killed by white vigilantes.

The lynching of Stacy casts a painful shadow over Fort Lauderdale, the ghastly scene frozen in time in photos taken on that tragic day in 1935.

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But soon, street signs will carry the name Rubin Stacy near the spot where he drew his last breath. The project, nearly two years in the making, aims to honor Stacy and bring his story to light along with that of the nations cruel history of racial tension.

Relatives of Stacys are flying in from all over the country to attend the unveiling ceremony at 1 p.m. Tuesday at St. Thomas Aquinas Bienes Center for the Arts, 2812 SW 12 St.

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Local leaders will unveil the first of dozens of street signs that will line the 2-mile stretch of Davie Boulevard between Interstate 95 and State Road 7, giving the road a second name: Rubin Stacy Memorial Boulevard.

Onlookers gawk at the lifeless body of Rubin Stacy hanging from a pine tree in Fort Lauderdale on July 19, 1935. Three days earlier, a white woman claimed Stacy attacked her with a knife, though some said he'd simply asked her for a glass of water. (New York Public Library / Courtesy)

We cannot run and hide

Commissioner Ben Sorensen played a lead role in pushing for the memorial street signs.

This is part of the story of our country, he said. We cannot run and hide from that. This story is not over. Race relations still needs to be addressed in this country. And we need to do all we can to keep that from ever happening again.

Reffernita Shaw, a great niece of Stacys from Riviera Beach, plans to attend what she says will likely be an emotional day for the family, many of whom have never met.

Stacy, one of 16 children, left behind a large extended family.

Stacys late wife, Willie Mae, moved to Illinois soon after the lynching and later sent for their toddler son. His son, Willie Clarence Stacy, who was 2 years old at the time of the lynching, died in 2017.

Shaw expects the day to bring waves of emotion.

That day it will be kind of a culmination of all emotions, she said. I dont know how old I was when I first heard the story. I remember feeling shock and sadness. Its been something thats been talked about in my family for a long time.

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[ RELATED: Black man Rubin Stacy was lynched in Fort Lauderdale in 1935. Now street signs may bear his name. ]

Vigilante injustice

A farmhand born in Georgia, Stacy asked a white woman for a glass of water to quench his thirst on a hot summer day in 1935. The woman, a Sunday school teacher, claimed he threatened her with a knife.

Three days later, on July 19, Stacy was placed under arrest. Deputies were transferring him to a jail in Miami when their car was reportedly run off the road by 100 masked men in 50 cars. They drove Stacy to a wooded spot near his accusers home.

His expression turned to horror as he was positioned under the tree, then strung up with his accusers own clothesline, still in handcuffs.

As word of the killing spread, thousands of onlookers came to see for themselves. Some cut off pieces of Stacys overalls to take home as souvenirs.

Photos of the lynching, published in Life magazine and newspapers across the nation, captured the festival atmosphere, with hundreds of smiling folk gathered as if attending a church barbecue.

A crowd gawks at the body of Rubin Stacy hanging from a tree in Fort Lauderdale on July 19, 1935. Photos from that day were published in newspapers across the nation, capturing the festival-like atmosphere. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

[ PHOTO OF TRAGIC DAY: Image shows man's death, casting a painful shadow over Fort Lauderdale ]

Stacys death certificate mentions a broken neck and a heart pierced by gunshot. He was shot 17 times, his body left hanging for eight hours, blood dripping from his toes.

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Finally, deputies lashed the body to a car hood and delivered it to Black undertaker George Benton, telling him they had another dead n----- for him.

In 1988, a woman who said she participated in the lynching came forward to say it was Deputy Bob Clark, brother of the sheriff, who strung Stacy up, then directed onlookers to join in the killing and fire their guns at Stacys limp body.

Two days after the lynching, a grand jury was convened, but no one was charged in the crime.

Stacy was one of 4,743 people lynched in this country between 1882 and 1968, according to records maintained by the NAACP. Of the 282 people killed by lynching in Florida during that time frame, 257 were Black and 25 white.

Murder and a picnic

Florida led the Southern states in the number of lynchings per capita from 1880 to 1940, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana had the most lynchings, with nearly 600 each between 1877 and 1950.

The lynchings were often treated like spectator events, with white families feasting on picnic lunches while Black men were hanged, tortured and burned alive, the organization said.

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The picnic atmosphere was one way of showing the populace, children included, how to maintain white rule, experts say.

It was about making a party out of maintaining white rule, said Charles Zelden, professor of history and political science at Nova Southeastern University. It was a message to the black community: This could happen to you.

The new street signs wont change the past, but they will help teach the past, Zelden said.

If people dont understand what happened, its all too easy to repeat it, he said. If you dont know that it happened, no one knows to be horrified. Anything that brings about a teachable moment is a good thing. But its not enough to have a plaque or a street sign, you need someone teaching it as well. Because if we dont teach it, the potential of repeating the past grows.

[ RELATED: A lynch mob killed a Black man in Fort Lauderdale in 1935. His name was Rubin Stacy. ]

Parkland Vice Mayor Ken Cutler, the man who came up with the idea of naming a street sign after Stacy, ran across the story of his lynching by chance while researching the history of Broward County. That was in January 2018.

Looking for a way to honor Stacy and his memory, Cutler reached out to Fort Lauderdale in mid-2020 to see if city leaders might name a portion of Davie Boulevard after Stacy. One year later, Fort Lauderdales elected leaders unanimously approved the plan.

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The signs matter because Rubin Stacy and how his life ended matter, Sorensen said.

That story cannot die, he said. That story needs to live on forever so we can understand the past injustices and prevent future injustices. And we cant do that unless we understand how these injustices still happen today.

Reffernita Shaw, great niece of Rubin Stacy. Stacy was lynched by a masked mob in July 19, 1935, in Fort Lauderdale after a white woman claimed he threatened her with a knife. (Reffernita Shaw/Courtesy)

A healing moment

The street signs wont bring Rubin Stacy back. But they will go a long way toward helping heal a heartbreaking moment in the history, his relatives say.

We are grateful for the acknowledgment and awareness that his death has brought about, even though its 87 years later, Shaw said. They are recognizing what an atrocity it was and he is now being memorialized in the county where it happened. It doesnt ease the pain. It doesnt erase what happened. But you get somebody to say this was wrong and to just acknowledge that fact.

[ RELATED: Heres how the Sun Sentinel decided to show the lynching of Rubin Stacy ]

Sandra Blackmon-Lane, whose great aunt was Stacys wife, will also be there to take in the moment along with 26-year-old daughter Chelsea Blackmon.

Ill have mixed feelings, said Blackmon-Lane, who lives in Fort Lauderdale. Theres some excitement and some sadness. But Im happy theyre doing this. Its a step in the city admitting that this was a horrible tragedy. They are acknowledging that a mistake was made, an injustice.

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Blackmon-Lane did not know the full story of the lynching until her daughter came home from high school with a history assignment.

Then 17, her daughter handed her a copy of an old newspaper article and asked if she wanted to read it. As she read the story, she realized it was all about her great uncle, who had married into her family.

You cant undo what happened, her daughter said. But cities like Fort Lauderdale are trying to do what they can. They are trying to right that wrong.

Lessons to learn

Stacys life was snuffed out 87 years ago. But for his family and those who know his story, his memory lives on.

This is a big deal for the family, said Roberto Fernandez, the Plantation High history teacher who inadvertently helped the Blackmon family discover a piece of family history when he asked his students to research the lynching of Rubin Stacy that day in 2014.

Fernandez says hes been teaching his students the story of the Rubin Stacy lynching every year since  even though the story is not part of the school districts curriculum.

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Like others, Shaw thinks the history of lynching in this country should be taught in the classrooms.

Not just his story, but all stories like that should be taught in the schools, Shaw said. Everybodys up in arms now about critical race theory. Theyve even gone so far as to say you can talk about it, but not to the point where it would make white people uncomfortable. And I think thats where they need to be, uncomfortable.

The time has come, finally, for all to understand the pain and misery her own ancestors endured, Shaw said.

I think the truth should be taught in school, she said. Not just Black history. All history. No sugarcoating it. Who the perpetrators were, how they benefited from it. Everything.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan
Bengaluru, February 5: Amid continuing protests by a section of students seeking permission from authorities to wear Hijab in classrooms in some colleges in Karnataka, the BJP state chief Nalin Kumar Kateel on Saturday said the state government will not allow 'Talibanisation' of the education system.

Kateel's remarks come as Burqa-clad women in some parts of the state continued to protest against the decision to bar female students from wearing 'hijab' (headscarf) inside classes. "There is no scope for such things (wearing Hijab in classrooms). Our government will take stringent action. People have to follow the rules and regulations of the school. We will not allow Talibanisation (of the education system)," he told reporters here.

Asserting that bringing religion to educational institutions was not right, Kateel said what children require is education. "There is no scope for Hijab or any such thing in the schools. Schools are the temples of 'Sarasvati' (Goddess of knowledge). It is the duty of the students to learn and abide by the regulations of the school," the BJP leader said. Rahul Gandhi Comes in Support of Hijab-Wearing Students, Says 'Country Robbing Future of Daughters'.

Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said some people were intentionally demanding permission for wearing Hijab in classrooms.

"Once that demand is fulfilled, they will seek permission to wear Burqa and then to construct mosque inside the school," he alleged. "The demands will go on. Those who are supporting them are the real traitors." Yatnal said those behind such movements should be exposed.

The MLA suspected the involvement of some anti-national forces in 'disturbing' the peace in the state. To a query on Lord Ganesha being worshipped in educational institutions and people entering schools and colleges sporting vermillion on their forehead, Yatnal said, "This is India and our country is founded on the Indian culture. We have already given them Pakistan on the basis of religion for them to wear Hijab."

In Kalaburagi, Muslim students and others holding placards and banners staged a demonstration led by Congress MLA Kaneez Fathima. They raised slogans like 'We want justice' and 'Gundagardi Nahi Chalegi' (Hooliganism will not be tolerated).

The MLA said she would raise the matter in the Karnataka assembly demanding permission for Hijab in the classrooms. In Udupi too, a similar demonstration took place where students came to the campus wearing Burqa and sought permission for Hijab.

Protesting against wearing Hijabs inside the classroom, Hindu boys and girls started coming to some schools and colleges wearing saffron scarves.

The Karnataka government had on Friday asked educational institutions to follow existing uniform related rules, until the High Court comes out with an order in this connection.

With the issue snowballing into a major controversy, spreading to other educational institutions, and the matter coming up before the High Court, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had held a meeting with Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh and top government officials.
Karnataka police have taken Rs 10 lakh bond from accused Adi Narayana Naidu, grandson of former MP D.K. Adikeshavulu Naidu, for running over his car on street dogs. The accused was given a stern warning that if he indulges in case of animal cruelty in future he will be put behind bars, police said on Saturday.
He started growing marijuana as a teenager and for four decades earned a modest living from his tiny plot tucked at the base of these rugged mountains of western Mexico.

He proudly shows off his illegal plants, waist-high and fragrant, strategically hidden from view by rows of corn and nearly ready to be harvested.

Ive always liked this business, producing marijuana, the 50-year-old farmer said wistfully. He had decided that this seasons crop would be his last.

The reason: free-market economics.

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The loosening of marijuana laws across much of the United States has increased competition from growers north of the border, apparently enough to drive down prices paid to Mexican farmers. Small-scale growers here in the state of Sinaloa, one of the countrys biggest production areas, said that over the last four years the amount they receive per kilogram has fallen from $100 to $30.

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The price decline appears to have led to reduced marijuana production in Mexico and a drop in trafficking to the U.S., according to officials on both sides of the border and available data.

People dont want to abandon their illicit crops, but more and more they are realizing that it is no longer good business.  Juan Guerra, the states agriculture secretary

People dont want to abandon their illicit crops, but more and more they are realizing that it is no longer good business, said Juan Guerra, the states agriculture secretary.

For decades, the U.S. and Mexican governments looked for ways to reduce marijuana cultivation. They paid farmers to grow legal crops or periodically sent Mexican soldiers to seek out and eradicate drug fields.

But those efforts failed, because marijuana was still more profitable than the alternatives.

As recently as 2008, Mexico was providing as much as two-thirds of the marijuana consumed in the U.S. each year, said Beau Kilmer, co-director of the Drug Policy Research Center at the Rand Corp. think tank.

U.S. growers, however, have been spurred on by the increasing number of states that have lifted restrictions on the drug.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

In 1996, California, the nations biggest producer, became the first state to legalize it for medical purposes. Twenty-two states have followed suit over the last two decades. Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington have also allowed cultivation and sale for recreational use.

Though federal law still criminalizes production and possession, the U.S. Justice Department has backed off its enforcement efforts when they clash with state law.

The relaxed legal environment has upended the old business model.

Changes on the other side of the border are making marijuana less profitable for organizations like the Cartel de Sinaloa, said Antonio Mazzitelli, the representative in Mexico for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Although Mexico remains a major supplier of marijuana to the U.S., its market share is thought to have declined significantly. Alejandro Hope, a security and drug analyst in Mexico City, estimated that Mexican marijuana now accounts for less than a third of the total consumed in the U.S.

There is little reliable data on marijuana production in Mexico. But two key measures  how much is destroyed in the fields and how much is intercepted at the U.S. border  strongly suggest it has been in decline.

The Mexican government is on pace to eradicate about 12,000 acres this year, down from more than 44,000 in 2010, according to the Mexican attorney generals office.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized about 1,085 tons of marijuana at the border in 2014. In the previous four years, that figure hovered around 1,500 tons. Seizures are thought to represent a tiny fraction of the amount that gets successfully imported.

In addition, the number of U.S. arrests by federal agents involving foreign-grown marijuana dropped from 4,519 in 2010 to 2,367 in 2014, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The number involving domestically produced marijuana held relatively steady over that time with an average of 1,536 arrests per year.

U.S. and Mexican growers compete not only on price but also on quality. Legalization has expanded the market for more expensive specialty strains, which are more powerful than standard Mexican product because of a higher concentration of THC, the ingredient that delivers the high.

Mexican marijuana is deemed lowest on the totem pole and very few people who consider themselves aficionados or connoisseurs would admit to smoking it, said Daniel Vinkovetsky, who writes under the name Danny Danko for High Times magazine. Its typically brown, pressed tightly together for transport, and full of seeds.

Access to better quality American cannabis has led many to turn their backs on imports from Mexico and beyond, he said.

Ethan Nadelmann, who runs Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit based in New York that promotes decriminalization of drugs, said he expects that Mexican exports of marijuana will continue to fall as legal cannabis proliferates. More and more, the U.S. is going to grow marijuana here, he said.

From 2013 to 2014, the legal market grew from $1.5 billion to $2.7 billion, according to a report this year from the ArcView Group, a cannabis industry investment and research firm based in Oakland. Illegal sales are thought to be many times that.

The shifting market has forced small-scale marijuana farmers in Mexico to look for ways to supplement their incomes.

In remote Sinaloa, a 47-year-old farmer named Emilio tends four marijuana plots with his sons. He inherited the business from his father. Their municipality, Badiraguato, is famous for being the birthplace of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, the worlds most-wanted drug lord and head of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

But there is little sign of the cartels wealth in their village, official population 1,000, a two-hour drive from the main town square on a crumbling mountain road. Emilio never finished primary school and doesnt know how to read or write. His house has dirt floors. Like the other farmers interviewed for this story, he spoke on condition that his full name not be published.

One of his neighbors, 55-year-old Efrain, said he stopped cultivating marijuana a few years ago and now supports his family as a day laborer. The middlemen who used to purchase his crop barely come around anymore.

If someone comes to buy it here, they want it really cheap, he said.

But Emilio said he cant afford to give up on marijuana.

Even though its not really considered good business anymore here, theres nothing else to do, he said.

His wife and daughter work occasional shifts at a greenhouse where tomatoes are grown for commercial sale  part of a government project to give families a chance to leave the drug business. The work, sporadic and seasonal, pays about $12 a day.

Guerra, the Sinaloa agriculture secretary, said the government has a responsibility to provide more as legalization sweeps the U.S.

The Mexican drug cartels are already adapting.

For one, they are moving to compete in the high-end marijuana market, according to the 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment produced by the DEA. Law enforcement reporting indicates that Mexican cartels are attempting to produce higher-quality marijuana to keep up with U.S. demand for high-quality marijuana, it said.

In one of the more telling signs of how legalization has transformed the industry, the DEA has found instances of high-grade marijuana being smuggled from the U.S. into Mexico, an agency official said.

I dont really have a sense of the amount or scale, but we have seen instances of it occurring, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the subject.

More significant, experts said, the cartels are likely to shift resources away from marijuana toward other drugs that are illegal in the U.S., including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. A 2010 Rand study estimated that marijuana accounted for 15% to 26% of cartel revenues.

Emilio already farms a few patches of poppies used to produce heroin.

They are a more labor-intensive crop than marijuana and require more water and a bigger investment upfront. Poppy takes longer, he said. And if you neglect it, the crop is useless.

But it may be a safer bet than marijuana: High demand for heroin in the U.S. has been driving up prices, and there is little chance it will be legal any time soon.

Bonello is a special correspondent.

Cecilia Sanchez in The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

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The state of Florida has been facing a backlog of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit claims, which is the state's version of the food stamp program.

An investigation on the backlog of SNAP benefits has led to a response from viewers, noting that their benefits have halted, according to an WFLA News report.

Investigative journalist Mahsa Saeidi tweeted the incident, including a video clip.

Could this be why so many #Floridians report a delay in getting food assistance benefits?



We've learned 1 in 4 positions are vacant in state division that processes SNAP benefits#florida pic.twitter.com/BBWZs7rHoP  MAHSA SAEIDI, ESQ. (@MahsaWho) January 24, 2022

Some have already felt the delay of SNAP benefits in Florida, saying that "cruelty is the point."

I like how the federal government has extended emergency SNAP benefits until the end of the year, but states like Florida decided "what emergency" and ended that extension this month. I know, the cruelty is the point, damn ya'll.  Yashira () (@kireiYashira) August 11, 2021

The investigation started when a food stamp recipient contacted Saeidi anonymously in December to report the delay in getting her SNAP benefits.

The woman's benefits had expired even when she had applied to have her benefits renewed as required by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Despite filing the requirements, her benefits were not renewed due to DCF's lack of enough to staff process them.

Those who are looking to fast-track their SNAP benefits processing, they can fill out this form here.

Twitter user @flattop008 noted that they took the $20 from her SNAP benefits in Florida and that they do not get extras anymore.

I got a 40 dollar raise on my social security check and they took 20 dollars from my snap benefit and florida don't get the extras any more  charlotte (@flattop008) January 29, 2022

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SNAP Benefits Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he has talked with his secretary about that, noting that they got huge amounts of stuff that was going on, as well as processing issues, according to another WFLA News report.

DeSantis said they will work with them and see how they can expedite it.

Non-profits like Feeding Tampa Bay are seeing more people seeking help as the log jam continues.

President and CEO of Feeding Tampa Bay, Thomas Mantz, said that there are government programs, benefit programs that they can connect them.

Mantz noted that they are able to make it through crisis, according to Bay News 9 report.

It also took the State of Florida months to catch up on a similar backlog of unemployment benefits last year.

The DCF sent a letter earlier this week to the U.S. Department of Agriculture requesting that the agency waive some current requirements, such as interviewing people for their approval and eligibility of some recipients.

Around 1.6 million households in Florida depended on the SNAP benefits to put food inside their homes, according to a Tampa Bay 10 News report.

A spokesperson with DCF noted that the department is using internal resources to prioritize processing benefits, while also hiring another 125 staff members in December and January.

Co-founder of The Bautista Project Inc., Marla Bautista, noted that people cannot survive on $1 an hour in Tampa, Florida.

Bautista said that one would be forced to decide whether they are going to eat or pay their rent.

Pandemic in Florida

Meanwhile, the federal government has disbursed $329.7 billion in loans to businesses through a pandemic disaster relief program.

The Small Business Administration's latest data report showed that Florida got more money and had more applicants than any other state-approved, aside from California, according to another WFLA News report.

Other states that were to see approvals and money were New York, Texas, New Jersey, Georgia, and Illinois.

READ MORE: Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis Feud Fueled by Sen. Mitch McConnell, Trump Advisers Say

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Florida SNAP recipients continue to report delays in getting food assistance benefits - from WFLA News Channel 8






Mike Pence on Friday made his strongest public rebuke against his former boss, Donald Trump, claiming that the former president was "wrong" to claim that he had the right to overturn the 2020 election.

The former vice president made his comments in his speech to the Federalist Society in Lake Buena Vista in Orlando, Florida, The Daily Mail reported.

According to Pence, some Republicans believed that he had the authority to reject Electoral College votes as the presiding officer of the Joint Session of Congress, who oversees the vote count on January 6, 2020. It included Trump, who said in a statement on Sunday that Pence had the authority to "overturn" the 2020 election.

"I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong... I had no right to overturn the election," Pence noted.

The former vice president said the presidency belongs to the "American people and the American people alone."

READ NEXT: House Select Committee Issues 3 New Subpoenas to Donald Trump's Allies; Pres. Joe Biden Calls Capitol Attack an Attempted 'Coup'

Mike Pence Says Donald Trump's Idea an 'Un-American'

Mike Pence said Donald Trump's assessment was "un-American" as he reiterated that overturning the election at that time was beyond his authority as the vice president.

"There is no idea more un-American than the notion than any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election," Pence noted.

Pence then acknowledged that many people may still feel disappointed about what happened in the last election, including him, since he was also on the ballot. However, he said he only did his "duty that day."

The former vice president then quipped that just like him, "Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024," which earned applause from the crowd.

According to reports, Mike Pence, 62, is considering a 2024 campaign for president. Trump has yet to announce that he intends to run in 2024, but he has teased a potential 2024 rematch against President Joe Biden. He also hinted that he might not pick Pence as his running mate.

Donald Trump Urges House Select Committee to Investigate Mike Pence

Mike Pence's comments came after Donald Trump urged the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot to investigate why the former vice president did not reject the results of the Electoral College votes, The Hill reported.

Trump noted that such action could have prevented the Capitol riot from taking place. The former president added that the committee should also investigate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is in charge of Capitol security, for not increasing the security.

"The Unselect Committee should be investigating why Nancy Pelosi did such a poor job of overseeing security and why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval. It has now been clearly shown that he had the right to do so!" Trump said.

Donald Trump believes if the two officials only did these things, "there would have been no 'January 6' as we know it!"

READ MORE: Ex-Pres Donald Trump Hits Back at Pres. Joe Biden Over His January 6 Capitol Riot Anniversary Speech; Calls Biden a 'Voice of Desparation'

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Pence Says Trump is Wrong: 'I had no Right to Overturn the Election' - From CNBC Television
Republicans had censured Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for being part of the January 6 House select committee, mainly composed of Democrats, that is currently investigating the events of the Capitol attack.

The GOP also described the probe as an attack on "legitimate political discourse," according to a Reuters report.

The January 6 panel is investigating who had any role in planning or enabling the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812.

Republican National Committee approved the resolution censuring the two Republican lawmakers during a meeting in Salt Lake City.

They were also accused of participating in Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens that were engaged in legitimate political discourse.

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney had his opinions regarding Cheney and Kinzinger's censure.

Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.  Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) February 4, 2022

In a tweet, Romney said that "honor attaches" to Cheney and Kinzinger for seeking truth. Twitter user @EllenTrailerDog also questioned how Republicans can censure the two representatives when Pence said that "Trump is wrong," which she claimed is the same thing.

If, as Pence says, "Trump is wrong," how can Republicans censure Cheney & Kinzinger for saying the same thing? Guess they'll have to censure Pence too.  Ellen Garrison (@EllenTrailerDog) February 4, 2022

Another user with a handle @acnewsitics noted that the two were censured for participating in a probe while Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was under investigation for sex trafficking and having sexual engagement with a minor, was not.

The fact that the RNC voted to censure Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for trying to find the truth about Jan 6th but not Matt Gaetz who is under investigation for sex trafficing and having sex with a minor, tells you all you need to know about Republicans.  Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) February 4, 2022

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Cheney and Kinzinger crossed a line, choosing to join House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the persecution of ordinary citizens.

READ NEXT: Mike Pence's Documents to Be Turned Over to the January 6 Select Committee After Donald Trump's White House Records: National Archives

Republicans Resolution to Formally Censure

The RNC panel introduce the measure, which noted that the committee will "immediately cease any and all support" of Cheney and Kinzinger as members of the Republican party for their behavior.

The RNC panel described Cheney and Kinzinger's behavior as destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican Party, and the nation's republic, according to an NBC News report.

David Bossie, an RNC member from Maryland and an architect of the resolution, noted that the committee has supported the resolution due to what the two GOP members have done to empower Pelosi while continuing her "reign of terror" over the public.

Meanwhile, some RNC members had rejected the resolution, such as the case with Connecticut GOP chairman Ben Proto.

Proto said that he feels that any such rejection should come from voters and not from the party. Cheney tweeted a video clip of the January 6 insurrection, saying that it was not a "legitimate political discourse."

This was January 6th.

This is not legitimate political discourse. pic.twitter.com/lKgbVyVcJr  Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) February 4, 2022

January 6 Capitol Attack Probe

A week ago, the January 6 panel had issued a subpoena to 14 people that was linked to an attempt to submit fake Electoral College voters, favoring former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Judd Deere, who worked as a spokesman for Trump's White House, was also subpoenaed, according to a CNBC News report.

The select committee noted that they want information from people who met and submitted the false Electoral College certificates, falsely showing that Trump won in seven states such as Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

The January 6 panel said that it had received information that groups of people met on Dec. 14, 2020 in the seven states mentioned and then "submitted bogus slates" of votes for Trump.

READ MORE: Donald Trump's Pardon Talk Sparks Major Concern Among Republicans: "He'll Do It All Again!"

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Republican National Committee votes to censure Cheney and Kinzinger over Jan. 6 investigation - from CBS News






Mexican billionaire Alberto Bailleres, the fourth richest person in Mexico, has died at age 90. According to a statement from his business conglomerate, Grupo Bal SA, Bailleres, the Mexican billionaire who once owned the world's largest refined silver firm, died on February 2 in Mexico City.

No other details, such as his cause of death, were provided. The statement noted that the Mexican billionaire would be remembered as an "exemplary Mexican" and a "visionary businessman." It added that Bailleres will also be remembered as a "romantic dreamer who triumphed and exceeded his goals."

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Mexican billionaire had a net worth of $8.5 billion, making him Mexico's fourth-richest person. His enormous mining fortune earned him the nickname "King of Silver" or Mexico's "King Midas."

Apart from mining and silver production, Bailleres also held stakes in insurance, financial, and retail companies. Known for avoiding the spotlight, Blanche Petrich, one of his biographers, described him as "lover of the shadows."

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2021, the Mexican billionaire stepped down as president of five main firms - Grupo Bal, including Industrias Penoles SAB; miner Fresnillo PLC; pension fund manager Profuturo; insurance company Grupo Nacional Provincial (GNP); and department store Palacio de Hierro.

Industrias Penoles SAB was once the world's largest producer of refined silver. While Bailleres remained an honorary president, he was replaced by Alejandro Bailleres, one of his seven children, with his wife, Teresa Gual. Alejandro was already on the main companies' board of directors.

According to Forbes, Alberto Bailleres leaves his family an estimated $8.6 billion fortune.

Mexico's President Remembers 'King of Silver' Alberto Bailleres

In a press conference, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that while he and Alberto Bailleres didn't always see each other, they had a 20-year friendship built on mutual respect, Forbes reported.

The privatization of formerly state-owned industries in Mexico in the late 1980s and early 1990s benefited Bailleres greatly. However, Lopez Obrador has pushed to return control of several critical sectors to the government.

Nevertheless, Lopez Obrador commended the Mexican billionaire for his dedication to the country, as seen by his participation at a recent Mexican Council of Business meeting despite being sick. At the meeting, Bailleres was honored for his life's work.

According to Lopez Obrador, Mexico lost one of its "most important businessmen," and expressed confidence that Bailleres' son Alejandro "will keep managing the business responsibly."

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Mexican Billionaire Alberto Bailleres' Mining Concessions in Mexico

Alberto Bailleres was born on August 22, 1931 in Mexico City. But his family, who owned cattle ranchers since the early 19th century, was from Guanajuato.

His familial affinity for rural life later surfaced in enthusiasm for hunting, horse racing, and bullfighting, all of which have been labeled as animal cruelty by animal rights groups.

At age 19, his father, Raul Bailleres, left Guanajuato for Mexico City in 1914 in quest of business opportunities. And in the 1930s, he founded Mexico's first mining-related financial company.

Alberto Bailleres set out to expand the family business started by his father after attending Culver Military Academy in Indiana.

The Mexican billionaire also gave his time and money to the arts and educational causes, serving as chairman of both the Mexican Cultural Association and his alma mater, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico. It became one of Latin America's most prestigious universities over his more than 35 years leading the school.

The Belisario Dominguez Medal, the highest award bestowed to a citizen, was granted to Alberto Bailleres by the Mexican Senate in 2015.

READ MORE: World Cup Qualifiers: Argentina Beats Colombia To Extend 29-Game Unbeaten Streak, Chile Holds On To World Cup Hope

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Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: The Businessman Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez, Honorary Director of the Bal Group, Died - From MiILENIO
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is asking prosecutors to investigate claims of voter fraud after elderly residents in Little Havana said their party affiliations were changed without their knowledge.

A county spokeswoman wrote in an email late Friday that Levine Cava sent an official request to the State Attorney to investigate recent reports of voter registration fraud to ensure the integrity of the elections process.

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Levine Cava, who made the request in an email to State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle, joined other Florida Democrats in calling for an investigation following complaints from residents of Haley Sofge Towers, a county-managed public housing complex in Little Havana. State Sen. Annette Taddeo and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, both running for governor against Republican Ron DeSantis, also called for an investigation.

In December, WPLG-Ch. 10 reported that an 84-year-old lifelong Democrat unknowingly signed paperwork to change her registration to Republican after Republican Party of Florida canvassing staff knocked on her door. More elderly residents, all over the age of 65 years old, then came forward to say they were now registered as Republicans without their knowledge, according to Taddeo and WPLG, which published its most recent report on the issue Thursday.

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A new Town Centre First policy, will revitalise towns across Laois and Offaly and be a 'game changer' for local communities, according to Laois/Offaly Fine Gael Charlie Flanagan.

Deputy Flanagan said his party is working to create stronger safer communities.

"This new Town Centre First policy is crucial to that. It is a designed to support the regeneration of our towns and villages with targeted funding to support above-shop and town centre living.

This ambitious and far-reaching policy contains a range of measures and funding supports aimed at making towns across Laois & Offaly more viable and attractive places in which to live, work and visit, whilst ensuring they are social, cultural and services hubs for the local community.

It is really important that this ambitious programme be backed up by significant Government funding.

As Minister for Justice, I was very pleased to secure a multimillion package for Regeneration and Low Carbon Town Initiative for the town of Portlaoise, which was the first of its kind in the country.

Todays major new policy is going to be a game changer for Laois and Offaly with local communities and local businesses central to reimagining and planning their own futures through a tailored plan. Our towns will benefit from Government funding, which will emphasise the importance of town centres as the central hub of our communities.

The new policy is underpinned by multi-billion euro investment spread across major Government schemes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), Croi Conaithe (Towns) Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme. Last year, over 410 million was distributed nationwide under the URDF and I understand a new call will be opened shortly, focused specifically on support for our town centres in places across the constituency.

Deputy Flanagan added that for the first time, towns will also gain their own dedicated Town Regeneration Officers, who will be crucial to driving future development.

"They will be full-time dedicated positions within both Laois & Offaly County Councils working with Town Teams and local business groups to design and implement town plans. They will also work to identify derelict buildings and assist in bringing them back into use, a key objective of the Town Centre First policy, he said.
Official figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), highlight the Opel brand recorded phenomenal growth in County Laois in January 2022.

Following the appointment of Cummins Motor Group to the Opel Dealer Network just four months ago, Opel took a combined passenger car and light commercial vehicle market share of 6.8% in County Laois in January, tripling sales in the county year on year (+333.3%).

Demand for both the all-new Opel Mokka, available in petrol, diesel and all-electric, and for the load-lugging Opel Combo van, has seen Opel push to 4% share in new passenger cars and an incredible 21% in light commercial vehicles in the all-important January market in Laois.

James Brooks, Managing Director of Leeson Motors, Opel Importer in Ireland said: "The appointment of Cummins Motor Group to the Opel Dealer Network has paid dividends immediately. Strategically an important county we have been absent from for some years, our return to County Laois has seen an immediate and positive impact on our national passenger car and light commercial vehicle market share. We warmly congratulate Dealer Principals, Michael and Aimee Cummins, on this superb performance and look forward to continued growth in 2022 in Laois."

Michael Cummins, Dealer Principal, said: "It is extremely gratifying to see the January 2022 results and there can be no doubt about the demand for Opel in Laois. I thank each and every one of my valued customers and I pay tribute to all those who have shown us such tremendous support and encouragement as we have embarked on our journey with the Opel brand."

Opel Ireland appointed Cummins Motor Group to the Opel Dealer Network in late September last. The appointment marked the return of the Opel franchise to County Laois after a number of years in absence. Headed by Dealer Principal, Michael Cummins and his wife, Aimee Cummins, they announced an impressive, major new Opel state-of-the-art showroom development on the Timahoe Road, Portlaoise, due for completion this month.

Operating in the automotive trade for over 20 years, Michael Cummins began his motoring career as an apprentice mechanic from the young age of 17. He started his own business in Portlaoise 12 years ago, building a successful dealership at Cummins Motor Group and earning a well-deserved reputation of trust in the Laois community. Today, Aimee Cummins completes the dynamic duo, bringing to the business a wealth of financial experience.
Billed as one of the most exciting weekends in the horse racing calendar in Ireland, the Dublin Racing Festival once again takes centre-stage at Leopardstown across this Saturday and Sunday with the two-day extravaganza boasting an array of stars ready to light up the track.

With a capacity crowd expected at Leopardstown and with the likes of Honeysuckle, Minella Indo, Chacun Pour Soi and Frodon on show, it promises to be a brilliant weekend of racing. We have previewed the eight Grade One contests on the card and you can find all the latest odds at horse racing betting on Boylesports.

1.05pm G1 Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors "50,000 Cheltenham Bonus For Stable Staff" Novices Hurdle (Saturday)

A fabulous contest to get us underway. Grand Jury and Hollow Games were second and third in the Lawlors Of Naas Novice Hurdle last time out and the pair look well-placed to fight out the finish in this contest along with Whatdeawant who was fifth in that same event. Minella Crooner and Bronn both recorded victories in novice company on their latest starts, but remain open to more improvement, whilst Eric Bloodaxe also brings winning Graded form to the table.

Selection: Hollow Games

1.35pm G1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle (Saturday)

This looks a straight battle between Fil Dor and Vauban. Gordon Elliotts Fil Dor is unbeaten in three starts in Ireland and oozed class in a Graded event at Leopardstown last time out. However, preference is for Vauban. He finished second to Pied Piper who has since franked the form in stunning fashion at Cheltenham and he is taken to open his account in Ireland with victory in Grade One company here.

Selection: Vauban

2.10pm G1 Irish Arkle Novice Chase (Saturday)

Willie Mullins is the winning-most trainer in the races history with seven winners and he has another serious contender in Blue Lord. He impressed when powering to victory at Naas last time out, whilst Mullins also runs Haut En Couleurs and Saint Sam who made winning chasing debuts last time out. Riviere Detel is a fascinating runner given she gets 9lb from Blue Lord and looks the most likely danger in this event.

Selection: Blue Lord

3.15pm G1 Irish Gold Cup (Saturday)

A brilliant renewal of this event. Kemboy is a former winner of the contest and is deeply respected given his liking for Leopardstown. Frodon is another fascinating contender for British trainer Paul Nicholls, whilst Asterion Forlonge would have finished second in the Gold Cup if not falling at the last fence and he is threatening to win a big event. However, Boylesports ambassador Robbie Power is aboard Minella Indo in this event and he is confident of a big performance from the defending Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. Pulled-up in the King George last time out, Power believes the nine-year-old will be seen to better effect in this event. He commented: Minella Indo disappointed in this race last year, but it worked well running in this last year before going on to win the Gold Cup and there is a 150,000 for any horse who wins the Irish Gold Cup and Cheltenham Gold Cup  Minella Indo is the most likely to complete the double. He will improve on this run and his form at Cheltenham is arguably 7-10lb better than his form elsewhere. He was disappointing in the King George having been pulled-up and then have successful seasons.

Selection: Minella Indo

1.20pm G1 Novice Chase (Sunday)

Master McShee would be a wonderful winner for Paddy Corkery who only trains a handful of horses, but Galopin Des Champs looks the one to beat in this event. He produced a spectacular round of jumping to make a winning debut over fences at Leopardstown in December and a reproduction of that effort would make him very hard to beat.

Selection: Galopin Des Champs

1.50pm G1 Dublin Chase (Sunday)

Chacun Pour Soi is chasing his third win in this contest for Willie Mullins and he does look the likeliest winner despite proving bitterly disappointing when last of five in the Tingle Creek at Sandown last time out. However, back at a track he relishes, he should prove too strong for British raider Greaneteen and the talented Captain Guinness.

Selection: Chacun Pour Soi

3.00pm Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle (Sunday)

This is all about the wondermare Honeysuckle. Unbeaten in 13 starts under Rules, she looks tough to beat as she attempts to win this contest for the third year in a row. Along with old ally Rachael Blackmore, she has the class edge in this event and benefits from the mares allowance here, getting 7lb from her main market rival Zanahiyr.

Selection: Honeysuckle

3.35pm Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle (Sunday)

Willie Mullins saddles Sir Gerhard who made a stylish hurdling debut when scoring at Leopardstown in December. The Champion Bumper winner at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, he is clearly an exciting prospect. However, My Mate Mozzie chased home Statuaire when second in the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse on his most recent outing and he may well have won that contest if getting a better leap at the last. He therefore looks open to any amount of improvement and gets the vote in this event.

Selection: My Mate Mozzie
Cllr Brendan Barry said he was disappointed with the lack of clarity in response to a request for an update on the housing estates that Leitrim County Council expects to take in charge this year.

Raising the matter at the Ballinamore Municipal District last week, Cllr Barry said no estates were taken in charge in 2021 and he is disappointed there is no clearer picture of what estates will be taken in charge this year.

Cllr Barry said people who are buying or selling a house are wondering and he said there was no clarity in the response he got to his motion.

He was told the Council has not yet determined the number of estates that it proposes to take in charge this year.

Cllr Barry was informed that discussions are ongoing regarding available resources within Leitrim County Council and Irish Water. There are also issues relating to way leaves that have to be obtained and finalised in respect of any estate to be considered.

As a consequence, the Council will not be in a position to advise the exact number of estates that may be taken in charge until such time as it is in a position to initiate the statutory declaration of public roads public consultation process for the estates, which should take place at the end of the year, the reply stated.

Cllr Enda McGloin supported the motion and described it as very timely. He said they had a workshop before and they were able to go through the outstanding estates in the Ballinamore area. He said that would be useful for some future meeting of the municipal district.

Vincent Dwyer, Head of Finance, said such a workshop could be arranged again.

He said he understood the motion but added it is proving difficult to get some of these estates over the line given all the various stakeholders involved, particularly Irish Water.

He described it as a challenge in relation to way leaves and land ownership but verified that the content of the response was correct.

Mr Dwyer said he will discuss it with the management team and see if an update with time frames on it could be brought to the next municipal district meeting.

Cllr Barry said the workshop would be in private and his motion to the meeting is public and suggested maybe that was why he couldnt get a more detailed response.

He said Irish Water was mentioned as being a hindrance preventing estates from being taken in charge and said he knew of an issue with pumping stations where Irish Water wouldnt take them in charge even after the Council had taken estates in charge.

Its disappointing they are holding up the taking in charge of estates by refusing to take the infrastructure in charge, the Sinn Fein representative said.

Finally, Cllr Barry asked that planners be available again for municipal district meetings to give members some clarity on the issue.
The Government has today published Town Centre First  a new policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into town centres across County Kilkenny.

Town Centre First contains 33 unique actions which will give our towns the tools and resources they need to become more viable and attractive places in which to live, work, visit and run a business. The policy is underpinned by multi-billion euro investment spread across major Government schemes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), Croi Conaithe (Towns) Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

For the first time, designated towns will gain their own dedicated Town Regeneration Officers, who will be crucial to driving future development. The policy also contains a range of actions designed to achieve key objectives such as social and economic revival in towns, the provision of housing, as well as addressing challenges like vacancy and derelict buildings.

The actions also support the protection of our environment, as well as the heritage and culture of our towns.

Town Centre First was launched in Moate today by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, the Minister for Planning and Local Government, Peter Burke TD; and the Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD.

The policy was launched at Moate library, a former Courthouse building. The formerly derelict building, dating back to 1828, was converted by Westmeath County Council.

The library was officially opened in 2016 and is a vital resource for young and old, bringing people back into the town centre.

Town Centre First, which supports the objectives of Housing for All and Our Rural Future, is a commitment under the Programme for Government.

In December 2021, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, announced 100,000 in funding for Kilkenny County Council to support the development of a Town Centre First Plan for Urlingford. Towns for this first phase of funding were selected based on submissions received from the local authorities. Further funding phases for Town Centre First Plans will be announced in due course.

Announcing Town Centre First, The Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys TD said:

Town Centre First represents a new approach to revitalising communities the length and breadth of this country.

This is about bringing together our businesses, our local authorities and our town teams - so that they are at the fore when it comes to planning for the future development of their communities.

Its about ensuring our towns have the tools, resources and investment they need to tackle major issues such as dereliction and vacant properties.

We know that so many of our towns, particularly in rural Ireland, face considerable challenges.

But they also have extraordinary potential.

With investment under the likes of the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, we will ensure our towns become even better places to live, work and raise a family.

Town Centre First will arm our towns with the ability to map out and deliver on their own unique vision, helping to revitalise Rural Ireland and deliver on the objectives of Our Rural Future.

Architecturally, culturally and socially, the Irish town is unique in European terms.

For far too long, we have turned our backs on this important heritage. The Governments Town Centres First policy seeks to support, enable and inspire communities to be active participants in the heritage-led regeneration of their towns and villages.

This in turn will re-invigorate independent retail and promote town centre living, supporting local economic resilience through the co-creation of liveable, vibrant, nature-friendly urban spaces.

The Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, added:

Architecturally, culturally and socially, the Irish town is unique in European terms.

For far too long, we have turned our backs on this important heritage. The Governments Town Centres First policy seeks to support, enable and inspire communities to be active participants in the heritage-led regeneration of their towns and villages.

This in turn will re-invigorate independent retail and promote town centre living, supporting local economic resilience through the co-creation of liveable, vibrant, nature-friendly urban spaces.
150 years ago, Ireland had emerged from the Great Famine. County Leitrim, despite losing 40% of its population, was transformed and a new middle class was emerging. Confidence amongst tenant farmers and landholders was growing, and Mohill town was lined with shops and traders.

Local newspapers carried advertisements for local shops and trades, and for goods like coffee, medicine, Irish whiskey, dentistry, coats, clocks and watches. Bensons of London had a regular ad for watches in gold and silver that ranged in price from 2 to 52; most were priced above 25, at a time when a schoolmasters salary was 22, and a schoolmistress earned 15 a year.

Author Fiona Slevin



Employment in shops

William F. Croghan ran what appears to be a successful drapery in Mohill. As early as 1859, he was selling shirts, and London and Paris Fashions and was employing milliners, saleswomen and apprentices.

In 1872, Croghan advertised in Freemans Journal for a saleswoman with a clever pushing hand and two apprentice positions. While sales and assistant applicants were invited to state their salary, the apprentices were expected to pay a fee of around 20.

This considerable sum was usually paid by parents looking to secure a future for their sons and daughters. In return, the apprentice got a number of years of training, and in the case of indoor apprentices like milliners, received food and lodging.



Putting things on account

Shops also acted as informal credit institutions, with people putting things on account until they had cash. The account book for Thomas Wards draper shop on Main Street, Mohill has been kept safely by Jim Rogers and provides a rare and invaluable insight into shopkeeping in the 1870s. The account book shows that most people paid their bills, even if it took months, or in some cases years. But some people built up significant debts.

In one case Mr Ward was so frustrated with a well-off customer running up a bill of over 11, that charged interest and billed them for 15. In another, a womans bill of nearly 3 was left unpaid after she emigrated: one can feel the proprietors frustration as he writes Gone to America in large, heavy writing at the bottom of the page.

An appeal for old shop records

There has been little research on towns like Mohill and little is known about how they turned into thriving towns in the latter half of the 19th century. In September 2021, Fiona Slevin began a PhD degree at UCD to research the development of Mohill between 1850 and 1870.

She is searching for original records that relate to shops, trades and professions from the period, especially ledgers, sales and order books, letters, photos, etc.

She is hugely indebted to Jim and Karl Rogers in Mohill for providing access to the Ward account book. If anyone as any other similar records, Fiona would deeply appreciate the opportunity to see them. Contact her directly at fiona@loughrynn.net. To read some of Fionas previous research on the Famine era and Lord Leitrim, see www.loughrynn.net.

Fiona Slevin grew up and went to school in Mohill and currently lives in Dublin. It is available at www.loughrynn.net
There is great excitement around the county as local festivals and events announce their dates for their anticipated return this year.

We have been starved of our annual festivals, events, agricultural shows, St Patrick Day parades and much more over the past two years of the Covid pandemic. But 2022 is certainly looking colourful.



Leitrim Tourism is calling on all event organisers and committees to get in touch with them so they can collect all the information to promote, support and help grant aid activities around the county. They hope to have a full list of events by the end of this month - including what St Patrick's Day events are going ahead.



But we can announce a number of festivals that have already released their dates.

Leitrim Dance Festival will see a week of workshops and concerts in Carrick-on-Shannon April 18 -22.

Carrick Carnival has just announced they will host a four day festival from June 3-6.

Cowboys and Heroes, Ireland's biggest Country Music Festival will return with big stars to Drumcoura City from June 3 - 6. Tickets are already on sale.

Drumcoura is also hosting Ireland's Biggest Disco with Alice DeeJay and other nostalgic names from the 90s and 00s disco scene. It will take place on July 2, with tickets on sale now.



Drumshanbo's An Tostal will bring back traditional music, dance and song from June 30 to July 3 and then passes the baton on to the International Joe Mooney Summer School which will take place from July 16 - 23.



Ballinamore Family Festival also returns this year, but with new dates.

To suit the Ballinamore Agriculture Show, the ever popular festival will bring a week of free music, activities and craic from August 7-14.

There are also volunteer groups around the county organising St Patrick's Day parades for this year's double bank holiday celebration

If you want to see your local festival or event return this year, get involved and offer your services.

We can't wait to see the colour, crowds and happy faces back on Leitrim streets this year.
Hello, its lunchtime in Paris. Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo is launching her national support committee. She must overcome doubts that she is a viable candidate. Her voting intentions are the worst a socialist candidate has received in half a century.

What happened yesterday? The Elysee Palace announced Friday that Emmanuel Macron will travel to Moscow Monday and Kyiv the day after.

Why does it matter? The current Russian-Ukrainian spat and the Mali-France tensions (Malis junta expelled Paris envoy over French Foreign minister comments) are interfering in the presidential campaign. These crises are delaying Macrons declaration of candidacy even though there is little doubt about his intentions.

An old-fashioned duel with armor, swords, and battle flails could do the trick. Two candidates, Marine Le Pen (le Rassemblement National) et Eric Zemmour (Reconquete!) are fighting for the control of the far-right and taking no prisoners. A woman, a man ; a lifelong politician, a polemicist turned politician late in life ; an heir, an outsider; a cat lover, a self-professed intellectual ; shes ahead in the polls, hes behind... A month of Sundays would be necessary to list what separates them.

They were each scheduled to hold a rally two hundred kilometers away, on Saturday: Marine Le Pen in Reims, a city famous for its champagne and cathedral where kings of France were crowned for ten centuries, and Eric Zemmour in Lille, the birthplace of Charles De Gaulle, the historical icon French politicians all admire half a century after his death. Two visions of France and two strategies of conquering power.

Eric Zemmour went full reductio ad Huntingtonum this week when he addressed a right-wing police officers union. "You are on the front line of a battle of civilizations", he said. "Facing you are not just delinquents, but another civilization with which we cannot peacefully co-exist (...). Every day delinquents and jihadists are the same. Same origins, same backgrounds, same neighborhoods. Some wage jihad, others wage the jihad in everyday life", he added, making clear that he saw no differences between a moderate Muslim and a radical Salafi.

Eric Zemmour does not warn of the risk of civil war. He is convinced that such war has already broken out and that the left has decided to side with the bad guys. He calls for the right-wing families to come together and thus eliminate the political and moral barrier that, according to him, artificially separates the right from the extreme right. This preoccupation gives the impression that he is less concerned about the presidential election than about the recomposition that could occur afterward.

His arch-rival Marine Le Pen doesnt see the situation this way. After years of provocation and incitement, she decided to soften her tone. She sees no civil war in sight, only problems that can be solved, even if it is by drastic action. No battle of civilizations or internal crusade would involve the departure of millions of people deemed unwilling to assimilate. "I am tired of the noise and fury. I want efficiency and serenity", she said in an interview with Le Figaro.

When her rival shouts and insults day and night, she deplores "communication society that encourages violence". "The intoxication of brutality and shock words and the permanent polemic, I came back from it", she swore. She preferred to speak about "the difficult ends of the month rather than the end of the world".

To be precise, Marine Le Pens voters are quite different from those of Eric Zemmour. Marine Le Pens voters are younger, poorer, less educated, and live mostly in rural areas. That is why she wants to keep the welfare state in place and lower the retirement age (from 62 to 60), while Eric Zemmour pleads for an extension (from 62 to 64).

Marine Le Pen has at least one point in common with Emmanuel Macron, the maverick who claimed in 2017 that the left-right divide was over. Zemmours "desire to unite the right is gutter politics. Im not interested in the right, nor the left, and theres a paradox in wanting to save the right when the left no longer exists and the right has been macronised", she mocked before deploring that Eric Zemmour doesnt want to win, but only kill her party.

The French far-right is an unexpected work in progress. Please fasten your seatbelts, the road ahead may be bumpy.

Graphic of the day

According to a study published by the French think-tank Institut Montaigne, a relative majority of young voters or potential voters (43 %) feel disaffiliated, and 57 % reject the main political forces.

A majority of 18-24 rejects the current political forces

Countdown

64 Days until the presidential elections first round

78 Days until the presidential elections second round

Thanks for reading, see you on Monday

Read the previous column : How the quest for funds shapes the presidential election

Gilles Paris(Columnist and former Le Monde correspondent in Washington)
DEVELOPMENT levies in Limerick are to remain at their 2017 level for at least another year, following a decision by a majority of councillors to reject a proposed increase of 25%.

In a vote at the full meeting of the council, 24 councillors voted against the increase while 13 voted in favour.

But, the matter is to be revisited again within the year.

The proposal to reject the 25% increase came as a surprise to Cllr Eddie Ryan who reminded councillors that there had been two meetings and two workshops on the issue of development contribution levies.

What I am hearing today I never heard at any meeting, he said. The original proposal from management, he went on to explain, was for a 250% increase, but he had proposed instead a 25% increase.

The increase in the levy from 7 to 8.75 per square metre would not be the main concern of young couples trying to build a home, Cllr Ryan argued.

They want to know will they be able to build near the village or town where they were bred, born and reared, he said.

The scheme before the councillors was thought-out, he continued and he proposed it be agreed.

We feel in the current climate the timing may not be right, Fine Gael leader in the council, Cllr John Sheahan said, opposing the 25% increase and acknowledging the work that had gone into the proposed scheme before them.

That work will not be in vain, he said. We are proposing we revisit it in 2023. We hope following the lifting of restrictions, the waning of Covid-19, that construction will follow and there will be an improvement in developments.

In that scenario, with increased construction, the development contribution fund would be enhanced in any case, he argued. His hope was that the price of raw materials would fall over the next 12 months and there would be a more level playing field.

Cllr Liam Galvin seconded the proposal, pointing out that some forecasts were for a 30% increase in construction costs.

This proposal from Cllr Sheahan is coming very late in the day, Fianna Fail leader in the council, Cllr Michael Collins said.

Cost increases have been going on for the last 12 months. However, he said, he and the Fianna Fail group were happy to support the proposal and to revisit the matter in 12 months time.
The leaders of Russia and China pushed back against US pressure, declaring their opposition to any expansion of Nato and affirming that the island of Taiwan is a part of China, as they met hours before the Winter Olympics kicked off in Beijing.

Russias Vladimir Putin and Chinas Xi Jinping issued a joint statement highlighting what it called interference in the internal affairs of other states, as both leaders face criticism from Washington over their foreign and domestic policies.

Some forces representing a minority on the world stage continue to advocate unilateral approaches to resolving international problems and resort to military policy, it read, in a thinly veiled reference to the US and its allies.

The two leaders are looking to project themselves as a counterweight to the US-led bloc, as China growingly shows support for Moscow in its dispute with Ukraine that threatens to break out into armed conflict.

China and Russia are committed to deepening back-to-back strategic cooperation, Mr Xi was quoted as telling Mr Putin.

This is a strategic decision that has far-reaching influence on China, Russia and the world, Mr Xi said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Faced with a complex and evolving international situation, the two sides strongly support each other in confronting what Mr Xi called regional security threats and international strategic stability, without directly naming the US.

Mr Putin is the highest-profile guest at the Beijing Games following the decision by the US, Britain and others not to send officials in protest of Chinas human rights abuses and its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

Mr Putin praised unprecedented close relations with China, in his opening remarks to Mr Xi carried by Russian television.

Relations are developing in a progressive way with a spirit of friendship and strategic partnership, Mr Putin said.

They have indeed become unprecedented.

Mr Putin highlighted close economic ties, including a new contract to supply China with 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year from eastern Russian.

For our meeting today, our oilmen have prepared very good new solutions for the supply of hydrocarbons to the Peoples Republic of China, and another step forward has been taken in the gas industry, Mr Putin said.

Russia has long been a key supplier of oil, gas and coal for Chinas massive economy, now the worlds second largest, along with food stuffs and other raw materials.

Chinas state-run news agency reported the two leaders met at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Friday afternoon, but gave no details.

They did not appear to shake hands when greeting each other due to Covid-19 precautions.

Mr Putin also recalled his presence in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the Chinese delegations attendance at Russias 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, calling such exchanges to a certain extent a tradition.

The discussions mark their first in-person meeting since 2019 and come as China and Russia increasingly align their foreign policies bilaterally and in world bodies such as the United Nations, in opposition to the Western bloc and other major powers.

Leaders of the five ex-Soviet Central Asian nations, which have close ties with both Russia and China, all followed Mr Putins lead in attending the Olympics opening, along with other states that have political and economic interests with Beijing.

A buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine has fuelled Western fears that Moscow is poised to invade its neighbour.





Russia has denied planning an offensive but urged the US and its allies to provide a binding pledge that Nato will not expand to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations or deploy weapons there, and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe, demands firmly rejected by the West.

Mr Putin and Mr Xi accused both Nato and the USs Indo-Pacific strategy of building closer military ties with other countries in Asia as destabilising and threatening regional security.

The parties oppose the further expansion of Nato, (and) call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War, the joint statement said.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told US secretary of state Antony Blinken in a call last week that Moscows security concerns need to be addressed, a statement that marked a notable policy shift for Beijing.

Some observers suggested that Beijing is closely watching how the US and its allies act in the standoff over Ukraine as it ponders further strategy on Taiwan, arguing that indecision by Washington could encourage China to grow more assertive.

The US is Taiwans main supplier of fighter aircraft and defensive arms and is legally bound to treat threats to the island democracy as matters of grave concern.

The joint statement said that Russia reaffirms that Taiwan is an integral part of China and opposes Taiwans independence in any form.

China claims the self-governing island as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary.

Economic and diplomatic cooperation has expanded into the military field in recent years, as Russia and China have held a series of joint war games, including naval drills and patrols by long-range bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

In August, Russian troops for the first time deployed to Chinese territory for joint manoeuvres.

Mr Putin has also noted that Russia has been sharing highly sensitive military technologies with China that helped significantly bolster its defence capability.
SAINT BRIGIDS Day in Irish folk tradition was the first day of spring.

February 1 was also known as the start of the farmers year. It is the festival of Irelands venerated and much-loved second patron saint who is also the patroness of cattle and of dairy work.

Brigid was born in Faugart, Co Louth in 450 AD, and she was the founder of the first monastery in County Kildare.

Her father was a pagan chieftain of Leinster called Dubtach, and her mother was a slave woman called Brocessa. Her name Brigi is Celtic for strength or might.

Saint Patrick inspired her to deepen her faith and to spread the word of God. Saint Brigid is also known as Mary of the Gael or Muire na nGael (Our Lady of the Irish). She is one of the patron Saints of Ireland along with Saint Patrick and Saint Columcille.

When she was young Saint Brigid wanted to join a convent, however her father took a firm stand and insisted that she marry a wealthy man he had promised her to.

The story goes that she asked God's help to take away her beauty so that the man wouldn't want to marry her.

Her wish was granted, and her father relented, and she was allowed to enter the convent. Not only did her beauty return but apparently, she became even more beautiful than ever.

She called on God's help again to convince her father to give her land in Kildare to set up a convent. Her father said that he would only give her as much land as her cloak would cover. With God's help, the cloak grew to cover acres of land.

Sean OSuilleabhain in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland wrote: The main significance of the Feast of Saint Brigid would seem to be that it was a Christianisation of one of the focal points of the agricultural year in Ireland, the starting point of preparation for the spring sowing.

Every manifestation of the cult of the saint (or of the deity she replaced) is closely bound up in some way with food production, and this must be the chief line of approach to a study of the spring festival.

A relaxation of the rigors of winter weather was expected at this time, for according to tradition, the saint had promised:



Gach re la go maith

Om la-sa amach

Agus leath mo lae feinigh

Every second day fine

From my day onward

And half of my day.

The farmers now hoped for good weather to speed the spring ploughing and digging, to symbolise which many of them turned a sod or two in a tillage field.

Weather signs were carefully noted and the wind direction on the eve of the festival betokened the prevailing wind during the coming year. The festival day should show signs of improving weather, although an exceptionally fine day was regarded as an omen of poor weather to come.

To see a hedgehog was a good weather sign, for the hedgehog comes out of the hole in which he has spent the winter, looks about to judge the weather, and returns to his burrow if bad weather is going to continue.

If he stays out, it means that he knows that mild weather is coming. Rain in February, however, was not unwelcome as it softened the soil and brought an early growth of grass. Proverbially a rainy February gave token of a fine summer.

The lengthening day too was welcome to people whose artificial lighting was limited. On Saint Brigids day the saying ran, you can put away the candlestick and half the candle. It was a day of stocktaking in household and farmyard. The housewife examined her store of meal, salt bacon, potatoes and other food to make sure it was lasting well and to see how strict her economy must be until stores could be renewed.

In the same way the farmer examined the store of hay and other fodder and decided how it should be portioned out to the animals.

In places certain kinds of work were prohibited on the feast day, and the inhabitants of parishes dedicated to the saint usually kept the day as a holiday and did only such work as was strictly necessary. In some places any kind of work which required the turning of wheels, such as carting milling, and spinning was carefully avoided.

In places in Kerry and Cork dressmakers refused to operate their sewing machines, and in a few places ploughing and smith work also came under the ban.

On Saint Brigids eve every farmers wife in Ireland made a cake and the neighbours were invited. Butter that was churned that day always formed part of the meal and the madder of ale and the pipe went around, and the evening concluded with mirth and festivity.

It was generally believed that the saint travelled about the countryside on the eve of her festival bestowing her blessing on the people and on their livestock.

There is a lovely story in the old schoolbook Peig on how February 1 was fixed as her feast day. The legend tells us that the Holy Family was being pursued by Herods soldiers. In order to protect them Brigid dressed up as a simpleton with all kinds of light shown on her head.

The soldiers were distracted as a result of this display and began to follow Brigid, allowing Mary Joseph and Jesus to escape in the confusion. Mary rewarded Brigid by proclaiming that her feast day would come before her own and this is why she is honoured on February 1.

Brigid dressing up like this may have led to the old custom of people going from house to house on the Biddy with the Briedeogs.

Saint Brigid's Cross (Cros Bride) is the most common symbol connected with the saint. The most usual was the diamond or lozenge shaped ones made of straw, rushes, or osiers. The cross was hung in the house and in the cow byre, to protect the family and the cattle.

The crosses are not as popular at present, but some primary schools show their pupils how to make them. They can still be seen in some shops catering for the tourist industry where they are sold as souvenirs of symbols of Ireland. A version of the cross was to be seen on RTE 1 during the early years of Irish Television.

One of the earliest references to the cross recalls its power to protect the house and its occupants from fire. The following lines were often quoted in olden times.

Saint Brigids cross hung over the door which did the house from fire secure

As Gillo thought, O powerful charm to keep a house from taking harm

And though the dogs and servants slept by Brigids care the house was kept.

We will continue her story in the next column.
If you are planning to watch a movies on TV over the coming week, we've got you covered. Film guru Ronan O'Meara has been scouring the schedules and has picked 18 to choose from.

Hobson's Choice: Saturday, Talking Pictures TV @ 9pm

Henry Hobson is a bit of a melt and his daughters want to get away from him fast. But things were a bit different for women in the 1880's and Henry's oldest daughter Maggie is having none of it. David Lean's 1954 comedy is a joy. Full of perfectly drawn characters and comic situations and a cast that's second to none. Charles Laughton is a masterly lead and Brenda De Banzie & John Mills give him fine support.

The Promise: Saturday, RTE 2 @ 11pm

Ana,Chris and Mikael are in Constantinople and both men have a bit of a thing for Ana. Overshadowing their love triangle is one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. The romantic stuff is old hat but it's the bigger picture that makes it a worthwhile watch as it's a story that has sadly been ignored in Western cinema. Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale all do a sad story justice

The Craft: Saturday, 5Star @ 11.20pm

A new girl has moved to a new school and she's making new friends. Friends with powers. Witchy powers that have drawn them to each other. They start having fun with these powers until of course one of them starts enjoying it too much. A darkly funny celebration of femininity and nonconformism with a hell of a star turn from Fairuza Balk as the buddy we all secretly want to hang out with. Robin Tunney, Rachel True and Neve Campbell work well together.

Psycho: Sunday, RTE One @ 1.15am

There's 40,000 stolen dollars in Marion's suitcase and she's on the run because of it, heading north up along the Pacific Coast Highway. She's been driving all day and needs to sleep so stops at the Bates Motel and there she meets a kindly desk clerk called Norman. Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller is a masterpiece of tension and black humour. One so ingrained in pop culture that you'll recognise whole swathes of it even if you've never seen it.

Isolation: Sunday, Film4 @1.35am

A farmer with financial problems rents space on his farm out to a bio-genetics company who've plans to increase livestock productivity and before long things get weird. Imagine Alien but instead of space think Wicklow and instead of Xenomorphs think Friesian cattle. No, wait, it's better than you think. Some proper scares, some wicked tension and a couple of nice turns from Ruth Negga and John Lynch make it work.

Sorry We Missed You: Sunday, BBC Two @ 10pm

The Turner family are having an awful time. The financial crash wiped out their savings, their son is acting up and their father has taken on an immensely stressful job that's causing him and the ones he loves nothing but trouble. Ken Loach's 2019 drama is a scathing and profoundly upsetting look at the way the UK government has failed the many people who depend on it to save them from exploitation. Humane turns from Debbie Honeywood and Kris Hitchen will keep you watching through the pain.

It's Only The End Of The World: Monday, Film4 @ 1.10am

Louis hasn't seen his family in well over a decade and now he's heading home but it's no cause for celebration. He's sick and he has to tell them he's dying. But getting the words out is harder than he thought. Xavier Dolan's 2016 drama is a tough, intense and often unpleasant film, harshly dealing with stark reality but the acting from Gaspard Ulliel (who sadly died recently), Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Lea Seydoux is second to none.

Little Fauss And Big Halsy: Monday, Talking Pictures TV @ 2.50am

Fauss and Halsy. Friends and rivals in their work as dirt bike racers. Their relationship gets tested when a woman called Rita joins their circuit and both fall for her. From 1970 comes a Robert Redford film you never hear about anymore but it's a fun, odd and invigorating character piece that captures the zeitgeist of the era it was made in wonderfully. Redford's as reliable as always while Lauren Hutton and the unique Michael J. Pollard bring the charm.

You're Next: Monday, The Horror Channel @ 9pm

Erin's a new face at a family reunion in rural Missouri that suddenly turns nasty when masked men interrupt proceedings. Adam Wingard's home invasion thriller is a blisteringly violent watch but it's one laced with loads of dark comedy to ensure you'll enjoy the ride. Sharni Vinson and A.J. Bowen have a ball as the leads in a deliciously warped look at family dynamics. You'll never run out your front door again after seeing this.

Red Joan: Monday, BBC Two @ 11.15pm

Who's Joan and why is she red? Joan's an English woman working in atomic research. She's also a spy who's been giving the secrets of England's nuclear industry to communist Russia for a very very long time. Parts of Red Joan are, without doubt, kind of pedestrian but a committed turn from the always reliable Judy Dench as latter day Joan, and a story filled with intrigue, will keep you watching until the end.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Tuesday, Film4 @ 1.25pm

The Stoddards have returned to the town of Shinbone for the funeral of an old friend. An old friend who did something for Ransom Stoddard that will forever be a secret. A true classic of the western genre. Talkier and more cerebral than most while still offering everything you'd expect. James Stewart, Vera Miles, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Woody Strode & Edmond O'Brien all do stellar work in a John Ford masterwork.

Mars Attacks! Wednesday, TCM @ 6.50pm

Earth is invaded by an army of cruel little skull faced aliens with evil senses of humour and it's up to a star studded cast of earthlings to fight back against them. Tim Burton directs a fantastically surreal & amusing film with his usual sense of disturbingly funny glee. The first scene will let you know if this film is for you or not. Pam Grier, Jack Nicholson (x) 2, Annette Bening, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Jones (yep him) lead the attack.

Dangerous Liaisons: Wednesday, BBC Two @ 11.15pm

Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are rich, decadent and bored. To fill their time they play games and when young Cecile de Volanges catches their eye things get rather complicated. Stephen Frears' 1988 drama is a hefty watch, a sensual, complicated, mature drama about rich folk with too much time on their hands that's powered by splendid turns from Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman.

Human Traffic: Thursday, Great! Movies @ 1.25am

Jip, Lulu, Koop, Moff and Nina. Five friends in Cardiff who live for the weekend to escape the banal existence that is their life. Friday night means chats, pints, dancing and enough Class A's to fell a horse. The controversy over the casual drug use depicted here overshadowed what is a well put together look at urban culture and alienation. John Simm, Lorraine Pilkington and (yes, seriously) Danny Dyer do substantial work here. Oh and the soundtrack is lethal.

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon: Thursday, BBC4 @ 10.05pm

An army captain close to retirement is tasked with one last piece of work, to broker a deal with the Cheyenne and the Arapaho tribes following the massacre at Little Big Horn. Some of the politics of John Ford's 1949 western have aged badly in preceding years but there's no denying it's a stunning looking film, shot on Technicolor in Ford's beloved Monument valley. John Wayne, Joanne Dru and Ben Johnson are in good form here.

Basic Instinct: Friday, Great! Movies @ 9pm

A rock star has been murdered and a writer is the main suspect and she's got her eye on the cop investigating the case. This is a film Alfred Hitchcock would have made in his prime if the Hays Code of motion picture censorship didn't stand in his way. A twisting, turning, shocking, exciting and complex thriller from Paul Verhoeven that might offend some viewers but it's a lot better than it's reputation makes it seem. Michael Douglas may have been the big star here but Sharon Stone owns the hell out of this film.

The Pit And The Pendulum: Friday, Talking Pictures TV @ 9.05pm

What do you get when you add Roger Corman, Vincent Price and Edgar Allen Poe? You get horror brilliance, that's what. A young man travels to Spain to investigate his sister's disappearance and discovers nothing but terror. 61 years old and still as scary, intense, atmospheric and beautiful looking as it was on it's release. Price and Barbara Steele do mighty work here, Price especially when he goes off the deep end in a way only he could.

The Children Act: Friday, RTE One @ 11.15pm

Judge Fiona Maye is having a tough time of things lately. Her marriage is on the edge of a precipice and the case before her in chambers is rattling her in a way no case ever has before. What to do, what to do? The always rock solid Emma Thompson does strong work in an adaption of Ian McEwan's novel. It's a film that never fully takes off but the acting from Thompson and Fionn Whitehead is absorbing and there's plenty of food for thought here.

As always visit hamsandwichcinema.blogspot.com/ for more film and tv chat.
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off an inland waterway vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri from Patna to Guwahati on Saturday. The vessel which started its journey from Patna is carrying 200 Metric Tonnes of foodgrains headed for Pandu in Guwahati & will travel via Bangladesh to reach the destination by early March, 2022.

The minister also laid the foundation stone for construction of Kalughat intermodal terminal at Saran in Bihar on National Waterway - 1 (river Ganga).

The vessel starts its sail on National Waterway-1 (river Ganga) through Bhagalpur, Manihari, Sahibganj, Farakka, Tribeni, Kolkata, Haldia, Hemnagar; Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route through Khulna, Narayanganj, Sirajganj, Chilmari and National Waterway-2 through Dhubri, and Jogighopa covering a distance of 2,350 km.

The vessel will take about 25 days to cover the entire voyage and is expected to reach Pandu in Guwahati by early March.

This historic feat will usher a new era of growth for all the states of Northeast India, a government statement said.

The waterways will cut through the landlocked access which has been crippling development in the region for long. The waterways not only remove this geographical hindrance on the road of progress in the region but also provides an economical, swift and convenient transportation for the businesses and people of the region.

In line with the Act East" policy of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) has taken up several infrastructure projects on National Waterway-1, Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route, and NW2, through the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). These steps will improve the connectivity with North Eastern Region (NER) through waterways. The Government has undertaken the ambitious Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) with an investment of about Rs. 4600 crore for the capacity augmentation of NW-1 (river Ganga) for safe and sustainable movement of vessels upto 2000 tonnes.

Speaking on this landmark moment, Sonowal, said, This is a historic moment for all of Northeast as we embark to reap the benefit of the most seamless cargo transportation through Brahmaputra. This is not just a journey from Patna to Pandu but it is a journey of unfulfilled desires & aspirations to reach out to a wider world via waterways. The opportunity for the people of Assam & Northeast is tremendous."

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) aims at running regular scheduled services on these routes. The Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh allows mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways for the movement of goods between the two countries by vessels of both countries.

National Waterway-1 (River Ganga) is connected to National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra) and National Waterway-16 (River Barak) through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes. To improve the navigability, two stretches of IBP routes, i.e., Sirajganj-Daikhowa and Ashuganj-Zakiganj are also being developed at a cost of Rs. 305.84 crores on an 80:20 share basis (80% being borne by India and 20% by Bangladesh). The development of these stretches is expected to provide seamless navigation to NER via the IBP route. The contracts for dredging on the two stretches for providing and maintaining requisite depth for a period of seven years (from 2019 to 2026) are underway.
Denham Springs, LA (70726)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 87F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 69F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Seventy-six-year-old Geraldine Engold found herself living out of a hotel, and it wasnt by choice. Shed lost her lease on the $1,600-a-month apartment shed been renting for six years, and the search for a safe, new home at the same price turned up nothing.

Her Coral Ridge landlord told her that he would not be renewing her lease for the upcoming year, leaving Engold hard-pressed to find another place to live, she said.

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When she started looking, she was shocked at how much rents had increased. Engolds story is becoming more common in South Florida as landlords are raising rents by as much as 40% percent, and wages have only increased about 6%, according to new statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor. As a result, renters are finding themselves forced out of places theyve called home for years.

There is a shame involved, and embarrassment, Engold said. Even though its through no fault of your own.

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Most places didnt fit Engolds budget, and those that did were in unsafe areas for an elderly woman, or didnt have the proper accessibility for her arthritis, she said. Engold budgets about $600 to $800 a month of her own money for housing, supplementing the rest with Section 8 funding.

Faced with few options, she spent the first night in her car. But with her arthritis, the cramped conditions were too much, so she used her credit cards she had paid off to pay for a week in a hotel.

One week turned into two, with still no apartment for her to live in. A girlfriend of hers reached out to see how she was doing.

She said to me, Where did you move? Engold explained. I told her I was staying in a hotel. I cant afford it, Im using my credit card.

The friend let her stay in the spare bedroom of her apartment, but ended up kicking Engold out late Thursday night, leaving Engold to stay with a different friend, she said. Shes grateful for a roof over her head, but the stress of not being able to find a home still takes its toll, she said.

Geraldine Englold, a renter in South Florida, is looking for an affordable place to live in the midst of rising rents. (Geraldine Engold)

The house crisis has grown as a problem, with some families starting to lose hope, said Linda Taylor, president of H.O.M.E.S, a nonprofit in Broward County that provides community and economic development benefiting at-risk and disadvantaged lower income residents. Many who can transition are, but many cant afford to transition to another community, Taylor said.

Some renters are making the decision to leave South Florida all together, seeking areas out-of-state or farther north, where the cost of living is cheaper and rents arent as astronomical.

[ RELATED: As rents in South Florida soar out of reach, more people are finding themselves priced out  and onto the streets ]

Over the past 18 months, weve had these excessive rents and owner costs that have gone up 30% year over year, said Edward Murray, associate director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University. We would assume that based on precedent, we are going to see that accelerate again.

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Its happened before: Young families and people started leaving the Florida Keys when rents and housing costs started to skyrocket during the housing boom of 2003 to places where housing was more affordable, according to Murray.

Middle class and left out

Eryka Long, of North Lauderdale, who works in advertising and makes what she says should be a livable salary, is weighing the decision to move to Greenville, South Carolina, where her company has an office, in light of a $600-a-month rent increase at her apartment complex. The roommate she splits her two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit with is already leaving to a more affordable area.

Eryka Long, of North Lauderdale, sits in her apartment on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Long, who describes herself as middle class, said she is facing a $600-a-month rent hike, and weighing the decision to move to Greenville, South Carolina, where her company has a home office. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

To find another rental in South Florida that fits within her budget has been almost impossible. Shes wary of the bidding wars that come with trying to rent with a private landlord, and shes priced out of the homebuying market due to how expensive it has become.

I can move somewhere where the price of living is better, and Im not struggling anymore. I was legitimately panicking that if I ever get sick, if my car breaks down, I would have no money to fix it, Long said.

[ RELATED: The rental market is tough; new data reveals just how bad it is ]

The possibility of being able to move somewhere cheaper has helped ease her anxiety, she said.

Still, the rising rents feel like a step back in what she envisioned her life to be.

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If you asked me four months ago, I would have said Im totally like the middle-class life, Long said, adding that before the news of a rent hike, she had extra money for leisure activities and could afford fun activities for herself.

Now, Im a supervisor and I cant afford the cost of living, she added. What about those who are just starting out?

Why here and why now?

A recent report by RedFin showed that Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale had some of the fastest-rising rents in the country, increasing 34% over the past year. Renters are feeling the pain when they go to renew their leases, reporting increases of anywhere between $200 to $1,000 a month for what most would consider middle-income housing.

Additionally, Florida has no laws that stop how much a landlord can raise rents, and efforts to build affordable housing havent kept pace with the need for it.

Limited land and an influx of out-of-state buyers and renters has exacerbated the problem.

The South Florida region has been dealing with a shortage of affordable units, with many households falling into the severely cost-burdened category, where more than 50% of ones income is devoted to housing.

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The most recent housing assessments conducted by Florida International University, from 2018 to 2020, showed that in Palm Beach County, 52.7% of renters households are severely cost-burdened, and in Broward County, that number is 52.7%. Miami-Dade comes in at 55.6%.

Its likely that it is now 30% to 40% worse in all categories, said Murray.

There are more and more people who are part of the working-poor cluster that were traditionally not a part of it, said Kirk Brown, CEO of HANDY, a nonprofit in Broward County that works to meet the needs of foster care children and those who have been placed in relative/nonrelative care. We are seeing more of the working poor, and we are seeing a mass migration from our community.

We are talking about the teachers, the social workers, and the people who build up the social fabric of your community because they cant afford to sleep here.

The emotional and economic ripple effect

Scrambling to find a place to live, or having to sacrifice basic necessities just to afford a roof over their heads, is taking an emotional toll on renters, and reducing their participation in the larger economy.

Long panicked when she ran through the numbers of what her rent increase would cost her and how much it would take of her monthly budget.

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After everything, I would have $8 left for food, she said.

Not everyone has the means to move away from South Florida, cautioned Taylor, forcing some families to either bunk up with relatives or friends if they can, or forcing them to sleep in their cars.

It all adds up to high levels of frustration. This almost feels like a step back. The rental prices are going in a direction where it feels like they are accommodating to a salary range that the majority of the people dont make, Long said.

For those who already left South Florida, they say they feel a sense of relief.

John and Mia Savin left their rental in Tamarac for West Virginia last August due to rising rents.

Now, they rent a 2,400-square-foot townhome for $1,600 a month and have money to afford extracurricular activities for their children. They miss South Florida, but feel that leaving was the best option for their family.

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We wanted them to enjoy life, the couple said. Nobody wants to live somewhere just to pay their rent.

Its the same for Larry Mahaney, 69, who made the move up to Michigan in December due to rising costs. On a fixed income, South Florida became too expensive for him to live.

Already I can see the difference in my mental health and in my finances, he said.

Heidi Ferguson got hit with two rental increases, one for the small vintage clothing business she owns, Stitches and Rust, in Lake Worth, and another on the three-bedroom, one-bath home she rents in Delray Beach, she said.

Her landlord plans on increasing her rent between $500 to $700 a month, while the lease for her business will increase from $2,000 to $7,000 a month, she said.

Heidi Ferguson goes over expenses at her vintage clothing store, Stitches and Rust, on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022 in Lake Worth. Ferguson is facing two rental increases, one for her business in Lake Worth and another on the home she rents in Delray Beach. Her landlord plans on increasing her rent between $500-$700 a month, while the lease for her business will increase from $2,000 to $7,000 a month. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Im really just in denial. Also angry, said Ferguson. I would get it if the increase was minor. Ive been here [in South Florida] for 22 years and Ive never seen anything like this.

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Shes in the process of looking to move out of Florida to either Detroit or New Orleans, where rents are cheaper and more affordable.

There is a sense of relief at moving and the burden that will ease.

Its just having less stress on our finances, she said. Ill be able to give my daughter $20 to hang out with her friends and not worry about it.

But for Engold, a move out of state simply isnt feasible. She said South Florida is better for her arthritis and most importantly, this area feels like home.

She was out Thursday looking at another apartment, though this one was priced a little too high.

I hope for a call from a realtor, she said. Im trying to stay focused, and keeping my eye on the prize.
Three people have been arrested in relation to a south Laredo shooting that left one man wounded, according to Laredo police.

LPD officers responded to a shooting at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the 3400 block of Monclova Drive. First officers on the scene found a 20-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the hand. He had driven himself to United South High School to seek assistance. He was then taken to Laredo Medical Center in stable condition.
Lena Ann "Lee Ann" Enzinna, age 77 of the City of Tonawanda, April 28, 2022. Lee Ann was a 1962 graduate of Tonawanda High School and a graduate of Buffalo State Teachers College. She had been employed by Roswell Park Cancer Inst. for many years. Daughter of the late Samuel F. Sr. and Lena E
Blue Lord held off the late rally of Riviere Detel to claim the Patrick Ward & Co Solicitors Irish Arkle Novice Chase at Leopardstown.

Willie Mullins seven-year-old arrived unbeaten in two starts over fences, but he did not jump as slick as he had done previously in the early stages as stablemate Saint Sam set a strong early gallop under Rachael Blackmore.

The pace caught out another Mullins runner, Haut En Couleurs, who was an early faller.

By halfway Saint Sam had really strung the field out, but Jack Kennedy was intent on keeping tabs on the leader aboard Gordon Elliotts Riviere Detel.

The mare took up the running and held an advantage running to the last, with Paul Townend at pains to keep in touch on Blue Lord (5-2) which proved vital as Riviere Detel made a mistake and lost all momentum.

Blue Lord got away from the fence the quicker but crossed in front of Riviere Detel, causing Kennedy to switch on his mount and she then began to rally, closing to within half a length. But while the stewards had a look, the placings remained unaltered.

Betfair left the winner unchanged at 11-4 for the Arkle at Cheltenham next month.
By Ryleigh Hayworth

hayworth@grinnell.edu

In November and December of 2021, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Grinnell welcomed a new assistant director of intercultural affairs and LGBTQIA+ student specialist, Robby Specht, as well as a new director of intercultural affairs and Black student specialist, Jazzmine Brooks.

Specht first became interested in diversity and inclusion work at Clarke University in Dubuque, IA, where they earned their undergraduate degree.

The areas I gravitated towards were diverse areas, solely because I didnt have them at my private liberal arts college. I was one of maybe five or six openly queer people out of 1,000 and some students, Specht said.

Specht noted the importance of building friendships in order to feel connected at school, citing their friends as an important support structure throughout college. Through the course of their career, much of their work has involved creating spaces for queer people to exist in without worry.

Specht ran the LGBT center at their grad school  that sealed the deal, they said. To watch students actually have physical space and somebody looking out for them and see how they thrived, you just cant beat that.

Before coming to Grinnell, Specht worked in residence life at Virginia Tech. There, they ran the gender-inclusive housing program and created a living and learning community for queer students. But after a few months, they realized that they wanted to return to diversity, equity and inclusion work.

This work, especially when you hold an identity that you work with, can be really taxing, but I realized after two months at Virginia Tech that I missed it, Specht said.

Currently, Specht is focusing on preparing for the Stonewall Resource Center (SRC) to reopen for the first time since March 2020. The SRC, located in Younker pit, provides queer-centric resources like gender-affirming apparel for students and community hours in a safe space. The center will also facilitate programming for National Coming Out Day and a pride week held in April.

I want the SRC to be a space where students dont have to worry about anything but being their authentic selves, Specht said.

Brooks, the new director of intercultural affairs and Black student specialist, looks forward to supporting Black communities on campus such as Concerned Black Students, Black Church and the Afro-Caribbean Student Association.

This job was perfectly situated and perfectly timed for where I am in my development. My desire is to work with Blackness and build better and broader communities for Black people and Black students, Brooks said.

Brooks is currently a PhD student at Iowa State University where she studies Black maternal and infant health. She is one of the first Black certified doulas in Iowa.

I have found a way to blend the two, being a doula and working in higher education. I love the way I found my way back to higher ed through Grinnell, Brooks said.

Brooks was previously involved in the Black Womxns Group at Grinnell, where attendees build connections and create community with Black faculty and staff. They also worked to connect with Black staff faculty and alumni, something Brooks wants to keep exploring in their new role.

I want to continue to find ways to build bridges between Black alumni, staff, faculty and students. It can feel very isolated living in Iowa and being able to see each other creates meaning for the community, Brooks said.

Brooks has also been at work making improvements to the Black Cultural Center (BCC) and has been meeting with students, staff, and faculty to learn about Grinnell culture, values, and priorities.

I want all Black joy and celebration, she said, all the communities, micro and macro, that are here to support and sustain Blackness  I want to support and enhance that experience.
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A couple of weeks ago, I was pleased to highlight the fact that Celler La Parra in Puerto Pollensa had been awarded third prize in the most competitive tourist service category for 2021 by Spains SICTED system for tourism quality in destinations.

Mayor Tomeu Cifre picked up the award at the Fitur tourism fair in Madrid, and on Wednesday it was duly passed on.

This is quite an award, as La Parra was effectively up against 6,100 other tourist services in Spain. The mayor said that the restaurant has made a commitment to this quality certification and is an encouragement to others who wish to receive it.

Good stuff, Jaume.
A German citizen, wanted in his home country in connection with a cryptocurrency scam, was detained by the Guardia Civil on Thursday.

The Audiencia Nacional high court in Madrid, acting on information and a request from the German Prosecutor's Office, authorised the warrant. The German authorities had contacted the Guardia Civil to assist them in locating the man, who is in his forties.

Early on Thursday morning, officers from the Guardia Civil, accompanied by a judicial delegation from Germany, raided two properties - a unit on the Son Gual industrial estate and a luxury chalet on Calle Alexandria in the Sa Planera estate in Marratxi.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us

We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
BENZIE COUNTY  A homicide suspect is in police custody after he barricaded himself in his home, causing road closures and a school lockdown on Friday.

According to a Twitter post from the Michigan State Police, the suspect attempted to flee his residence. The man is lodged at the Benzie County Jail.

Related content: Beulah man who attempted to flee police charged with murder

Law enforcement was still on the scene conducting an investigation Friday night.

"The suspect, a 57-year-old man, was tracked to his residence nearby on Cinder Road," read a Twitter post from the MSP shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday. "A perimeter was established and the MSP Emergency Support Team was called in. The team announced their presence over the PA system and asked the man to surrender."

Cinder Road was closed to traffic between South Weldon and Thompsonville Highway for several hours. Residents were asked to avoid the area.

According to MSP, at about 1:49 p.m., the Benzie County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a breaking and entering in progress on Cinder Road.

Deputies found a 72-year-old woman dead inside the home. A small fire was extinguished, according to the MSP.

"The fire was extinguished and deputies noticed foot tracks leaving the residence," said Derrick Carroll, MSP public information officer, in an interview at the scene on Friday. "A MSP K9 team was nearby, and they were able to track the suspect to his residence."

Carroll said the support team was trying to get the suspect to surrender. However, prior to his capture, there had been no contact between state police and the suspect.

"I was told at one point he came outside and then turned around and went right back in," Carroll said. "He hasn't been talking to negotiators. We've announced our presence like we normally do. We're trying to get the person's attention and see if he's going to surrender peacefully."

Carroll said the Benzie County Prosecutor's Office issued a warrant for the suspect's arrest.

Carroll said he didn't know if the suspect was armed. He also said police had no idea what the suspect's motive was at the time.

"We have no idea for a motive; there doesn't seem to be a motive," he said. "There is no relationship we are aware of. We did a couple of interviews and there doesn't seem to be a connection at all."

Benzie Central High School was placed under a code yellow lock down Friday afternoon following a request from the Benzie County Sheriff's Office.

"There is no emergency at the school. We have been asked to hold all students at this time," read a Facebook post on the district's page Friday afternoon.

Students were release at 3:15 p.m., with bus routes running about 30 minutes behind schedule, according to the post.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

President Ilham Aliyev has described Azerbaijan as a reliable supplier of energy resources to the international market.

He made the remarks during his speech at the 8th ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council held in Baku on February 4.

Azerbaijan has always been a reliable supplier of energy resources to the international market. We [have] started our oil exports since 2006, already for many years and without any disruption, without any violation of the contract, without any political agenda behind our energy policy. Our energy policy always was very open, transparent, business-and-result-oriented, and led to cooperation and mutual support, he said.

The president noted that after the completion of the Southern Gas Corridor, Azerbaijan managed to increase its export to international markets, including, European markets.

He added that Azerbaijan exported 19 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, with 8.5 billion going to Turkey, nearly 7 billion going to Italy, and the rest going to other members such as Georgia, Greece, and Bulgaria.

This year definitely we will export more than last year. Of course, there is a huge potential, especially now, when the situation on the gas market is not very stable and also, the crisis is very volatile. I think we need a joint plan in our future in coordination and good spirit, he said.

Aliyev added that the proven gas reserves of Azerbaijan are 2.6 trillion cubic meters.

For the biggest is Shah Deniz - 1 trillion. I am sure there will be more. Because to look at our experience, with respect to oil and gas development, we always see bigger reserves and it was anticipated in the beginning of our journey due to new discoveries, and also due to new technologies, he said.

Noting that Shah Deniz, Azerbaijan's main gas field, is the only contributor to the Southern Gas Corridor, he added that other projects are also in the process.

Absheron stage 1 will produce 1.5 billion cubic meters, not a big amount, but I think its substantial for some countries. And that can also satisfy our own growing demands and also provide export opportunities. Another big field, which we hope will also produce good results is Babak with estimated reserves of 400 billion cubic meters. Umid at least 200 billion cubic meters, he said.

The president also expressed high hopes for one of the country's oldest oil and gas fields, Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli.

Its deep gas section, which I hope will soon be also in operation and its also hundreds of billions of cubic meters of gas, and can be extracted I think within a short period of time, he said.

Domestic demand

Aliyev emphasized that the domestic demands are also growing, first of all, due to the growing population.

He added that last year the non-energy industry grew by almost 20 percent, which is a record figure of growth.

And also, we will need hopefully very soon additional volumes of gas to gasify the area which has been liberated during the Patriotic War of 2020, he said.

Stressing the need to return the former refugees to these territories, Aliyev stated that this process will start this year.

Therefore, we will need an additional gas for our own consumption. Here we come to a very important point of our concentration on renewable sources of energy, he said.

The president also noted that Azerbaijan is one of only a few countries in the world that exports crude oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, oil products, and electricity.

Electric energy potential

Speaking about the countrys electric energy potential, Aliyev noted that it was mainly oriented for domestic consumption.

We largely invested in electric infrastructure, and I can say that, based on Davos World Economic Forum assessment, the accessibility to energy in Azerbaijan is with this rating we are number two in the world, he said.

Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan invested a big amount of money and actually modernized almost completely the countrys electric energy lines and created new power stations.

For instance, very soon we will inaugurate a new power station in Gobu district of Baku with the capacity of almost 400 megawatts, he said.

The president recalled that a groundbreaking ceremony for the first renewable energy project, a 240 MW wind power station that will be entirely financed by a foreign company ACWA Power, was held last month.

Also, I would like to say that our electric energy is needed for the regional markets and probably, we can go now even further, now to Europe, because today we export electric energy to four neighbouring countries - Turkiye, Russia, Georgia and Iran. The capacity is growing. So, the more renewable sources of energy we have in Azerbaijan, the more we will save gas for export, he said.

He stated that this wind power station will save Azerbaijan approximately 200 or 300 billion cubic meters of gas, which is a significant amount that can make a significant difference for those countries with low consumption.

Green energy strategy

He noted that the country's "green energy" strategy is nearing completion in terms of both assessment and planning. He stressed that the Energy Ministry had already prepared a conceptual outlook for a "green energy" zone in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur in collaboration with international companies.

He added that the international assessment of the potential for renewable sources in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur is about 7,200 MW in wind energy and more than 2,000 MW in solar energy.

I also would like to inform you that our strategic partner in oil and gas - BP shows big interest in working on the liberated territories, particularly, in the region of Jabrayil. We are already in the phase of negotiations with BP on the construction of the renewable source of energy there - more than 200 megawatts, he said.

The president also stated that Azerbaijan has a special Caspian Sea assessment program, with a technical potential of more than 150,000 MW. He added that preliminary proposals for the development of this potential have already been received from leading international companies.

I think it will be very natural, because, first, Azerbaijan already for many years proved itself as a reliable source of energy. As I said, we export all kinds of energy resources. We have diversified electric lines within the country and connecting us with all our neighbors. We have export markets just next door, and growing export markets, he said.

The country like Azerbaijan with huge resources of oil and gas and renewable potential, we understand our responsibility. And I can tell you that we will act in a responsible way in the future, in order to create better opportunities, Aliyev added.








he stigmatization of dating apps decreased in the last few years. According to numbers, 22% of the couples who meet online, get engage.

Tinder is the dating app that causes the vast majority of marriages. However, it also has obscure corners and profiles as 'The Thinder Swindler' shows.

Netflix's documentary 'The Tinder Swindler' tells the story of Israeli conman Shimon Hayut, who allegedly defrauded people.

Hayut posed as Simon Leviev, the son of a billionaire. Women matched with Hayut ended falling for a man with a different identity and they discover he's a con artist.

The documentary reveals how Hayut fakes a crisis and steals thousands of dollars from them. Conning one by one at a time.

Netflix tells the story of several women in camera recounting their experiences with the conman.

From their lovely early text messages until they realize Hayut stole life savings money.

Nevertheless, the women won't tell the authorities what happened, they will try to take matters into their own hands.

Who's Shimon Hayut?

According to Toi Staff, journalist of The Times of Israel, Hayut is a long-career conman who visited prison several times.

Hayut "was imprisoned in Israel after pleading guilty to fraud charges in December 2019. He was released after serving five months of a 15-month sentence, reportedly as part of a program aimed at reducing the prison population amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak among inmates," Staff wrote.

From 2017 to 2019, Hayut charmed women with gifts and private jet rides stolen from previous conned women.

Then Hayut faked business-related security concerns and asked the woman he was "dating" financial favors with the promise to pay back all the money.

His criminal records begin in 2011, when Hayut was charged in Israel with theft, forgery and fraud.
Yes, there's a national holiday that celebrates eating ice cream as breakfast.

On Saturday, February 5, we all celebrate National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day.

The holiday began in the 1960s, when Florence Rappaport, mother of six children, started a tradition in a snowy winter in Rochester, New York.

In 2003, China adopted Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day as a national holiday.

In 2014, some regions of the US began giving free bowls of ice cream for free in commemoration of the national holiday.

The Jerusalem Post published in 202 that around 100,000 people celebrate Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day in Israel.

How to celebrate Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

1. Indeed, you celebrate it by eating a scoop of ice cream -simple or significant- as breakfast. You can enjoy it in bed.

2. Be creative. Try something new with ice cream. You could put it on your coffee, on a cereal, muffin, on your smoothie. Be yourself, no one will embarrass you.

3. Post your breakfast on social media. Let's jump into the winning trend. Show your morning creation to the world, use the hashtags available and see the reactions.

Facts about Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

- According to a study by Kyorin University professor Yoshihiko Koga, people consuming ice cream for breakfast found that the people who had ice cream first thing in the morning had an increase in high-frequency alpha waves.

They showed higher levels of alertness and reduced mental irritation

- You can find Vitamin A, B, C, D, and E in every scoop of ice cream. Vitamin K in ice cream helps reduce blood clots.
Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) has announced that more than 350 suggestions received through the National Complaints and Suggestions System (Tawasul) were implemented in 2021.

According to the iGA, public submissions increased by 75% in 2021 compared to the year before, and the authority implemented 137 more suggestions in 2021, following careful review.

The submissions through electronic channels were prioritized according to adherence to iGAs digital strategy and were implemented as resources became available.

The implemented suggestions included several related to ID card services, the eTraffic app, and the BeAware Bahrain app which the kingdom launched to combat the spread of Covid-19.

CEO Mohammed Ali Al Qaed said the iGA continuously seeks open dialogue with the public, in line with the directives of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to adopt an open-door policy.

More than 25,000 cases related to the iGAs services were received during 2021, he stated, affirming that the iGA maintained a 100% success rate in responding to each suggestion within the allotted time set for it.

Al Qaed also attributed the success of e-government services, especially during the pandemic, to Minister of Interior, General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifas directives of encouraging communication with the public.

He pointed out that Tawasuls main contribution was to bring their ideas to fruition by converting them into new digital systems, services, and channels.

These suggestions provide government agencies and officials with an efficient way to identify and address issues faced by the public, he noted.

"The ID card suggestions that were implemented included a service which allows for the onscreen display and printing of ID card data and the updating of registered residential addresses through the portal," noted Al Qaed.

He explained that further features were added allowing applications to be amended and documents to be uploaded.

The iGA, he stated, also worked with the General Traffic Department to digitize traffic services, including a service that displays electronic copies of drivers licenses and vehicle ownership certificates through the eTraffic mobile application.

Another service was added, which allows the issuing of authorizations for vehicles travelling to the Saudi Arabia via the King Fahd Causeway, replacing the previous system which required physical documents, he stated.-TradeArabia News Service
Bahrains first-ever satellite has just been launched into orbit from the International Space Station today (February 3), after having arrived at the ISS at the end of last year.

Light-1 was launched in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from the Japanese section of the ISS alongside another satellite designed to detect terrestrial gamma rays.

The Light-1 satellite  a joint project between Bahrains National Space Science Agency (NSSA), UAE Space Agency, Khalifa University and New York University Abu Dhabi  will be used to conduct research during lightning storms, that will help civil aviation safety experts in future.

The launch was broadcast live on Bahrain TV, and Bahrains NSSA engineering specialist Aysha Alharam gave the launch signal.

JAXA coordinated the launch from the Tsukuba Space Centre (TKSC) in Japan, and the event was broadcast live on social media channels. It was also live-streamed on Bahrains NSSA National TV and JAXA.

The Light-1 CubeSat represents the regions first scientific mission to monitor and study Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) from thunderstorms and lightning. Data gathered from the Light-1 CubeSat, which aims to leverage space science to support sustainable economic growth, will be shared globally to support scientific analysis and encourage cooperation with research centres around the world.

The team that worked on the design and development of Light-1 bus consists of 22 university students from Khalifa University including nine Bahrainis, 10 Emiratis, and three international students, advised by Dr Firas Jarrar, Manager, Yahsat Space Lab, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering.

The NYU Abu Dhabi team of five Emirati students and five international students, who worked on the development of the payload called Rapid Acquisition Atmospheric Detector (RAAD  Arabic for thunder), was advised by Dr Francesco Arneodo, Programme Head of Physics, and Dr Mallory Roberts, Professor of Physics.

Dr. Mohamed Ebrahim Al Aseeri, Chief Executive Officer of the Bahrains National Space Science Agency (NSSA), said, "At the beginning, I am pleased to raise the highest congratulations and sincere blessings to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, The King of Bahrain, and to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and to the leadership of the United Arab Emirates, on the occasion of the successful launch of the Bahrain-UAE Joint Satellite (Light 1) to its space orbit."

"The guidance and support of wise leadership have been and continues to be the main motivation of the NSSA throughout its journey to achieve successive achievements and to enter steadily into the space field, paving the way for the implementation of more projects to achieve our national ambition," stated Dr Al Aseeri.

"I also commend the active follow-up of the work of the NSSA by His Highness Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, National Security Advisor, Commander of the Royal Guard, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Defense, which contributed to motivating the members of the NSSA to give their utmost to acquire modern sciences and skills to form the first nucleus of national competencies specialised in the space sector, and contribute to the implementation of the future projects of the NSSA to serve the Bahrain plans to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs)," he added.

Lauding Emirates Space Agency for its generous support and cooperation, Dr Al Aseeri said: "This project is a model for scientific and technical cooperation to serve humanity through the peaceful exploitation of space, and the NSSA is moving forward with more projects to achieve the goals for which it was established."

Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive VP Khalifa University, said: "The launch of Light-1 CubeSat into its orbit from the International Space Station reflects the intense collaboration engaged by all stakeholders involved, as well as the extent of technical brilliance displayed by students in the UAE with suitable guidance from experts."

"As this UAE-Bahraini nanosatellite reached its orbital position, we believe this collaboration initiative will stand out as the best example of what can be achieved by the scientists in the Arab world," he added.

Vice Chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi Mariet Westermann said: "I would like to congratulate our incredible team of students and faculty at NYU Abu Dhabi on their contributions to this historic mission, particularly their work pertaining to the scientific payload.

NYU Abu Dhabi takes pride in its diversity and academic excellence, and todays launch of the Light-1 CubeSat into its orbit from ISS is the perfect manifestation of these values: key entities and experts in the field have come together from different countries and backgrounds to achieve one common, inspiring goal. We hope that the satellite will provide new data on terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, and that scientists and people around the world will benefit from them."

Salem Butti Al Qubaisi, Director-General of UAE Space Agency, said: "The UAE has made massive strides in its space journey over the past few years, and the successful deployment of our Light-1 nanosatellite into orbit is a major milestone."

"Coming close on our recent success with the Emirates Mars Mission, and our first space astronaut Hazza AlMansouris journey to the ISS, this is an endorsement of our achievements in the cosmos," noted Al Qubaisi.

"At the UAE Space Agency, we are committed to exchange knowledge and expertise with the international community to stimulate cutting-edge research, scientific discoveries and human progress. We thank all our partners across the UAE, Bahrain, US and Japan for their support in making this mission possible," he added.
VERNON TOWNSHIP  Crawford Central School District has announced upcoming kindergarten registrations dates for the spring.

Registration events will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at these times and locations: March 30 at Neason Hill Elementary; April 12 at First District Elementary; April 20 at West End Elementary; May 11 at Cochranton Elementary; May 18 at Second District Elementary. An after-school registration session will be held at East End Elementary from 4 to 7 p.m. on May 25.

Children must be 5 years old before Sept. 1 to register to attend kindergarten during the 2021-2022 school year.

Parents must provide proof of residency and the childs original birth certificate or hospital verification at the time of registration. If hospital verification is used, the childs birth certificate must be on file in the school prior to entrance in the fall. No tests are given to children on the day of registration.

State law requires every child entering school for the first time to have immunizations and district policy requires that all mandated immunizations be complete by the time of entry. Parents should call their family physician or the Pennsylvania Department of Health (814-332-6947) to arrange an appointment for required immunizations.

Children entering kindergarten must be immunized for diptheria, tetanus, pertussis (four doses, with fourth dose after turning 4), polio (four doses), MMR (two doses), hepatitis B (three doses) and have received two doses of chicken pox vaccine or previously had chicken pox with date and age of infection provided.

Registration forms can be found online at craw.org or at any district elementary school. Contact the registration office for more information at (814) 724-3125.
Mary C. (Hoff) Lee, 84, of Atlantic passed away Sunday, May 1, 2022, in her residence. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Loutzenhiser-Jordan Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc., 366-368 S. Main St., Greenville.
Tamil star Sai Pallavi charmed audiences and earned widespread acclaim as well as admiration for her role as Malar in 2015s Malayalam super hit Premam. The coming-of-age film featured Sai as a young teacher who falls in love with Nivin Paulys George David.

The Athiran star is one of the most popular south Indian actresses, and its not just due to her relevance as an actor. Unapologetic and straightforward, Sai Pallavi is an artist who dons several feathers in her cap.

So if youre a fan of Sai Pallavis, then you should know these lesser-known facts about her:

 Sai Pallavi

1. Self-Taught Dancer - If youve seen Sai Pallavi dance then youd agree that her movement is energetic and infectious. And youd assume shed have been trained from a young age. But did you know that she has never attended any sort of formal lessons for it? Sai grew up watching Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai swaying the audiences with their performances and taught herself in the process.



 Sai Pallavi

2. Mallu Connect - Even though she had been acting for a while, Premam allowed Sai Pallavi to further endear herself to Malayali audiences across the world. But her connection with Kerala existed prior to that as well. Sai has a soft spot for Onam, which is Keralas annual harvest festival and she has been celebrating the festival since her school days despite not being a native of the state, having previously mentioned enjoying making a flower rangoli at home.



 Sai Pallavi

3. Multi-Talented - Were sure that in a different timeline Sai Pallavi would have been a doctor instead of an actor. How do we know that? Well, at least in this timeline, she graduated in medicine from Tbilisi, Georgia, and almost pursued a full-time career as a doctor. So if it wasnt for her becoming a southern star, then shed have easily moved on to following her dreams of becoming a cardiologist.



 Sai Pallavi

4. First Of Her Name - Pallavi is from the Badaga community, which is an ethnolinguistic group from Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu. It is popularly claimed that shes the first from her community to have achieved the level of stardom.



 Sai Pallavi

5. Made It Happen - Besides Premam, Sai Pallavis stint as the finalist in the reality program Dhee Ultimate Dance Show helped make her a household name. However, she almost didnt participate in the show, as her mother felt that it would take her attention away from her studies. But better sense prevailed, and Sais mother ended up supporting her decision to showcase her dancing talents to the world.



 Sai Pallavi

6. Shy Turned Confident - The Fida star may lead you to believe that she has always been the quietly confident person that she is today. However, prior to being a seasoned actor, Sai Pallavi used to be extremely shy and timid. Her personality changed and she got accustomed to fame, popularity, and the camera as well.



 Sai Pallavi

7. Different Debut - Contrary to popular belief, Premam was not Sai Pallavis first film. She was just 16yrs old when she made her on-screen debut alongside Kangana Ranaut as her friend in Dhaam Dhoom.



 Sai Pallavi

8. Accidental Muse - Did you know that the hit song Malare was based on her? Its alright if you didnt, neither did Sai Pallavi. Regardless, she has been honest about feeling overjoyed upon finding out. Sometimes it feels like Sai Pallavi is oblivious to her obvious stardom.



 Sai Pallavi

9. Self Conscious - In an interview, Sai Pallavi admitted that didnt feel confident about her appearance owing to her skin, which was textured with acne marks. Even though its common for people to face this issue, cinemas unrealistic standards can make even the best of us uncomfortable with our looks. And Sai Pallavi is no different.



 Sai Pallavi

10. Crossed Wires - As weve already established, Premam was a pretty big deal for all parties involved in the making of the film, with Sai Pallavi getting rave reviews for it as well. However, she almost didnt feature in the movie as she mistook Premams director, Alphonse Puthren, for a stalker when he approached her for the film.



So how many of them did you know already? Let us know in the comments!
Only a few things in life are guaranteed - 1. The Sun always rises in the east. 2. There will always be a south Delhi f*ckboy who thinks he can handle his liquor (contrary to evidence). 3. Mukesh Ambani is probably out there buying needlessly expensive things just because he can.

RIL (Reliance Industries Limited), which is helmed by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani has purchased the super luxurious Rolls Royce hatchback worth an astounding Rs 13.14 crore. Now obviously his billionaire status means that sum is relatively paltry for him, however, ordinary people like you and I would be lucky if we manage to amass that sum across our cumulative lifetimes.

 ANI

According to RTO officials, the purchase of this particular hatchback has wound up being one of the most opulent purchases of a luxury car ever in our country. Furthermore, Mukesh Ambanis swanky new Rolls Royce Cullinan petrol model was registered by RIL at the Tardeo Regional Transport Office in South Mumbai on January 31.



First launched in 2018, the Cullinan was supposed to be available at a base price of Rs. 6.95 crores, but according to experts from the auto industry, a slew of customized modifications are believed to have bumped up its price significantly. The hatchback is capable of traversing both paved and rough roads, and this particular acquisition would be the third Cullinan model in the Ambani/RIL garage.

Mukesh Ambanis Rolls Royce Cullinan is Tuscan Sun in color (which looks a lot like the brass lota we are accustomed to seeing at our nani ghar), and weighs over 2.5 tonnes, capable of producing an impressive 564 BHP power.

 Mukesh Ambani

As if that didnt scream exclusive enough, Mukesh Bhai has gone ahead and acquired a special number plate, RTO officials said. And how much did RILs chairman and managing director spend on this exercise? Rs 12 lakhs. Money really does grow on trees for the Gujarati businessman.



While the number plate came at a steep cost, reportedly, a one-time tax of Rs 20 lakh had been levied upon RIL for the car whose registration is valid till January 30, 2037, and another Rs 40,000 for road safety tax. Keeping all these additional expenses in mind, Mukesh Ambanis latest toy could potentially be the most expensive car purchased in India, as per an RTO official.

Officials said that RIL chairmans shiny new toy has a license plate that ends with 0001. Normally a VIP number would set one back by Rs 4 lakhs, but since Mukeshs chosen number in the current series was already spoken for, a new series had to be started. For the same, he reportedly had to shell out three times the regular fee, after written permission was granted from the Transport Commissioner.

As if Mukesh Ambani needed the extra validation to be reminded that he indeed is living life king size.

A sensible purchase or unnecessary? Let us know in the comments below.
Judge J. Michelle Childs, a federal judge in South Carolina, is under consideration for the vacancy on the nations highest court created by the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.
In summer 2020, The New York Times coordinated a nationwide project to document the lives of Americans out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved collaborating with 11 other local newsrooms around the U.S. The Messenger-Inquirer was the only newspaper from Kentucky in the collaboration. The resulting collection of stories was published Oct. 23, 2020, in the New York Times print edition and at nytimes.com/outofwork. The following list is the Messenger-Inquirer's local unemployment coverage from that time period; read more by clicking the "New York Times Project" header. Click on "Out Of Work In America" to go to the full
Dave Ramsey is America's trusted voice on money and business, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling books. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 11 million listeners each week on more than 550 radio stations and digital outlets. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.
The Rev. M.G. Matally stands in front of what will be the new church campus of One Faith Fellowship at 1301 Tamarack Road. One Faith purchased the property in December for $650,000 from Century Christian Church, which closed in July 2021. One Faith Fellowship is scheduled to hold its first service at the site at 10:30 a.m. March 6, with a dedication ceremony at 6 p.m. the same day.
Like everyone else who lives anywhere near here, my antennae perked up when I heard those words as part of the upcoming forecast: Ice storm.

The historic, catastrophic event of 2009 provided a deep well of experience from which to draw, including what worked, what didnt, and a few shoulda/woulda/coulda lessons.

I remember being especially impressed in 2009 by my daughter  whose emergency plan usually involves calling Mom or Dad to rescue her from whatever catastrophe is at hand  but after her house went dark and cold 13 years ago, she figured out that there would be one place in town that would almost certainly have a backup generator and access to food. So she headed over to the hospital and camped out in the lounge chairs in the waiting areas, eating in the cafeteria, reading trashy magazines and otherwise staying safe and warm.

That wasnt going to work for me, but the memory prompted me to consider what alternate sources of heat, light and food might be available to me if the traditional options failed.

For heat, well, I have thick socks, a big wool blanket and a dog that likes to cuddle. Check.

Lights? What can I say: I live like a vampire most of the time; gliding around the house in the dark is what I do anyway. I dont watch much TV, although I do admit to a certain fascination with The Weather Channel during events like this, but honestly, I can look out the window and glean the essential information just fine. So, again, check.

The main problem with losing electricity is the threat to the food in my refrigerator. I dragged my picnic cooler from the depths of my storage building and placed it beside my back door, so that if my power went out, I could just transfer all my frozen pizzas and TV dinners (do people still call them that? People besides me, I mean) into that.

With temperatures hovering at 32 and below all weekend, everything would keep just fine. So I gave myself a big ol check on this item, too.

(Here I will note that in 2009, I didnt have a cooler, so I put my frozen foods into a box and set it on my back deck. That would have worked, except it turns out squirrels like Salisbury steak and peas n carrots. Who knew.)

Keeping food frozen wouldnt be a problem if my power went out  but the bigger question was, what would I actually eat? I have an electric stove and a microwave, so if the power went out, they would go out, too.

I opened the doors of my refrigerator, freezer, cabinets and pantry one after another, scanning the contents with a critical eye. What could be prepared without power? The menu of availability looked pretty grim: Cheerios, peanut butter and crackers, two cans of tuna fish and a scattered handful of granola bars. If pressed, I could eat room-temperature soup or vegetables  but then remembered that without heat, the temperature of the room might be less than moderate.

So  uncheck. Darn it.

That meant I had to go to the store, as much as I didnt want to. I bought a couple packages of Swiss cheese and sliced ham in the deli, plus a French baguette. Just for the heck of it, I tossed a package of banana nut muffins in my cart, justified by the thought that additional fat would help keep me warm.

Hey, you get through emergencies your way, Ill get through my way.

My boss had already authorized my working from home, so now  with my checklists complete  I settled in, stocked up and hunkered down.

Whatever happened now, wherever it landed on the scale of disasters, I had done my best to prepare.

So I sat in the moose chair by my front window, wearing thick socks and wrapped in my big wool blanket with my warm dog snoozing at my feet.

Not because I had to; just because I wanted to.

And I hoped and prayed everyone else was as safe, warm and comfortable as I was.
From an electric guitar autographed by all the members of the Rolling Stones to a pair of denim jeans autographed by country artist Martina McBride and even a Christmas Card from the late Waylon Jennings, Terry Woodwards collection of music memorabilia spans the decades and musical genres.

Woodward is the owner of WaxWorks and VideoWorks, and operated a chain of 240 music stores across 37 states between 1978 and 1999. The collection, he said, mirrors the expansion of his business.

I was getting autographed guitars and gold records and everything to put in the stores just for the ambiance, he said. That is where a lot of it came from.

Woodward said the record labels embraced the idea, and it would not be unusual for him to receive a half dozen autographed guitars to display in his stores.

The walls of Woodwards downtown Owensboro business are lined with these mementos, which he did not include in the sale of his Disc Jockey record store chain in 1999.

The first autograph I ever got was Charlie McCoy, Woodward said. I still have it out there on the wall and I just stared collecting autographs from artists that would come in here, and I would meet them, take a picture with them, get them to autograph a CD or an album or a picture.

Some other highlights from Woodwards personal collection include an autographed copy of the Eagles 1976 album Hotel California  signed by each member of the band  as well as a guitar signed by Loretta Lynn and a banjo autographed by Bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs.

Woodward said he was able to meet the majority of the names that line his walls, and he fondly remembers the great experiences from when he operated the retail chain.

He recalled a visit by Trisha Yearwood to his warehouse in 1992 that made a lasting impression, just after she released her first single.

We were walking through the warehouse and I said Trisha, why dont you sing your single A Capella for us, Im not sure a lot of my employees know what your new single is.

After telling Woodward that she had never done that before and some encouragement, Yearwood sang her new song in front of everyone in the warehouse without musical accompaniment. A few years later in 1996, she decided to pay Woodward another visit in Owensboro.

Her record label called and said Terry, Trisha Yearwood called us and she would like to come to your warehouse and put on a concert for your employees, he said. I got here that morning, she was sitting out there in the bus, had been there since 4 a.m., and I went and knocked on her door and she had her guitar players with her and she said Terry, I wanted to come back and do it right.

While the vast majority of Woodwards autograph collection are people he has personally known, his favorite two pieces are from two icons he never had the privilege to meet; Thomas Edison and Walt Disney.

My two heroes are Thomas Edison and Walt Disney, Woodward said. If it wasnt for Edison there wouldnt be a record player.
High school theater directors report their programs were greatly impacted by COVID-19, and they had many limitations placed upon them for rehearsals and performances.

Despite the pandemics challenges, they are not only alive and well; they are thriving.

Theater directors from Daviess County, Apollo and Owensboro high schools say that, while student participation may have slightly dipped when students went to virtual learning, attendance has bounced back.

Students have had to deal with a lot, from having performances canceled at the last minute due to health and safety restrictions, to having to delay or postpone shows due to illness.

Some are experiencing apathy and reluctance to perform, but they are adjusting and moving forward, said Karen Feldhaus, Daviess County High School theater director.

Carolyn Greer, theater director for Owensboro High School, said her students have experienced similar letdowns, but they have been accommodating.

When a student is out sick, others fill in their parts so the show continues forward.

Mostly, they all are just excited to have the chance to perform again, even if they are masked, she said.

Its amazing how resilient these kids are, how they help each other, she said. They understand the limitations we have been placed under, and its amazing how they have been able to thrive.

Students in Daviess County Public Schools and Owensboro Public Schools have access to co-curricular opportunities with theater, which means theater is offered as a class and there are public performance opportunities available to all students.

Program attendance has remained steady throughout the pandemic, with educators having to adjust slightly.

April Berry, Apollo High School theater director, said her students have also had the chance this year to participate in the states Thespian Festival, which brings together theater students from across the commonwealth.

Students were able to perform, attend workshops, and celebrate theater with their peers, she said.

Apollo students also competed at the state level in the Kentucky Theatre Associations annual high school one-act play festival, she said.

Berry said students and educators have learned to be flexible with rehearsals.

We stay masked and distanced as much as possible, and allow students to attend rehearsals virtually if they are not feeling well, she said.

In total, DCPS has about 250 students involved in theater throughout the school year.

OPS has about 175.

Emma Stanley, 18, has been a part of OHS Rose Curtain Players since being placed in a theater class as a freshman. She fell in love with the program, and has been involved in several productions since.

Being involved in the drama program has changed her high school experience, she said, and it influenced her current post-secondary goal to study theater performance.

I love the energy and the people, she said. We have a great program, with dedicated students and dedicated teachers.

DCHS and OHS both have upcoming public performances planned.

Due to renovations taking place at Apollo, the school doesnt have a performance space at this time. Apollo will have a Thespian Cabaret on Feb. 16, which will take place in the schools commons area. Their spring show, Bad Auditions by Bad Actors will be performed in April in the Owensboro Community & Technology College theater space.

The DCHS school musical Guys and Dolls will be performance in March and the schools drama club show Mizunderzstood Villainz will be performed in May.

The Rose Curtain Players upcoming show The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 opens 2 p.m. Sunday, and continues 7 p.m. Monday in the schools Black Box Theatre.

Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315
When my first bite left me immersed in the flavors of butter and garlic and delighting in the crisp bubbly texture, there were zero regrets in the Grabbing Grub decision this week.

Sometimes my Grub Grabbing adventures are the result of word of mouth or recommendations. Sometimes they are the result of research. And sometimes they are inspired by searching for something specific. This week was a combination of the three and led me to The Lamplighter in Sebewaing.

File Photo

I have written time and again about my intense love for pizza, and it should be of no surprise that extends to pizza variants like pocket pizzas, calzones, and most importantly stromboli.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

Knowing exactly what I wanted, I took to Google and within minutes saw the photos of the stromboli served up at The Lamplighter  five minutes later I was on my way.

Located in a plaza smack dab between Luke's Supermarket and Sebewaing Ace Hardware, it could be easy to drive by The Lamplighter without taking notice of the place. However, the longstanding business apparently has built a reputation. Not particularly busy when I stopped in, it was rather easy to eavesdrop on nearby conversations and I couldn't help but smile as I overheard one of them.

A couple a few tables away were talking with their waitress about The Lamplighter's homemade chicken noodle soup. The couple, who said they were from Caro, were fans of the soup, drove all the way from Caro to have it, and proceeded to order two quarts to take home.

The menu of The Lamplighter is rather extensive, starting with the usual appetizers along with some unique ones, like the ultimate dough balls  regular dough balls topped with ham and bacon  and featuring a caution that they are highly addictive. The next section was the salads and soups, followed by sandwiches, burgers and dogs. On the next page of the menu was Mexican food, baskets, and the section I was here for  Italian  which had items like lasagna, chicken or veal parmesan, spaghetti and of course pizzas, calzones, and stromboli.

"You are truly missing out if you have never tried this amazing Italian treat," the description under stromboli read.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

The stromboli at The Lamplighter comes with a choice of three items, is brushed with garlic butter, and served with pizza sauce on the side. The stromboli was offered in three different sizes, and I kept my hungry belly in check and ordered the smallest of the three, along with a Coke to drink.

While waiting for my food to return, I continued to peruse the menu. The dinner menu had a pretty wide variety of items ranging from pot roast and pork roast, to broasted chicken, meatloaf, stir fry and more. There were also four different seafood options, especially worth noting for Lent.

The last page of the menu is a pretty extensive breakfast section and what I really took note of was the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet served on Sundays.

I was just finishing up looking over the menu when my waitress returned with the largest stromboli I have ever seen, and this was the small?! The stromboli took up an entire platter, and once she placed it on a stand to elevate it above the table's surface, it was larger than life.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

Cut in half and again six additional times, it was evident that I might have been over my head and this was an item intended to be shared. However, I mentally hiked up my pants and dove in. Within the first bite, I found myself swimming in all these wonderfully familiar flavors. Inside the stromboli I went with my favorite mix of ingredients  pepperoni, bacon and green olives.

I favor stromboli over traditional pizzas because I like the sauce-on-the-side concept, which ultimately gives me control over how much sauce I want. In addition to the traditional pizza sauce the stromboli was served with, I also asked for some ranch, which gave me even more options for flavor combinations.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

The sauce at The Lamplighter was a bit sweet for my tastes, which was immediately fixed by adding just a touch of salt. Once I had the flavor just right, the sauce did an excellent job balancing the savory and salty flavors the bacon and pepperoni created, along with balancing out the tang the green olives provide.

Scott Nunn/Huron Daily Tribune

Although I started the endeavor hungry and on an empty stomach, I found myself tapping out at the halfway mark with the stromboli, and packed the rest away for later.

It is awesome when a plan comes together, and I know I will return to try that Thumb-famous chicken noodle soup.
Photo provided/SVSU

Two Saginaw Valley State University students distinguished themselves during the American Model United Nations (AMUN) conference. Political science majors Trenton Basner of Otisville and Ethan Rose of Ypsilanti earned the Outstanding Delegation Award for the contemporary Security Council.

For Basner, who serves as president of SVSUs Model UN Club, this was the second consecutive conference where he captured honors. In 2020, he won as a distinguished delegate, representing France on the Human Rights Council. This was Roses first AMUN award.
CROMWELL  A national steakhouse chain plans to open a new location at the Ruby Tuesday property on Shunpike Road once the franchises lease is up in two years.

The owners of the ShopRite plaza, located at the Shops at Cromwell Commons, have signed a lease with Texas Roadhouse, which Town Manager Anthony Salvatore said Friday intends to completely demolish the Ruby Tuesday building and construct a new facility for the Kentucky-based eatery.

The Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Cromwell remains open. The corporate offices of Texas Roadhouse and Ruby Tuesday did not respond to requests for comment.

The venture is a private agreement between the plaza owner and Texas Roadhouse, Salvatore said, adding that the municipality has no part in the deal.

Ruby Tuesday has been in town for about 20 years, Salvatore said.

Texas Roadhouse, which opened in 1993, has over 580 locations in 49 states and 22 international locations in nine countries, according to its website.

It specializes in hand-cut steaks, ribs and other casual menu items.

It will give residents a different dining option with an affordable steakhouse, Salvatore said.

[Ruby Tuesday] has been a really good neighbor in Cromwell, he added.

Last August, Tennessee-based Ruby Tuesday filed for bankruptcy, three years after a private-equity buyout.

It emerged from federal protection with less debt and a lot fewer restaurants, according to the Restaurant Business. Ruby Tuesday now has 209 locations, the site said.

People curious about what might come to the plaza commented on the Uncensored Cromwell CT Families Facebook page, saying theyd like to see chains such as Friendlys and Longhorn Steakhouse go in there.

Other changes are on the way at the shopping center, Salvatore said. A new tenant plans to open at the Kmart site. The name of the tenant has not yet been announced. Kmart, which was there for 43 years, closed its Cromwell location in 2017.

A large part of the building has been renovated, the town manager said.

ShopRite moved into a portion of the Kmart building and expanded into the old Xpect Discounts next door.

About a mile and a half away, on Berlin Road, Lexington Partners of Hartford is looking to build a multi-use facility at the 31,500-square-foot former Red Lion hotel, which was shuttered a year ago for unpaid taxes.

The private endeavor, to be called The Lord Cromwell and named after the original occupant of the property, is expected to contain two restaurants, one of which will be a high-end eatery, homes, a dog park, retail businesses, walking trail and more.

It will be some time before the new restaurant opens, Director of Planning and Development Stuart Popper said. Were not going to see it for a long time.

Texas Roadhouse will have to submit an application with a site plan to start the process, Popper said.
STRATFORD  State Rep. Phil Young of Stratford will seek another term representing the 120th District, he announced Wednesday.

Ive worked extremely hard. Ive gotten the respect of my colleagues and Ive been rising (up the) ladder in the state, Young said on why voters should vote for him. This being a Democratic state, it helps to have people like myself who are rising in leadership.

Stratford Republicans do not yet have a candidate to run against Young, but are vetting a few candidates, according to party chairman and Republican registrar Lou DeCilio. An announcement of the Republican candidate could come in the next few weeks, he said.

Young highlighted his work to get $2 million in funding for repairs at Sterling House in Stratford and his friendship with Gov. Ned Lamont. Now that hes in his third term in office and has gotten a greater feel for the landscape in Hartford, Young feels he can advocate for Stratford better than he could earlier in his political career.

Young said he is focusing on a number of key bills in the upcoming legislative session alongside the upcoming budget negotiations. These include allowing physicians to aid terminally ill patients in dying, providing mental health resources, tackling the opioid crisis, ending child marriages, improving ventilation in surgery rooms to reduce lingering smoke and banning single-use plastic foam products.

We really need to kind of put some more money towards that kind of stuff and make sure people have some options out there to take care of their mental health, Young stated.

Young also said hes going to be working very hard on securing the tax credit Lamont proposed Wednesday.

People in Connecticut deserve it, Young said. Honestly, the people of Stratford deserve it. Weve all been through a tough time over the last couple of years, so I think a tax break probably would be a good gesture.

Long-term, Young is focused largely on two things  continuing to improve the states economy and health care reform.

Part of that health care reform would be to introduce a bill, called the Cure Act, that incentivizes companies to find a cure to diseases out there instead of just maintaining them.

Young said this would involve the state paying the company what they would have made from providing ongoing treatment. Something of this nature would take a long time but would revolutionize health care, he said.

Young has held the office since 2018, when he won a special election over Republican candidate Bill Cabral by 63 votes. He then won relection in November 2018 against Republican Jim Feehan. He last won reelection in 2020, again beating Feehan.

Democratic town chair Steve Taccogna said the party will officially endorse a candidate for the seat at its meeting in March.

Correction: A previous version of this story gave the incorrect party affiliation for Bill Cabral.

mike.mavredakis@hearstmediact.com
The Connecticut Port Authority launched a public-private partnership tied to development of a major offshore wind-to-energy project without proper authority to do so, the State Contracting Standards Board concluded Friday.

The watchdog agency also concluded that the $523,000 success fee the Connecticut Port Authority paid to a consulting firm closely tied to a former member is eerily similar to the finders fees scandal that sent a former state treasurer to prison in 2001.

This is just terrible in terms of open, fair bidding, contracting board chairman Lawrence Fox said during Fridays meeting, held via teleconference. I cant think of anything that is less fair.

The port authority and Gov. Ned Lamont announced a deal in February 2020 to work with Eversource and its Denmark-based partner, rsted North America, to transform New London into the green energy capital of the Northeast. Wind turbine components assembled at the port would support an offshore wind-to-energy project ultimately capable of generating 4,000 megawatt hours of electricity.

The authority must seek from the state any project costs that exceed the private partners investment of $75 million, according to the port authoritys executive director, John Henshaw. The current overall cost estimate exceeds $220 million.

A state law permitting public-private partnerships had expired in January 2020, one month before the deal with Eversource and rsted North America had been executed. A 2021 statute would again allow public-private partnerships but only for the Department of Transportation.

More importantly, whenever such partnerships have been permitted, the legislatures budget-writing committees have been required to conduct public hearings on the matter  which didnt occur, the report states.

There is no record that the CPA had the statutory authority to execute a public-private partnership after January 1, 2020, it added.

In a written response attached to the report, the port authority contends it gained such powers when lawmakers established it in 2015 and ordered it to direct economic development at the states deep water ports.

And while the agreement with Eversource and rsted North America actually refers to a public-private partnership, the port authority added in its comments that the phrase public-private partnership is widely used term and should not be taken to reference the agreements regulated in state law.

The contracting board does not have authority to block the project and chiefly is limited to making recommendations to Lamont and the General Assembly.

The contracting board also voted Friday to ask Attorney General William Tong to clarify existing state law regarding finders fees.

The panel specifically is questioning whether the port authority violated that law when it paid $700,000 to Seabury Capital Group in May 2018 to help with the search for an operator of the state pier in New London. That search led to the hiring of Gateway Terminal, a firm that brought its wind farm partners  Eversource and rsted North America  into the picture.

That $700,000 payment included a $523,000 success or reward fee  and that happened three months after Henry Juan III of Greenwich, who was a managing director with Seabury, resigned from the authority board.

When the port authority initially sought a consulting group to help find a pier operator, it specified in an April 2018 amendment to the bid documents that no success fees would be paid.

Seabury received the contract in May and success fees were included, the report states.

Why did the success fees come back into the contract? asked contracting board member Lauren Gauthier, who outlined the report at Fridays meeting.

While they are not [called] finders fees, she added, they do ring similar.

The General Assembly banned finders fees in statute following a scandal in the late 1990s that sent then-state Treasurer Paul Silvester to prison.

The West Hartford Republican was sentenced to 21 months after admitting he had accepted kickbacks, often referred to as finders fees, in exchange for steering investment of state-controlled pension funds.

Fox said afterward that contracting board members didnt draw comparisons lightly.

It sounds like what happened at port authority is a kind of finders fee by another name, he said. We dont like this practice. We dont think theres a state benefit to this.

Should we receive a request for an opinion from the State Contracting Review Board, we will review it, Tongs spokeswoman, Elizabeth Benton, said Friday. We have an open and active investigation into the Connecticut Port Authority and therefore cannot comment further.

Should Tong conclude there was no violation of the finders fee statute, Fox added, the authority will ask the legislature to expand existing law to prohibit such success fees in the future.

David Kooris, who became chairman of the port authoritys board of directors in the summer of 2019  one year after the Seabury contract was approved  said at Fridays meeting that the port authority very much appreciates the thoughtful review.

Kooris also pledged that the authority would work with the contracting board and the legislature to further review these issues.

Weve got a lot to talk about in detail in the coming months, he said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The wars of the wider Middle East that long surrounded the United Arab Emirates now have encroached into daily life in this U.S.-allied nation, threatening to draw America further into a region inflamed by tensions with Iran.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched missile and drone attacks since January targeting the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to oil-rich Abu Dhabi and the skyscrapers and beaches of Dubai. American forces at Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, home to some 2,000 U.S. troops, twice have opened fire with their own Patriot missiles to help intercept the air assaults by the Iranian-backed Houthis.

The two incidents represent the first time since 2003 that the U.S. has fired the Patriot in combat  a nearly 20-year span. It also comes after the Biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and its declared end to the American combat mission in Iraq.

Though overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis, the U.S. now says it is committing more advanced fighter jets to the Emirates, as well as sending the USS Cole on a mission there. This spillover of Yemen's yearslong war into the UAE puts American troops in the crosshairs of the Houthi attacks  and raises the risk of a regional escalation at a crucial moment of talks in Vienna to potentially restore Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.

The Emirates since its founding in 1971 has been an otherwise safe corner of the Mideast. During the bloody 1980s war between Iran and Iraq, Dubai's massive Jebel Ali port repaired ships damaged in the so-called Tanker War. The 1991 Gulf War saw Kuwaitis flee into the Emirates and gave birth to the close military ties America has with the country today.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed again saw Dubai take in the money and families of wealthy emigres. But the Emirates always seemed to remain out of bounds amid its neighbors' wars. Part of that came from the centrist foreign policy of its founders whose oil wealth built cities from the sand, the other from its economic importance. Dubai, for instance, has been a major trade outlet for Iran even as it faced cycles of international sanctions.

Under Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi's crown prince and the country's de facto ruler since 2014, the Emirates has taken a much more muscular approach. Nowhere is that more evident than in Yemen, where it joined a Saudi-led coalition in 2015 in support of the country's exiled government against the Houthis.

It largely withdrew its ground forces from the conflict in 2019 as the war stalemated and the coalition faced widespread international criticism for airstrikes killing civilians. But in recent weeks, Emirati-backed Yemeni militias made major advances in the war, sparking the Houthi counterattacks deep into the Emirates.

Now, wedged between sunny commodities reports and morning banter, state-owned Dubai talk radio opens newscasts with the latest attacks. A new message in some commercial segments urges the public not to share rumors  a reminder of how this autocratic nation that already tightly restricts speech has criminalized sharing any videos showing an attack or missile interception.

The U.S. State Department has urged Americans to reconsider travel due to the threat of missile or drone attacks. The British Foreign Office starkly warned Wednesday that further attacks are very likely. France meanwhile will send Rafale fighter jets based in the UAE on surveillance, detection and interception missions if necessary, French ambassador Xavier Chatel said.

Yet bars and hotels in Dubai remain busy as the city-state welcomes travelers and business after conducting a major vaccination campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But keeping business going requires the UAE to remain safe for all. State-linked media has praised the country's armed forces and air defense corps. And the Emirates has invested heavily in that defense. It uses both the Patriot missile and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which it acquired at a cost of over $1 billion.

The Emirates used the THAAD in two interceptions, the first time the system has ever been fired in combat, said Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command. The U.S. announced a possible $65 million sale of parts for HAWK, Patriot and THAAD missile systems to the UAE on Thursday.

However, the Patriot missiles visible on the outskirts of Dubai simply have pointed north for years toward Iran, seen by Sheikh Mohammed as its greatest threat. The attacks from the Houthis have come from the southwest. And on Wednesday, the UAEs military acknowledged intercepting drones claimed to have been launched by a shadowy group that earlier conducted an attack targeting a palace in Saudi Arabia from Iraq.

That widens the area that needs to be protected by air defenses, putting an additional burden on them and risking the chance that a complex attack could break through.

Such an attack could be catastrophic, like a 2019 assault that saw cruise missiles and drones successfully penetrate Saudi Arabia and strike the heart of its oil industry in Abqaiq. That attack temporarily halved the kingdom's production and spiked global energy prices by the biggest percentage since the 1991 Gulf War.

While the Houthis claimed the Abqaiq attack, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and analysts blamed Iran. U.N. experts similarly said it was unlikely the Houthis carried out the assault, though Tehran denied being involved.

Already, the Houthis have described Al-Dhafra Air Base, home to a major American presence, as a legitimate target. Any attack harming U.S. troops likely would bring a response from Washington, even with President Joe Biden hoping to refocus on China and Russia. And a promised deployment of the Cole and the advanced fighter jets means more American equipment soon will be in the Emirates.

Theyre going to demonstrate ... our commitment to our Emirati partners but also to be prepared to deal with very real threats that the Emiratis are under, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Wednesday. And quite frankly, its not just the Emiratis, its our people there at Al-Dhafra too.
The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.

We have to be very careful when it comes to weighing U.S. intelligence reports on foreign threats. Remember the CIAs slam dunk case for nuclear weapons in Iraq? North Vietnamese attacks on an American warship in the Tonkin Gulf?

Both false, it would turn out many thousands of deaths later.

But if its true that Russia has an extremely elaborate plan to stage a phony event showing the aftermath of a Ukrainian attack on Russian-speakers and perhaps even Russia itself, it certainly wouldnt be the first time its used a false flag incident to justify military action.

In 1999, Russias internal security force, the FSB, carried out a string of horrific apartment building bombings that the Kremlin blamed on Chechen rebels. The bombings, equivalent psychologically to the 9/11 Al Qaeda airliner attacks on New York and the Pentagon, whipped up Russians fears of the Chechens and eventually vaulted Prime Minister Vladimir Putin into the presidency.

In 2014, Putins intelligence services carried out a highly suspect public opinion poll in Crimea that claimed to show overwhelming local support for annexation by Russia, which soon after dispatched forces to seize the region. Pro-Russia agents in Kiev also paid people $500 to protest against the Maiden democracy movement, according to reports.

On Thursday, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told NBCs Andrea Mitchell the Biden administration had acquired intelligence on an extremely elaborate Russian plan to stage a phony attack it would blame on the Ukrainians. A day earlier two unnamed officials told The Washington Post the operation would include broadcasting images of civilian casualties in eastern Ukraineand potentially over the border in Russiato a wide audience to drum up outrage against the Ukrainian government and create a pretext for invasion. One official said it was unclear if the casualties would be real or faked.

Russia, the New York Times added, also quoting unnamed officials, intended to use the video to accuse Ukraine of genocide against Russian-speaking people."

Its a theme Kremlin disinformation organs have been pounding on social media, on conspiracy sites and with state-controlled media since November, the Times said. The video was intended to be elaborate, officials said, with plans for graphic images of the staged, corpse-strewn aftermath of an explosion and footage of destroyed locations.

Former top DHS intelligence official Brian Murphy elaborated on current Russian and other foreign disinformation campaigns targeting the United States on this weeks SpyTalk podcast.

Long History

The false flag operation is a well worn ruse employed by other governments, including the United States, over time. To name just a relevant few:

Nazi Germany: On the night of August 31, 1939, an SS squad dressed in Polish uniforms seized a radio station near the border and broadcast a short anti-German message in Polish, according to historical records, confessions at the Nuremberg war crimes trial and several sources cited by Wikipedia. They then shot and killed a prisoner and put his body at the scene, dressed in a Polish uniform, to give the impression he had died during the attack. The incident was meant to construct enough anti-Polish sentiment to justify an invasion but was also a part of a larger campaign to serve the Nazis propaganda goals prior to the outbreak of World War II.

In 1954, Israel secretly recruited Egyptian Jews to carry out bombings of Egyptian as well as U.S.- and U.K.-owned civilian entities, like movie theaters and cafes, that would be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood and communists.

In 1989, a South African policeman confessed to the nations post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission that hed conspired to carry out bombings that were blamed on the rebel African National Congress.

In 2007, a U.S. Navy admiral, Kevin.J. Cosgriff, dreamed up a plan to create a casus belli for a military showdown with Iran, I reported in the Washington Post Magazine.

Gwenyth Todd, a top political adviser to the U.S. Navys 5th Fleet, and another witness told me that Cosgriffs idea, presented in a series of staff meetings, was to sail three big decks, as aircraft carriers are known, through the Strait of Hormuz  to put a virtual armada, unannounced, on Irans doorstep. No advance notice, even to Saudi Arabia and other gulf allies. Not only that, they said, Cosgriff ordered his staff to keep the State Department in the dark, too.

Cosgriff expected the Iranians to respond militarily, either with gun boats, mines or torpedos, providing the armada and nearby U.S. forces, who were itching for a fight with the Iranians, a rationale for an immediate escalation.

When top State Department brass got wind of the scheme, they shut it down.

Nearly a half century earlier, the Pentagon generated one of the most macabre false flag ideas in modern history, one thatthankfullyrejected by President John F. Kennedy.

In 1962, the Pentagons Operation Northwoods contemplated using the CIA to carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. and civilian targets and blame them on Cuba.

The plan, signed by Army General Lyman Lemnitzer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a wide range of murderous options, including assassinating Cuban immigrants, sinking boats of Cuban refugees in the Florida Straits and hijacking U.S. airliners.

"We could develop a communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington," it continued. "The terror campaign could be pointed at Cuban refugees seeking haven in the United States. We could sink a boatload of Cubans enroute to Florida (real or simulated)."

Other plans included Operation Bingo, a plan to fake an attack on the United States base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, providing cover for a devastating U.S. military assault on Havana, according to a 1997 report by New York Times reporter Tim Weiner. It also included Operation Dirty Trick, a plot to blame Castro if the 1962 Mercury manned space flight carrying John Glenn crashed. 

Then there was Operation Good Times, Weiner added. That involved sowing Cuba with faked photos of an obese Castro with two voluptuous women in a lavishly furnished room and a table brimming over with the most delectable Cuban food. The faked photo would be captioned my ration is different.

Compared to that, the alleged Russian plot to justify an invasion of Ukraine seems timid.

Timid, maybe, but just as nefarious and criminal. And JFK, mind you, halted the crazy Northwoods scheme.

Will Putin hold back as well? He seems far less constrainedand more reckless.

This article by Jeff Stein originally appeared on Spytalk.co.
04.02.2022 LISTEN

The National Communication Director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Yaw Buaben Asamoah has raised concern over the posture of the Minority in Parliament on the controversial e-levy.

He said the opposition NDC MPs has no right to use violence to overthrow the standing orders of Parliament.

Mr Asamoa was responding to opposition critics of President Akufo-Addo s recent comment on the controversial e -lev y.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with this portal on Thursday, February 3, 2022 stated, Is important we appreciate the context within which the debate on the E-levy is happening. Particularly when you said passed, it refers to the parliamentary process and what the parliamentary process is basically, that the minority once there is a difference of one person, we have a minority and majority.

He added, The traditional role of a minority is to ensure that its voice is heard on matters that it doesnt believe to be passed. So, their duty is to make their voice seriously heard and once their voice is heard, they do not have any power beyond that or to stop a vote physically."

What you are seeing in parliament is a poor reflection of how parliament is conducting themselves, is not good enough. They are not supposed to use physical force to stop any activity in parliament from going on, but they are supposed to make their voice heard.

Mr Asamoa indicated that the Minority refusal to allow the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament to vote spell doom for parliamentary democracy.

According to him, the First Deputy Speaker has the right to vote and can do so by asking the Second Deputy Speaker to takeover whiles he takes his turn to vote.

"The NDC has no legal authority and power to use violence to overturn the standing orders. So, if the President said the E-levy will be passed, what it means is that, in the context of what parliament does, the E-levy yes should pass and will pass because, in parliament their duty, their authority is to make their point and after that, they should allow the voting rules to continue and if the voting rules continues, the two Deputy Speakers will have a vote.

Now their dispute in Parliament is about Deputy Speakers voting, Yes, Deputy Speaker has a status that is different from a speaker himself. Deputy Speakers are sent there as Members of Parliament and part of their privileges is that, they are entitled to vote and therefore, when one is presiding as a Speaker, one has the opportunity to rise at any time under order 13:1. So, when a Deputy Speaker is Presiding, at any time during the debate including the decision time, voting time, as he is sitting in the chair he has no vote. But he can get up from the chair, signal the Second Deputy Speaker and then he can go and vote as an MP. Is his right, is the right of the constituency who sent him there.

He emphasised, So, as long as Hon. Joe Owusu is in the chair in the event Speaker Bagbin isnt there, he can always leave the chair under Order 13:1 of the Parliamentary Orders and go and vote while the Hon. Andrews Asiama who is the Second Deputy Chair takes his place.
04.02.2022 LISTEN

NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Navrongo Central Constituency Mr. Sampson Tangombu Chiragia has called on the Ghanaians to trust the NDC Minority Caucus in Parliament as far as the e-levy is concerned.

He said whether day or night, rain or shine, the Minority in Parliament will rise up and vote against the controversial levy.

Speaking to this portal on Thursday, February 3, 2022, Mr Chiragia stated: We are saying that we are against E-levy. He is the President of Ghana, the people went to the polls and voted for him as the person they think he can manage for now. But what we are saying, is we the NDC minority are against the E-levy because the effect is directly on the poor and we as a social democratic party. They dont think we should endorse what will have a direct effect on the poor and for that matter, we are against.

He added, And now, as long as they bring the bill to parliament and as long as we are there and they put it before us, we will only vote against the E-levy period

Now we dont want to comment because we have told the people and now the people now know what the E-levy will do to them more than us. But, they are saying they will do it."

He emphasised, "So, the NDC minority caucus will continue to vote against the E-Levy."

According to him, the Majority in Parliament failed to mobilise all their members yet claim to have the Majority in the House.

Nana Addo should go and mobilized his 138 parliamentarians and come and pass E-levy, apart from that, is 137-137 nothing more nothing less. If Akufo-Addo is able to mobilize his 138, we will go by the constitution and passed the E-levy. We will continue to stand by the masses.

Mr. Chiragia was responding to President recent pronouncement on the e-levy when addressing traditional leaders from Dzodze in the Volta region on Tuesday, 1st February 2022.

According to him, the government in its bid to lessen the burden on Ghanaians during the heat of the COVID-19 did some expenditure, and that has become necessary for some measures to be put in place to fill those gaps created.

Revenues during 2020/2021 went down considerably because of the slowing down of the economic activities that came from the COVID-19. At the same time, government, in order to keep the country going, did incur some expenditures on the free water, the free electricity. These were the unavoidable expenses that government had to make, President Akufo-Addo disclosed.

He continued These are the efforts that we are now making which are being resisted by the opposition but we will try and close the gap. That is the reason it has become necessary for us to use these measures like this famous tax which has caused so much unnecessary disputation; nevertheless, we would continue.

President Akufo-Addo added that despite the opposition I am determined to persevere to make sure that we find the means to address some of the issues.
Obtaining a second source of income all starts with an idea, one of the most potent forms of power that exists.

I learnt from a TED-Ed that power is the ability to have others do what you would have them do. Is that not what all businesspeople want: the ability to make others buy what they want them to buy?

How do we achieve that? How do we get the power to make people purchase our services and products? Getting the business community to take actions in your favour can happen in a variety of ways. Here are some examples in line with the 6 forms of power that exists:

Physical force  Well of course you cant do that. You cant use violence to enforce sales. Thatd be wrong and illegal in so many ways. Wealth  Theres a popular saying in Ghana that money stops nonsense. Yes, your wealth can buy you sales or the influence to increase sales but if not structured properly, you would be spending more money to make less money. State action  I remember buying books when I was in Primary School that was Government-sanctioned. We had no choice but to buy them. A democratic government can ratify and downright guarantee sales for a product or a service. In some cases, the product/service meets the needs of the people. In other cases, experts describe the act as corruption, nepotism, etc. so   you get the point. Social Norms  A lot of people do what a lot of people do. Thats how many people confirm that something is ok, not that the majority is always right. Social Norms are powerful and can make people change their minds on what to buy and what not to. Numbers  There is power in numbers. This seems close to social norms. Lets assume its not a norm; just numbers; just people coming together as a collective to say we want what we want! Thats power! Then theres an idea  An idea is in my opinion the strongest form of power that exists because it catalyses all the other forms of power. It can be highly infectious and make people do what you would have them do, or buy what you would have them buy.

What you need, is a strong idea.

I asked my team at Maxwell Investments Group (MIG) what their version of a strong business idea for passive income is. Dr Abigail T. D. Anyomi, President of MIG, wrote on our group platform, and I quote:

As the days go by, it becomes increasingly clear that having one source of income is highly insufficient to survive in todays economic climate. Regular 9 to 5 jobs are simply not going to cut it if you want to live a comfortable life, not to even mention a luxurious one.

The second source of income is not a second job. Passive income, which is when your money is basically working for you without you necessarily having to move a muscle, is the way to go to achieve financial freedom. And the more streams you have, the more money you earn and the more freedom you will have to live your dreams, be it a vacation to the Caribbean or a weekend away at a luxury hotel.

So, how do you get started on having another income stream? What avenues can we explore?

The aim is to fully maximise and utilise the resources available to you. Here are some pointers to consider when determining what should qualify as a second source of income.

Flexibility  The last thing you want from a second income source is to have to squeeze time or to feel pressured for time to carry it out. A good second income source should give you the freedom to determine your work hours. Whether you are a nighttime person or a daytime person, you should be able to work in your free time and it shouldnt have to compete with your regular job. Sustainability  This is very key. The ideal second source of income should be self-subsistent and be able to function efficiently outside of you or with minimal input from you. It shouldnt fall apart once you do not have sufficient time to work on or interact with it. It should basically maintain itself. Enjoyable  What is the point of another job if its just to slave away? The ideal second source of income should be something you enjoy doing. That way, its an avenue to destress and wont add to the high stress levels you may be experiencing in your primary job. Pick something that makes you happy, explore a hobby, ideate around it and monetise it. Inexpensive  Your second income source should most definitely not cost you an arm and a leg to get it off your ground. Scalability  It should have the potential to grow from a small side hustle into something that can generate significant revenue.

The best side-hustles almost always becomes the new 9 to 5, only that you start working 24hours on it because you begin to enjoy yourself. That is why it is important to ideate properly. It is important to sift through the many ideas that flood in and execute the one that has the highest chance of success, to choose a strong business idea.

Rya G. Kuewor, the CEO of The RIO Corporation, also wrote on our MIG group platform, and I quote:

The answer isnt predominantly straightforward, unfortunately. More often than not, an idea, especially a business or a technological one, for instance, is only as good as its patronisers.

We can colour the grey areas by understanding that Facebooks (or Metas) idea of connecting people would never have worked if the people had no desires of being connected to each other, or understanding that Adinkra Pie would not have been successful if Ghanaians had immovable resolutions about eating breakfast they hadnt made themselves.

Knowing this, we can surmise that a good idea needs to be well-timed, culture or context-appropriate, simple enough that it does not feel like a chore, and appealing enough that it isnt boring. We can use this formula and practice having more good ideas.

So now we need a strong business idea.

What makes a business idea strong?

The strength of the business idea is a prime factor in attracting business investors. Its about pitching to them how strong your business model is and how you can multiply their investment. In this article, Ill discuss the different aspects of a business idea that make it attractive for investors.

These aspects include but are not limited to market size, market share, unique selling proposition, background compatibility, innovation, adequate strategic position, scalability, strong problem statement, your strategic capability, understanding of market dynamics, product position, etc.

Let's understand the details of these aspects.

Market size and market share

The market size refers to the total size of transactions taking place for the product in your target market. It's simple science; if your market size of the product is larger, you will be able to earn higher revenue and vice versa.

On the other hand, market share refers to the proportion owned by different companies in the market. Sometimes market share is fragmented, which means different companies are selling the same product as you intend to. Likewise, if market share is concentrated, it means few companies are the main players in the market.

Investors prefer to invest in a market with a larger market size. It's because of the fact that there is more potential to earn revenue/profit within larger markets. Sometimes, operational feasibility is attached to market size. For instance, if the market size is larger, the business will be able to achieve economies of scale and lead to higher profitability.

Economies of scale - It's a concept that if you produce in bulk, you will produce at a lower price. That's because the fixed cost is split among a higher number of units, and volume discount can be claimed on the purchase of material, labour, etc.

An alternate strategy can be to look for a growing market. In fact, its comparatively easier to capture market share as new customers are buying new products.

Unique selling proposition  (USP)

A unique selling proposition means why customers should buy your product. Does your product offer something different from your competitor? Investors are always looking to invest in products that offer something different. In fact, USP is one of the favourite areas of any investor, and they are always looking to invest in a business that offers something unique to the customers.

Background compatibility

Investors like to check your background compatibility with the business idea. It helps them in understanding your capability to run the business. For instance, if you have a degree in medical science and your business idea is about medicines, investors are more likely to invest in your business idea. Its because of the trust in your competence and ability to run the business and grow their investment.

Innovation

Investors love to invest in a business idea based on innovation. It's expected to enhance business efficiency in terms of cost, quality, marketing, and distribution. Furthermore, it's about making a product more effective to satisfy consumer demand. In addition to this, these are additional benefits of opting for innovation.

1- Innovation helps to grow your business. It may be centred to enhance the quality of your product or control the manufacturing cost.

2- It helps to keep your company ahead of the competition. It can be done by enhancing market prediction and keeping things in line with the market expectation.

3- Innovation helps to incorporate technology into the business. It leads to higher operational efficiency and process optimization, resulting in a certain competitive advantage.

4- Innovation has led to massive market disruptions and eliminated giant players that did not show flexibility.

Adequate strategic position

It refers to how the market should perceive your product. In other words, it's about how your product/service will be able to capture the market. There is a strong need to be clear and communicate if you intend to be a cost leader or differentiator. Cost leadership is about getting a higher market share by reducing prices. It's one of the greatest competitive advantages and helps to capture market share.

On the other hand, differentiation is a strategy that aims to distinguish a companys products or services from the competition. After all, we all aim to have our products and services stand out so they can outperform the competition.

Scalability

Scalability refers to the fact that your business idea has sufficient potential to grow. It means your business is able to support required resources when product demand increases. There can be two aspects of scalability: internal and external factors.

Internal factors refer to your competence and resources to grow your business. For instance, if you are able to meet the growing demand of customers, you will be able to source material, equipment, labour, machinery, and production space as and when desired.

External factors refer to the fact that if the market size of your product is large or expected to grow with time. If it's a small niche market, business scalability has lower chances. On the other hand, if it's a mass-market, chances of scalability are higher.

Niche market  Niche market is the market where a particular product/service is sold. This market has its own preference and needs. For instance, a business specializing in electric showers is said to be operating in a niche market.

Mass market  Mass market refers to the market with a significant number of end consumers, and goods can be produced at a larger scale. These market producers are expected to enjoy economies of scale and bulk discounts in sourcing their production-related material and labour etc.

Normally, investors look for mass-market as they want to invest in something with the potential to become a big business. However, if your niche has low competition and is expected to produce great financial results, it can still be attractive for investors.

Strength of problem statement

Investors are more likely to invest in the products/services designed to solve customers' problems. Its because there are higher chances of success if the product/service effectively solves some problem. So, if the ability of your business to solve a problem is strong, there are higher chances of funds approval and vice versa.

Strategic capability

Strategic capability refers to your business managing ability. Its about making policies to achieve sustained competitive advantage and achieve success. Its based on your vision and intention to develop business and investors are always looking for clarity in your vision and mission.

Its important to note that your mission and vision must be clear when pitching to raise finance; otherwise, investors may not be willing to invest in your business idea.

Market dynamics

You need to deeply analyze the target market in terms of trends and preferences. Its about being able to position yourself in terms of cost and product quality. Understanding market dynamics enables you to understand the cost and quality gap. For instance, if the price range of product A in the market is $10 and $30. It means there is a gap, that allows you to launch the product at varying sales prices.

SO WHAT IS A STRONG BUSINESS IDEA?

Your business idea is strong if it is scalable, innovative, problem solver, strategically capable, unique from competitors, and designed with in-depth market understanding, and a couple of other things, like research. Let's further understand the qualities of attractive start-ups and businesses in terms of investor attraction.

Qualities of start-ups, investors are actively looking for

1- Passionate founder  Its about the start-up founder's competence, capability, and capacity. Sometimes, Investors assess on the basis that if you are passionate about what you intend to do  investors sometimes even bet on your capacity to do the business rather than investing in your start-up idea as it stands.

2- Financial feasibility of business operations - Its about the profitability of business operations in doing business. The cost of operations must be less than the revenue earned. So, your gross and net profit should be higher which will attract investors.

3- Your vision  Vision helps to communicate to investors that the start-up is committed to achieving certain long-term objectives. It helps them to rely on your ability to do business and achieve certain targets.

Qualities of businesses, investors are looking to buy into

1- Larger market share  A larger market share is a great attraction for investors. They feel secure for investing in a business with a track of earning revenue. Further, if market share is higher, the business must be doing something different from competitors to attain and retain customers.

2- Optimized processes  It refers to the optimization and efficiency of business processes. Investors are more likely to invest in a business if operations are disciplined and designed with adequate internal controls.

3- Business approach with customer management  Its about customer satisfaction with the business. If you have higher customer retention, it predicts business stability and investors like to invest in a business earning customer loyalty.

4- Low competition market  If there are limited players in the market for products/services offered by your business, there seems to be low competition and higher chances of getting a larger market share.

There's hope!

The business community look for given attributes in a business idea and investors look for overall financial feasibility before they invest in your idea. Also, different investors have different preferences to invest. However, the overall approach of the feasibility of your second source of income idea revolves around the discussed factors.

I hope you enjoyed the read. Hit me up and lets keep the conversation going! I read all the feedback you send me. Also, feel free to throw at me topics youd like to read or hear my thoughts on. You can always head to my Calendly to schedule a quick chat by going to calendly.com/maxwellampong. Or connect with me your way through my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/themax.

These are all facts. And this has been an opinion piece.

Have a blessed week!

...

Dr. Maxwell Ampong is the CEO of Maxwell Investments Group, a leading supplier of impact products & services and ICT worldwide. He is also the Co-Founder of The RIO Corporation, connectors between impoverished communities and impact solutions worldwide. He writes about trending and relevant economic topics, and general perspective pieces.
Mosques held prayers for rain on Friday across the parched North African kingdom of Morocco where farmers are battling an acute drought.

King Mohammed VI ordered all the country's mosques to hold prayers "calling on God for rain", the religious affairs ministry said in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency.

Such prayers, which also take place in other Muslim countries when rain is needed, are based on a verse from the Koran and on a saying of the Prophet Mohammed, who recommended an extra prayer "every time the rain is scarce".

Morocco's economy depends heavily on agriculture, but the country is in the midst of a severe drought. Reservoirs are at just 34 percent capacity, compared to 46 percent this time last year, according to official figures.

Despite improved harvests in 2021, the lack of water has battered the agricultural sector, which is responsible for about 14 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.

The situation has sparked fears of spiralling prices for basic goods.

In January, tourist hotspot Marrakesh imposed tight restrictions on water usage, news website Medias24 reported.

That recalled 2020, when the Atlantic coastal city of Agadir cut off mains water supplies at night to rein in usage.

Agadir this month fired up the country's first seawater desalination plant to meet the needs of desperately dry farmland nearby.

The agriculture ministry forecasts that average precipitation will drop by 11 percent by 2050, with the amount of water available for irrigation falling by a quarter.

Along with Morocco, the North African nations of Algeria, Libya and Tunisia are among the 30 most water-stressed countries in the world, according to the World Resources Institute.
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal is to invest 1.7 billion euros in reducing carbon emissions at two of its plants in France, with financial support from the French state.

ArcelorMittal has seven steel plants in France  the largest in Dunkirk in the north can produce up to seven million tonnes of steel per year.

The problem is steel production is responsible for 7 percent of the world's CO2 emissions, linked to global warming.

On a visit to the Dunkirk plant on Friday, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the steel giant was investing 1.7 billion euros in transforming two of its plants, without reducing their production capacities.

The Dunkirk plant will replace two of its three coal-fired furnaces with hydrogen power from 2027.

The Fos-sur-Mer plant in the south of France will install an Electric Arc Furnace using the electric power grid rather than coal, allowing the plant to specialise in recycled steel.

Those two sites alone account for 25 percent of industrial greenhouse gases produced in France.

The investment will therefore help ArcelorMittal achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions by close to 40 percent by 2030, the company said in a statement.

The move "put France's steelmaking industry on the path of the Paris Agreement", the company said, referring to the multilateral agreement signed between 195 countries in 2015 to limit man-made global warming.

State aid

ArcelorMittal will receive funding via the 34-billion-euro "France 2030" investment programme, although the precise sum has not been revealed.

More than 5.5 billion euros of that fund have been earmarked to help the highly polluting steel-aluminium, chemical and cement sectors to reduce their CO2 emissions.

In the run up to April's presidential election, Emmanuel Macron's government is looking to step up investments in northern France  traditionally one of the country's industrial heartlands  but which has been hard hit by factory closures.
Morocco held its breath Saturday as rescue teams drew near a five-year-old boy trapped down a well for days, moving at a snail's pace for fear of triggering a landslip, AFP correspondents reported.

For five days the complex and risky earth-moving operation has gripped residents of the North African kingdom and beyond, also sparking sympathy in neighbouring Algeria, a regional rival.

By mid-afternoon, rescue crews, using bulldozers and front-end loaders, had excavated the surrounding red earth down to the level where the boy is trapped, and drill teams began work on excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach him from the side.

But progress slowed to a snail's pace as the drill teams worked by hand to avoid any vibrations that might bring the brittle soil down on the stricken child, local authorities said.

An engineer told state-owned 2M television that he did not expect rescuers to reach the boy before late evening.

"Eighty centimetres (less than three feet) separate us from Rayan but the drillers are working painstakingly to avoid any mishap," engineer Mounir al-Jazouli told the broadcaster.

Rescuers face a risk of landslides. By Fadel SENNA AFP

He said progress had slowed to just 20 centimetres (less than eight inches) an hour.

Rescuers have not given up hope of recovering the child alive. A medical team was with them and an air ambulance was on standby to take him to hospital if necessary.

The child's parents were being looked after in an ambulance at the accident site.

A camera inserted into the well where Rayan is stuck had shown him, from behind, lying on his side, said Abdelhadi Tamrani, an official in charge of the operation.

But it is "impossible to say with certainty that he is alive," Tamrani told AFP.

Onlookers applauded to encourage the rescuers, sang religious songs or prayed, chanting in unison "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest).

Graphic showing rescue efforts to save a child who fell into a well in Morocco. By Emmanuelle MICHEL AFP

The more time that passes, the more fears arise over Rayan's condition.

Rescuers had tried to get oxygen and water down to the child but it was not clear whether he was able to use them, AFP correspondents reported.

Rayan accidentally fell about 32 metres (100 feet) down the narrow shaft near his home in the remote village of Ighrane in Chefchaouen province on Tuesday afternoon.

'Showing solidarity'

A glacial cold has gripped this mountainous and impoverished region of the Rif, which is at an elevation of about 700 metres (2,300 feet).

Thousands of people have gathered and even camped in solidarity around the site in recent days, where AFP reporters have said the tension has been palpable.

Engineers and topographers are among those assisting Civil Defence rescuers. By Fadel SENNA AFP

"We are showing solidarity with this child, who is dear to Morocco and the whole world," said onlooker Hafid El-Azzouz, who lives in the region.

"We hope that, with God's will, he will get out," he said.

The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky -- so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.

The operation has made the landscape resemble a construction site.

Red-helmeted civil defence personnel have at times been suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face.

Overnight they worked non-stop under powerful floodlights that gave a gloomy air to the scene.

'Moving a mountain'

"I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive," Rayan's father told public television 2M on Friday evening. "I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere."

He said earlier in the week that he had been repairing the well when the boy fell in.

Red-helmeted Civil Defence workers have at times been suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face. By Fadel SENNA AFP

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the trending Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan.

"Millions of people across the world are holding their breath in the race against time to save Rayan," one Twitter user wrote.

Another paid tribute to rescue workers working around the clock for days, saying, "they are real-life heroes".

Police reinforcements have been sent and metal barricades erected in an effort to prevent a swarm of onlookers from impeding rescuers.

One volunteer said he was there to help. "We've been here for three days. Rayan is a child of our region. We won't leave until he's out of the well," he said.

The accident echoes a tragedy in Spain in early 2019 when a two-year-old child died after falling into an abandoned well 25 centimetres wide and more than 70 metres deep.

Julen Rosello's body was recovered after a search and rescue operation that lasted 13 days.
Heads of state gathered Saturday at the African Union headquarters to kick off a two-day summit as the continent reels from a spate of military coups and the coronavirus pandemic.

The summit also comes as the 55-member bloc faces pressure to push for a ceasefire in host country Ethiopia, where a 15-month war has killed thousands of people and, the UN says, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.

Four member states have been suspended by the AU's Peace and Security Council since mid-2021 because of unconstitutional changes of government, most recently Burkina Faso, where soldiers ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore last month.

Addressing African foreign ministers this week, AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat denounced a "worrying resurgence of military coups".

But the AU has been accused of an inconsistent response to the putsches, notably by not suspending Chad after a military council took over following the death of longtime President Idriss Deby Itno on the battlefield last April.

The African Union is hosting its 35th summit. By EDUARDO SOTERAS AFPFile

The two-day summit should discuss how to be more proactive in addressing factors that give rise to coups, including terrorism-related instability and frustration over constitutional revisions that extend leaders' time in power, said Solomon Dersso, founder of the AU-focused Amani Africa think tank.

"It is only when crisis hits that we say, 'Gosh, how come this country is falling apart like this so quickly?'" Solomon said.

Disease and diplomacy

On Saturday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to provide an update on Africa's response to the pandemic, nearly two years after the continent's first Covid-19 case was detected in Egypt.

As of January 26, only 11 percent of Africa's more than one billion people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

A draft agenda seen by AFP also includes a discussion of Faki's decision last year to accept Israel's accreditation at the AU.

Faki's move drew quick, vocal protest from powerful members including South Africa and Algeria, which argued that it flew in the face of AU statements supporting the Palestinian Territories.

Analysts say a vote on the issue could yield an unprecedented split in the bloc.

Meanwhile, it is unclear whether and how leaders will address the war in Ethiopia, which pits Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government against fighters from the northern Tigray region.

The fact that Ethiopia hosts the AU makes any intervention by the bloc especially delicate, and Faki waited until last August -- nine months after fighting began -- to appoint Olusegun Obasanjo as a special envoy tasked with trying to broker a ceasefire.

Only 11 percent of Africa's more than one billion people have been fully vaccinated as of late January, according to the Africa CDC. By Simon MAINA AFPFile

Ethiopia has also held a seat on the Peace and Security Council, though it failed in a bid to stay on the 15-member body this week, diplomats said.

"AU member states should not ignore the serious crimes committed by all warring parties, including federal government forces, in Ethiopia's conflict," Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Friday.
Abdellah Chouaa is suspected of having helped with the preparation of the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks which cost 131 people their lives. He risks 20 years in prison if convicted. On Friday he gave evidence about himself, and about Mohamed Abrini, another of the accused.

Chouaa had the support of two women. His ex-wife and his current one. Neither had a bad word to say about him.

The former Mrs Chouaa testified from Belgium. She described the accused as someone of good character, a family man, very attached to the son they had together.

The witness rejected the image given to the court of Abdellah Chouaa's father, an imam suspected of extremist leanings. Other witnesses have described the father as a Salafist, a fundamentalist.

Not at all, said the former Mrs Chouaa, he is just "a man of religion who preaches the word of God". This was not the first time the court had to confront the divergence between Muslim and non-Muslim witnesses on the question of radicalisation.

As for Abdellah himself, the witness said she could not imagine her ex-husband "involved in any way in such atrocities".

Barbarians and psychopaths

The current Mrs Chouaa was initially overwhelmed by the Paris courtroom.

She said she knew none of the other accused, offered her sympathies to the victims , and described Abdellah Chouaa as a "good guy, always smiling, hard-working, really a nice fellow." She has known him since 2016.

"I am sure that my husband had nothing to do with all this. He's a good person.

"He's a million miles from these barbarians, these mentally ill psychopaths."

Better in jail than dead in Syria

And then it was the turn of the man himself.

Abdellah Chouaa denied that his father was a radical preacher. "He never encouraged us towards jihad. He's an imam, not an extremist."

In 2014, when one of Chouaa's brothers declared his intention of going to Syria to fight for Islamic State, Abdellah notified the Belgian police.

"I decided he was better off in jail than dead in Syria."

In June 2015, when his friend Mohamed Abrini wanted to go to Syria, things worked out differently. Abdellah Chouaa drove his friend to the airport. But he thought it was for a two-week holiday in Turkey. "He had a round-trip ticket."

Which Abrini never used, since he returned to Brussels via London, Birmingham, Manchester and Paris.

Abdellah Chouaa says he has no idea what Mohamed Abrini was doing in Paris when Chouaa went there to pick him up.

Abrini himself doesn't appear to know. Or, at least, he's not saying.

The trial continues.
Italy's former royal family, the House of Savoy, has asked the country's central bank to return the crown jewels, a lawyer for the family said. The jewels from the dynasty that ruled Italy until the monarchy was abolished in 1946 have been kept in a vault at the Bank of Italy since the end of WWII.

All male heirs from the House of Savoy were exiled from Italy, when the last king, Umberto II, fled to Portugal. A representative of the family deposited the jewels with a note reading: To be returned to the rightful owner.

The exile of male heirs was done away with in 2002, when parliament voted to allow them to return as private citizens.

In November last year Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, grandson of King Umberto, declared ownership of the jewels, requested they be returned, and began a legal process against the Italian state.

A first meeting in a mediation process was held this week between Prince Emanuele Filiberto and his lawyer and representatives of the Bank of Italy but reportedly ended inconclusively.

However, the family's lawyer, Sergio Orlandi, says the family will get the jewels back that have been in the vault for more than 75 years.

The Bank of Italy is likely to defer to the government for a decision on the request to have the crown jewels returned.

Worth millions

The collection of the House of Savoy jewels is believed to be worth at least 300 million euros and include 6,000 diamonds and 2,000 pearls mounted on tiaras, earrings, necklaces and brooches.

The collection has never been seen by the Italian public unlike the crown jewels of the British royals that are exhibited in the Tower of London.

The prospect of putting them on display was considered in 2006 by the then head of the Bank of Italy, Mario Draghi, today Italy's prime minister, but nothing came of those discussions.

Prince Emanuele Filiberto recently said its ridiculous that the jewels are still in the Bank of Italy, adding that Italy was the only republic where the private property of the former royal family is still in the hands of the state.

Even Bulgaria and Yugoslavia had restored private possessions to their royals as has Russia to the heirs of the tsars, he said.

Whether members of the House of Savoy will be successful in having the jewels returned is far from clear, but the prince has said he is prepared to take the case to the European courts if necessary.

He believes the jewels should eventually be shown not only to Italians but also to foreign tourists.
Moroccan rescuers were only metres away Saturday in their nerve-wracking but increasingly urgent effort to rescue Rayan, a five-year-old boy trapped underground whom they hope to find alive.

For five days the complex and risky earth-moving operation has gripped residents of the North African kingdom and even sparked sympathy in neighbouring Algeria, a regional rival.

Abdelhadi Tamrani, an official in charge of the operation, said he had "big hopes" of pulling the boy out alive from the well.

But the more time that passes, the more fears arise over his condition.

Rayan accidentally fell about 32 metres (35 yards) down the tight, empty shaft near his home in the remote village of Ighrane in Chefchaouen province on Tuesday afternoon.

Rescuers face a risk of landslides. By Fadel SENNA AFP

Rescue crews, using bulldozers and front-end loaders, excavated the surrounding red earth down to the level where the boy is trapped and are now digging horizontally towards him.

They face a risk of landslides, and on Saturday they had to manoeuvre around a large rock.

In darkness, crews moved a heavy pipe into position in the area. One rescuer lugged what appeared to be a jackhammer.

"We're almost there," said one of the operation's leaders, Abdesalam Makoudi, adding "tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on."

Working through darkness

A glacial cold has gripped this mountainous and impoverished region of Rif, which is at an elevation of about 700 metres.

Graphic showing rescue efforts to save a child who fell into a well in Morocco. By Emmanuelle MICHEL AFP

On Thursday Moroccan media reported that rescuers managed to deliver oxygen and water to the bottom of the well.

Thousands of people gathered around the site, surrounded by olive trees, where AFP reporters said the tension was palpable. Some applauded to encourage the rescuers.

"We are living a real catastrophe in the Ighrane region. We pray to God that he can be saved, to bring happiness to all Moroccans," Othmane Azzouz, one of the onlookers, told AFP.

The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky -- so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.

Engineers and topographers are among those assisting Civil Defence rescuers. By Fadel SENNA AFP

The operation has made the landscape resemble a construction site. It involves engineers and topographers, and was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils.

Red-helmeted Civil Defence personnel have at times been suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face.

Overnight they worked non-stop under powerful floodlights that gave a gloomy air to the scene.

'Moving a mountain'

"I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive," Rayan's father told public television 2M on Friday evening. "I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere."

The boy's mother told Moroccan media that Rayan had been playing nearby when he disappeared on Tuesday afternoon.

Red-helmeted Civil Defence workers have at times been suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face. By Fadel SENNA AFP

"The whole family went out to look for him then we realised that he'd fallen down the well," she said with tears in her eyes.

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan trending across North Africa.

"Rescuers are literally in the process of moving a mountain to save little #Rayan. I hope that their efforts will not be in vain and that those who prayed for him will see their prayers answered," one internet user wrote.

The boy's fate has attracted crowds of people to the site, where parked cars lined the roads around the village and supporters are camping.

Police reinforcements have been sent and metal barricades erected in an effort to prevent the swarm of onlookers from impeding rescuers.

But one volunteer said he was there to help. "We've been here for three days. Rayan is a child of our region. We won't leave until he's out of the well," he said.

The accident echoes a tragedy in Spain in early 2019 when a two-year-old child died after falling into an abandoned well 25 centimetres wide and more than 70 metres deep.

Julen Rosello's body was recovered after a search and rescue operation that lasted 13 days.
A civil servant woman, a citizen of the German city, Hagen, came home from work, unlocked her room door and experience an unbelievable shocking situation.

She (unlocked) opened the room door and suddenly had a "bad daydream", a fat wild boar (bush-pig) was relaxing comfortably on her living room couch, somehow exhausted but probably grunting contentedly.

Even the police explicitly stated in their statement that it was "no joke". When the 39-year-old woman opened her front door at around 1.20 p.m., she found herself, face to face with a full-grown wild boar, relaxing on the couch. According to the woman, the pig was trapped, because it couldn't find its way back.

The frightened woman quickly closed the door again and called the police. When a patrol car arrived on the scene, the wild boar, weighing about 60 kilograms, had already devastated the interior and then made itself comfortable on the living room couch. The animal had probably entered the flat through an opened patio door, the officers suspected, as it went inside and the door closed, the wild boar was trapped.

Wild boars can "look cute", but they can also be "very dangerous", the police warned. Not least, for that reason, they called in a hunter to help lure the animal into freedom without stress. In the end, the black boar tumbled away and found its way back into the wild unharmed. Wild boars usually breed in spring. During this time they protect their young from enemies. Do not approach young animals, but rather keep your distance, the officials advised. "And if one shows up in your living room, always call the police."

Francis Tawiah (Duisburg - Germany)
If you are president of a country, who cares about the welfare of the common people, once, you realize the majority of the people saying, I have regretted voting for Akufo Addo, thats where you need to ask yourself where did it all go wrong?

According to the president, Nana Akufo Addo, the impact of the coronavirus on Ghana is very severe. To make life easier for the common people, he provided free water, food, and electricity to Ghanaians.

I am yet to find out if the entire Ghana nation, including the urban and the rural areas, benefitted from his sympathy and how much those free provisions cost the state.

Again, the president, Nana Akufo Addo said, due to the free provision of water, food, and electricity, Ghana is in financial difficulty, therefore, the passing of the E-Levy is necessary to fill the gap of the debt created by the free provisions.

Let us ask the president, Ghana has cocoa, diamond, gold, bauxite, oil, and other precious metals that have ready markets in the developed world.

That is the reality, if the NDC hadn't lost the election, the truth wouldn't have been known today. Think twice Ghanaians, for the future of our country and the children's welfare

When our resources are purchased, where does the money go? Despite all these resources, if he couldn't develop the country after five years, how convincing that the E-Levy he wants to impose on Ghanaians will do the transformation?

Another interesting point is according to Nana Akufo Addo, we need multiple taxations to address our issues because Ghana can't continue depending on foreign grants and loans.

However, at the end of March 2020, the debt stock was Ghc 234.9billion, while external debt accounted for Ghc 124.79billion and as of today, the debt has sharply increased to over 300 billion. How did this foreign debt occur without depending on foreign loans?

Where is the money and what are they used for? I wonder if the president thinks about what he speaks and the people he tells because practically, he has failed to do what he says which has become today's political and economic disaster.

If the president without shame, will continue to tell Ghanaians that because of the provision of free water, food, and electricity, therefore, E-Levy is necessary to fill the fiscal debt, where is the $100 million World Bank made it available to assist Ghana during the coronavirus pandemic?

Apart from the COVID-19 support from the International Monetary Fund to Ghana, the European Union also gave Ghana over 80 million Euros, where is the money?

The disgraceful politics being practiced in Ghana and the financial crime taking place daily, if thats what takes place in developed countries, will Ghanaian politicians go there for holidays and medical checkups?

Why many African leaders dont reason at all? Why are they not aware that their actions as politicians determine the future of Ghana and the people, especially the children?

Now its common to hear in Ghana that I have regretted voting for Akufo Addo, indeed, I dont blame them because this government appears to be the worst in the political history of Ghana, yet still, because of greed, tribalism, hypocrisy, and hate, many wouldnt simply admit this truth.

However, whether they accept the truth or ignore it, there is nothing they can do at this crucial moment to change the mind of Ghanaians who have regretted voting for Akufo Addo, which reflects on the entire party.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has asked government to adopt measures aimed at cushioning Ghanaians against the astronomical increase in petroleum prices.

COPEC is also predicting that the price per litre of the product will hit GH8 by March 2022.

Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, on Eyewitness News lamented that government is doing too little to bring down the prices of fuel and must immediately devise means to address the incessant increments.

In real terms, fuel price increasing these days happens to be one of the very things pushing the economy to the brink. The year began with fuel price at GH6.6. Unfortunately, we now have some OMCs selling at GH7.50. Its our estimation that probably by the end of March, if international price trends continue to move as it is doing currently, we would be crossing the GH8 mark.

Prices of fuel have gone up at the pumps across the country because the Price Stabilization and Energy Recovery levy, which is a key component of the fuel price build-up, has been restored by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) after it was suspended for about three months.

The levy was suspended last year as a means of reducing the burden on consumers.

Already, COPEC has called for the withdrawal of the levy and has now urged the government to adopt the dual pricing module to stabilise fuel prices and the accompanying economic difficulties.

Our expectation as a chamber is that, authorities should be looking for ways to bring down fuel prices. One could bring the dual pricing method where anytime international market prices go up, they ease down on the taxes and anytime international prices decline, they can [apply] the full extent of the taxes because fuel prices going up on the world market is of greater benefit to Ghana than we are currently making it to be.

So as you can see, we have crossed the GH7 mark, its quite certain that by the second window of February which will commence in about 12 days, prices will go up again, Duncan Amoah added.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA), in October 2021 approved the removal of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy (PRSL) on petrol, diesel, and LPG for two months as requested by President Akufo-Addo.

The PSRL is 16 pesewas per litre on petrol, fourteen pesewas per litre (GHp14/Lt) on diesel and fourteen pesewas per kilogram (GHp14/Kg) on LPG.

Currently, some Oil Marketing Companies are already selling fuel beyond the GH 7 per litre mark, which means the reintroduction of the levy will send prices further above GH 7 per litre.

The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has already said the prices of petroleum products are expected to increase at various pumps across the country due to an upsurge in the prices of the commodity on the international market.

citinewsroom
Revelations about India's alleged purchase of Israeli Pegasus spyware rocked parliament this week as main opposition parties cornered Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, accused it of misleading the house over its spyware use.

Citing a recent report by The New York Times that New Delhi bought the Israeli spyware in 2017 as part of a 2 billion dollar package for weapons, lawmakers from several opposition parties filed privilege motions accusing the government of providing misleading information on the controversial spyware.

In light of the latest revelations by The New York Times, it appears that the Modi government has misled parliament and the Supreme Court and lied to the people of India, leader of the Congress party Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to the Lower House speaker.

In view of the above, I demand that a privilege motion may be initiated against the Minister of Information Technology for deliberately misleading the house.

'Enemy of India'

Another Congress leader, Mallikarjun Kharge, said: Why did Modi government act like the enemies of India and use a warfare weapon against Indian citizens? Illegal snooping using Pegasus amounts to treason. No one is above the law and we will ensure that justice is served.

However, a parliament discussion was disavowed and the government sidestepped the opposition parties demand saying the matter was before the Supreme Court.

Several media organisations across the world had reported on the use of Pegasus, which has been developed by Israeli cybersecurity firm the NSO Group.

In India, it is alleged that more than 300 Indians were spied on through Pegasus and that its potential targets were politicians, journalists, government workers and a Supreme Court judge.

The government has denied that it ordered any unauthorised surveillance ever since the controversy erupted.

Last year, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had called the allegations a "sensational" attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions". He told parliament in September that the government "has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies".

Following the furore, in October last year, the Supreme Court ordered the constitution of a technical committee headed by a retired judge of to probe into the alleged use of a spyware called Pegasus for surveillance of several citizens of India.

Court-appointed committee

According to media reports, at least two cybersecurity experts who have provided testimonies before the Supreme Court-appointed committee have reportedly stated there is a presence of strong indicators pointing to the involvement of the state, its intelligence and law enforcement agencies in using the Pegasus spyware for unauthorised surveillance against individuals.

One expert pointed out that the infected phones show ample deployment of malware that is consistent with digital fingerprints of Pegasus available in the public domain.

The company, NSO, was engulfed in controversy over reports that tens of thousands of human rights activists, journalists, politicians and business executives worldwide were listed as potential targets of its Pegasus software.

Last year, France's national agency for information systems security, Anssi, identified digital traces of the Pegasus spyware on the phones of a France 24 journalist, an investigative journalist at the French investigative website Mediapart and the site's director.

The NSO Group and its controversial Pegasus technology, which grabbed attention of governments and citizens worldwide with allegations of misuse was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce for acting contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US last year in November.

Israel distanced itself from the controversy triggered by the blacklisting of the NSO Group after allegations of illegal use of its Pegasus spyware to target government officials, activists and journalists globally, saying it is a private company and it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli government.
The French parliament rejected on Friday night a resolution calling on the government to grant political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

After a long and intense debate, MPs in France's national assembly (lower house) voted 31 against and 17 in support of a proposed text brought forward by MP Jennifer de Temmerman, from the opposition group known as Libertes et Territoires.

According to the document, which is not legally binding, Assange's crime is that he told the truth and was engaged in journalism.

Now more than ever, France must provide asylum to Assange, it said.

Another paragraph of the draft resolution called for the facilitation of asylum procedures for whistleblowers, proposing to abolish the need for them to be in France at the time of the request.

Despite the results of the vote, the text received support from Communist party presidential candidate Fabien Roussel and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, as well as a mix of MPs from the Greens, centrist party UDI and some members of the ruling LREM.

Giving back a voice

"He has denounced barbaric acts and unspeakable blunders that needed to be made public," said Stephane Peu from the French Communist party.

"Today is a victory," Temmerman said. "We are giving a voice back to those who don't have one."

"No other human rights defender would be able to put up with such a disproportionate situation," Jean-Francois Mbaye, from the ruling LREM party told AFP.

He warned however that even if Assange's quest was "noble", he pointed to numerous legal and diplomatic obstacles in the resolution.

On the far left, Francois Ruffin (France Unbowed) bemoaned what he called "French cowardice" in the face of Assange's predicament.

Cedric Villani, from the Greens party, who signed the resolution said "France would only be respected in its decisions if it spoke out loudly on such matters."

Assange's lawyers had already begun a legal request for his asylum back in 2020.

The debate came just a few days after an agreement reached by the lower house and the Senate on a proposition brought forward by centre-right MP Sylvain Waserman (Modem) designed to better protect whistleblowers in France.

Long legal saga

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been held at London's high-security Belmarsh prison since 2019 because he is seen as a flight risk, having previously skipped bail in 2012 over claims he sexually assaulted two women in Sweden.

He spent seven years at Ecuador's embassy in London to avoid being removed to Sweden to face the allegations that were later dropped.

Assange was on 24 January 2022 given permission to appeal a decision to extradite him to the United States where he could face a lifetime in prison in connection with the publication of 500,000 secret military files relating to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The High Court in London in December overturned a lower court's ruling not to send him to the United States on the grounds he would be a suicide risk.

But lawyers for Assange then challenged the decision, arguing that the country's highest court should rule on "points of law of general public importance".

The judges stated that they themselves were not granting him a right of appeal at the Supreme Court but Assange had the right to do so himself. It is now for the Supreme Court to decide whether to take the case.

This outcome has been welcomed by Assange's partner Stella Morris and his lawyers.

A coalition of anti-war groups and thousands of peace campaigners have signed a statement calling for Assange's immediate release.

Nathan Fuller, director of the Courage Foundation, said: "While the Biden administration is confronting US adversaries over their press freedom shortcomings, it should address its own hypocrisy.

"Locking up Julian Assange for exposing the truth about US wars is an insult to all those struggling for peace and human rights."
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) student with the department of economics (International Trade) at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China, Chris Zankawa Sanusi is calling on the Akufo-Addo led government to eat the humble pie and apologise to Ghanaians for plunging the country into a hopeless path of economic chaos.

Commenting on the controversial Electronic Levy (E-Levy) before Parliament, the Ghanaian based Chinese student believes the way to go is not to overburden Ghanaians with additional taxes on people's savings.

He is asking government to accept the economic mess and go back to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) for possible financial amnesty.

At this point, three things are eminent, "Government should eat the humble pie, apologize to Ghanaians and start to make some sacrifices. Let the Ghanaian have the feel of your repentance and that we are all going to bite the bullet even though your mismanagement led us all here. In that case, we shall all see the need to relax our stands on this E-LEVY and other adjoining taxes to raise the needed revenue to keep our country running. Again apologize to Ghanaians and go back to the IMF.

"Whiles making those sacrifices, immediate steps must be taken to make the Komenda Sugar factory operational, prioritise rice and poultry farming. If we can downsize the imports of sugar, rice and frozen meat, we would be creating a lot of sustainable jobs and wouldn't have to overburden the citizenry with nuisance taxes," he said in a post copied exclusively to this reporter.

The PhD economics student maintained that, it was unthinkable for government to place the health of the economy in the hands of just two multinational telecommunication companies wondering what will happen should those companies fold up or leave the shores of Ghana.

"Isn't this an insult to our sovereignty? The health of our economy now depends on the telecoms? How sustainable is this arrangement, a whole country's economy relying on just about two MNC's? Assuming these telecoms decides to fold up and leave the shores of Ghana, how is the government going to mobilize revenue to finance its projects?

"At least if we had not privatized our only telecommunication giant i.e Ghana Telecom we could be confident of the sustainability of this source of revenue even if their competitors decided to exit.

Amidst all this back and forth, the man who misled us here, the economics messiah ( Alhaji Bawumia) is tight-lipped," he queried.

According to him, the Akufo-Addo- Bawumiah led NPP government was simply afraid of going to the IMF because of its opulence and extravagant lifestyle.

He added that, the IMF will ensure that every penny government spend from them made economic sense.

He said former President John Dramani Mahama without any economic background has been vindicated when he predicted last year that going to the IMF was inevitable.
Hon Musah Superior, NPP General Secretary hopeful on Friday 4th February 2022 paid a courtesy call on the King of the Ashanti Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

The prime motive was to formally introduce himself on his new appointment as the Deputy CEO for Ghana Forestry Commission and respectfully make the King privy to his political bid for the office of the General Secretary position of the elephant party.

Joining him in the official visit were top executives of the famous People's Campaign; an initiative of Musah Superior, aimed at crusading for the face-lifting of the welfare of NPP grass root and ultimately the victory of the party come 2024.

The former Mayor for Tamale was offered a feel-at-home reception throughout the meeting even as he introduced himself and the executives per the demand of custom.

Hon Musah Superior said in his introduction that he is always moved by the servant-leadership characteristic trait of the late Bafuor Osei Akoto; a Ghanaian agriculturalist, longest serving linguist of Ashanti Kingdom, hence his decision to serve not only NPP as the General Secretary but Ghana and Asanteman at large.

Overlord of the Ashanti Kingdom Otumfuo Osei Tutu II after the formal introduction by the Forestry official said he is much aware of how Hon Musah Superior played his official role as the Mayor for Tamale; commenting on the level of honesty he exhibited.

He strongly admonished him to carry on with his honesty and commitment even as he aspires for the general Secretary position.

He also blessed the campaign team and wished them well.
05.02.2022 LISTEN

Nima-Mamobi is one half twin community within Greater Accra Region and history had shown that the community is one of the oldest Zongo communities in Ghana. The name Nima according to two school of taught, one attribute it from Ga language which literally means "city of king" in Ga language Nii means king or chief and Mann means city and the second school of taught attributes the name to Arabic word which means blessings since the community is dominated by Muslims.

The twin community over the years had been tagged with bad name or image which to me can either be half true or totally false. The question l seeks to ask and solicit some views in this article of mine, as a country what we can do to get lasting solutions to this bad image which in effect can have repelling effect on Ghana as a whole.

Prior to the unfortunate clash within Nima-Mamobi on 18 January 2022 which led to some injuries and arrests, the twin community had witnessed few inter community clashes locally known as base clashes and to mention some Dallas and 15 Bob base within Mamobi, booza 11 and Co-oho base in Nima. I earlier on mentioned the bad image tagged to the twin community is half true or fallacy on bases of first-hand information. I am previewed to have been born and bred in Mamobi and therefore have first-hand account with regards to information pertaining the twin community. Media reportage had been the main factor to the bad image tagged syndrome. For instance, the recent clash on 18 January 2022. It has been reported in some media camps as 7 people died, some quoting 6 but the truth is no life has been lost though some injuries and arrests have been recorded. This is not to justify what is going on however minor it looks; it still has repelling effect on the society and the country as a whole. The notion of some group of people from some particular regions, Tribes or Religion fuels this perceptions or images but to be truthful though l am a Christian the twin community had shaped me in many ways of becoming whom l am today. One cannot take away the spirit of togetherness to the extent that Hausa language is sometimes use as medium of communication in churches and twi or Fante language sometimes use in Islamic preaching(waazi).

As a citizen of Ghana, what l have observed from some Ghanaians, we take delight in getting or listening bad news about a person or community and are always quick to pronounce judgement, instance of looking for lasting solutions to prevent from reoccurring of such news.

In conclusion, l am with the view that when some pragmatic measures and some proposals l seek to channel out are taken with ken interest, then issues of some disturbances within some known Zongo communities will be minimised

First and foremost, is education: As an indigenous person of Nima-Mamobi l realise that most of the people often perceive education as an ability to read and write to some there is no need to further education to the highest in academic level. Most people after completing JSS feel they can read and write and therefore no need to continue but l seek to differ with this assertion and employ all stake holders, being it GES, opinion leaders including MP's for the two communities, NGO and individuals who deem it necessary to be part of this discussion to begin attaching some urgency to the growing phenomenon which not properly handled might have repelling effect on the larger society.

Secondly jobs creation and empowerment: The issues regarding Jobs and empowerment are not peculiar to Nima-Mamobi alone but the whole fabric of Ghanaian society. As a child when growing up in Mamobi, l realises young people shy away from continuing their academic dreams and rather join other means of getting quick money because their predecessors whom they always look for as role models are still looking for jobs and therefore no need to waste their time in going to school and ending up like those people.

Enforcement of law and stiffer punishment: The phenomenon of young people abandoning their educational responsibility and going for quick means of getting money through Internet fraud locally known as 'sakawa' which was originally emanated from the same twin community which means drop off or to swindle someone is ripping the country out of getting potential human resources to mount the affairs of the state in near the future

MICHAEL YIRAN
The Volta Regional Police Command has arrested 17 suspects over narcotic substances.

The suspects were arrested in separate operations conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday across the region.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mrs Effia Tenge, Volta Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that 13 of the suspects were arrested in an hour-long operation at Juapong on Wednesday.

She said the Police in that operation retrieved quantities of dried leaves, slabs of compressed dried leaves, quantities of cocaine and implements such as pairs of scissors, folding paper (Rizla), and brown paper, adding some five motorbikes that were abandoned at the ghettos were also impounded.

In a similar exercise, DSP Tenge said three suspects were arrested by the Dzodze District Police with quantities of narcotic substances.

She noted that the operation led by the District Police Commander retrieved from the suspects, 281 wraps of substances suspected to be Indian hemp and assorted narcotics induced preparations; 622 pieces of toffee, bitters, and other implements used in processing narcotics substances; rolling paper; (Rizla) pairs of scissors, brown paper, and lighters.

The Regional Police Public Affairs Officer said the 17th suspect was arrested by the Keta Police while trying to escape arrest and that efforts were being made to arrest his accomplices.

At the Abutiakope beach at Keta, a 59-year-old male suspect is in police custody after his attempts to escape arrest failed when they were swooped on.

His accomplices managed to escape in a fishing boat at the Abutiakope beach, abandoning two sacks of narcotic substances and a Pajero SUV.

The Keta District Command is following leads to arrest suspects on the run.

She indicated that all 17 suspects would be screened and those found culpable after investigations arraigned.

GNA
The Effutu Traditional Council says it is seriously looking forward to the University of Education Winneba (UEW) governing council's expeditious action on the Winneba High Court's order to reinstate Professor Mawutor Avoke and some Principal Officers.

Neenyi Ghartey VII, Paramount Chief of Effutu Traditional Area and President of the Traditional Council, told the Ghana News Agency after a traditional Council's meeting, that the governing council must comply with the court's directive to avoid the past turbulence that affected the image of the school.

We the Effutu Traditional Council entreats the UEW Council to put measures in place that will manifest reconciliation for peace to reign without any further rancour, he stated.

"We wish the incoming Vice-Chancellor well in office and urge him to be a father for all despite all that has happened in the past since peace and harmony are essential ingredients to forge cohesion, he said.

GNA
The US government has reiterated its commitment to helping Ghana secure its borders against terrorist threats.

Commander of the U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Army General Stephen J. Townsend, emphasised this support during a digital press briefing with selected journalists across Africa.

General Townsend said the US government is concerned about increasing terrorist activities in neighbouring countries including Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and the Ivory Coast.

These activities, he noted, threaten Ghanas security and pledged more collaboration with Ghana to ward off the threat.

He stated that they will continue to help in training security personnel and supporting them with logistics to help equip the country to fight terrorist incursions.

Ghana is a long-standing partner of the United States, and so we are offering more concrete support to Ghana over this past year and will continue to do so. So just in the last year, we have sent training teams. We have sent advisory teams, and we have incorporated them increasingly into exercises, said General Townsend.

He added that we are researching and trying to provide for some of their equipment needs because Ghana is very important historically to the United States. So we have seen the same thing, and the United States has committed concrete support to Ghana.

The press briefing, which follows the 2022 African Chiefs of Defense Conference on the theme Shared Investment for a Shared Future was to discuss the 2022 African Chiefs of Defense Conference and the United States and Africa's shared commitment to security on the continent.

Touching on the increasing security threats in some African countries, General Townsend noted that, such challenges can only be tackled through collaboration.

Many of the challenges that I discussed today will only be solved if multiple countries work together and we have a consistent, open dialogue and we have whole-of-government approaches with our African partners in the lead.
A Dutch art detective has returned a rare Roman statue that was considered one of France's most important treasures to the museum from which it was stolen nearly 50 years ago.

Arthur Brand, dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the art world" for his exploits, handed back the first century bronze sculpture statue of the god Bacchus to the director of the Musee du Pays Chatillonnais in eastern France.

It was from there on a cold evening in December 1973 that thieves smashed a window, crawled through the bars and pilfered the 40 centimetre statue of the god of wine.

The criminals made off with some Roman antiquities, around 5,000 Roman coins and the bronze statue of Bacchus as a child.

"The loss to the museum and the community was enormous. One of their most precious antiquities had been stolen," said Brand, moments before handing back the statute in a ceremony at an Amsterdam hotel.

"Back then there was no proper catalogue for stolen art; the statue disappeared into the underworld and was thought to have been lost forever."

'Hunt was on'

The statue resurfaced through sheer chance two years ago when an Austrian client contacted Brand, whose previous finds include a Picasso painting as well as "Hitler's Horses", two equine sculptures that once stood outside the Nazi leader's Berlin chancellery.

The client asked the Dutchman to investigate a statue of a little boy he bought legally on the art circuit.

"When we could find no reference for such an important work existing anywhere, we realised that the work could have been stolen  and the hunt to find out what it is was on," said Brand.

After months of sleuthing, an obscure entry in a 1927 edition of a French archaeological magazine finally revealed a clue: the sculpture depicts Bacchus as a child and belonged to a French museum.

Further enquiries with French police revealed it was stolen on 19 December, 1973.

"This means we had to make a deal. The Austrian collector bought it legally on the open market where it had probably been sold more than once over the last few decades," the detective said.

Furthermore, the five-year statute of limitations in France meant that no criminal case could be opened.

"But the owner was shocked to learn that the piece had been stolen and wanted to give it back to the museum," Brand said.

"Under French law, he had to be paid a small amount  a fraction of the statue's price which could be millions of euros  for 'safekeeping'."

Art treasures of France

Brand tapped into his extensive network, and two British art collectors, Brett and Aaron Hammond, sponsored half of the amount, while Chatillon's council paid the other half of the undisclosed sum of money.

"After 50 years, it's extremely rare for a stolen object to surface. Especially such an important one, that's now going back to the museum where it belongs," Brand said.

Catherine Monnet, the director of the museum  famed for its collection of Roman artefacts  was delighted to have the sculpture back.

"This is a particularly important art piece, because they are so rare and of such great quality," she said.

The statue was discovered by archaeologists in 1894 during a dig at the nearby archaeological site of Vertillum, an ancient Gallo-Roman village first excavated in 1846, already declared a historical monument two decades prior.

In 1937, the Bacchus statue formed part of an exhibition in Paris consisting of what was regarded as the 50 most beautiful art treasures of France, Monnet said.

As for Arthur Brand, "he has free entrance to the museum for life", Monnet added.

(with AFP)
Ghana almost recorded another tragedy on the dawn of Saturday, February 5, 2022, when a moving O.A Zhongtong bus with registration number AS 8249-19 caught fire.

The incident happened when the bus was traveling from Tumu towards Accra with 49 passengers.

Narrating the incident, Anim Richmond, the driver of the bus explained that he realised smoke was billowing from the rear portion of the vehicle heading towards Akim Fisher near Asiakwa junction on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

According to the 52-year-old driver, he parked the bus on the side of the road to try and solve the smoke problem before continuing the journey.

Sensing that the situation was serious, he directed all passengers to alight from the bus.

He said suddenly, the bus started burning.

A call was placed to the Kibi Fire Station where firefighters were deployed to douse the fire.

Fortunately, all passengers escaped the fire unharmed and later joined different buses to their various destinations.

The burnt vehicle has been towed according to sources.
I recently received a Whatsapp post from a friend of mine in Canada which I found to be as interesting as it is unfortunate. According to the story, a 70s-born Nigerian-Canadian, born, bred and educated in Nigeria with a Law Degree from the Univeristy of Lagos, moved to Canada to continue with this life. Through hard work, and with ambition, he went into politics, entered Parliament, and eventually got appointed as the Attorney-General of Alberta, Canada, as recently as August 2020. His name, according to the story, is Kelechi Madu from Imo State, Nigeria. While there may not be anything so extraordinary about a Black Man holding a top political position in Canada or anywhere else these days I think it is quite remarkable, considering that Hon. Madu being a first generation immigrant, to be appointed to such a high profile position as Attorney-General of his State.

And now this is the sad part. Unlike many other countries like his place of origin where all ministers are chauffeur-driven, the Honourable Attorney-General of Alberta, Canada had to drive his own car. He was given a fine of $300.00 for driving above the speed limit in a school area. Instead of going quietly to pay the fine like everybody else, my friend thought it rather more expedient to call the Police Chief of the area to inform or complain to him that 'his boys' had done the unthinkable by issuing a fine to a whole Attorney-General. Not to bore you any further, this phone call to the Police Chief was what led to the immediate sacking of Honourable Kelechi Madu, the first Nigerian, and Blackman to be appointed Attorney-General of Alberta, Canada.

THE TWEAA D.C.

A few years ago the story of Tweaa DC stayed on top of the local chat billboard for quite some time. It was all about a District Chief Executive (DCE) in one of the Ahafo-Ano districts of Ashanti Region who was so full of himself that he couldnt accept the impudence of some common person interrupting his speech, never mind that the comment was an undertone not meant for the hearing of the Honourable DCE. So he interrupted his speech to demand to know: WHO SAID TWEAA? He waited for a considerable length of time in search of the culprit. But which ordinary man in his normal senses did you expect to be so disrespectful to own up to having said tweaa when the DCE was on the floor? And as if to leave no one in any doubt as to who wielded power, he continued by making it clear that yedee na yeetie meaning, it is what we are saying that people are listening to. Depending on what you take our people in authority to be, you would either see him as a powerful or notorious DCE. I, for one, was expecting the government of the day to have reprimanded him, but of course I was wrong. The next thing I heard about him after all the noise had settled down was seeing his campaign posters contesting to become the MP for his constituency. Thank God, he didnt succeed to become a Tweaa MP.

THE KADE MP

For me personally, if ever I were to be asked to pick one Ghanaian politician in our 4th Republic whose public behaviour Ive found to be so distasteful I would have no hesitation picking the MP of Kade, who after finding himself in a Police traffic control in Accra in July 2019, could not understand why they could question his driver while he was in the car. Talking straight into a TV camera in full public view and challenging the Journalist to send the film to wherever he pleased, this honourable Member of Parliament had the courage to claim that as an MP on his way to make laws for the country in the national interest (in his own words) he, and by extension his driver, were too big to be stopped by the Police, never mind which law they were breaking. He wouldnt even listen to the argument of the Police that it wasnt he, the MP they had problems with but rather his driver who was breaking traffic regulations. No, he was just too big to be interrupted, and not even the Police had the right to question his driver for not obeying traffic rules. Unfortunately, this is a typical example of some of the leaders we have in this country.

THOU SHALL NOT TOUCH AN HONOURABLE ONE

There is an Akan saying that it is only when you have the crowd behind you that you get the needed support to fight on. The only force behind that honourable gentleman that emboldened him to do what he did was the fact that he knew nothing would happen to him. And indeed, from where I sit, I dont know what was done to him by way of public condemnation by the people and institutions he represented.

We all know the type of official statement that would have been issued by Parliament if it had been a case of the Police attempting to arrest the MP at a chop bar on a reported case of fraud even on a Sunday. We would have been told that the MP had gone to the Chop Bar to eat and continue from there to go to Parliament the following day. Therefore, since it is unlawful for a parliamentarian to be arrested whether on his way to or from Parliament he had immunity from police arrest.

And what about the political party he belonged to? What did they tell him (at least to our hearing) for us to know that they were not in support of what he did? Again, what did the people of his Constituency that voted him into power tell him? Can there be a better case of someone bringing the name of a constituency into public ridicule than that? Or is it supposed to mean that not even the traditional authorities and the religious group of which hes a member found anything wrong with that public display of I am untouchable?

AND HERE NOW COMES THE SEKONDI-TAKORADI MCE

Let me chip in here with another Akan saying whose literal translation is that: if you persistently ignore to clear up the bush, it gets weedy. After the two examples above of public officials behaving as if they were chosen by God Himself and installed in their respective positions and as such were entitled to ride over the public without fear of ever getting punished who should be surprised about the latest episode involving the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Abdul-Mumin Issah? Using the case of our poor Nigerian-Canadian former Attorney-General of Alberta, Canada, as an example, do you think if another Nigerian or Ghanaian gets the chance to find him/herself in a similar situation he/she would behave the way Honourable Madu did?

But to be fair to all three Ghanaian officials cited here it has to be admitted that it is only thanks to the technology of the day and perhaps I should add, their own hard luck that their records are being played all over. It is certainly not the case that theyre the only ones of their kind. How many times in this country havent we heard do you know who I am?, this is an order from above or Ill change your sleeping place and youll see? Even dont the police themselves and sometimes military men in uniform slap and molest people in public and go scot-free? And this is how it has been since when some of us were kids long, long time ago. Havent we heard it before that even within the police service itself the threat of youll see where youll be transferred to has been used to intimidate subordinates?

LET NO SUPPORTERS INTERFERE IN THIS

Well, unfortunately for Honourable Abdul-Mumin Issah but fortunately for the majority of Ghanaians his case reached the President quickly before any attempt could be made to cover it up. And the President has acted swiftly by ordering for his immediate suspension pending investigations into the case. And it is the last bit of the last sentence that Im not so comfortable with. As I speak now I wouldnt be surprised if a delegation of traditional and religious leaders from Sekondi-Takoradi is already being assembled to travel to Accra to plead with the President to have mercy on their son since hes the breadwinner for a lot of people in the area and their lives would become miserable if he should lose his position as MCE.

Also dont let us forget members of his political party in his area. Their own case which theyre going to pass through the Honourable Minister for Local Government is that sacking the MCE would have terrible consequences towards the fortunes of the party in the next elections.

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, I hear that a powerful delegation from Imo State, Nigeria, is being assembled, and with assistance from the Federal Government, to prepare to fly to Canada to plead with the Prime Minister on behalf of their son for him to be reinstated as Attorney-General of Alberta.

Kwame Twumasi-Fofie

Sunyani
The Ghana Police Service has condemned the use of unrelated pictures of the Mayor of Sekondi-Takoradi Abdul-Mumin Issah in the media reportage of his ongoing court case.

A warning to the media has hence been issued after the attention of the Police was drawn to the library photograph circulating in the Ghanaian media in which a person depicted as the suspended MCE for Sekondi-Takoradi Municipal Assembly is seen bare-chested, sitting around a collection of items.

The Police wish to put on record that the photograph in question, which was featured prominently on the front page of the Chronicle newspaper of Friday, Feb 2022, had nothing whatsoever to do with the Police.

It was not taken by the Police, was not taken at any Police station and, certainly, could not have been put in circulation by the Police.

We wish to condemn the practice of people taking unrelated pictures of events and using them to create misleading impressions to the public, part of a statement issued by the Ghana Police Service reads.

The Police stress that such sensational acts which seek to cast a slur on the dignity of the person involved and also bring the name of the Ghana Police Service into disrepute should not be encouraged.

Meanwhile, the Police Professional Standard Bureau has been tasked to ensure that in line with international best practice, due process was followed in the investigation and prosecution of this case, just as is expected in all other cases.

Below is the full statement from the Ghana Police Service:
Morrison & Foerster advised SoftBank Latin America Fund in connection with a Series B funding round for Incode, a next-generation identity and authentication platform for global enterprises. The Series B funding round values the company at $1.25 billion, propelling it to unicorn status less than seven months following its Series A round.

Launched in 2019, SoftBank Latin America Fund is the largest technology fund focused exclusively on the fast-growing Latin American market. The $5 billion Fund works with a variety of companies and entrepreneurs to accelerate tech-focused innovation and define the future of Latin America.

MoFo also recently advised SoftBank Latin America Fund on investments in Pismo, which provides an all-in-one processing platform for banking, payments, and financial markets infrastructure, CRM&BONUS, a Brazilian-based platform that allows real-time control of giftback delivery to consumers, and GAIA, an e-commerce platform for the sale of furniture and design accessories in Mexico.

The MoFo deal team advising SoftBank Latin America Fund was led by Miami-based Latin America Desk co-chair Randy Bullard, together with corporate partner Juan Delgado and associate Axel Miranda.

Read more in Incodes press release.
Weather Alert

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MDT TUESDAY NIGHT FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 6000 FEET... * WHAT...Snow expected, mainly for elevations above 6000 feet. Total snow accumulations of 2-4 inches at the passes along the Montana-Idaho border, with higher amounts at higher elevations. * WHERE...Beaverhead, Gallatin and Madison Counties. * WHEN...From midnight tonight to midnight MDT Tuesday Night. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the Tuesday morning and evening commutes. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...A heavy band of snowfall may pivot through the area late tonight and early Tuesday. This band of snowfall could bring heavy snow to the valley floors. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1 or visiting the MDT Road Report website. To see a graphical representation of the degree of stress on young livestock please visit our webpage and select Local Programs then Cold Air Advisory for Newborn Livestock. &&
Press release from the Phillips County Attorney Office:

PHILLIPS COUNTY, Mont. - Grace O. Albia and Jannet Benitez Zeta have both been charged with Deceptive Election Practices in Phillips County Justice Court. The charges allege that both falsified their voter registration form on October 12, 2021 when they declared on the form that they were United States citizens. Both are citizens of the Philippines here in Montana on work visas.

After the Dodson, Montana town election in November of 2021, several residents of Dodson notified the Phillips County Clerk and Recorder that Zeta and Albia had voted in the election but were not U.S. citizens. Pursuant to state law, the Clerk and Recorder notified Zeta and Albia in December 2021 that their eligibility to vote had been challenged.

the Phillips County Sheriff conducted an investigation and determined Zeta and Albia were not U.S. citizens when they registered to vote. Zeta and Albia admitted to completing the voter registration form and acknowledged that they were not citizens. Both refused to disclose the names of any person who encouraged them to register or vote in the election. On January 3, 2022, the Clerk cancelled their voter registrations.

Zeta and Albia have entered not guilty pleas. An attorney has not been appointed to represent them. A trial date will be set in the future. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Press release from the Office of the Secretary of State:

HELENA, Mont.  According to the Phillips County Sheriffs Office, two non-citizens were arrested and received citations related to election crimes during the November 2021 municipal election. According to county election officials, the Dodson mayoral race in Phillips County was decided by only two votes.

The Secretary of States Office referred the matter to the Montana Attorney General's Office to oversee prosecution. According to the Attorney General's Office, the subjects pled not guilty at their initial appearance in Justice Court.

Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, who ran her campaign for Montana Secretary of State with an emphasis on the integrity of elections, applauded law enforcement.

Thank you to the Attorney General and all law enforcement involved for a job well done. This office is repeatedly reminded that voting violations do not exist because voting crimes are not prosecuted, said Secretary Jacobsen. As such, I will work to ensure that election law violations such as this are finally taken seriously and will continue to work to prevent them from happening in the first place.

"Our office is going to make sure they are prosecuted for these election crimes."
DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least one fisherman was killed, 190 houses were flooded and 60 tour and fishing boats were swept away by heavy rains and strong winds in Tanzania's Zanzibar, an official said on Tuesday.

Makame Khatib, the director of the Zanzibar Disaster Management Commission (ZDMC), said the fisherman died in Uroa coastal village after his boat capsized after it was hit by strong winds in the Indian Ocean.

He said the heavy rains and the strong winds hit the Zanzibar Islands on the Indian Ocean on Saturday and Sunday.

Khatib said most of the houses that were flooded were located in flood risk areas that have been prohibited for construction of houses.

Khalid Salum Mohamed, the State Minister in the Second Vice-President's Office responsible for Policy, Coordination and House of Representatives, urged people to stop building houses in flood-prone areas. 
Press release from the Montana Farm Bureau Federation:

BOZEMAN, Montana  The American Farm Bureau Federation has sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking the Department of Justice to provide an update on its investigation into the meatpacking industry. The Department of Justice began an investigation after excessive volatility in the live and fed cattle markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

With over 80% of the fed cattle market controlled by only four major packing companies, we are concerned about the control these firms have, AFBF President Zippy Duvall wrote. We look forward to hearing from the Department of Justice regarding their investigation, so we can update Farm Bureau members and assure them that adequate government oversight is being conducted in the nations cattle markets, and that the markets remain fair for businesses, farmers and American families.

In April 2020, Montana Farm Bureau, along with 26 other state Farm Bureaus, sent a letter to then-Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting his attention on two important matters: relief to cattlemen seeing increasingly volatile markets and investigating any price manipulation that may be occurring in the cattle industry. The letter resulted in President Trump calling for the Department of Justice to investigate the meatpacker pricing activity. Additionally, Secretary Perdue and the USDA expanded their existing investigation into pricing practices in the beef industry.

The fact that Montana Farm Bureau is two years into asking for additional details and results of this investigation shows not enough has been done to examine our concerns, noted MBF President Cyndi Johnson. Were pleased to see American Farm Bureau asking the DOJ for an update, and eagerly await the latest report. Its time our cattle producers have an answer.

Farm Bureau has asked for a written update on the volatility in the live and fed cattle markets within 90 days.
February 05, 2022 Canada Support Ukraine's Self-determination And Independence ... As Long As It Does As Canada Says On January 28 I wrote in Why Washington Will Soon Dump Ukraine's President Zelensky: [T]he U.S. is still claiming that Russia intends to attack the Ukraine any moment now. But the Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky publicly disagrees with that false evaluation. He sees no war coming and wants to avoid one as much as possible. That might mean that he has to be removed before a war can be launched.

...

As Zelensky is not willing to do Washington's bidding he must be pushed out. Zelensky is in a weak position. His poll numbers are way down. The U.S. has him by the balls over his offshore accounts and money laundering. His attempt to arrest former president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, who recently returned to the Ukraine, was stopped by the U.S. embassy. That the U.S. wanted Poroshenko back in the Ukraine in the first place may point to a replacement strategy. The claim that Zelensky 'was stopped by the U.S. embassy' from arresting Poroshenko was not supported by any of the links I had provided in the piece. I had simply concluded that myself from the previous developments of the events in Kiev. The conclusion was wrong. It wasn't the United States which prevented Zelensky from arresting Poroshenko. It was Canada. From today's Globe & Mail: Canada moved to stop arrest of former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, sources say Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland made personal appeals to persuade the Ukrainian government to not arrest and imprison former president Petro Poroshenko when he returned home in mid-January, two sources in Ottawa and one in Kyiv say. After the Canadian intervention, the Ukrainian leadership decided to de-escalate a burgeoning internal crisis at a time of heightened tension with Russia, the Ukrainian source told The Globe and Mail.

...

Before Mr. Poroshenko planned to return to Kyiv on Jan. 17, the Canadian sources said they learned that President Volodymyr Zelensky was going to order the arrest of the former leader on charges of treason and financing terrorism. Mr. Poroshenko returned to face the charges and appeared in court but a judge ruled that the former president would not be detained as he awaits trial. The Ukrainian source says Mr. Zelensky, who appoints the prosecutor-general, changed his mind after a direct appeal from the Prime Minister and what turned out to be a far more important call from Ms. Freeland, the Deputy Prime Minister, to the Presidents top adviser.

...

Ms. Freeland, who speaks fluent Ukrainian and has been a strong external voice for Ukraines independence from Moscow, spoke to Mr. Zelenskys chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in the days before Mr. Poroshenko was to fly to Kyiv. The sources in Ottawa and Kyiv say she warned that the arrest of the former president would send an antidemocratic message to the world and undermine efforts to bolster the country in the face of a threatened Russian invasion. One of the Canadian sources said Ms. Freeland spoke about the importance of not undermining Ukrainian national unity as the country faces the threat of Russian aggression. The source in Kyiv credits Ms. Freeland as the key intervention that changed the Ukrainian governments plan to arrest the former president. The other Canadian source said the Prime Minister made a similar appeal to Mr. Zelensky, ..

...

The blunt message from Ms. Freeland, the source said, and the more diplomatic appeal from the Prime Minister got through to Mr. Zelensky. The source stressed that other Western officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later delivered similar messages. Ms. Freeland, whose mother helped draft Ukraines constitution, is a highly respected voice in Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin banned her from travelling to Russia after she became one of the leading Canadian voices calling for economic sanctions after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Much of the drama about Mr. Poroshenko unfolded while Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly was in Kyiv on an official visit. The Ukrainian source says Ms. Joly also made the case with her counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. Chrystia Freeland is one of those children of European emigrants who still carry their families relations with their former country with them. Canadian governments, as well as U.S. governments, include many people who try to use their new country's powers to favor this or that faction in their heritage country. Chrystia Freeland's heritage in that regard is - let's say 'interesting': There have been a number of articles circulating about Freelands Ukrainian grandfather Michael Chomiak and his ties to the Nazis. Some of those articles have appeared on pro-Russian websites. Freeland, who strongly supports Ukraine and is a major critic of Russias seizure of the Crimea, suggested to journalists that the articles about her grandfather were part of a Russian disinformation campaign. (The Russian government sees Freeland as virulently anti-Russian and has placed her on their travel ban).

...

Well it actually isnt so outlandish. Michael Chomiak was a Nazi collaborator. What are the sources for the information that Freelands grandfather worked for the Nazis? For starters, The Ukraine Archival Records held by the Province of Alberta. It has a whole file on Chomiak, including his own details about his days editing the newspaper Krakivski Visti. Chomiak noted he edited the paper first in Crakow (Cracow), Poland and then in Vienna. The reason he edited the paper in Vienna was because he had to flee with his Nazis colleagues as the Russians advanced into Poland. (The Russians tended to execute collaborators as well as SS members).

...

So what was the Krakivski Visti? It, like a number of publications, had been seized by the Nazis from their Jewish owners and then operated as propaganda outlets. Here is what the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum has to say about Krakivski Visti and a similar newspaper, Lvivski Visti, both publications associated with the Nazi regime. The editorial boards carried out a policy of soliciting Ukrainian support for the German cause, the Holocaust Museum noted. It was typical, within these publications, to not to give any accounts of the German genocidal policy, and largely, the editions resorted to silencing the mass killing of Jews in Galicia. Ukrainian newspapers presented the Jewish Question in light of the official Nazi propaganda, corollary to the Jewish world conspiracy. In 1943 and 1944, both Lvivski Visti and Krakivski Visti hailed the German-approved formation of the 14th Waffen SS Division Halychyna, composed of Ukrainian volunteers, the museum pointed out. So much for Russian disinformation. John Helmer has a bit more to say about Ms. Freeland's grandfather who most likely was actually a German trained double agent. Ms. Freeland has been very fond of the 2014 coup in Kiev and especially of those Gallican (west-Ukrainian) Nazis who were the storm troopers during that event. (The 14th Waffen SS Division Halychyna is also known as the 1st Galician Division. Freeland's grandfather hails from Lemberg aka Lvov aka Lviv as it is known today) The Ukrainian Nazis who fought the police during the coup are the children and grand children of those who fought for the Nazis against the Soviet Union. The same people protected, just like Freeland, Petro Poroshenko when he recently returned to the Ukraine: Mr. Poroshenkos supporters gathered at Kyivs Boryspil airport ahead of his arrival. There was talk that allies of Mr. Poroshenko  who was a key player in Ukraines 2014 revolution  would move against Mr. Zelensky if the former president was jailed. The crowd followed Mr. Poroshenko to the Pechersky Court in central Kyiv, and staged a vigil outside. Supporters told The Globe that they were ready to launch another revolution if the court ordered Mr. Poroshenko into custody. The U.S. and Canada are all for the Ukraines right to self-determination and independence. Unless its dully elected president and its prosecutor general try to arrest a crook that the U.S. and Canada favor for his Nazi connections. Posted by b on February 5, 2022 at 18:13 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 




ZHONGSHAN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. expat living in south China's city of Zhongshan has explored some traditional culture and customs to celebrate Chinese New Year. Follow him to find out what the festival means for Chinese people.







Produced by Xinhua Global Service




Bozeman, MT (59715)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 58F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low around 40F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Muskogee, OK (74401)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch..

Tonight

Occasional thunderstorms - possibly severe. Damaging winds and large hail with some storms. Low 49F. SSW winds shifting to NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Zandile Christmas Mafe (Front), the Cape Town man who is suspected of setting South African Parliament alight in January, appears at Cape Town Regional Court in Cape Town, South Africa, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Photo by Xabiso Mkhabela/Xinhua)

CAPE TOWN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cape Town Regional Court on Friday denied the bail application of Zandile Christmas Mafe, the Cape Town man who is suspected of setting South African Parliament alight in January.

The 49-year-old, who is charged with housebreaking with intent to commit terrorism and arson, terrorism, arson and theft, could face life imprisonment if convicted.

The suspect was arrested on Jan. 2 after the fire broke out in the morning, with suspected stealing property after he gained entry to the parliamentary precinct without authorization.

The fire lasted more than 70 hours, severely damaging the building of the National Assembly (NA), the lower house, and completely burned down the NA chamber. It also caused extensive damage to the century-old Old Assembly building that houses the National Council of Provinces, the upper house.

Mafe allegedly used boxes, paper and petrol worth 10 rands (about 0.64 U.S. dollars) to start the fire, according to the state prosecutor. 

Zandile Christmas Mafe, the Cape Town man who is suspected of setting South African Parliament alight in January, appears at Cape Town Regional Court in Cape Town, South Africa, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Photo by Xabiso Mkhabela/Xinhua)
Roundabouts on Main Street, more downtown places to live and boutique hotels were among the ideas a group of designers and architects have for downtown Conway.

After a series of public meetings to gather opinions from local stakeholders, an outside planning team presented a draft master plan for the downtown and riverfront district Friday afternoon.

Conways downtown plan was created five years ago, and the citys administration believes it's time for an update  which prompted this weeks charrette to bring ideas to the city.

Conway paid an outside planning team  made up of consultants from Boudreaux Group, Arnett Muldrow & Associates, Toole Design and Mahan Rykiel Associates  $50,000 to update the plan, with the purposes of guiding further public improvements, as well as serving as a continued catalyst for private investment for the next five years, according to city officials.

What we heard and what we believe is that its all about converging here, Irene Dumas Tyson, master planner with the Boudreaux Group, said Friday. You can continue to build upon your historic resources and build new architecture. Its going to be a challenge to balance all of that, but we know you can do it because you have been doing it.

As Tyson addressed a crowd of stakeholders and city employees Friday, she complimented the citys bounty of local businesses, decorations during the holidays and its new mural.

Conway is historical, she said. Its got the river. In the endyou want people to enjoy living here. Youre in an amazing place as a city. Were looking forward to wrapping this up and seeing what comes [going] forward.

Some of the conflicts Tyson named included traffic, people versus cars, and historic versus new development. Tyson also added that the city could do better with signage.

Tripp Muldrow, a partner with Arnett Muldrow based in Greenville, South Carolina, called downtown a retail powerhouse, and added that the city could benefit from boutique hotels, a higher education center and more places for people to reside.
Are you my new neighbor? The whisper of a voice floated on the breeze across our shaded courtyard. I was frustratedly fumbling with my keys and fighting to balance a stack of paperwork in the perpetual Dallas wind.

Startled, I turned to find the source of the question that had echoed up to me from the ground level. There, complete with a pastel flannel nightgown and thick-lensed glasses, was Mary Lou.

Thinking that she needed assistance, I dropped my papers, pen and phone on the doormat and bumbled back downstairs to offer whatever help I could. As I approached the front door of the townhouse I had assumed was vacant, I noticed she was smiling.

She offered me a weathered hand and repeated her question. No maam, I answered. Im not new. I have lived here about a year. Assuming that perhaps she was new to the neighborhood, I followed up with, When did you move in?

1965, she said.

Oh, then, yes! In that case, I am your new neighbor.

We both laughed. Mary Lou never knew it, but she was an answer to prayer.

In the weeks prior, I had reached out to a local Dallas pastor regarding an internship that I was pursuing for my seminary program. He had asked me a typical diagnostic question that every seminary student is asked: What area of pastoral ministry would you like to grow in? The words blurted out of my mouth as if I had been holding them in for decades, Visitation. I want to learn how to do effective pastoral visitation. He looked at me with wide, perplexed eyes. It turns out that they didnt do much of that, but they would work something out.

I had begun praying that the Lord would provide people in my life to whom I could minister, that he would navigate my steps so that I would learn how to visit well with people. When Mary Lou called out to me, the stack of papers I was holding was the paperwork for my internship.

In a matter of months, Mary Lou invited me into her home regularly which truly was like stepping back in time with her. Amid her 1960s era decor, Mary Lou opened up about her life -- all 94 years of it. She told me about growing up in North Texas, living on a farm and being bathed in a #3 washtub. She spoke of losing her father to tuberculosis as a young girl and being resented by her mother. Having worked as a civilian office administrator for the Army overseas to fund her brothers education, she proudly showcased his portrait in his Texas A&M Aggie cadet uniform. Next to him stood the picture of her late husband, Bob, in his Air Force blues.
Although some groups have resumed meetings, others schedules may have changed because of pandemic restrictions. It is recommended you contact the group in advance to verify details. Any changes in meeting schedules can be emailed to JJCsocial@myjournalcourier.com.



ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

217-370-4002

Jacksonville locations:

 First Baptist Church, 1701 Mound Ave. Wheelchair-accessible.

 Club HOW, 638 S. Church St.

Monday

 Closed discussion, 7:30 a.m. at Club HOW.

 Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW.

 Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church. Bowen Group.

 Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW.

Tuesday

 Open discussion, noon at Club HOW.

 Womens open meeting, 5:30 p.m., First Christian Churchs Fireside Room.

 VIRGINIA: Closed discussion, 7 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, Main and Washington streets.

 ROODHOUSE: Closed discussion, 12-step/12 traditions, 8 p.m. at Grace Center, 114 W. Palm St.

Wednesday

 Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW.

 Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW.

Thursday

 Closed discussion, 7:30 a.m. at Club HOW.

 Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW.

 Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Newcomers Group.

Friday

 Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. TGIF Group.

 Closed discussion, 5:15 p.m., Big Book Study at Club HOW.

 VIRGINIA: Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at United Methodist Church, 401 E. Broadway Ave.

Saturday

 Open speaker, 8 p.m. at Club HOW.

 Open meeting, noon at Club HOW.

Sunday

 Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. 12 & 12 Group.



 Closed discussion, 10 a.m. at Club HOW. (Second Sunday is open)

 SPRINGFIELD: AA for Women, 10 a.m. at Discovery Club, 313 W. Cook St.



AL-ANON

Meetings are nonsmoking and open to anyone. The only requirement is that there be a problem of alcohol with a loved one or friend. 217-248-6434.

Wednesday

 Al-Anon, 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Centenary United Methodist Church, 331 E. State St. (use Morgan Street entrance).



NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS

All meetings are nonsmoking. Not affiliated with any religious organization.

Jacksonville locations:

 First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. (enter through far southeast door). 217-883-1975.

 Lutheran Church for the Deaf, 104 Finley St. (enter through back door). 217-883-1975.

Wednesday

 Open discussion group, 8 p.m. at Lutheran Church for the Deaf.

Friday

 Open discussion group, 7:30 p.m. at First Christian Church.



OTHER MEETINGS

Monday

 Hope Lives On support group for mothers who have lost children to suicide, 7 p.m., Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, 155 W. Morton Ave.

 Addicts Victorious, 7-8 p.m. at Faith Tabernacle, 571 Sandusky St. Use side entrance to church hall.

 PITTSFIELD: Addicts Victorious, 7-8 p.m. in the basement of Subway in Pittsfield. 1-800-323-1388.



Tuesday

 American Legion Post 279, first Tuesday of every month, 7 p.m. at 903 W. Superior Ave.



Wednesday

 Breastfeeding support group, 6 p.m., Passavant Area Hospital, Meeting Room 2.

 ROODHOUSE: Women with Hearts of Love (WWHOL), 6-7 p.m. at House of Restoration, 208 W. Franklin St. 217-602-1670.





Thursday

 Jacksonville Area Chess Club, 6-9 p.m. at Jacksonville Public Library. 217-370-0882.



 St. Johns UCC Grief Group, 7 p.m., St. Johns UCC, 216 North St., Brighton. Free | Support group for those grieving the loss of a loved one.

 Jacksonville Kiwanis Club, noon at Hamiltons.

 WHITE HALL: Addicts Victorious, teens 5:30-6:30 p.m.; adults 7-8 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of New Life Church, 626 Curtis St.



Friday

 Jacksonville Rotary Club, noon at Hamiltons.

 PITTSFIELD: Addicts Victorious, 6 p.m. at Assembly of God, 575 Piper St. 800-323-1388.



Saturday

 Jacksonville Amateur Radio Societys Net, 9 p.m. Transmitted on K9JX repeater. K9JX.com.
This week brought a major winter storm to much of Illinois, but nothing compared to the Year of the Deep Snow.

That fateful winter  also called the Big Snow  in 1830-31 was so severe that it became a defining moment in the early history of Illinois.

Almost 200 years later, it remains a standard by which other winters are judged in the state.

The pioneers who lived through the Deep Snow never forgot the experience, said Samuel Wheeler, a research historian from Springfield. It was almost a badge of honor to say you lived through it. They measured time based on that winter.

Remarkably, fall 1830 was unseasonably warm, as were several previous winters.

But winter 1830-31 packed a wallop. On Dec. 20, a cold rain began to fall and lasted for four days, sometimes changing to an icy mix. On Christmas Eve, conditions began to deteriorate.

Accounts of that winter vary, but most agree the snow never stopped for as many as 60 days. Some reported only two sunny days during that stretch as snow piled over 3 feet deep. Coupled with high winds, blizzard-like conditions became routine.

The snow layer was topped by freezing rain that left a hearty crust on the ice. John Buckles, a Logan County settler, remembered the crust as nearly, but not quite, strong enough to bear a man.

The snow beneath was so deep that men actually became trapped when the crust broke. They became easy prey for wolves, which also feasted on deer and other game that struggled in the suffocating snow.

The trapped animals, though, also became easy marks for hunters, who desperately scrambled for sustenance. Thousands of deer, wild hogs and other game were lost in the horrid conditions. Enormous numbers of cattle and other stock were lost, along with herds of buffalo.

The massive loss of game was a serious threat to the settlers sources of food. Some farmers tried to dig through the snow to search for corn that was left unharvested.

Those who managed to stay atop the crust faced dangerously cold temperatures.

In Jacksonville, Julian Sturtevant, a transplanted New Englander, wrote that the for not less than two weeks, the mercury in the thermometer tube was not, on any one morning, higher than 12 degrees below zero.

While those like Sturtevant with Northeastern backgrounds were used to harsh winters, Wheeler notes that other settlers were less prepared.

In central Illinois, a lot of settlers were from Kentucky and Tennessee, he remarked. They didnt know how to deal with that kind of winter. If they had just arrived in Illinois, they may not have had an adequate stockpile of supplies.

Weather records from Fort Armstrong in Rock Island show that only five days between Dec. 14 and Feb. 13 did not have freezing temperatures. There were six straight days with lows below zero during the first part of February. The daily weather report on Jan. 17 listed 2 feet of snow on a level.

In drafty log cabins across the state, snow blew in through cracks, under doors and down chimneys. Many settlers awoke not only to find their hearths extinguished, but also a coating of white covering their beds.

At their homestead near Decatur, the family of Abraham Lincoln also was affected by the Deep Snow. Lincolns father, Thomas, had moved to Macon County from Indiana in 1830, found it not to his liking, and intended to leave. However, the winter conditions delayed their departure and dramatically reduced their food supply.

Abraham, then 21, worked as best he could that winter, remembering that he produced a thousand rails for a neighbor, William Warnick. Young Lincoln periodically visited the Warnick cabin, 2 miles away across the Sangamon River, during the Deep Snow to ask for spare food for his family.

On one trip, Lincoln broke through the ice on the river, soaking his feet in frigid water. Mrs. Warnick treated his frozen feet by reportedly rubbing them in a concoction of goose grease, skunk oil, and rabbit fat. The Lincoln family left Macon County after that season, settling near Charleston.

The winter finally broke in late February, with a high at Fort Armstrong on Feb. 21 of 39 degrees. Poor weather continued for an extended period, as summer 1831 brought deluges of rain. That fall, a hard frost in mid-September damaged the corn in the fields, reducing its value. Winter 1831-32 also was harsh, though nothing like the Deep Snow.

There are no definite casualty figures from that Deep Snow winter. However, there are multiple accounts of bodies uncovered by the spring thaw in 1831 after being lost in the blowing snow months before.

Decades later, settlers still recalled the horrors of that winter.

Wheeler said that, in 1859, the formation of an Old Settlers Society in Sangamon County was based on the Winter of the Deep Snow.

To join the society, you had to have been present for the Deep Snow, he said. Even that many years later, they were still affected by it. It was a shared experience and they never forgot it.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday that he "had no right to overturn" the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The remarks were made during an event in Florida in response to former U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that Pence could have changed the outcome of the White House race.

"President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election," Pence said. "The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone."

"Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election," the Republican from Indiana added.

Trump has attacked Pence for certifying the Electoral College results of the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, in which Democrat Joe Biden won.

Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol and interrupted the process that day, leading to his second impeachment by the House of Representatives shortly before he stepped down.

A House select committee is investigating the Capitol riot.

The Republican National Committee on Friday voted formally to censure Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the only two Republicans in the Jan. 6 committee, over their participation in the probe. 
Russ Dillingham/AP

A mid-week winter storm that left Illinois blanketed by 8 inches to a foot of snow in some areas has moved along, but transportation officials caution it still will take a few days for road conditions to improve.

Removing the snow  and ice south of Interstate 70  means road crews still will be out this weekend in some locations, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. A few areas also are dealing with blowing and drifting snow and slick spots.
What's new at Jacksonville Public Library:

"A Net for Small Fishes" by Lucy Jago: When Frances Howard, the beautiful but maltreated wife of the Earl of Essex, meets talented Anne Turner, the two strike up an unlikely yet powerful friendship. Frances makes Anne her confidante, entangling her in a glamorous and extravagant world riven with murderous rivalries.

Adult Nonfiction

"The Embroidery Handbook" by Dhara Shah: Making beautiful embroidered designs is easy with this invaluable guide  you wont believe what you can create with just 15 stitches! Embroidery expert Dhara Shah provides you with simple-to-follow tutorials and step-by-step photographs to help you get the hang of each one, no matter your skill level.

DVD

"Profile": Inspired by true events, this film follows an undercover British journalist on her quest to bait and expose a terrorist recruiter through social media, while trying not to be sucked in by her recruiter and lured into becoming a militant extremist herself.

Young Adult Fiction

"A Snake Falls to Earth" by Darcie Little Badger: Using traditional Lipian Apache storytelling structure, Little Badger weaves a story of monsters, magic and family. Nina is a Lipian girl who has always believed in the legends of her people. Oli is one of those legends  a cottonmouth shapeshifter from the spirit land. Neither ever expects to meet the other, until a catastrophe on Earth and a devastating sickness force their worlds to collide.

Juvenile Fiction

"Strangeville School is Totally Normal" by Darcy Miller: As the newest kid at Strangeville Middle School, Harvey Hill just wants to fit in. As he soon discovers, though, his new school is anything but normal. Something lurks in the water fountain while a giant rat rampages through the school. Harveys new friend, school newspaper reporter Stella Cho, goes missing while trying to solve the mystery of the third-floor supply closet. Harvey realizes he may just have to embrace what makes him unique to save his new school.

Did you know?

The library is hosting a Craft Class for Adults at noon Sunday and 6:30 p.m. Monday. Participants will learn how to make a sugar scrub and a Valentine's Day card. Call 217-243-5435 to register for one of the two classes.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday set a 25-year timeline to cut in half the cancer death rate, a lofty but perhaps unrealistic goal that is meant to supercharge an initiative started when he was vice president to eradicate the disease that killed his older son, Beau.

This can really be an American moment to prove to ourselves and, quite frankly, the world that we can do really big things, Biden told a crowd of lawmakers, administration officials, researchers and others at the White House.

The new push, which comes without any new money, arrives more than 50 years after President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act and launched a war on the disease. The benefits of that act were also seen in areas outside of cancer, such as the vaccines developed to combat the coronavirus.

Personal connections to the fight against cancer were evident throughout the White House event. First lady Jill Biden spoke of how the death of Beau from brain cancer in 2015 had stolen our joy and left us broken in our grief. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke of how her mother's work as a cancer researcher had helped save women's lives.

The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 1.9 million new cancer cases and 609,360 cancer deaths this year. Biden is essentially aiming to to save more than 300,000 lives annually, which the administration believes is possible because the age-adjusted death rate has already fallen by roughly 25% over the past two decades. The cancer death rate is currently 146 per 100,000 people, compared with nearly 200 in 2000.

Otis Brawley, a professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University and former chief medical and scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, said advances in medical research have led to a better understanding of the biology of cancer and will do even more for us in the future.

The progress in cancer research is slow  some of the fruits of Nixons 1971 declaration were only harvested with the development of the COVID mRNA vaccine," he said.

Looking forward, better public health practices, reducing cancer risks such as smoking and informing people about the best cancer research could mean fewer deaths. Brawley said one of his studies found that 130,000 people die annually from cancer because they do not benefit from known science.

Barron Lerner, a professor of medicine and population health at New York University Langone Health, said hyperbolic goals" can help draw public attention to the problem but achieving the 50% reduction is extremely unlikely.

Similar past efforts like the War on Cancer have made gains, but they have been more modest, said Lerner, author of The Breast Cancer Wars. Cancer is many diseases and requires very complicated research. Translating these advances to the clinical setting is never easy either.

There were no new funding commitments announced. But the administration believes it can curb cancer through efforts such as increased screening and removing inequities in treatment. The coronavirus pandemic has consumed health care resources and caused people to miss more than 9.5 million cancer screenings.

President Barack Obama announced the cancer moonshot program during his final full year in office and secured $1.8 billion over seven years to fund research. Obama designated Biden, then his vice president, to run mission control," a recognition of Biden's grief as a parent and desire to do something about it. Biden wrote in his memoir Promise Me, Dad that he chose not to run for president in 2016 primarily because of Beau's death.

When Biden announced he was not seeking the Democratic nomination in 2016, he said his big regret was that "I would have wanted to have been the president who ended cancer, because its possible.

The effort fell somewhat out of the public focus when Donald Trump became president, though Trump, a Republican, proposed $500 million over 10 years for pediatric cancer research in his 2019 State of the Union address.

Biden continued the work as a private citizen by establishing the Biden Cancer Initiative to help organize resources to improve cancer care. When Biden did seek the presidency in 2020, he had tears in his eyes as he said in an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe" that Beau should be running for president, not me.

Beau Biden's doctor was in the audience and was cited by the president.

Doctor, I love you, Biden said. "The whole family loves you."
When President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, he urged all Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.

Its true  Black Americans have excelled in every area of endeavor, from arts and culture to sports and entertainment to everyday living and thriving in this country.

Whats often overlooked in celebrating these accomplishments, however, is the price weve paid to reach our aims. Unbelievable struggles were necessary just to live, work, and vote, never mind to excel.

These accomplishments have mostly been hard won, if not deadly. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., like others before and since, lost his life in the fight for civil rights.

The late Congressman John Lewis, who marched with King in Selma, Alabama, will be remembered as a patriot who fought for voting rights. But it took decades of Black voter disenfranchisement and violent attacks on activists  including Lewis himself  before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.

Black history has shown that whats been gained can too easily be lost. Even now, Black Americans are still at risk of having their votes suppressed. Some 43 states proposed over 250 laws restricting voting last year alone, most of which disproportionately impacted Black voters.

Meanwhile Black Americans and their achievements continue to be challenged and underrepresented across society  from films and media to colleges and universities.

Affirmative action, designed to eliminate racial inequities in higher education and other institutions, is now under fire. As the conservative Supreme Court hears two cases against policies meant to limit racial biases in colleges and universities, the legacy of Black history is once again in jeopardy.

In todays charged political climate, many white Americans have either forgotten our history or simply chosen not to acknowledge it in its entirety. As politicians and school boards across the nation try to ban teaching critical race theory in classrooms, this Black History Month seems especially significant  not only for Black Americans, but for white Americans too.

America tends to whitewash Black History Month with performative gestures like feel-good TV specials and brand campaigns that make our history more convenient and palatable.

But Black History Month isnt just about what weve done for our country  its about where the resolve to do those things came from. The full history of our strength and resilience begins with atrocities like slavery, lynching, segregation, and other acts of violence, and it is our full history that must be remembered.

These truths make some white Americans uncomfortable  which some would argue is the real reason behind the critical race theory debate. But if we cant have an honest reckoning about the obstacles white supremacy put in the way of Black Americans, how can we as a country overcome them?

President Biden began his own address on Black History Month this year by saying that it serves as both a celebration and a powerful reminder that Black history is American history. He continued, Black stories are essential to the ongoing story of America  our faults, our struggles, our progress, and our aspirations.

As we strive to become a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive nation, I couldnt agree more.

So, in preparation for a months worth of tributes honoring Black history, I implore white Americans to learn our entire history and their role in it  the good, the bad, and the ugly  so they can be more aware and better allies.

Now isnt the time to change our curriculum and throw away our books. May we instead seize the opportunity to honor Black Americans, as President Ford urged  from past to present.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with visiting Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday met with visiting Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

Noting that Ecuador is China's important cooperation partner in Latin America, Li said China attaches great importance to developing ties with Ecuador, and is willing to work with Ecuador to strengthen strategic communication, deepen pragmatic cooperation and advance bilateral ties to a higher level.

China stands ready to deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, energy, finance and infrastructure, and continue to provide support to Ecuador within its capacity in fighting the pandemic, he said.

Li called on the two sides to speed up negotiations on the free trade agreement so as to inject new impetus into bilateral cooperation and contribute to ensuring the stability of the global industrial and supply chains.

Lasso congratulated China on the splendid opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, and expressed appreciation for China's support in his country's COVID-19 vaccination.

Ecuador firmly supports the one-China principle and hopes to strengthen bilateral cooperation in political, economic, trade and financial fields, he said.

Ecuador is willing to launch negotiations with China on the free trade agreement, jointly safeguard multilateralism, further consolidate bilateral relations and make positive contributions to safeguarding world peace, he said. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with visiting Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
Mariposa Public Health reminder to answer contact tracing calls View Photo

Tuolumne County Public Health reports 68 new Covid-19 community cases, active community cases decreased 79 to 440 including 12 people who are hospitalized. There are six new inmate cases since Thursday. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports 450 active inmate cases down from 533 yesterday. The Sierra Conservation Center has the second most Covid cases out of all the prisons in California. There have been 2,286 inmate cases, the prisons inmate population is 3,009.

The newly reported community cases include 8 cases age 17 or younger and 18 cases age 60 or older. The new Covid cases demographics: five girls, eight boys age 11 or younger, two girls and two boys age 12 to 17, four women and three men age 18 to 29, five women and three men in their 30s, five women and four men in their 40s, three woman and two men in their 50s,12 women and four men in their 60s, three women and one man in their 70s, and two women in their 80s.

Adventist Health Sonora is hosting a COVID-19 Pfizer vaccination clinic for children ages 5-11 only, happening this Friday, Feb. 4 from 3-6 p.m. at the hospital. They note to enter the hospital through the associate entrance off of Guzzi Lane and follow signs for the vaccination clinic.

The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County decreased to 108.6 from 113.1 per 100,000 population. The case rate reached a high of 174.8 on January 24th. A total of 145 were released from isolation in all 9,313 have been released from isolation and 61% of the population eligible to get vaccinated has been vaccinated.

The state reports the 14-day average for Covid-19 hospitalized patients decreased to 18. The state reports two ICU beds available in Tuolumne County out of six. Vaccination details per case are no longer reported, the state vaccination trends are here.

If you receive a positive test result, you will likely receive a text from a Virtual Agent to make contact and provide some information on what to do next. You can help slow the spread of COVID-19 by responding to texts, calls, or emails, and self-isolating when you have symptoms or a positive test result. Also, notify any close contacts youve had from 2 days before you became ill or got tested. Any close contacts should follow current quarantine guidance and get tested 3-5 days after exposure. If you are at high risk of severe disease or hospitalization, you can contact your doctor to discuss potential treatment options. If you are not symptomatic, have not tested positive for COVID-19 recently, and are not in quarantine, get vaccinated or boosted.

Calaveras County Public Health reports 65 new cases since Thursday, February 3. There are 22 fewer active cases for a total of 103 active cases including three Covid hospitalizations. Calaveras reports positive cases age 17 and under remain at 1,300 or more, and cases age 65 and older remain at 1,100 or more, specific numbers are no longer provided. There are 87 more counted as recovered for a total of 6,516 and 56.62% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated in the county. According to the state, Calaveras 14-day average for Covid hospitalizations decreased to four and there are five ICU beds available.

Mariposa County Health & Human Services officials provided a January overview stating, Our January COVID-19 data is staggering. In the month of January they report 911 cases and note not all home tests were reported and for comparison, it took Mariposa the first 18 months of the pandemic to record the first 911 cases. The age group with the largest number of cases was 12 to 17-year-olds with 160 total cases. Other age groups with high numbers include 30  39 years old with 131 cases,18  29 years old with 121 cases, and 50  59 years old with 115 cases. Due to the strains on both Mariposa case investigations and hospitals, they expect there are unreported hospitalizations but confirmed eight hospitalizations in community members ranging from 28 to 84 years old. Six of those remain hospitalized, one has recovered, and two died. They do note, some good news this Friday  case rates are decreasing! We are starting to see a reduction in the cases each day and hope to soon see those decreases in hospitalizations and deaths. We do ask that you stay vigilant to help these downward trends continue. Have a safe and happy weekend!

COVID-19 Testing Free tests can be ordered at covidtests.gov or at usps.com/covidtest. The first tests will ship by the end of January. Tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering through the U.S. Postal Service. USPS reports shipping times of 1-3 days for its first-class package service in the continental United States. The White House emphasized that the website is in beta testing when it made tests available for ordering for the first time today.

Public health recommends scheduling an appointment to get tested 5 days after possible exposure and if you are having any symptoms, to get tested right away. The Tuolumne County State testing site schedule is 7 days a week from 7 AM to 7 PM at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds and will be open on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Monday, January 17th. Appointments can be made at www.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123. Testing is also available at pharmacies, at Rapid Care, and the hospital emergency department if you are experiencing any symptoms, or contact your healthcare provider. More details are here.

COVID-19 Vaccine The United States Food and Drug Administration has given full approval for the use of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine for individuals 18 years of age and older. FDA approval information can be viewed here: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-takes-key-action-approving-second-covid-19-vaccine and a statement from the California Department of Public Health can be viewed here: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR22-023.aspx

The CDC recommends people receive a booster shot if they completed a Pfizer series at least five months ago, or the Moderna series at least six months ago, or a J&J vaccine at least two months ago. Vaccine appointments for children ages 5 to 11 can also be made through myturn.ca.gov, or by calling 833-422-4255, or through local pharmacies, more details are here. For ways to manage a fear of needles or a phobia and help others with it, view the CDCs information guide here. Learn more about self-care strategies by visiting namica.org

County

Date

New

Active (Hospital)

Total 2022 All Cases (All Deaths) Amador 1/31 242 425 (16) 1,273 5,439

(64) Calaveras 2/4 65 103 (3) 2,085 6,720

(101) Mariposa 2/4 11 84 (16) 865 2,728

(20) Mono 2/4 17 N/A 931 2,904

(8) Stanislaus 2/4 542 8,930 (225) 29,488 113,862

(1,565) Tuolumne 2/4 74 440 (12) 4,236 12,130 (163) Reported cases at end of 2021 and 2020
Arrest scene on Stockton Street in Sonora View Photo

Sonora, CA  Tuolumne Sheriffs officials report a traffic stop tripped up an alleged Sonora drug dealer who was found to have fentanyl on him.

A Chevy Tahoe traveling along Stockton Street around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Sonora grabbed the attention of a deputy who spotted multiple vehicle code violations. Requesting record checks of the three vehicles occupants, the deputy discovered the driver, 55-year-old Janet Weissbeck, had a misdemeanor warrant for her arrest while another passenger was on parole.

A pouch hidden inside a sock of passenger, 59-year-old Richard Garris, turned up four grams of methamphetamine, a small bag containing about three grams of heroin, nearly one gram of fentanyl, and empty bags for packaging, according to sheriffs spokesperson Ashley Boujikian. Also uncovered were a scale and text messages and statements from Garris on his cell phone that showed he was in possession of the drugs with the intent to sell them, detailed Boujikian. Additionally, Weissbeck had meth and 9mm ammunition on her, which as a felon she is not allowed to have.

Garris and Weissbeck were arrested and both placed on $10,000 bail each.
Seized handgun found inside pickup View Photos

Pioneer, CA  An Amador Sheriffs Deputy pulled over a vehicle in Pioneer and found a loaded handgun in it.

While patrolling in the area of Pioneer Creek Road recently, a deputy noticed a passing Chevrolet Silverado with registration tags that expired over two years. The deputy followed the pickup and with lights flashing conducted a traffic stop near Schaefer Ranch Road.

During a search of the truck, a loaded Sig Sauer handgun, as pictured in the image box after deputies had pulled out the round in the chamber and magazine, was discovered Further investigation proved that the gun had been stolen. Additionally, uncovered in the pickup were suspected methamphetamine and hypodermic needles.

The driver, 49-year-old John Westfall III, was arrested without incident for various firearm and drug-related charges.
PLAINVIEW  Dr. Kenneth Mattox, a longtime surgeon and hospital chief in Houston, and his wife June will be recognized as Wayland Baptist Universitys 2021 Distinguished Alumni Benefactor Award winners during a Feb. 18 banquet held as part of the WBU Homecoming celebration in Plainview.

The Mattoxes were early major donors to the Impact 2020 Campaign and specifically to the School of Mathematics and Sciences project in which the Moody Science Building will receive a new laboratory addition and interior updates and renovations. Their gift will result in the school being renamed after Dr. Mattox, a 1960 graduate who distinguished himself as an expert trauma surgeon and served as Chief of Staff at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston for more than 40 years before partially retiring.

A native of Clovis, Dr. Mattox has received numerous recognitions and awards throughout the years. He is a distinguished Service Professor of the Micheal E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. He has been a visiting professor or consultant at more than 800 medical schools, hospitals or health care systems. He is a member of 30 professional organizations, is past president of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, secretary-treasurer of the DeBakey International Surgical Society, past president of the Houston Surgical Society and the Texas Surgical Society.

He has been listed in Best Doctors in America and Best Doctors in Houston and has received several distinguished surgeon awards. He has written more than 15 books, 600 scientific articles and "about 1,000 abstracts," and has a ground-breaking cardiac surgical procedure named after him, the Mattox Maneuver.

Through it all, wife June has been his constant supporter, and the Mattoxes supported the campaign together out of gratitude to Wayland for being the place of his humble beginnings. An unveiling of the naming and groundbreaking for the Moody addition is slated for 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, as part of homecoming.

We are beyond proud to have a physician of the caliber of Dr. Kenneth Mattox in our alumni family and know that his success has the ability to inspire generations of Wayland science majors to accomplish big things, said Teresa Young, director of alumni services. His career has certainly been distinguished but we are also very honored to recognize his and Junes financial support that makes this amazing project possible.

The Blue and Gold Banquet is set for 6 p.m. on Friday on the Plainview campus. It is open to alumni and friends for $15 per person, which includes a barbecue dinner. Besides the Mattoxes, other honorees include Dr. Nelson Hayashida, professor and chaplain; Dr. Glenda Payas, retired dentist; Dr, Emily Smith, epidemiologist and researcher; Gabe Trujillo, superintendent; and young alumni honoree Johnny Terra.

The dinner is just one piece of the homecoming weekend lineup that can be found online at www.wbualumni.com/homecoming. Registration is available online at that site. For more information, contact Young at (806) 291-3600.
PLAINVIEW  Dr. Gabriel Trujillo, superintendent in Nacogdoches will be recognized as one of Wayland Baptist Universitys 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award winners during a Feb. 18 banquet held as part of the WBU Homecoming celebration in Plainview.

A native of Roswell, N.M., Dr. Trujillo came to Wayland with a challenging background: oldest of four children born to a military father from migrant family and a Dominican mother with a third-grade education. He channeled those challenges into his own education following a stint in the US Air Force, earning his bachelors degree in elementary education from Wayland in 1993. He continued with a masters degree in educational leadership in 1995 and began working in the Plainview school system alongside his high school sweetheart-turned-wife Deborah, a 1994 and 1997 graduate.

Dr. Trujillo moved into campus administration while in Plainview ISD, then continued as principal in Duncanville before moving into district leadership roles in Grand Prairie ISD, serving as area superintendent for nearly four years. In April 2020, he moved to Nacogdoches ISD to become superintendent of schools. He continued his own education with a superintendent certification at Texas Tech and the Doctor of Education degree from Texas A&M Commerce, which he earned in 2018.

He has served on several boards including local economic development organizations, chambers of commerce and others. He has served as a leader in Boy Scouts and in other civic and nonprofit organizations. He has been recognized by the Texas Elementary Principals and Administrators Association and the Texas Association of Secondary Principals at several levels and enjoys being a servant leader and building relationships.

Dr. Gabe Trujillo has impacted many throughout his career in education, from students to fellow educators, and has gained the reputation of being a decisive, steadfast and thoughtful leader while at Nacogdoches, said Teresa Young, director of alumni services. We are proud to add our own recognition to his list of accolades and believe he is most worthy of this honor.

The Blue and Gold Banquet is set for 6 p.m. on Friday on the Plainview campus. It is open to alumni and friends for $15 per person, which includes a barbecue dinner. Besides Trujillo, other honorees include Dr. Nelson Hayashida, professor and chaplain; Dr. Glenda Payas, retired dentist; Dr. Emily Smith, epidemiologist and researcher; young alumni honoree Johnny Terra; and benefactor honoree Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Mattox.

The dinner is just one piece of the homecoming weekend lineup that can be found online at www.wbualumni.com/homecoming. Registration is available online at that site. For more information, contact Young at (806) 291-3600.
Plainview Rotarians met Tuesday and were introduced to Februarys Student of the Month, Alejandra Arriola who is a senior at Plainview High School. She is a member of the Spanish Club, FCCLA, National Technology and National Honor Society. She helps at a middle school library and is active with her church. She also volunteers at the animal shelter. She wants to be the first person in her family to go to college and plans to get a masters degree in counseling after majoring in education. She wants to teach English as a Second Language.

The program was presented by Plainview Police Chief Derrick Watson. He gave an update on the local police department and also gave some insight into the community of Plainview. To begin with, he said that Plainview is doing well economically and that is a positive thing for the police because employed people arent normally out committing crimes.

Watson said that there currently are 34 sworn officers on the force which means the department is fully staffed.

While all that is positive, Watson said there are some issues the community and police department face. There is a significant turnover in personnel that must continually be addressed. From a crime standpoint, he continued, the department is dealing with a lot of assaults/domestic violence and a lot of property crime. However, the law enforcement organizations both at the city and county levels are working with legal professionals to address those challenges.

Following the meeting, the club dismissed and looked to the community for ways to show Service Above Self.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia when meeting with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Beijing on Saturday.

Xi said that the two countries enjoy high-level political mutual trust, and bilateral relations have withstood the test and become even stronger, setting a model of international relations. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
The annual Trout Fishing Family event at Caudle Lake Park in Hale Center has been cancelled.

The event was scheduled for Saturday but organizers are now looking to reschedule as a result of the winter weather. No dates have been set.
Priscilla Aguirre, MySA.com

Depending on your hiking level skills, trekking trails six or more miles can either be a real struggle or easy. It varies for everyone, but there is science behind how to determine hiking difficulty.

According to the National Park Service, the easy hikes are generally suitable for anyone who enjoys walking. Mostly level or with a slight incline and is generally less than three miles. Moderately strenuous hikes will generally be challenging for an unconditioned person. The terrain will involve a steady and often steep incline and be anywhere from five to eight miles.
Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer

San Antonio City Council approved $212 million in federal and city funding Thursday after six hours of public comment from community organizers and nonprofits pleading for more money.

The funds were vetted heavily with several amendments thrown out for a vote and numerous complaints put forth on the city's proposed allocation of the funding. Before Thursday, city council held meetings with various commissions and the community to take funding recommendations.
LAW Ho Ming/Getty Images

In the past few months, parents across Texas have pushed for the removal of books that deal with subjects pertaining to race, gender and sexuality. One of these books is a childrens biography of former first lady Michelle Obama.

The book Michelle Obama: Political Icon by Heather E. Schwartz was described by a parent from Katy as unfairly depicting former President Donald Trump as a bully, according to reporting by NBC News. The book made NBCs list of 50 books that Texas parents want to be banned from school libraries.
While Texans braced for a winter storm this week with looming fears of another potential collapse of the state's electrical grid, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had other concerns.

The GOP leader took to Twitter to corroborate claims made in a video posted by the National Fraternal Order of Police that criticized Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo for where she chose to stand during a Tuesday memorial service for slain officer Corporal Charles Galloway. The Harris County Pct. 5 deputy was shot and killed during a traffic stop on Jan. 23.

"This video is 100% accurate," Patrick said in a tweet Thursday sharing the video. "I was there. What youll see is a shocking display of disruptive and disgraceful behavior by @LinaHidalgoTX during the funeral of a peace officer killed in the line of duty. She is unfit for office. The people deserve better."

Patrick's post has garnered hundreds of retweets in support. However, many users were quick to call Patrick a hypocrite, suggesting he was the one politicizing the officers funeral by using the video as a platform to make a "partisan attack" against Hidalgo.

Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker also weighed in to defend Hidalgo, tweeting, "As the highest ranking Harris County official at the funeral of a slain Harris County public safety officer, Judge Hidalgo is expectedby long standing protocolto be at the front of the ceremony as the representative of the county he served. Same old Dannie Goeb."

In the video, originally shared by Houston conservative radio talk show The Michael Berry Show, a sergeant identified by Fox 26 as Precinct 5 Sgt. Roy Guinn accuses Hidalgo of disrespect for refusing to take a seat at the ceremony, despite his multiple requests. The footage captures Hidalgo standing next to Patrick and other officers at the service in front of a tent where Galloway's family sat with other dignitaries.

"It is not an exaggeration to say Judge Hidalgo was self-centered, arrogant, and focused on her personal desires over the honor of our slain deputy, or the reverence of his funeral service," Guinn stated in the seven minute clip.

Guinn says Patrick was allowed to stand in the front as he would be presenting one of the flags but claims that where Hidalgo stood interfered with the ceremony. "Nothing in the service was about you, something you failed to understand," Guinn says in the video, directing criticism at Hidalgo. "You made the decision that it was more important for you to be seen front and center than it was for you to take your place with the other invited dignitaries."

However, a Harris County official with knowledge of the incident is claiming that it was Patrick who was disrespectful during the funeral. According to the official, Patrick told Hidalgo to "sit down and shut up" two or three times at the funeral, which was not captured in the video.

The official also said Patrick has a history of allegedly confronting Hidalgo for political reasons at previous funerals, including during a funeral for slain Deputy Kareem Atkins on Oct. 25, 2021, during which the official said Patrick confronted Hidalgo inside the service and accused her of trying to defund the police. The Harris County Commissioner's Court has actually steadily increased the budgets for every law enforcement agency in the county since Hidalgo took office in 2019.

Patrick's office choose not to comment about claims regarding Deputy Atkins' funeral, but in response to Thursday's Twitter post, Patrick's press secretary Steven Aranyi noted that the posted video is not the Lt. Governors.

"He simply shared it to corroborate that the video the constables office put out was 100% factual," Aranyi said, adding, "The only thing he said to the judge was to follow the directions of the sergeant and please take her seat and be quiet. Instead, she continued to be disruptive and ignored the wishes of the police and the family."

In an exclusive statement shared Friday, Rafael Lemaitre, spokesperson for Judge Hidalgo, stated, "Out of respect for the family and for the civility our community deserves, Judge Hidalgo will not engage the same type of smear campaigns and cruel political games Dan Patrickor anyone elseare hoping to engage her in.

More for you San Antonio-area could hear rumbles of thunder Sunday night

"Furthermore, as this video so clearly shows, womenand particularly women of colorin workplaces across America are still living in a time where many still find it appropriate to tell them to 'stay in their place,' regardless of their duty or responsibilities," Lemaitre added. "That's just not something Judge Hidalgo has ever acquiesced to."
Mike Sutter /San Antonio Express-News

Some cowboys need a strong cup of black coffee to start their day's work, but in San Antonio an ice-cold serving of Big Red might do the job. Enter the inaugural Big Red and Barbacoa Cowboy Breakfast. Doc Brown's is hosting the puro San Antonio spin-off of a longtime local tradition in late January.

The official Cowboy Breakfast, which has helped kick off rodeo season in San Antonio for more than 40 years, has been in flux due to the pandemic. Doc Brown's owner Elizabeth Kidder says the Alamo Ranch-area bar is ready to fill any gaps during its event on Friday, January 28. Kidder, who also once owned Cooter Brown's, says the event is continuation of a similar event that was hosted at the now bygone bar. However, the Big Red and barbacoa additions are all new.
Yves here. This article brings up an issue that gets far too little attention: how to provide paid worker for recently released prisoners, or in more polite terms, the formerly incarcerated. The US has a huge pool of inmates it is perfectly happy to employ at well below minimum-wage pay scales, but is dangerously indifferent on how to get them jobs afterward that will allow them to support themselves.

Of course, with so many employers playing less than a living wage, even in a nominally stronger labor market, too many people cant get by, and ex-cons are typically at the bottom of that heap. And they are often barred from making use of high value skills when they have acquired them, like firefighting. Plus jobs like trucking, which used to be a good start over for former prisoners, has had such a pay squeeze that trucking jobs are going begging and the situation is expected to get worse. And its not hard to imagine that women fare worse; able bodied not too old men can go into constriction and other jobs that pay for muscle.

So it is instructive to learn how a venture is not just providing much-needed jobs for former felons but also is taking on food industry behemoths. And I bet the meals are better too.

By April M. Short, an editor, journalist and documentary editor and producer. She is a writing fellow at Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Previously, she served as a managing editor at AlterNet as well as an award-winning senior staff writer for Santa Cruz, Californias weekly newspaper. Her work has been published with the San Francisco Chronicle, In These Times, Salon and many others. Produced by Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute

If you went to public school in the U.S., chances are good that you remember school lunch as tater tots, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, burgers with fries and pizza slices so soaked through with oil that kids would pad them with napkins in attempts to soak up the grease. Then there were the chocolate milk cartons, a variety of soda choices, giant cookies, Hostess brand baked goods, many types of candy, and Frito-Lay brand chips of all varieties, among other unhealthy snacks and beverages schools regularly served.

These school meals were supplied by megacorporations like PepsiCo Inc., Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrims Pride Corporation, Cherry Meat Packers Inc., Central Valley Meat Co. Inc., American Beef Packers Inc. and Jennie-O Turkey Store LLC. As detailed in a 2020 article by Jennifer E. Gaddis in the professional journal for educators Phi Delta Kappan, 95 percent of U.S. public schools participate in the government-subsidized National School Lunch Program, and this program is made up almost entirely of contracts by giant corporate food brands. Gaddis writes:

Since the 1970s, Big Food has colonized the school cafeteria. From signing lucrative food service contracts to promoting their corporate brands and dishing out chicken nuggets and other mass-produced, heat-and-serve items, the food industry has done quite well for itself by selling goods and services to schools across the United States In recent years, Big Food companiesand their industry associationshave spent millions of dollars lobbying the federal government to weaken or change its nutritional standards, and these efforts have paid off handsomely. It happened in 2014, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) caved to industry pressure and made it easier for schools to serve French fries and pizza. It happened in 2018, when the USDA loosened restrictions on the amount of sodium, flavored milk, and refined grains that could be served in school meals.

It happened again in 2020 when the Trump administration proposed making the rules more flexible, Gaddis adds.

Megacorporations do not just supply food to schools. Big companies, including Aramark Corporation, provide much of the food served in hospitals, long-term care facilities, prisons and other places in the U.S. that offer large-scale prepared meals.

In addition to nutritional shortcomings, foods mass-produced through large corporations tend to be put together by undervalued and underpaid employees, cheaply and unsustainably sourced and produced, then shipped over thousands of miles, creating a significant environmental footprint. The Big Food industry is unhealthy, environmentally disastrous and lacking in innovation. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the many supply chain interruptions throughout the pandemic, and the exacerbation of food insecurity across the country, these mass food systems are frayed at best. They do not have us covered in a pinch. It is clearer than ever that there is a widespread need to rethink and relocalize food systems.

The Chicago worker cooperative ChiFresh Kitchen is working on doing just that for the food contracting industry in Chicago. They are modeling a new, locally grown-and-sourced way of supplying food to local schools, nursing homes, and transitional housing facilities.

Owned and operated primarily by Black formerly incarcerated women, ChiFresh prepared healthy, culturally relevant meals with food that is grown or raised at nearby farms. They are 100 percent employee-owned and operated, and all employees are eligible for ownership stake after 18 months on the job, after which they can start paying toward a $2,000 membership share.

Of their first day of operation in May 2020, they made jerk chicken strips and red beans and rice, with onions and peppers, as a practice run for friends and family, and as founding member-owner Edrinna Bryant told NextCity.org that week:

We were so excited about the fact we were going to cook our first meal together and people can taste it, Bryant says. Thats so exciting to me as a young Black mom who was incarcerated. For my child to know that his mom was in a situation that felt like the end of the world and look at her now Aint no food going to go wasted here.  Each day each of us will pick somewhere on the South Side or West Side and bring some food to people who need it.

In addition to providing an alternative food contracting option to local facilities by introducing a locally sourced and prepared food option, they are also providing jobs, agency and ownership stakes to one of the most commonly marginalized groups in the country.

ChiFresh Kitchen is part of a growing BIPOC-led movement, via urban farms, food operators, worker centers, policy advocates and other community organizations in Chicago focused on food sovereignty, racial justice and equitable food access.

While the business planning for ChiFresh began in 2018, the business became operational just prior to the pandemic. Theyd initially planned to launch in the summer of 2020, but launched earlier than planned in March 2020 via a contract with the Urban Growers Collective, which had received funding to address pandemic-related food insecurity in their communities. Less than a year into operations they were prepping 500 meals per day.

The demand for what ChiFresh offers has only grown since, and in December of 2020, they bought a 6,000 square-foot building (their current space is about 600 square feet), which they are working to renovate, funded through a series of grants. They plan to move into the new space in the spring of 2022, and expand their capacity so that they are able to prepare 5,000 or more meals per day.

ChiFresh Kitchen founder Camille Kerra workplace democracy/worker ownership/solidarity economy consultantsays the project began when a small group of people, herself included, were looking into the ability of worker cooperatives to create a liberatory, dignified workplace for formerly incarcerated people, and specifically Black women.

April M. Short of the Independent Media Institute spoke with Kerr about ChiFresh Kitchen and future potentials of local, worker-owned food sovereignty projects like this one to bring the food industry up to date with the real, current food needs of communities across the U.S. and beyond.

April M. Short: How did the idea for ChiFresh Kitchen come about, and how did you get involved?

Camille Kerr: I co-founded ChiFresh Kitchen and at first it was just me and Joan Fadayiro and Angela Yaa Jones, who are local organizers [in Chicago]. We were looking into whether it was possible here in Chicago to create a liberatory, dignified workplace for formerly incarcerated people, and specifically Black women. We started out by bringing together an advisory board of other local community organizers, specifically people who were formerly incarcerated themselves and had deep relationships in the formerly incarcerated community. And then we brought on other local collaborators and entrepreneurs who could support us.

We went through a yearlong business planning process where we tried to figure out what kind of business might be able to create those jobs in a worker co-op context. Because Im a workplace democracy/worker ownership/solidarity economy consultant, I had a client at the time in Boston, City Fresh Foods. Theyre a Black-owned social enterprise and they were interested in becoming worker-owned, and their business model was to provide fresh, wholesome, local meals to childcare centers, schools and rehabilitation programs. And so we thought, What if we tried that here [in Chicago]?

This model that City Fresh Foods demonstrated seemed like it could work, so we kind of built a business plan around their model. Then, we recruited potential members through our advisory board member Colette Payne, who is an incredible advocate for formerly incarcerated Black women, and a formerly incarcerated woman herself. She recruited Kimberly Britt to come to our first member meeting in December of 2019, and Kim recruited three of her friends. Colette also gave the flyer to her younger brother, and her brother showed up too. Those five people who showed up for the meeting became the five founding members of ChiFresh, who have stayed on to this day.

AMS: Why was it important to the founders of ChiFresh to create a worker cooperative specifically for formerly incarcerated Black women?

CK: Why specifically formerly incarcerated Black women? Its just the barriers. What I look at as a worker co-op developer interested in building the economy we want to see in the world is who is facing the highest obstacle to thriving in our current society. Lets demonstrate to the world that, if you go out of your way to take the barriers down, people thrive.

People say things like, Its hard to work with this population; it might be easier for you to do this or that. And its like: No. You work where the barriers are the highest, and you work to remove those barriers. If you start with that as your center, then you can demonstrate that we can create an economy that works for all of us. But you start with the folks who it works for the least right now, the people whove been the most shut-out, and then you go from there, and thats how you build.

And their voices have to be centered the entire time, and they have to develop it. It has to be their design and their work, because they know what they need and they know what works. The only thing that we need to do is navigate the incredible bureaucracy and barriers that capitalism creates.

So, they say what they need, we play capitalism liaison and navigate the barriers, and then they can get delicious food out to their own communities.

In a thriving society, thats something they should be able to do anyway, and they should be able to have a living wage doing it. The only thing that gets in between that happening is that you have to write intensive RFPs [requests for proposals] and build relationships with people who have money and power. You have to navigate all these other systems instead of just being able to feed your own people because thats the right thing to do. Those are man-made barriers, and so our role is to take them down.

AMS: Typically, who are the people who receive ChiFresh Kitchens meals?

CK: Its students in Chicago, mostly South and West Side students, and their families as well. Our food has gone to nursing homes. Our food has gone to transitional homes and churches. Well work with the Chicago Help Initiative, Night Ministry, and [during those events] well get 150 meals out to folks who are experiencing homelessness. Its a wide range of people, but all in our community, and all folks who are in need of a good meal.

AMS: You mentioned you launched ChiFresh early because of the pandemic, as members were facing unemployment delays, and simultaneously food insecurity in the local community was exacerbated. Will you share a little more about how the pandemic played a role in ChiFreshs formation and expansion?

CK: We just had to make the choice to launch, and it was risky because we werent planning to open quite yet. I personally invested funding into the organization to buy the initial equipment we needed. We signed leases with the Hatchery, which is a food incubator. We ran a small GoFundMe that brought in some money. Then were like: All right, lets just try it. Lets see how it goes, because our folks need work, and these folks need food, and we can be the connection between the two.

We did all that between March and April of 2020. We were in the kitchen by April 26 or 27, and then we got our first meals out by May 11, because it took some time to get all the equipment and put it in place and put together a menu and all of the things that we wanted to do. It was risky. We knew this was the thing that we needed to be doing. And it really worked out for us.

AMS: Will you share a little more about the food itself, and the idea that the quality of food is integral to food justice and reshaping the local food economy?

CK: Were part of the larger movement for food sovereignty and food justice in Chicago. And what that means to us is that we should be growing our own food, feeding ourselves and partnering with other like-minded organizations outside of Chicago. Sometimes you have to source food outside of Chicago, since its frigid here [through the winter months], but to the extent that we can rely on local farms, urban farms, and for us, people of color-led farms, we do. We buy from local farms and incorporate that produce into our meals. Kids can visit these farms and see where their food is grown, so food that theyre eating is tangible, and its local, and they can see the hands that nurtured it into being.

A big part of what were trying to do is not just bring food, and not just redefine the type of food you get, but rethink the food ecosystem. Were here as a demonstration of how we can do food differently everywhere. Food is so much more important than the mass production that [our dominant systems have] created. In terms of what our meals are like, were trying to bring it back to familiarity and warmth, so when you look at the meal, you smile immediately, like, I know what this is; Im so excited. For example, we have our fried fishwhich reminds people of going to fish friesand then we have spaghetti, and greens. These are homey meals, and theyre also so full of nutrients because the greens came from a farm like two days ago.

Part of our approach to food is balancing nutrient-dense food with food that people just love. Were making sure that the nutrients are in there, but you dont get nutrients if people throw the food away. You cant do quinoa salad every day; people will be like, What is this? Its not familiar and its not ours, necessarily, you know? Not that we wont experiment or push the limits with people, but also the base is in the cultural familiarity that people have with their food, plus lovingly grown and harvested produce.

AMS: Has there been resistance at, for example, schools or other places that ChiFresh has looked to contract with, to changing contractors and moving to a local vendor instead of maybe a larger corporation?

CK: Its always hard breaking into the market because there are existing vendors, so our clients right now are folks who didnt have vendors before or were trying to do it in-house. Were just slowly breaking into the market and demonstrating what we can do. I think the biggest thing is that you have to step your way in and demonstrate that you can do larger and larger jobs. You have to demonstrate that you can do the volume that these different institutions need.

It is hard being competitive on price just because the way that food is priced right now really doesnt take into account the true cost of food or labor. It doesnt take into account that every hand that touches the food should be cared for and that the food itself should be really high quality and not mass-produced. We are competitive on price generally, but theres going to be the big players with the big factories that can mass produce at a cheaper level.

But the other side of it is were not trying to skim off the top for outside shareholders either. Were not trying to make huge profits. Were just trying to make sure our people have a living wage and that our communities have good food. Theres no extra player there thats trying to take stuff off the top and keep it so that they can take a flight to space or whatever theyre trying to do with their time. Theres no extraction in our system, so that helps. Because the current way that food is typically priced is designed to extract from everything and then make sure theres enough margin off the top to go to a particular owner or shareholder. Its a hard system to work within.

AMS: What are ChiFresh Kitchens plans once you move into the new space and have a larger capacity?

CK: One thing that comes with our new space is a new line of business, because well have a little bit of a retail space as well. Weve never done retail beforeweve just been doing institutional contractingso well have both, which the members are really excited about. Were hoping to have a little marketplace that has our meals as well as some other products from local vendors, including local produce and cottage products.

Also, we are expanding operations. With our capacity right now, we can turn out a thousand meals in a day out of Hatchery, but its hard. Theres not a lot of space. In our new space, well be able to do about 6,000 meals per day. Were looking at long-term partnerships with local charter schools, and especially ones that serve South and West Side communities. Were looking at relationships with churches that feed their communities. Were looking at private schools as well, but also local nonprofits that have programming where they provide food. Weve worked with YMCA and organizations like that before, to provide daily meals. With our new facility, we have the capacity to meet some of these larger institutional needs.

Our priority is not only getting delicious food to peoplewe want to redefine institutional food. We dont want the idea of an institutional food to be fried cardboard and mystery meat. We want it to be familiar and lovingly prepared and delightful and nutritious food. Were working to partner with institutions that share that vision, that food is more than just a requirement, or a box that we need to check, but its part of building community and care and love and culture with one another. Our plan is to try to just expand that mission to more and more folks, especially through the institutions that serve the daily meals that people need.

AMS: If someone wanted to create a similar organization in their local area, how would you recommend they go about getting started?

CK: One of the things that was really important about our approach is having organizers at the table from the onset, and having organizers hold us accountable to our values throughout the process. Having organizers who have deep relationships with the communities that are going to be running the organization, and are the people who it is for, and who are the leaders and drivers of the cooperativethat parts really critical.

I would say number one: make sure either youre really deeply connected to the communities that youre serving, or that on the core decision-making team are people who are accountable to, and in relationship with, folks who will be owning the business.

And then number two: I think it really benefited us to replicate an existing business model that happened to flourish in another place, and to have a relationship with that organization. Its hard starting from scratch. We were able to call up City Fresh and be like: What equipment do we need on day one? Or: How do you do compliance for these federally funded meals? Or: What kind of spreadsheet do you keep for this? Having someone to call is really critical to the success of the organization.

Those two things I think are the two main ingredients for a successful project.
Ocean Researchers Capture Footage of Rare Walking Pink Handfish in Deep Sea Coral off Coast of Tasmania EpochTimes (furzy)

Huge bank of dead fish spotted off French Atlantic coast BBC (resilc)

California subsidies for dairy cows biogas are a lose-lose, campaigners say Guardian (resilc). This reads like an obvious joke except its not

A Lonely Universe Inference (Anthony L)

Webb Space Telescope Successfully Sees Its First Glimmer of Light Gizmodo (Kevin W)

NASA Details Its Plan for the End of the International Space Station in 2031 Universe Today. Furzy: More privatization.

A highly virulent variant of HIV-1 circulating in the Netherlands Science (martha r) and New HIV strain found in the Netherlands: Highly infectious variant makes people ill twice as quick Daily Mail (Kevin W). GM, based on the Science paper:

You will see that it [the variant] increased in frequency in the 1990s  the plot is weirdly done, but it looks like it was the dominant strain for a while, then went down in the 2010s Of course after the 1990s you had much more powerful ART combinations, so everything has been suppressed and thus a bit distorted in terms of relative frequencies The paper is notable because it is an example of a highly lethal virus (doesnt get worse than 100%) becoming even worse. Also, notice that this strain had 300 amino acid mutations. The whole genome is <10 kbp, so that's almost 10% of it mutated. And it's still HIV and very fit too. Now HIV is particularly notorious for its plasticity, but that shows you how much space for things to evolve there actually is when it comes to viruses. Especially if the mutation rate is really high, as it is in HIV. So throwing something like Molnupiravir at SARS-CoV-2 while allowing astronomical numbers of replication events to occur in the human population is a really really bad idea. Who knows what previously hard to reach sections of the fitness landscape we are going to unlock by making many mutations at a time with that drug? Omicron shows something like that too -- those mutations at S371, S373, and S375 baffled everyone. That region is very highly conserved in sarbecoviruses, you would have never guessed from the phylogenetic analysis that you will get a cluster of mutations there (and there is one more in BA.2). So this wasn't even a case of it exploring the usual plasticity in the largely unconstrained areas of RBD, it went into a completely unexpected direction.

Thomas Nagel  What is rude? Midgley, Murdoch, Anscombe, Foot London Review of Books (Anthony L)

Does Quantum Mechanics Reveal That Life Is But a Dream? Scientific American (Anthony L). My dreams are way better than reality so I hope so.

#COVID-19

China?

Brexit

New Cold War

Syraqistan

ADL changes definition of racism RT (Kevin W) The death of an inconvenient Palestinian Al Jazeera (resilc) Were Outraged: Liberal U.S. Jews Feel Betrayed by New Israeli Government Haaretz. This story comes from the early 2000s, so things can only have gotten worse since then. A friend is Reform and very pro-Israel. Has >30 cousins in Israel and visits pretty regularly, like at least every other year. She and her Jewish husband adopt a boy from Thailand (and yes, bring him up in the faith; I went to his bar mitzvah). On his first trip to Israel, when they are leaving Tel Aviv (you have to go through elaborate security checks), the guard starts raking them over the coals about their then six year old, who has a perfectly proper US passport. It is immediately evident that this interrogation has nothing to do with security but with the guards disapproval of the adoption. The mother explodes (shes a negotiator and has control over her register, so she intended to make the point to everyone there, not just the dickhead). She tells him she has cousins in the Knesset (true) and if he does not stop this immediately she will get him fired. Husband is embarrassed but they are resentfully waved through. Israel, Bahrain sign security cooperation agreement in Manama Al Jazeera Resilc: Sad day.

Assange

How the Establishment Functions Craig Murray (guurst)

Imperial Collapse Watch

Defiant Pentagon hides poor testing results behind phony firewall Responsible Statecraft (resilc) Richelieus ghost almost solves Americas problems Asia Times (resilc). Ouch: Why do you think the Germans have all but dismantled their military? continued Richelieu. Because you Americans turned NATO into a bloated, indefensible swamp. You are as stupid as the Austrian Hapsburgs, who acquired Spain, Flanders, Naples and Sicily with clever dynastic marriages. They had twice the population of France during the Thirty Years War, and all the silver of the Indies, but France bled them dry and erased Spain for all time from the list of great powers. Lack of Coast Guard Icebreakers Disrupts Shipping on Great Lakes, Says Task Force qCaptain (guurst). Hhhm. When I was a kid, icebreakers didnt get to Escanaba (the biggest iron ore shipping port on Lake Michigan) till March.

Biden

Supremes

Oklahoma bill would fine teachers $10k for teaching anything that contradicts religion Independent (resilc)

Democrats en deshabille

GOP Clown Car

Liz Cheney Is About to Find Out How Little Clout There Is in the Greenrooms of the Republic Esquire (resilc)

National Butterfly Center closes indefinitely following threats from right-wing conspiracy theorists Texas Public Radio

Saudi Arabia Raises Asia Oil Prices as Crude Surges Bloomberg

Forget reading Thomas Piketty. Try a bit of Terry Pratchett Financial Times

Federal Job Fakery Hits Peak Balderdash The Great Recession Blog. You need to read past some hyperventiliating to get to the data and the abnormally large adjustments.

The Bezzle

Guillotine Watch

Gigantic Semi-Submersible Ship Transformed into Superyacht Core77 (resilc)

Class Warfare

National Treasure Harpers (Anthony L). On Nicholas Cage. Have to say, hes not a favorite of mine.

Antidote du jour. Tracie H:

Gold Koi: Shes staring at us, do you think shes going to feed us?

White, Poorly-Applied-Lipsticked Koi: No, I saw her look at the dont-feed-em sign, we should move on to that little kid.

White spotted Koi: You go ahead, Im sneaking up on something here.

Gold Koi: Thats a LEAF Spotty. Come on, lets go.

And a second bonus. Ive seen several versions of this account but this one seems more comprehensive than the othersand in a very compact presentation.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia when meeting with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Beijing on Saturday.

Xi said that the two countries enjoy high-level political mutual trust, and bilateral relations have withstood test and become even stronger, setting a model of international relations.

The Serbian president has come to China to attend the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony.

Hailing the leapfrog development of bilateral ties in recent years, Xi said that the two sides have implemented a number of cooperation projects covering multiple fields including infrastructure, energy and production capacity. He added that cooperation with Serbia is at the forefront of China's cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries.

In the face of changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, the two sides should view bilateral ties from the strategic and long-term perspective, maintain and develop their friendship, and firmly support each other's fundamental and long-term interests, Xi said.

Xi noted that the Chinese side firmly supports the people of Serbia in pursuing a development path they have chosen independently.

The two sides should seek greater synergy between development strategies, and continue advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, said Xi, adding the two should also work toward greater progress in cooperation projects including the Hungary-Serbia railway.

Xi also said that the Chinese side will continue to provide support for Serbia's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, enhance vaccine co-production and cooperation in the resumption of work and production.

In terms of multilateral international cooperation, Xi said China is willing to work jointly with Serbia in defending the international system with the United Nations (UN) at its core and the international order based on international law. The two countries should also speed up implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Vucic said that Serbia is a true friend of China, and the Serbian side respects China and admires its leadership, adding that no matter what pressure or hardships lie ahead, the ironclad friendship between the two will stay strong.

He also noted that on issues such as Xinjiang and Taiwan that involve China's core interests, the Serbian side will stand on the Chinese people's side as always.

Vucic said that the Serbian side expects to further enhance cooperation with China in areas including trade, commerce, investment, and people-to-people exchanges.

Vucic also expressed the hope for Xi to visit Serbia at an early date after the pandemic. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
(Natural News) The Canadian truckers got the wheels rolling and their counterparts in the U.S., Europe, South Africa and Australia are gearing up for similar long protest drives against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandates.

Composed of over 50,000 trucks and stretching 45 miles, the Canadian Freedom Convoy has turned the capital city of Ottawa into a massive parking lot, attracting national as well as international attention, according to World View Report host Brannon Howse on the February 2 episode of the show on Brighteon.TV. (Related: 50,000 truckers vow to stay in Ottawa until government lifts vaccine mandates.)

Even Canadian politicians, who have initially taken Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus snobbish stance on the movement, are paying attention with some even going to the protest grounds filled with anti-vaccine supporters.

Asked about her presence in Parliament Hill, Conservative Party of Canada Member of Parliament Leslyn Lewis said: Why wouldnt I be? This is Democracy. This is what democracy is all about. People believe that the government has overstepped with mandates and theyre here to exercise their democratic right. The people give the government the power to act in accordance with their values. The government does not have any independent power. It is us that confers the power on the government.

And in instances where abuses may have been committed by the government, Lewis, a lawyer, said she wont condone the wrongdoing.

Non-violent assembly and rally of truckers

The people have a right to voice their opinions. What weve seen in the last year, with (the) demonization of people, turning people against each other, the hatred that has been spewed from the highest levels is completely unacceptable. And the people have had enough. And so theyre here to voice their opinions, and I support any peaceful act of democracy, said Lewis, referring to the non-violent assembly and rally of the truckers.

Howse commented that any political leader like Trudeau, who hides from his own people in a moment like this, is no leader at all.

Aware of the impending protest by American truckers, who intend to drive from California to Washington, D.C., Howse said: Joe Biden will get his chance to prove his leadership well or lack thereof. Will he hide from the people like Trudeau? Or will he address their grievances and retract his highly unpopular and unconstitutional mandates?

Howse then showed a video from Paris where irate citizens have surrounded the headquarters of Pfizer, the largest global manufacturer of the experimental mRNA gene therapy. Although the mainstream media continued to downplay the truckers convoy uprising, Howse said they cant afford to ignore the unfolding story completely.

According to Howse, a Facebook group for the anti-vaccine mandate protest of American truckers has garnered more than 90,000 people thus far.

The groups description reads: We are part of many large groups who believe in our founding fathers. We believe everyone has a voice, we support our freedom. Help us spread the word about this group. And together, we all can make it a better place. God bless America, were done with the mandates.

One of the groups organizers said: Were done with the government telling us what to do. We will continue and we will follow just like the rest of the world on these trucker protests. And they will be 100 percent legal, they will abide by the law.

The group has yet to announce the start date of the American convoy protest, but Howse believes the wheels of justice are about to roll.

More related stories:

Biden bans unvaccinated truckers from entering the US, accelerating collapse of supply chains.

Vaccine mandate for truckers entering Canada now in effect.

Canadas shortage of workers worsens as federal vaccination mandates continue.

Watch the full February 1 episode of World View Report below. Catch new episodes of the program from Monday to Friday at 9-9:30 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Follow Uprising.news for more news related to protests and demonstrations against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

OttawaCitizen.com

YouTube.com
(Natural News) ALBUQUERQUE  Many political pundits believe Democrats will lose the House of Representatives majority in the November 2022 midterm elections. The current U.S. Senate is split evenly, 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris being the tiebreaker vote. But now Democrats face some tough decisions after losing a crucial member of their Senate Caucus.

(Article republished from TheCOVIDBlog.com)

U.S. Senator Ben Lujan, D-New Mexico, checked into Christus St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Santa Fe on January 27. He complained of dizziness and fatigue, according to his official statement. Doctors determined that the 49-year-old, first-term Senator, had a stroke in his cerebellum  the back part of the brain that controls walking, motor learning, vision and more.

Senator Lujan was transferred to University of New Mexico Hospital on January 28. He underwent decompression surgery over the weekend to relieve pressure in his skull.

Weve covered several similar stories of skull surgery (decompressive craniectomy) to relieve pressure in the head. But they were for different causes. Ms. Camila Canepa developed a blood clot in the space between the eye sockets and brain after receiving an AstraZeneca injection. She passed away on June 10, 16 days after the injection. Mrs. Kerry Hurt had emergency skull decompressive surgery for a post-AstraZeneca stroke and blood clots. She is now permanently disabled.

Lujan loves masks and vaccines

Senator Lujan was a trendsetter in a way. He received his first Pfizer mRNA injection on Saturday, December 19, 2020. He didnt specify it was Pfizer. But the Pfizer emergency use authorization was issued on December 11, 2020. The Moderna EUA was issued on Friday, December 18, 2020. Thus its unlikely pharmacies and medical providers had access to Moderna shots until the following Monday.

Senator Lujan had just defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti in the 2020 General Election weeks earlier. He was sworn into the Senate on January 3, 2021. And ever since then, Senator Lujan has been an unapologetic, big pharma loyalist.

At least twice since September 2021, Senator Lujan promoted legislation and policies to hasten censorship on the internet.

Its unclear if Senator Lujan received a booster shot. But hes encouraged everyone else to get their boosters numerous times since November. He especially liked posting photos of children being injected.

Days prior to being hospitalized, he was still promoting mRNA injections, quarantines and tests.

Senator Lujans office said hell return to the Senate within four to six weeks. But a craniectomy is considered a last resort treatment because of the inherent risks. Thus Senator Lujan was in pretty bad shape prior to the surgery. Bare minimum, hell spend the next several weeks in the hospital. A 2016 study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that 30% of craniectomy patients were dead after one year. Another 18% were disabled to the point of needing round-the-clock assistance, and about 6% were in a vegetative state.

What this all means in the grand scheme

Senator Lujan posted about the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy just one day before he fell ill.

Democrats need all 50 of their votes plus one Republican to confirm any Biden Supreme Court nominee. The partisan environment in Washington, D.C. likely means the Supreme Court will operate with only eight justices, six being conservative, until either Senator Lujan returns or when the next Senate is sworn in next January. But that may be the least of the Democrats worries.

The Democrat Senate majority is already razor thin because they cannot rely on the votes of Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona. Further, Senators must be present to vote, unlike the proxy voting rules in the House of Representatives. Senator John Hoeven, R-North Dakota and Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, are both absent this week due to COVID-19. But once they return next week, Republicans technically have the majority again.

The Democrats $2 trillion Build Back Better legislation is completely dead now. Democrats may be forced to go full ruthless and force Senator Lujan to resign if hes out for too long. New Mexico Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (no relation) can then appoint a replacement.

This blogger hasnt voted since 2008 and is unlikely to ever do so again. The lesser of two evils philosophy is self-defeating. COVID dystopia is the most pressing issue for humanity and Americans right now. Several state governors are on the peoples side (Iowa, Florida, South Dakota, Texas, etc.). But those who value freedom and liberty cannot rely on any of these people to protect your rights as a human and an American.

Reap what you sow? Senator Lujan is only 49. Sure, people that age, or any age for that matter, can have strokes. But just search the word stroke on this blog and draw your own conclusions. Que sera sera. Stay vigilant and protect your friends and loved ones.

Read more at: TheCOVIDBlog.com
(Natural News) Less than a year after Americas biggest refined petroleum pipeline was the subject of one of the most harmful hacks ever seen in the oil market, Germanys domestic fuel distribution system has been disrupted by cyberattacks of its own.

On January 29, oil trader Mabanaft, a distributor of diesel, gasoline and heating oil, declared force majeure as a result of a breach targeting its fuel storage and distribution business. Force majeure covers a company when it is unable to honor its contractual commitments because of events beyond its control.

Oil company Oiltanking was also affected; both companies are owned by the German logistics conglomerate Marquard & Bahls Group. Oiltanking is a major company with a throughput of 155 million tons in 2019. In operation since 1972, the firm is considered one of the worlds biggest independent operators of tank terminals for oils, chemicals and gases.

Their force majeure declaration will be felt most deeply in locations where there are few alternatives, such as the Hamburg area and southwest Germany.

As a result of the breach, Royal Dutch Shell said that it has been forced to reroute to other supply depots as its trucks are no longer able to load at the fuel depots linked to Mabanaft.

A few days later, the news emerged that port facilities in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium had been targeted by a large-scale cyber attack primarily aimed at oil terminals. Many tankers have been prevented from delivering energy supplies, and German judicial authorities have already launched an investigation into the suspected extortion of oil operators.

According to S&P Global Platts, 17 terminals in total have been affected so far. Belgian authorities are currently investigating disruptions caused by the cyber attacks at ports in Ghent and Antwerp-Zeebrugge.

An official told AFP: The software of several port terminals has been hacked and they cant process barges, basically, the operating system is down.

Traders told S&P Global Platts that the cyber attack could last for more than two weeks and that the companies are widely expected to pay a ransom.

Cybersecurity officials investigating the attacks do not believe the German oil companies attack is linked to the oil port terminals attack.

Critical infrastructure is being increasingly targeted by hackers

The full extent of the cyber attacks is still not known, but the incident does highlight the increasing risks posed to the worlds most critical infrastructure.

Last year, Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom after a hacking left the company with no choice but to close the U.S.s biggest fuel pipeline. This led to shortages at gas stations and price spikes. Mabanaft has not said whether a ransom has been demanded or when it expects to resolve the situation, but it is looking increasingly like the Oiltanking incident is indeed a ransomware attack.

Huntsman Security Head of Product Management Piers Wilson stated: Given the potential fragility of the fuel supply chain  as highlighted by recent shortages in the UK  disruptive cyber attacks can cause widespread disruption for consumers and businesses.

With luck, the attack on Oiltanking wont see widespread disruption in Germany, but it must be seen as a wake-up call to organizations that still are not 100% confident in their own and their partners cyber defenses, he added.

The attacks come just as the U.S. and its European allies are preparing sanctions against Russia should they invade Ukraine. Germany is also suffering from an energy crisis as the country phases out its nuclear and fossil fuel power plants in favor of renewables.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

EuroNews.com

SPGlobal.com
(Natural News) A confidential Pfizer document has confirmed that the companys Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine causes vaccine-associated enhanced disease (VAED).

VAED occurs when a vaccinated individual develops a more severe case of the disease after getting exposed to the virus that the vaccine is supposed to defend against.

The companys report also includes a section talking about the potential risk of people developing vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease (VAERD). Similar to VAED, a VAERD occurs when a vaccinated individual develops a more severe form of respiratory disease compared to what would have happened if the person caught the disease while still unvaccinated.

Pfizers confidential document is titled 5.3.6 Cumulative Analysis of Post-Authorization Adverse Event Reports of PF-07302048 (BNT162B2) Received Through 28-Feb-2021. This document, which Pfizer attempted to hide, was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration as part of the companys biologics license application for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

In one section of the report, the company lists down important potential risks that come with taking the experimental and deadly vaccine.

An expected rate of VAED is difficult to establish so a meaningful observed/expected analysis cannot be conducted at this point based on available data. The feasibility of conducting such an analysis will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis as data on the virus grows and the vaccine safety data continues to accrue, wrote the company in the important potential risks section of its report. (Related: Pfizer has effectively dominated the COVID-19 vaccine market in Europe, raking in billions of dollars in the process.)

Pfizer knowingly used general public as test subjects in largest vaccine experiment in world history

By April 2021, around five months since the first Pfizer vaccines were injected into people, the company admitted that it still did not have a proper understanding of whether or not its COVID-19 vaccines caused VAED, only that it will know more once the company has more data.

Furthermore, despite its claims that the vaccine is safe for widespread use, Pfizer was actually receiving numerous reports of adverse events that were markers of VAED. Many of these adverse events are serious, potentially even fatal.

These adverse events include acute respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, jaundice, acute hepatic failure, deep vein thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, vasculitis, seizures, meningitis, encephalopathy and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.

Perhaps just as important is the fact that Pfizer acknowledged that the vaccine does not prevent people from catching COVID-19.

In this review of subjects with COVID-19 following vaccination, based on the current evidence, VAED/VAERD remains a theoretical risk for the vaccine, wrote the company in its report. Surveillance will continue.

All of this information confirms three things. First, Pfizer did not do its due diligence of conducting multiple, lengthy and thorough tests on its experimental vaccine.

Second, even with incomplete knowledge of the vaccines effects, and knowing that it was causing serious and deadly adverse events and it was not protecting people against COVID-19, Pfizer still pushed for its sale and distribution.

Third, Pfizer admitted that it would gather more information as more of the general public was vaccinated using its deadly drug. This turned every single individual in the world who took Pfizers vaccine an unwitting participant in the largest medical experiment ever conducted.

There are no appropriate words that could possibly convey how unbelievably stupid and dangerous the decision to give this injection to millions of people, including children was and still is, wrote the Daily Expose. The problem Pfizer now has is that real-world data from various public health institutions around the world shows that the risk of vaccine-associated enhance disease is no longer theoretical, its been occurring en masse since at least December 2020.

More related stories:

Hidden Pfizer trial data shows that ALL vaccinated women in pregnancy lost their unborn babies.

Extensive analysis of trial data finds that Pfizer covid jab does more harm than good.

Investigation proves Pfizer vaccine offers less than 1% protection against COVID-19.

Criminal conspiracy unraveling: Pfizer and the government concealed thousands of deaths, mass injuries caused by experimental covid jabs.

TICKING TIME BOMB: The fully vaccinated will experience enhanced disease when re-exposed to new coronavirus variants  study.

Listen to this Situation Update episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about another Pfizer document covered up with the help of the FDA, which proves that COVID-19 vaccines are killing people.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Learn more about adverse events caused by Pfizers vaccine at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

DailyExpose.uk

MVEC.MCRI.edu.au

PHMPT.org [PDF]

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A group of Republican House leaders is calling for a ban on the use of taxpayer funds to implement President Bidens vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military.

On Tuesday, Representative Darrell Issa of California, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and 14 of his Republican colleagues wrote to the House Appropriations Committee requesting that they prohibit funding for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for active-duty, reserve and national guard military personnel as allocated in the budget for fiscal year 2022.

According to the coalition, the mandate could force around 50,000 active-duty military members out of service right now, putting the countrys national security in serious danger at a time when potential wars are brewing in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia. Several hundred active-duty military service members have already been forced out of service over their refusal to get vaccinated.

Unfortunately, with Democrats still in control of the House, it appears unlikely that appropriators will stop funding the vaccine mandate.

All of the vaccine mandates issued by the Biden administration recently have been struck down by federal courts or stopped, except for the one in effect for the military. Lawmakers say that they have received countless calls from service members expressing their concerns about being kicked out of the military due to the mandate.

Exemption requests being denied

The Marines, for example, have so far only granted three religious exemption requests among the thousands that they have received, and many believe the military is not taking the time to properly assess these requests. These denials are ending peoples careers and taking a toll on their families.

The lawmakers write: If continued, this mandate will devastate morale and destroy our military readiness and weaken our national security posture. With serious challenges emerging around the world, and an ill-prepared administration at the helm, a purge of this nature is especially troubling.

Last week, the Washington Free Beacon reported that of 3,428 requests for a religious exemption by Marines, not a single one was granted to active-duty service members who intend to stay in service for longer than six months. A letter from the Navy to Issa confirmed that in all of the religious exemptions that were granted, the service member in question was either about to leave or be merged into an off-duty work program. This has prompted accusations that top Marine brass are essentially forcing active-duty Marines out of service.

A spokesperson for Issa, Jonathan Wilcox, said: The word is out from military command: Nobody is getting an accommodation. No Marine who wants to serve as a Marine has received religious accommodation unless theyve got a foot out the door.

The Navy has said that it is aware that some Marines are unhappy about their religious exemption requests not being reviewed satisfactorily before being rejected, but they maintain their decisions to deny have been based on health and safety concerns rather than the sincerity of a persons belief.

Rep. Issa told the Free Beacon: The Biden military vaccine mandate is destroying the morale of our troops, careers of honor, and lives of service. And now we know it has corrupted a part of the military itself through the wholesale denial of legitimate religious accommodations.

One chaplain in the U.S. Navy Reserve recently told Fox News Digital that the military is being used by Bidens administration as a nice little test group that is unable to say no to the jab. Speaking anonymously to the outlet, he explained how he now faces possible dismissal after being denied a religious exemption after nearly two decades of service, which would mean missing out on retirement pay and benefits.

Unfortunately, many military service members are in the same position right now, and its terrifying to think that we might not be in a position to defend ourselves against our enemies if the many dedicated and well-trained military personnel who dont want to get the vaccine are terminated.

Sources for this article include:

FreeBeacon.com

FoxNews.com
(Natural News) A modern-era crisis is looming with global prices for fertilizer tripling and food production dwindling.

Articles about the twin issues have come out, but the corporate media in the United States are downplaying them despite their probable catastrophic impact worldwide.

Experts have already warned about the crisis, and a European CEO even told the media last November about a low crop harvest in the world this year. (Related: Higher fertilizer prices causing higher food prices around the globe)

I want to say this loud and clear right now, that we risk a very low crop in the next harvest. Im afraid were going to have a food crisis, said Svein Tore Holsether, the CEO and president of Oslo-based company Yara International.

Holsether added that a food crisis is impending because the cost to manufacture a ton of ammonia has risen nearly 10 times. The natural-gas standard, on the other hand, hit an all-time high in September with the price more than tripling from June to October in Europe.

Yara is a main producer of ammonia, a key ingredient used in synthetic fertilizer, which boosts crop yields. The process of creating ammonia relies on either hydropower or natural gas.

The price to produce a ton of ammonia last summer was $110. And now its $1,000. So its just incredible, said Holsether.

Tripling fertilizer prices affecting African farmers

Many farmers in Africa are skipping buying fertilizers this year as prices tripled over the past 18 months. According to Sebastian Nduva, researcher group program manager at AfricaFertilizer.org, this leaves a market known for its growth potential to decrease by almost a third and this could lessen the output of cereals by 30 million tons, which is enough to feed 100 million people.

We are likely to see a scenario where yields are depressed and this will mean that either the government will have to readjust their budgets and import food or there will be food shortages, Nduva said.

And to make sure that their people wont starve, African governments will need to import large amounts of food.

However, agricultural production is expected to go down worldwide and almost every nation is going to be looking to import food, although there wont be a lot of exporters around.

The truth is, food scarcity is already reaching severe levels in some portions of Africa.

The World Food Programs Madagascar Program Manager Frederica Andriamanantena, who appeared on a COP26 panel last year, detailed the severity of her countrys drought and resulting famine. She said the drought had decreased her countrys harvest to about one-third of the average over the past five years.

And this is just the beginning as the world situation will soon get to a point where there wont be enough food for everyone.

The rumor of Russia and Ukraine going to war will bring this crisis to a distinct level with food prices soaring. Ukraine and Russia combined are big-leaguers in global wheat, corn and sunflower oil trade and they would leave buyers from Asia, Africa and the Middle East exposed to more expensive bread and meat if supplies are interrupted. This would also increase food-commodity expenses that are already the highest in a decade.

Record-high prices caused by various elements

Meanwhile, economists at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) found various elements responsible for the record-high prices. These include increased prices of raw nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; increased global fertilizer demand; increased energy costs; distribution and supply chain disruptions; and trade duties.

Rising fertilizers prices are a great concern for farmers across the country. The rising cost of supplies is slowing down the momentum Americas farmers were starting to build through higher commodity prices and increased demand for their products. Hard-working families must be able to do more than just break even, said AFBF President Zippy Duvall.

We urge the Biden administration to look for ways to bring fertilizer prices down, which include resolving supply chain disruptions and removing import duties, so farmers can continue growing the food, fuel and fiber America relies on.

The market intel also found that ammonia is up over 210 percent, liquid nitrogen has risen to over 159 percent, urea has increased 155 percent, monoammonium phosphate (MAP) has surged to 125 percent, diammonium phosphate (DAP) rose to over 100 percent and potash has increased above 134 percent.

More related articles:

Farmers around the globe now feeling the pinch of higher fertilizer prices and more.

Soaring fertilizer prices expected to make food inflation even worse.

THE WORLD GOES HUNGRY: Fertilizer prices projected to reach near-record high in 2022.

Here it comes: Food prices set to skyrocket throughout 2022 as rising costs hit small-to-medium-sized farms.

Watch the video below to learn about 2022 global grain supplies and fertilizer shortage forecast.

This video is from the ADAPT 2030 | Solar Minimum channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com

FB.org

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The entire Western media is a lie machine that covers up for the tiny global elite and furthers their interests.

(Article by Paul Craig Roberts republished from FreeWestMedia.com)

We cannot trust any government, any public health authority, or the media.

The independent scientists and journalists who tell the truth are slandered, demonized, accused of disinformation, censored, fired, and called domestic terrorists.

It is a proven fact that the mRNA vaccines do not protect against Covid but do cause serious health injuries and death. Nevertheless, the authorities continue to push vaccination while preventing the use of known cures for Covid, such as monoclonal antibodies, Ivermectin, and HCQ.

The Covid Pandemic is an orchestration produced by the use of a PCR test that produces a high percentage of false positives, thus greatly exaggerating the number of reported cases, and by reporting almost all deaths for every cause as Covid deaths. The fact is that most people who died from Covid were people with co-morbidities, that is, people already suffering from serious illness, who were not treated for Covid or were treated by ineffective methods.

What we are experiencing is intentional medical malpractice worsened by mass vaccination that causes variants that keep the pandemic going.

Authorities everywhere have shown that they are totally indifferent to the will of the people as expressed in mass protests. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has absurdly blamed the massive truckers protest on Russian agents.

The governments and medical establishments are totally unresponsive to the people. This is tyranny. It must be overthrown.

Read more at: FreeWestMedia.com
(Natural News) iHealth Labs, the China-based company that is providing fake president Joe Bidens at-home Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) tests, was praised by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for obeying its orders.

The company also received tens of millions of dollars in investment cash from another Chinese company blacklisted by the United States government over its ties to the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), Chinas military arm.

A subsidiary of Chinas Andon Health, iHealth Labs has reportedly received more than $2.1 billion in contracts with the federal government and some states. More than $1 billion came from a contract with the Department of Defense (DoD) as part of Beijing Bidens at-home covid testing program.

The DoD awarded two contracts to the lab in January, which manufactured a whopping 354 million China-made testing kits for Americans. We now know that this company has deep ties to the CCP, which makes the whole thing an act of treason.

These unearthed links exacerbate the fact that the company is subject to Article 7 of Chinas National Intelligence Law, which mandates that any [Chinese] organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work,' reported The National Pulses Natalie Winters.

Covid is a giant cash cow for the CCP

The State Council of the CCP actually sent a letter to iHealth Labs praising its efforts to respond to the Fauci Flu by manufacturing hundreds of millions of testing kits.

The letter, which was posted to Andon Healths Chinese-language website, just about worships iHealth Labs for consciously obey[ing] all of its orders, and reads as follows in English:

In the work of ensuring the supply of infrared thermometers, important materials for epidemic prevention and control, your company responded to the call of the state at the first time, overcome all difficulties, urgently organized workers to return to work, worked overtime to carry out production and supply, and consciously obeyed the joint defense of the State Council. The prevention and control mechanism of the medical supplies and insurance team has actively cooperated with our department to continue to supply infrared thermometers to the country, especially Hubei Province, Beijing and other key regions, and has made outstanding contributions to domestic epidemic prevention and control and the resumption of work and production in various industries.

Andon Health was also commended by the CCP for serving as a model group during the plandemic. Company leaders participated in the Tianjin Municipal Commendation Conference for Fighting against the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic.

The medical companys website explains that 150 outstanding Communist Party members and 101 advanced grass-roots party organizations were in attendance at this event.

iHealth Labs received at least $25 million in investment from the Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, which is blacklisted by the U.S. over its ties to the PLA.

As you may recall, BGI Genomics, another Chinese company that produces and supplies Fauci Flu testing kits, was also exposed for its ties to the CCP and for harvesting the data of Americans. (Related: It was the Obama regime that granted approval to BGI Genomics to start peddling covid testing kits on Americans.)

BGI was caught using its covid tests to collect, store and exploit biometric information on American citizens, according to former U.S. intelligence officials. A recent Reuters article exposed BGI even further by linking it to the PLA.

Get ready for organ harvesting in the United States! warned a Natural News reader about what could be coming next for this country. China thanks you for your genetic identity so they know who to go for first!

More related news about the Biden regimes ties to communist China can be found at Treason.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheNationalPulse.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The war hawks in the administration of President Joe Biden are trying to stoke tensions between Russia and Ukraine by claiming that a Russian invasion is imminent.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine have been deteriorating since the late 2000s, as more and more Ukrainians developed pro-Western and anti-Russian attitudes and the Kremlin desperately wanted to keep Ukraine within its sphere of influence.

The armed conflict between the neighboring nations began in early 2014 when Russian forces invaded the Crimean peninsula and then organized a referendum to annex the area.

A few months later, Russia provided extensive political and military support to pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (administrative divisions). The majority of people in both oblasts speak Russian, and they also have significant Russian ethnic minority populations.

Hundreds of lives are lost each year to sporadic outbursts of fighting, which are accompanied by exchanges of small-arms and artillery fire. No significant amount of territory has changed hands in years.

The pro-Russian self-declared peoples republics of Donetsk and Luhansk currently control less than half of the territory of each oblast, but the area they occupy holds a majority of the citizens of both regions.

Ukrainian officials believe invasion is not imminent

Since tensions escalated late last year, Biden and the war hawks in his administration have been claiming that an invasion is imminent. At one point, Biden told reporters that Putin continues to build forces along Ukraines border and that the coming attack would be the largest invasion since World War II. It would change the world.

But Bidens claims regarding Russia are only partly true. In a show of force, Moscow has stationed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks and has held several military drills at multiple locations in Russia. (Related: Ominous signs of impending Russian invasion: Half-dozen landing ships leave Baltic Sea to enter the Mediterranean as blood, medical supplies arrive.)

On Jan. 27, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Biden by phone and asked him to tone down the rhetoric regarding the threat of a Russian invasion.

This is according to an unnamed Ukrainian official who was in the room with Zelensky during the conversation. According to this official, Biden kept trying to tell Zelensky that the invasion could happen sometime in February, as soon as the weather becomes more favorable for Russian forces.

However, Zelensky reportedly told Biden that he and his intelligence services disagreed with the American assessment of an imminent invasion. He also told him to calm down the messaging, as it was bringing unnecessary panic that could escalate and cause harm to the fragile Ukrainian economy.

In a recent televised address, Zelensky urged Ukrainians not to panic. We are strong enough to keep everything under control and derail any attempts at destabilization, he said.

Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov also recently told the Ukrainian parliament that there are no grounds to believe [Russia will invade].

Dont worry, sleep well, he said. No need to have your bags packed.

Ukrainian political analysts also do not believe an invasion is imminent, but they agree that Russia is attempting to destabilize Ukrainian society.

The Kremlins plans include undermining the situation inside Ukraine, fomenting hysteria and fear among Ukrainians, and the authorities in Kyiv find it increasingly difficult to contain this snowball, said Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst working for the Penta Center for Political Studies in Kyiv.

Kyiv resident Andrey Chekonovsky, in an interview with the Associated Press, said Ukrainians have been living with the threat of a Russian invasion for eight years now. I think the fact that we are worried now is connected with diplomatic games, he added.

Even some of Americas closest allies in Europe, such as France, Germany and other European Union nations, have rejected its assertion that an invasion is likely to come within the next few weeks.

What this disagreement between Biden, Ukrainians and Americas other allies shows is that Biden is attempting to exaggerate the threat of war  and this behavior has not gone unnoticed.

They continue to blow the sirens of war with Ukraine, and based on what? asked Josh Sigurdson, host of World Alternative Media.

Does anyone actually know what this so-called war would be over? Do all the people  the war hawks out there  understand any of what this is even about? continued Sigurdson. What is it about Russia and Ukraine that means that the U.S. needs to send a bunch of weapons and possibly soldiers over to the border? Why?

More related articles:

Cuban Missile Crisis 2.0? Putin may put hypersonic missiles, troops in Cuba, Venezuela, as NATO deploys forces closer to Russia.

Russias red line: Moscow not about to allow Ukraine to join NATO as World War III hangs in the balance.

Russia warns Ukraine of full-scale conflict along the countrys eastern border.

Watch the Feb. 2 episode of World Alternative Media with host Josh Sigurdson, as he goes into detail about Bidens desperate attempts to stoke a war with Russia for his own benefit.

This video is from the World Alternative Media channel on Brighteon.com.

Learn more about the conflict in Ukraine by reading the latest articles at WWIII.news.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

English.ElPais.com

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(Natural News) Researchers using one of the worlds largest arrays of radio telescope have found thousands of mysterious strand-like structures while looking into the center of the Milky Way.

These structures, which are also called radio filaments, pop out of the galactic center in long, thin tendrils that expand up to 150 light-years long or nearly 40 times the distance between Earth and the closest next-door star system, Proxima Centauri.

According to two upcoming studies endorsed to the Astrophysical Journal and the Astrophysical Journal Letters, some of the filaments come in pairs or clusters while others appear like the strings of a harp in equally-spaced sets. All of them flare with energy which is likely produced by billions of electrons bouncing through a magnetic field at near-lightspeed.

Although scientists have noted that such filaments exist around the galactic center for many decades, this new set of high-definition observations from the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa shows that there are 10 times more of the elongated structures than earlier thought. Studying the strange structures in bulk could assist researchers to completely unravel what these filaments are and how they were created.

Just examining a few filaments makes it difficult to draw any real conclusion about what they are and where they came from, said study lead author Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, who is also a professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Center of the Milky Way is crowded with baffling objects

Now, we finally see the big picture  a panoramic view filled with an abundance of filaments. This is a watershed in furthering our understanding of these structures.

The center of the Milky Way is crowded with baffling objects that are too covered by gas and dust to properly study with visible light wavelengths. But by focusing on the energetic radio waves radiating from the galactic center, astronomers can catch a glimpse of some of the forceful structures and interactions happening there. (Related news: Milky Way galaxy likely teeming with Earth-like planets, study suggests.)

Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, which is an array of 64 antennas in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, the researchers of the new studies examined the galactic centers radio activity for 200 hours, stretched over three years. From these investigations, the researchers put together a mosaic of 20 separate observations, each focusing on a distinct section of the radio sky.

MeerKAT, formerly known as the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope introduced in 2018 and its 64 antennas cover a diameter of eight kilometers.

It is also the most sensitive telescope of its kind and is a forerunner to the Square Kilometer Array radio telescope, which will be constructed in South Africa and Australia within the next decade.

The resulting panorama captures numerous known sources of radio waves such as bright supernova remnants and the gassy regions of space where new stars are sparkling to life, including the mysterious fingerprints of nearly 1,000 radio filaments.

Filaments produced by cosmic rays

According to Yusef-Zadeh, who was the first to find the highly organized, magnetic filaments in the early 1980s, the finger-like filaments are produced by cosmic rays  a form of high-energy radiation that originate from outside the solar system. Previous studies have shown that something hiding at the center of the Milky Way works as a giant particle accelerator, continually firing cosmic rays outward into space even though the source of these rays is still a mystery.

One evidence might be the gigantic pair of radio bubbles blowing out from the galactic center, one rising above the galactic plane and the other descending below it. Found in a prior MeerKAT survey, each bubble of radio energy exceeds roughly 25,000 light-years high and was likely made by an ancient explosion from the central black hole of the galaxy.

Many of the newly detected radio filaments, according to the researchers of the new studies, descend within the cavities of these massive bubbles and it is possible that the strand-like filaments were made by the same ancient burst of black hole activity that bloated the radio bubbles millions of years ago.

We still dont know why they come in clusters or understand how [the filaments] separate, and we dont know how these regular spacings happen, Yusef-Zadeh said. Every time we answer one question, multiple other questions arise.

The researchers added that future radio surveys of the region will concentrate on whether the filaments are moving or changing position over time.

More related articles:

Radioactive snowflakes behave like small nuclear bombs in the universe.

Researchers take a closer look at how monster galaxies like XMM-259 form and die.

Study attributes mysterious booms called skyquakes to celestial phenomena.

Watch the video below to know more about mysterious objects and happenings in the galaxy.

This video is from the Oldyotis Home Page channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow Space.news to know more about space and the universe.

Sources include:

LiveScience.com

PhysicsWorld.com

Express.co.uk
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, calling on both sides to seize opportunities to consolidate and strengthen bilateral comprehensive cooperation and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Mirziyoyev attended Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Xi hailed the development of China-Uzbekistan relations in the past 30 years, adding that the two sides have adhered to equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, continuously deepened political mutual trust and promoted mutually beneficial cooperation. The bilateral relationship has continuously reached new heights.

Xi said China has always firmly supported Uzbekistan in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and security and is a reliable friend and partner of Uzbekistan.

The two sides should implement plans for economic, trade and investment cooperation and select and implement a number of major cooperation projects of strategic significance at an early date, Xi said.

Xi said China is willing to help Uzbekistan build a modern industrial system, speed up the feasibility study of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and strive for an early launch, adding that the two sides should strengthen cooperation in natural gas and renewable energy.

China is ready to carry out anti-pandemic and poverty reduction cooperation with Uzbekistan and deepen security cooperation in an all-round way, Xi said.

Mirziyoyev thanked China for supporting Uzbekistan in upholding independence, sovereignty, development and reform and establishing the first vaccine production center in Central Asia.

Uzbekistan will work with China on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and actively advance key projects such as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, the Uzbek president said. 
(Natural News) Soon, everyone will realize that these top 6 Covid corruption whistleblowers were not conspiracy theorists at all, but in fact, hit the nail on the head. History is being made right now, right in front of us all, and the great awakening is gaining much momentum as these brave doctors, scientists and insiders blow the whistle on the biggest terrorist scheme ever designed, and all delivered not by guns, bombs or planes, but with needles.

No matter what your opinion of the pandemic might be now, it is important to consider objectively the descriptions of what is happening as relayed by top experts in their respective fields of study.

Top 6 covid-19 corruption whistleblowers

COVID Whistleblower #1. Dr. Robert Malone  inventor of modern mRNA vaccine technology, warns the world NOT to Covid-vaccinate children.

COVID Whistleblower #2. Dr. Peter McCullough  cardiologist who warns Covid vaccines are a public health threat.

COVID Whistleblower #3. Dr. Patricia Lee  ICU doctor who inspired a dozen other doctors to come forward with sworn declarations showing how fully vaccinated patients are flooding US hospitals with serious Covid vaccine injuries.

COVID Whistleblower #4. Dr. Li-Meng Yan  medical researcher in Hong Kong who investigated the origin of the COVID-19 virus during the initial outbreak and has provided solid evidence it did NOT have natural origin, but rather came from the Wuhan lab.

COVID Whistleblower #5. Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi  German microbiologist who exposed the whole pandemic as fake because its all based on highly fallible PCR tests.

COVID Whistleblower #6. Steve Kirsch  Data analyst, inventor and vaccine researcher, who revealed that Covid vaccines have already KILLED at least 150,000 Americans.

Inventor of mRNA vaccine technology, Dr. Robert Malone, warns the world NOT to Covid-vaccinate children

Dr. Robert Malone is like the Paul Revere of yesteryear, shouting out to very parent a dire warning about getting their kids injected with gene mutation injections that most likely have serious short-and-long-term health consequences, and ones that can never be undone. Malone helped invent modern mRNA vaccine technology, so who knows better than him?

Hes been to rallies in Washington DC called Defeat the Mandates and hes been on Joe Rogans podcast, to name a few major platforms for blowing the whistle on the deadly China Flu jabs. Hes on the record saying this about the Covid jabs in regards to giving them to children: They may damage their brains, their heart, their immune system, and their ability to have children in the future. Many of these damages cannot be repaired. To cap that off, at least 16,000 physicians and medical scientists around the globe have signed a declaration saying healthy children should NOT be vaccinated for Covid.

Weve also heard from Dr. Peter McCullough, who warns us that the Covid vaccines CAUSE diseases themselves. He has patients with cardiovascular complications caused by the vaccines. McCullough has interviewed doctors who discuss the effects of spike proteins, as they can cause serious infections even after a year from injection, as they accumulate in tissues throughout the body. McCullough warns that the Covid vaccines ARE the leading public health threat, and will usher in a whole new class of illnesses leading to disability, hospitalization and death.

Doctors and scientists risk everything warning about the Covid-vaccine-induced horrors and the virus lab origins

Dr. Lee blew the whistle on how fully vaccinated patients are flooding US hospitals with serious injuries from the vaccines, all while the blame is falsely being cast on unvaccinated people for causing these overcrowded death camps. Shes revealing just how the CDC and FDA twist the facts to suit their agenda, only mentioning safe and effective and never revealing the horror from clinical trials and currently crowded hospitals dealing with the vaccine-injured masses.

Wait, theres more. Dr. Li-Meng Yan, was the first to reveal the sophisticated laboratory modification of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, indicating its synthetic origin or signature. Dr. Yan and her colleagues gave detailed descriptions of the synthesized virus made in labs for the Chinese military and the Chinese Communist Party.

Plus, German microbiologist Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi called the whole pandemic FAKE, saying People who are not ill are tested with a test that is lying most of the time. In fact, re-positives are common, meaning people who have totally recovered from Covid will still test positive for weeks, even months later, since the test says positive even from miniscule fragments that are enhanced to seem of current concern. Is it contagious at that point, or is it just harmless viral debris?

Lastly, data analyst Steve Kirsch has blown the whistle about the pandemic of 150,000 Americans dead from the vaccines, not the virus. He warns the world, What the data showed was consistent with what my friends experienced. These vaccines are the most dangerous vaccines of all time. Thousands of times more deadly than, say, even the deadliest vaccine, which is the smallpox vaccine.

And lets not forget the Health Ranger, Mike Adams, editor, renowned investigative journalist and food scientist, who puts time, energy and resources into thousands of articles, podcasts, videos, and thus provides free speech platforms for all of these other great whistleblowers of our time.

Adjust your internet dial right over to Vaccines.news for updates on experimental vaccines and boosters that can cause blood clots, ADE and other horrific side effects.

Sources for this article include:

Pandemic.news

TruthWiki.org

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
The year 2022 has barely started, but we are facing more obstacles than ever. A huge volcanic eruption off the coast of Tonga, the prospect of war with Russia, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its economic disruptions, are now happening. Despite that, historians are saying that year 536 is still the worst year to be alive.

Year 536: Worst Year in History?

In Egypt, Biblical records state that the ninth plague happened and cause complete darkness for over three days. But this is nothing compared to year 536 A.D., where the whole world was covered in complete darkness for over 18 months.

According to History, a mysterious fog rolled over Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of Asia. During the day, this fog blocked the sun causing temperatures to drop and crops to fail.

Byzantine historian Procopius said that the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during the whole year. The mysterious fog that plunged all over the world turned the temperature drop to 1.5C-2.5C initiating the coldest decade in the past 2300 years.

Read more: The deadliest volcanic eruption in history

New 'Science' of Climate History

Historians now take a particular interest in subjects such as this because they can collaborate with scientists to reconstruct the past in new and unexpected ways.

According to Phys.org, "ultraprecise" analysis of ice from a Swiss glacier undertaken by archaeologist Michael McCormick and glaciologist Paul Mayewski at Climate Change Institute of The University of Maine in Orono has been a key to understanding just how harsh the climate change of 536 was.

Mayewski and his team are determined to look for the same eruptions in an ice core drilled in 2013 in the Colle Gnifetti Glacier in the Swiss Alps.

His team deciphered this record using a new ultra-high-resolution technique, in which a laser carves 120-micron slivers of ice, representing just a few days or weeks of snowfall, along with the length of its core.

UM volcanologist Andrei Kurbatov says that each of the samples is analyzed for about a dozen elements. The approach enabled the team to pinpoint storms, volcanic eruptions, and lead pollution down to the month or even less, going back 2000 years.

At a workshop at Harvard this week, the team reported that a catastrophic volcanic eruption in Iceland spew out ashes across the Northern Hemisphere. Followed by two other massive eruptions in 540 and 547, according to Science.

McCormick said that it was a pretty drastic change, and ancient witnesses 'were not being hysterical or imagining the end of the world.' He also said that it was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year.

Some historians-including Kyle Harper, Jared Diamond, and Geoffrey Parker-use developments in this growing field to construct whole pragmatic narratives about the rise and fall of specific societies.

Provost, and a medieval and Roman historian at The University of Oklahoma in Norman Kyle Harper, to him, the detailed log of natural disasters and human pollution was frozen into the ice that gives us a new kind of record and understanding. As per Science

Read More: 'Mysterious' volcanic eruption that plunged Europe into The Dark Ages pinpointed in Central America
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Progressive Democrats in the General Assembly joined social justice and union activists on Friday in calling for more public spending at a time of robust state budget surpluses.

State Sen. Gary Winfield recalled a time when he had only a few coins to make ends meet, and during a virtual news conference with the umbrella organization of activists called Recovery for All, said that many state residents are still living hand-to-mouth, while the wealthy have become more so in the pandemic.

Its the story of trying to make it to the next week, said Winfield, D-New Haven, who is co-chairman of the legislative Judiciary Committee. Its the story of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

It wasnt that long ago, said Winfield, who has been in the legislature since 2009.

And that story was about me working, doing everything I was supposed to be doing and not making enough money to support my family, he said. There are a lot of people in our state who are turning over the jar of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, relying on that because they cant rely on their representatives to have a conversation about the hundreds of millions of dollars that are available to deal with the issues that are in their lives.

The group is advocating for higher taxes on the rich; more access to pre-kindergarten and housing opportunities; as well as an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and a continuation of the child tax credit that began during the pandemic, but ended recently.

The surplus in the budget that expires on June 30 is estimated at more than $2 billion.

Connecticut is still in crisis, said Gemeem Davis, co-director of Bridgeport Generation Now, which advocates for good government in the states largest city. The pandemic is not over and hundreds of thousands of people across the state are in need. They are suffering, particularly people of color and working-class white people. Our essential workers remain at high risk and continue to be the hardest-hit after omicron and other variants of COVID-19 ravage the country and the state.

Davis criticized Gov. Ned Lamonts proposed $336 million in tax cuts as not enough at a time when the state can invest in underserved communities. The governor has opposed tax increases on the wealthy. Republican senators have proposed a reduction in the sales tax and Democratic leaders have called for more tax credits and property tax relief. Last year, similar attempts to raise taxes on the rich failed in the General Assembly.

During the first year of the pandemic, between March 2020 and May of 2021, Connecticut billionaires acquired $12.6 billion in additional wealth, Davis said. They added between $500 million and $3.2 billion each to their coffers while hundreds of thousands of working people saw their lives upended.

She said the bottom half of state earners contributed 23.6 percent of their incomes in taxes, while the top one percent give 7.5 percent. She called Lamont out of touch, he is at the moment, when it comes to the states finances and how they should be managed. In particular, Davis pointed to the states $3 billion-plus emergency reserves, which she and fellow advocates said should be used for enhanced social spending.

During the 40-minute event, activists were supported by Democratic state Rep. Robyn Porter, of New Haven; Sen. Julie Kushner, of Danbury; Rep. Corey Paris, of Stamford, and Rep. Anne Hughes, of Easton.

The 12-week budget-adjustment session of the General Assembly begins on Feb. 9 and ends May 4 at midnight.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Susan Graham signed up to get four free at-home COVID tests from the federal government a day or so after the initiative launched.

A few weeks later, her tests arrived in the mail.

We signed up the first or second day the website was active, and received our COVID tests on Jan 31 or Feb 1, the Bridgeport resident said.

But other Connecticut residents say they havent had the same luck.

I placed my order on Jan. 18 through the post office, received my confirmation number and was told that I would receive a tracking number before my tests were to be sent out, between seven and 12 days for delivery, Trumbulls Augustus Sclafani said. It is now Feb. 3 and I have not even received a tracking confirmation.

Sclafani said he wasnt the only one.

I have asked many other people that live in my area who ordered on the same day and nobody has received anything, he said.

In an email, USPS spokesperson Dave Partenheimer said, we ship the tests out as quickly as we receive them.

Weve seen 60 million households request tests, and tens of millions have received them, Partenheimer said. This is huge demand and were making incredible progress."

But some Connecticut residents say they are still waiting.

Christine Morace, of Preston, said she ordered tests as soon as allowed.

Morace said she did not get them and did not get a tracking number. Emailed USPS, but do not expect a response. Very disappointing.

Susan Maugeri, of Fairfield, said she and her sister ordered their testing kits on the day the program launched.

We both ordered our tests on Jan. 18 and received a confirmation email, but have not heard or received anything since, she said.

I also ordered my tests on Jan. 18, Danburys Michael Thompson said. I received the confirmation right away, but so far no tracking number and no tests.

The White House said a half-billion tests would be available to Americans beginning Jan. 19, but the website went live with a soft launch a day earlier.

At one point, there were about 700,000 people using the site the day before its official launch.

Starting Jan. 19, Americans will be able to order their tests online at COVIDTests.gov, and tests will typically ship within seven to 12 days of ordering, according to a White House FAQ sheet.

Linda Auleta, of Norwalk, said she was told something similar when she inquired.

I placed my order for COVID tests on Jan 18. I told many friends and they also placed orders on the same day. All of my friends received their tests and I have not received anything. Go figure, she said. I called the phone number they provided on their website and they told me they are all being sent out as supply comes in.

OK, she asked, where might mine be?
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for human fraternity to address today's challenges.

In a message on the International Day of Human Fraternity, which falls on Feb. 4, he said the world needs compassion and human solidarity more than ever.

"From deepening poverty and widening inequalities to conflict, division, and mistrust, our human family faces a cascade of challenges. To confront them, we need to challenge those who exploit differences, traffic in hate, and instill fear of 'The Other' in anxious hearts," he said.

Around the world, there is a rise in hate speech, intolerance, discrimination and even physical attacks against people, simply because of their religion or belief, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. These heinous acts are violations of human rights and affronts to the values of the United Nations, said Guterres.

"Today, let us commit to stand firm against bigotry wherever and whenever we see it. Let us recognize our diversity as a richness that strengthens us all. Let us build bridges between the faiths, inspired by our common humanity. And let us come together in solidarity to create a more inclusive, peaceful and just world for all," he said. 
Mark Llewellyn uses a snowblower to clear snow from the sidewalk along Woodland Road Thursday in Sharpsville.

Mark Llewellyn uses a snowblower to clear snow from the sidewalk along Woodland Road Thursday in Sharpsville.


Archbishop describes Queen's rock-like faith Archbishop describes Queen's rock-like faith

The Archbishop of Canterbury has described the Queens Christian faith as "the rock on which she stands", while speaking to the BBC ahead of the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne on Sunday.

On Sunday January 6 she became the first British monarch to mark a Platinum Jubilee and in the BBC interview Justin Welby said the Queen had committed herself to a life of duty and public service.



As the world's longest-serving head of state, the Queen is currently in her beloved Sandringham in Norfolk, for the anniversary of her accession in 1952. Sandringham was where her father, King George VI, died on January 6, 1952.



The Archbishop emphasised the personal importance of religious faith to the Queen, aged 95, and likened her role as monarch to a lifelong religious vocation and the coronation to the vows for religious ministry.



"The coronation service is a form of ordination, in a liturgical sense, and she lives that out without a grumble. It is priestly - the language, the structure, it's very similar to an ordination of a priest or a bishop," he said.



The archbishop said the Queen had faced "intense grief", including the loss of her husband of 70 plus years, last year, when she showed the country the right thing to do, sitting alone at his funeral.



Read more of this article on bbc.co.uk



Pictured above is Hope Together's special website to mark the jubilee, read more here.











Keith Morris, 05/02/2022
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RAMALLAH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- About 159 Palestinian protesters were injured on Friday during clashes with the Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

The medical teams treated 79 Palestinians injured by Israeli soldiers near the villages of Beita and Beit Dajan, located south and east of Nablus city respectively, the PRCS said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

Among the 79 injured Palestinians were two young men shot by live bullets and moved by ambulance to the main hospital in Nablus, it added.

In addition, nine others were slightly injured by rubber-coated metal bullets fired by the Israeli soldiers, including a female journalist who was shot in her face, while 68 suffered suffocation after inhaling tear gas fired by the soldiers.

Since May 2021, Beita village has witnessed almost daily clashes with Israeli soldiers in protest against establishing a settlement outpost on lands owned by the village's residents.

Beit Dajan village has seen weekly protests organized by Palestinian activists against the Israeli confiscation of lands and settlements' expansion in the West Bank.

According to the PRCS, at least three Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers near the city of Qalqilya during protests in a village east of the city.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement the Israeli army and settlers for their assaults on the Palestinians and their properties across the West Bank, noting "these assaults will block any opportunity for resuming the peace process."

There has been no official Israeli comment on the incidents. 
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 68F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low 56F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near an inch.
Longview, TX (75601)

Today

Thunderstorms during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 87F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms developing late. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Beijing, calling for joint efforts to build the China-Egypt community with a shared future in the new era.

Xi said that China and Egypt have further consolidated political mutual trust and achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation with highlights in joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership has become a model of solidarity, cooperation and mutual benefit between China and Arab, African and developing countries, Xi said.

Xi stressed that the two sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and continue to dovetail the Belt and Road Initiative with Egypt's Vision 2030, as well as advance projects such as the development of the Suez Canal Corridor.

Noting that China and Egypt built the first joint COVID-19 vaccine production line on the African continent last year, Xi said that the two sides should continue to fight the pandemic in solidarity.

China is willing to continue to provide vaccine support to Egypt, expand cooperation on joint vaccine production, help Egypt become a vaccine production center in Africa, and jointly make contributions to promoting accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries, Xi said.

Xi said that China and Egypt should also join hands to take the lead in China-Arab and China-Africa cooperation, accelerate the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era, and promote African development and prosperity.

Sisi expressed thanks to Xi for inviting him to attend the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony.

Noting that Egypt-China relations have a long history and are strong, Sisi said the Belt and Road Initiative has strongly promoted Egypt's economic development, and that Egypt is willing to continue to actively participate in the initiative and accelerate its own development through expanding bilateral cooperation in various fields.

The Egyptian people look forward to President Xi's visit to Egypt after the pandemic, Sisi said. 
(Newser)  Some crows in Sweden will literally work for food now. A company based in suburban Stockholm is testing a program that sees trained crows pick up cigarette butts in the city in exchange for food, the Guardian reports. For each butt a crow places into a special machine, the bird will receive a little food. However, the program won't fully launch in the suburb of Sodertalje until Corvid Cleaningthe company behind the pilot projectis certain the waste won't harm the birds and financing is secured. The crows being used are New Caledonian crows, which company founder Christian Gunther-Hanssen told Swedish media are among the smartest birdsreportedly possessing the same reasoning skills as 7-year-old humans.

And there's no forced participation, reports the Local Sweden. "They're wild birds taking part on a voluntary basis," says Gunther-Hanssen. He believes the initiative could slash the more than $2 million the suburb spends on street cleaning by as much as 75%, per the Hill. More than 60% of the litter in Sweden is from cigarette butts. The ultimate goal would be to expand the butts-for-food program throughout the Nordic nation, which sees 1 billion butts discarded on its streets. Similar efforts were tested in France in 2018, though it is unclear whether crows are still used to pick up waste in that country. (Read more sustainability stories.)
(Newser)  The daughter of a Lake Tahoe, Calif., man shot to death in a June home invasion is offering 150,000 reasons for someone to come forward about the crime, FOX 40 reports. A man shown on surveillance video sneaked into the home of Robert Spohr and Wendy Wood, hid until they returned home more than four hours later, and then started shooting, police say. Spohr, 70, died, and Wood, 68, survived two gunshot wounds to her head. She woke up after the shooting and, thanks to her dog's help, reached a phone to call 911.

Wood was in the hospital for six weeks and has had to relearn daily tasks such as showering and walking, her daughter Adrienne Spohr told the Sacramento Bee. She fears for the safety of her and her mom, as she and law enforcement officials believe the attack was planned. The man walked up a bike path, past an SUV parked in the driveway, and then ran into the home, police say. He was wearing gloves, white jogging pants, and a dark hoodie. A white gaiter covered his face and neck, and he was carrying a backpack. Because the slaying happened during the heart of the pandemic, authorities believe the shooter blended in despite wearing a hoodie and neck gaiter while walking, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.



"We are trying to get more info from the public, and maybe someone who knows the person to try to get them to come forward," Adrienne Spohr told the Bee. The $150,000 reward is for information that leads to an arrest and a conviction. Spohr also encourages local folks to review any selfies and dashcam or other type of surveillance footage they still have from the date of her father's killing, June 5, on West Lake Boulevard in Homewood, Calif. Officials ask anyone with information to call the tip line of the Placer County Sheriffs Office at 530-889-7853. (Read more unsolved crimes stories.)
(Newser)  The mass killing at the Kabul airport last August, as US forces were withdrawing from Afghanistan, was carried out by a single attacker, a Pentagon investigation has found. At least 170 Afghans and 13 American troops were killed in the blast. The Pentagon report says it was caused by one bomber who'd loaded a suicide vest with ball bearings, USA Today reports. Senior US commanders had said at the time that some people in the crowd had been shot by militants, per the New York Times, which the report contradicts. Nor did Marines fire into the crowd, the report said.

"The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire, either US or Afghan," Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., head of the Central Command, said Friday. A crowd had gathered at the airport's Abbey Gate of Afghans seeking to enter and US troops who were screening them. McKenzie acknowledged the change in accounts. "We now know that the explosively fired ball bearings that caused wounds that look like gunshots," he said. US and allied forces fired only warning shots, the report says.

The attacker's bomb held 20 pounds of military-grade explosives and 5mm ball bearings. In addition to those killed, 45 US troops were wounded, some of whom suffered traumatic brain injuries. The investigation found that US military leaders took appropriate steps to protect their troops, McKenzie said, and that medical personnel "saved every life they possibly could through heroic efforts." Investigators did not interview any Afghan witnesses, and with the US withdrawal complete, had to largely use drone footage to analyze what happened. (Read more Kabul stories.)
(Newser)  Octaviano Juarez-Corro's time on the lam has come to a close. The 47-year-old from Milwaukee, a double-murder suspect on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list who's been on the run for 16 years, was caught and arrested Thursday in Zapopan, Mexico, the FBI announced Friday, reports USA Today. Per a bureau release, he was tracked down after the FBI received a public tip. Juarez-Corro been sought for a 2006 mass shooting at Milwaukee's South Shore Park that left two dead and three wounded, his wife among the injured.

Juarez-Corro had allegedly shown up uninvited to a Memorial Day picnic at the park on May 29, 2006, where a confrontation soon took place between himself and his wife, with whom he was going through a contentious divorce, over his access to their then-3-year-old daughter. The FBI says when he was denied a request to see her, Juarez-Corro pulled out a handgun, forced five people (including his wife) to get down on their knees, and then gunned them down execution-style. Juarez-Corro's wife survived after being shot two times in the chest, but two people were killed, and two others were gravely injured.

Federal authorities had suspected Juarez-Corro had fled to Mexico, offering a reward up to $100,000 for any info leading to his arrest. He's been charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Fox News notes he'd also been wanted on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, though it's unclear if he was charged with that as well. "Octaviano Juarez-Corro spent the last 16 years running from law enforcement, hiding in another country, and believing time and distance [were] on his side," said Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle of the FBI's Milwaukee Field Office. However, Hensle added, "the FBI has a long reach." (Read more Most Wanted stories.)
Press Release

February 5, 2022 Up with Transparency, Down with Culture of Palakasan Under Lacson Presidency More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/up-with-transparency-down-with-culture-of-palakasan-under-lacson-presidency Under a Lacson presidency, transparency in the bureaucracy will be upheld while the culture of "palakasan" will come to an end. Partido Reporma chairman and standard bearer Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson said this includes having Cabinet members attend congressional probes, especially those involving corruption. "Hinding hindi (No, never)," Lacson said at the KBP Presidential Candidates Forum on Friday, when asked if he will ban his Cabinet members from attending House or Senate investigations such as the one involving Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp. "Kasi ang ipu-push natin ang transparency. Paano magtatagumpay ang administrasyon kung magtatago tayo ng dapat malaman ng publiko (We want to push transparency. How can our administration succeed if we hide from the people what they need to know)?" he added. Also, Lacson vowed to end the culture of "palakasan" that has allowed corruption to fester in the bureaucracy. This can be done by adhering to only one standard, even if the one linked to corruption is a friend or ally. He stressed he will go after the ICUs (Inept, Corrupt and Undisciplined) in the bureaucracy in the same way he kicked out the ICUs from the Philippine National Police when he headed the institution from 1999 to 2001. "Naging kultura ang kultura ng palakasan. Yan ang ating ihihinto (The culture of palakasan has become part of our culture. That is what we will stop)," he said. He said he will address this through leadership by example - including signing a waiver of his rights to the Bank Secrecy Act in his first day in office, and encouraging Cabinet members and all government officials and employees to do the same. Lacson has vowed to fix the ills of government to benefit Filipinos (Aayusin ang Gobyerno, Aayusin ang Buhay ng Bawat Pilipino) and to go after thieves, especially those in government (Uubusin ang Magnanakaw).
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia when meeting with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Beijing on Saturday.

Xi said that the two countries enjoy high-level political mutual trust, and bilateral relations have withstood test and become even stronger, setting a model of international relations.

The Serbian president has come to China to attend the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony.

Hailing the leapfrog development of bilateral ties in recent years, Xi said that the two sides have implemented a number of cooperation projects covering multiple fields including infrastructure, energy and production capacity. He added that cooperation with Serbia is at the forefront of China's cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries.

In the face of changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, the two sides should view bilateral ties from the strategic and long-term perspective, maintain and develop their friendship, and firmly support each other's fundamental and long-term interests, Xi said.

Xi noted that the Chinese side firmly supports the people of Serbia in pursuing a development path they have chosen independently.

The two sides should seek greater synergy between development strategies, and continue advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, said Xi, adding the two should also work toward greater progress in cooperation projects including the Hungary-Serbia railway.

Xi also said that the Chinese side will continue to provide support for Serbia's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, enhance vaccine co-production and cooperation in the resumption of work and production.

In terms of multilateral international cooperation, Xi said China is willing to work jointly with Serbia in defending the international system with the United Nations (UN) at its core and the international order based on international law. The two countries should also speed up implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Vucic said that Serbia is a true friend of China, and the Serbian side respects China and admires its leadership, adding that no matter what pressure or hardships lie ahead, the ironclad friendship between the two will stay strong.

He also noted that on issues such as Xinjiang and Taiwan that involve China's core interests, the Serbian side will stand on the Chinese people's side as always.

Vucic said that the Serbian side expects to further enhance cooperation with China in areas including trade, commerce, investment, and people-to-people exchanges.

Vucic also expressed the hope for Xi to visit Serbia at an early date after the pandemic. 
(Newser)  The current mayor of New York City regrets calling white NYPD officers "crackers" shortly before he launched his campaign, in remarks heard in a recently resurfaced 2019 video, Politico reports. "Every day in the police department, I kicked those crackers' a--," Adams said in the video, receiving a round of applause. "Man, I was unbelievable in the police department with 100 Blacks in law enforcement." Adams, a Black man who spent 22 years as a cop before retiring in 2006, made those comments at a private event in Harlem, where he discussed his upcoming run for mayor. In the clip, first reported on by the New York Daily News, the future mayor uses other politically incorrect words such as "Negro" throughout it, according to the New York Post. The founder of Black Lives Matter Real Estate Forum publicized the video on Tuesday, though it was unclear why.

The mayor is now apologizing for his remarks. Speaking at an unrelated press conference on Friday, Adams alleged that a person who asked him a question at the event used the term "cracker." However, the question that led to the diatribe isn't recorded. "It's a comment that should not be used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it but to New Yorkers, because they should expect more from me and that was inappropriate," the mayor said. Multiple cops spoke about the video and apology; one told the Post he was "a cracker supervisor technically." However, the president of the Police Benevolent Association asked people not to rush to judgment. "We have spoken with Mayor Adams about this video," Pat Lynch said in a statement. "A few seconds of video will not define our relationship. We have a lot of work to do together to support our members on the streets." (Read more NYPD stories.)
(Newser)  Seven people from three countries died Friday in a plane crash over the famous Nazca Lines in Peru, according to Reuters. The plane carried three Dutch tourists, two Chilean tourists, a Peruvian pilot, and a Peruvian co-pilot, the Guardian reports. The Cessna 207 plane was owned by a tourism company and was headed to see the UNESCO site, per the Hindustan Times. The plane crashed right after taking off from the Maria Reiche Airport in Nazca and caught fire after hitting the ground, police say. The bodies were left unrecognizable, but the passengers were identified by the Aerosantos company that owned the plane.

The cause is under investigation. The last plane crash near the Nazca Lines was in 2010, when four British tourists and two Peruvian crew members died in an AirNasca-owned plane. Sightseeing flights are popular in the Nazca area, per media reports. The Nazca Lines are literal lines that were sketched into the desert between 500 BC and 500 AD that can usually only be spotted from the sky; they were a calendar or part of a ritual and are located about 220 miles from Peru's capital city of Lima. Some of the etchingswhich include animals, mythical beings, plants, and geometric shapesare miles long. (Read more plane crash stories.)
(Newser)  Two separate shootings 1,500 miles apart, in towns that have already experienced grim mass shootings, have left two dead and at least six injured. The first incident happened earlier in the evening Friday, shortly after 8pm, at the Iglesia Faro De Luz Church in Aurora, Colo., reports Denver7. When police responded to a call of gunfire, they found a 36-year-old woman and two men, ages 40 and 42, had been shot, per a release. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the church event, which is said to have had about 15 to 20 people in attendance, while the men were taken to a local hospital and are expected to survive. A fourth person was also hospitalized, "for other medical reasons," per the police.

At a presser after the shooting, Aurora Police Department spokesman Matthew Longshore said that the suspect, who fled the scene and is still being sought, apparently knew one of the victims, per CNN. "[The] exact relationship is not going to be released at this point," Longshore said, adding, "It wasn't just a random shooting inside this church." He noted that investigators are seeking surveillance video from the area and interviewing witnesses. Aurora was the site of a 2012 mass shooting in a movie theater that left 12 dead and 70 injured.

Meanwhile, in a college town across the country, where one of the worst US shootings took place almost 15 years ago, one person is dead and four injured after a shooting at the Melody Hookah Lounge in downtown Blacksburg, report the AP and USA Today. The Blacksburg Police Department says it responded to a call on the shooting just before midnight, though other details, including on suspects or possible motives, are scant. The conditions are of the four injured people also aren't clear.

The lounge is just blocks away from Virginia Tech, where a student massacred 32 people in April 2007 in the worst school shooting in US history. After Friday's shooting, the university issued a series of alerts starting just before midnight, warning students to stay indoors and lock all entrances. By 3:15am, the school had lifted its secure-in-place warning, though it advised everyone to avoid the downtown area. (Read more shootings stories.)
(Newser)  A man who allegedly kidnapped an employee at the Colorado ranch owned by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at first asked her where the billionaire's daughters were and later went on rants about Bloomberg, saying he wanted to "make an international scene" with him or his daughters, according to court documents. The Bloomberg family was not at the ranch near rural Meeker, in the western part of the state, when Joseph Beecher allegedly rammed his pickup through its gates and kidnapped the female worker at gunpoint Wednesday. Beecher, 48, then forced the woman to drive him in her truck to the Denver area and north to Wyoming, authorities said. Her name was initially released by authorities but redacted in Colorado state court documents released Friday, per the AP.

Beecher was arrested Thursday with an AR-15 and a handgun in Cheyenne, Wyo., after investigators were able to trace the woman's iPad to a motel there, an arrest affidavit said. It said the woman wasn't harmed but also said Beecher kissed her on the forehead and told her she would be dead if she were a man. The sheriff's office in Rio Blanco County, where the ranch is located, said in a statement that Beecher had no connection to the Bloombergs or the alleged victim. It said his motive for going to the ranch, which was purchased in April 2020 for $44.8 million, was being investigated.

While she was being held, the alleged victim, described in federal court documents as the ranch's supervising housekeeper, said Beecher told her he'd gone to the Meeker airport in July looking for Bloomberg, according to the Colorado affidavit. She also said he referred to Bloomberg's daughters by name when he asked about their whereabouts (Bloomberg has two adult daughters, Emma and Georgina). The woman told investigators that Beecher made many threatening statements to her but she tried to act friendly to calm him down. When she was forced to withdraw money from an ATM, she said she mouthed the words "help me," hoping it would be recorded by the machine's surveillance camera.

Beecher lives in Craig, Colo., about 70 miles from the Bloomberg ranch, and had worked as a handyman at an apartment complex, according to the affidavit. He received housing in exchange for his work but was told he was being terminated on Tuesday and would have to leave, it said. Beecher was being held in jail in Cheyenne. No state charges had been filed against him yet in Wyoming, but he was charged with kidnapping in federal court on Thursday. In a statement, a Bloomberg spokesperson noted the family is "deeply grateful" to law enforcement "for their swift and heroic action in this case in ensuring that no lives were lost and that the victim has been rescued and safely returned to her family."

(Read more Michael Bloomberg stories.)
(Newser)  Demonstrators gathered on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and other Brazilian cities to protest the killing of a 24-year-old Congolese refugee who was beaten to death on Jan. 24. The killing sparked outrage and revulsion across the nation, the AP reports. In Rio, they gathered outside the beach kiosk where Moise Mugenyi Kabagambe had been working in Barra da Tijuca, a neighborhood known for its upmarket condominiums and shopping malls. The two lanes in front of the kiosk were covered by banners with images and photos of Kabagambe. One sign held by more than 10 people, had an image of the slain man's face with the words: "Justice for Moise. Black lives matter! Stop killing us!"

"Moise was beaten for 15 minutes, on a busy beach, where people pass by all the time, and at no time did anyone call the police and try to separate them," said attorney Rodrigo Mondengo, of Brazils Bar Association in Rio. "We have no doubt that if it were a white person there being beaten, someone would go to that person's rescue." Kabagambe's assailants were caught on security camera footage that police have released to the media. It shows three men violently attacking the young man, and over the course of 13 minutes holding him down and beating him with a rodand continuing to do so even after he loses consciousness. They are later seen attempting chest compressions, then rolling his body over.

Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding Kabagambe's killing. Many felt no need to await official findings in a city where homicide often goes unpunished; they asserted Kabagambe's death was evidence of racism, xenophobia, and impunity. Human Rights Watch denounced the crime as "deplorable" this week. "COWARDICE. SAVAGERY. BARBARITY," blared the front page of local newspaper Extra's front page Wednesday. Kabagambe moved to Brazil in 2011 from his native Bunia, his cousin said. Local media reports said the family had fled fighting between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups. At Kabagambe's funeral, his mother told a TV network: "My son grew up here, studied here. All his friends are Brazilians. I want justice."

(Read more Brazil stories.)
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- This undated official photo likely shows then Col. Larry Lars Johnson as the adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard. Johnson worked with regular Air Force leaders, Alaska civic leaders and the National Guard Bureau to establish the Alaska Air National Guard Sept. 15, 1952. (File photo)
HONG KONG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday strongly condemned the so-called "America Competes Act" passed by the U.S. House of Representatives the day before.

The office firmly rejected the U.S. bill, which vilified the Chinese central government's policies on Hong Kong, undermined the rectification of chaos in the HKSAR, challenged the bottom line of the principle of "one country, two systems," grossly interfered in China's internal affairs including Hong Kong affairs, and trampled on international law and basic norms of international relations, said a spokesperson of the office.

The spokesperson pointed out that all fair-minded people can see that with the effective implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong and the successful practice of the new electoral system, Hong Kong is stepping out of the whirlpool of "pan-politicization", embarking on the path of high-quality democracy and substantive democracy, and enjoying a new peaceful living and working environment and good governance.

Hong Kong's status as an international financial, shipping and trading center has been continuously consolidated, and Hong Kong compatriots enjoy more democratic rights and freedoms than at any other time in history, the spokesperson said.

Facts have proved that the national security law in Hong Kong is an effective law for safeguarding national security and the tranquility of Hong Kong, and the new electoral system is an effective system that is in line with the principle of "one country, two systems" as well as the reality of Hong Kong and ensures Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the so-called "America Competes Act" aims to contain China in the name of competition, which includes negative and misleading Hong Kong-related content fabricated by some anti-China politicians, fully exposing the sinister intention of U.S. politicians to play the "Hong Kong card" to curb China's development.

"The politicians claim to defend universal values such as democracy and human rights, but in fact play dirty tricks to safeguard U.S. hegemony and suppress China at the expense of Hong Kong stability and the interests of Hong Kong people," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson stressed that the truth will always prevail over lies just as clouds cannot cover the sun forever, adding that the hysteria of a few anti-China politicians cannot change Hong Kong's social stability and development, nor can it lessen the confidence of Hong Kong people in a bright future.

The spokesperson noted that no external intervention can shake China's strong will to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, nor can it shake the firm determination of the central government to fully and faithfully implement "one country, two systems."

The spokesperson urged U.S. politicians to recognize the historical trend quickly, stop political grandstanding, stop advancing relevant bills or acts, and immediately stop meddling in China's internal affairs including Hong Kong affairs.

"Any attempts to curb China's development by playing the 'Hong Kong card' just amount to wishful thinking and are doomed to failure," the spokesperson added. 
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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 proven guilty in a court of law.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Omicron surge in Bahrain will soon peak nationally, said a top infectious disease expert yesterday, expressing hope for the existing cases to decline in the coming period based on projections.

Constant monitoring and follow up of existing cases indicate that the peak of the Omicron surge is near, Lieutenant-Colonel Dr Manaf Al-Qahtani said, adding that there is no increase in patients requiring hospitalisation or intensive care.

Cases reported now are a fraction of the cases recorded during the peak of the previous variant, he stressed. The infectious disease consultant at the Military Hospital, and a member of the National Medical Taskforce combating the Covid-19 pandemic, added: We will witness a decline in the rate of daily existing cases in light of Bahrain approaching the peak of the Omicron surge.

Dr Manaf Al-Qahtani also assured that the medical sector in Bahrain is fully capable of dealing with patients who require hospitalisation or intensive care. Hospitals here have all diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities to deal with various stages of the virus, he added.

Dr Jamila Al-Salman, a consultant in infectious and internal diseases at the Salmaniya Medical Complex and a Taskforce member, further confirmed that the Omicron variant is less dangerous than the previous mutant, citing indicators at the global and national level.

The indicators are based on the deaths recorded among existing cases and whose condition required hospital and intensive care, said Dr Al Salman. The doctor further confirmed that the symptoms of Omicron are similar to that of seasonal influenza, especially for those who completed vaccination and boosters.

Dr Walid bin Khalifa AlManea, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and a Taskforce member, said plans to tackle the virus are proceeding as per decisions. Bahrain, he said, has on its top priority the health and safety of its citizens and residents and integrated national efforts in the spirit of one team are propelling efforts to address the COVID virus.

The high number of patients, most of them do not have any symptoms, had not exerted any pressure on hospitals here, Dr Al Manea said, adding that the capacity of examination and treatment centre exceeds the requirement.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A woman, who had landed in the police custody for attacking and forcefully snatching a gold chain from a mobile phone store, now stands accused of committing multiple street robberies and shoplifting in Manama and Muharraq.

Incidents leading to the breakthrough began with police kick starting an investigation into a chain-snatching incident reported from Busaiteen. The victim, an employee of a mobile phone shop in Busaiteen, reported to police that an unknown woman attacked him and snatched his gold chain before fleeing from the shop.

Investigators found that the crime had all the traits of similar such incidents in Muharraq and Capital governorates. Based on further investigation, police also concluded that the same person was behind all the attacks.

Police also managed to catch the suspect amidst committing a crime in the Isa Town area. However, when Public Prosecution confronted the woman with the evidence collected, she denied any knowledge of the incident and denied all the accusations levelled against her.

The woman also claimed that she was not in Bahrain when investigators claimed the crime happened. The victim told the court that the woman walked into his shop and demanded him to talk to her neighbours via phone, as she could not comprehend what he was saying in a foreign language.

But, I refused. Then, she surged towards me and grabbed me forcefully, leaving me helpless, and snatched my gold chain before jumping out and running away in a jiffy. Investigators found that the suspect has committed several robberies by stopping cars on the streets and asking for a lift.

The Fourth Criminal Court adjourned the hearing in the case to Wednesday. The court also ordered to present a response statement to the suspects attorney. The woman will remain in pre-trial detention.
China has put forward an outlook to help countries in the Horn of Africa overcome security, development and governance challenges. #GLOBALink





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Plans are progressing for the sixth edition of Bahrain Food Festival 2022.

The Bahrain Tourism & Exhibition Authority has launched a tender seeking highly qualified companies to submit proposals for the festival.

Bidders are expected to build on the success of Bahrains Food Festival previous editions to maximize its potential and success, BTEA says in the tender description.

The fifth edition of the festival took place in 2020 with the participation of more than 200 food vendors. The festival is part of BTEAs strategy that aims at developing and strengthening the tour[1]ism sector under the slogan of Ours. Yours
BETHEL  A man wanted in a North Carolina shooting was arrested in Bethel on Friday morning, the Bethel Police Department said.

Freedom Shapel Morris, 20, was a suspect in a shooting in Greenville, N.C. where he allegedly shot at his co-worker and hit an innocent bystander, according to his wanted poster.

He was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, police said.

The Bethel Police Department received information Friday morning that Morris was in town. Officers began an investigation and learned Morris was staying at the Microtel on Benedict Road.

Bethel Police coordinated with the Danbury Regional Emergency Services Team, which includes members of the Danbury, Bethel, Newtown, Brookfield and Ridgefield police departments. The emergency services team apprehended Morris at the Microtel without incident, police said.

Bethel officers additionally charged Morris with being a fugitive from justice. Morris is being held at the Bethel Police Department on $2 million bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

According to Morris wanted poster, Morris was involved in a fight with a co-worker at a Wendys when he pulled a firearm from his waistband and fired two rounds at his co-worker. One of the bullets struck an innocent bystander.

Morris fled the scene and police have not been able to find the firearm, the wanted poster says.
A Ridgefield man accused of crushing a police officer in a door frame with a riot shield during the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol has rejected a plea deal offered by federal prosecutors.

Patrick McCaughey III was arrested in New York weeks after the storming of the Capitol on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees, civil disorder, entering restricted building or grounds, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.

McCaugheys case was scheduled to appear in District of Columbia court on Friday, but McCaugheys lawyer waived his clients appearance, filings show.

It was not immediately clear what the government offered as a plea agreement in the case.

NBC Connecticut aired what it said was new footage from the attack.

Video purporting to show McCaughey involved in the violent confrontation in a tunnel at the lower west terrace entrance to the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, is already part of the governments case against him.

Court filings in the case show investigators identified McCaughey as a suspect after video of the incident was posted to YouTube. In it, McCaughey allegedly can be seen using a riot shield to pin Metro Police Officer Daniel Hodges in a door frame near the Capitol entrance.

A separate rioter then tears Hodges gas mask off, exposing his bloodied mouth, according to the court filings.

McCaughey was released on bond in May, after having initially been detained.

Eight other co-defendants have been charged alongside McCaughey in the case.
A hiring poster is seen at a booth of a shopping center in Toronto, Canada, on Dec. 3, 2021. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

Canada's unemployment rate last month saw the first increase since April 2021. The total number of unemployed people increased by 106,000, or 8.6 percent, to 1.34 million, said Statistics Canada.

OTTAWA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Canada's employment fell by 200,000 and the unemployment rate rose 0.5 percentage points to 6.5 percent in January, according to Statistics Canada on Friday.

With the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and stricter public health measures implemented, capacity limits or closures had been re-introduced in retail stores and high-contact settings such as restaurants, bars, concert halls and gyms, Statistics Canada explained the reasons of the weak employment last month.

Youth and core-aged women, who are more likely than other demographic groups to work in industries affected by the public health measures in place, saw the largest impacts. Youth saw declines in both part-time and full-time work. Employment fell among women in the core working ages of 25 to 54, entirely in part-time work. Statistics Canada indicated that all of the employment decline was among private sector employees.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate last month saw the first increase since April 2021. The total number of unemployed people increased by 106,000, or 8.6 percent, to 1.34 million, said Statistics Canada.

Especially, the unemployment rate for youth rose 2.5 percentage points to 13.6 percent. Women aged 25 to 54 also saw an increase of 0.6 percentage points to their unemployment rate of 5.3 percent. 
The students, who were all between the ages of 18 and 20, wanted to know why the administration had prohibited the hijab despite the fact that it was permitted under the school guidelines.

Protests by students in Karnataka over their right to wear the hijab in class have now expanded to other institutions.

According to sources, approximately 40 students protested outside the Bhandarkars Arts and Science Degree College in Kundapur, Udupi district, since the faculty refused to let them in without taking off their headscarves. In support of the females, several Muslim boys sat outside the schools campus.

The students, who were all between the ages of 18 and 20, wanted to know why the administration had prohibited the hijab despite the fact that it was permitted under the school guidelines which states, Girl students are free to wear scarves, but the color of the scarf must match the dupatta, and no student is permitted to wear any other fabric.

A similar incident surfaced on February 4, 2022, in another college in Kundapur. A group of hijab-wearing students were forced to stand outside the institution for six hours. Girls wearing hijab were permitted to sit in class at the Junior PU Government College, but controversy erupted two days ago when a group of boys arrived in class wearing saffron scarves. To minimize communal tension, the college administration requested that the females remove their hijab during class.

Originally, the hijab protests emerged at the Government Girls PU Girls College in the Udupi area a few weeks ago. Six students were allegedly denied entry into classes because they refused to remove their hijabs. BJPs Yashpal Suvarna, vice president of the Udupi College Administrative Committee, stated it would only take him five minutes to put an end to the opposition with the support of Hindu groups. According to him, only six students out of 900 at the campus are causing mayhem with the help of Campus Front of India and PFI organisations. To address the issue, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra stated that kids should not wear the hijab or saffron shawls to school.
Imran and the Pakistani delegation had to attend a virtual meeting with China's National Development and Reform Commission chairman and vice-chairman of the People's Political Consultative Committee of China while in Beijing.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who arrived in China with a large group, had to deal with a humiliating scenario when Chinese officials struck him a major blow. The Pakistani Prime Minister stated that the meeting for which Imran Khan has traveled so far will be held online. Imran Khan was reportedly upset by this, but he did nothing in front of the Chinese officials. Imran and the Pakistani delegation had to attend a virtual meeting with Chinas National Development and Reform Commission chairman and vice-chairman of the Peoples Political Consultative Committee of China while in Beijing.

Moreover, as per reports, its unclear whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with Imran Khan. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, National Security Advisor Moid Yusuf, and a number of other top ministers and officials have arrived in China with Imran Khan.

Imran Khans visit is primarily aimed at obtaining a $3 billion loan from China. His visit comes at a time when Pakistan is grappling with a slew of economic issues . In Balochistan, on the other hand, where China has made significant investments, the militants are carrying out brutal attacks on the Pakistani army.

Additionally, while Islamabad aims to borrow $3 billion from China to stabilise its currency reserves sources, it also has plans to take additional $2 billion from Russia and Kazakhstan for the ML-1 Railways project. Its worth noting that Pakistan has been attempting to resurrect a $6 billion credit agreement with the International Monetary Fund that has been halted (IMF).
NEW HAVEN  Lillie E. Perkins plucked Douglas Lyons from a pre-K class at Helene Grant School to join her Unity Boys Choir and ingrained in him a standard of excellence in music and character, to have a purpose in everything he did, Lyons said.

Today, Lyons is a successful Broadway actor and playwright who appeared on Broadway in The Book of Mormon and Beautiful, as well as the tours of Rent and Dreamgirls.

What we had had purpose to it. Now I always make sure my work has purpose, Lyons said. As young, Black males, the world was against us in a way, but she made us feel proud.

Jeanette Morrison, aldermanic president pro tem, was an 8-year-old third-grader at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School when Perkins recognized her leadership ability and made her director of the gospel choir Perkins had formed.

Perkins was spot-on about Morrisons leadership skills, as she would go on to become cheerleading captain in high school, was named Miss Hillhouse, has two masters degrees and holds the powerful position in city government.

She could see in students what they couldnt see in themselves, Morrison said. She had very high expectations and she would let you know if you didnt meet those expectations.  Making her proud made me feel so good.

Perkins, a retired city elementary school teacher of 36 years and founder of three renowned childrens choirs that were about so much more than song, died Jan. 24, leaving a legacy of love and success stories for hundreds  if not thousands  of city schoolchildren through the years, friends and former students say.

Friends and family have started a GoFundMe to carry on her legacy.

After her retirement in 2008, Perkins said of her knack for getting young people to open up to her: I try to have a listening ear, be respectful and not be judgmental.

She joked at the time that she was continuing her work with young people, but just wasnt getting paid for it anymore. She knew from age 7 that she wanted to be a teacher and practiced as a child by lining up her dolls as students.

Marcella Monk Flake, who taught with Perkins for years, described her friend as grace, love, intelligence, kindness personified.

She was an angel. She had a beautiful spirit, Flake said. She loved children.

In 2000, Perkins was a big winner on Wheel of Fortune and amazed host Pat Sajak by guessing the phrase A Leap of Faith with only four letters on the board in two of the words.

Flake said it jumped out at Perkins because faith was so much a part of who she was. Perkins once told a Register reporter that she had a list of more than 400 children whom she prayed for  by name  each day.

Her choir endeavors with the children were about much more than singing. She used those experiences to teach life lessons, give them exposure and socialization, build character and provide myriad opportunities.

She first started a gospel choir at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in the 1970s, then at Helene Grant Elementary School, and later, in 1997, the Unity Boys Choir.

Her Helene Grant School choir traveled the East Coast while singing for national and international leaders including former first lady Hillary Clinton, law professor Lani Guinier and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Unity Boys Choir, a force for 21 years, traveled to perform from Florida to Canada and in 2003 released a patriotic CD.

Outside of school and choirs, Perkins volunteered at countless community programs  most of which affected children  and received numerous awards.

Perkins daughter, Tiara Valentino-Perkins, said her mother and father, James Rudy Perkins Jr., were always there helping kids alongside her, whether it was straightening a necktie or delivering groceries and clothes to those in need.

It was a genuine love story. They were inseparable, Valentino-Perkins said of her parents. Theyre back together again.

Valentino-Perkins tells the story of how her mother came from humble beginning in North Carolina  she lived on a dirt road, in a house on cinderblocks that she swept from underneath, with an outhouse. She had to take care of siblings when she was only 3 after her father died.

That never left her, Valentino-Perkins said. She never forgot where she came from and couldnt stand seeing somebody go without while she had.

Lillie met Rudy senior year of high school, but her mother wouldnt let Lillie get married until she finished college, Valentino-Perkins said.

Rudy Perkins became disabled from a stroke some 25 years ago and she returned after college to care for him so that Lillie Perkins could carry on her work helping children. He died in 2019, but Valentino-Perkins stayed to help mother.

Valentino-Perkins shared a story about how she came to be named Tiara, and what it said about her mother:

Lillies mother had saved and saved to buy her a tiara for an eleventh-grade dance. That night, Lillie Perkins, her date and another couple got into a car accident and went into a ditch. They were OK, but the tiara broke; since her mother had saved so hard for it, Lillie said if she ever were to have a daughter, she would name her Tiara.

Metashar Cindy Dillon, founder of the Miss Black Connecticut Scholarship pageant, and like a second mother to Valentino-Perkins, said Lillie Perkins was the sweetest woman, the purest, the sincerest.

Dillon said Perkins sent the message to generations of kids that greatness was theirs and they could be anything they wanted.

Lillie was a walking legacy. She gave her life to kids, Dillon said.

Sandra Pittman, owner of Sandras Next Generation Restaurant on Congress Avenue, said Perkins started as Pittmans daughters teacher, became a regular at the restaurant with Rudy and Tiara, then became like family.

Pittman said Lillie Perkins favorite foods at the restaurant were catfish, collard greens and kale.

One of Pittmans daughters, now a New Haven firefighter, had Perkins for a teacher. I watched her connect with all students, Pittman said of Perkins. She would speak and sing and the whole class was quiet. Often she sang Aretha Franklins song Respect, Pittman said.

She was very impactful on so many peoples lives. She gave all the greatest gifts of God  the gifts of love and service, Pittman said, noting how Perkins saw how busy the restaurant was at Thanksgiving and donated her time to help. She was a pillar in the community.

Lyons, the Broadway actor , said he visited Perkins in New Haven in 2020.

I was able to see her, hug her, tell her I love her, Lyons said. She always reminded me of how proud she was of me.

Early in childrens development, Perkins strove to let them know, We can, we matter, and we have something to bring to the world, Lyons said. Lillie did that for kids. That is a reminder of her generosity and spirit.

Morrison, who described herself as no angel as a child, said besides her own mother, Perkins was the first to identify leadership qualities in her.

It was the village. She was your mother. She loved you and you knew that she loved you, Morrison said. She recalled Perkins making the girls floral tops and long skirts for performances.

Shes going to be missed, but shell never be forgotten, Morrison said. She has influenced so many lives. Just knowing she knew she fed into my soul made me so proud.

In her obituary, Perkins is quoted as once saying, My life is a gift from God and what I do with my life is my gift back to God. Ive asked God to give me life until my work is done and work until my life is done and let it be in service to children.
Niagara Falls, NY (14301)

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Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 57F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

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A presidential aspirant, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has boasted that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, a...





A presidential aspirant, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has boasted that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and other aspirants cannot outspend him during the upcoming presidential primaries of the ruling party.





Kalu said this while answering questions on Channels Televisions Politics Today.





The former Governor of Abia also insisted Tinubu isnt a hindrance to him becoming the next president.





When asked if he sees Tinubu as a threat to his ambition, Kalu responded, No! and I am not a threat to his ambition.





By the time we meet at Eagles Square, this issue will be settled.





Kalu also claimed he has support from all regions in the country.





He said, I was governor with him (Tinubu), there is nothing difficult in challenging anybody.





There is no difficulty. I am the only political businessman that is first recognised as a billionaire, and I am not sure that there is anything those people can do, in terms of money, that I cannot do.
LANZHOU, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have discovered geographical isolation, natural selection, and hybridization could have together promoted the species diversification of numerous plant genera on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is characterized by a high number of endemic plant species. The statistics showed that there are more than 20 percent of the 12,000 species of vascular plants on the Plateau, which are found nowhere else in the world.

The Plateau is regarded as an evolutionary cradle that may arise from explosive species diversification because of geographic isolation, according to a research article published in the New Phytologist.

Meanwhile, gene flow has been widely detected during the speciation processes of all examined groups, suggesting that natural selection may have also played an important role during species divergence in this region.

In addition to geographic isolation, natural hybrids have been recovered in almost all species-rich genera. This suggests that numerous species in this region are still on the speciation pathway to complete reproductive isolation. Such hybrids could directly develop into new species through hybrid polyploidization, according to researchers from Lanzhou University.

Liu Jianquan, a researcher from the university, suggested that natural selection and hybridization could have together promoted species diversification of numerous plant genera on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Hailed as the "roof of the world," the "third pole" and the "water tower of Asia," the Plateau is a natural habitat for rare animals and a gene pool of plateau life. It is a key eco-safety barrier in China and Asia, and a focus of the country's drive to promote ecological progress. 
All Progressives Congress chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, has described former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and wife, Senator Rem...

All Progressives Congress chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, has described former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and wife, Senator Remi Tinubu, as the incoming first family.

In a post on his official Facebook page, Igbokwe said Abuja, which is the seat of power in Nigeria, must not be allowed to miss Tinubu and his wife.

We will not allow Abuja to miss these two great leaders. The incoming first family, he captioned a photo of the couple together.

Igbokwe said this just weeks after Tinubu declared interest to contest in the 2023 presidential election.

The APC chieftain made the announcement while addressing State House correspondents after a visit to the President, Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja.

He had since been going on consultation tours part of which included a visit to London.
Yobe State Governor and Chairman APC Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Mai Mala Buni has again met with critical stakeh...





Yobe State Governor and Chairman APC Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Mai Mala Buni has again met with critical stakeholders of the ruling party in Kano State with a view to finding lasting solutions to the lingering crisis in the party.





The meeting which was presided over Buni had in attendance, Governor Umar Ganduje, the three senators from the state, Ibrahim Shekarau, Jibrin Barau and Kabir Gaya.





Buni in a statement on Saturday by his Spokesman Mamman Mohammed noted that members of the House of Representatives and other stakeholders were also in attendance.





The statement said the stakeholders had recently met twice except Governor Ganduje who was attending the meeting for the first time.





Governor Buni was joined by Governor of Zamfara state Bello Mutawalle and Yakubu Dogara to broker peace between the Ganduje and Shekarau factions.





The stakeholders expressed satisfaction with the issues deliberated upon and pledged to resolve their differences to move the party forward.





Political analysts are of the view that the reconciliation move is the right step in the right direction as the ruling party cannot afford to lose Kano State in the 2023 general elections due to its strategic importance in the political landscape of the country.
Former House of Representatives members of the All Progressive Congress extraction have described the lack of internal democracy in the APC ...





Former House of Representatives members of the All Progressive Congress extraction have described the lack of internal democracy in the APC as a great threat to the successes of the party.





The forum enjoined delegates to the upcoming national convention to only elect reputable, credible and trusted party chieftains as members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to move the party to success in the 2023 general elections.





Ibrahim Zailani, the forums Protem Chairman, in a communique at the end of a meeting in Abuja, advised the top echelon of the ruling party to abide by all tenets of democracy in the interest of the nation.





Zailani said, It is in the progressive interest of the party to ensure that internal democracy reigns supreme.





The meeting reviewed the current state of the APC and called on the Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee to ensure that internal democracy is sustained in the party.
Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has said the planned Ondo Sea Port Project will not be abandoned. The Governor disclosed t...

Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has said the planned Ondo Sea Port Project will not be abandoned.

The Governor disclosed that some investors have expressed interest in the project already but that its take-off was being delayed because of approval from the federal government.

He disclosed this on Friday while speaking at a retreat organised for state political office holders and accounting officers, held at Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state.

While emphasizing his administrations commitment to the development of the Ondo Deep Seaport project, Akeredolu said once completed, the port will service not only Nigeria but the entire West African region.

While describing the delay in the commencement of the Port project as one of the consequences of federalism, the Governor suggested that states be allowed to build their seaports if investors show commensurate interest.

He emphasized that nothing will prevent the project from becoming a reality and that when it does, it will produce a large number of job opportunities.
Watertown, NY (13601)

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Rain showers early becoming more intermittent for the afternoon. High around 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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NANNING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Youyi Port in Pingxiang City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is still busy during the Spring Festival this year.

Lyu Jinfu, a freight forwarder, was busy handling documents and guiding trucks to move.

For epidemic prevention and control, Lyu has not been able to go home for eight months and has spent every day in closed-loop management. "On New Year's Eve this year, I made a video call to my families," said Lyu.

Cross-border driver Yu Zhijun also began a busy day early. He drove a truck loaded with mangoes, longan, and other Vietnamese fruits, passed through the intelligent customs clearance scheduling system from the checkpoint, and entered the designated warehouse through the port for goods transfer.

"There are so many goods these days that I have to make seven or eight trips a day," Yu said. In Pingxiang, there are now more than 300 freight forwarders and cross-border drivers commuting between the port and warehouses every day, up to more than 600 at peak times.

Youyi Port is an important exit and entry channel for people, as well as a main land channel from China to ASEAN destinations, with frequent cross-border personnel and goods exchanges. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, over 700 personnel and 1,300 vehicles enter and leave the port on a peak day.

The local government has strictly implemented epidemic prevention and control measures to prevent imported cases, ensure the smooth flow of cross-border channels, and safeguard the security of China's southern border.

In 2021, Youyi port's foreign trade continued to grow. It saw a total of 402,800 inbound and outbound freight trucks and about 4.4 million tonnes of import and export cargo.

According to Yu Ruida, deputy director of Pingxiang Commerce and Port Administration, the local government has innovatively introduced a customs clearance agent driving system for cross-border drivers, and all Chinese freight vehicles entering and leaving the port are driven by designated cross-border drivers who are strictly under closed-loop management.

Besides, cross-border vehicles are comprehensively disinfected, and imported goods can enter China only after undergoing nucleic acid testing, disinfection and other procedures.

At the Beitou warehouse in Pingxiang, cars with Vietnamese or Chinese license plates shuttled back and forth, and staff in protective suits were busy loading and unloading goods.

According to Zhang Yaoquan, manager of the warehouse, all goods from overseas need to have nucleic acid testing first, and only if the result of the test is negative can they be loaded and unloaded.

Fruits from ASEAN countries enter the Chinese market through Youyi Port every day. "Our company carries many durian, dragon fruit, longan, and other ASEAN fruits," said Su Yu, head of the operation Department of Guangxi Xiangxiang International Logistics Co., LTD.

According to Su, now both the port and the company have attached great importance to the safety of cross-border cold chain logistics, and have made every effort to prevent products with the virus from entering China.

"Despite the impact of the epidemic, customs clearance at Youyi Port has remained relatively efficient," said Su, adding that with the support of local customs and other departments, goods from China can be delivered to Bangkok in four or five days.

Su is quite optimistic about the development prospects of the company. "Now China and the ASEAN have become each other's largest trading partners and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement has also officially come into effect, so we are expecting to enjoy closer regional economic and trade exchanges," said Su. 
Creative documentation is a term Oakland, Californias PolicyLink uses for its We the 100 Million project, which details many forms of economic and social inequality faced by the nearly one third of Americans living below 200% of the poverty level. The term also is a good way to start describing Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million, a film the group enlisted New Orleans spoken word artist and educator A Scribe Called Quess?, aka Michael Moore, and filmmaker Jason R.A. Foster to make.

Starting before the pandemic shutdowns, Quess? and Foster traveled the country to work with poets and community organizers to capture workshops and performances dealing with social justice, including fighting police brutality, immigration issues, opioid addiction, climate change and LGBTQ rights. Quess? created workshops combining spoken word, story circles and organizing tools. In the final film, he and Foster mix participants personal stories and their artistic representations in a powerful way.

Spoken word is the heartbeat of the thing because its conjuring the story, Quess? says. Data can support what you are saying with evidence, but theres nothing more compelling than feeling someones energy. Theres something only a theatrical production can bring. In a spoken word performance, you can feel someones heartbeat coming through their tongue, through their words. Whatever their emotion is, youre forced to feel it. We wanted a film that did that.

In one discussion group in Oakland, a woman describes her harrowing experiences being detained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. She and her daughter were held in a room overcrowded with 300 people, and the lack of windows kept them from knowing if it was day or night. That scene is followed by a poem by Diana Cervera, Que es una frontera? What is a border. In a music video-style presentation of the poem, which starts at the wall on the border near Tijuana, she describes the plight of asylum seekers who carry everything and nothing, and describes resisting the heat of the melting pot, as they try to find acceptance in a new land. The poem expands its focus to crossings of the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe, as Cervera describes immigrants, hoping if they can only touch the land they might have the opportunity to tell their story.

The filmmakers meet youth in Chicago and talk about coping with police brutality. Poet and community organizer Kendria K-Love Harris performs a piece about the communitys distrust of cops and the killing of Laquan McDonald by police and the legacy of racism. In Kentucky, poet Misty Skaggs talks about her family and community struggling with the coal industrys degradation of the land and its economic decline and the rise of opioid addiction. In New Orleans, Quess? talks about the education system failing children, and a school official talks about some of the problems with charter schools.

There also are more abstract poems, and the most stunning video segment combines a poem by San Francisco-based writer Tongo Eisen-Martin and a performance by New Orleans dancer Jeremy Guyton. The poem opens with the line, Picture 1960s newspaper clippings and teeth hanging on the string  like a book of life / Im in the kitchen with my would-be killer / Picking their canines out of a mouth harp / Cigarette-ing a pen / Calling Black Fire to prayer. Guyton is at times naked, and at times wears a tie and blue shirt, sitting alone or running in a vast warehouse. The camera spins around him, as bass notes keep a slow beat. The abstract but powerful piece touches on racism across the U.S.

The poems are not performed at microphones or on stages. They feature changing scenes and backdrops, some coming at a mesmerizing clip, and some have music. The poetry and artistic style of the film make its documentary style stand out.

We knew that we wanted to bring together the world of documentary film and more abstract art, Quess? says. Jason and I are great fans of film. Originally, we looked beyond documentary and poetry. We were looking at what we wanted cinematically and sonically. It might sound crazy, but we wanted it to land somewhere between Magnolia  we talked about that film that would go all over the place and explore different narratives and weave them all together  and we also wanted something that would be accurate and stark and raw and as compelling as The Wire. We think of The Wire as being near docudrama.

The film was actually an adjustment due to Covid. PolicyLink originally contacted Quess? about doing a theater piece. He had combined spoken word, theater and videography before in projects with New Orleans Junebug Productions. When the pandemic hit, they pivoted and instead of having Foster do some videography, he made a full film. There also are contributions by other videographers, and the score is by New Orleans musician free feral.

Many Fires This Time, has screened at many film festivals, including the New Orleans Film Festival, and has a few more scheduled. It screens at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge through Feb. 10.
Weve all heard the saying Everywhere else it's just Tuesday when it comes to Mardi Gras. And while its largely true, around the world people are finding ways to celebrate New Orleans Carnival this year in their own ways  both big and small  thanks to the Krewe of House Floats.

The krewe, started by Megan Boudreaux, took off last year when the city canceled parades due to the pandemic, and this year it returns with author Maurice Carlos Ruffin as Grand Marshal.

Although most of the house floats are in New Orleans, of course, expats everywhere from Denmark to Qatar, London and Alaska have signed on to participate this year.

Molly Brown, who moved from New Orleans to Abu Dhabi in 2020, made a house float in 2021  complete with palm trees, camels and beads  and has another in the works this year.

Shes currently in the process of creating a mural of a map of the familys favorite places in New Orleans, like her daughters former school, Igors Bar & Grill on St. Charles Avenue  where her husband proposed to her  and Elms Mansion, where they got married. Planning it has been a trip down memory lane, she says.

My husband and I were looking at this map and we were like, 'Oh, remember here when we walked to Voodoo Fest [from] our first apartment on Murat Street? And we're like, Oh, remember going and hanging out with our friends on 6th Street before going to Muses? she says.

Also on the agenda is a cardboard tree so that her two daughters can decorate with beads. And of course, the staple float flowers. Its a way to keep the Carnival spirit alive and continue sharing it with her daughters.

It was a really good outlet to reconnect with Mardi Gras, Brown says. My oldest is 8, and she missed Mardi Gras horribly last year  I like that we're doing it and my girls are going to have some memory of Mardi Gras, even though it's not the New Orleans Mardi Gras per se.

In Qatar, Louisiana natives Dina and Charles Schnurman see their house float as an extension of the Mardi Gras party they host each year. They heard of international house floats through Boudreaux, their friend. This year, their theme is Alhambra Mardi Gras  named after their neighborhood  and their decor includes camels, banners, lots of lights and a shisha pipe.

As is often the case come Carnival time, theyve had to adjust for the elements  though these particular meteorological challenges arent like anything seen in south Louisiana.

We just had a big sandstorm over the weekend, Dina Schnurman says. So weve had to set up, take down, set up, take down.

The Schnurmans live in a type of gated neighborhood in Qatar called a compound, where neighbors are close and kids run around and play together in the streets. They hope to get all their neighbors  who are from all over the world  to do their own house floats next year. They'd be totally into it, Dina Schnurman says.

Similarly, in Denmark, Josh Greenberg and his family started throwing their own Mardi Gras party in 2020 right before the world shut down. They livestreamed parades from New Orleans, made both cream cheese and traditional king cakes from scratch and sent people home with beads and throws. It was a hit.

Everybody embraced it, Greenberg says. I mean, what's better than a party on a Tuesday?

However, it did require a bit of explanation: It was introducing people to everything, not only just decoration, but why Mardi Gras and why this food and why king cake and what's the baby about? It's like every single thing was an introduction to the culture, he says.

Though 2022 is his first official year participating in the Krewe of House Floats, Greenberg has been decorating his house for Carnival wherever hes lived for the last decade. Hed get friends to ship him feather boas to hang around the house and beads to string from light fixtures.

The family starts decorating on Twelfth Night, and they put up a few decorations every day for weeks to really appreciate each step of the way. This year, theyre creating instruments out of wood placards to decorate the front of the house.

The wood placards are going to have different instruments dancing their way up to the front door, along the front of the house, so it's sort of like instruments as characters working their way in, Greenberg says.

The decor and party are a nod to the time Greenberg spent living in Metairie during the formative ages of 11 to 13 and becoming immersed in the citys music scene and culture. It opened up my life in a different way, he says.

Hes planning another party this year and has already booked a band to play and arranged for people to help bartend.

Its something that's pretty ownable for us, and it's something that makes us a little more unique in our community, Greenberg says. If I have to be known for being the party thrower guy from New Orleans around Mardi Gras, that's an OK brand.

Over in London, Kathy Seligman is having a smaller celebration. Last year, she put up a wreath on her door and set up a window display with purple, green and gold streamers and candlesticks shaped like a jazz trio. Something about the decor, which also included lights and a sign, gave people a not-so-subtle indication of where she was from.

It made people know I was from New Orleans, Seligman says. I met someone from down the street  She's like, 'I didn't know you were American. You must be from New Orleans. This is so great.'

Because London neighborhoods arent the tight-knit communities they are in New Orleans, Seligman doesnt think this interaction would have happened before the pandemic. She says going out and clapping for doctors for a few minutes early in the pandemic was the first kind of feeling of community and neighborhood shed had since moving to London 35 years ago.

I think this sort of just extended and people have gotten friendlier, so they were more interested, she says. I mean, once upon a time nobody would have asked, Seligman says. They would have just said, 'Who is that weird person whos got purple, green and gold?'

Seligman visits New Orleans a lot for both consulting work and to see family, and in conversation, she still refers to New Orleans as home. Since December, shes split time between here and Dallas to spend time with her new grandchild. And though her stay in the states is coming to an end before parades kick into high gear, shes already scheming up some ideas for this years float, like purple flowers in her window box.

After all, being back in the city has gotten her into the Carnival spirit. How can you not? she says with a laugh. Its everywhere you go.
The number of Orleans Parish inmates given walking papers from jail last year after prosecutors missed the deadline to decide on formal charges has risen exponentially under District Attorney Jason Williams, according to court and jail data.

The data show that Williams office missed those deadlines at a clip eight times higher than his predecessor, Leon Cannizzaro, prompting release orders for dozens of violent crime suspects.

The rise in so-called 701 releases, named after the relevant section of the state criminal code, has become a political flashpoint as officials grapple with a surge in violent crime across New Orleans, particularly killings and carjackings.

Even on a City Council stocked with Williams allies, the hike in screening delays has drawn concern. A crime plan released Thursday by four council members called on Williams to dramatically reduce the number of 701 releases occurring in Criminal District Court.

Some of those orders involve suspects who have remained in jail on holds for parole violations or different charges. But data from the DAs office show that many more have left jail.

The data show about 125 people facing at least one felony count that the DAs office failed to screen in time since Williams took office. Almost 100 of those defendants are out of jail.

They include more than 50 suspects accused of violent crimes or domestic violence who left jail last year after the deadlines  30 days for a misdemeanor, 60 days for a felony  passed with no decision.

In those cases, according to the DAs office, 15 cases were ultimately refused, while a dozen people were rearrested after their releases.

Questioned at a Council hearing on Jan. 24, Williams acknowledged the delays, while casting blame on the NOPD, tying it to broader complaints he has made over lapses in police follow-through after arrests.

Too often, his prosecutors dont get police reports in time, he said.

It is a problem that has plagued the DA's Office and NOPD for decades, in multiple administrations, he said. It is not a new problem. It has been an issue with regards to screening, I think, I would say for the past four DAs and the past several police chiefs.

On the campaign trail in 2020, Williams railed against delays that left criminal suspects sitting in jail with no decision on charges. He made an ambitious pledge to reduce average screening times to five days.

Williams told the council that remains the goal, but added: Were nowhere close to that now, because we dont have all the information necessary to properly screen a case.

In a response Friday to questions about the data, Williams office blamed delays in receiving law enforcement reports from officers, a lack of cooperation from victims and witnesses, and the inability to locate survivors.

The statement also said the office may allow a release rather than refuse a case, hoping to develop more evidence or secure help from a witness.

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In many instances, despite the challenges around securing evidence, our attorneys believe there is a real opportunity to secure a conviction for a victim based on other facts or circumstances, the statement from Williams read.

Williams said his office made more than 3,300 charging decisions over the last nine months of 2021, a little less than half of them felony cases. He described the releases of the 52 people arrested for violent crimes or domestic violence as a tiny fraction of the total.

Of the 1,600 felony cases handled over that time, his office accepted a little over 60%, Williams office said.

Sometimes the District Attorneys Office fails to make a screening decision before the suspect posts bail, according to Criminal District Court judges. In those cases, the effect of the 701 order is to release the defendant from his or her bond obligation.

District A Council member Joe Giarrusso called the outcome troubling either way. He noted that bail often comes with conditions like monitoring by the courts pretrial services division that are removed with a 701 release order.

The 701 issue is incredibly important to us, Giarrusso said at the Council hearing. You have people who are being released from jail, and you have people who are being released from obligations that the court is imposing upon them.

The jail data show the deadlines the DAs office most commonly missed were for charges of simple burglary, simple criminal damage to property or being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On 10 or more occasions, prosecutors also let the jail clock run out on suspects accused of aggravated assault with a firearm or resisting an officer.

Screening delays prompted a 701 release order for one man booked on 18 counts of simple burglary. Another man was released on 15 criminal counts, including armed robbery with a firearm, battery on a dating partner, and a half-dozen counts of simple burglary, the data show.

The trend has seemed to benefit suspects like 19-year-old Tyron Davis, who has been accused of a host of auto thefts and stickups since he was 17.

Court records show Davis twice has been ordered released after the screening deadline passed.

He was booked in September on a warrant for a 2020 auto theft. Police said they got a DNA match for Davis, who was 17 then, from a bottle of Sprite.

Court records show a judge issued a 701 release for Davis on that charge, and for two other counts from an arrest last October. Davis was accused of possessing a Chevy Malibu just stolen from Behrman Park and using it to nearly strike a New Orleans police officer as he sped away.

He was booked on counts of illegal possession of stolen things and aggravated assault.

His total bond was set at $6,000, before his 701 date came up in December. Sheriffs records show he isnt totally free, having posted $1,000 bond on another pending charge.
Six days after Maggie Lanphere was held at gunpoint in Faubourg Marigny and a man sped off with her Honda Civic, she was delivered another blow.

To get her car, she would need to pay $253.60 to the towing company that had hauled it from where police recovered it to the company's lot.

The initial attack was very scary, shocking and traumatic, said Lanphere. But, when I had to pay, I was feeling really angry and confused, and disappointed that this is the way things are.

Victims of the recent city-wide spate of carjackings in New Orleans have reported paying hundreds of dollars to recover their vehicles from local impound lots - a potential violation of a state law that requires the return of stolen property to victims at no cost. The fees are being levied because the City Council, which amended its towing law as recently as 2021, allows them.

Carjackings have surged since the beginning of the pandemic, rising 160% since 2019. This year, New Orleans police have investigated 65 carjackingsincluding eight unarmed incidents.

Of those carjacking incidents, the department said it has recovered 44 vehicles, but wasn't able to provide the number of stolen vehicles that had ultimately been towed. But a handful of victims and advocates have decried what they see as unjust charges burdening those who have already been victimized.

City Council President Helena Moreno said a local ordinance that gives New Orleans police permission to pass on towing fees to car owners must be updated to honor the state law. In the meantime, Moreno said, victims who have been forced to pay for the return of their stolen vehicles should be reimbursed.

"This is a pretty unfair practice," Moreno said, likening the practice to "being robbed twice." She added, "It's something that needs to be corrected and corrected quickly."

Towing at odds with state law

On Dec. 30, Lanphere got out of her Civic alongside a friend when they were approached by a man with a handgun. By the time he demanded Lanpheres keys, he was close enough to her that she could push them into his chest, she recalled.

Lanphere filed an incident report with New Orleans police, and anxiously waited for her vehicle to be found and returned.

Lanphere said that she was not contacted by police. Instead, on Jan. 5, a building manager with property near where her car was stolen received a call from police and tracked Lanphere down.

She soon learned her car had been towed to a lot nearly 15 miles from where police found it near the intersection of Canal and N. Johnson streets.

An employee of the lot told her to bring $253.60 in cash, adding that the fee would increase each day she didnt retrieve her car. Attempts to reach the towing company were unsuccessful.

When a carjacked or stolen vehicle is found, New Orleans police attempt to reach the owner through contact information provided on a police report, said Aaron Looney, a department spokesperson. But if officers cant reach the owner, they call a city-allotted towing company, selected in alphabetical order, which drags the vehicle to its lot.

Expenses accrue from the moment that call is placed: Towing companies can charge for one-and-a-half hours of labor, one days worth of storagetypically between $24 and $32and a surcharge based on the price of diesel, Looney said. Charges mount each day a vehicle is not claimed.

A local ordinance, updated last year by the New Orleans City Council, designed to set a framework for how the police department works with towing companies, allows police to pass along those charges to the property owner. But Louisiana state law requires law enforcement agencies to expeditiously return any stolen or other personal property to victims or victims families when no longer needed as evidence, at no cost to victims or their families.

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That law, passed in 2017, was sponsored by Moreno, who was then a state representative.

Moreno said that when she heard this week that a different carjacking victim had been charged to recover his vehicle, based on the council ordinance, I thought: That doesnt sound right.

The state law, she said, trumps the local regulation.

The local ordinance also stipulates that the owner of a stolen vehicle be given the opportunity to choose where their vehicle is towed.

That isnt happening, Moreno said.

Steps forward

Councilmember Joe Giarrusso has written an ordinance that will codify state law here locally, Moreno said, and prohibit the city from passing along towing and storage fees to crime victims. The ordinance should be approved by the council at its Feb. 10 meeting, according to a Friday news release.

Separately, Moreno said she was authoring an ordinance that would set up a fund to reimburse victims.

She also wrote to New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano and asked the city to immediately discontinue its practice of assessing impoundment, towing and other similar charges against victims of carjackings and comparable crimes.

John Lawson, a city spokesperson, confirmed in a written statement that Montano, in conjunction with City Attorney Donesia Turner, are looking into the policies and procedures surrounding any fees charged by third-party towing companies engaged by the New Orleans Police Department to tow recovered vehicles."

Lawson didn't say whether those fees had been or will be paused.

In the meantime, victims can write to the city attorney to file a complaint and seek reimbursement.

The city did not respond to questions about how many letters it may have already received from victims.

Lanphere plans to ask for her money back.

Im grateful thatwhile its not ideal, and I didnt want toIm in a position to pay to get my car back, Lanphere said. But not everyone can, though, and I think that this system is set up to ultimately hurt victims of a crime again.

Editors Note: This story was updated to include additional data on the number of cars recovered by New Orleans police.
Being targeted by violent criminals is never the victims fault. However, self-defense experts say there are steps you can take to make yourself less attractive to criminalsand if you do end up being attacked, things you can do to make sure you survive.

Bubba Freeney, a patrol sergeant at Plaquemines Parish Sheriffs Office who co-owns Krav Maga New Orleans with his wife Mary Freeney; Sam Kane, lead instructor at Third Gate Defense and Fitness; and Bryan Alexander, a Krav Maga instructor at Awakenings Pole & Aerial Fitness, shared tips for staying safe.

Cultivate awareness and project confidence.

This means sticking to well-lit areas, scanning your surroundings, identifying exits, making eye contact with people and walking with purpose. Have a sense of direction, keep your shoulders back and head up, and dont be buried in your phone.

Avoid problem areas and people who give you a strange feeling, even if that means doing something that feels rude, like locking your doors or crossing to the other side of the street. The first thing: Pay attention to your inner alarm, Alexander said. The second thing, which is just as importantbe willing to act on it.

If somebody asks for your property, give it to them.

If someone has you at gunpoint or knifepoint or there are multiple peoplethat could be just as dangerous as introducing a weapongive them what they are asking for, Freeney said. That stuff can be replaced, but you cant get your life back.

If someone tries to make you come with them, yell and run away. Fight back if you cant run, then flee.

Going with an assailant to a secondary location or getting in the car with them will almost always make things worse for you. If youre unable to run away, fight back and be as violent, brutal, effective, explosive and surprising as possible, Alexander said.

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Freeney advocates using surrounding objects, like bottles or rocks, as weapons. Strike sensitive areas like the eyes and testicles; use the hair for leverage, and flee. Use your voice while being attacked. Yell specific things so people in the area know whats going on: Help! Hes attacking me! Training at a self-defense gym is a good way to refine those instincts.

Things to consider if you carry a gun

Guns are very effective tools, but they are tools. There is no magical self-defense pixie dust, Alexander said. Nothing you can carry will make you safe. If you carry a gun, make sure you know how to draw your gun while being attacked, how to retain it, how to use it against someone who is attacking you, and what the legal risks of using it may be. Even in self-defense situations, you could wind up incarcerated if you kill your attacker, Kane said.

Things to consider while driving a car

The same rules apply when youre in a vehicle. Flee if your car is running and you are able to peel out. If your car is turned off, you may not have time to crank the car, but if it is running, your No. 1 defense is to drive away quickly, Alexander said.

Dont be afraid to run a red light or stop sign. At gas stations, keep all your doors locked, dont leave your keys in the car and avoid being on your phone while pumping gas. If you witness violence or gunfire while driving, keep moving.

Get out of the situation, especially if it doesn't involve you directly. You don't want a stray bullet, Kane said. Its unfortunate we have to think this way, but the more people act in this manner, the less likely we will have collateral damage.
SHREVEPORT, La.  A Georgia man has pleaded guilty to scamming people in Louisiana while he was held in a Georgia prison.

Andre Deaveon Reese, 32, of Atlanta, entered the plea in federal court in Shreveport to one count of wire fraud conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown said in a news release Thursday.

Two Louisiana residents, aged 75 and 78, paid a total of $9,797 to Reese and other conspirators starting in August 2016, prosecutors said.

Brown said evidence shows that while serving time in Georgias Autry State Prison in 2015, Reese participated in a telephone scheme to tell victims they had failed to appear for jury duty and would be arrested unless they paid a fine. The scheme continued through July 2020.

Inmates used contraband cellular telephones to access internet websites to find names, addresses, and telephone numbers of potential victims, the news release said. When they called, inmates claimed to be law enforcement officials.

Unfortunately, there are individuals such as this defendant who have no shame in taking advantage of people who are trusting, Brown said. We encourage the public that when someone calls and gives you a story such as this to be cautious and contact your local law enforcement office to confirm that the story is true before you agree to pay any money to anyone.

Reese is scheduled for sentencing on May 20 before U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter, who accepted the guilty plea on Jan. 28, Brown said. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Authorities arrested a suspect Friday in the French Quarter shooting death of a Baton Rouge man.

James D. Patton, 38, of New Orleans is accused of gunning down 41-year-old Russell Ricou during a fight Jan. 9 near the intersection of Burgundy and Conti streets.

Surveillance video showed Ricou arguing with another man and trying to punch him, before the other man pulled a gun and shot Ricou, police wrote in court records. Ricou died at the scene.

Detectives released a still image from the video to show a person they wanted to question. That prompted a call from a tipster implicating Patton, police alleged in court records.

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Investigators obtained a warrant to book Patton with second-degree murder. With help from the U.S. Marshals Service, officers tracked him to the 2600 block of Cleveland Avenue in Mid-City on Friday and arrested him there, police said. He was not expected to appear in court for a bail hearing until Saturday.

Ricous loved ones remembered him for the passion he held for his job as a health, safety and environmental specialist. His other passions included LSU sports, his hometown of Grand Isle, his siblings and his yellow lab, Bri.

He was loved by all and will be greatly missed in this world, said his brother, Denis Ricou. We hope  justice will be served.
After investigating a number of mail thefts across the New Orleans area, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office on Friday took the extraordinary step of warning residents to temporarily stop using blue U.S. Postal Service collection boxes for outgoing mail.

The locked boxes, which are usually found in front of post offices and in public spaces, have become a target of thieves who steal and alter mailed checks and money orders, according to Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

"They break into the box or use a stolen key, and there are hundreds of pieces of mail with your information on it, your checking account and routing number," Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said.

Criminals can use the banking information to create fake checks and drain a victim's account.

Others engage in check-washing, Lopinto said, using ink-erasing chemicals to remove the victim and payee's name and alter amounts so the document can be fraudulently deposited or cashed.

That's what happened to Angela Williams, a New Orleans East resident whose $750 rent check turned up in the hands of Jalen Valdery and A'leahia Barbarin, according to the Sheriff's Office. The couple is accused of looting the Lake Forest Post Office box where Williams mailed the check, before altering it and using it to pay their own rent at The Lanai Apartments in Metairie.

When Sheriff's Office investigators raided the couple's apartment, they seized more than 300 stolen checks and money orders valued at more than $199,000, authorities said.

The mail thefts are being reported from collection boxes around the New Orleans area. Investigators believe there are several groups committing the thefts, operating independently of one another, Rivarde said.

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About dozen suspects have been arrested thus far. They include Terrance Thompson, 19, of Algiers, arrested in October by Gretna police for allegedly stealing mail from the collection boxes in front of the Gretna Post Office.

The department had been staking out the mail boxes after a lengthy investigation that identified 40 victims who lost about $200,000 due to stolen and altered checks.

Protection of the mail is the primary focus of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service's law enforcement arm.

"While the U.S. Mail remains one of the most secure means of transmitting information and goods, it also contains items that are attractive to thieves," Postal Inspector Silvia Torres said.

Instead of using the blue collection boxes for outgoing mail, authorities suggested the following:

Place outgoing mail into the mail slot inside the lobby of local post office. Most have interior drops available 24 hours a day.

If you use a blue collection box, place mail just before the last collection time of the day, usually displayed on the box. The longer mail stays in the box, the more susceptible it is to theft.

Investigators suggest residents of apartment complexes retrieve mail daily from clustered mail boxes, as they've seen a uptick in thefts from those kinds of boxes, as well.

If you've recently sent mail using a Postal Service collection box, confirm that the mail has reached its destination.

If you believe you are a witness to or a victim of mail theft, please contact your local law enforcement agency and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. The public can also report mail thefts at uspis.gov/report.
TEHRAN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Saturday that Iran has made it clear to the American side, through its intermediaries, that they must show their "good faith in action" in the Vienna nuclear negotiations.

"Good faith in practice, in our view, means something tangible happening on the ground, and the lifting of some of the sanctions could be considered as goodwill that the Americans are talking about," Amir Abdollahian said in response to Washington's latest sanctions relief to Iran.

What happens on paper is good, but not enough, he stressed.

Amir Abdollahian revealed that agreements on political and economic guarantees have been reached with the West in the nuclear talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

"One of our key points in lifting sanctions is to get guarantees. Regarding the guarantees in the economic and political fields, we have reached some agreements," he was quoted as saying by IRNA News Agency.

Earlier in the day, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, tweeted that "Iran's legal right to continue research and development and to maintain its peaceful nuclear capabilities and achievements, along with its security against supported evils, cannot be restricted by any agreement."

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also said on Saturday that the U.S. sanction waiver on Iran is "insufficient" to the revival of the JCPOA, according to Jamaran news website.

Iran is waiting for the United States to fulfill its duties and obligations regarding the lifting of sanctions, Khatibzadeh noted.

He urged the United States to lift all sanctions, including the nuclear ones, underlining his country's readiness to evaluate any action in the right direction of fulfilling JCPOA obligations.

The U.S. government on Friday restored the sanction waiver to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, while the Vienna talks, which were initiated about 10 months ago to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have now reached a crucial stage. 
Potter Township, Pa. Charges have been filed against Nigil Akeem Lee, 38, for attempt homicide, according to a release from State Police.

Lee was involved in a shooting that was reported to authorities at approximately 1:26 p.m. on Feb. 4 in the area of 96 Vilas Drive in Porter Township. Authorities reported a non-Hispanic male had been shot multiple times.

According to the release, Lee fled the scene on foot shortly after the shooting took place. Authorities issued several calls over a short period of time as the situation developed.

Members of the Tiadaghton Valley Police Department and PSP Montoursville were assisted by multiple agencies as a manhunt for Lee developed. Scanner reports indicated Lee was taken into custody after a brief search by authorities.

This is an ongoing investigation and will be updated by Northcentralpa.com when more information becomes available.

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Andy Schmookler is a prize-winning author. Many of his works can be found at www.ABetterHumanStory.org
LIMA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Seven people were killed on Friday when their plane crashed near Peru's famed archaeological site Nazca Lines, local authorities reported.

The plane crashed near the Maria Reiche airfield in the city of Nazca at approximately 12:10 p.m. local time (1710 GMT), shortly after taking off.

"There were no survivors," the Transport and Communications Ministry said in a statement.

The victims included two crew members and five tourists who, according to local media reports, came from the United States, the Netherlands and Chile, and were returning from a tour of the enigmatic Nazca Lines located about 382 km south of Peru's capital Lima.

Local firefighters told reporters the aircraft caught fire after it crashed.

Peru's Aviation Accident Investigation Commission is set to investigate the crash, with the support of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics.

Nazca is a popular tourist destination featuring gigantic pre-Columbian engravings on sand believed to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old. 
The Pipelines:

The Midwest Carbon Express and the Heartland Greenway are proposed pipelines that would transport carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in the Midwest to underground rock formations in North Dakota and Illinois, respectively.

The companies that own the projects, Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures, need to secure easements from farmers to dig their lines through properties. If the companies cannot get voluntary agreements, they can apply for eminent domain rights through the Iowa Utilities Board.

State Sen. Jeff Taylor (R-Sioux Center) recently introduced a bill that would block eminent domain for private purposes such as the carbon-capture pipelines.
OPEN HOUSE:

Saving Grace Daycare Center in Paullina invites the public to a soup dinner and bake sale fundraiser set for 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6.

The menu includes cheeseburger soup, chicken noodle soup, cheesy potato soup and chili, all of which will be served with crackers and French bread. Bake sale items will include cookies, bars, pies and more.

There will be water, milk and coffee to drink.

Donations will be accepted during the event to go toward renovations underway at the building. Attendees will be able to tour the facility to see work thats been done, meet the staff and board members and check out recent crafts the day cares children made.
NITCO plans to extend high-speed fiber to Morocco in Newton County.

The Hebron-based Northwestern Indiana Telephone Co. telecommunications company operates a cable system in the town, which will be replaced this spring with high-speed internet. Every resident in the community will have access to gigabit speeds after the construction is complete.

Morocco, a town of just over 1,100 near the intersection of U.S. 41 and Ind. 114, will become NITCO's first gigabit community and also the first community in Newton County with full fiber connectivity.

The town's plan commission recently approved the network construction.

Building fiber broadband networks for residential and business customers in northwest Indiana is our number one goal for 2022 and beyond," NITCO President Tom Long said. "We are very pleased that the town of Morocco supports and encourages the creation of the first gigabit community in Newton County.

NITCO currently provides cable, voice and internet service to 125 homes and businesses in the town. The buildout of the new fiber network will allow the telecommunications company to reach 500 homes and businesses.

The network is now being designed as NITCO prepares to kick off construction.

Founded in Ripley's Store in Hebron as a telephone service for a hay business, NITCO dates back more than 125 years. Previously known as the Hebron Telephone Company, it provides internet, TV, voice and security services to thousands of customers in a four-county area in Northwest Indiana. It operates more than 200 miles of fiber across the Region.

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The Indiana Department of Labor recently fined three Northwest Indiana companies for safety violations that were in some cases deemed to be repeat or serious.

The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued safety orders finding workplace hazards at Hearthside Food Solutions in Michigan City, Jupiter Aluminum in Hammond and Resco Products in Hammond.

The state fined Hearthside $17,500, Jupiter Aluminum $14,000 and Resco Products $18,825. It ordered the companies to take corrective action to safeguard workers.

The companies did not respond to requests for comment.

State inspectors went to Hearthside Food Solutions at 502 W. U.S. 20 last summer and found repeat violations.

"One or more methods of machine guarding was not provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks," the Indiana Department of Labor said in a safety order.

Another safety violation was found in the packaging department that Hearthside Food Solutions had previously been cited for.

"An employee was exposed to an ingoing nip point where the conveyor belt traveled under the idler roller. The employee was performing a blow and go belt cleaning," the safety order stated.

Jupiter Aluminum at 1745 165th St. in Hammond was found to have a serious safety violation after employees were exposed to falling hazards when unjamming the Red Giant Hammel Bale Breaker in the East Building last year. State inspectors found the company had not established procedures for energy control, such as shutting the equipment down.

State inspectors also reported several serious safety violations at Resco Products at 5501 Kennedy Avenue in Hammond, including exposing employees to fire and explosion hazards where combustible dust was present.

"The employer did not establish and maintain conditions of work which were reasonably safe and healthful for employees, and free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees," the Indiana Department of Labor said in its safety order.

The state cited the company for failing to design the facility to reasonably prevent serious injury from flash fires, to complete a dust hazards analysis, to train employees about hazards and to establish safe work practices to mitigate any fires or explosions, such as doing frequent enough housecleaning to keep combustible dust from building up to dangerous levels.

Indiana Department of Labor inspectors also found the company exposed workers to fall hazards with an incomplete guardrail, that employees were exposed to fires and burns by operating a liquid propane gas-powered forklift in the combustible dust and that there wasn't enough machine guarding to protect workers from the hazard of rotating parts from an unguarded augur while they were working to unclog it, according to the safety order. The state also faulted the company for having a space heater, heat lamp and equipment wiring in an area with combustible dust, exposing workers to fire or explosion hazards.

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LOWELL  A Lowell man accused of confining an Amazon delivery driver in his driveway has been sentenced after entering a plea agreement.

Keith A. Miller, 49, of Lowell, was initially charged with criminal confinement where a vehicle is used, one count of basic criminal confinement and one count of intimidation, according to Lake Superior Court records.

Miller entered a plea agreement filed Jan. 13, in which he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct where the defendant engages in fighting or tumultuous conduct, a misdemeanor, court documents state.

Judge Samuel Cappas dismissed the charges of criminal confinement where a vehicle is used, confinement, intimidation and disorderly conduct. Cappas sentenced Miller to 180 days in Lake County Jail and ordered 178 suspended, online court records said.

The jury trial originally set for Jan. 24 has been canceled.

Attorney and former Lake County sheriff Roy Dominguez, who is representing the Amazon driver, said his client's story is among many where delivery drivers are harassed. The driver is still an Amazon delivery driver, Dominguez said.

"(The driver) is pleased this matter went through the court system," Dominguez said. "Justice was served. (The driver) and other Amazon drivers simply want to do their jobs. They have families and mortgages just like everyone else. This sends a message to the community to not harass individuals while they are doing their jobs to make a living and support their families."

Dominguez said the driver stated that, "We do our best to serve the community and provide quality services."

He said his client was afraid the day of the incident in Lowell, and that the driver feared for life.

The charges stem from an incident at 2:30 p.m. June 12, 2020, at Millers property in the 16000 block of Broadway Street in Lowell. After dropping off a delivery at his home, a black female Amazon driver was traveling along his half-mile-long gravel driveway when Miller allegedly confronted her, claiming she was speeding.

The woman said Miller raced up behind her delivery vehicle at a high rate of speed and then blocked her from exiting by parking in her path, court reports said. As she attempted to turn around, she saw him exit his truck and walk over to open her drivers side door. Miller demanded that she get out of her vehicle and show him her drivers license. In turn, the driver asked if he was a police officer and when he didnt answer, she refused.

After the exchange, Miller allegedly became increasingly rude and began using expletives toward her. In another attempt to leave, the driver told him she was running behind schedule and needed to exit his property.

She then called an Amazon dispatcher, who could hear Miller yelling in the background, and the dispatcher told her to call 911. As she waited for police to arrive, Miller allegedly leaned on her drivers side door, declining to move. He told her he wouldnt move unless she showed him her drivers license, which she continued to refuse to do, court reports said.

Miller then went back to his vehicle and the driver attempted to maneuver around his truck but he allegedly continued to position his vehicle to block her.

At 2:41 p.m. Lake County Sheriffs police responded to the womans 911 call, arriving on scene. The woman told police that while Miller was blocking her, she felt like a hostage and that she was in fear for her safety because of her physically small stature compared to his, court documents said.

Body camera footage of a police response to the incident reviewed by The Times shows Lake County Sheriff's Officer John Marshall arrive to speak with the driver and Miller.

Once on the scene, he ordered the driver to stay in her vehicle, separating the two involved parties to avoid any arguments between them, police records state.

Miller told police he had been having issues with Amazon drivers speeding and "driving recklessly" down his driveway and that he fears for his safety. So he blocked her in with his truck, he told police.

The body cam video shows the officer firmly warning the man never to confine someone like that again, even in cases in which speeding occurs on his private property.

"That's called criminal confinement," the officer could be heard warning the man, according to body camera footage reviewed by The Times. "If you have a problem (with speeding in your driveway), call Amazon."

The Amazon driver followed up by filing a citizen's complaint with the sheriff's department. She said she filed the complaint because she felt the incident was not being taken seriously by the officers on scene and that they didn't treat her as if she was a victim of a crime.

After the incident, Dominguez submitted a letter demanding action in the case to Lake County prosecutors. He said his client is black and about 110 pounds, while the male in the case is white and about double the victim's weight.

Dominguez and his client said they believe the officer should have arrested Miller immediately.

Lake County Sheriff's Department attorney John Kopack said an internal investigation determined the driver's claims against the officer were unfounded.

"What the woman claims and what the body cam shows are totally two different things," Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez previously said. "We feel, based on what we've seen, that officer did his job ... ."

Martinez said Marshall also made clear to the suspect that he could face criminal charges.

"In the future, don't do it because we're racing all the way over here," Marshall could be heard telling the suspect in the video footage.

Miller interrupted, saying, "I can tell you it wasn't an emergency ... ."

"It is an emergency when you're barricading someone from doing what they need to do, or leaving," Marshall replied.

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At least two individuals with Northwest Indiana ties have applied to fill an upcoming judicial vacancy on the Indiana Supreme Court.

Porter Superior Judge Jeffrey Clymer, of Valparaiso, and LaPorte Superior Judge Jaime Oss, of LaPorte, are among 19 candidates seeking to replace retiring Justice Steven David when he leaves the bench in the fall after serving 12 years as one of the five justices on the states highest court.

Its possible several of the other applicants have lived or worked in Northwest Indiana at some point during their lives. But the background information, resumes, legal writings, and letters of recommendation submitted by each candidate were not immediately available for review following the midday Friday application deadline.

Clymer is a 1992 graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law and later was an adjunct instructor at the law school prior to its 2020 closure.

He worked as an attorney and mediator in private practice until 2017 when Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb appointed Clymer to succeed retired Judge Bill Alexa on the Porter Superior Court.

Clymer defeated Democrat Clay Patton in the 2018 general election to win a six-year term as a Porter County judge.

He is past president of the Porter County Bar Association and the Porter County Inns of Court. Clymer also is a fellow of the Indiana Bar Foundation and a member of the Valparaiso Kiwanis Club and National Eagle Scout Association.

Oss also is a Valparaiso University School of Law graduate, earning her doctor of law degree in 2003.

But her legal career actually began six years earlier when she started working as a legal secretary and receptionist at her fathers law firm, Huelat Mack & Kreppein.

As a licensed attorney, Oss practiced 17 years at the firm and became managing partner. Following unsuccessful bids to fill Indiana Supreme Court vacancies in 2016 and 2017, she was elected LaPorte County judge in 2020, defeating Democrat Michael Bergerson.

Oss is past president of the LaPorte County Bar Association and the Women Lawyers Association of Indiana, a recipient of the Outstanding Young LaPortean Award, and was named the Most Influential Woman in Law by the Northwest Indiana Influential Women Association.

The seven-member Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, led by Chief Justice Loretta Rush who lived in Munster as a child, is poised to review each judicial candidates application and supporting materials, and will conduct a first round of interviews in late February or early March.

The commission will winnow down the applicants to three finalists following a second round of interviews scheduled for April.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb must then appoint the new justice from the list of three judicial candidates recommended by the commission.

Indiana voters will get to decide at the 2024 general election whether to retain the new justice for a renewable 10-year term on the Supreme Court.

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HIGHLAND  Michael Griffin hopes he can live up to a Latin saying that translates to the work proves the craftsman.

Griffin, 62, longtime Highland clerk-treasurer, was elected by a Lake County Democratic caucus Saturday to fill the vacancy left by the retirement earlier this year by 1st District state Sen. Frank Mrvan.

Of the 79 possible votes, Griffin outpolled challenger Martin Del Rio 48-31.

Im still getting my head around it, Griffin said after a victory hug from wife Christina. I have my experience, but now I have a lot to work on.

Pending a swearing-in, Griffin said he is ready to head to Indianapolis on Monday. This is a critical time downstate, he added, as Hoosier lawmakers have reached the midway point of the session. Now, he noted, bills have passed from the House to the Senate, and he wants to learn as much as possible.

Mrvan, D-Hammond, announced Jan. 11 he was retiring from the Senate, effective immediately, after 39 years of representing Hammond and neighboring communities. Mrvan, 88, is the father of U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland.

Lake County Democratic Chairman James Wieser praised the senior Mrvan as the epitome of public service, whose concern was always the people.

Griffin, recalling his days as a student legislative assistant to Congressman Adam Benjamin, learned from the late lawmaker that his job was to serve all the people, including those who dont like him and those, including children, who dont have a voice.

Griffin is a public finance expert and instructor at Indiana University Northwests School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Having served as Highland clerk-treasurer since 1992, he said his efforts have saved the towns taxpayers money.

Del Rio is also a Highland resident and regional coordinator for the Warrior Care Transition Program. An Iraq combat veteran, he said his military experience has prepared him to tackle such issues as veteran homelessness, opioid addiction, education benefits and unemployment.

Veterans, Del Rio said, deserve better service.

He added, The time is now, to move forward ... with boldness.

Griffin will finish the nine months remaining in Mrvans four-year term. The General Assembly is due to adjourn for the year on or before March 14.

The current 1st District includes south Hammond, Munster, Highland, Griffith, Dyer and Schererville. District boundaries were altered last year by the General Assembly as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process to account for population shifts following the U.S. Census.

The new 1st Senate District moved a bit south and now encompasses all of Highland, Griffith, Dyer, Schererville, St. John and the southwestern portion of Merrillville.

Even with boundaries changing in coming elections, Griffin stated, if chosen, I will long remember to serve not just the people of Senate District 1, but this region as well. I am ready to serve with your vote today.

Both Griffin and Del Rio also have filed to run in the May 3 Democratic primary election for a full, four-year term in the Senate representing the new 1st District. The winner in that primary will face Lake County Councilman Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, in the general election.

Under Indiana law, a caucus of Highland Democratic precinct committeemen will meet in the next month or so to select a new clerk-treasurer to finish Griffins term that expires at the end of 2023. Griffin said Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Janice Figueroa will serve as the towns interim clerk-treasurer until a permanent officeholder is selected.

Times Staff Writer Dan Carden contributed to this report.

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GENEVA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- On World Cancer Day this Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for the gap in the availability of cancer care in high and low-income countries to be addressed.

Globally, cancer is one of the leading causes of death, with an estimated 20 million people diagnosed and 10 million deaths from the disease in 2021, the WHO said.

These numbers will continue to rise in the decades ahead, it noted.

Though all cancers can be treated and many can be prevented or cured, available care reflects global inequality. Comprehensive treatment is available in more than 90 percent of high-income countries, but less than 15 percent of low-income countries, WHO said.

Cancer services are covered by national healthcare services in only 37 percent of low- and middle-income countries, compared to at least 78 percent of high-income countries.

WHO highlighted the role of national cancer centers, saying they can be a one-stop shop for prevention, diagnosis, multidisciplinary treatment and supportive care, which makes it easier for patients to navigate services with concentrated expertise, and leads to better results.

Radiotherapy is among the most cost-effective, efficient and widely-used treatments for cancer, but worldwide access remains inadequate. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have also experienced disruption to cancer screening and treatment, WHO noted. 
VALPARAISO  Bill Powers showed up Friday morning to register his candidacy for Congress at the Porter County Administration Building, only to be told he was in the wrong city just 45 minutes before the deadline.

Candidates for federal and state office must file their candidacy at the Indiana Secretary of States Office in Indianapolis, not at the Elections & Voter Registration Office in Valparaiso.

Powers, who came in second during the previous Republican primary for U.S. House District 1, said he planned to take the paperwork to the post office to mail it in by the deadline.

However, his paperwork would have had to be received, not postmarked, by 11 a.m. Friday, said Allen Carter, spokesperson for Secretary of State Holli Sullivan.

Filing paperwork correctly while in the Valparaiso office were state Sens. Rodney Pol, D-4th, and Ed Charbonneau, R-5th, and Portage Mayor Sue Lynch.

Charbonneau is hoping to be elected as a delegate to the Republican State Convention. Lynch and Pol were filing for precinct committee positions.

Weve been so busy, Pol said, that Friday was his first chance to get the paperwork filed.

Democrat Julie Giorgi filed for county commissioner in District 2, the seat Republican Jeff Good is vacating. Giorgi has been on the Union Township School Board since 2006.

Development of projects and ideas with the school setting with a focus on fiscal responsibility have shaped the work I have done for nearly two decades. That experience will serve me and the residents of this county well in this new role as commissioner, Giorgi said.

She promised to keep taxes law and work across party lines to get things done.

Portage City Council Vice President Scott Williams filed this week to run against incumbent County Council President Jeremy Rivas for the District 2 seat on the County Council.

Candidates have until noon Friday to change their minds and withdraw their candidacy.

Competitive races on the ballot in Porter County include:

County Commissioner - District 2 (Center)

Republican

Mike Brickner

Barb Regnitz

County Council - District 1

Democrat

Becky Mateja Lombardini

Erik Wagner

Republican

Antonio "Tony" Gutierrez

Ronald "Red" Stone

County Council - District 2

Democrat

Jeremy Rivas

Scott Williams

County Assessor

Republican

Becky Gesse Harper

Sue (Suzette) Neff

Liberty Township Board

Republican (Vote For 3)

Tim Cole

Terry E. Dunn

Eric Knowles

Jacquelyn M. Sterling

Pine Township Trustee

Republican

Nick Davey

Tammy Marie Watkins

Portage Township Board

Democrat (Vote For 3)

Billy J. Coker

Tiffany Gulley

Nikita A. Momola

Eric Edward Skalka

Porter Township Board

Republican (Vote For 3)

William H. Casbon

Walter W. Coffman

Chris Hendron

Kathy C. Sherman

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GARY  A man who sparked a winter storm SWAT standoff was wanted for charges of sexual assault against a child and has had a previous conviction for child abuse, according to court records.

Juandiego Cisco Alvarez, 36, was arrested Wednesday and transported to Lake County Jail, said Gary Police Department Cmdr. Jack Hamady.

Alvarez has been wanted by authorities since May 2019 when an arrest warrant was issued with Fond du Lac County Criminal Court in Wisconsin.

The arrest warrant is for charges filed in April 2019 for one count of sexual assault and one count of serious sexual assault of a child, according to the Fond du Lac County Clerk's Office.

In 2015, Alvarez was convicted of child abuse causing great bodily harm in Fond du Lac County. Alvarez has not yet been extradited to Wisconsin, officials from Fond du Lac County Jail said.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, authorities arrested Alvarez, Hamady said. Gary police and Lake County Sheriff's SWAT members set up a perimeter in the 2600 block of West Ridge Road.

Police used tear gas in the building and were able to contain the man in a room as officers entered, Hamady said. He then surrendered to police and he was taken to Lake County Jail.

The incident began at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when police responded to a report of a family dispute in the area, Hamady said. The man left the residence where the alleged dispute was reported and officers located him on foot on West Ridge Road.

However, the man ran inside of a towing garage nearby, refusing to come out, Hamady said. He said police were told he was armed with a firearm, and he was believed to be alone inside the building.

Lake County Sheriff's SWAT team was called to assist Gary officers. A drone and a Lake County armored rescue vehicle were at the scene, said Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr.

SWAT members tried to negotiate with the man on the phone, but he remained inside the building and refused to cooperate with police for hours, Hamady said.

No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported. Police spent hours in the frigid snowstorm.

Additional courts information for Alvarez in the Lake County Prosecutor's Office was not immediately available Friday.

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Sandra Di Carlo Valdez looked at her Christmas tree in January and felt a wave of sadness. One week into 2022 and nearly two years into a pandemic, the tree was a source of joy; she wasnt ready to take it down.

So Ms. Valdez, 46, a nail technician and blogger in Miami with nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram, decided to try something shed seen on social media: She would keep the tree up but redecorate it, swapping the ornaments for organza and the holly for hearts.

Her Christmas tree, now covered in pink and red baubles, has become a Valentines tree.

Taylor Swift may leave her Christmas lights up until January, but online, images of evergreens (real and fake) decked in candy hearts and pastel tinsel have been popping up well into February, mostly on certain crafty corners of Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

Ms. Valdez redecorates her tree using supplies from Dollar Tree: heart clips, which she affixed to the branches; wooden hearts, which she painted; and provisions like pinheads and red and pink fabric that she turned into homemade gnome ornaments.
Jon Zazula, who with his wife, Marsha, founded Megaforce Records and was an important figure in the emergence of heavy metal music, giving Metallica, Anthrax and other bands their start, died on Tuesday at his home in Clermont, Fla. He was 69.

Maria Ferrero, the couples first employee at the label and later the founder of Adrenaline PR, which specializes in promoting metal bands, said the cause was chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, a neurological condition. Marsha Zazula died in January of last year at 68.

Metallica memorialized Mr. Zazula in posts on its Twitter feed.

In 1982, when no one wanted to take a chance on four kids from California playing a crazy brand of metal, Jonny and Marsha did, and the rest, as they say, is history, the band said.

At that time, the Zazulas were trying to make a few bucks selling records from their collection of hard-to-find albums and picture discs at a flea market in East Brunswick, N.J. Their stock was heavy on metal, and their cubbyhole store, Rock N Roll Heaven, became a gathering spot for metalheads. At their customers urging, they started a D.I.Y. concert-promoting business to present some of the bands whose music they were selling; their first concert, in 1982, featured the Canadian band Anvil and drew almost 2,000 people.
The chief executive of Delta Air Lines wants the federal government to put unruly passengers on a federal no-fly list that would bar them from commercial flights.

In a letter to the attorney general, Merrick B. Garland, the executive, Ed Bastian, said the government should put passengers who were convicted of disrupting flights on a no-fly list. Mr. Bastian argued that would be a much-needed step toward addressing a spike in violence aboard planes that has threatened flight safety during the coronavirus pandemic.

This action will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft, Mr. Bastian said in the letter, which was sent on Thursday.

The rate of disruptions by unruly passengers on Delta flights last year was twice as high as in 2019, Mr. Bastian noted. The airline has put nearly 1,900 people on its own no-fly list for refusing to comply with mask requirements and has referred more than 900 passenger names to the Transportation Security Administration for civil penalties.
According to the ruling, if an Indigenous community refuses a project, the government can still move forward in exceptional cases. But it also states that under no circumstances can a project be carried out that generates excessive sacrifices to the collective rights of communities and nature.

Brian Parker, a lawyer with Amazon Frontlines who worked on the case, said the ruling represented a huge shift of power in the country. The government has been able to do what it wanted, he said. Now they need to get consent.

Ecuadorean government officials did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

A growing body of research shows that nature is healthier on the more than a quarter of the worlds lands that Indigenous people manage or own. Two substantial oil spills have polluted the Ecuadorean Amazon since 2020, the most recent one being just last week.

Indigenous communities in the area oppose oil extraction, Mr. Guaramag said.

The Ai Kofan community of Sinangoe is home to hundreds of people who live along the Aguarico River in northern Ecuador, where the foothills of the Andes meet the Amazon. Their case has its origins in gold mining, which has devastated areas of the Amazon in recent years as global prices surged. When prospectors started illegally searching for gold on their land, they organized community patrols and detained some of them. Then, in early 2018, they found heavy equipment on the bank of the river opposite their land. When they learned that the government had allowed it, they sued and won in a lower court. The gold mining concessions were canceled.

But their case didnt stop there. Ecuadors highest court chose to weigh in, and its ruling applies to all 14 of the countrys recognized Indigenous groups. Their lands include 70 percent of the Ecuadorean Amazon, rich in oil and minerals, according to Amazon Frontlines.
I had to chuckle, earlier this week, when Malaika Handa, the Crossword Fiend blogger (of 7x7 puzzles fame, as well as Vultures 10x10s, among other many other accomplishments) made reference to her favorite shapes in grids, as in, the block arrangements that she loves. I apparently have a favorite too: the five-block, cascading staircase. It appears four times in todays puzzle. Its in three out of the six puzzles Ive run in The Times since 2020. It will appear in the next  well, suffice it to say youre all stuck with me (and my staircases) for a while. These grids otherwise look and feel nothing alike! And yet.

Malaika comes up with cute names for her favorite shapes. Since the staircase is  like movies  a clear obsession of mine, and since I love Arbogasts staircase tumble in Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho even more than that movies more-famous shower scene, Ive decided to name this pattern The Hitch. The name is apt because, like their namesake, my staircases love a cameo.

A few more thoughts on this puzzle:

 Always amazing to look back at a puzzle and think, Was I hungry? Hot-pot BIBIMBAP (a go-to comfort food for me), AREPAS, LATKEs, and a little BANANA CREAM pie for dessert. I actually salivated while writing this.

 This puzzle is oddly packed with autobiography. BIBIMBAP brings me back to the summer I spent living and working in Seoul after college. Tim Burtons Batman Returns (1992), referenced in todays clue for TASED (more on that word in a second), is the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater, which means that I cannot remember a time that I didnt love Michelle Pfeiffer. For this Jersey boy, Booker of the Senate might more aptly be described as Booker of Newark, N.J. Etc., etc.: Looney Tunes, the late DMX, my beloved PRE-CODE movies  Before you tee up your PETTY TYRANT jokes, please note that I forbid them.

 Please also note: Any clue tagged groaner joke is not me. Kam innocent! Even if I laughed.

 Some people hate references to older culture; others obviously have the opposite baggage. Personally, Im always thrilled to give interesting older culture like PRE-CODE movies their due in a puzzle with stuff like The Bachelorette and DMX in it. Id encourage anyone whos unfamiliar to read up on the Hays Code and what came before it, especially if youre interested in the histories of comedy, gangster movies, censorship, or even gender and race in Hollywood movies. Or if you simply didnt know that movies of the late 1920s and early 1930s were often magnificently dirty and socially daring. The PRE-CODE / ERA (a pair of entries I now wish Id cross-referenced!) was, quite frankly, wild. But! So were the incredible feats of innuendo that Hollywoods cleverest minds designed to get around the Production Code once that censorship really started getting enforced. Busby Berkeley and Carmen Mirandas giant Tutti Frutti bananas, anyone? Ernst Lubitschs clogged plumbing gag in Cluny Brown? IYKYK, as they say. If you know, you know.

 Last thought: My eye cant help but be drawn to the TASED/PERPS combo toward the center of the puzzle. I dont love that vibe; its got a whiff of state violence, which, my own interactions with the police in mind, makes me a bit uneasy. A sincere thanks to the NYT editorial team for being on the same page when it came to finessing clues that didnt immediately recall some of my own worst memories. Lets close with La Pfeiffer, shall we? This is the clip I sent the NYT team last week to convince them to replace our original clue for TASED with a Catwoman reference. (What a sentence.) I felt I needed to provide them with firsthand proof. Can you blame me?
In the same way, lesser black woman easily can be read as meaning that there is something about being a Black woman that is automatically lesser. We read such expressions in this way especially when there is a prompt, rooted in negative stereotypes, to link the two things. Note, by contrast, that if someone had tweeted that a man divorced and then married a richer Black woman, we wouldnt read the adjective richer as an insult and would simply think of a woman who is both rich and Black.

I think Shapiro meant that, one, Biden would choose a Black woman and two, that because Srinivasan is  in his view  the best of the judges that a Democratic president would consider nominating, any other potential nominee, including any of the Black women on the presidents short list, would be less qualified than Srinivasan. I dont think Shapiro meant to say that a Black woman would be less qualified because she is a Black woman.

I may seem to be bending over backward here, but I sincerely am not. The question is: If Shapiro had wanted to say that Black women are inherently lesser, would he actually have written it for all the world to see? This, after all, would paint him as not just obnoxious, but as someone severely socially impaired. Given how carefully policed so much of our language is these days, why would he deliberately type out a line saying, in essence, that Black women are inferior, somehow missing that this would likely put his new job in jeopardy and draw a wave of social opprobrium?

To assume Shapiro would baldly, publicly assert this manifests the tendency to assume malevolence in those we disagree with, a means of dehumanizing people perceived as being on other side of an unbridgeable divide. I find the idea of him writing lesser black woman in the meaning of Black women are lesser psychologically implausible. Shapiro is by all indications intelligent; writing lesser and intending it as a blanket judgment would be stupid.

Rather, Shapiro screwed up. He phrased something unartfully. He has apologized for it (even if another tweet he sent Wednesday seemed somewhat less contrite), and yet is still being re-evaluated by his new employer.

Which brings us to the second reason he shouldnt be suspended. A few years ago, Georgetown professor C. Christine Fair tweeted that some of those who defended then-judge, now Justice Brett Kavanaugh against accusations of past sexual misconduct were a chorus of entitled white men justifying a serial rapists arrogated entitlement, and that All of them deserve miserable deaths while feminists laugh as they take their last gasps. Bonus: we castrate their corpses and feed them to swine? Yes.

Georgetown responded with a statement that read, in part: The views faculty members expressed in their private capacities are their own and not the views of the university. Our policy does not prohibit speech based on the person presenting ideas or the content of those ideas even when those ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. Fair remained in her job.
The North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday upended Republican efforts to lock in political dominance in the state, saying that congressional and state legislative maps were partisan gerrymanders that violated the State Constitution.

The ruling requires the Republican-controlled legislature not only to submit new maps to the court, but to offer a range of statistical analyses to show a significant likelihood that the districting plan will give the voters of all political parties substantially equal opportunity to translate votes into seats in elections.

The requirement rebuffed the argument against redrawing the maps that the legislature offered in oral arguments before the court this week: that the court had no right to say whether and when political maps cross the line from acceptable partisanship into unfairness.

The justices 4-3 decision, split along party lines, not only sets a precedent for judging the legality of future maps in the state, but could play an important role in the struggle for control of the House of Representatives in elections this November. The Republican-drawn maps had effectively allotted the party control of at least 10 of the 14 House seats the state will have in the next Congress, even though voters statewide are roughly equally divided between the two parties.
It is a dark time in the life of the American experiment. The worlds oldest democracy, once assumed to be unbreakable, often appears to be coming apart at the rivets.

From his Florida exile, a defeated leader, whose efforts to overturn the last election are still coming into view, is working to place loyalists in key offices across the country, and his followers are racing to install themselves at the controls of future elections.

Yet in Arizona this week, the unlikeliest of characters just stepped forward with a palm raised to the forces of Donald J. Trump.

When right-wing lawmakers there pushed a bill that would have given the Republican-controlled Legislature the power to unilaterally reject the results of an election and force a new one, Rusty Bowers said no.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, expressing readiness to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation on all fronts and build more substantial, vibrant and dynamic China-Turkmenistan relations.

Berdymukhamedov attended Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Xi said the strategic cooperation between China and Turkmenistan in natural gas has greatly promoted the economic and social development of the two countries and has broad prospects.

China stands ready to work with Turkmenistan to enlarge the volume and scale of natural gas cooperation, expand collaboration in the whole industry chain, and enrich bilateral energy cooperation to raise the natural gas cooperation to a new level, Xi said.

Xi called on both sides to align the Belt and Road Initiative with Turkmenistan's development strategy to revive the Great Silk Road at a faster speed, and strengthen connectivity cooperation.

Xi said China is willing to continue to enhance vaccine cooperation with Turkmenistan, and speed up the establishment of Luban Workshop to help Turkmenistan train more high-caliber skilled personnel.

Both sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation to jointly promote regional peace, he added.

Turkmenistan and China are each other's most sincere and reliable friends and partners, Berdymukhamedov said.

Turkmenistan is willing to work with China to tap potentials and accelerate important cooperation including the construction of Line D of Central Asia-China natural gas pipeline, and expand exchanges and cooperation in other fields to raise Turkmenistan-China ties to a higher level, the Turkmen president said. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
In August, the United States carried out a drone strike in Kabul amid the evacuation from Afghanistan, and the military announced that it had thwarted would-be ISIS-K suicide bombers. Even as reports emerged of civilian casualties, including children, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, insisted the strike was righteous. Only later, after a video investigation by The New York Times showed that the person targeted was an innocent aid worker, did the Pentagon acknowledge that the strike had been a tragic mistake and that no ISIS-K fighters had been killed.

In 2011, when the Obama administration announced the commando raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, the presidents chief counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, said the Qaeda leader had engaged in a firefight and used his wife as a human shield. Days later, the White House walked back its account, saying that bin Laden had been neither armed nor cowering behind a woman.

During the buildup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, officials in President George W. Bushs administration famously put forth intelligence about purported Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that turned out to be inaccurate. They also stoked baseless fears that Iraqs secular dictator, Saddam Hussein, was collaborating with the religious extremists behind the Sept. 11 attacks, Al Qaeda.

During the wars in Vietnam and, more recently, in Afghanistan, administration officials under both parties often issued a more optimistic picture of progress to the public than the government's internal assessments supported. And President Lyndon B. Johnson justified an escalation of the war in Vietnam based on a supposed North Vietnamese attack on an American vessel in the Gulf of Tonkin that never happened.

Recognizing that the American government has not always shared credible information and that its statements in such situations should be approached with skepticism is different from equating the United States to ISIS or to Russia, which is notorious for disinformation operations  including a propaganda campaign suggesting that Ukraine is guilty of genocide against its Russian-speaking citizens.

And there are differences that may lend a greater presumption of credibility to the U.S. governments current claims. The situation on the border between Ukraine and Russia is not like Vietnam or Iraq, for example, in that the United States is trying to deter a conflict, rather than justify or start one.
BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo  The children and adults were bandaged and still in shock by the time I reached the Salama Clinic in Bunia, a big dusty town that is the capital of Ituri Province, in the northeastern corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

About 36 hours before, they had been attacked as they slept in tents in a vast camp that houses about 20,000 displaced people. They had fled to that particular camp, called Plaine Savo, most within the last month, thinking they would be protected from an anti-government militia by United Nations peacekeepers and Congolese army camps based only about one mile away.

In a brazen move, the militia attacked anyway on Tuesday night, firing guns and swinging machetes.

There were shouts to stay inside our tents so we didnt move at first, said Janine Lotsove, who had been sheltering in the camp with her seven children. But then we heard the rebels tearing open other tents nearby and starting to cut people with machetes. Those who stayed in their tents were being massacred, so we started to run with our kids and they shot at us.

The assault was one of the biggest in almost a year in the countrys eastern region, which is plagued by violence, corruption and ethnic tensions. Nearly 5.6 million Congolese have been displaced from their homes, according to a count in November by the United Nations refugee agency. More than a million others have fled the country, which has a population of about 90 million, seeking refuge in places like the United States and Europe.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration who sits on the board of Pfizer, recently described the advent of these diagnostics as one of the most enduring technological innovations stemming from the pandemic. Such hepatitis C tests are already in use abroad, but no device makers have submitted one to the F.D.A. for approval.

For many patients, navigating a complex pathway to treatment, entailing multiple return visits over a period of weeks or months, can prove insurmountable. Its just a big barrier, said Dr. Lucinda Grande, a physician.

Automated molecular tests could compress this process. From a small sample of blood or saliva, the tests amplify any trace of viral genetic material in a process akin to the older laboratory-based method of polymerase chain reaction (or P.C.R.), but have been miniaturized to run on small machines. The technologies have been around for years but gained greater visibility during the pandemic, when the F.D.A. allowed many test developers to leapfrog what is traditionally a lengthy approval process.

Companies that have developed coronavirus tests of this ilk have seen enormous growth, and a similar molecular test for hepatitis C could allow clinicians to deliver a diagnosis immediately and perhaps start many patients on medications the same day. Patients may then be less likely to transmit the disease to others, and more likely to complete treatment and be cured.
Today, three reforms matter above all: clearly defining the role and powers of the vice president, of Congress and of the states in electing the president. All three are central to achieving the fundamental goal, which is to ensure that voters, and not partisan political officials, get to choose their leader.

Lets take each of the players in turn.

First, the vice president. Contrary to the self-serving fantasies of Mr. Trump and the lawyers who schemed with him, like John Eastman, the vice presidents role on Jan. 6 is a straightforward one. Starting at 1 p.m., the job is to open the envelopes and announce the electoral-vote counts from each state, in alphabetical order, then call for any objections. Thats it.

She or he has no authority to unilaterally reject electors from the states. The law already lays out this process, but its outdated language is vague and should be clarified in a way that leaves no room for mischief.

Next, Congress. The national legislature has many responsibilities, but sitting as a presidential-recount board is not one of them. Whenever a state submits a single, uncontested slate of electors, as all 50 states did in 2020, Congresss job is to accept it. The problem is that the Electoral Count Act makes it easy to throw a wrench in the works by allowing objections to a states submission if only a single senator and a single representative sign on. This sets off hours of debate and delay  a recipe for chaos, as Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley demonstrated with their grandstanding around baseless allegations about voting irregularities that had been rejected by every court to consider them.

To avoid a repeat of this shameful and reckless behavior, Congress should raise the bar significantly  by requiring the assent of one-quarter or even one-third of both houses to lodge an objection, and a supermajority to sustain one. It should also strictly limit the grounds for raising an objection in the first place.

What if a state submits two conflicting slates of electors? And what if the two houses of Congress disagree over which slate is valid? Thats a different sort of problem, and while it didnt happen in 2020, it did in 1876 and could cause a major crisis again in 2024  if, say, a Trump-aligned governor who believes that election was stolen refuses to certify a valid popular-vote count that favors the Democratic nominee, and instead authorizes his states Republican electors to cast their ballots for Mr. Trump. (Think that sounds crazy? Then you havent been listening to David Perdue, the former senator running for governor of Georgia.) In such a scenario, the Electoral Count Act needs to make it clear that Congress should accept the electors who were chosen in accordance with state law.

This is where the courts, and especially the federal courts, play an essential role. The law should leave no doubt that judges  and not political actors  have the last word in resolving any vote-counting disputes that arise between Election Day and mid-December, when electors meet in state capitals to cast their ballots.
In 2016, I believed in this strategy, urged it on Republicans during the primaries and participated in it  along with most conservative commentators I respected  by opposing Trumps election in the fall.

But then Trump won  with a minority of the vote, yes, but all that elite opposition couldnt even get Hillary Clinton to 49 percent, and the Republicans won more votes nationally than Democrats in House elections, paying no obvious price for having nominated Trump. The American people listened to the Never Trump alliance, fanned out across our newspapers and magazines and networks, and delivered their verdict: For every Republican we persuaded, a different sort of swing voter seemed to discover that maybe there were good reasons to take a chance on Trump.

What followed in Trumps presidency was a doubling down on the elite-opposition strategy  but increasingly I doubted its approach. In its most sincere form the anti-Trump front became paranoid and credulous, addled by the Steele dossier and lost in Twitter doomscrolling. In its more careerist form, it became a racket for former Republican consultants. And in general it became its own ideological echo chamber, a circle of clarity closed to anyone with doubts.

In detaching somewhat, I remained an anti-Trump conservative; after the 2020 elections aftermath, its safe to say that Im forever Never Trump. But I decided that fundamentally the elite-consolidation strategy was a failure  that it succeeded in 2020 only because of the pandemic and that it may fail in 2024  and that if Trump were to be permanently defeated, one of two things needed to happen: Either some adaptation from Republicans, one that might seem ugly or compromised in its own way (as you see now, say, in Ron DeSantiss winks and nods to anti-vaxxers), or some shift that made the leftward-lurching Democrats seem less dangerous to cross-pressured Americans.

So those are the two questions that this column takes up regularly: Can there be Trumpism without Trump, and whats so unappealing or frightening about progressivism and the Democratic Party? And the consistency of those themes clearly sometimes exasperates people who think they amount to moral equivalence or denial about how awful the Republican Party has become.
Many of todays Republicans thus came of age at a time when hawkishness on behalf of liberal values was understood as conservative. Yet the values lying at the foundation of that worldview and shaping our institutions are antithetical to everything conservatives claim to cherish: a ruthless market ideology that puts short-term shareholder gains and the whims of big finance above the demands of the national community; a virulent cultural libertinism that dissolves bonds of family and tradition.

What conservatives revile as woke capital is just this acidic combination of a market-centric economics and liberal cultural arrogance. Yet as conservatives tub-thump for NATO expansion in Europe and hawkishness elsewhere, they seem clueless as to what these things entail: the integration of evermore geographic space into the same socioeconomic order they find so oppressive at home.

From the post-Cold War Washington consensus (the idea that privatization, deregulation and free trade would lead to broad prosperity) to the post-9/11 regime-change wars, crusader foreign policy immiserated ordinary people: Thoughtless NATO expansion bred resentment in a wounded-but-still-strong Russia, setting the stage for recurring crises; economic shock therapy applied by disciples of Milton Friedman empowered predatory oligarchs in post-Soviet lands; the shattering of Arab states in the name of freedom created ungoverned spaces across vast swaths of the Middle East and North Africa, kindling terrorism and sending millions of migrants into Europe.

Like soldiers who havent realized the old war is over, Republicans must grasp the current state of play: Liberal imperialism ought no longer to be mistaken for a conservative cause. It is time to repurpose older conservative foreign-policy values.

The first pillar of such a foreign policy should be a sound restraint, especially where the United States doesnt have formal treaty obligations, and a general retrenchment of the Western alliances ambitions. Senator Josh Hawley, a lawmaker sympathetic to the new right, showed a better path on Wednesday by calling on President Biden to rule out admitting Ukraine into NATO. Mr. Hawley suggested his move would help Washington shift resources to East Asia. But even there, Americans should beware of mindless China hawkism. Yes, the United States has real differences with Beijing. We must punish industrial espionage. We must defend treaty allies. And we must seek a more balanced trade relationship. But we should also find areas of cooperation, exchange and shared interests, seeking to avoid any future wars and instead communicating with mutual respect for a civilizational equal.

Domestic industrial prowess and energy independence should be the second pillar. Without factories manufacturing all sorts of goods, we wont be able to shift production to defense  or to P.P.E. and vaccines  when a real crisis hits. Moreover, as Michael Lind has emphasized, the industrial-military blocs of the future  spheres of influence led by America, Europe, China and India  will be only as strong as their regional supply chains and their internal stability allow.

Many G.O.P. leaders couldnt be happier if the impulses toward Republican realignment were limited to mere jingoism. That, after all, has sated the Republican base while keeping economic policy firmly neoliberal. The party establishment would far rather talk about Ukraine than about declining working-class life expectancy and the fentanyl crisis.
From there, Serwer uses the work of the scholars Barbara and Karen Fields to give a succinct and compelling account of what race is:

Race is not an idea but an ideology. It came into existence at a discernible historical moment for rationally understandable historical reasons, the Fieldses write, and is subject to change for similar reasons. It is not necessary for race to be real for racism to be real. It is only necessary that people believe race to be real. When people act on fictions, those actions have repercussions even if the underlying belief is false  even if the people know that the underlying belief they are acting on is false.

I think this is right. I also think its worth saying a little about the history and purpose of race, meaning its function in the modern world. For this, Im going to draw from Cedric Robinson, a political theorist who wrote extensively (and influentially) on the historical development of race and racism. In his 1983 book, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition, Robinson makes two claims that are relevant to our analysis.

The first concerns the development of capitalism in early modern Europe: The bourgeoisie that led the development of capitalism were drawn from particular ethnic and cultural groups; the European proletariats and the mercenaries of the leading states from others; its peasants from still other cultures; and its slaves from entirely different worlds.

Robinson continues:

The tendency of European civilization through capitalism was thus not to homogenize but to differentiate  to exaggerate regional, subcultural, and dialectical differences into racial ones. As the Slavs became the natural slaves, the racially inferior stock for domination and exploitation during the early Middle Ages, as the Tartars came to occupy a similar position in the Italian cities of the late Middle Ages, so at the systemic interlocking of capitalism in the sixteenth century, the peoples of the Third World began to fill this expanding category of a civilization reproduced by capitalism.

The second claim is related to the first. The contrasts of wealth and power between labor, capital, and the middle classes had become too stark to sustain the continued maintenance of privileged classes at home and the support of the engines of capitalist domination abroad, Robinson writes. Race became largely the rationalization for the domination, exploitation, and/or extermination of non-Europeans (including Slavs and Jews).

The basic point, in short, is that the ideology of race emerges out of a prior, feudal world of European racialism, in which exploited laborers were assigned a lower order of humanity. (The paradigmatic example, for Robinson, is the subjugation and colonization of Ireland by the English ruling classes.) Meant to make existing hierarchies and social organizations seem natural, this racialism takes on new shape, and attains new function, in the context of European encounters with Indigenous Americans and enslaved Africans by way of capital accumulation in the New World. There, it evolves into racism and an ideology of race, as skin color and phenotype replace religion and national origin as differences that can be weaponized for the sake of theft, exploitation and expropriation.

If race is so persistent a concept, if its so malleable and adaptable over time, its because it still serves its original purpose: to naturalize inequality and the domination of one group, or one class, over another. Exposure to the worst aspects of capitalist inequality  pollution, poverty, state violence and premature death  are still mediated by race and become fuel, in turn, for the continuing reproduction of racial thinking.
Q: The recent tragic fire in the Bronx has left many New Yorkers wondering about fire safety in their own buildings. What safety measures should be in place in an apartment building, and how do residents make sure they have them?

A: New Yorkers were heartbroken last month when they learned of the fire in a Bronx apartment building that left 17 dead, including eight children. Many were also scared. The tragedy, caused by a faulty space heater and exacerbated by malfunctioning fire doors, exposed the risks of poor building maintenance.

We spoke with Jim Bullock, a retired deputy chief of the New York City Fire Department and the president of New York Fire Consultants, about ways that residents can keep an eye on their own buildings and make sure their homes are safe and up to code.

SIGNAGE: Your landlord, co-op or condo board must provide you with an emergency preparedness guide, with details describing the buildings construction, fire protection systems and other safety details. Owners of buildings with at least three units are required to distribute the guides to all residents, and to post fire escape plans on the interior side of each apartment entrance door and in common areas.
At the end of the Cold War, the third largest nuclear power on earth was not Britain, France or China. It was Ukraine. The Soviet collapse, a slow-motion downfall that culminated in December 1991, resulted in the newly independent Ukraine inheriting roughly 5,000 nuclear arms that Moscow had stationed on its soil. Underground silos on its military bases held long-range missiles that carried up to 10 thermonuclear warheads, each far stronger than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima. Only Russia and the United States had more weapons.

The removal of this arsenal often gets hailed as a triumph of arms control. Diplomats and peace activists cast Ukraine as a model citizen in a world of would-be nuclear powers.

But history shows the denuclearization to have been a chaotic upheaval that shook with infighting, reversals and discord among the countrys government and military. At the time, both Ukrainian and American experts questioned the wisdom of atomic disarmament. The deadly weapons, some argued, were the only reliable means of deterring Russian aggression.

Today Ukraine has no easy path to producing or acquiring the materials to build a bomb. Even so, the nuclear genie is once again stirring as Russian troops encircle the nation and wage a shadow war in its easternmost provinces.
After a year at Stony Brook University and a semester at Queens College, he began acting in earnest, attracting the interest of Hollywood and art house directors including Terence Malick, Spike Lee, Barry Levinson, Ken Loach and Roman Polanski. While still in his 20s, he acquired a reputation as an actor of ferocious commitment and unstinting preparation, modifying his body when required, doing his own stunts when legal, eating a worm if a scene required it.

I dont set out to do things that are difficult, he said. Thats not really what Im looking to do. But things are difficult. And things that are meaningful tend to be difficult. I dont know the easy way.

Eight or nine years ago, when rewarding roles were thinner, he found himself with a brush in his hand again. After a yearslong renovation of his castle in upstate New York near Syracuse, he invited his friend, the painter Georges Moquay, to create an original work for a central wall. Mr. Moquay suggested that Mr. Brody paint alongside him.

Mr. Brody painted a dragon. Mr. Moquay was impressed and asked why he wasnt painting. Mr. Brody had no good answer. So he began again, taking inspiration from the graffiti of his New York City youth.

Since then, whenever he films on location, he carves out an artist studio in his temporary digs. Im compelled to keep producing, he said.
SANTIAGO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chile set a new record for daily COVID-19 infections, after registering 37,468 cases in 24 hours and topping 37,000 for the first time, for a total of 2,296,712 infections, the Ministry of Health said Friday.

It also announced that in the same period, 43 deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported, bringing the death toll to 39,867.

The 24-hour COVID-19 positivity rate was 23.92 percent nationally, and 23.95 percent in the Santiago Metropolitan Region.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Enrique Paris explained on Friday that the virus "is producing an increase in cases worldwide, with 3 million cases recorded around the world yesterday."

In recent weeks, Chile has registered new peaks in infections, with over 35,000 new cases in one day and more than 125,000 active cases, driven by the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus. 
An armed man broke into the Colorado ranch of the former Democratic presidential candidate Michael R. Bloomberg and kidnapped a housekeeper, asking her for the whereabouts of Mr. Bloombergs two adult daughters, the authorities said in court documents filed this week.

The man, Joseph Beecher, 48, faces state and federal charges including kidnapping after he was accused of ramming his pickup truck through the main gate of the Westlands Ranch in Rio Blanco County on Wednesday. Mr. Bloomberg and his family were not present at the ranch at the time, officials said.

But Mr. Beecher told the female housekeeper that he had hoped to make an international scene with Mr. Bloomberg, who was the mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, or with his daughters, before kidnapping the worker at gunpoint, according to court filings.

She was forced to drive Mr. Beecher in a pickup truck about 230 miles east, to the Denver area, and later to a town near the southern border of Wyoming, before the authorities tracked them both to a motel there early Thursday, officials said. The woman, identified as a supervising housekeeper at the ranch, was found unharmed.
A memoir by the former defense secretary, Mark T. Esper, about his tenure in the Trump administration will be published with minimal redactions after he sued the agency he once led because it wanted to block information in the manuscript, his lawyer said on Friday.

The announcement brought an end to a battle between Mr. Esper and the Defense Department over what material was considered classified and therefore could not be included in his book, titled A Sacred Oath, which is set to be published in May.

Mr. Esper, who was fired by former President Donald J. Trump shortly after he lost re-election in the 2020 race, sued the Department of Defense in November, accusing agency officials of improperly blocking parts of his book under the guise of classification.

Mr. Espers lawyer, Mark S. Zaid, said in a statement on Friday that they had dropped the lawsuit after the Pentagon reversed its decisions about an overwhelming majority of the portions of the book that it had earlier said were classified.
Martine Colette, the founder of Wildlife Waystation, a sanctuary for exotic animals that ran for 43 years just outside the Los Angeles city limits, died on Jan. 23 at a hospital at Lake Havasu, Ariz. She was 79.

The cause was lung cancer, said Jerry Brown, her publicist and friend.

Waystation, which Ms. Colette created in 1976 in the Angeles National Forest, was among the first sanctuaries of its kind for exotic animals that had been abused, abandoned, orphaned or injured. It would rehabilitate them and, if possible, return them to the wild.

After financial difficulties and staff turmoil in recent years, Ms. Colette retired in 2019, and Waystation was closed. During the sanctuarys existence, its website said, it rescued more than 77,000 creatures, including Siberian and Bengal tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars and camels, as well as native wildlife, including foxes and various reptiles and birds.

Many of the animals were castoffs from the pet trade, traveling roadside attractions or research labs; others had been brought in from the wild. Some came from nearby Hollywood, where they had been used on the sets of movies and television shows and taken home as pets, only to become a nuisance or a danger to the homeowner.
Two men in Miami have each been sentenced to 41 months in prison for stealing medical ventilators bound for a Covid-19 care facility in El Salvador as part of a U.S. aid program, federal authorities in Florida said on Friday.

The crime occurred in August 2020, according to a news release issued by the U.S. attorneys office in the Southern District of Florida after the sentencing of the second of the two men.

The men, Yoelvis Denis Hernandez, 42, and Luis Urra Montero, 25, stole a tractor-trailer from a parking lot in South Florida that was loaded with 192 ventilators, worth about $3 million, that were bound for Miami International Airport for shipping to El Salvador by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the statement said.
Armed with reams of telephone records and metadata, the committee has used link analysis, a data mapping technique that former F.B.I. agents say was key to identifying terrorist networks in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks. The F.B.I. said it used a similar tactic last month to identify the seller of a gun to a man in Texas who took hostages at a synagogue.

Faced with at least 16 Trump allies who have signaled they will not fully cooperate with the committee, investigators have taken a page out of organized crime prosecutions and quietly turned at least six lower-level Trump staff members into witnesses who have provided information about their bosses activities.

The committee is also considering granting immunity to key members of Mr. Trumps inner circle who have invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as a way of pressuring them to testify.



Having lived through and being a part of every major congressional investigation over the past 50 years from Iran-contra to Whitewater to everything else, this is the mother of all investigations and a quantum leap for Congress in a way Ive never seen before, said Stanley Brand, a Democrat and the former top lawyer for the House who is now representing Dan Scavino, one of Mr. Trumps closest aides, in the investigation.

It is a development, Mr. Brand suggested, that Democrats might one day come to regret. When a frontier is pushed back, it doesnt recede, he said. They think theyre fighting for the survival of the democracy and the ends justify the means. Just wait if the Republicans take over.

The committees aggressive approach carries with it another obvious risk: that it could fail to turn up compelling new information about Mr. Trumps efforts to hold onto power after his defeat or to make a persuasive case for a Justice Department prosecution. Mr. Trump survived years of scrutiny by the special counsel in the Russia investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, and two impeachments. Despite a swirl of new investigations since he left office, the former president remains the dominant force in Republican politics.
Todd Gitlin, whose immersion in the student rebellions of the 1960s laid the foundation for his later work as a writer, a cultural historian and both a voice and a critic of the left, died on Saturday in Pittsfield, Mass. He was 79.

His stepdaughter, Shoshana Haulley, who confirmed the death, said he suffered cardiac arrest on Dec. 31 while staying at his home in Hillsdale, N.Y., and had been hospitalized in nearby Pittsfield ever since. He also had a home in Manhattan.

Dr. Gitlin personified the cultural and political ambitions of the 60s, with a continuous readiness to confront orthodoxies of whatever stripe. He was a president of Students for a Democratic Society, the national flagship student organization that called for constructive social change, whose ranks swelled with protesters against the war in Vietnam and then collapsed into factionalism. At S.D.S., he assisted in organizing the first national demonstration against the war and helped lead the first protests in the United States against apartheid in South Africa.

He later became a chronicler of the decade. He was sometimes a caustic commenter on the left and its tactics, which opened him up to harsh judgments by erstwhile kindred spirits.
CAIRO  The vigil had lasted for four days, transfixing tens of thousands of people around the world who watched, tweeted, cheered and prayed as a small band of rescuers in a tiny Moroccan village tried to free a 5-year-old boy from the deep well into which he had plunged.

#SaveRayan, they pleaded.

On Saturday night, workers, who had dug a rescue tunnel, finally reached Rayan Oram, the boy. But the medical helicopter that had been waiting for days to take him to a hospital had no need to take off. He was dead.

United for days in hope, Moroccans, and others in northwest Africa, were suddenly united in grief.

I wanted to believe that miracles still happen, said Mehdi Idrissi, 32, a doctor in the Moroccan city of Fez who followed the rescue effort for days, doubting that Rayan could survive his ordeal but clinging to optimism. As a country, we needed a bit of hope, and even though the ending was tragic, it did bring us all together. May he rest in peace.

At some points during the operation, more than 100,000 people were monitoring one of the livestreams that showed the trench where the rescuers, working day and night, were digging by bulldozer and by hand. Thousands more followed along on other livestreams and on social media, not only Moroccans but also Algerians, others from North Africa and people in France, where there is a large diaspora from the Maghreb, the Francophone region of North Africa.
When a 25-foot tapestry replica of Pablo Picassos antiwar painting Guernica was removed from the United Nations by its owner a year ago after more than three decades there, diplomats mourned the abrupt exit of an artwork that poignantly reflected the organizations core purpose.

Its horrible, horrible, that it is gone, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the time.

Nelson A. Rockefeller Jr., a business executive and scion of the family that commissioned and owned the tapestry, offered no public explanation.

Now, it turns out, the disappearance was temporary. The tapestry was rehung Saturday at its longtime home outside the Security Council chambers, under a new arrangement announced by Mr. Rockefeller and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

They said in a statement that under a long-term loan to the United Nations, Mr. Rockefeller is the steward of the tapestry and that it would be gifted to the National Trust, which will handle coordinating its display at other venues in the United States and across the globe.
HANOI, Vietnam  At Pham Thanh Hongs dragon fruit orchard in Vietnam, most of the lights are turned off. All is silent except for the periodic thud of the ripe pink fruit falling to the ground.

Mr. Pham, 46, is not bothering to harvest them.

The farmer watched dragon fruit prices plummet by 25 percent in the last week of December to near zero, pushed down by what several officials in Vietnam say is Chinas zero-Covid policy. Im too disheartened to use my strength to pick them up, then throw them away, Mr. Pham said.

Selling fruit to China in the coronavirus pandemic is not for the fainthearted.

China has gone to great lengths to keep the virus out of its borders. It has screened mail and tested thousands of packages of fruit and frozen foods despite little evidence that the virus can be transmitted through such products. It has locked down entire cities, leaving Chinese citizens stranded without medicine or food.

That strict virus policy has also had alarming consequences well beyond China. Southeast Asian fruit farmers are especially vulnerable because so much of the regions exports are directed toward the country. In 2020, the total fruit exports from Southeast Asia to China stood at roughly $6 billion.
OTTAWA  Thousands of protesters across Canada took to the streets on Saturday for the second weekend in a row, snarling traffic, disrupting business and residential neighborhoods and leading the police to compare the demonstrations to a siege on the nations democracy.

What began last month with truckers complaining about mandated vaccines for crossing the border from the United States has grown into a catchall movement for a variety of antigovernment causes, laying bare deep resentments within Canadas political right.

While the police and officials braced for rowdy crowds and potential violence, the atmosphere of the demonstrations by Saturday evening, though boisterous, remained mostly peaceful and festive.

But the police in Ottawa, the capital, admitted they were overwhelmed by the crowds and warned that the noisy and disruptive protests posed a real threat.
Photo shows giant panda Tian Bao in February 2022. (credit: Pairi Daiza)

Pairi Daiza has reached an agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) allowing the eldest of the giant pandas born in Belgium to stay in 2022 in the zoo.

BRUSSELS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tian Bao, the very first giant panda born in 2016 in Belgium, will be able to stay at the Pairi Daiza zoo in Belgium in 2022, according to a press release published by the zoo on Thursday.

"Pairi Daiza has reached an agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) allowing the eldest of the giant pandas born in Belgium to stay in 2022 in the zoo, " said the statement.

Photo shows giant panda Tian Bao in June 2016. (credit: Pairi Daiza)

The two sides will also initiate the necessary arrangements for transporting Tian Bao to China this year, the statement continued.

Panda twins Bao Di and Bao Mei, born in 2019 to Hao Hao and Xing Hui, the parents of Tian Bao, will settle together in a new territory that will be expressly built for them.



Photo shows giant panda twins Bao Mei and Bao Di in June 2016. (credit: Pairi Daiza)

The separation of the twins and the panda mother should make it possible to relaunch procreation attempts as part of the conservation program for this vulnerable species, according to the same source.

Xing Hui and Hao Hao arrived in Belgium in 2014 on loan from China.

Photo shows giant panda twins Bao Mei and Bao Di. (credit: Pairi Daiza)



The convention that governs the presence of pandas in Belgium provides that all the couple's children must be sent back to China at the age of four in order to better safeguard the species of giant pandas.

The process of returning Tian Bao to China has been delayed by the COVID-19 restrictions. Pairi Daiza has thus become one of the rare animal zoos outside of China that has five giant pandas at the same time.

Photo shows giant panda Tian Bao in October 2021. (credit: Pairi Daiza)
Some of the Afghan women around the table in the neoclassical building in central Athens were making notes in leatherbound notebooks as they debated the future of women and girls in their homeland. They were legislators, journalists and judges  but they were also refugees, a characterization that many of them winced at with shame and disbelief.

For a woman whos been working for 20 years, to have to come here and be called a refugee, its not an easy thing, said Khatera Saeedi, a journalist, as others in the group nodded emphatically.

The presence of Ms. Saeedi and the other refugees in Athens brought into focus a complicated reality for the tens of thousands airlifted after the Taliban takeover: The Afghans Europe wants are the ones who had never wanted to be there.

I had a very nice life back in Afghanistan, said Wahida, 31, an international-organization worker from Kabul, Afghanistans capital, who was evacuated to the Netherlands and who wanted to be identified by only her first name. I had a very prestigious and challenging job, and I never thought of seeking asylum in another country.
Mr. al-Qurayshi was anointed the groups leader, or caliph, in 2019 after his predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, similarly blew himself up during a raid by U.S. Special Forces on his hide-out in northwestern Syria.

From the start, Mr. al-Qurayshi lacked his predecessors public profile, and even his followers knew little about his background. The United States filled in some gaps by releasing notes of interrogation sessions from when he was detained by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2008.

But the revelations that he said he had served in the Iraqi Army under Saddam Hussein and earned a masters degree in Islamic studies in 2007 were overshadowed by what appeared to be his willingness to inform on his fellow jihadists.

After Mr. al-Qurayshi took control of ISIS, the United States put a bounty of up to $10 million on his head and said he helped drive and justify the abduction, slaughter and trafficking of members of Yazidi religious minority groups in Iraq and oversaw the groups global operations.

As it searches for a replacement, ISIS no longer has a large pool to draw from because years of concerted counterterrorism operations by the United States and its partners have killed so much of the groups inner circle, the ISIS expert Hassan Hassan wrote Thursday in New Lines, an online magazine.

The leaders it can trust are a dying breed  quite literally, he wrote.

That leadership vacuum, the waning attractiveness of international jihadism and the increasing strength of enemy governments and competing militant groups could hinder the groups ability to bounce back, he wrote. The death of its leader under these circumstances will further disorient the group and weaken its ability to focus on international terrorism.
FOUR months after a devastating fire halted production at its factory in Killeigh, Glenisk's organic yogurts are once again on their way to the shop shelves.

The Offaly company vowed to return to the market as soon as possible after the blaze on September 27 last year which abruptly ended their yogurt presence in Ireland and temporarily suspended their ambitions for expansion into Europe.

However this week a new production line in an entirely newly built facility at the Newtown site rolled out two natural organic yogurt varieties with others to follow in the coming weeks.

The company has named its relaunch 'The bios are back in town' and one of the products manufactured today is Glenisk Organic Bio Wholemilk Natural Yogurt.

Glenisk Organic Greek Style Natural Yogurt is the other which will be on supermarket shelves nationwide this week.

"Two further products will be introduced next week and well continue to roll out our products over the coming weeks," said Glenisk commercial director Emma Walls. "Kids yogurt will return in March."

Ms Walls said Glenisk is operating from the company's Plan B manufacturing facility, built in just four months on a corner of the original manufacturing site.

"This operation will allow us to produce almost all the products originally made, over the coming months.

"The speed with which weve been able to get the new facility up and running is down to the hard work of the staff and the support of local contractors and materials suppliers who have gone above and beyond  working through Christmas and offering solutions at every turn. We are indebted to them all, here in Offaly, and further afield.

"Now that Plan B is up and producing, we turn our attention to the design of 'Plan A', a new carbon neutral manufacturing facility which will set Glenisk up for the future. We expect it will take at least a year for that new facility to be completed."
MAKE the Moove is delighted to receive a huge donation from the Ultra Cyclists who cycled the Wild Atlantic Way last July.

The Ultra Cyclists cycled over 2,000km to raise funds and endured high temperatures on long days on the bike during the course of six and a half days. They raised over 55,000 for three mental health charities, Mind Space Mayo, turn2me.ie and Macra na Feirmes Make the Moove service for farmers and rural people.

Make The Moove has grown from a pilot programme in North Tipperary in 2019 to a programme which spans across many counties. The programme provides specific training for farmers around minding their emotional wellbeing and giving easy to use techniques that we all can use to maintain a healthy mind.

The Programme has also provided 5,000 wellbeing support kits to farmers right across Tipperary. More recently, the programme conducted some research in Roscommon around farmers mental health and wellbeing. The main issues identified in Tipperary in 2019 remain the same in Roscommon, namely isolation, loneliness and increasingly a more prevalent cause of stress is uncertainty around the future of family farms in Ireland.

Make the Moove aims to develop the programme to grow its support service and to develop further training specifically designed for farmers and rural people. The funds raised by the Ultra Cyclists will help to develop the programme with the addition of a team member, said Macra na Feirme National President and Make the Moove co-founder John Keane.

In the months ahead Make the Moove aims to develop the support service further while also developing a more stable funding base as the demand for the services and training provided by Make the Moove continues to grow in communities right across the country.
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Aerial photo taken on Jan. 3, 2020 shows vehicles waiting to pass the port of the Friendship Pass on the China-Vietnam border in Pingxiang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

NANNING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Youyi Port in Pingxiang City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is still busy during the Spring Festival this year.

Lyu Jinfu, a freight forwarder, was busy handling documents and guiding trucks to move.

For epidemic prevention and control, Lyu has not been able to go home for eight months and has spent every day in closed-loop management. "On New Year's Eve this year, I made a video call to my families," said Lyu.

Cross-border driver Yu Zhijun also began a busy day early. He drove a truck loaded with mangoes, longan, and other Vietnamese fruits, passed through the intelligent customs clearance scheduling system from the checkpoint, and entered the designated warehouse through the port for goods transfer.

"There are so many goods these days that I have to make seven or eight trips a day," Yu said. In Pingxiang, there are now more than 300 freight forwarders and cross-border drivers commuting between the port and warehouses every day, up to more than 600 at peak times.

Youyi Port is an important exit and entry channel for people, as well as a main land channel from China to ASEAN destinations, with frequent cross-border personnel and goods exchanges. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, over 700 personnel and 1,300 vehicles enter and leave the port on a peak day.

The local government has strictly implemented epidemic prevention and control measures to prevent imported cases, ensure the smooth flow of cross-border channels, and safeguard the security of China's southern border.

A staff member disinfects an inbound vehicle at the Youyi Port in Pingxiang City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 16, 2021. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

In 2021, Youyi port's foreign trade continued to grow. It saw a total of 402,800 inbound and outbound freight trucks and about 4.4 million tonnes of import and export cargo.

According to Yu Ruida, deputy director of Pingxiang Commerce and Port Administration, the local government has innovatively introduced a customs clearance agent driving system for cross-border drivers, and all Chinese freight vehicles entering and leaving the port are driven by designated cross-border drivers who are strictly under closed-loop management.

Besides, cross-border vehicles are comprehensively disinfected, and imported goods can enter China only after undergoing nucleic acid testing, disinfection and other procedures.

At the Beitou warehouse in Pingxiang, cars with Vietnamese or Chinese license plates shuttled back and forth, and staff in protective suits were busy loading and unloading goods.

According to Zhang Yaoquan, manager of the warehouse, all goods from overseas need to have nucleic acid testing first, and only if the result of the test is negative can they be loaded and unloaded.

Fruits from ASEAN countries enter the Chinese market through Youyi Port every day. "Our company carries many durian, dragon fruit, longan, and other ASEAN fruits," said Su Yu, head of the operation Department of Guangxi Xiangxiang International Logistics Co., LTD.

According to Su, now both the port and the company have attached great importance to the safety of cross-border cold chain logistics, and have made every effort to prevent products with the virus from entering China.

"Despite the impact of the epidemic, customs clearance at Youyi Port has remained relatively efficient," said Su, adding that with the support of local customs and other departments, goods from China can be delivered to Bangkok in four or five days.

Su is quite optimistic about the development prospects of the company. "Now China and the ASEAN have become each other's largest trading partners and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement has also officially come into effect, so we are expecting to enjoy closer regional economic and trade exchanges," said Su. 
The Sydney Kings return to their home court against New Zealand after a diabolical shooting performance from long range on Friday night.
Sydney Morning Herald 15 Feb 2022

The Convoy to Canberra protestors have invited comparisons with Trumps eclectic base, and there are similarities. But as weve..
WASHINGTON (AP)  Fine art isnt just nice to look at  its also attractive to criminals trying to launder money, finance terrorism and trade illegal drugs and arms. And the Treasury Department wants art dealers and financiers to do something about that.



The agency issued a 40-page report Friday recommending that financial firms and art dealers set up an information-sharing database to track how sales of fine art are linked to bad actors who make anonymous purchases.



The need to monitor art sales has become more complicated and necessary with the recent rise in sales of digital assets known as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.



Michael Greenwald, a former Treasury official and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, called the report a critical first step for there to be a regulatory structure around the broader art market, which he called one of the last unregulated markets.



This puts illicit actors and people in the art market on notice that this is a serious issue and will also lead to regulation of the NFT digital art market space, he said.



In issuing the report, the Treasury Department declined to take more robust steps toward creating new regulations on the art sales, after it found limited evidence of terrorist financing risk.



However, the department did find evidence of money laundering in the high-value art market. A common theme is that criminals use shell companies to buy art and hide behind a corporate veil.



The report cites Brazilian authorities' seizure of former bank owner Edemar Cid Ferreira's multimillion dollar art collection, after he was found to have unlawfully taken bank funds to purchase the art. A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat called Hannibal," as well as a Roman Togatus statue had been illegally smuggled into the...
Western Australia was meant to reopen its borders today. But with travel still restricted indefinitely, family reunions remain on hold and residents stuck overseas granted border exemptions are having to return through COVID-affected states to the east.
ODN 26 Apr 2022

Former housing secretary Robert Jenrick says he is working with the prime minister and foreign secretary to secure the release of..
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Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned against Europe's No.1 economy becoming a "pawn" in Russia's game. Natural gas stockpiles across the EU are at their lowest in years as tensions over Ukraine intensify.
The police accused Fahad Shah, who edits a news website, of uploading anti-national content. Critics say journalists in Kashmir have increasingly been harassed and intimidated.
Australia's deputy prime minister has kept his job after calling Prime Minister Scott Morrison a "liar" and a "hypocrite" in a text message last year.
The UK and its allies will work to fight Russian aggression wherever and however it might occur, Boris Johnson has agreed..

Belfast Telegraph 05 Feb 2022
RAMALLAH/GAZA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Friday reported 6,570 new COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths in the last 24 hours in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that her ministry is deeply concerned over the surging coronavirus cases.

"Five died in the West Bank, and five others died in the Gaza Strip from the coronavirus," she said. "The death toll has risen to 5,144 since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Palestine in March 2020."

Over the past two weeks, the Palestinian territories have been recording large numbers of COVID-19 cases, mainly following the spread of the Omicron variant.

Magdi Dhair, the health official in charge of preventive medicine in the Gaza Strip, said the number of daily infections is likely to increase until mid-February.

He called on people in the Gaza Strip to get vaccinated, abide by social distancing, and wear masks, noting since March 2020, the coastal enclave has received 1.9 million doses of vaccines and around 600,000 people have been vaccinated. 
An eight-year legal tug-of-war between Kyiv and Moscow over a historic collection of Crimean artifacts has been referred to the highest court in the Netherlands.
Sky News 05 Feb 2022

England have lost the Calcutta Cup to Scotland in a dramatic end to the first match of the Six Nations rugby tournament.
Ron Filipkowski, a criminal-defense attorney in Florida, wasn't surprised by the violence at the US Capitol on January 6. Now he's helping the House committee investigating the attack.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has praised the Queen for doing the right thing by sitting alone at the Duke of Edinburghs funeral.
Belfast Telegraph 05 Feb 2022

Ireland had an excellent start to their Six Nations title bid as they put four tries past defending champions Wales to open their..
Mediaite 04 Feb 2022

A jury Friday found Michael Avenatti guilty of two counts related to Stormy Daniels accusations that he had defrauded her of..
The European Union is ready to impose a massive package of sanctions on Russia if it pursues military actions towards Ukraine, according to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Protesters have said they won't leave until all mandates and COVID-19 restrictions are gone in a movement that has been endorsed by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The ordinary people of Beijing were not allowed to buy tickets to the opening ceremony so they stood at the Bird's Nest, waiting for the fireworks.
Ontario's Conservative premier called Friday for demonstrators to end the occupation of Ottawa, while the crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it would refund or redirect to charities the vast
DAMASCUS, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The three presidents of the United States (U.S.) who claimed to have killed terror groups' leaders in the Middle East, aim to bolster U.S. image as the so-called "guardian of the world against terrorism," and give the U.S. legitimacy to stay and achieve its goals in the region, according to Syrian experts.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration killed the former leader of al-Qaida, Osama Bin Laden, while the administration of his successor Donald Trump killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former head of the Islamic State (IS). The current administration of Joe Biden has recently declared the killing of the current IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

Commenting on the recent U.S. operation targeting al-Qurayshi in the town of Atma in northwestern Syria near the Syrian-Turkish border, Ghassan Youssef, a political expert, told Xinhua that it was more propaganda to give Washington false legitimacy in its alleged war on terror than a solid achievement that may truly make some headway in the war on terror.

"The U.S. wants to convince the world that it is fighting terrorism, and to remove suspicions that that it supports and protects terrorism in the region," Youssef said, adding that the operation "will not have a significant impact on Syria's security, and will not, in fact, change anything."

He noted that the situation in Syria in terms of counter-terrorism is "very bad", with major powers such as the United States and its Western allies supporting rebel groups with ties to those who have been outlawed as terror groups.

He said that Russia and Syria are committed to eliminating the Islamic State and other groups who have been outlawed as terrorists.

Imad Salem, a Syrian political analyst, believes that the latest U.S. operation will have little impact in terms of battling terrorism in Syria or the region because IS's influence has diminished considerably across the country.

He agreed with Youssef that the U.S. operation against the IS leader "does not go beyond American propaganda that it continues to fight terrorism and chase IS terrorist remnants, with the goal of establishing legitimacy to its stay on Syrian territory and its continuous theft of Syrian oil."

According to Muhammad al-Khidr, a Syrian writer and journalist, the U.S. operation came to save face for the U.S.-led coalition forces on Syrian soil after a resounding slap they received two weeks ago when dozens of IS militants stormed the Kurdish-controlled Sina'a prison in the northeastern province of Hasaka despite the presence of U.S. forces in the area.

He noted that the U.S. had already known the whereabouts of the IS leader when IS militants began clashes at the prison, which later revealed that he had been in contact with IS inmates who started the riot at the Sina'a prison as their comrades outside attempted to storm the facility.

Syrian political analyst Maher Ihsan said that the presence of terror groups in the region provides the United States the legitimacy to stay and pursue its goals.

"It appears that each U.S. president wants to add an accomplishment to his portfolio," he said, adding "killing radical leaders seems to be an important addition to their list of abilities in their resumes, nothing more." 
Taiwan on Saturday condemned as "contemptible" the timing of China and Russia's "no limits" partnership at the start of the Winter Olympics, saying the Chinese government was bringing shame to the...



#winterolympics
New satellite images show the buildup of Russian forces and equipment along Ukraine's borders with western Russia, Belarus and Crimea  including new tents, an indicator that troops may be present.
Ottumwa, IA (52501)

Today

Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers this afternoon. High 59F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low around 45F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
BIG RAPIDS  The Midwest is often unfairly referred to as fly-over states by those who do not reside in the area, and even by some who do call the region their home.

Through his art, Jeff Wier is putting that particular title to bed for good, at least as far as the state of Michigan is concerned.

Wier stopped by Artworks in Big Rapids on Friday afternoon during its Brown Bag Series to display some of his art, which was featured in the venues Batdorff Gallery.

He currently resides in Hudsonville and originally hails from Grand Rapids, said he is happy to be able to combine his passions of art, kayaking and woodworking into a single creative medium.

Ive always loved woodworking, and I used to do it for a living as a young guy, but then I got out of it, Wier said. Then I started kayaking, and I would see other peoples boats and decided that I wanted to marry the two things. I truly love what I do.

Wier also said that his passion for woodworking and his passion for kayaking are all he needs to remain motivated and continue his artistic venture.

Before he was capturing scenes reminiscent of something in a Natural Geographic magazine, Wier owned his own transmission shop, before ultimately selling it in 2014.

After that, I promised myself I would only do things in life that I wanted to, Wier said. For me, that is kayaking, building kayaks, and photography. I can do all of these together, along with camping and getting out to see Michigan.

To date, Wier has constructed one full-sized kayak out of wood, but has also taken a litany of photographs throughout the state, most featuring a kayak with a scenic backdrop.

In some cases, Wier said individuals have been surprised to learn that all of his photographs were taken somewhere in one of Michigans two peninsulas.

I do travel to other places, but theres enough beauty here in Michigan that could keep you busy for a lifetime, Wier said.

For Wier, its all about being able to share something beautiful with other people and be able to inspire them to find their respective passion along the way.

Through his photographs, Wier is able to bring someone to a place they otherwise might not have ever visited, such as ice caves in the UP.

Just trying to share what I find beautiful with other people; I want them to be able to see what I see, Wier said. I know not everybody is able to go, so I wanted to make it available to everybody to see. Most people dont want to travel across Lake Superior on a snowmobile.
REMUS  Many farms across the state of Michigan produce meat, and one family farm in Remus has been focused on providing quality products for meat-lovers since 2006.

D & J Cattle Farms, at 5286 10 Mile Road in Remus, has been raising cattle since 1978. Originally a family farm first established by John and Deb Niedzielski, their children are carrying on their tradition after returning to the farm following their graduation from university.

Today, the farms main operations are run by their grown kids, Brooke Steiner and Heather Geer.

Brooke Steiner, who works on the farm doing day-to-day activities including bookkeeping, scheduling, processing and beef sales, said the farm has a lot of history.

The farm started back in 1978 with my parents when they moved up from Lansing and started this farm where we're at right now, Steiner said. Initially, it was a farrow to finish operation, and then in 1984, the pig market fell through, and we ended up going into dairy cows. We milked dairy cows from 1984 to 2000, and when we sold out the milk cows, both of us ended up going off to college.

"We thought we wanted to go in a different direction, and then in 2006, we decided to come back home when Heather and I started having children, she added. We started up the operation again through hay sales, and then we decided to go into beef sales, and that's where we are now.

Today, the farm currently raises around 200 head of all-natural, grain-fed dairy beef and farm about 400 acres of corn, oats, wheat and hay.

Geer works the farm by designing the rations for the animals, as well as taking on fieldwork and keeping track of their animals health and care.

We raise Holstein steers from about 650 to finish, Geer said. We get 20 and 20 out every month. So basically, we'll get 20 in, and we'll rotate the pens around, and then we'll have 20 head going out. We supply Ebels with some meat, they will sell quarters and halves. Those are cattle that they get from us, and some of them are from other Michigan farmers, too. We also have freezers here on the farm, we take the Ebels and we have that cut up to bring back and sell as individual cuts. We also sell quarters, halves, and wholes from Ebels of our beef. So, we kind of do a little bit of everything on the meat side.

Both Geer and Steiner agreed that one of the major benefits of working on the farm is being able to be their own bosses, and spend the majority of their time not having to deal with face-to-face interaction regularly.

'WE'RE OUT HERE EVERY DAY'

Geer said the winter weather brings some challenges to the farms normal processes.

We're out here every day feeding them rain, shine, snowstorms, it doesn't matter, Geer said. We have to feed them every single day, so we're out on tractors or busting ice out of water or busting out frozen manure. The wintertime adds a lot more challenges, tractors don't start when water freezes, so there are a lot of different challenges in the winter with keeping our animals warm and dry.

"The cold and trying to keep tractors from starting and not breaking, the frozen ice which in the summer you don't have those challenges, she added, (Equipment) starts and the down spreaders don't freeze down when you're trying to spread the manure.

"Ice is another big challenge; you can have animals go down on the ice and split hips and break legs. That's why we are so adamant about keeping our barns clean because those freeze down, and they slip and fall. We have had one break a leg once, and that's not something we like to see. We don't like our animals suffering like that at all.

Despite the challenges winter brings, Geer and Steiner are able to adapt to maintain their farm and produce regular quality meats for Ebels and other businesses around the area.

According to the farms website, Holstein steers cannot handle the cold, wet weather like other breeds, so Geer and Steiner chose to purchase their steers from another farm at about 650 pounds on average and raise them in the farms two barns that have nine pens total.

There are 21 steers in each pen, and the cattle are fed daily with a total mixed ration that consists of corn silage, high moisture corn, distillers and a mineral pack. Each barn gets cleaned all the way out every two weeks and fresh sawdust is put back in.

Steiner said the feedback theyve received from customers throughout the years has been positive, which helps keep them positive about the quality of their products.

People love our meat," Steiner said. "They say they've never had beef so tender and juicy, and that you can cut your steaks with a fork, the roasts fall apart. Our burgers are juicy, and when they cook a pound of the burger they still have a pound left when its done. A lot of just the tenderness and juiciness of the steaks and everything that people have purchased from us.

"Watching us take some taking something out of nothing and turn it into a nice, beautiful product that people can enjoy on their tables is great, she added, It gives us great satisfaction hearing feedback from people that enjoy our meat and all our hard work that goes into it.

'OUR MAIN PRIORITY'

Geer said the farms main focus is ensuring the safety and health of the animals, as well as being as health-forward as possible.

Animal health and welfare is our main priority, Geer said. Making sure that our animals are safe and healthy. We don't use hormones on them, all of our feed we raise in-house, and all of our corn that they're fed is raised in-house by us. We try to use as minimal chemicals in our fields as possible. We also try to steer away from a lot of those GMOs, we try to keep as much corn as conventional as possible. Going forward, our biggest main priority is just trying to improve on our animal husbandry.

Steiner said they are looking forward to the warm weather, and fewer challenges.

Im looking forward to getting back in the fields, Steiner said. Turning the dirt, watching our corn grow, watching it pop up in rows. As I like to say, like the old Tim McGraw song, its just watching life come back. We're looking forward to warmer weather and getting back in the fields, keeping our product out there, getting it out to more customers, spreading the word, and keeping our meat tasty and juicy.

Geer and Steiner agreed that the best way to support the farm throughout the rest of winter and into summer is to purchase their products directly through them or find their products at Ebels General Store locations.

We do have limited pork available, Steiner said. It is pretty limited, so we encourage people to go buy meats from our sellers, or contact us directly.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Collin Periatt.

Thursday, Feb. 3

10:47 p.m.  A deputy recovered two snowmobiles and a trailer in Mills Township that were stolen out of Gladwin County. The complaint was turned over to the Gladwin County Sheriff's Office for further investigation.

9:54 p.m.  A deputy conducted a traffic stop at a Jerome Township location. The deputy spoke with the 25-year-old male driver, who was subsequently arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and was lodged at the Midland County Jail.

11:57 a.m.  A deputy spoke with a 57-year-old male regarding a theft of a utility trailer. The male is an employee of a Detroit electrical company that owns the trailer. The trailer is believed to have been stolen from a Mount Haley Township job site in November 2021. The trailer's value was estimated at $1,000.

11:37 a.m.  Deputies conducted a traffic stop at a Lee Township location. The driver, a 42-year-old Lee Township man, was taken into custody for active warrants and was transported to the Midland County Jail without incident.

3:25 a.m.  Officers investigated a drug overdose on North Saginaw Road.
MOGADISHU, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- A minivan was hit by a landmine on Friday in southern Somalia, killing 10 passengers, including five women and four children.

Deqow Abdinur Aden, an army commander in Jubaland State in southern Somalia, said the passenger bus was heading to the southern port city of Kismayo when it was hit by the landmine.

"Three others were injured in the landmine blast carried out by militants. The injured ones are being treated at the hospital in Kismayo," Aden told local media.

Aden said that Jubaland State forces were fighting al-Shabab militants at the time of the landmine blast, adding that several militants died while two soldiers sustained injuries during the operation in the north of Kismayo. 
Arthur C. Brooks, a best-selling author, Harvard University professor, columnist for The Atlantic magazine, and free-market advocate, will be on Northwood University's campus Thursday, March 17.

Among the many impactful works written by Brooks is his 2019 best-seller "Love Your Enemies," which is subtitled "How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt." The book is this year's selection for Northwood's Omniquest Program, in which all students, faculty and staff focus on a theme or book throughout the academic year. Faculty members incorporate Omniquest content and themes into course activities.

The practical advice offered here on disagreeing better and principled leadership is helpful, stated economics professor Dale Matcheck, on behalf of the Omniquest selection committee.

The Omniquest committee felt the book's message of ending political polarization was timely and would be welcomed by students and faculty alike. Written by a leading defender of the free-enterprise system, it is not polemical and could help to create a culture of free inquiry and respect for others.

Brooks has a creative background, often credited for inspiring his original perspectives. He left college at age 19 to be a professional musician, playing French horn with groups in the United States and Spain. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics through remote learning.

After 10 years, he ended his music career to earn a Ph.D. in public policy analysis from the Rand Graduate School, where he also worked as an analyst for the Rand Corporation's Project Air Force. Brooks then spent 10 years as a professor at Syracuse University, followed by 10 years as president of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the world's leading think tanks.

Academic Vice President and Provost Dr. Kristin Stehouwer said Northwood is privileged to be able to welcome someone as bright and influential as Brooks to campus.

"Our commitment to experiential learning includes providing opportunities like this to our students. It truly brings the book to life for our students and community to be able to meet Dr. Brooks in person," she said.

Brooks has written the national bestsellers Love Your Enemies (2019) and The Conservative Heart (2015), as well as the forthcoming book From Strength to Strength to be published in February 2022. He has also published dozens of academic journal articles and the textbook Social Entrepreneurship (2008). He is a columnist for The Atlantic, host of the podcast How to Build a Happy Life, and subject of the 2019 documentary film The Pursuit, which Variety named as one of the Best Documentaries on Netflix in August 2019. He gives more than 100 speeches per year around the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Brooks's appearance on Northwood's campus will include an open address to the public without charge and book signing, including smaller gatherings for select groups and individuals. For preferred seating, RSVP online at www.northwood.edu/ brooks.

Northwood University thanks Dow, which is the main sponsor for this event.
Paducah, KY (42003)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to occasional showers during the afternoon. High 81F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2022 shows the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly kicked off here on Saturday as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-day summit, slated from Feb. 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development." (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly kicked off here on Saturday as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Issues such as rebuilding Africa from the brunt of the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring continental peace and security, socio-economic development, as well as representation of Africa in multilateral international institutions took center stage at the AU Assembly Summit.

The two-day summit, slated from Feb. 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development."

Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, told African leaders the need to exert concerted efforts towards effectively responding to challenges such as COVID-19, expansion of terrorism and insecurity while strengthening and preserving multilateralism.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged mankind deep down in its conscience. We cannot, when we meet physically for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, avoid asking ourselves, about ourselves, our doubts, our anxieties, our concerns for our organization and for our Africa," he said.

Mahamat said the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a contraction in growth of 2.1 percent in 2020 and increased the debt ratio by 10 points of the continent's GDP.

"The two major scourges that are COVID-19 and terrorism on a continental level, must added to our intrinsic fragilities," he said.

He said Africa's security situation is deeply marred by the metastasis of terrorism and the dangerous resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government.

Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who is also the outgoing chairperson of the AU, on his part echoed Mahamat's assertion as he emphasized the need to exert concerted efforts in realizing Africa's 50-year continental development Agenda 2063.

Tshisekedi, in particular, emphasized the need to silence the guns across the African continent.

"Silencing the guns in the continent is still a major imperative. However, we have to walk the talk. It is high time that we consolidate the African architecture of peace and security and to ensure the general operationalization of the African Standby Force," he said.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also addressed the AU Assembly summit via video link.

"We need to ignite the engine of peace across Africa. Conflicts and violence have many roots -- from economic inequalities and competition for scarce resources, to ethnic and religious tensions, among others," Guterres told African leaders.

"African states are proudly multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural. The AU is about showing how people can co-exist, even flourish, by working together," he added.

Guterres emphasized that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals depends on supporting massive investments in strong health and education systems, in job-creation, especially in the green and care sectors, and in universal social protection, gender equality, and opportunities for young people, among others.

During the summit, Senegalese President Macky Sall took over the one-year term rotating AU chairmanship from DRC's President Tshisekedi.

In his acceptance speech, the Senegalese President stressed the need to accelerate Africa's short and long term targets, which includes the fight against the pandemic as well as building an Africa that can withstand current and future socio-economic and political shocks.

African leaders also acknowledged the 20th anniversary of the founding of the AU this year as a successor to the former Organization of African Unity, reiterating realization of the major aspirations of the pan-African bloc. 

Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2022 shows the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly kicked off here on Saturday as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-day summit, slated from Feb. 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development." (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2022 shows the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly kicked off here on Saturday as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-day summit, slated from Feb. 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development." (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2022 shows the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly kicked off here on Saturday as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-day summit, slated from Feb. 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development." (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), also the outgoing chairperson of the African Union (AU), speaks during the 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb. 5, 2022.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly kicked off here on Saturday as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-day summit, slated from Feb. 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development." (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat speaks during the 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb. 5, 2022.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly kicked off here on Saturday as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-day summit, slated from Feb. 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development." (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
Palestine, TX (75801)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms developing late. Low 71F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General on Saturday said Africa was a source of hope for the world, highlighting the examples of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Decade of Financial and Economic Inclusion for African Women
Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Felix Tshisekedi, left here Friday for Addy is Ababa, Ethiopia, to attend the 35th Ordinary General Assembly of the African Union (AU).

Tshisekedi will on Saturday, 5 February, 2022, pass on the torch to his Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, after his term of office of 2021-2022 at head of this African organization.

Invested in February 2021, succeeding the South African Cyril Ramaphosa, the head of state has distinguished himself by several activities.

As the voice of the African continent, he has left his mark not only on the continental level but also internationally.

Having dedicated his mandate to the people, the African Union should be, for him, at the service of the people, referring to the credo of Etienne Tshisekedi: "The People First".

President Tshisekedi's tenure at the head of the AU has been positive. His achievements include funding for African countries whose economies were devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic and his involvement in the conflict between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the Nile Renaissance Dam.

President Tshisekedi's involvement in this process contributed to the resumption of dialogue between the three countries, which had been interrupted for several years.

The complexity of the issue and special circumstances have prevented the issue from being resolved according to the initial timetable. The GERD dossier remains, of course, on the agenda of the next chairman of the African Union.

President Tshisekedi remains associated, in his new capacity as Rapporteur of the Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.

He also raised his voice for the preservation of the global ecosystem by presenting the DRC as the solution, taking into account its natural predispositions.

His message to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26, Glasgow, November 2021) focusing on the need to secure financing for climate action and to strengthen support for adaptation, was particularly appreciated.

Positive masculinity, violence against women and girls, the defence of albinism, the fight against social inequalities, and the materialization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are the concerns that have marked the mandate of President Tshisekedi.

The main theme of the 2021-2022 financial year was 'African culture'. This culminated in the organization of the Grand Prix Africain de la literature, a personal initiative of the Congolese leader.

All in all, President Tshisekedi has undoubtedly raised his international profile and is now one of the great defenders of the African continent.

The of DR Congo was preceded by officials and some members of the government, including the minister of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation, Jose Mpanda Kabangu, and the deputy prime minister in charge of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula Apala.

-0- PANA KON/IS/BBA/RA 4Feb2022
Photo: (Photo : Getty images )

Kayla Marie Ibarra, a mom from Canada, gave birth to preemie twins at 22 weeks old. The doctor gave a bleak prognosis, saying the babies would die on the same day they were born. Kayla, however, refused to give up on her twins, The Epoch Times reported. The family has braved a lot of medical odds since. The twins pulled through and headed home after staying for 115 days at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The twins are now three years old, a picture of bouncy girls.

'Babies this gestation simply do not survive'

Kayla and her husband found out they were expecting twins when she had her six-week ultrasound. The twins' mom described her pregnancy as "smooth sailing" until the 20th week when at some point, she suspected that her water had broken. The doctors assured her that her water did not break, but they placed her in the high-risk category and monitored her weekly with ultrasounds.

She said she was having labor pains at 21.5 weeks. To her surprise, the doctor was grim about her delivery. He told her that "the twins will be born today, and they will die," amid her labor. The doctor also said that babies barely at 22 weeks gestation do not survive.

Her labor lasted for four days. She was also diagnosed with pneumonia. On September 27, 2018, a new doctor arrived and informed the couple that they would transfer them to London, Ontario.

The babies were born in London at 9:12 and 9:29 PM. Luna, the eldest, weighed more than 14 ounces (0.39 kg) and 11 inches. Ema weighed 1 pound (0.45 kg) and was 12 inches long.

The mother said Luna was very sick, and the family thought she would not make it. She was resuscitated four times, while her twin was resuscitated only once. The girls were in the NICU for a total of 115 days and were out of the hospital before their expected due date.

Read Also: Angel in Blue: Phoenix Police Saves the Lives of Two Babies Days Apart

Improving survival rates of extremely premature babies

Meanwhile, in Brighton, Ruben and Jenson Powell were born in August 2018 at 22 weeks and six days. Their mom said that the twins "defied every set of odds they were given."

Eight days after the delivery, Ruben underwent surgery as his intestine failed. His twin brother, Jenson, was also suffering from a weak lung. The Powell kids had 20 blood transfusions, eye injections, and laser surgery to curb blindness. The twins also survived blood poisoning and pneumonia.

Kayla's and Powell's stories, though rare, happen to other expectant moms all over the globe.

BBC News reported that it was previously recommended that only babies born at 23 weeks or later are given treatment to save their lives. However, advances in medical treatment made it possible for a doctor to save the lives of babies born at 22 weeks. British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) now reports that babies born earlier than 23 weeks can survive, although rare.

Today, Kayla's twins are three years old and have developmentally caught up with other full-term babies. Kayla now advocates for severely premature babies and starts a nonprofit, TwentytwoMatters, to provide medical articles and a world map of the hospital that helps in the survival of preemies at 22 weeks.

Related Article: Pregnant and Proud: Rihanna Shows Her Pregnancy in the Most Iconic Way
Photo: (Photo : RICHARD BOUHET/AFP via Getty Images)

Rebecca Schuld, a meteorologist mom, based in Milwaukee, has become a viral sensation after she did the weather forecast on the air with her baby in her arms. The mom and baby ended up delighting viewers for bringing a ray of sunshine amid the upcoming cold weather in Wisconsin.

Due to the pandemic, the 42-year-old mom has been working from home and caring for Fiona, her 13-week-old daughter. During one of her live 4:00 p.m. weather reports for CBS 58, Fiona awoke from her nap, so the mom decided to carry the child as she worked.

Her short segment with the baby in her arms blew up online and received a lot of views across various social media platforms.

Read Also: Mom Faces Truancy Charges After Keeping Her Kids Home Safe From COVID-19

Adorable Mom and Daughter on the Air

Viewers loved that her daughter was well-behaved on the screen while Schuld did the report. The mother also thought of a quick spiel to include her baby in the weather forecast by saying that Fiona is prepared for the cold weather since she has her "good thick blankies." In her white onesies, Fiona could be seen wrapped in a cozy blanket.

Schuld recently came back to work following her maternity leave. In an interview with Yahoo Life, she said that the show's producer suggested that she should just carry Fiona on the screen after the baby unexpectedly woke up from her long nap. She initially did not plan to put the baby on the camera but felt confident that Fiona would behave because she just had a good sleep.

However, Schuld also said she felt a little guilty for putting her baby on the air with her. She realized that there was nothing for her to feel sorry about since this is the reality faced by many parents working from home who have to include their children in the mix.

"They work, their kids are sick, or their kids are crying in the background," the mother said. "That's what so many of us are doing every day. So, why are we hiding them?"

In another interview with Inside Edition, Schuld said that she has been working from home in the basement with a green screen. As a mom with a newborn, Schuld joked that she likely had 20 hours of sleep in total in the last three months. The meteorologist mom hopes that her viral story will inspire other moms to press on and pursue their goals while they enjoy their kids.

Meteorologist Mom Quits Work for Family

While Schuld is balancing a baby and her work, another meteorologist mom has quit her job to spend more time with her family. Dylan Dreyer aired her final weather report on the weekend installment of "Today" on Saturday, January 29, per USA Today.

Dryer, a 40-year-old mom with three boys, said it feels bittersweet to say goodbye to her weekend job. However, she needed to take back her weekends so she could help out at home with her husband, Brian Fichera. The couple's kids are all under five years old.

Related Article: Milwaukee Mom Creates Babbling Babes Group for New Parents Who Feel Isolated
Photo: (Photo : JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Lawyers from the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office have filed a motion in court to ban the parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley from making romantic gestures like blowing kisses or mouthing "I love you" to each during their court appearances.

Jennifer and James Crumbley have been attending virtual and in-person court hearings since they were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter related to their son's attack at the Oxford High School in Michigan in November.

However, the prosecutors said that the parents of the Michigan school shooter appear to be "making a mockery" of the court and the crimes they are accused of because of their courtroom behavior, per NBC News. Jennifer and James would blow kisses or mouth "I love you" to each other while the legal proceedings were ongoing.

Read Also: Michigan School Shooting: Sheriff Says Teen Used New Gun His Father Bought Days Ago

It's Traumatic for the Victims' Families

David Williams, the Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor, said that the behavior of Ethan's parents "disparages the integrity" of the court. It's also triggering and traumatic for the families who have lost their loved ones in the school shooting. He said that these actions are distracting in court, where families are pursuing justice for the deaths of their sons and daughters.

Jennifer and James made at least three romantic gestures to each other during the hearings. In their first appearance in court, James mouthed "I love you" to his wife and made another non-verbal gesture when they left the courtroom, per Fox 2 Detroit.

James repeated the same romantic gestures during their bond hearing online, and Jennifer reciprocated by mouthing "I love you" to her husband. She also waived at James when the online meeting ended. There was also an instance when Jennifer and James made several love signals by blowing kisses to each other in the middle of a breakout session on Zoom.

However, a couple of veteran defense attorneys, who are not part of the case, told The Detroit News that the motion is "ludicrous." Jerome Sabbota said that if Ethan's parents were mouthing words to each other during the breakout session, they would not disrupt the legal proceedings. He also said that Jennifer and James have the right to communicate however they want since they have not yet been convicted.

The parents of the Michigan school shooter are accused of making the gun accessible to their teenage son, who used this to open fire at Oxford High School. Four students died on the scene, while seven other kids and a teacher were injured.

The Crumbleys are also liable for not doing something when Ethan demonstrated troubling behaviors. Jennifer and James have entered a plea of "not guilty."

Ethan to Claim Insanity as His Defense

Meanwhile, lawyers of Ethan said he would plead insanity for the murder and terrorism charges against him. The 15-year-old sophomore student will undergo an assessment from the Center for Forensic Psychiatry to evaluate his responsibility for the crime. The prosecutors said that the defense expected this since the assessment is standard procedure.

The parents are expected back in court on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, followed by Ethan two weeks later. Jennifer and James are held in different jails for a bond of $500,000 each.

Related Article: Michigan School Shooting: Parents of Ethan Crumbley Face Involuntary Manslaughter Charge
Photo: (Photo : NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images )

A biography about former First Lady Michelle Obama will remain in the library after a Texas school district declined calls for its removal. A parent allegedly complained that the book unfairly painted former President Donald Trump in a bad light.

"Michelle Obama: Political Icon," which was authored by Heather E. Schwartz, is included in the list of books that parents from Katy, Texas wants to ban. In a statement published on Insider, Maria Corrales DiPett from the Katy Independent School District said they reviewed the book following the parent's complaint and determined it should not be taken out of the library's collection.

Schwartz also told People that she was surprised about the complaint since the biography is a children's book and was not written with any political slant. The author also stated that she's against banning books, as a parent and a reader, and there are safer options for the children to gain new perspectives on different topics.

Read Also: Texas Mom Reports School Bullies Who Gave Her 6-Year-old Daughter Hickeys

Why a Parent Complained about the Michelle Obama Biography

According to NBC News, the parents in the Texas school district wanted to ban 50 books that cover topics like racism, gender, sexuality, race, and sex. Some 86 moms or dads took further steps to file complaints and ask school officials to review the books for a pull-out.

The mother who complained about the Michelle Obama biography said she wanted the book banned for all grade levels for implying that Trump is a bully. The mom also said that Obama's views of race would make any white girl feel ashamed of themselves.

In December, the Texas school district started taking some books out of the shelves as parents cited the vulgarity of its content for young readers. During that time, Superintendent Ken Gregorski said that they wanted the library collection to contain age-appropriate books for the kids and their families.

A state representative then asked school libraries and classrooms for a list of books that might be uncomfortable for kids to read. His own list included books like "Everything You Need to Know About Going to the Gynecologist" (Shifra Diamond), "The Black Power Movement and Civil Unrest" (Kerry Hinton), and "Teen Suicide" (Roleff L. Tamara).

Since then, an unprecedented number of complaints from parents, backed by some conservative politicians, have reached other school districts. Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned that school staff members could be criminally liable for allowing kids access to young adult novels that some parents said may be considered pornography.

Texas Librarians Launch #FReadom

This has pushed librarians in Texas to launch a campaign against censorship, dubbed #FReadom, on social media. One librarian said that kids are not forced to read or check out the books, and parents do not have the authority to dictate what books should be available in the library.

An LGBTQ student said that she is outraged over the removal of books highlighting queer characters. She said that their stories give hope and motivation for people still struggling with their identities.

Meanwhile, The American Library Association received more than 330 challenges and complaints about controversial books for fall season alone. In Tennessee, the board of education in McMinn County voted to ban "Maus," an eighth-grade book about the holocaust, as it included curse words and nudity.

In Wyoming, some parents called for prosecuting the library employees who stocked books on sex education that included LGBTQ+ themes. The state attorney refused to file a lawsuit.

Related Article: Moms for Liberty to Pay a $500 Reward for Anyone Who Reports Teachers Who Discuss 'Divisive Subjects'
Congolese refugees cross the Busungu border post, Bundibugyo District, Western Region of Uganda, Feb. 3, 2022. At least 7,000 Congolese refugees have so far crossed into Uganda following attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a top official said here Friday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)

KAMPALA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 7,000 Congolese refugees have so far crossed into Uganda following attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a top official said here Friday.

Esther Anyakun, Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees said in a statement that the refugees crossed into Uganda on Feb. 2 through the western Uganda district of Bundibugyo and were being handled and forwarded to refugee reception centers.

"The rebels reportedly also broke into pharmacies and shops to secure medicines and foodstuffs creating panic especially in Nobil trading center," the minister said.

She added that about 76 households of 339 individuals were relocated on day one from the Busunga border point to Bubukwanga reception center.

"Refugees were screened by the security at the Busunga town council offices and those with health needs received first aid from Medical Teams International, our health implementing partner on ground," Anyakun said.

The minister said the rebels attacked trading centers of Nobil, Kamango and Jiapande, a few kilometers from Busunga border point in Bundibugyo district.

The Uganda military in November launched joint operations with the Congolese forces against the ADF.

So far several rebel camps have been overrun by the joint force, leaving the militants scattered in different locations, according to the Ugandan military.

The military on Wednesday warned civilians living in bordering areas against hosting fleeing Congolese without being screened by the line authorities.

According to the military, some of the people fleeing could be ADF rebels pretending to be refugees.

The ADF, an affiliate of the Islamic State in central Africa, is a Ugandan rebel group holed up in eastern DRC. 

Congolese refugees carry their luggage while crossing the Busungu border post, Bundibugyo District, Western Region of Uganda, Feb. 3, 2022. At least 7,000 Congolese refugees have so far crossed into Uganda following attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a top official said here Friday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)

Congolese refugees rest at Busungu border post, Bundibugyo District, Western Region of Uganda, Feb. 3, 2022. At least 7,000 Congolese refugees have so far crossed into Uganda following attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a top official said here Friday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)

Congolese refugees cross the Busungu border post, Bundibugyo District, Western Region of Uganda, Feb. 3, 2022. At least 7,000 Congolese refugees have so far crossed into Uganda following attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a top official said here Friday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)
Photo: (Photo : RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP via Getty Images)

Two leukemia patients, who were the first to try a groundbreaking gene therapy ten years ago, have achieved remission from blood cancer more than a decade later.

Doug Olson was one of the patients who underwent a new and experimental CAR-T cell therapy at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010. A month into his treatment, doctors conducted a bone marrow biopsy which showed that the cancer cells were completely gone.

This was happy news for Olson and his doctors, but they needed to be convinced that the gene therapy would work and be sustained for the long term. So, they conducted a 10-year follow-up on Olson and another leukemia patient.

In a new study published in the journal Nature, study author and cancer immunologist Dr. Carl June said they could finally conclude that CAR-T cell therapy works. Olson and the other patient, Bill Ludwig, have been essentially cured of their blood cancer.

Read Also: Colorado Mom Battling Oral Cancer Gets New Tongue From Her Thighs

What is this Gene Therapy?

CAR-T cell therapy is a one-time IV treatment that attacks the cancer cells as soon as it's infused. The CAR-T cell remains in the body for many years, thus preventing the cancer cells from spreading or coming back.

The treatment uses the T-cells from the patient's body that are then genetically modified in the laboratory to attack the cancer cells. T-cells are white blood cells vital to the body's immunity.

The study authors confirmed that the leukemia patients' most recent test results showed "sustained remission." They could still detect the CAR-T cell even after more than ten years of treatment.

Co-study author and oncologist Dr. David Porter said they had given CAR-T cell therapy to thousands of cancer patients since the first infusion. Though the process has been refined and made safer through medical advances over the years, CAR-T cell therapy is not without its side effects.

Olson, who learned of his chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the mid-1990s, was on his last hope when he got this gene therapy. He told NBC News that CAR-T cell therapy was not a walk in the park as he felt too sick and had to be in the hospital for three days.

Porter said that the treatment might cause tumor lysis syndrome, which releases more nucleic acids, potassium, and phosphate into the body. It could also lead to cytokine release syndrome, where the patient may experience flu-like symptoms for days and have low blood pressure. The gene therapy may also lead to neurologic toxicity that affects speech and thinking or cause comatose. However, the majority of the side effects usually "resolve on their own," Porter told CNN.

What's Next for CAR-T Cell Therapy?

In 2017, the U.S Food and Drug Administration approved CAR-T cell therapy, developed by the team of June and Porter alongside drugmaker Novartis, for treating childhood leukemia. In 2020, CAR-T cell therapy was also approved for treating patients with multiple myeloma or bone marrow malignancy in adults. June and the rest of the team hope CAR-T cell therapy will one day work on "solid cancers" affecting the colon, the lungs, and other body areas.

Meanwhile, Olson said science extended his life when he thought he had only months to live in 2010. In his decade of sustained remission, Ludwig traveled the world and enjoyed more family milestones until he succumbed to COVID-19 complications in 2021.

Related Article: Mom With Cancer Boldly Advertises 'Date My Daughter' at Times Square Billboard
Photo: (Photo : EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images)

Some millennials on TikTok are drawing shock and surprise for behaving unconventionally and displaying unusual emotions over sickness, death, or loss in videos shared on the platform. Dubbed the grief trend, these videos show the kids dancing or lip-syncing while a relative is in a funeral casket or a hospital deathbed.

In 2021, a 21-year-old woman and her 12-year-old sister uploaded a video where they rapped to a Soulja Boy hit facing their mother's open casket. The sisters said in the caption that they would be rapping until their mother came back from the dead. It also showed them laughing at their antics, which ticked off some viewers.

The sisters' video reached more than 16 million views and 83,000 shares. However, most of the comments questioned why they could still rap and laugh during a time of mourning.

Read Also: Young TikTok Mom Earns Backlash for Dancing to Explain Her Sick Baby's Diagnosis

Backlash for Grief Videos

Last year, a young mother also received backlash for dancing at the neonatal intensive care unit where her newborn was quite sick with RSV. She deleted the video after netizens commented that her dancing was inappropriate but explained that she was only trying to stay positive while taking care of her baby.

A social media influencer also got a bad rap for doing a photoshoot next to her father's coffin. Following the fury from the public, she told NBC News that her father "would have approved" of what she did and said that it was her way of dealing with her loss.

In the Philippines, TikTok users had their mouths agape as they watched a funeral cortege of a 29-year-old woman. Her family was not playing religious music but loud remixes and hits of local bands, and everyone was dancing. Netizens were appalled that the family disrespected the dead, but the mother said this was her daughter's dying wish, per Vice.

Billions of Views for Grief Trend on TikTok

According to In The Know, TikTok videos with #grief garner more than 1.9 billion views. While there are followers who condemn the videos, viewers applaud those who openly share their raw emotions.

Psychiatrist Dr. Mimi Winsberg said that posting grief videos on social media might boil down to their need to connect to others as they process what they are going through, especially during this pandemic when visits to funerals are restricted. She also noted that crying selfies, another facet of this grief trend, have increased in recent years.

The expert said that every generation or culture develops ways of relating to their community. So, while this grief trend might seem strange for some age groups, it doesn't immediately make it bad behavior. It could even be considered a healthy practice.

Rohit Thawani of "The Hopeless Show" podcast said that these videos on TikTok might mirror a dystopian future, but he acknowledged the "optimism and openness" of the people who put their emotions on display. They are sending a message that it's OK to be in touch with one's feelings, together with the public.

Related Article: Mom Secretly Films Babysitter Singing to Her Daughter and Creates a Viral Video
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Commodity prices to increase between eight and 12 percent from February if the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) implements the amended Value Added Tax (VAT) rate, Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) has predicted.



Mr. Samson Awingobit Asaki, IEAG Executive Secretary stated that Ghanaians are going to experience some increases in prices of commodities if GRA implements the new VAT which is moving the business community from three percent flat rate plus the one percent COVID-19 levy to a whooping percentage of 19.2 percent.



Mr. Asaki in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema explained that there was the need for the GRA and other relevant state institutions to educate the public on the amended tax component to prepare them for the implications of its implementation.



He said even though standard VAT should not be more than 12 per cent, per the amendment, Ghanas own was increasing to 19.2 per cent for businesses whose capital was from GHC500, 000.00.



According to him, the amendment would affect goods that had already been cleared in 2021 and yet to be sold, adding that the business operators and retailers would have no option other than to pass on the difference to consumers therefore the need for the GRA to sensitize the public.



Mr. Asaki said the amendment which was gazetted on December 31, 2021 was expected to be implemented in February, indicating that the time frame was short and consumers would be in shock when prices increased without any proper education.





Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A police targeted intelligence-led operation has led to the shooting of four suspected robbers out of six at Gbetsile near Afienya in Tema.



While the police team arrested one of the gang members, one of the suspected robbers escaped arrest.



The suspects were being pursued by the police for allegedly snatching a Toyota Rav4 mini SUV vehicle from its owner in Tema and were allegedly on their way to sell it in Accra.



They are alleged to have changed the original vehicle registration number and put a fake one on the vehicle.



Intelligence



A police source said after gathering intelligence about the incident on January 22, 2022 put together a team comprising personnel from the Anti-Robbery Unit, Intelligence and Surveillance team from the Police Headquarters in Accra.



The team, it said, partnered police officers from the Tema Regional Police Command and pursued the suspects to a thicket at Gbetsile.



In the course of arresting the suspect and retrieving the vehicle, the four suspected robbers allegedly attacked a police sergeant who was part of the police team aggressively and the suspects were shot in the process.



Four of the suspects sustained injuries from shooting while the police succeeded in arresting one of the gang members.



Gang



One of the gang members, however, managed to escape arrest.



The police later took the injured four suspects to the Police Hospital in Accra but they died shortly while responding to treatment



Their bodies have since been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for preservation.



The arrested suspect whose name has not been made available by the police is currently in police custody assisting with investigation.



Meanwhile, the Anti-Robbery Squad attached to the Tema Regional Police Command is currently pursuing the suspect who is on the run to get him arrested and retrieve the snatched vehicle.



The Police Administration has given an assurance that it will continue to fight crime to make the country safe and peaceful.





Source: graphiconline.com









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The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the government are expected to report to the National Labour Commission (NLC) on Monday, February 7, 2022, to find solutions to the UTAG strike that has crippled public universities.



This follows a letter from the NLC, dated Thursday, February 3, 2022, inviting all parties in the dispute for negotiations, in compliance with a directive by the Labour Division of the Accra High Court.



On Thursday, February 3, the court, presided over by Justice Frank Aboadwe Rockson, directed the parties to return to the negotiation table and engage in more dialogue as a way of resolving the impasse which had led to the strike.



NLC legal action



The NLC, the statutory body mandated to mediate and resolve labour disputes, had filed an application urging the court to order UTAG to call off the strike while negotiations continued



On January 13, this year, the NLC directed UTAG to resume work, on the basis that its strike was in violation of the law and procedures for embarking on strikes.





It further directed UTAG to formally submit issues it said were in dispute with the government for redress and report back to the commission on February 6, 2022.



However, UTAG disregarded the NLC directive and sustained the strike it started on January 10.



Negotiations



Lawyers for the NLC and UTAG were in the courtroom to battle out the case, but Justice Rockson directed the disputing parties to give negotiations another chance.



The presiding judge gave the parties one week to engage in the negotiations and report back to the court on February 10.



What this means is that if by February 10 the parties have successfully resolved the impasse, the NLC will likely withdraw the suit for the court to strike it out as withdrawn.



This was the tactic the same court adopted in dispensing justice in a similar legal action filed by the NLC against UTAG in August last year.



Strike



UTAG embarked on the strike on January 10, this year, calling on the employer (government) to restore its members to the 2013 Interim Market Premium (IMP) of 114 per cent of basic salary.



The labour union also wants the government to go ahead to formulate guidelines to implement the appropriate recommendations to address the general conditions of service of the university teacher.



It is the case of UTAG that the IMP, which was instituted after the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy, is frozen, per a government White Paper in 2013, for the purpose of the conduct of a labour market survey (LMS) to determine the MP payable to workers deserving of it.



UTAG contends that till date, the determination has not been made, which has resulted in the erosion of the university teachers salary.



In its release declaring the strike on January 7, this year, the UTAG Council said there was the hope that by completing and implementing the LMS Report of 2019, a review of the IMP would put the university teacher on a relatively good salary stead.



Regrettably, the recommendations of the 2019 LMS Report, without any accompanying technical report on the implementable MP, is meaningless to UTAG, as it does not address the pertinent issues of improved CoS, it said.



Impact



The strike has crippled activities in all public universities and threatened to disrupt the academic calendar which had been tweaked and adjusted to meet the contingencies brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.



There are fears that public universities face imminent closure if the UTAG strike is not called off.



This is because, by convention, three weeks (21 days) into a strike that grounds academic work, the schools are expected to close down.





Source: graphiconline.com









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The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has launched the Government of Ghana Staff and Travel Card (e-travel card), designed to promote transparency and accountability in the management of funds during travels by public officials.



The card will replace all manual systems of managing imprest in the public service in a bid to promote transparency and accountability and make it easy for the cashless disbursement of travel and other related funds by government and all other public officials.



All government office employees will receive a personalized card, which will enable their travel expenditures to be tracked and monitored as part of the implementation process.



The new platform comes on the back of several digitalization initiatives undertaken by the Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD) including the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System and the Electronic Payslip system.



The Vice President launched the card at the end of the three-day annual conference of CAGD held in Cape Coast on the theme: The Role of CAGD in Advancing the Digitalisation Agenda of Ghana.



Launching the card, Dr Bawumia observed that the manual system currently in place provided an avenue for some public officials to engage in overspending and fraudulent activities with impunity when they embarked on official travels.



He said the e-travel card would, therefore, enable the CAGD to strengthen monitoring and control of budgetary allocations for official travels to avoid overspending.



It will eliminate risks with cash transactions for official travels and cash disbursements and eliminate the misapplication of funds, over expenditures and fraud associated with imprest, he added.



The Vice President observed that the world was increasingly tilting towards cashless economies and systems and urged the affected public to embrace the new platform.?



It is important that we move toward e-travel cards to make sure that we can engage in transactions freely when we travel, Dr Bawumia stressed.



He commended the Ministry of Finance and the CAGD for their efforts in keeping the digitalisation agenda of government alive.



The Vice President appealed to the public to do their maximum best they could to position the country in a better situation, adding that everyone had a crucial role to play.



Let us maintain at all times, quality corporate attitudes, transparency, professionalism and patriotism in the discharge of our duties, he added.



For his part, the Controller and Accountant General, Mr Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem intimated that the introduction of the e-travel card was in line with the mandate of his outfit to protect public funds.



He said the card was intended to operationalise provisions in the public financial management act (act 921) and the regulations relating to imprest management.

Source: GNA









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A six-bedroom story building and property worth millions of cedis were destroyed by fire at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra on Friday.



The fire, said to have occurred around 0700 hours, consumed everything, said officials of the National Fire Service.



Mr Timothy Osafo Affum, the Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), said the Service received a distressed call around 0754 hours and dispatched the nearest truck, which got to the scene five minutes after the call due to traffic congestion.



Mr Affum said a pump failure affected firefighting operations, necessitating a call for a second truck from the head office.



He said minutes into the fire battle additional fire tenders and pumps were called.



The PRO said initial investigations indicated that the fire started from one of the rooms upstairs and that a comprehensive investigation would establish the cause of the fire.



Madam Veronica Mensah, an eyewitness, told the GNA that she was on her way to the house to help with funeral preparations when she saw a thick smoke from the building.



From afar, I saw people who had come to help in the funeral preparations working to get the place ready for the burial service, but I saw the smoke when I got closer and prompted the workers to run for their lives.



Giovanni Geraldo, a second-year student at the Ghana National College, an habitant of the house, said he and his family had lost everything to the fire.



He said he rushed out from his sleep when the room suddenly became too hot.



I got totally confused as to what to do then I rushed to my grandmother who is handicapped, helped her onto a wheelchair and brought her out of the house.



The student said he and his brothers tried to put out the fire before calling the Fire Service, but after a few attempts, they realized the fire was beyond their control.



I hope our story gets far to attract the attention of some philanthropists and if possible, the government to help us get onto our feet as a family again, he said.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday, World Cancer Day, launched a new initiative aimed at providing cancer care for people living in low and middle-income countries in Africa.

The initiative, dubbed "Rays of Hope," was officially launched at an event held on the sidelines of the 35th African Union (AU) Summit, slated for Feb. 5 to 6 at the AU Headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the AU Commission; Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and current chairperson of the African Union; and Macky Sall, president of Senegal and incoming AU chair, co-hosted the launch event.

Launching the initiative, Director-General of the IAEA Rafael Mariano Grossi said the "Rays of Hope" will work to tackle the burden of cancer in Africa by expanding radiotherapy especially in member states where radiation treatment is absent.

"I would like to thank the International Atomic Energy Agency for its commitment for our fight against cancer across the continent through strengthening member states' capacities in radiotherapy to ensure proper care," Tshisekedi, chairperson of the 55-member pan-African bloc said.

Speaking on the occasion, Senegalese President Sall said that cancer causes 700,000 deaths every year in Africa, a continent where over 40 percent of countries do not have radiotherapy facilities. 
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has served notice to resist moves to prosecute the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, Mr James Gyakye Quayson, describing the suit as politically motivated.



The Minority said any attempt by government to prosecute the MP was an affront to the suit pending before the Court of Appeal.



Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said the issue of whether or not, per Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution, Mr Quayson was qualified to stand as an MP is a question of law pending before the Appeals Court as well as the Supreme Court in various suits.



At a press conference at Parliament House on Thursday, Mr Iddrisu said those actions were attempts by government to intimidate the minority MPs in the quest to pass the E-levy, by trying to reduce their number through the suit.



He said the latest action, endorsed by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, came at a time an appeal and application for Stay of Execution had been filed against the Cape Coast High Courts annulment of the 2020 Assin North Parliamentary Elections, still pending before the Court of Appeal.



He said information available to the Minority indicated that the said charges bordered on an allegation that Mr Quayson committed a crime by signing a declaration to the Electoral Commission to the effect that he was qualified to stand for an election as an MP.



Under the circumstances, the lawful and reasonable thing for the Ghana Police Service, the ruling NPP governmentto do is to abide by the decision of the Court of Appeal on these processes, he added.





Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Controversial lawmaker and Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Hon Kennedy Agyapong gave a colossal speech at the lavish 60th birthday dinner held for millionaire businessman, Dr. Osei Kwame Despite which was attended by top politicians, celebrities, and friends.



Kennedy Agyapong who has been a good friend of Despite from the beginning of time showered praises on the business mogul at his plush birthday party.



The loudmouth MP posited that Osei Kwame Despite has been tremendous in helping most Ghanaian youths get jobs as his contribution to the growth of the economy.



Speaking at the birthday party of the CEO of Despite Media, Mr. Agyapong, appreciated Dr. Despite noting that



I would like to appreciate Osei Kwame Despite and his brother Ofori Sarpong for their immense contribution towards the economy. They are amongst the few Ghanaians who have opened businesses across the country and are employing the youth.



He further admonished that Dont envy a brother when he is rich. Rather, go close to the person and ask how he did it so that you can imitate them. Appreciate a brother who has made it in life.



Lets not only appreciate foreigners who have opened businesses in the country but also, lets appreciate our own. Note that while you appreciated your own, you pave way for your success too, he added.



Watch the full video below:



Source: Eugene Osafo-Nkansah/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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Onua TV/FMs morning show host Blessed Godsbrain Smart, popularly known as Captain Smart, is nowhere to be found barely 12 hours after he was taken into National Security security.



The Maakye host was detained by the state security apparatus shortly after an Accra Circuit Court granted him bail on Wednesday, February 2.



He had pleaded not guilty to two respective counts of charges of extortion and abetment to extortion.



But, according to the National Security, there was order from above to bring Captain Smart and one other to the secretariat.



He was then caged for the night despite reportedly meeting the bail conditions.



When top management of Media General, the mother company of Onua FM and Onua TV, visited the secretariat to visit the radio host, he was nowhere to be found.



Enquiries directed the team including Group Chief Executive Officer Beatrice Agyemang to the Ministries Police Station, where they were told he was not in the records to have been there.



It has now become a matter of worry to all, particularly staff of Media General, as to where Captain Smart is.















Source: 3news.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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Saddle Lake First Nation Chief Eric Large checks his video camera as the Queen attends a traditional and cultural demonstration in Yellowknife on Aug. 21, 1994. The Queen, accompanied by territorial leader Nellie Cournoyea, left, and Prince Philip, is on the final leg of a 10-day Canadian visit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola which includes of Kelowna (specific boundaries), West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Keremeos, Olalla, Princeton, Merritt and Logan Lake. To contact the writer: 1-800-665-8711 or visit: DanAlbas.com
ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- African Union (AU) Youth Envoy Chido Cleopatra Mpemba on Friday called for broad youth participation in Africa ahead of the upcoming African leaders summit.

"Attending and participating at the 35th AU Summit is special because it presents me with an opportunity to engage with all the Head of States from across the African continent" to present the mandate of my fellow peers, Mpemba said ahead of making her debut at the AU Summit.

She said that one key focus will be to further amplify youth voices in decision-making processes at the highest level.

"This will help better engineer a youth-led agenda of building a prosperous Africa together. Young people have to be represented at all levels to drive inter-generational co-leadership, and in building a continent that does not leave anyone behind," she said. 
A statue of Terry Fox is defaced with an upside down Canadian flag and a protest sign as demonstrators participating in a cross-country truck convoy protest measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 by gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. A British Columbia mayor says the defacing of a statue has ignited disbelief among residents in the national hero's hometown, and he's calling on them to channel their frustration into doing something positive. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Logansport, IN (46947)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 64F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 52F. E winds at less than 5 mph, increasing to 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Michael Coard, Esq. can be followed on Twitter, Instagram, and his YouTube channel as well as at AvengingTheAncestors.com. His Radio Courtroom show can be heard on WURD 96.1 FM or 900 AM. And his TV Courtroom show can be seen on PhillyCAM/Verizon Fios/Comcast. The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Philadelphia Tribune.
Vermillion, SD (57069)

Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 47F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain ending overnight. Low 36F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has said that more than 18.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas were exported through the Southern Gas Corridor to consumers in Georgia, Turkey and Europe in 2021, as well as in January of this year.

He set the phrase during the plenary sessions held within the 8th ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, held in Baku on February 4.

"During this time, only European countries have been provided with approximately 8.9 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani natural gas under long-term contracts, as well as short-term spot operations," he said.

Noting that the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council has successfully fulfilled its mission to supply natural gas to Europe through a huge corridor from a new source, the minister added that this corridor is a unique element of a sustainable energy supply.

He added that while the world's energy crisis is raging, the role of European consumers in energy supply has confirmed that the Southern Gas Corridor serves energy safety.

Shahbazov stated that the corridor could expand its strategic importance in ensuring energy safety with the help of interconnectors between European countries to the Western Balkans and other parts of the continent.

The minister also mentioned that to this end, it becomes relevant to start a new stage of activity, which includes such processes as signing contacts with consumers, attracting investments and increasing gas production, as well as building interconnectors.

"We are ready to cooperate with the European Commission and countries wishing to purchase additional volumes of gas or import and export gas, as well as contribute to the development of the Southern Gas Corridor," he said.

Azerbaijan's contribution to SGC

EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi stated that ensuring energy safety will remain a priority during the energy transition.

"Therefore, strategic partnership with Azerbaijan is important. I thank Azerbaijan not only for being an important reliable partner but also for its active role in energy safety," he said.

At the same time, Senior Advisor for Global Energy Security of the U.S. Department of State Amos Hochstein noted that the United States has appreciated Azerbaijan's significant contributions to European energy diversification through the Southern Gas Corridor.

"We are very glad that the Southern Gas Corridor has been implemented on time. Today, the importance of this corridor is better understood. This is an important project not only for reliable gas supply in Europe but also for the development of the gas market. We are pleased to support this project," he said.

Importance of Southern Gas Corridor

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez said that the realization of the Southern Gas Corridor and the transportation of commercial gas to Europe are important steps.

He added that in order to increase the volume of gas to be transported through the corridor, there is a need for additional resources and additional resource countries.

"From this point of view, we are ready to further develop our cooperation with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan for the welfare of our region," he said.

Minister of State for Europe and the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, MP Chris Heaton-Harris emphasized that this corridor is stable and reliable supplies for Georgia, Turkey and partners across Europe.

"Companies and countries, like Azerbaijan, who have been hydrocarbon superpowers, are amongst the best placed to be in the energy superpowers of the net zero age," the official said.

Undersecretary of Ministry of Ecological Transition of Italy Vannia Gava noted that natural gas is an irreplaceable resource for the energy transition.

"The price fluctuations that in recent months have seriously challenged the economies of many EU countries, starting with Italy, have highlighted the strategic importance of infrastructures such as the Southern Gas Corridor," she said.

Vannia Gava added that thanks to the coordination between the countries involved in the corridor, it is possible to balance the needs of all parties and guarantee Europe's energy security, which is absolutely an essential objective.
DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) on Saturday marked its 45th anniversary with its chairperson, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, highlighting achievements made by the party.

Addressing the east African nation from Mara region, President Hassan said Tanzania has made impressive socio-economic, political and cultural achievements under the leadership of the CCM.

"Let us continue overseeing our party principles in order to fulfil expectations of Tanzanians," President Hassan told her audience.

She said following two decades of sustained growth, Tanzania reached an important milestone in July 2020, when it formally graduated to lower-middle-income country status.

Under the guidance of the ruling party, Tanzania has also been able to supply clean and safe water to its citizens by 75 percent, said the head of state.

President Hassan said notable gains have also been made in education and health services. 
PokerNews Podcast: Insanely High Rake, Flipped Over Table & Guest Jesse Lonis

February 04, 2022 Chad Holloway Executive Editor U.S.

In the latest PokerNews Podcast, Sarah Herring and Chad Holloway welcome guest Jesse Lonis to the show to talk about his career-year in 2021. He's one of the breakout stars of poker and is primed to continue his ascent by entering the high roller scene. Learn how the 26-year-old went from cash games to playing and crushing some of the biggest poker tournaments in the world.

They then talk about the insanely high rake at Encore Boston Harbor, a player flipping over a poker table at an event in Japan, and give you an update on the case regarding the murder of poker player Susie Zhao. Toss in winners from the bestbet Jacksonville Winter Open, MSPT Bally's Black Hawk, and WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Tunica and you'll hear everything you need to know about what's been happening in the poker world.

Time Stamps

Tell us who you want to hear from. Let us know what you think of the show  tweet about the podcast using #PNPod, and be sure to follow Sarah Herring and Chad Holloway on Twitter.

Subscribe to the PokerNews Podcast on Apple Podcasts here!

Check Out Past Episodes of the PN Podcast Here!

Sharelines PokerNews Podcast: Guest @JesseLonis joins the show to talk about coming off a career year in 2021.
Day 1a action in the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Jamul Casino Main Event has wrapped up after 12 levels of play with Shane Truesdale in the chip lead after bagging a stack of 282,500. Truesdale leads 30 players who will return to compete on Day 2 for a chance to take down the Main Event.

Play on Day 1a lasted for six hours and saw a field of 152 entrants in a tournament with three starting flights that will almost certainly surpass the guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.

Other big stacks at the end of Day 1a include Rafi Azam (275,500), Michael Rosado (232,000) and Bryant Smith (144,500).

Assorted Stacks at End of Day 1a

Shane Truesdale 282,500 Rafi Azam 275,500 Michael Rosado 232,000 Bryant Smith 144,500 Scott Subak 107,500 Richard Alsup 104,000 Kyna England 97,500 Joe Stapleton 95,500

Also among the 30 remaining players is RunGood ambassador Joe Stapleton is among those who survived the six hours of play on Day 1a. The popular poker commentator bagged a stack of 95,500 and will look to run it up when he returns on Sunday for Day 2. Kyna England, who had a breakout year in 2021, is also among those in the field.

Fellow RunGood ambassadors Jamie Kerstetter, Boston Rob Mariano, and Kris Burchfield played in the first starting flight but didnt make it to the end of the day.

PokerNews very own Chad Holloway, who won a satellite into the Main Event on ClubGG, was also in the Day 1a field. Unfortunately, Holloway couldnt run his stack up and was eliminated as the day wrapped up.

Day 1b will commence at noon on Saturday, Feb. 5, while the third and final starting flight will kick off later that evening at 7pm. The remaining players from each flight will return on Sunday, Feb. 6 for a chance at taking the tournament down.

The eventual winner of the RGPS Jamul Casino Main Event will earn the lions share of the prize pool, as well as an exclusive invitation and $800 seat and stipend package to the RGPS: All Stars Pro-am Event at PokerGo Studios in December 2022.

That wraps up coverage of Day 1a, but the PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to bring you more updates.
The Aiken County Sheriffs Office has called in the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to investigate an officer-involved shooting in Graniteville on Thursday night.

Around 11:22 p.m. Thursday night, a white pickup truck was stopped by deputies at Abear Street near Main Street in Graniteville.

Deputies approached the driver of the pickup truck, but he sped away from the stop, according to a release from the Aiken County Sheriff's Office .

Deputies pursued the pickup truck, and the driver stopped on Trolley Line Road near Morningside Drive. The driver got out of the truck, armed with a shotgun, and attempted to carjack a passing motorist.

"When confronted by deputies, the suspect pointed his weapon at the deputies at which point they fired at the suspect," according to the release. "The suspect ran away after deputies fired towards him."

The suspect was later found by the Aiken Bloodhound Tracking Team hiding in a shed in the 3000 block of Seneca Avenue, injured from an apparent gunshot wound to his upper left chest.

The suspect has been identified as Cameron Duncan.

Duncan was treated at an Augusta hospital and released, he is being held in jail in Augusta, Georgia, the State Law Enforcement Division said in a statement.

The two officers involved in the shooting have been identified as Deputy Justin Rutland and Deputy Tillman Ruston.

Rutland has been employed with the Aiken County Sheriffs Office since November 2012 and Rushton has been employed with the Sheriffs Office since March 2015.

No one else was injured.

It wasnt known if Duncan had a lawyer.

SLED is investigating the shooting.

Breaking news. This story will be updated as new information becomes available. (Last Updated: 2:30 p.m.)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A front-runner to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is no stranger to the nuclear sector, having in the recent past juggled complex cases involving the Department of Energy, its Savannah River Site and the myriad contractors there.

U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs, who House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn has championed for the seat, years ago presided over a lawsuit brought by South Carolina to avert a shutdown of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and, more recently, handled a vaccine mandate case filed by Savannah River Site workers at risk of losing their jobs.

Childs in 2018 shielded MOX construction, after the federal government dropped the ax on the bloated project, and late last year refused to block a COVID-19 vaccination requirement instated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the longtime Savannah River Site management team.

The former was later nullified by a higher court  a death knell for the nuclear fuel project, which cost taxpayers $1.2 million a day to keep on life support. The Supreme Court in 2019 further rejected a plea from South Carolina to hear its plutonium case. It did not comment as to why.

The latter  vaccination  is still the subject of litigation, now in the hands of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs in that case, Childs explained in December, failed to persuade her to take extraordinary action: issuing a preliminary injunction, tantamount to serious judicial intervention.

Clyburn, an authoritative South Carolina Democrat, promoted Childss nomination almost immediately after Breyers retirement became public. (Breyer, a senior on the high courts liberal wing, will step down later this year; his departure  and replacement  will not change the courts conservative tilt, installed by former President Donald Trump.)

Childs also has the support of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has described the federal judge as gifted and fair-minded.

Shes one of the most decent people Ive ever met, Graham, a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said last month on Face the Nation, a news program. He added: Shes highly qualified. Shes of good character. And well see how she does if shes nominated.

Sen. Tim Scott, another South Carolina Republican, has also praised Childs.

Graham on Tuesday tweeted a photo of himself, Scott and Clyburn at a table: Very proud of who we are in South Carolina, he wrote. Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places!

President Joe Biden promised to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, in line with suggestions made by Clyburn, who electrified his 2020 presidential bid. Bidens commitment, however, has proven inflammatory in some political circles. Texas Republican Ted Cruz, for example, said the president's vow is offensive and an insult to Black women, according to the Washington Post.

The White House has confirmed Childs is being considered. Biden has said he would name a successor by the end of February.
Spiritual health and  more recently  cardiovascular health have been major focal points for Phil Lockard over the course of his 90 years.

Longtime members of Millbrook Baptist, South Aiken Presbyterian and First Presbyterian Church of Aiken may know the Arkansas native for his years of guidance in Christian education as well as in managing church business.

"I was a certified director of Christian education for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Served in that position for 30 years, until I retired in 1995," he recalled.

"I directed the educational ministry of a church from birth to death. Now they have youth workers and youth educators and children educators, but I was the whole gamut in a local church, directing the Sunday school and the youth activities and training activities and all the church's educational ministry."

His Millbrook connection included being the church's business administrator from 1995 to 2000, and by the end of that period, heart health had become a major concern and surgery was looming large.

"I had to retire from that position and go have my heart repaired," he said.

The issue was "mitral valve regurgitation, which means the ... mitral valve does not close completely," he recalled. "Therefore, part of the blood goes back into the body rather than to the lungs to be oxygenated, and so they did a procedure which they repaired it by putting a band around my mitral valve, kind of like an elastic band, and the leaflets closed better, but they didn't ... completely close."

Leakage has continued, but 20-plus years later, Lockard is vigorous, getting around without a cane and having no aches and pains  a major asset as he and wife Emily look to keep up with a family that includes two adult sons and one adult daughter.

Lockard does not take his excellent health for granted.

"I credit that to the fact for 17 years I went to the USC Aiken Wellness Center. They have an exercise program, and the first several months, I was there as a heart patient to recuperate from my heart surgery, so the doctors recommended that I take exercise ... Then, after those 12 weeks were over, I just went on for year after year and did that."

He became a charter member of Aiken's chapter of Mended Hearts, an organization aiming "to inspire hope and improve the quality of life of heart patients and their families through ongoing peer-to-peer support, education, and advocacy."

Mended Hearts, in the big picture, includes about 72,000 members spread among 20 countries and 250 chapters and groups, Lockard said.

The organization's activities, however, have taken a heavy beating locally in the past couple of years, due to COVID-19 concerns and heavy restrictions against hospital visitation, meaning that local Mended Hearts boosters have been unable to meet face-to-face with heart patients to offer encouragement and share stories of high and low moments.

"Our main purpose was to visit patients and encourage them, support them if they have heart issues, and their families." He confirmed that "we were all a bunch of retirees, and we got tired; and then the hospital told us we couldn't visit, due to COVID, and we're still in that mode."

Lockard and his wife tied the knot in April of 1964, and remain regulars at South Aiken Presbyterian, where church member Paul Ebel opted for "energetic" and "dedicated to the church" when asked to describe the man of the house.

"He and Emily have just been vital to our church's work, and they're there every Sunday. He's been ill recently, but whenever he's feeling good enough, he'll be there, and it's just wonderful to see him."

He added," Everybody in the church knows ... Phil and Emily, and whenever I drive by the church, I look over there and I see his SUV with the little American flag sticking up in the windows, and I know that's his car and ... he's there all the time, just doing things  painting and picking up stuff  and he's just a wonderful guy in the church."

Ebel's wife, the Rev. Martha Ebel, with First Presbyterian Church of Aiken, confirmed knowing the Lockards largely through their service at Aiken Regional Medical Centers, where Martha was a volunteer chaplain.

"Phil and Emily were very active talking to people that had had heart conditions or heart surgery," she recalled. She noted that Emily, in particular, is excellent in helping church members stay in touch. "It's .. as if suddenly you have had a heart attack, or your sister-in-law in Texas has had brain surgery, the person you'll call to get the word out is Emily. Emily goes online and tells us all what's going on in the church," she said.

The family's background also includes contact with one of the most prominent businessmen in American history: Sam Walton, who made a fortune as the founder of Walmart and Sam's Club, and spent plenty of time in the northeastern Arkansas town of Newport, where Phil Lockard first saw the light of day.

"Sam Walton was an elder in my home church, and he had his first store in Newport, Arkansas  a Ben Franklin," he said. "He went to Bentonville and started his mass-marketing program. There's a window on the corner of where his store was, with a picture and whole bunch of information in there about Sam Walton. He was a very generous, giving man and developed a marketing strategy that has really taken off."

Over the course of decades, Lockard's favorite pursuits have included woodworking and (less recently) fishing, and he was also instrumental in the establishment of the Greater Aiken Estates Neighborhood Association. He was the founder and first president (2006-10).

His family's legacy in Aiken Estates includes some greenery with annual flashes of pink, a few yards from Whiskey Road, in the form of a camellia bush "planted in honor of Phil and Emily Lockard for their dedication and devotion to the Greater Aiken Estates Neighborhood Association."

His routine no longer includes visits to the USCA Wellness Center, due to COVID-19 concerns, but weightlifting and stretching are part of his weekly routine, as he emphasized starting a couple of decades ago.

"While there, we would have a 30-minute stretching session, and we would work every joint in our body, from the fingertips to rotating my feet to raising my legs to rolling my arms. We'd work every joint in our body, which I think contributed to limber joints now. We would just do everything with them ... They offered a good rehab program there, and I guess they still offer it."

Lockard's background also includes involvement with Aiken County Habitat for Humanity (as a founding board member and the second president), the Aiken Council of Neighborhoods (as a co-founder, with the late Bill Gassman) and the boards of the Aiken-Barnwell Mental Health Center and Area Churches Together Serving.

The local situation involving homelessness, he said, pricks his conscience.

"We don't seem to be making progress in getting homeless people off the streets in cold weather, and that's a concern of mine right now, especially, I hate to see our veterans treated poorly, and many of them homeless. I never served, nor did any of my family ever have the opportunity to serve, but I really feel for those that are homeless."

Lockard's appreciation of good medical care predates his Mended Hearts experience by a few decades. He and his then-future wife met in Texarkana, Texas, in 1962, attending a church function in connection with his role in Christian education involving seven congregations. At the time, he was a recent graduate of Lyon College (known then as Arkansas College, in the city of Batesville), and she was a bookkeeper at Wadley Hospital, in Texarkana.

They were engaged in 1963, and on the first day of 1964, Lockard sustained a broken jaw, fractured ribs and other injuries in a car wreck that landed him in hospital care for three months, due to a nasty encounter with black ice on a road in Appomattox, Virginia. At the time, he was pursuing a master's degree in Christian education at Presbyterian School of Christian Education, in Richmond, Virginia.

"I give my lord and savior credit for bringing me through the recuperation," he said, adding that he is also grateful for divine guidance in 2000 as he underwent heart surgery and bounced back successfully.

As for Mended Hearts, Lockard said he doesn't know if or when the local organization (Chapter 294) will get back on its feet. Mel Sires, one of Lockard's longtime Mended Hearts associates, noted that the local hospital visitation outreach began Sept. 1, 2001 and ran through the end of February 2020, when the pandemic was making national headlines in the U.S.

During that period, Mended Hearts representatives visited 26,247 individual Aiken Regional Medical Centers patients and made 5,705 family visits. The total number of patient visits, Sires said, was 47,839.

Lockard "was involved in all of that," Sires noted. "He was always very dedicated and very committed."

Lockard pointed out that Aiken's Mended Hearts chapter, at one point, had more than 100 members, with 50 certified visitors in the mix. Certification came via hours of training at Aiken Regional Medical Centers and also through Mended Hearts' national office, all focused on "the proper etiquette for visiting  the dos and don'ts of visiting a patient."
Youre seeing The Post and Courier's weekly real estate newsletter. Receive all the latest transactions and top development, building, and home and commercial sales news to your inbox each Saturday here.

Hot housing market translated to record sales for Charleston real estate firms in '21

Homes sold faster than they were listed last year, and many Charleston-area residential real estate firms ended the year with record sales.

Among them were Kiawah Island Real Estate with more than $1 billion in property transactions last year and William Means Real Estate with $420 million in sales. William Means also handled the recent sale for the seller of Hoopstick Island on Johns Island for $7.5 million.

Another Lowcountry residential real estate firm also racked up record property sales in 2021.

The Cassina Group reported $586 million on 619 transactions last year. The sales volume represents a 52 percent increase over 2020, which also was a record year for the boutique firm.

More than 25 percent of the company's transactions were at least $1 million, with high-dollar sales scattered across the Lowcountry and especially close to the coast.

Owen Tyler, managing broker and partner in The Cassina Group, called home-buying one of many people's "biggest financial decisions" in "this competitvie real estate market" and urged prospective buyers to enlist the aid of a knowledgeable agent.

Among the firms more notable sales were:

147 Flyway Drive, Kiawah Island, $11.65 million;

2411 Atlantic Ave., Sullivan's Island, $6.85 million;

2508 Atlantic Ave., Sullivan's Island,$4.713 million;

4001 Palm Bvld., Isle of Palms, $4.25 million;

106 Charleston Blvd., Isle Palms, $4.35 million;

212 Wandolea Drive, Mount Pleasant, $4.95 million;

734 Pitt St., Mount Pleasant, $4.2 million.

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Several emblematic and historic structures were among the winners of the Preservation Society of Charleston's 68th Carolopolis Awards, the local honors which celebrate preservation in Charleston and the Lowcountry.

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By the numbers

3.9: Millions of dollars paid by a Charleston investment firm for three properties on Red Bank Road in Goose Creek.

17.9: Millions of dollars paid by a Utah firm for a newly built 677-unit storage facility in West Ashley.

68.5: Millions of dollars paid for three apartment complexes in North Charleston.

This week in real estate

+ Mounting frustration: Charleston County Council urges state lawmakers to act on register of deed qualifications as document recordings continue to face long delays in Charleston County.

+ Boom & Balance: A new traffic light is coming to a busy intersection in Nexton, where three people were killed in 2020 and two new grocery stores are planned in the growing mixed-use development in the Charleston area.

+ Lights out: Pizza restaurant Monza closed on King Street Feb. 1 after a 13-year run.

+ Crucial connection: A missing link in Mount Pleasant's road system could be added to help with traffic congestion in the state's fourth largest city, with construction possibly beginning next year on the 1.3-mile section in the Hungryneck Corridor.

+ Aloha Charleston: Local franchisees plans to open L&L Hawaiian Barbecue with its "plate lunches" in Centre Pointe near Tanger Outlets in North Charleston.

The proposed Marketplace at Carnes Crossroads will include a 54,000-square-foot supermarket, several unattached retail and restaurant locations, a small lake on the corner of U.S. Highways 17A and 176 as well as six outparcels (left, not shown) on 10 acres for other tenants. Worthen Development/NAI Charleston/Provided

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Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday expressed concern over security situation in the African continent.

Addressing the 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, Mahamat said that "the security situation of the continent today is deeply marked by terrorism and the dangerous resurgence of unconstitutional changes of governments."

Chairperson of the pan-African bloc said terrorism and violent extremism was Africa's security challenge last year with international terror links are embedded in east, west, and southern Africa.

"The security situation on the continent now calls for a real new approach which should question our peace and security architecture and its correlation with the new destabilizing factors in Africa," Mahamat said.

The chairperson further said financing the continent's development through an energetic fight against illicit capital flows and establishment of African financial institutions remain a greater challenge to Africa. 
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
GOOSE CREEK  A Mount Pleasant dentist and her religious leader were found dead this week in an apartment filled with anti-government and religious literature.

Goose Creek Police Chief LJ Roscoe said Judy Villanyi, owner of Life Smiles Dentistry, and James Button were found dead the morning of Feb. 2 after hanging themselves in a Goose Creek apartment in apparent suicides.

Mental health resources People struggling with mental health issues can reach out to the following services for support: SC Mobile Crisis: 833-364-2274

Crisis Text line: text HOPE4SC to 741741

Suicide prevention hotline: 800-273-8255

Villanyi was informed last month that she was the target of a federal investigation into tax fraud, Roscoe said, and federal investigators hoped to turn the 52-year-old dentist into a state witness against Button.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Shoemake said Feb. 5 he could not comment on the investigation.

Goose Creek police's investigation into the deaths revealed that Button, 63, had served as a religious leader to Villanyi dating back to when they first met in the mid-2000s, according to Roscoe.

Other adherents of Button's religion may have fallen away, Roscoe said, but Villanyi remained under his sway, regularly providing money to Button through the "Church of Charleston."

Investigators believe that Villanyi and Button were also adherents of the Sovereign Citizen Movement, an extremist group identified by the FBI as a domestic terror threat.

"It's very bizarre," Roscoe said.

Police first learned of the deaths after the Summerville Police Department received a typed letter from Villanyi that said her body could be found at the apartment.

The residence has a Summerville address but falls under Goose Creek police's jurisdiction, Roscoe said.

Goose Creek police arrived at the apartment shortly before 10:30 a.m. Feb. 2. Management confirmed Villanyi was on the lease and allowed officers entry.

Police found the bodies of Button and Villanyi inside the apartment. They also found anti-government literature and "cult-type" handbooks in the home, including religious by-laws, Roscoe said.

Roscoe, who retired from law enforcement in the Atlanta area after an almost 30-year career, said she was familiar with the Sovereign Citizen Movement, but adherents are not known for being particularly religious.

Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that they are separate, or "sovereign," from the United States, and therefore do not have to answer to any government authority, according to the FBI.

Followers believe that the government has pledged its citizens as collateral to foreign investors, essentially enslaving all Americans, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization that tracks extremist groups.

Some adherents believe that, through various financial schemes, many of them fraudulent, citizens can discharge their debts or tap into vast wealth secretly held by the government in their name.

Villanyi was previously found guilty in U.S. District Court of South Carolina of bank fraud for orchestrating such a scheme.

Federal authorities said the dentist wrote a bad check for $140,000 in 2012 to satisfy a mortgage with Bank of America. On the check, she wrote: Not for deposit, EFT only, and For discharge of debt, according to court records.

Villanyi also allegedly filed "false and frivolous" tax returns for several years beginning in 2010, claiming she was entitled to millions of dollars in tax refunds, despite earning over $200,000 a year from her dental practice.

Villanyi pleaded guilty in August 2017 to obstructing the tax code and was sentenced to five months in prison, court records state. She was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and almost $56,000 in restitution.

A Columbia couple was convicted in 2015 of perpetrating a similar bank fraud scheme involving bad checks.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release about that case that sovereign citizen groups falsely teach that if a creditor accepts an instrument with "EFT only for discharge of debt" written on it, the debt is discharged, regardless of whether money changes hands.

In a sentencing motion, Villanyi's defense attorney asked for leniency, arguing that his client was repentant and had renounced her "misguided tax protester beliefs."

But Roscoe said the IRS agent who investigated the case told her that Villanyi continued to email with Button in prison.

From the communications, the agent told Roscoe it was "very clear the strong hold he had over her," according to the police chief.

Roscoe said investigators learned from talking to Button's children that he was a former minister who was drawn into the Sovereign Citizen Movement while working as a day trader.

Villanyi's mother told investigators that Button may have had as many as seven or eight followers many years ago, but they do not know if anyone besides Villanyi followed his religious teachings at the time of his death.

"Did it just kind of fizzle?" Roscoe said. "We don't know."

Investigators learned that Villanyi was providing money to Button through the "Church of Charleston," which seemed to exist only as a P.O. Box, Roscoe said.

Roscoe said Life Smiles Dentistry employed a CPA that handled the business' taxes.

The CPA has a copy of Villanyi's will, Roscoe said, which bestowed her business to her dental hygienist, Roscoe said.

Villanyi obtained her general dentistry license in 1994, according to state records.
After the disastrous conclusion of efforts to triple South Carolina's nuclear energy capacity at the V.C. Summer plant north of Columbia, our state's utilities and lawmakers got religion on solar energy.

Although its still a tiny part of our overall energy mix, Dominion, Duke and Santee Cooper are investing in solar farms, and its easier than ever for homeowners and businesses to install solar panels on their roofs.

But even as alternative energy became a bipartisan priority in South Carolina and the move away from carbon-based electricity quickened worldwide, its been difficult to find anyone here who wants to have a serious conversation about the other big clean energy alternative.

Thats more than a bit odd given that South Carolina is home to the nations largest wind-turbine testing facility, the only high-voltage undersea cable manufacturer in North America and a not-insubstantial portion of the Atlantic Coast off which the Biden administration hopes to nurture a wind-energy powerhouse.

And it could be changing. On Wednesday, with no fanfare and practically no notice, the S.C. House overwhelmingly approved legislation that could put wind energy front and center in our state's energy conversation. Although the sponsors' motivation is environmental, the focus is economic  a combination that makes it attractive across most of the political spectrum.

H.4831 directs the S.C. Commerce Department to conduct an economic development study to evaluate the impact the offshore wind-energy industry has and could have on South Carolina, and to identify actionable next steps to develop a wind-energy supply chain cluster, much the way we have developed auto and aeronautics clusters.

Rep. Jason Elliott, the Greenville Republican who introduced the legislation along with 17 co-sponsors, told us that although wind turbines off the S.C. coast might or might not work, our location, our port and our manufacturing infrastructure position us to attract a big piece of the industrys growth  assuming were prepared to capitalize on it.

If we dont take advantage of this generational opportunity to get on the ground floor of the supply chain for an industry, were going to miss out, he said. Theres such a huge cost for the infrastructure that if it plops down at Norfolk or Boston or anywhere on the East Coast, its going to stay there.

The Conservation Voters of South Carolinas Rebecca Haynes said that while environmental groups helped Rep. Elliott develop the legislation, it was his idea, and it was embraced by the Houses Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee after hearing from energy industry representatives, including officials from the French manufacturer Nexans, which is investing $80 million to expand its Goose Creek campus to manufacture underwater cable to carry power from the turbines to shore.

Although the topic doesnt feel as urgent as it did immediately after the V.C. Summer collapse, what happened in the House Wednesday shows theres still an appetite for clean energy solutions, in both parties, Ms. Haynes told us, noting that legislation similar to Rep. Elliotts has been a catalyst for getting the conversation going again in other states.

The only pushback during Wednesdays debate came from lawmakers who didnt think taxpayers should pick up the tab for what could be seen as a market-development study, which normally would be conducted by private industry. But Rep. Jay West suggested the bill was marching orders as much as study, arguing that the problem is the Department of Commerce does not engage in developing emerging markets; they engage in recruiting those industries.

That might be an overstatement, but shifting that focus isn't a bad idea, and this might be the perfect place to try it. We hope senators will approve the legislation or else come up with a better way to reengage South Carolina on the other clean energy alternative. Theres no single energy source thats going to be able to take the place of fossil fuels, so we cant afford to restrict our focus to solar.
With a lengthy deer season that stretches from the middle of August until the New Year rolls around, hunting squirrels is an often overlooked opportunity for South Carolina hunters.

It also can be far more challenging than you might think. You can't just go traipsing through the woods with a shotgun or .22 rifle and expect to bag a limit. It requires stealth and cunning to get within range.

Squirrel season opens Oct. 1 in the Palmetto State and continues until March 1 with a daily bag limit of 10, so there are only a few more weeks to sharpen your skills.

"You can probably kill more squirrels in October and November when they're trying to fatten up for the winter. They're storing nuts in the ground and they're a lot more active. But most deer hunters don't want to wander around the woods for squirrels during deer season," said Scott Hammond, an accomplished deer hunter from Cottageville who enjoys continuing his time in the woods after deer season ends.

"January and February are when I like to squirrel hunt. It's a great time to get out in the woods and you learn a lot. You get to see all the deer trails that were in the thickets that you couldn't see during deer season. The leaves are off the trees, so you can see a lot more. Every now and then you luck up and find a nice (deer) antler shed. And squirrels are a worthy adversary. They're a lot more challenging than most people give them credit for."

Some squirrel hunters prefer to use shotguns, but Hammond said he uses a .22 rifle. For many years Hammond hunted with a .22 rifle that belonged to his grandfather, a sentimental choice that he retired after his girlfriend gifted him a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 long rifle equipped with a Leupold scope.

"I squirrel hunt in my usual deer hunting areas. You should be looking for a hardwood area where acorns fall. Squirrels will bury those acorns in the ground to store up for winter," Hammond said. "Typically I do better in thicker woods rather than wide-open spots. If you have some oak trees that have some pretty thick cover around, that's where I tend to do best. I try to do most of my squirrel hunting by slipping and walking through the woods. If you think you're going slow enough, go a little bit slower."

He said he usually walks 25 or 30 yards and then stops, looks and listens. He said he often will stand in one spot for 15 minutes to find a squirrel.

"If you can time your hunt when it's right after a rain, the squirrels are very active, or as was the case recently, there were snow flurries all morning long. That makes the woods a lot quieter to slip through without them hearing you," Hammond said.

He said at times, when he sees a squirrel out of range, he will hunker down and make his profile smaller to stalk his quarry.

"You don't have to get down on all fours, but you make your profile more like a deer or hog, something that's natural in the woods, versus just walking right up to them. I find I can get a lot closer that way," he said.

"Squirrel hunting this time of year is a good way to learn your property. You're not worrying about spooking any of your deer and you can just see everything."

Swamp Fox NWTF banquet

The Swamp Fox Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will hold its 38th annual fund-raising banquet and outdoors exhibit on March 5 in the Exhibitors' Building at the Exchange Park, located on Highway 78 in Ladson. Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner starting at 6:15 p.m. Tickets are limited and being pre-sold. Contact Contact Wayne Grace Jr. at 843-834-7779 or Karen Whaley at 843-870-3480 or email swampfoxnwtf@gmail.com.

Charleston Inshore Anglers

The Charleston Inshore Anglers' 29th annual "Big Ed" Sheepshead Tournament will be fished April 30. The captain's meeting begins at 5:30 pm. April 28 at American Legion Post 147, located at 968 Folly Road. The weigh-in also will take place at Post 147 from 4-5 p.m. April 30. The entry fee for the tournament is $40. Contact Kevin Mischke at 843-324-1006; Nick Kvestad at 843-557-2811 or Gene Broderick at 843-224-6826.

Quail Forever fund-raisers

The Mount Pleasant Chapter of Quail Forever is raising funds for the Build a Wildlife Area program during the Willie McRae Wildlife Benefit that will be held from 5-10 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant and Call of the Uplands that will be held from 6-10 p.m. Feb. 19 at Charleston Yacht Club. Visit scquailforever.org or email taskins@hotmail.com.

America's Boating Club

America's Boating Club Charleston will hold boating safety classes Feb. 12 and March 12 at 1376 Orange Grove Road, Charleston. Classes begin at 9 a.m. and end around 4 p.m. Successful participants earn the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Boater Education card. The cost is $25 for adults and youth 12-18 are free. Call 843-312-2876 or email lynes@tds.net.

SALTT Fishing Seminars

The Student Angler League Tournament Trail (salttfishing.com) holds monthly fishing seminars on the second Tuesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. at Harvest Church, located at 3552 Old Kings Highway, Murrells Inlet. Speakers include charter boat captains and local fishing experts.

SALTT also will hold a bass fishing seminar from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at J&K Outdoors, located at 1301 Highway 501 East Street in Conway. The seminar is limited to 50 participants and pre-registration is encouraged. Tickets are $11 and every student angler gets a $10 store coupon. Reservations can be made at salttfishing.com.

SALTT is a training ground for students in grades 1-12 interested in competitive fishing for redfish or largemouth bass. Three fall and three spring tournaments are scheduled out of Georgetown's Carroll Campbell Boat Landing. SALTT also puts on the annual Brody Bates Youth Redfish Open Scholarship Tournament which will be held April 2 this year out of Buck Hall Landing in McClellanville.
This striking report is from the London Times:

Families will experience the biggest fall in living standards since records began, the Bank of England revealed today, as energy bills were confirmed to rise by 700 per household. In a bleak assessment of the year ahead, the Banks monetary policy committee warned that take-home pay would fall by five times the amount it did during financial crisis of 2008.

This seems newsworthy: the biggest fall in living standards since records began although, to be fair, the records in question only go back to 1990and take-home pay declining by five times the amount it did during the financial crisis of 2008. So, what is causing this severe hit to the well-being of English families? Unreliablei.e., greenenergy.

It came after Ofgem, the energy regulator, confirmed this morning that the price cap on energy bills for 22 million households would rise by 693 from April to 1,971 a year. A total of 4.5 million households with prepayment meters will see their bills rise by 708 to 2,017.

The British government is planning to spread out the impending jump in energy prices over a period of years to cushion the blow:

Announcing a 9 billion package of loans and council tax rebates to help, the chancellor acknowledged that cost of living was the No 1 issue on peoples minds and that rising bills would be incredibly tough for millions of families. However, he said that the government cannot keep energy bills artificially low in the face of soaring wholesale gas prices, adding that to do otherwise would be dishonest. He instead announced plans which will cushion the majority of households from half of the rise in energy bills. Every household will receive a 200 rebate funded by 5.5 billion in government loans, which will be clawed back from households in the form of a 40 surcharge for each of the next five years.

There is no shortage of energy in the world, but there is an excess of graft: green energy is impoverishing those whose governments have been so foolish as to abandon cheap, reliable energy. Unfortunately, our own government is following the corrupt green path. A few are getting rich, and the rest of us will pay the price.
Josh Hammer has a column for Jewish World Review called The limits of appeals to cancel culture. Hammer seems bothered that David French lamented Goldbergs suspension on cancel culture grounds. Having also objected to the suspension, I want to address Hammers column.

Hammer argues that there are certain things that should be canceled. This is true, of course. Some speech is not protected by the First Amendment  Hammer cites shouting fire in a crowded theater as an example. Furthermore, entities like employers and media outlets should not be required to tolerate all constitutionally protected speech.

What about the speech that led to Goldbergs suspension? It was an erroneous claim that the Holocaust wasnt about race.

Actually, the Holocaust was precisely about race in the minds of those who planned and implemented it. Its true, however, that to an American who doesnt understand the relevant history, the Holocaust wouldnt seem to have been about race because in America we dont consider Jews a race separate from Whites.

Thus, Goldberg spoke from ignorance, not malice or racism. And she in no way defended the Holocaust or denied that it happened.

Is Goldbergs mistaken assertion an example of speech that should be punished? Even if not, is there something wrong with lamenting her suspension?

Hammer doesnt present any argument on the first question. As to the second, he says: Resources are scarce. . .and there are only so many battles that anyone can, or should, choose to fight at any one time. But a tweet or a blogpost objecting to ABCs treatment of Goldberg does not deplete our resources to fight other, more urgent battles.

Hammer also says no one can, or should, blindly defend everything out there by appealing to cancel culture. But to object to someones cancellation is not to defend the content that resulted in it.

Hammer then quotes Ryan Williams of the Claremont Institute, who instructed: Just dont comment on Whoopi  shes a dishonest ignoramus, after all, who is on the side of woke revolution. But to criticize the suspension of Goldberg is, above all, to criticize the outfit that suspended her  ABC News. It is not an endorsement of Goldbergs intelligence or her politics.

In the end, Hammers argument comes down to his view that the Rights approach to the cancel culture wars should

be dictated less by high-minded principle or dogma and more by prudence, good ol-fashioned common sense and the imperative to bolster friends and punish enemies within the confines of the rule of law.

In effect, we should use cancel culture arguments mostly, or maybe only, as weapon to attack adversaries (but ABC is an adversary) and not try to be particularly principled about it. To be principled about cancel culture arguments is to cling to the idea of America as a liberal bastion in the old-fashioned sense of liberalism.

Is it prudent and consistent with common sense, though, to take a less than principled approach to cancel culture debates  to use them as a weapon to punish enemies without much effort to be consistent? I dont think so.

Hammer opens his column by noting that the phenomenon known as cancel culture, has perhaps been disproportionately effective in radicalizing many centrists and moderate liberals against the woke-besotted militant Left. A prudent course would be to promote this anti-Left radicalization. Ignoring high-profile examples of cancel culture when the victim happens to be on the other side will tend to undercut that course.

Thus, objecting to the Goldberg suspension makes sense in terms of principle and prudence.

By now, some readers will have recognized Hammers arguments as rooted in National Conservatism. In fact, Hammer is a leading proponent that movement. I briefly discussed his contribution to a New Criterion forum on the movement here.

Kim Holmes critique of National Conservatism in the same forum is here. Hammers approach to cancel culture supports Holmes critique, it seems to me.
A non-profit organisation, African Wonder Women Organisation (AWWO), is set to challenge what it described as the stereotypes and injustices allegedly meted out against African widows, both on the continent and the diaspora.

The convener, Folaji Fasanya-Omoyeni, told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday that she aims to improve relationships and encourage women to speak up against stigma, stereotypes, and biases through the event they experience.

She said the group plans to hold a virtual event on the subject with the theme; Every Emotion is Valid and is scheduled to hold on February 13, 2022.

Mrs Fasanya-Omoyeni said AWWO was birthed following the loss of her husband at the onset of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

It is an initiative that I set up while grieving the loss of my husband during the pandemic. The biases, stigmas, stereotypes, and name-calling I went through helped me understand my emotions and encouraged me to find healthy outlets for expressing them, she said.

She noted that while grieving her husband, she connected with widows and others grieving the loss of loved ones.

She added; They talked about their losses and let me know how my ability to articulate my feelings and emotions during my grief had inspired them.

So, it occurred to me that we needed to do more of this type of talking, we needed to encourage African widows to express our feelings and let the world know the treatment African widows face because what we experience, following the loss of our husbands or partners, is different to what other widows around the world experience.

Fighting stigma, stereotypes

Although based in the United Kingdom, the creative IT consultant stressed that she still experienced stigma and biases while living in the diaspora.

She said; Growing up in Africa, I know from what I read and what people talked about- that widows living in Africa experience these biases, but I never actually imagined that widows residing in diaspora would also experience similar degrading treatment.

Hence, AWWOs aim is to redefine widowhood and give African widows and women a voice, the tools to improve relationships, and a safe place to express their emotions, not only as widows living in Africa but also those in the diaspora.

Our focus is on African widows because what we experience is highly degrading and humiliating, and we need to partner with others working on the same vision of putting a stop to this appalling treatment of African widows.

The multiple award-winning fashion designer and creative director of UK-based clothing line, Ffolaji London, said African widows also experience bias.

She further explained; The biases we experience vary, but they are still demeaning and degrading. They still infringe on our rights, beliefs, persons, and finances. The distinction might be that there are laws in the diaspora that prevent your deceased spouses relatives from coveting what you and your late husband both worked for.

The legal system in the UK, where I live, even goes further to state the percentage of an estate left behind that should go to the living spouse. Unfortunately, however, the name-calling and abusive treatment is still experienced.

As an African widow, your social status means nothing to those who are out to deprive you of your rights and dignity.

They look past your status as a widow and believe youre not deserving of any respect, empathy, or support for your loss. They perpetuate this injustice, and you should be punished for losing your husband, as such, even when it comes to financial support or inheritance, you lose everything!
Almost two years after the prominent Nigerian event planner Ibidun died, her husband, Ituah Ighodalo, the head pastor of Trinity House Church, has revealed that he has no plan to remarry anytime soon.

Mr Ighodalo, in a recent interview with Media Room Hub, explained that he has decided to remain a single father while he continues to keep his late wifes dreams alive.

Mr Ighodalo married the late event planner and ex-beauty queen in 2007.

Late Ibidun was popular as former Miss Lux, an event management expert, a philanthropist, and a co-pastor of Trinity House Church.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how she died on June 14, 2020, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He said: I love Ibidun very much, I still love her and I gave her everything that I have. I dont know if I have anything to give anybody again. I think it is unfair to marry somebody to whom you cannot give everything. I gave Ibidun everything that I have to give in terms of love and looking after a person. I married her intentionally to look after her.

I dont have that energy anymore, and I dont want my life complicated with anything, and I dont need anything from anybody, I am okay as I am. I dont know what will happen in 10 years or 15 years or 20 years, I dont know but as I am now it is not anything I think or desire.

Until her death, the deceased ran the popular events company, Elizabeth R, and had been travelling around the country building COVID19 Isolation centres.

Single fatherhood

Mr Ighodalo, who heads a non-denominational congregation and his late wife, adopted two children, Unuakemonyi and Ehizenan.

Now a widower, Mr Ighodalo has been thrust into single parental responsibilities.

The cleric said single fatherhood is not exactly anything new to him as he had learned everything from his late wife.

He said: There is nothing that I didnt know when my wife was around, most of what I am doing. I did it when she was around because I was going to be a hands-on father

I have intensified it to compensate for the things my wife would have done. My wife helped me, she trained me well and I also helped myself because I wanted to be a hands-on father, to be as involved in their life as I could. Its a privilege to have them in my life, its a privilege for me to be part of their life.

Who was Mrs Ighodalo?

Late Ibidun was the first-ever winner of Miss Lux in 1999.

The Ibadan-born model was a graduate of Microbiology from the University of Lagos.

Shortly after she graduated from school, she started her first company Elizabeth R, Event Management Company Limited, in honour of her late father.

She once narrated in an interview how they struggled to have their children, visited hospitals, and were told by medical doctors that their only option is to seek treatment through assisted reproduction.

Unlike many celebrities, she was open about her struggles to conceive, and her passion to help families that are suffering from infertility.

The ex-beauty queen revealed that she underwent 11 failed IVF procedures.

During the last attempt, she conceived a twin pregnancy.

Unfortunately, she lost the pregnancy after three months.

These experiences led her to establish Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation to create awareness on infertility and provide financial support for families with such issues to do IVF.

Through the foundation, she provided grants for couples to undergo IVF and carried out awareness.
CANBERRA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce apologized on Saturday to Prime Minister Scott Morrison for calling him "a hypocrite and a liar" and said Morrison did not accept his offer to resign.

In text messages made public on Friday by Nine Newspapers, Joyce said Morrison "is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time" to former government staffer Brittany Higgins, before Joyce assumed the office of deputy prime minister in June 2021.

The messages were sent through a third party after Higgins alleged that she was raped by a colleague in Parliament House in 2019.

"When it came to light a couple of days ago, I rang the prime minister immediately," Joyce told reporters on Saturday.

"I apologized. He accepted my apology. I offered my resignation and he did not accept my resignation," Joyce said.

Morrison announced changes to his cabinet in March 2021 in response to the scandal over the treatment of women in the parliament. 
Former Senate President and presidential aspirant, Anyim Pius Anyim, in this interview with PREMIUM TIMES Festus Owete, Nosike Ogbuenyi and Samson Adenekan, speaks on his chances, his tenure as Senate President, the nations security challenges, the Biafra agitation, corruption allegations and other issues: Excerpts:

PT: The day you were leaving the Senate in 2003, you said you were quitting politics, but now you are contesting again. What informed your decision to return to politics?

Anyim: Since I left the Senate I contested for the office of the national chairman of my party, which I think is political enough. Since I left the Senate when there was an impasse about President YarAdua being sick and not transmitting a letter to his vice to run the country in his absence I led a delegation of 40 eminent Nigerians to intervene at the National Assembly, which I think is political enough. Since I left the Senate, I have been appointed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, which I also think is political enough. Since I left office as President of the Senate, because of insecurity at one point, I also intervened by writing an open letter to the President, which I think is also political enough.

Now to your question, straight and direct, I did say that I was not going to seek a re-election. One, I believe that the country was in transition and I said I was not going to seek re-election, I was not going to participate in the next election for a number of reasons. We were in transition and we should not insist on two terms so that every segment of society should have a feel that they are part of the country.

Two, I also needed to make a statement that you dont have to be in an office to serve your people. You can be out of the office and still be of great service. Some of the activities I mentioned earlier were activities I undertook while I was out of office.

Three, there was a lot of turbulence there and I did not see why after I had been the chairman of the National Assembly, then I would return there by chance, then I would struggle to remain as the Senate chairman or sit at the floor. That would be hungry for power, not for service. These were the reasons why I was not going to participate in the 2003.

PT: But a lot of people felt that your issues with the then President (Olusegun Obasanjo) prompted your decision, is that true?

Anyim: It is an open issue, we had disagreement over a few things and it was not personal. It was between the National Assembly and the Executive, so there was nothing too personal about it. There was a critical step the NASS took then which was not acceptable to him and it degenerated to a little rancour between the legislator and executive but not too personal.

PT: We remember the speculation that you were not going to run because you were afraid that the president has the party in his pocket and he may block your chances at getting the ticket.

Anyim: No. No. There was nothing like that. Such speculations are grossly unfounded because I returned to contest the chairmanship position of the party and if I was afraid, I would not have run for the seat. YarAdua was the sitting president then but Obasanjo was in control of the party. He was very influential. He was the chairman of the Board of Trustees at that time. It was not any fear of anybody. Of course if you follow my record, particularly when I was in the Senate, I was younger and quite articulate and I was simply committed to doing the right thing.

PT: Looking back at what you did then in the Senate, would you say that was youthful exuberance or something?

Anyim: There was nothing like that. There was nothing I did in the Senate then that if circumstances place back I wont do the same now. Sometimes we overplay the issue of age. Lee Kuan Yew (former Prime Minister of Singapore) was 35 years old when he turned his country around and he is a clear success story that people are vibrant, more active and ready to go at younger age then at old age.

So, I support young people aspiring to lead or occupy leadership positions but not because you are young but because you have been able to put a lot of things in yourself. It demands a lot of hard work, demands a lot of commitment and sacrifice. If you have prepared yourself for leadership, why not?

PT: You were one of the strong supporters of former Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, while in the Senate but all of a sudden he was ousted and you took his place. What exactly happened?

Anyim: Well, it was not all of a sudden. He didnt leave the Senate all of a sudden. But let me take you back so that you get it right. I was one of the strongest supporters of Okadigbo. And they did election for the President of the Senate and Ill give you the report. The day the election was to be held, we were already sure that Okadigbo would lose because the executive had moved fully. And Ill give you two instances of events that happened.

One, prior to the time the election was to be held, it was so clear that Evans Enwerem was going to win but I stood my ground. I say, if for anything, the last thing I must do is to vote for Chuba (Okadigbo). You can go check our Hansard. We that stood our grounds were extremely few. My problem with Chuba started after he reshuffled the committees and moved me from Vice-Chairman Petroleum Committee which I said he should leave me, to Vice-Chairman Sports. That was our parting point.

You also remember that at the floor of the Senate, we have (had) challenged each other. There was a day I raised my hand and he refused to recognise me and I stood up and I said I have a right to take the floor. And it was widely reported.

So we parted for a long time. And I was not part of his problem. His problem was the executive and the executive fought to stop him at the first time. Then he fought the executive to remove Enwerem the second time and returned himself and Obasanjo said he cannot be president if Chuba is Senate President, and the fight continued.

I think you need to get it right. Its really not me and I want people to get this right. Chubas crisis continued for a long time. It was not all of a suddenuntil we got to a point where there was an issue of contract awarded out of process, more particularly the streetlights leading to the NASS. It became a crisis point before the Senate and one of his strongest supporters moved that you cannot accuse him of something without giving him a fair hearing. And the Senate resolved to set up a committee to investigate and give him a fair hearing on the contract matter. Idris Kuta was the chairman of that committee.

The Idris Kuta committee met and produced a report. On the day the report was to be considered, the Senate was very hot. Many said he (Chuba) cannot be a judge in his own case. And Chuba had to step down and Senator Azuta Mbata was appointed to preside over the report. The report was examined, discussed and reviewed, he was found culpable. When he was found culpable, Mbata continued as president pro-tempore because Chuba wasnt just removed, it took about one month then before his team realised that it was over and they started looking for a replacement.

All those who were interested went for an interview in Senator Udomas house. Jim Nwobodo went. Ike Nwachukwu went. (Adolphus) Wabara went and I went. I want you to know that when the party came to conduct a mock election to see whom the party would present, I won because Chubas group supported me.

When Chubas group had looked at all the candidates, the group said that I would be their best person on the job. It was their support that made me win the mock election before the Senates election. So what is my own fault in this process?

PT: Now, why do you want to be the President of Nigeria?

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Anyim: Because I have something to bring to the table. I have said it clearly that I am that one Nigerian that can build the consensus required to generate the necessary indeed, the required patriotism to drive the country forward.

PT: We have had presidents since 1999  Obasanjo, YarAdua, Jonathan and now Buhari, what is it that you are bringing to the table that is different from what these people have offered?

Anyim: Well, let me also follow your question the way you presented. Obasanjo came into the leadership of the country for the second time as a civilian president at a time we thought that the military had run down the country. And everybody was committed that the military must leave and we were heavily indebted and Obasanjo did his bit wonderfully. He was a president and a president indeed and I respect him for it.

Obasanjo left, YarAdua came, one way or another, his tenure was short-lived. Goodluck (Jonathan) came and Goodluck, of course, followed due processes, laid standards, democratically led the country, and we were regaining our position, you know, as a forward looking country  economically, politically and socially.

Then after Goodluck, now, this president of course. I know you are living in this country today. And you can tell me, if you care, that everybody feels that there should be a change, a change of attitude, a change of approach. Some others feel the need to rescue their country from drifting many spheres, we are at the precipice and all that.

One, if for whatever reason, it is clear that something must be done to set the country right. Two, what am I bringing to the table at a time like this? And I said, what I have experienced from the various administrations from Obasanjo in 1999 to Buhari, 2023 so to say, I have seen what were their programmes, their weaknesses, their strengths. And I was observing them or working with them from a very vantage position. And I can say that I have experience and competence. I have the capacity to put my knowledge together to make a difference and build consensus that will generate a new spirit that guarantees a national rebirth so that we can progress as a nation.

PT: You were central to Jonathans tenure as the Secretary to the Federation. A lot of people would wonder if you have something tangible and reformatory, why didnt you bring it to the table before your party was voted out in 2015?

Anyim: Lets also be honest. The same people who shouted crucify Jonathan are they not the same people begging him to come back? If you have anything to accuse Jonathan administration of, it is definitely not lack of ideas, reforms or standardising processes. If there is anything that Nigerians are missing today, those are the main issues. Under Jonathan, the economy boomed. Under Jonathan we have fair political stability. Under Jonathan, you can drive your car from Abuja to Kaduna. Can you try it today? I can say with all confidence that the difference between Jonathans time and today is not hidden and you can also attest to that.

If you asked me, I want to tell you that most Nigerians would say we are coming to bring back what we had during Jonathan, but I want to do more. And Im in a position to do more. Whether you like it or not, the fourth industrial revolution is here. In the next few years we will not live the way we live today. In the next two years we will not work the way we work today. In the next few years, everything that comes as consensus will not be as it is. Today, we are complaining about the collapse of the little industrial gains we made in the 80s for reasons of lack of infrastructure and inconsistent policy and all that.

But tomorrow, automation will take over all that anybody would seek to do in industries. So you may have industries without employment. It will be my responsibility as the president of Nigeria at this time to prepare Nigeria to fit into the fourth industrial revolution. That is the most important thing. The unemployment were talking about today is not going to be the same in the future. The oil we are dependent on today is not going to be the same in the near future. You are not going to have a deaf president who will sit and will not be able to work. We need to prepare the country for the future, otherwise our children will not have a place to call their own.

PT: I believe you read statements from the State House, Lai Mohammed (Information Minister), saying they have done well, pushing the country forward, and better that your administration handed over to them.

Anyim: As an independent person, what is your assessment of Nigeria today? You should know

PT: You have made mention of the state of insecurity in the country. Without letting the cat out of the bag, what would you have done differently? What is your solution?

Anyim: Before I say more, did you read my open letter to the president on insecurity? I would say that my position has been made public through that. And I was clear that military action alone cannot stem the tide. I gave my suggestions with background.

There was a situation like this at the eve of independence where the minority tribes across the country said they wont go into this independence because they will be dominated by the majority tribes. The colonial masters didnt take it for granted. They set up a commission and after extensive consultation, the Willinks Commission recommended that we entrench a fundamental human rights provision in the constitution to protect everyone. And that is the origin of fundamental human rights in the constitution.

We need to spice this up. Governance is not about sitting in Villa. I have said this in most of my interviews. When you just sit and throw a policy at people, it may not work if they are not buying into it.

We need to understand the dimensions of this insecurity. There is ordinary criminality, banditry, armed robbery and all that. What were saying is that they are agitations that are civil and there are agitations that are with arms. They are not the same as bandits, they are not the same as armed robbery. They are agitations. And I gave you instances which you know. Boko Haram didnt start as an armed agitation. It started as a religious group. And they were just stubbornly pursuing their religious goals until the government of the day came in. Of course, in an effort to clamp down on them, Mohammed Yusuf was killed. It has now moved from civil agitations to whatever we have today which is taking about 20 per cent of our national revenue. You have a series of other democratic platforms to have the perspectives of every other segment of the society, put it together, create understanding, improve the social and economic environment and become more.

Once you can draw the line between criminal elements which you can handle under the law and the non-criminal agitations which you cant handle under the force of arm, strike a balance and the country moves forward. So, for me, I am clear and I have an idea of what the challenges are and I have clarity of what the solution could be. But if you think you can use military action, which you have tried for many years and it never worked. I will send the letter (to the president on insecurity) to you, you will read and we can talk more, that should be the foundation.

PT: We thought that since 1999 that weve settled the issue of rotation, even though its not enshrined in the constitution, but there is a gentlemans agreement that the presidency will rotate between the south and the north. As it is, we are debating whether the ticket should go to the south or to the north. Does that not bother you?

Anyim: No. It is not a thing of concern. But let me clear this out. In the PDP constitution, this is probably a fundamental issue in Section 7 (3c). It is clearly written that there should be rotation of all elective offices between the north and south. It is also not completely true. It is also not completely true to say that its not in our laws, because the fundamental issue has been addressed in Chapter 3 of the constitution. Section 13 is there, it says in any issue of governance, every department must enforce federal character. I think it is very clear. Chapter 2 of the constitution is not enforceable by law, it is a fundamental issue of state policy which binds us together and if you dont do it, it means you dont love the country.

Zoning is usually the last thing before an election, it is not the first thing. You keep the party together and close to the election, you now zone. Take for instance, when we had our convention last year. The zoning of the national offices was done one week before the convention. It was not done at the beginning of the whole process, I believe, I am not speaking for the party that we will still get to the time when the people will zone. Im not speaking for the party but I want to state clearly that it is in the PDP constitution.

PT: You have also said zoning or no zoning, you will contest.

Anyim: Yes, because if you zone, it will go to the South-east, so I am comfortable. If you dont zone, which means everybody can run, Im still qualified to run. So, you cannot zone it to the North, you can only zone it to the South or you dont zone. Whichever way, Im comfortable.

PT: You are a lawyer, if your party zones the ticket to the North? Are you going to sue?

Anyim: That will be against the constitution. We have a constitution and it should be respected. I will not sue the party. All I know is that I will run and you will support me.

PT: When the PDP was in power, it used to be very, very clear, as we have run elections since 1999, and easy for us to predict where the next candidate will come from. That seems more difficult now.

Anyim: No. Remember that we are trying to reposition the party and we are trying to make sure that our party becomes whatWe lost power. Dont lose sight of the fact that we lost power. And when we had power, we had clear leadership but now we have lost power, and we are grappling with a few things which keep us on our feet. We have to do things slowly. We cant do things like we are in power, we have to do it gradually. We just elected a new national working committee. We need to give them time to settle down and refocus the party and then we take things from there.

PT: If you are elected the candidate of the PDP, will that answer the question of Igbo presidency?

Anyim: Well, I have said before that I am from the South-east and I am in this race because I have something to offer. And of course if I am elected, I am from the South-east and that wont take me away from the South-east. I will be the president of Nigeria to serve Nigerians.

PT: You are a friend of Atiku (Abubakar) and of course a loyalist, and he is running for the same seat.

Anyim: I dont know what you mean by loyalist. I was the president of the Senate when he was the vice president. So, there is nothing wrong with the two of us running for the same seat.

PT: I want to paint a scenario  I know that your state governor (Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State) has also declared interest in this position. If he emerges on the platform of the APC and you emerge on the platform of the PDP, what will that look like?

Anyim: What will it look like? What do you want it to look like? It will just be like APC presenting its candidate, PDP presenting its candidate too. People will be the beneficiaries. I will be the next president of Nigeria, full stop.

PT: A lot of people see PDP as a party governed by corrupt people, wont this affect your chances even if you emerge as your partys choice?

Anyim: I think you need to put that into perspective. When Obasanjo and his team left, it was the same perception. In fact, two governors under that administration are in prison now. Obasanjo, even during his time, also sacked a minister. I do not think it is a matter of my administration because all the ones before me faced the same fate. This is a journey we all need to travel through before corruption is rooted out of Nigeria. It is really not an issue.

PT: Elections, especially the presidency and others, are capital intensive, do you have the deep pockets for the journey you want to embark on?

Anyim: I dont know how deep my pocket is but if I add your own to mine, it will be deep enough. That aside, it was not deep pockets that made Buhari president. It was not deep pockets that made Jonathan president. It was not deep pockets that made YarAdua president. It was not deep pockets that made Obasanjo president. I dont know why having a deep pocket is a factor now but I am not poor or rich. I am just a Nigerian. I have enough goodwill that will command the goodwill of people to vote and support me.

PT: There were some issues with the PDP administrations but Nigerians seem to be facing more in the current administration. Now that your party is staging a comeback, why should Nigerians trust you?

Anyim: You have partly answered the question. Nigerians will trust us when they compare our past administrations with the current one. That is why Im running now. I am running now to ensure that the experiences I have gathered along the line will be deployed for the best.

PT: You are from the South-east. For the past seven years, the agitation for Biafra has begun to increase. We have seen a group come up very forcefully. What do you think is responsible for this in the past six or seven years?

Anyim: Well, I dont know why you want me to answer this one because you didnt put it together with agitation from the South-west led by Sunday Igboho for the actualisation of Oduduwa state. You also did not combine it with Boko Haram in the North-east for the actualisation of Islamic State. So if you put it all together, then you can discuss that.

But I think that the country is challenged and that is the point I am trying to make. And that is what I answered when you asked me a question on insecurity and I said that there are agitations too. I did tell you that apart from the criminality, there were agitations and we need to draw the line between criminality and agitation.

Again, I refer you to that letter (one he wrote to Buhari). When you read it, you will get the background. I think the country is challenged and this is a national issue, not a regional issue. I will not answer it as a regional issue, I will approach it as a national issue.

If I become president, I will put it on the table as a national issue and address it across the country  set the same parameters, follow the same pitch, and extinguish them. Let me also say, it is not as if these things are here today. The first militancy we experienced was from Niger Delta and the militancy in the Niger Delta was so terrible that it was going to cripple the economy, peace of the country. Obasanjo handled it. That is leadership. YarAdua continued from where Obasanjo stopped, extinguished it. That was also leadership.

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Boko Haram went out of control and has escalated. It is a national question. It will be treated as a national question. All of them will be put on the table and handled as a national challenge. I believe we know how to address all of them and guarantee the lives and properties of Nigerians.

PT: So, in clear terms, you are not for IPOB? It seems to be popular among the people because they obey the sit-at-home order it gives.

Anyim: Why would I be for IPOB? If I am running to Nigeria, why would you be talking about agitations. Popular among who? So, you would have gone out for people to kill you, that is when you know you are opposing them? People are armed and you expect armless people to confront them? It is not the responsibility of ordinary citizens that have no arms to go and face armed people. Is it not the responsibility of security people to protect citizens?

PT: In as much as you want us to look at all these things holistically, there are still some distinctions. In the North, Boko Haram is religious because of extremism, how it started

Anyim: I think you are taking this thing out of space. The thing is, Boko Harams target is to create an Islamist State. I dont want to take it too far. Even El-Zakzaky is saying that he is not subject to this constitution. Why are you making this an issue? Boko Haram, his commitment is to set up an Islamic State. They have even acquired something. Where they conquer, they put up a flag, even up to Niger State. What distinction are you making again? They have said that they are setting up an Islamic State. The Taliban have a sovereign mandate. So, it does not matter if you use your religion to rule. The question is  are you subject to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or not. So I think that is the issue.

PT: Your friend, Raymond Dokpesi, has advised those of you aspiring under the party to allow Atiku to contest for the next four years, then after, the ticket can be zoned to the South-east. Is that not something for you to consider?

Anyim: Well, tell him to ask Atiku to speak for himself. I dont know on whose authority he is speaking. Is he speaking on behalf of Atikus empire or they own Nigeria and he has been appointed to share it, and decide who will take this and that. Is he a political party? Tell him to speak for himself.

PT: If he does, will you step down?

Anyim: Till then.

PT: Knowing that there are so many other aspirants currently under your party, and many more to come. How do you intend to overwhelm these heavy weights?

Anyim: Primaries will take care of that. That is the same process the party will use to select its candidate. I dont need to overwhelm them in any other way except through popularity. Every sentiment favours me and I know that if you are part of that primaries, you will vote for me. Im certain that I will command a majority of the votes.

PT: We were going to ask you about your case with the EFCC. You were detained recently by the Commission. I hope it is not going to affect you in this race?

Anyim: I dont have any case with the EFCC. There are times you people (media) abuse this whole thing. That the EFCC invited you, does that put a case on you? If they have a case against you, they charge you to court. I dont have any charges with any anti-corruption agency or any court.

If you invite me, who in Jonathans government has not been invited? Namadi Sambo, the vice-presidents house, has been searched twice. The presidents wife, Patience Jonathan, is in battle with the EFCC. Ministers, (a) former Attorney General, (these) have also been dramatised all over the world.

If the EFCC invites me as the head of that administration, why wont I go to offer my explanation there? So, what is wrong about that? I have no charges anywhere.

PT: Some people were talking about the Centenary Project.

Anyim: Centenary is one of the projects that has been investigated. In fact, there is no department in EFCC that has not investigated it. In summary, I have no charges in any anti-corruption agency. If they invite me tomorrow, I will still go.
CONUA accuse ASUU of peddling falsehood

The crisis rocking the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, over the delayed disbursement of the earned academic allowance further degenerated during the week as the national leaderships of both the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and its rival faction, Congress of Nigerian Universities Academics (CONUA) engaged in war of words.

The CONUA chairman on the campus, Niyi Sunmonu, while clarifying what he tagged an allegation that his union designed a separate template for the disbursement of the EAA, accused ASUU national president, Emmanuel Osodeke, of fuelling the crisis on the campus.

Mr Sunmonu, who doubles as the national coordinator of CONUA, also blamed Mr Osodeke for the factionalisation of OAU branch of ASUU, saying his mission to the campus to intervene in an internal crisis within the union some years ago, was the straw that broke the camels back.

But Mr Osodeke has described the allegation as false, describing CONUA as a group of liars, pretenders and an embodiment of illegality.

Allegations

Mr Sunmonu, in a statement on Wednesday, accused Mr Osodeke, a professor, of peddling falsehood, saying the ASUU leader had falsely accused his union of developing another payment template.

Mr Summonu said it was the universitys chapter of ASUU that deviated from the known EAA payment template, accusing the chapter of creating a different template and that it attempted to force it down other lecturers throats.

The statement by CONUA reads in part: The fact is that it was the ASUU OAU branch that departed outright from the form designed by their national body following the 2009 ASUU/Federal Government agreement.

It did this by designing a Google form for its members. They tried to force this on CONUA members and this was resisted. ASUU OAU has continued to insist that any academic staff who refuses to fill this Google form will not be paid his/her due of Earned Academic Allowance.

Speaking on Mr Osodekes role in the crisis rocking the institution, the statement added; We in CONUA are however not surprised about this because such things have become the trademark of Osodeke. For example, in 2016, when he led a committee of ASUU to OAU to investigate the crisis in the branch, Osodeke turned in a report that was completely against the facts on ground in OAU.

His report actually ended up adding fire to the crisis on ground. Osodeke in fact is a fundamental factor in the OAU crisis.

Osodeke fires back

In his reaction to the allegation, Mr Osodeke, who spoke with our reporter on the phone, accused CONUA members of wanting him to ignore the facts of the matter then, but to write a report that favoured them.

He said; So, when I went there at that time, they were having exactly the same crisis about who will become the vice-chancellor, and our union was playing a negative role. So we went there and told them exactly what to do; that as a union, it should not be thinking of a vice-chancellor from a particular state, tribe or village.

We said they should be thinking of a vice-chancellor who would serve everybody; one who would develop the university not based on religion or state. Those were what we reported. But those of our colleagues who were involved in the idea of promoting people based on religion or tribe were unhappy with us. Today we have been vindicated.

He urged the ministry of education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to declare CONUA illegal and disband it.

He said; They are liars. They are pretenders and they are fake and illegal. And ordinarily the Ministry of Education or NUC needs to step in, because you cannot allow an illegal group to be run in a university and the VC is supporting them and creating problems in that university.

We are in a country where people believe in telling lies. We believe in when you are writing a report, write in favour of those in authority. That is what they believe. But people like us who believe in the truth and say it the way it is, many people do not like us. So CONUA members are the type of people that believe that you have to do something according to what the authorities tell you.

And is there anything like CONUA that is registered in the Nigerian system? There is none. So, it is a fake group, an illegal group that is being encouraged by that vice-chancellor. By the trade union act, for you to operate as a trade union, you must be registered. But without registration, CONUA has been there for a long time causing crises on the campus. OAU is one of the best in the country but today, they have run it down. You can go there and check, they have run that place down. These are the same people working together with the VC in power.

Ignore any new EAA form, ASUU tells members

Meanwhile, ASUU has directed its members not to fill another set of forms designed by the university management for the purpose of disbursing the allowance.

The new template by the management was a decision taken at the meeting that was held with a section of the universitys academic staff on Tuesday by the vice-chancellor, Eyitope Ogunbodede.

In its second bulletin about the strike, which was issued on Friday, the unions chairman on the campus, Adeola Egbedokun, also warned heads of the various departments not to fill the forms on behalf of ASUU members.

He said: It has come to the notice of the executive officers that some illegal group of persons are suggesting that the phantom Google form should be filled by proxy. Members should be careful not to fall for this deceit. Let us kindly warn our HoDs or colleagues not to complete any form for us by proxy.

He said ASUU had completed and submitted its forms to the university as far back as December, 2021.

We need to reiterate that our members should not fill any Google form outside the one designed by the union because it is a charade that will benefit nobody. We have since completed our computation and we are eagerly waiting for our payment, Mr Egbedokun added.

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The payment of the Earned Academic Allowances of the lecturers, which has been deposited to the schools accounts since December 13th has been a source of controversy for weeks on the campus.

Payment template

Mr Egbedokun said his union is not against the payment of EAA to other academic staff members but that the payment must be made using the template designed by ASUU.

Parts of Fridays statement read: It is very important to state clearly that the union is not against the EAA disbursement to deserving academic staff, the position of the union is that every member must be subjected to the same template and the only template acceptable and recognised is the one designed by ASUU.

The union will keep monitoring the activities of the university administration with regard to disbursement of EAA and ensure our money is disbursed in accordance with the template and computation submitted by ASUU. Any payment done contrary to this will attract the wrath of the union and every kobo misapplied will be retrieved.

ASUU described Mr Ogunbodedes earlier claim that ASUUs computation was full of discrepancies as false, saying; We equally interacted with the audit unit of the university and for over two weeks, nothing has come out of their so-called verification exercise.

On the meeting with the academic members of staff held on Tuesday with the vice-chancellor, Mr Egbedokun said contrary to the universitys claims that up to 400 academic staff members attended, ASUUs Strike Monitoring Committee, reported less than 250 persons (out of about 1,280 academic staff in the university) in attendance.

He said the attendees were mostly the management team and nonASUU members, describing the universitys claim as another propaganda to sustain their sinking ship.

Despite strike lectures continue

Though ASUU has said more than 90 per cent of lectures and statutory meetings have been put on hold on the campus due to its ongoing strike, PREMIUM TIMES learnt some lecturers have continued to work.

For instance, in the Civil Engineering Department, a student said CVE 403 test was written on Monday and CVE 411 on Wednesday.

Another student told PREMIUM TIMES that in the Chemistry Department, CHM405, CHM 423, all held during the week.

One of the lecturers taking CHM427 also took the class while the other lecturer did not. However, CHM403 and CHM407 did not hold.

In the Quantity Survey department, one student said all lectures were held during the week except QTS 411.

For the physics department, another student said lectures were held for EPH 401, PHY 403, PHY 421 and PHY 409.

Peaceful Protest

Meanwhile, on Thursday, after a meeting at the First Bank Lecture Theater, members of ASUU-OAU were joined by their members from Benin, Akure, Lagos and Ibadan zones, to stage a peaceful protest on the university campus.

Videos seen by PREMIUM TIMES showed ASUU buses from Olabisi Onabanjo University, (OOU), and Adekunle Ajasin University, Akunga (AAUA) accompanying the protesters.

ASUU said it would use all means available to ensure that any money disbursed using any illegal computation is fully refunded.

Mr Egbedokun also accused the university management of using divide and rule tactics to cause disharmony among the academic staff.
The Emir of Daura, Umar  Faruk Umar, on Saturday said he appointed the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as Dan Amanar Daura (trusted son of Daura) for his dedication to the development of his emirate and Nigeria.

Daura is the hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Amaechis boss.

Mr Umar-Faruk said he did not turban Mr Amaechi because the minister gave him money but to reciprocate the ministers gesture to the emirate.

We are Muslims and our religion allows us to respect those who respect us. If I turban anyone, it is not because he gave us money or we want something from that person, we turban people irrespective of their religion or tribe. You are living witnesses that we have turbaned a lot of people in this country and even beyond. You know that we dont do what we do for monetary gain, he said.

The monarch said people like Mr Amaechi deserved a traditional title in the Emirate because they have proven reliable.

I would like to remind you that the good things the minister brought to this emirate are countless but we have seen the University of Transport Technology that he has sited here, we have seen the railway that has been sited here to Niger Republic. Because of that rail line, we will have a station here were our peoples business will progress.

Are we not supposed to appreciate what he has done? So, if anybody says its because of money, it is their own business. I know that I did this because of what he has done for us in Daura. I dont give people tittles because of money no matter how rich you are. Its a tradition here to reward those who have shown great love and commitment to our people, the emir said.

The emir also spoke about Nasiru Haladu Danu, whom he turbaned the Tafida Babban Daura on Saturday.

I have heard a lot about what he has been doing to the public especially the poor people in our midst. He is a philanthropist who has shown that he is for the development of the people. Once again, I am reiterating that the titles are strictly based on merit and we will continue to toe that line, he added.

Mr Danu, who was turbaned alongside Mr Amaechi, is a businessman, politician and philanthropist.

A member of the Dutse Emirate Council, he heads and sits on the boards of several companies including NHD Interbiz Projects Limited, Casiva Limited (operating in the Oil and Gas secto, majoring in Trading and Exploration), Lubrik Construction Company Limited, Craneburg Construction Company Limited and Oberon Energy Limited.

He is a Board Member of Murya Magazine and the Founder and Chairman of NHD Foundation, which is a non-profit organisation committed to helping the needy and less privileged.

He also holds the traditional title of Dan Amanar Dutse in Dutse Emirate of Jigawa State, an Emirate that has existed for over 500years.

An ardent Polo enthusiast, he is a member of the Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF), President, Yenagoa Polo Club (a state owned Polo Club), member, Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Army Polo Association, and chairperson, Nigerian Army Polo Resort, Abuja. He also managed the Niger Delta International Tournament for over eight years.

Mr Danu is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The turbaning rites

In line with tradition, the two guests the emirate honoured on Saturday were led to where the emir sat with other invited guests to greet him.

After that, the guests were taken to a spacious podium for their turbaning.

While their citations were being read by the master of ceremony, special turbans were brought out from a traditional box by palace guards and handed over to the emirate officials conducting the rites.

The turbaning rites were performed by two senior kingmakers and district heads; Galadiman Daura and Kauran Daura, on behalf of the Emir.

After the rites, Messrs Amaechi and Danu were led by the two senior kingmakers to the emir to pay homage and accept the titles.

After the emirs speech, horses were brought for the turbaned guests to mount after which they were led into the palace by the guards.

The turbaning ceremony was witnessed by Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, Ministers Adamu Adamu (education), Niyi Adebayo (Industries), Festus Keyamo (State Labour), Sunday Dare (Sports), Adeleke Mamora (Health) Oba of Benin, Etim Edet Ekong, representative of Cross River Council of Chiefs, Bashir Jamo (NIMASA) and Mohammed Koko (NPA), among others.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has hinted at the possibility of an impending industrial action as the national leadership of the union has directed its members nationwide to declare lecture-free day on Monday, February 7, in preparation for a possible showdown with the Nigerian government.

Multiple circulars issued by the various branches of the union announcing the decision, noted that the lecture-free day will be used to sensitise the university communities and the general public on the failure of the government to honour an agreement the parties entered into in December 2020, and which led to the suspension of a nine-month prolonged strike then.

The new threat comes less than a week after President Muhammadu Buhari pledged the commitment of his administration to fulfilling the agreement with the union.

Mr Buhari made the promise when members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) visited him to share thoughts with him on the lingering issues.

While making the pledge, Mr Buhari, however, pleaded with the union to exercise patience and consider current economic realities.

Suspended strike

The last national strike by ASUU was in March 2020 and lasted till December when the Memorandum of Action (MoA) was signed.

However, a year after signing the MoA, ASUU accused the government of failing to fulfil its side of the bargain and threatened to mobilise for another strike immediately.

The government quickly moved to pay N55 billion as part-payment for the Earned Academic Allowance and Revitalisation Fund, but the union was unmoved until the Nigerian Inter-religious Council (NIREC) and other dignitaries waded in.

ASUU chair speaks

ASUU national president, Emmanuel Osedeke, a professor, confirmed the directive and also that the national body had instructed all the chapters to sensitise the public on the nobleness of its cause.

We are going to have a meeting that day, we will invite as many people as possible to talk about the issue of Nigerian education, he told our reporter in a telephone interview on Saturday.

ASUU said the Nigerian government has only addressed, partially, two of its eight demands, including the visitation panel to federal universities. He described the release of funds for the Earned Academic Allowance and revitalisation funds as partial.

Mr Osodeke said: Out of all the nine or eight issues, they attempted one or two things, even the issue of the visitation panel they said they set up till now the result is not out after more than one year.

Lecture free day

Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES has seen the circulars from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Bayero University, Kano, informing students of a lecture-free Monday on February 7.

ASUU assured that its actions are in the best interest of the countrys university system, calling on all to join hands with ASUU in its struggle and save the system from collapse.

Parts of the statement from BUK, signed by Haruna Musa and Yusuf Madugu, chairperson and secretary, respectively, read: ASUU-BUK wishes to inform all stakeholders that any action taken by ASUU would be in the best interest of the Nigerian university system. The union, therefore, urges all concerned to join hands with ASUU in order to salvage the system from imminent collapse by prevailing on the government to as a matter of urgency implement all the agreements it freely entered with ASUU.

According to the circulars, the various chapters of the union are also going to hold a congress on that day.

Demands

ASUUs demands have barely changed since the signing of the ASUU/FG 2009 agreement.

These demands include the sustainability of the university autonomy, which it said the introduction of IPPIS violates; immediate deployment of UTAS to replace IPPIS; renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement; release of the reports of visitation panels to federal universities and distortions in salary payment challenges.

Others include funding for revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowance, poor funding of state universities and promotion arrears.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of an Ikeja Special Offences Court on Friday freed a 32-year-old tailor, Femi Kazeem, who was incarcerated at the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre on charges of armed robbery.

Mr Kazeem was accused of robbing a man of a phone while armed with an iron rod. He was also charged with robbing a woman of a handbag.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judge freed Mr Kazeem due to the inability of the prosecution to bring witnesses to testify.

Prosecution counsel, O.A. Bajulaiye-Bishi, had informed the judge that one of the witnesses was not interested in following up the case while the other could not be located.

The witness whose phone was stolen said it is just a mobile phone and that he had got another phone, she said.

Following the submission, defence counsel, A.K Chalokwu, applied to the court to dismiss the case and discharge the defendant.

Freeing Mr Kazeem, Mrs Taiwo said: Though the defendant is charged with armed robbery, I am inclined to grant the application of the defence.

I hereby discharge the defendant pursuant to Section 232(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2021 as amended.

On hearing that he has been set free, Mr Kazeem raised his hands in jubilation and repeatedly prostrated before the judge.

The defence lawyer also expressed gratitude to the court.

According to the prosecution, the defendant committed the alleged offences on August 28, 2018, at Ejigbo Bus-stop, Isolo, Lagos.

The defendant, while armed with an iron rod, robbed one Prince Jombo of his Infinix Hot 5 valued at N39,500.

He also robbed one Chidinma Ikeh of her handbag containing N40,000.

The offences contravene Section 297(2)(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2015, Mr Bajulaiye-Bishi has said.

(NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari Saturday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said Nigeria will continue to pursue peace and progress in Africa, and other parts of the world, by consistently pushing for justice, fairness and inclusiveness in global affairs.

In a sideline meeting with the Prime Minister of Palestine, Mohammad Shtayyeh, at the ongoing African Union meetings, President Buhari said the country remains unwavering in supporting democracy, development and good governance, particularly in ensuring the rights of individuals and institutions.

As a country we are doing our best, and we will continue doing our best to ensure justice and fairness, he said.

The President assured the Palestinian leader that Nigeria will be consistent in pushing for peace and progress, while upholding the tenets of justice.

In his remarks, the Palestinian leader noted that the situation in the Middle East, particularly relations with Israel, had deteriorated over the years, adding that the world needs to know the facts.

Mr Shtayyeh thanked President Buhari for his leadership role in the continent.

Your Excellency, we thank you for your wisdom. We need it more now.

Please continue to stay well and healthy, because we need your wisdom, he said.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)
Ademola Bayonle, a 35-year old medical doctor, has joined the race for the July 16 Osun governorship election, under the platform of Young Progressive Party (YPP).

Mr Bayonle said this when he spoke with journalists shortly after receiving his nomination form at the YPPs National Secretariat in Abuja on Saturday.

He said that youths were in a better position to change the narrative of Nigerian politics through active participation.

Osun election is giving the youth an opportunity to set the pace for Ekiti election, ahead of the 2023 general elections.

We need to take the bull by the horn to ensure that the older generation leaves behind a good structure, because if we allow them to continue to make decisions for us, thirty years from now when they are gone, we will be the ones to suffer the consequences.

So now is the time to join and make an impact for the future we want for ourselves and for the next generation, he said.

Mr Bayonle urged youths to join the YPP, because it was the party for them.

A mistake often made by youths is believing that taking part in politics involves money to pick tickets to run for offices.

Participation goes beyond running for offices, participation means joining rallies, campaigns, engaging in dialogues and others. There are so many false perception about joining politics or participating in politics.

Politics goes beyond money, some people started the Not-Too-Young-To-Run campaign and that is participation.

Some people start conversations on social media and people listen to the and learn they learn one or two things and that is also participation.

So, I encourage youths to join vibrant political parties like the YPP and to be in positions where even if you are not contesting and picking a form as I am doing today, but you are engaging with other youths on politics, he said.

Mr Bayonle added: For those who want to run for any office they should come and out and then people can support them even financially.

And even if they do not support them financially, they will support in other capacity which is also participation.

He urged the Osun electorate to give other political parties other than the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the opportunity to present fresh ideas and innovation through their candidates.

Mr Bayonle said that the YPP would set a new standard in governance in the state, promising to unlock the potential of the state if elected as governor in July.

From our analysis, we have come to understand that we have not really given the electorate choices when it came to election in the country and in Osun.

The people think that the two big parties are what they needed which is not true.

But YPP has been on the ground for over a year now and the people are extremely happy to have us and we want to give them a better alternative, he said. NAN)
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has been re-elected into the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) to represent the West African region, the Nigerian embassy in Ethiopia said in a press release.

Nigeria will sit in the council for another three years (2022-2025).

The West African country had 44 votes in the first round to secure the statutory two-thirds votes required to win the election.

Nigeria is represented at the Permanent Representatives level by Victor Adeleke, Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union.

The election of the 15-member Council was held Thursday during the 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

Nigeria is the only country that has sustained the membership of the Peace and Security Council since the inception of the organ in 2004 as a result of ECOWAS dedication of a permanent seat to the country.

This is in recognition of Nigerias sterling contributions to the maintenance of peace and security in Africa and beyond. It is in consonance with the AUPSC Protocol and without prejudice to the two-third votes standard requirement, the embassy said.

ALSO READ: Buhari to participate in AU meeting in Addis Ababa

Cameroon, Djibouti, Morocco and Namibia were also elected into the council for a three year period.

Burundi, Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, and Gambia were elected for a two-year period.

The PSC is a standing decision-making organ of the African Union charged with responsibilities of conducting early warning and preventive diplomacy; facilitating peace-making; establishing peace-support operations; and, in certain circumstances, recommending intervention in Member States to promote peace, security and stability.

The PSC works in support of peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction as well as humanitarian action and disaster management. It is mandated to institute sanctions; and implement the AUs common defence policy.

The PSC also ensures the implementation of key conventions and instruments to combat international terrorism; promote coordination between regional mechanisms and the AU with respect to peace, security and stability in Africa.
The management of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, on Friday, announced the postponement of examinations scheduled for the day over the unfortunate death of a former student of the university, Michael Akinniyi, in an accident in the institutions host community.

The university made the announcement in a statement signed by its registrar, Olugbenga Arajulu, saying the decision was in honour of Mr Akinniyi, who was said to have returned to the university for clearance purposes ahead of his mobilisation for the mandatory National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC).

The university management noted in the statement that it is engaging all relevant stakeholders on what should be done to address the ugly trend, and put an end to vehicular accidents in the university town.

The community has been known for incessant road accidents involving trucks that ply the community as an access route between Nigerias northern and Southwestern regions, and have most times claimed students lives.

The latest incident on Thursday night which claimed the life of Mr Akinniyi, also reportedly claimed two other lives.

Ugly trend

This newspaper learnt that three different accidents had occurred on Thursday, with one leaving three people dead, just a few days after another one happened.

Also, just a week before Thursdays incident, some students of AAUA tweeted in remembrance of the lives lost in 2021 to similar incidents that sparked protests and subsequently forced the management to shut down the school.

The accident on January 23, 2021, was a ghastly one involving a Dangote truck that left several people, including three siblings and a former student leader, Adesomoju Samuel, dead.

Protest

Earlier on Friday the students of the university staged a peaceful protest and were addressed by the vice-chancellor, Olugbenga Ige, and dean of student affairs, Olusegun Akanbi, both professors, who promised interventions towards averting recurrence.

Akisulure Simbo, the spokesperson for the students union on the campus told PREMIUM TIMES that the students have erected another barricade in front of the school because the one at the entrance of the town has not been effective, even as he alleged that hoodlums accept money from truck drivers to allow them passage.

He said: We already erected another barricade in front of our school. There was one at the entrance of the town, but we noticed it has not been serving its purpose as some hoodlums have been going there to collect money from truck drivers and let them in.

The trucks are killing our people. The trucks are killing students, they are killing indigenes, they are killing travellers, they are destroying properties. We need intervention as soon as possible.

Government steps in

In his reaction to the development, the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has expressed disappointment with the residents of the community, accusing them of removing barricades mounted to prevent heavy-duty trucks from plying the road.

Mr Akeredolu in a statement by his chief press secretary, Richard Olatunde, lamented that the unfortunate incident was preventable if the barricade mounted had not been moved.

Parts of the statement read: The incident was not expected given the steps that had been taken to forestall such occurrence after the incessant accidents that have claimed indigenes and students lives in the past.

In clear terms, Governor Akeredolu had ordered that a barricade be mounted at the troubled portion of the road to prevent heavy-duty trucks from plying that route.

It is disheartening that some people have turned the barricade mounted by the government to prevent these heavy trucks from plying the road, into a money-making venture. If people truly value lives and understand that whatever money you make at the expense of peoples lives is blood money. This particular incident was highly avoidable.

While sympathising with the victims of the latest accident, the governor warned all community leaders, youth leaders and residents of the town to desist from moving this barricade for articulated trucks.

He added that the government will, henceforth, deploy armed security personnel to man the barricade and deal decisively with anyone found opening them.

Mr Akeredolu assured that construction of the bad portion of the road will commence in no distant time, saying the design for the construction was ready.

The road, being a federal road, shall not impair Mr Governors determination to save lives, the statement added.
Brunei government officials give awards to local tourism stakeholders in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, Feb. 5, 2022.

The Brunei government launches a new tourism package on Saturday to attract domestic and foreign tourists despite a recent surge in daily COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian country.

TO GO WITH: Roundup: Brunei launches tourism products to attract visitors amid pandemic (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Brunei government launches a new tourism package on Saturday to attract domestic and foreign tourists despite a recent surge in daily COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian country.

According to Brunei's Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, the tourism products are designed specifically for Brunei-Muara district, where the national capital Bandar Seri Begawan is located and has various landmarks.

The ministry said that the move was part of the government's efforts to support the local tourism industry, which is dramatically affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The new package followed the recent launch of a similar one for Temburong district, and more others are expected to come for the remaining two of the country's four districts, Belait and Tudong.

The ministry said that the packages cover promoting places of interest, assisting tourism stakeholders such as hotels, tourist guides, and tourist agents in providing complete and flexible itineraries, and developing new tourist attractions.

They are also meant to make preparations "for school holidays promotion in April, August and December this year" and "for tourist arrivals from abroad once borders are open."

A country of over 420,000 population, Brunei has confirmed more than 17,000 COVID-19 cases in its second wave of COVID-19 which began in August last year, with the tourism industry hit hard.

The country announced being in the Endemic Phase under its National COVID-19 Recovery Framework in December last year, with local infections dropping gradually after it imposed strict social distancing rules, including work-from-home for government and private sector employees as well as a curfew.

However, Brunei has seen a rebound in daily COVID-19 cases, mainly local infections over recent days.

It recorded 82 cases, 133 cases, 200 cases, and 140 cases for the first four days of February. On Saturday, it reported 373 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 17,404 with 102 deaths.

According to the health ministry, the newly recorded cases included 368 local infections and five imported cases.

Currently 1,196 active cases are being treated and monitored in the country. 

A senior official from the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism gives a speech during a new tourism package launching ceremony in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, Feb. 5, 2022.

The Brunei government launches a new tourism package on Saturday to attract domestic and foreign tourists despite a recent surge in daily COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian country.

TO GO WITH: Roundup: Brunei launches tourism products to attract visitors amid pandemic (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2022 shows an inner view of the Royal Regalia Museum, a tourist landmark in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei.

The Brunei government launches a new tourism package on Saturday to attract domestic and foreign tourists despite a recent surge in daily COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian country.

TO GO WITH: Roundup: Brunei launches tourism products to attract visitors amid pandemic (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)
The chief executive officer of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Chinwe Anunobi, a professor, has linked the poor reading culture among Nigerians, especially the youth, to the rising cases of examination malpractices perpetrated by candidates, and particularly in public examinations in the country.

A statement by Vershima Orvell-Dio, head, public relations unit of the organisation, noted that Mrs Anunobi spoke while handing over a multi-million naira prototype library building in Ilorin, Kwara State, to a contractor.

She said it was unfortunate that even some parents encourage their children to commit examination fraud believing that the godfather is there, and all that is needed is to get the certificate.

Parts of the statement quoted Mrs Anunobi to have said: I want to emphasise that this is an issue of the value system. We cannot only blame the youth, we also blame the parents and the society because if the society changes its habit: focusing value on knowledge which is hidden in written documents either in paper or electronic form, the youth will move along that line.

The only way we can do it is to sensitise schools, the public and the hinterland, the hard-to-reach, to read, and that is what the National Library is doing.

The project

The statement said the ongoing construction of a multi-million naira prototype library building in Ilorin, Kwara State, is aimed at boosting research as well as deepening the reading culture in Nigeria.

The national librarian officially handed over the project site to the contractor, Cagewox Nigeria Limited, at a brief ceremony in Ilorin on Thursday.

She commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for prioritising the development of libraries in Nigeria.

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The mandate of the national library, she said, is to have a branch of the national library in all the states of the federation, saying there are currently 33 branches.

Out of this number, she said 12 are operating from the prototype permanent office buildings, while 22 are operating in temporary office accommodation.

She added that the national library has no presence in four states: Anambra, Zamfara, Kebbi and Delta because the states have not indicated interests.

She commended the Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State for providing land in a suitable location for the construction of the national library edifice in the state.

Mrs Anunobi warned the project consultant and contractor to ensure value for money, with a caution that shoddy construction would not be accepted.

She noted the location of the new library edifice in the state in New GRA (Government Reserve Area), would create accessibility for members of the public and surrounding communities to make maximum use of the library.
The build up to June 18 gubernatorial election in Ekiti, on Saturday, assumed further dimension as former Governor Segun Oni, announced his withdrawal from the leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Ekiti.

Spokesman for Segun Oni Movement, Adebayo Jackson, confirmed the development to reporters in Ado-Ekiti, saying his resignation is with immediate effect.

Mr Jackson said the decision by Mr Oni and his entire political structure to leave PDP, was taken at a meeting, held at Onis residence in Ifaki-Ekiti, Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the State, earlier in the day.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the former governor is, however, yet to clarify his next party of choice, though fingers are pointing at the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

According to Mr Jackson, Mr Oni yielded to pressures from majority of Ekiti people, who are desirous of returning him back to the Government House, under any political party.

Mr Jackson, a former Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the State, hinted that the former governor would not only be leaving PDP with hundreds of his supporters and followers, his resignation from the party is also with immediate effect.

I can confirm to you that His Excellency, Engr. Segun Oni has finally resigned from the PDP.

All the people of Ekiti have decided that they want Segun Oni as gubernatorial candidate on any political platform. And he had harkened to the calls.

In fact, it was the image of Oni that has been promoting the image of PDP in Ekiti State. And once the PDP has decided to kill itself, we have to take a bow and leave.

Ekiti people will not leave Oni alone to go like that because they cant see any other person that can deliver what Oni has been doing for them.

So, it is the voice of the people and not the voice of anybody. As it is now, both PDP and APC will be contesting against the people of Ekiti. And the symbol of the people of Ekiti State is Engr. Oni, Mr Jackson said.

Corroborating him, in a separate interview, former Director of Segun Oni Campaign Organisation, Lanre Ogunsuyi, said the former governors exit followed the high degree of injustice meted to Oni by some powerful forces in the party during the Jan. 26 primary election.

We have just said bye bye to PDP, and His Excellency thanked all the people that worked with him and dissolved all the structures that ran the purported primary in PDP.

What we have now is a confluence of people, called Segun Oni Movement. And by next week, we should have sorted ourselves out, in line with INEC timetable.

It is normal to speculate about politicians especially a politician of Onis stature. He is a former governor and he has just left PDP. What is certain is that we have left PDP, but we are not certain about where we are going, he said.

On why Mr Oni left PDP, he said, Because PDP is a cult. Oni has been consistent in the search for truth. Truth in Nigerian politics means you will be persecuted and all that, and that is all that has been happening.

When you are consistently in the search of truth and fair play, those things have no value in Nigerian politics, he said. (NAN)
The Management of Egbin Power Plc says its power plant at Egbin, Ikorodu, Lagos State, has resumed operations following the recent fire incident at the plant.

The company made this known in a statement posted on its website on Saturday.

It said: Unit (STO5) was put back in service and synchronised to the national grid at 7:57 p.m. on Feb. 4 and is back on stream generating 220MW.

The technical team at the plant is working tirelessly to ensure that an additional 660MW is added to the grid before the weekend runs out.

Egbin continues to work with the regulatory authorities and other stakeholders to achieve full restoration in line with global health, safety, and environmental standards.

The company thanked its employees, partners, stakeholders and the public for their unwavering support, cooperation and understanding.

It reiterated its commitment to bringing energy to life responsibly through safe, innovative and sustainable power generation.

Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said it had restored 180MW out of the 630MW shutdown in Egbin Power Station.

It noted that the ongoing load shedding in the Lagos axis was as a result of the fire incident, which occurred at Egbin Power Station on Wednesday.

TCNs General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, who made this known in a statement, recalled that the fire necessitated the shutdown of all the power generating units at the power plant.

She explained that with the shutdown of the units, a total of 630MW was removed from the grid. (NAN)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Saturday confirmed the release of the Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, who was detained over alleged fraud.

Spokesperson for the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that Mr Okechukwu was released on January 31.

Mr Okechukwu was detained over an alleged case of conspiracy, abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds.

He arrived at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on January 29, around 1:30 p.m., following an invitation by the Commission.

He was reportedly questioned by the antigraft agency and later released on bail. (NAN)
when political battle snowballs into a bagarre of bullets and guns and daggers and full blown violence, Armageddon looms. The important issue isnt that the APC could lose power, but that the gladiators could throw an entire State and its innocent residents and indigenes into chaos. Its needless to say that development is a mirage under such an atmosphere. We have seen it before in Oyo, in Ondo, even in Osun, and elsewhere.

At dawn, just before the sun rose above the horizon, the attacks were launched with feral intensity. By the time dusk fell, not a few Ilorin soldiers had had their heads severed from their bodies by rampaging Ibadan fighters, led by Balogun Ajayi Ogboriefon. The ones who fled the battle field in an attempt to retreat ran into their doom at the rear of Otin river. They drowned and perished. And then the epic 24-hour battle, staged in Ikirun on Friday November 1, 1878, was christened Jalumi Drowned in the river.

Anyone who approaches history in a hurry could misconceive that Battle of Waterloo chiefly as a Yoruba-Fulani war, ostensibly because of its denouement, or, perhaps, its cheeky nomenclature. To be sure, when the Ilorin soldiers were retreating towards Inisa, the Ofa people who cut the bridge across the Otin River from the rear and left the retreating Fulanis of Ilorin devastated were Yoruba. Just like their Ibadan kinsmen who pushed the Ilorin soldiers into the river.

But beneath the rubble of the war layed fratricidal strife and lethal logic built on self-destructive alliances and allegiances. At the base of butchered heads and severed limbs lying in a heap was the attempt by the Ekiti, Ijesa and Ila people to free themselves from the shackles of Ibadan people, whom they considered quite domineering in their pursuit of imperialist agenda across the Yoruba country. As such, they struck an alliance with Ilorin soldiers, who had already considered Ibadan a thorn in the flesh, anyway. In any case, the war was won and lost after the Ilorin soldiers met their waterloo in Otin, in the northeastern part of modern day Osun State.

Today, a battle looms in this same Osun State. It isnt of the same scale as Jalumi, but there are two men at the epicentre of the impending warfare. The tension between both men has moved away from subtle egoistical showboating and veiled innuendos and petty tantrums. Now, like an untamed monster, it has graduated into full blown violence. And because the battle contains all elements of the macabre dance, the consequences are ominous. In a way, it reminds one of the fratricidal genesis of the Jalumi war, and its attendant chaos and destruction.

The main protagonists are Gboyega Oyetola, the governor of Osun State, and Rauf Aregbesola, the immediate past governor and now national minister of Interior. They are both of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and are both acclaimed progressives. During the eight-year reign of Aregbesola, Oyetola served as Chief of Staff. Of course, in the election that brought in Oyetola, Aregbesola played a significant role. So both men were brothers, but today they do not bother about the comradery of the past. Where there was the fraternal love of yesterday, there is now fratricidal hate.

Oyetola, with his background in insurance and finance, emerged with measured mien. He has shown no pretens toe revolutionary ideas, and he appears to have learnt from the chaos of the immediate past, the need to bring relative stability to the state in terms of fiscal concerns. Needlessly controversial policies, for which the opposition pilloried the Aregbesola government, have been reversed  ostensibly in deference to public sentiments.

When brothers fight to death, Achebe warned, a stranger inherits their fathers estate. But the import of the immortal bards words seems to be lost on Osun gladiators. Things seem to have fallen apart completely, and the falcon can no longer hear the falconer.

We saw it in the Ikirun attack where those said to be holding a meeting beside Ifelodun Local Government Area council secretariat clashed with officials of the local government; in Ife where alleged gunmen stormed the home of a former commissioner; in Osogbo where a party stalwart was attacked at the secretariat by factional members.

In the midst of the melee, the two big masquerades have displayed practiced indifference to the chaos and violent theatrics. They have both kept mum, even as their supporters continue to maim.

Those who know how Oyetola came to be in Aregbesolas government would perhaps approach todays fratricidal war with a tinge of epiphany. As events of the recent months have shown, although he was a part of that government in person, especially in its turbulent twilight, it remains doubtful if Oyetola had any profound ideological belief in its policy directions.

Aregbesola danced into the Abere Government House in 2010 with rarefied Marxist-Leninist thought, so he barely kept his excitement in check. He sang, laughed and cried with the people, limping from hamlets to villages with promises of radical ideas like OYes, OMeal, etc. He wanted to change their fortunes. But the problem was that the ideas came with little or no fiscal discipline or foresight, hence the financial turbulence we saw at the twilight of his reign.

Of course, by the time Aregbesola left Osun, the State was in a complete fiscal mess. Salaries and pensions were largely unpaid; bills could barely be settled in government parastatals; and there was so much drama around his policies on education. Its plausible that the former governor meant well with his numerous programmes and projects, which came with asphyxiating loans, but the aftermath was quite devastating.

When brothers fight, they do not care about the implication of striking alliances with anyone, including mutual enemies, to gain advantage over one another. And because the invited party always comes with a more sinister motive, the plausible consequences might be dire for everyone. The history of Yoruba wars is littered with tales of such self-hating fratricidal theatrics.

Oyetola, with his background in insurance and finance, emerged with measured mien. He has shown no pretens toe revolutionary ideas, and he appears to have learnt from the chaos of the immediate past, the need to bring relative stability to the state in terms of fiscal concerns. Needlessly controversial policies, for which the opposition pilloried the Aregbesola government, have been reversed  ostensibly in deference to public sentiments. And as he continues to make a detour in policy pronouncements, there has been bound to be tension.

I reckon now that but for the bitter intrigues of politics, there are ways the ideological differences in philosophy of governance could be resolved between the duo without acrimony. But politicians would always try to outpace one another for influence and control, and the craftiest among them are the silent, meek-looking ones. That perhaps explains why there have been claims and counter-claims around issues of party structure, the sharing of cabinet positions, etc.

To be sure, I do not give a damn about the immediate implication of the Aregbesola-Oyetola battle for the soul of the Osun APC, and the damage it could do to the party in the forthcoming governorship election. But I am worried about the short-sighted attempt to dismiss the supremacy battle as a mere intra-party affair. When brothers fight, they do not care about the implication of striking alliances with anyone, including mutual enemies, to gain advantage over one another. And because the invited party always comes with a more sinister motive, the plausible consequences might be dire for everyone. The history of Yoruba wars is littered with tales of such self-hating fratricidal theatrics. The Ila, Ekiti and Ijesa allied forces that invited the Fulani army of Ilorin to the Jalumi War had the intention of fighting their Ibadan kinsmen and checking their excesses, but the Ilorin saw the invitation as a means to continue its conquest and take its pound of flesh from Ibadan, and by extension, the entire Yoruba country. Although the Ilorin army fell, its the devastating nature of war that many lives equally perished on the side of the victorious Ibadan, too. Same for the Ila, Ekiti and Ijesa.

On Thursday, gunmen suspected to be political thugs attacked Oranmiyan House, the campaign office of Aregbesola, in Osogbo. They reportedly shot sporadically after they invaded the building, and the internet is now littered with pictures of the bullet-riddled edifice. Already, the Aregbesola-supported faction of the APC has called for the immediate transfer of the state Commissioner of Police, Wale Olokode, accusing him of bias. Tension.

War is tragedy, wrote David Mamet, American playwright and author. The great war stories are tragedies. Its the failure of diplomacy And when political battle snowballs into a bagarre of bullets and guns and daggers and full blown violence, Armageddon looms. The important issue isnt that the APC could lose power, but that the gladiators could throw an entire State and its innocent residents and indigenes into chaos. Its needless to say that development is a mirage under such an atmosphere. We have seen it before in Oyo, in Ondo, even in Osun, and elsewhere.

The big masquerades must halt the macabre dance in Osogbo now.

Oladeinde Olawoyin tweets via @Ola_deinde.
In light of recent developments in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in the subregion, I am calling on the ECOWAS to show leadership and strong political will in this matter, and that you should, in your position as Chairman of the ECOWAS, convene an extraordinary session of the Authority of the ECOWAS in order to discuss the matter, and the recommendations proposed in this letter.

I am writing to urge you to provide the leadership necessary for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to apply the ECOWAS treaties and protocols on democracy and human rights with a view to adopting preventive measures to promote the rule of law, end impunity of political leaders, and ensure full respect for citizens human rights, including socio-economic rights.

Following the latest military coup and unconstitutional change of government, the Republic of Burkina Faso has been suspended from the ECOWAS. The coup came on the heels of at least five previous coups from the member states of ECOWAS.

Unfortunately, it has become routine for ECOWAS leaders to act after-the-fact rather than take preventive measures to enforce respect for human rights, the rule of law, and end impunity of political leaders who frequently seek to change their national constitutions for personal gain.

I am concerned that for many years, official impunity, abuse of human rights, grand and systemic corruption, flagrant disregard for the rule of law, and grinding poverty arising from economic mismanagement, have been pervasive throughout the sub-region, and indeed the African continent.

Other legal and constitutional infractions include unconstitutional revisions of national constitutions to keep political leaders in power, and manipulating electoral and other laws to disqualify political opponents and the enhance electoral success of the incumbent.

The persistent failure of the leadership of ECOWAS to take a preventive and active role in dealing with these threats to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law has continued to contribute significantly to recurring coups and unconstitutional changes of government in many countries.

Unlawfully amending national constitutions to remain in office is acting above the law, contrary to ECOWAS treaties and protocols, and other international standards, as well as seriously undermining the democratic systems of member states. It is unsurprising that many of these political leaders continue to act with impunity and do not fear condemnation and sanctions from the ECOWAS.

The failure to take effective and meaningful preventive measures to address these democratic and rule of law deficits will continue to undermine the legitimacy and ability of the ECOWAS to consistently deal with military coups and unconstitutional changes of government in the sub-region.

It is disturbing to note that poverty is on the ascendancy, in spite of the abundant resources of the member states of the ECOWAS. To address the economic crisis, every member state should end the foreign domination of their economy, in accordance with Article 21(5) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, which has imposed a duty on all governments in Africa to eliminate all forms of foreign exploitation particularly that practiced by international monopolies so as to enable their peoples to fully benefit from the advantages derived from their national resources.

Despite the treaties and protocols on democracy and human rights, the ECOWAS has continued to tolerate member states with significant democratic and rule of law deficits. These member states regularly conduct elections that are neither fair, credible, nor free.

More worrisome is the fact that political opponents and activists who oppose illegal constitutional amendments and other infractions are either jailed or killed. Despite the illegality and grave human rights violations in many of these member states, the ECOWAS has continued to send election observers to these countries who usually endorse questionable and seriously flawed elections under purported constitutional amendments.

Furthermore, the lack of political will to respect human rights, reject impunity, and obey the rule of law is exacerbated by the fact that, till date, only six of the sixteen member states of ECOWAS have appointed implementing authorities to enforce the decisions and judgments of the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja. The obligation of ECOWAS leadership to take preventive and effective measures to address democratic and rule of law deficits in several member states is a central part of the responsibility to protect.

Exercising the responsibility to protect would enable member states to address these deficits, as the responsibility to protect incorporates and embraces three important elements: First, the responsibility to prevent: To address both the root causes and direct causes of coups and unconstitutional changes of government. Second, the responsibility to react: To respond to situations of leaders of ECOWAS countries unlawfully changing national constitutional to suit their personal ambitions, blatantly violating the human rights of their own people, and failing to obey the rule of law. Third, the responsibility to rebuild a culture of respect for democratic principles, human rights and the rule of law.

The failure to take effective and meaningful preventive measures to address these democratic and rule of law deficits will continue to undermine the legitimacy and ability of the ECOWAS to consistently deal with military coups and unconstitutional changes of government in the sub-region.

Finally, I also urge you to use your position to ensure that the ECOWAS is able to assert its mandates under its treaties and protocols to immediately push for full and effective respect for democratic principles, human rights, transparency and accountability, as well as the rule of law in each of its member states.

The primary responsibility for implementing human rights lies with governments. But ECOWAS leaders can no longer use the ground of national sovereignty as a pretext for their failure to respond to gross and systematic violations of human rights that affect community citizens, and reject impunity where states fail to perform their legal and constitutional duties.

In light of recent developments in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in the subregion, I am calling on the ECOWAS to show leadership and strong political will in this matter, and that you should, in your position as Chairman of the ECOWAS, convene an extraordinary session of the Authority of the ECOWAS in order to discuss the matter, and the recommendations proposed in this letter.

The ECOWAS should also make the meaningful and effective implementation of its treaties and protocols on democracy and human rights, and obeying the rule of law a condition for retaining the membership of the institution.

To prevent members of the armed forces from hiding under the pretext of fighting insecurity to sack constitutional governments, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) (a combined multinational formation, comprising units of the armed forces from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria) should be revived, expanded and funded to fight insurgency in the region.

Finally, I also urge you to use your position to ensure that the ECOWAS is able to assert its mandates under its treaties and protocols to immediately push for full and effective respect for democratic principles, human rights, transparency and accountability, as well as the rule of law in each of its member states.

While thanking Your Excellency for your precious time and attention, I look forward to continued dialogue on the issues raised in this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Femi Falana.

Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, writes from Lagos.
Bandits have killed at least 30 people, abducted several others, mostly women, in separate attacks Friday afternoon in Zamfara State.

The attacked communities are Nasarawar Mai Fara in Tsafe local government area, Yar Katsina in Bungudu local government area and Nasarawa village in Bakura local government area.

Zamfara, like many of the Nigerian Northwest states, is beleaguered by insecurity in the forms of kidnapping described as banditry. The crime has become rampant and the bandits are seemingly irrepressible.

Thousands of people have been killed or kidnapped by the bandits in the region and extending to Niger State, since 2021. In the first three weeks of 2022, at least 486 people were killed by non-state actors across Nigeria, over half of them by bandits in the North-west and Niger State.

20 killed after failing to pay levy

Multiple sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the attack on Nasarawar Mai Fara in Tsafe local government was due to the failure of the residents to pay a N40 million levy imposed by the bandits.

The levy was imposed by Ada Aleru, a notorious banditry kingpin operating in the area and the Faskari part of Katsina State.

Abubakar Bala, a resident of Tsafe, said residents could not pay the levy, hence the attack.

Mr Balarabe, who has covered conflict for a local radio station and Thunder Blowers Online, said 20 people had been confirmed dead as of Friday evening.

Chief Imam killed

In Bakura area, a health worker, Masud Kyambarawa, told PREMIUM TIMES that three people, including the chief imam of the area, Akilu Dan Malam, were killed.

He said, I was in the town yesterday when the shooting started. We went for a survey. We had to rush to a neighbouring village in Rabah of Sokoto State. It was an unpleasant experience. People, especially women and children, were running into the bush for their lives. Alhamdulillah, we are back now safely but I heard that three people were killed.

In Yar Katsina village of Bungudu, the bandits stopped people from attending the Muslims Jumuat prayers.

A source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told this reporter that when the bandits stormed the village, people were already at the only Jumuat mosque but dispersed immediately.

READ ALSO:

Abdul Balarabe, a local journalist in Gusau, said at least 10 people were killed in the attack.

Ten bodies have been recovered so far and several other people are still missing. Residents are saying they dont know whether those still missing were kidnapped or not. The bandits entered the village during Jumuat prayers, Mr Balarabe said.

Mr Bala of Tsafe lamented the increasing number of attacks on villages and abduction of motorists on the Funtua  Gusau highway.

The dangerous spots are Sheme to Yankara and the axis around Kucheri, a few metres before Tsafe, he said.

The state police command spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, promised to verify the information and get back to this reporter but had not done that as of the time of filing this report.
Farmers in Ikole-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area, Ekiti, have appealed to Governor Kayode Fayemi to empower hunters with logistics to help curb banditry and kidnapping in their communities.

Some of the farmers made this appeal in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ikole-Ekiti on Friday.

They said unknown people invade their farms to harvest, destroy their food crops, kill and kidnap workers in their farms.

One of the farmers, Adekunle Odegbami, said God has been protecting me on several occasions from being kidnapped and killed by unknown gunmen in my farm.

Nobody is safe to stay alone in our huts or farms, whether in the morning or afternoon.

I want to appeal to Gov. Kayode Fayemi to empower local hunters with logistics and permit them to arrest kidnappers tormenting our communities.

Ikole-Ekiti is a very big town and without putting concrete security network in place at the grassroots, government will not be able to curb kidnapping in the communities.

The local hunters are familiar with the forest terrain and possible ways to arrest unknown gunmen disturbing the peace of our communities, he said

Another farmer, Foluso Ajayi, said hunters in the communities were ready to join forces with the security agencies including Amotekun Corps, but had limited backing of the state government.

He said that if the state government could empower the hunters, the security of the lives of residents in the communities would be sustained.

Most of our hunters are fortified spiritually to curb kidnapping but they were not permitted to interfere with the insecurity of the communities.

I am appealing to the state government to give priority to the safety of the citizens at the grassroots and curb crimes in the communities, he said.

Adebayo Ogundele, a farmer, also said the state government should allow the communities to set up security teams that would fight kidnapping, banditry, and armed robbery.

He noted that in spite of the number of kidnappers arrested by security agencies in the communities, some unknown men were still indulging in the wicked act.

The state government should consider the plights of farmers in Ikole-Ekiti communities, who were always at risk of being kidnapped in their lonely farms, he said.

Another farmer, Godwin Ojo, said the security agencies, Nigeria Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and Amotekun corps could not fight against kidnapping alone without the help of local hunters.

The major reason why I am advocating for the recruitment of hunters is because they are spiritually knowledgeable to find a lasting solution to kidnapping in our communities.

For example, I have a friend who is a hunter, he has a farm very close to the forest area, whenever anybody enters his farm to harvest anything, he can easily see the person without leaving his house.

We have many good hunters who are spiritually fortified to handle cases of kidnapping if they are empowered by the state government, he said.

(NAN)
Plattsburgh, NY (12901)

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Rain showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 57F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

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BERLIN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- New orders in Germany's manufacturing industry in December 2021 increased by 2.8 percent month-on-month and 5.5 percent year-on-year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Friday.

While international orders decreased by 3.0 percent month-on-month, with a decline of 4.2 percent in the euro area, domestic orders in Germany grew significantly, up 11.7 percent in December last year, according to Destatis.

Compared with February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, new orders in December 2021 were 9.8 percent higher.

New orders in 2021 as a whole increased by 17.8 percent year-on-year, and 9.3 percent higher than in the pre-pandemic year 2019, according to Destatis.

"Following a sharp decline in October, new orders have now recovered twice in a row and remain clearly above pre-crisis levels," the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action said Friday, stressing that the development was "driven by domestic demand." 
The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Broadcom Inc., Dover Corp., KYOCERA Corp., Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Qorvo Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Skyworks Solutions Inc., STMicroelectronics NV, TAIYO YUDEN Mobile Technology Co. Ltd., and TDK Corp. are some of the major market participants.

Proliferation of Mobile Computing Devices Will Offer Immense Growth Opportunities:

The demand for mobile computing devices is growing among mobile users and business travelers who require portability and connectivity. Consumers are using these devices for several purposes such as accessing social networking apps, surfing the web, reading news and checking emails. High internet penetration rate and the availability of high data rates at affordable speed are driving the demand for mobile computing devices. At present, network traffic is growing at an exponential rate, primarily because of the increased popularity of mobile computing devices. The growth in internet bandwidth is primarily driven by the propagation of mobile computing devices (such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops) with new capabilities. The integration of progressive wireless technologies such as LTE and Wi-Fi in smartphones and tablets has generated an augmented need for new RF features in these devices.

Download Free sample Report for insights on the latest drivers that will help companies evaluate and develop growth strategies for 2020-2024.

RF Filters Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Technology

SAW



BAW

Geography

APAC



Europe



North America



MEA



South America

Application

Cellular Devices



GPS Devices



Tablets



Others

The RF filters market share growth by the SAW segment will be significant during the forecast period. Some of the vendors are expanding their product offerings by launching new variants of SAW RF filter technology and such new technology launches in the segment can influence the market growth. Another factor contributing to the growth of SAW filters during the forecast period will be the increasing investment in fabs by vendors.

To gain further insights on the market contribution of various segments Request for a FREE sample

RF Filters Market 2020-2024: Scope

Our RF filters market report covers the following areas:

RF Filters Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist rf filters market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the rf filters market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the rf filters market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of rf filters market vendors

Related Reports:

Global Radio Frequency Duplexer Market: This market research study presents a detailed segmentation of the global radio frequency (RF) duplexer market by end-users (smartphones, STB, laptops, and tablets), and by geography (Americas, APAC, and EMEA). To get more exclusive Insights: Download Our FREE Sample Report

Global RF Devices for Smart TV Market: This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Global RF Devices market for Smart TV. To get more exclusive Insights: Download Our FREE Sample Report

RF Filters Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2019 Forecast period 2020-2024 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 20% Market growth 2020-2024 $ 15.73 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 16.94 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 36% Key consumer countries China, US, Germany, Taiwan, and South Korea (Republic of Korea) Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Broadcom Inc., Dover Corp., KYOCERA Corp., Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Qorvo Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Skyworks Solutions Inc., STMicroelectronics NV, TAIYO YUDEN Mobile Technology Co. Ltd., and TDK Corp. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Contents:

1. Executive Summary

2. Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 01: Parent market

2.2 Market Characteristics

Exhibit 02: Market Characteristics

2.3 Value chain analysis

Exhibit 03: Value chain analysis  Technology hardware, storage, and peripherals

2.3.1 Inputs

2.3.2 Inbound logistics

2.3.3 Operations

2.3.4 Outbound logistics

2.3.5 Marketing and sales

2.3.6 Service

Support activities

Innovations

For Extended TOC List- Download Our FREE Sample Report

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Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

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Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of KE Holdings Inc. ("KE Holdings" or the "Company") (NYSE: BEKE). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether KE Holdings and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On December 16, 2021, Muddy Waters Research, a market analyst, released a report alleging multiple problems with KE Holdings. Muddy Waters stated, "We are short BEKE because we conclude [KE Holdings] is engaged in systemic fraud, by our estimate, inflating its new home sales GTV by over ~126% and its commission revenues by approximately ~7796%. We found massive discrepancies between the transaction volumes, store count and agent count reported to investors and the transaction data from our multi-month data collection program from BEKE's platform. We corroborated these discrepancies by spot-checking our findings through primary due diligence on BEKE's stores, including field interviews and site visits."

On this news, KE Holdings' stock price fell $0.37 per share, or 1.98%, to close at $18.31 per share on December 16, 2021.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
WHITEFISH, Mont., Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Truwl (https://truwl.com), a Montana-based bioinformatics company, announced that it is releasing a free version of its germline variant-calling benchmarking workflow to remove cost as a barrier to advancing important genomics research.

"We wanted to help all scientists get dependable benchmarking results fast without worrying about the cost," said Karl Sebby, Ph.D., CEO, and co-founder of Truwl. "We will all benefit when scientists have the tools to drive discoveries that improve human health."

The workflow allows users to upload a variant call file (VCF) from their own analysis of the extensively characterized HG002 reference sample. It then compares the submitted VCF to the Genome in a Bottle (GIAB) reference set and measures how well the submitted VCF performs versus winners in the PrecisionFDA v2 challenge. Truwl's community features allow a user to optionally save and share the results as independent evidence of their method's performance.

Truwl chose to release variant benchmarking as its first free community edition workflow because of a widespread yet underserved need to benchmark variant calling workflows, both for computational tool development and validation of genomic assays. The company plans to release more community edition workflows that will increase the community's collective bioinformatics capabilities.

Truwl coordinated with the GIAB team at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) to ensure their product followed best practices. Sebby said: "The GIAB team was extremely helpful with our efforts. They requested an option for users to share results with NIST as a way for them to continue improving their reference sets. We were happy to help strengthen that important resource."

The community variant calling benchmarking workflow can be accessed at https://truwl.com/workflows/ce/variantbenchmarking.

About Truwl

Truwl's proprietary platform allows life sciences researchers and the biomedical community to find, evaluate, and apply computational methods. The company works with genomics testing laboratories for bioinformatics workflow optimization, validation, and performance monitoring; collaborative projects to provide access to standardized data processing capabilities; genomics assay providers to increase access to bioinformatics for their customers; and bioinformatics methods developers to expand the reach and impact of their methods.

Contact

Karl Sebby, Ph.D

[email protected]

SOURCE Truwl
TACOMA, Wash., Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ann Pittier, MD, is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Trusted Radiation Oncologist for her work in the Medical field and in acknowledgment of her work at Tacoma Valley Radiation Oncology Centers.

For twelve years, Dr. Pittier has been in practice at Tacoma Valley Radiation Oncology Centers, located at St. Joseph Medical Pavillion at 1802 South Yakima Ste 103 in Tacoma, WA. She is a Radiation Oncologist who specializes in breast, gynecologic, lung, and head and neck cancers.



Ann Pittier

As a young woman, Dr. Pittier was inspired to pursue a career in medicine and ultimately radiation oncology due to having multiple family members battle cancer. Because of this, she took on a unique perspective on fighting for cures and embracing palliative care when needed. She notes that cancer does not simply affect the individual, but it touches everyone in the patient's life. She works with each patient to help them gain personal control of risk factors to prevent recurrence or development of new cancers. She uses an evidence-based approach for their lifestyle, including plant-based nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction. Cancer care also necessitates helping patients and families transition through end-of-life care.



Dr. Pittier is board-certified in Internal Medicine through the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and board-certified in Radiation Oncology through the American Board of Radiology. Dr. Pittier attended Occidental College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. She then completed Medical school at Trinity College, followed by an Internal Medicine residency at the University of Washington. She then completed a second residency in Radiation Oncology. Today, she is a member of the American Society of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics, American Radiologic Society, and the American Medical Association.



Dr. Pittier is active in the community and participates in cancer-prevention outreach. In addition to providing CME for physicians on techniques in radiation and cancer nutrition, she has provided education for Survivorship groups, Vegetarians of Washington, and individual health groups (as a guest lecture and in podcast format). She started her own Survivorship course focusing on optimal nutrition, exercise, and risk mitigation. Additionally, she sits on the Quality Committee board for Carol Milgard Breast Center, Co-Chairs the Breast Center of Excellence. She is also involved in multiple Cancer committees for the hospital where she works.



She embraces new and cutting-edge radiation techniques, including stereotactic radiosurgery, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and image guidance. Dr. Pittier routinely utilizes brachytherapy, a form of radiation used to cure cervical cancer, uterine cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. She has additional certification in Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, used for brain tumors, metastasis, movement disorders, and pain syndromes.



The motto of Tacoma Valley Radiation Oncology Centers is "Cancer isn't a choice. Where to get treated is." They treat patients at five facilities in Washington, including Tacoma, Puyallup, Gig Harbor, Olympia, and Silverdale.



On a personal note, Dr. Pittier enjoys spending time with her family. Together they, camp, hike, ski, and volunteer for Gig Harbor Wildlife Rescue.



For more information, visit www.tacomaradiation.com.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who
NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest analysis from BizVibe, a leading company insights platform, provides detailed insights for hundreds of natural gas marketing companies and over a thousand natural gas distribution companies worldwide. BizVibe's natural gas marketing company insights highlight the strong influence that high investments in the natural gas distribution sector are expected to have in the coming years for market participants.

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Snapshot of key trend impacting BizVibe's natural gas marketing industry group.

Key Industry Trend  High Investments in Natural Gas Distribution

With governments taking stronger initiatives to develop infrastructure for natural gas distribution, natural gas marketers are positioned well in the market. The rising demand for natural gas for various applications such as power generation and industrial production is prompting companies to invest in natural gas distribution, while investments in pipeline network expansion and modernization are expected to continue in the long term. These investments are likely to significantly boost the growth of the global natural gas market, leading to increased opportunities for natural gas marketers.

Geographic Relevance  High Relevance in Numerous Different Regions

The increasing investments in natural gas distribution are expected to have high relevance globally, but particularly in the regions of South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. For example, in South America, Brazil is expected to increase energy investments in 2022 according to local analysts, while in Europe, the UK is looking to invest 21bn over the next five years into gas exploration and production.

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NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest analysis from BizVibe, a leading company insights platform, provides detailed insights for hundreds of wireless tower construction companies and more than 55,000 nonresidential building construction companies worldwide. BizVibe's wireless tower construction company insights highlight the strong influence that increased investments in robust wireless infrastructure are expected to have in the coming years for market participants.

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Snapshot of key trend impacting BizVibe's wireless tower construction industry group.

Key Industry Trend  Increased Need for Robust Wireless Infrastructure

As more companies bring their businesses online, thus bringing more consumers online, the demand for mobile data and high-speed connections will continue to increase. COVID-19 lockdowns have accelerated digitization, forcing businesses and consumers to go digital. This accelerated digitization has significantly increased e-commerce's market share of the retail trade industry, acting as the primary driving force behind unprecedented growth since 2020.

Geographic Relevance  High Relevance in Densely Populated Areas

Driven by the explosion of data, increased mobile device and computer usages, and more consumers connecting online, the wireless tower construction market will witness a high relevancy globally. However, countries with huge populations like China and India will drive wireless tower deployments as companies try to improve the wireless infrastructure of densely populated areas. In addition, government initiatives which aim to better assist underserved and low-income communities will help drive the demand for wireless tower construction.

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Detailed analysis of 100+ wireless tower construction companies

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SOURCE BizVibe
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrea McCaskey, 2021-2023 President of YWCA Central Alabama Board of Directors, gaveled in the nonprofit's 2022 annual meeting on Jan. 18. Highlights of the virtual meeting included a top award, new members and a Purse & Passion announcement.

Out of an abundance of caution, YWCA's signature annual fundraiser, Purse & Passion, will revert to a virtual format at 11:30 a.m. on March 3. Potential sponsors, table captains and attendees can sign up at purseandpassion.swell.gives.

Each year, YWCA Central Alabama presents its most prestigious award to an outstanding advocate, philanthropist and YW champion. The board selected Eleanor Griffin, a Birmingham resident and Louisville, Ky. native, as the 2021 Jeana P. Hosch Woman of Valor. Griffin is a longtime board member who has been vice president of planning and co-chaired Purse & Passion for several years.

Leigh Davis presented the award to her fellow board member, a former senior publishing executive who is a 34-year veteran of Time Inc./Meredith Corp. She said, "Eleanor's lifelong focus has been creating opportunities for women both in the workplace and in the community. Opening doors for women, especially those at risk, drives Eleanor's commitment to volunteerism. Her leadership and passion for our mission were critical as we transitioned to our first-ever virtual Purse & Passion format during the onset of the pandemic."

Griffin was founding editor of Cottage Living magazine and later editor of Southern Living magazine. Among her numerous editorial awards is her proudest achievement, the Time Inc. Henry Luce Award for outstanding community service.

Griffin counts it an honor to be among past Women of Valor and dedicated most of her acceptance speech to "our hard-working staff. I think their unwavering dedication is the secret sauce to why our Birmingham YW has changed so many lives for the better."

In other business, the board recognized new members, who will serve three-year terms: Iris Fisher (Birmingham), Lt. Rebeca Herrera (Birmingham), Myeisha Hutchinson (Woodlawn), Anna Powell (Mountain Brook), Shella Sylla (Hoover) and DeValerie Williams (Birmingham).

About the YWCA

YWCA Central Alabama is a United Way organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. Visit www.ywcabham.org or contact Public Relations & Social Impact Director Denise L. Berkhalter, APR, at 205-322-9922, ext. 341.

Contact: Denise L. Berkhalter, APR

D 205.322.9922 ext. 341 | [email protected]

SOURCE YWCA Central Alabama
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust ("the Trust") is pleased to confirm that the Endurance22 Expedition, which is aiming to locate, survey and film the wreck of Endurance, the lost ship of renowned polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, has departed on schedule from Cape Town, headed for the Weddell Sea in Antarctica.

The Expedition plans to be at sea for 35 days, but up to 45 days if required, and will be run from the SA Agulhas II, the South African icebreaking polar supply and research ship belonging to the South African Government and managed by the South African company African Marine Solutions (AMSOL). Dr John Shears, Polar geographer and explorer, leads the expedition and Mensun Bound, Falklands-born marine archaeologist, is Director of Exploration.

The wreck is protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty; the team will be using state of the art technology in the form of SAAB's Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles to locate, survey and film the wreck without touching or disturbing it. The technology combines the attributes of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), being able to follow a pre-programmed course with no physical link to the surface, and remote operating vehicles (ROVs), sending digital signals through a fibre optic cable to the surface in real time. On this expedition the Sabertooths will remain on their tether at all times, to prevent their loss under the ice. The expedition has the capability to deploy the Sabertooths from the vessel itself or from ice camps established on suitable ice floes using the two helicopters on board.

On the expedition website, endurance22.org, it is possible to track the course of SA Agulhas II, get the latest news on the expedition, and read social media posts from members of the team.

Education Outreach:

Like Shackleton himself, the Trust regards it as important to communicate information about the expedition and the Antarctic environment to a global audience. Endurance22 aims to bring the story of Shackleton, his ship and the members of his team to new and younger audiences. The FMHT has partnered with video and content platform History Hit and digital content agency and media network Little Dot Studios, who will cover the events in real time and publish material on several digital channels and social media platforms, as well as having a film crew on board documenting the expedition for a premium long-form documentary. Short-form content will be distributed to millions of subscribers across History Hit TV, HistoryHit.com, and History Hit's podcast network and social channels, together with Little Dot Studios' network of owned and operated digital and social media accounts including Timeline World History, Spark and Real Stories. Renowned historian and presenter, Dan Snow, is on board to broadcast about the many facets of a historic expedition to Antarctica such as this one.

The Expedition also includes a representative of Reach the World, the US-based education organisation. RTW will be connecting young people in their classrooms directly with explorers, through live stream interviews and regular updates and material and currently has over 700 classrooms signed up.

Similarly, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is playing an important role in Endurance22; engaging pupils by producing free resources for classroom use. The resources will enable pupils to learn about changes in polar exploration and the different motivations for why people visit Antarctica, as well as this continent's unique frozen environment.

Scientific Research:

Shackleton and other polar explorers made important contributions to our knowledge of the fragile environment of Antarctica. There is still much to learn about the continent and how human activity has an impact on it. The Trust wants to raise awareness of the value of exploration, of increasing our environmental awareness and of scientific study.

Taking part in the expedition will be scientists from a variety of world leading research and educational institutions. Representatives from the South African Weather Service will be deploying weather balloons, ocean floats and ice drift buoys. In additional, German firm Drift & Noise will be carrying out important sea ice research, while Germany's Alfred-Wegener-Institute will be both studying sea ice and learning about the operation of the deep-sea submersibles that will conduct the undersea search. A team from the German Space Agency (DLR) will also be using high resolution satellite imagery to map the sea ice from space. In addition, Aalto University in Finland in partnership with South Africa's Stellenbosch University will conduct a series of important engineering experiments into the impact of the sea ice thickness and strength on the hull and engines of the SA Agulhas II.

Donald Lamont, Chairman of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, said:

"This Expedition is made up of polar explorers, scientists, educators and film-makers of the very highest calibre and we very much look forward to the next few weeks, which will bring to life one of great stories of polar exploration as the team document their findings."

"The preparation has been comprehensive, although not without its challenge, including COVID. The team has remained nimble and determined and this has brought us to where we are today; leaving Cape Town with the plan to locate and survey Endurance, as well as simultaneously carry out scientific studies which we believe will play a considerable role in furthering our understanding of ice conditions and climate change. The Trust is privileged to be enabled to organise the Expedition and hopes that Endurance22 will inspire and educate many, whether young or not so young."

Polar geographer and Expedition Leader, Dr John Shears, said:

"We are very pleased to be heading for the Antarctic today; a landmark moment for what we hope will be a truly historic expedition. I would like to thank the entire team, both those heading to Antarctica and the many in important support functions, for their outstanding work across the past month during the final preparations, which have been suitably thorough, and we leave Cape Town on the S.A. Agulhas II knowing that we have the very best people and technology available to us. We are excited to keep the world up to date with progress on this remarkable Antarctic mission."

Director of Exploration, Mensun Bound, said:

"Embarking on this Expedition to locate the wreck of Endurance is incredibly exciting for all who are involved. We are very grateful to everyone who has made this possible, and we will do everything in our power to shine further light on this inspiring story. We very much hope we can do justice to this magnificent chapter in polar exploration, by capturing images of Shackleton's iconic Endurance to share with the world."

Media contacts

Celicourt Communications

Mark Antelme / Jimmy Lea:

[email protected] / +44 20 8434 2634

www.fmht.co.uk

https://endurance22.org/

SOURCE Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust
RIGA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- An extensive spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Latvia has started affecting the operations of enterprises and institutions whose staff are falling ill with COVID-19 in large numbers, local media reported.

National postal service Latvijas Pasts said Friday that its mail delivery capacity has been seriously impaired by the absence of more than 200 employees.

The postal company said that the employees, recovering from COVID-19 or self-isolating after contact with infected persons, include people performing various jobs at the company. The highest number of infections, it said, has been recorded among postmen and post-office workers.

Provisions of postal services and mail deliveries are disrupted across Latvia, but the situation is especially difficult in the capital city Riga and surrounding municipalities where COVID-19 incidence is much higher than in the rest of Latvia.

To cope with the problem, Latvijas Pasts is shortening the working hours of its post offices from Feb. 7 and is replacing the infected postmen with managerial staff. If needed, some post-offices can be temporarily closed, it said.

The Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reported 10,137 new COVID-19 cases in Latvia on Friday.

This is the second highest number of daily cases ever confirmed in Latvia. On Feb. 2, the CDC reported 10,610 new cases. 
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Direct Marketing Services Sourcing and Procurement Market Analysis

Analysis of the cost and volume drivers and supply market forecasts in various regions are offered in this Direct Marketing Services Sourcing and Procurement research report. This market intelligence report also analyzes the top supply markets and the critical cost drivers that can aid buyers and suppliers devise a cost-effective category management strategy.

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This market intelligence report on Direct Marketing Services Sourcing and Procurement answers to all the critical problems faced by investors who seek cost-saving opportunities in a competitive market. It also offers actionable anecdotes on the industry structure and supply market forecasts including highlights of the top vendors in this market. Our procurement experts have determined effective category pricing strategies that are attuned to the dynamics of this market which can be leveraged to maximize revenue generation against minimum investments on the products.

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Executive Summary

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About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contacts

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ).

In September of 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued a cease-and-desist order to the Company for its "failure to disclose between November 2015 and June 2016 material information regarding its print supplies channel inventory management and sales practices," relating to a variety of tactics used to increase quarterly operating profit, while leading to "an erosion of profit margin and an increase in channel inventory." The SEC also announced that the Company had agreed to pay $6 million to settle the charges.

The Company has also been sued in a securities class action lawsuit for failing to disclose material information, violating federal securities laws, which remains ingoing.

KSF's investigation is focusing on whether HP's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to HP's shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of HP shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-hpq/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and 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, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

[email protected]

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE: QS).

On January 4, 2021, an investigative report issued by Seeking Alpha highlighted numerous measures of subpar performance discovered in the Company's solid state battery products that rendered them "completely unacceptable for real world field electric vehicle performance," contrary to the Company's prior statements touting its battery's performance data. The report also noted other significant challenges "to be overcome before they can put the first car in the field."

Thereafter, the Company and certain of its executives were sued in a securities class action lawsuit, charging them with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. Recently, the court presiding over that case denied the Company's motion to dismiss, allowing the case to move forward.

KSF's investigation is focusing on whether QuantumScape's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to QuantumScape's shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of QuantumScape shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-qs/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and 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, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

[email protected]

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SEMI, the industry association serving the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, today commended the passage of the America COMPETES Act of 2022 by the United States House of Representatives. The bill includes funding for the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America (CHIPS) Act, earmarked to strengthen U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research.

"We are very pleased to see the House pass the America COMPETES Act of 2022 including robust funding for the CHIPS Act programs," said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO. "This bill also includes an important clarification to ensure equipment and materials suppliers can access the Section 9902 grant program. With this provision, the CHIPS programs will attract new manufacturing facilities  including chip fabs and facilities for back-end and upstream suppliers  and support technologies and innovation critical to numerous industries in the U.S. and around the globe. This bill will strengthen the semiconductor supply chain in the United States to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century as well as bolster crucial workforce development programs. We look forward to working with Congress and the Biden Administration to quickly enact this funding into law."

"We continue to urge quick action on the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit and restoration of the ability to immediately deduct research expenses which was removed at the start of this year," Manocha said.

Visit SEMI Global Advocacy to learn more about public policy efforts and developments, and SEMI Workforce Development for more information on efforts to address the microelectronics industry's talent needs.

About SEMI

SEMI connects more than 2,400 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics design and manufacturing. SEMI members are responsible for the innovations in materials, design, equipment, software, devices, and services that enable smarter, faster, more powerful, and more affordable electronic products. Electronic System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance), FlexTech, the Fab Owners Alliance (FOA), the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) and SOI Consortium are SEMI Strategic Technology Communities. Visit www.semi.org to learn more, contact one of our worldwide offices, and connect with SEMI on LinkedIn and Twitter .

SEMI Contact

Samer Bahou/SEMI

Phone: 1.408.943.7870

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE SEMI
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Cloopen Group Holding Limited ("Cloopen" or the "Company") (NYSE: RAAS). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Cloopen and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On or around February 9, 2021, Cloopen conducted an initial public offering ("IPO") in the United States, selling 23 million American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") priced at $16.00 per ADS. Then, on March 26, 2021, just over six weeks after its IPO, Cloopen published its 4Q 2020 and FY 2020 financial results. Cloopen reported 4Q 2020 revenues of just $39.6 million, $2 million short of analysts' consensus, net losses of $46.8 million, representing a staggering 466.9% increase year-over-year, and operating expenses of $27.6 million, representing a 30% increase over 4Q 2019. Cloopen blamed a "change in fair value of warrant liabilities of . . . US$34.4 million" for Cloopen's remarkable net loss and "an increase in the provision for doubtful accounts resulting from increased in accounts receivables" for the 59.2% increase in general and administrative expenses.

On this news, Cloopen's ADS price fell $2.67 per ADS, or 18.52%, to close at $11.75 per ADS on March 26, 2021.

Then, on May 10, 2021, after the market closed, Cloopen filed its Annual Report on SEC Form 20-F, revealing for the first time that its dollar-based net customer retention rate for recurring solutions had hemorrhaged from 102.7% in 2019 to 86.8% by year end 2020.

On this news, Cloopen's ADS price fell $0.62 per ADS, or 6.47%, to close at $8.97 per ADS on May 12, 2021.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
Savannah Resources PLC (AIM:SAV, ETR:SAV, OTC:SAVNF) told investors that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Savannah Lithium Ltda, has been joined as the counter-interested party in litigation brought by the Parish of Covas do Barroso as plaintiff in the Mirandela Fiscal and Administrative Court in Portugal against the Republic of Portugal and the Ministry of Economy as defendants.

In a stock market statement, the company noted that the litigation seeks to nullify certain administrative actions by the defendants in June 2016, including the addition of lithium to and the expansion in the area of the C-100 Mining Lease.

The lease, which is host to the Barroso Lithium Project, is fully granted, has a term of 30 years to 2036 and remains in good standing, it added.

The advice from Savannah's lawyers is that the claim is without foundation and will be challenged by Savannah as the counter-interested party alongside exploring all potential options, including making a claim for damages against the plaintiff, the company said.

The litigation neither impacts the Barroso Lithium Project's activities nor the current environmental impact assessment process which is moving to a conclusion.
Washington, Feb 5 : The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has endorsed recommendation from its vaccine advisers for use of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for people ages 18 years and older.

The recommendation came after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday granted full approval to the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We now have another fully approved Covid-19 vaccine," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a statement.

"If you have been waiting for approval before getting vaccinated, now is the time to join the nearly 212 million Americans who have already completed their primary series. CDC continues to recommend that people remain up to date on their Covid-19 vaccines, including getting a booster shot when eligible," she said.

Earlier on Friday, the CDC's vaccine advisers voted unanimously to recommend the two-dose Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for people ages 18 years and older.

The vaccine, named Spikevax, joins Pfizer-BioNTech's formulation as the two fully-approved Covid-19 vaccines in the United States.

The full approval suggests Spikevax meets the FDA's rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Srinagar, Feb 5 : An encounter has started between terrorists and security forces at Zakura area in Central Kashmir's Srinagar district, officials said on Saturday.

"Encounter has started at Zakura area of Srinagar City. Srinagar Police on the job," police said.

The firefight between terrorists and security forces took place after a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.
Srinagar, Feb 5 : Two LeT terrorists were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Srinagar's Zakura area, officials said on Saturday.

"Two terrorists of terror outfit LeT/TRF neutralised by Srinagar Police. One of the killed terrorists Ikhlaq Hajam was involved in recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at Hassanpora, Anantnag. Incriminating materials including two pistols recovered," J&K Police said in a tweet citing Inspector General Police Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar.

A joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the gunfight.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : With more than 3.4 million followers on Trell, this 24-year old Chennai-based beauty content creator on Trell produces 3-minute vertical videos in the Tamil language about make-up tips and hacks that are completely gender-neutral.

As a make-up enthusiast, he is keen to see more men being open about using make-up and skincare products confidently. Traditionally, men have contributed to a small percentage in the global beauty industry valued at around $532 billion. But he feels that rising awareness on skincare is dissolving this parity between the male and female shoppers in the beauty industry.

Stressing that the newer generation has brought self-care into the mainstream and that the concept of self-love and self-care are now widely accepted, compared to how it was a couple of years ago, he tells IANS, "With time, self-care has also become gender-inclusive. Earlier, men wearing make-up or using beauty products was unheard of since men were expected to fit societal stereotypes of masculinity. This is not necessarily the case now." He also adds that the growth of social media in the last few years has allowed male content creators to share their creative expression with large communities which have been instrumental in helping break down age-old stereotypes of make-up and beauty being a "girls-only" industry.

"I would say the trend has picked up in the past 4 to 5 years, but it has become very prominent in the last 2-3 years. The pandemic has surely accelerated self-care," he says.

Peterson who has a degree in fashion smiles that he has always "loved" being in front of the camera and been passionate about makeup and skincare. "Content creation has allowed me to pursue my love for camera and make-up, and build a career out of it. After completing my studies, I started posting content on social media on makeup hacks. When it comes to beauty, there are a lot of things that go hand-in-hand for both men and women. Hence, I try my best to create content that shares gender-neutral tips and tricks which benefit everyone. Over time, my work gained popularity and I have been able to build a huge community." Agreeing that unlike men in major metros, most in small-town India may not be very comfortable talking about skincare etc, he attributes the same to lack of exposure. "Yes, the latter is most likely to say -- 'We are men. We don't need to do all this, it's only for women'." Talk to him about how he decided to make content in Tamil, and he says there are a huge number of people interested in the type of content he creates but faces a language barrier. "This is something Trell has been able to address, as it encourages creators to share content across regional languages. I personally believe that I have bridged that gap by creating content that speaks to all audiences now." Ask him for some skin care tips, and he is happy to oblige, saying that sunscreen and lip balm are two important elements most men tend to ignore. "Sunscreen is absolutely a must-use. The results might not be evident immediately, but with age, you'll realize how wearing sunscreen every day helps your skin age gracefully. A lip balm is extremely important as well. I have observed that a lot of men avoid it because they assume it is for women. Keeping your lips moisturized is as important as keeping your skin moisturized. And yes, you have to be consistent in order to see the best results." Peterson's family and friends are quite comfortable with the kind of content he creates. "I am lucky that people around me have always been supportive."
Customers wearing face masks wait in line to enter a store at a shopping center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Feb. 4, 2022. Canada confirmed 10,336 new COVID-19 cases Friday afternoon, elevating its national caseload to 3,106,549 with 34,493 deaths, CTV reported. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

People wearing face masks arrive at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on Feb. 4, 2022. Canada confirmed 10,336 new COVID-19 cases Friday afternoon, elevating its national caseload to 3,106,549 with 34,493 deaths, CTV reported. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

A man wearing a face mask arrives at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on Feb. 4, 2022. Canada confirmed 10,336 new COVID-19 cases Friday afternoon, elevating its national caseload to 3,106,549 with 34,493 deaths, CTV reported. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

A man wearing a face mask is seen behind a sign reminding people to wear face masks at a shopping center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Feb. 4, 2022. Canada confirmed 10,336 new COVID-19 cases Friday afternoon, elevating its national caseload to 3,106,549 with 34,493 deaths, CTV reported. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)
Kabul, Feb 5 : At least 318 media outlets in Afghanistan have closed since the Taliban took over the country in August last year, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said.

In a report released this week, the IFJ expressed concerns over the status of Afghan media community, reports TOLO News.

"The crisis has hit newspapers the hardest with just 20 out of 114 continuing to publish," the report read.

"Fifty-one TV stations, 132 radio stations and 49 online media outlets have ceased operations." Based on the report, only 2,334 journalists are still employed "from a pre-Taliban high of 5,069".

Seventy-two per cent of journalists who lost their jobs are women, according to the IFJ. Currently, 243 women are still employed.

"From threats to draconian reporting restrictions and from economic collapse to the withdrawal of development funding the picture is catastrophic, not just for journalists who have lost their jobs or been forced to flee but also for citizens who are being denied access to information," IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said.

The Afghan media community called on the Taliban government to help the media gain access to information.

"If the immediate steps are taken towards the situation of the media in the country, only some certain number of media organizations will be active in Afghanistan in the near future," TOLO News quoted Hujatullah Mujadidi, head of the Head of the Afghan Independent Journalists Association, as saying on Friday.

"We call on the international community to invest in media to protect the process of access to information in the current Afghan situation," said Hafizullah Barakzai, head of the Afghanistan Journalists Council.

Some journalists called on the international community to address the collapse of the Afghan media community.

"If the restrictions imposed on media remain in force, the media organisations will stop operating and will collapse," said Samiullah Pam, a journalist.

"We call on the international community to seriously consider the situation of the Afghan media. We call on the government to assist with the media in access to information," journalist Naseem said.

This comes as the Taliban announced earlier that the Media Violation Commission and a Joint Commission of media and the government would be established soon.
Kabul, Feb 5 : The alleged abduction of at least four female Afghan activists have sparked global concerns, with many public figures and organisations demanding information about their whereabouts, a media report said.

While Tamana Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhil went missing two weeks ago, Zahra Mohammadi and Mursal Ayar disappeared this week, said the TOLO News report.

The US special envoy for Afghan women, Rina Amiri, said that if the Taliban government seeks legitimacy from the world and the people inside Afghanistan, it must respect the human rights of the Afghans.

"These unjust detentions must stop. If the Taliban seek legitimacy from the Afghan people and the world they must respect Afghans' human rights - especially for women - including the freedom of expression and immediately release these women, their relatives and other activists," Amiri said on Twitter.

Some women's rights activists called on the international community to take serious steps to release of the detained female activists.

"This is concerning that women are going missing one day after another. There is no guarantee. Tomorrow, maybe I or someone else who is fighting for their rights will be arrested," Sonia, a female rights activist who participated in the recent protest in Kabul, told TOLO News.

"If the women are being detained for the sake of the protest, this is injustice because protesting is our right and we will continue it," said Bahara, another women's rights activist.

Meanwhile, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it sought "urgent information" from the Interior Ministry on the alleged abductions.

"UN repeats its call for all disappeared women activists and relatives to be released," UNAMA said on Twitter.

Some social media users launched a campaign calling for the release of the detained women.

"When there are forces of the government everywhere in the country, it is unacceptable to believe the government is not aware of the disappearance of the women. The government should be accountable," said a protestor, Waheeda.
Washington, Feb 5 : The US Department of Defense (DoD) has said the August 2021 attack at the Kabul airport that killed 183 people, including 13 American service members, was carried out by using a single explosive device.

The attack took place on August 26, 2021 at the airport's Abbey Gate as US service members worked to evacuate American citizens and Afghans following the fall of the country to the Taliban.

The victims comprised 170 Afghan civilians and among the American personnel were 11 Marines, a soldier and a sailor. Forty-five others were also injured.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terror group's Khorasan unit (IS-K), that has carried out several other bombings since the Taliban came to power.

While presenting the findings of an investigation into the attack, Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command, said on Thursday: "The investigation found that a single explosive device killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US service members by explosively directing ball bearings through a packed crowd into our men and women at Abbey Gate.

"The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire either US or Afghan. This conclusion was based upon the careful consideration of sworn testimony of more than 100 witnesses, and especially those witnesses and Observation Towers - both American and British - who were in locations unaffected by the blast, and that had commanding views of the scene before, during and after the explosive attack." McKenzie went on the say that at the time of the attack, "the best information we had indicated that it was a complex attack by both a suicide bomber and IS-K gunmen".

"We now know that the explosively fired ball bearings cause wounds that look like gunshots, and when combined with a small number of warning shots, that lead many to assume that a complex attack had occurred.

"The fact that this investigation has contradicted our first impression demonstrates to me that the team went into this investigation with an open mind in search of the truth," he added.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted people of the country on he occasion of 'Saraswati Puja' and 'Basant Panchami' marking the arrival of spring season.

"I wish that the arrival of spring brings happiness, prosperity and best of health in the lives of all the countrymen and Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of learning, illuminates everyone's life with the light of knowledge," tweeted President Kovind in Hindi.

Taking to Twitter, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said: "Hearty congratulations to the countrymen on the occasion of Basant Panchami. As per Indian tradition, it is the festival of Vagdevi Saraswati. On this auspicious day, may Goddess Saraswati bless everyone with knowledge, wisdom." Extending his greetings in Hindi , Prime Minister Modi said: "May Maa Sharda's blessings be with you all, and Basant, the king of seasons, bring happiness to everyone's life." Basant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja, in celebrated in the honour of the Goddess Saraswati and it marks the preparation for the arrival of spring.
Bali, Feb 5 : The Indonesian resort island of Bali has officially resumed international direct flights carrying foreign tourists for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, but mandatory quarantine is still required.

The overseas travellers have to show Covid-19 vaccination certificates taken at least 14 days before departure and also provice negative results of RT-PCR tests from their countries of origin at a maximum of 48 hours before departure, reports Xinhua news agency.

The quarantine period is five days for fully vaccinated travellers and seven days for travellers who have received only the first dose.

It should take place in a hotel or on a 'liveaboard' certified by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Bali had opened to visitors from China, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates since mid-October 2021, but there have been no direct flights since then.

Indonesia recorded a drastic slump in the number of foreign visitors up to 1.6 million people last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the pandemic struck, Bali alone could welcome 6.2 million foreign visitors a year on average, according to data from Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Famous for its beaches, surfing, temples and nightlife, the resort island usually accounts for 54 per cent of Indonesia's economy for the tourism sector.

The Southeast Asian country expected the reopening of flights to the world-renowned holiday island to help bounce back the country's tourism sector after it was hit hard by the pandemic.

"I hope the reopening can help revive the people's economy on the island," Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Friday.

Bali's reopening however, came amid a steady increase in Covid-19 cases in the country.

As of Friday, Indonesia confirmed 32,211 new Covid-19 infections, raising its tally of infections to 4,446,694, while the total number of confirmed Omicron cases in the archipelagic country has increased to 3,161, according to data from the country's Health Ministry.

"All steps we've taken have undergone calculation and careful considerations. But remember that all travelers must strictly comply with the health protocols regulated by the Indonesian Covid-19 Task Force. All of this will be meaningless if we are not disciplined," Pandjaitan said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Sanaa, Feb 5 : The Yemeni army has advanced into the northern district of Harad near the Saudi Arabian border, recapturing a military camp, a village, and a series of strategic mountains from the Houthi militia.

"The operation began at dawn with heavy support from warplanes of the Saudi-led Arab coalition backing the Yemeni government forces," a military source told Xinhua news agency late Friday.

The operation came simultaneously with another offensive launched by the Yemeni army to recapture districts in the oil-rich province of Marib.

Last month, the Houthi militia lost several districts in the southeastern province of Shabwa.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
London, Feb 5 : Over half of all firms engaging in importing business from the European Union (EU) to Britain have found the new border controls "challenging", a new survey has revealed.

The full customs control, as agreed in Brexit deals, requests that British importers make a full customs declaration on goods entering the UK since January 1, 2022, as the once-introduced 175-day cushion period is due, reports Xinhua news agency.

Some controls, including certificates and physical checks on agri-foods and plant imports, are being postponed till July 1 this year.

Twenty-two per cent of the involved businesses responded that the controls are "very challenging", according to the survey by the Institute of Directors.

Another 36 per cent considered them "quite challenging", it added.

Small businesses have been disproportionately hit, according to the survey. Thirty-one per cent of them reported "very challenging", compared to 12 per cent of medium-sized ones and only 7 per cent of larger ones.

"Our members have told us these challenges are mainly due to added administration and paperwork, which in many cases means taking on extra costs," said Emma Rowland, policy advisor at the organisation.

Smaller businesses "do not have the capacity that larger businesses do to shoulder this burden, both in terms of time and resource", she said.

Rowland urged the government to ramp up awareness and resources for small and medium-sized enterprises ahead of additional controls coming later this year.
Srinagar, Feb 5 : A soldier was killed and another was injured on Saturday by a speeding truck in Srinagar, police sources said.

The accident took place near the fruit mandi in Parimpora area on the outskirts of the city.

The soldiers were part of a road opening party (RoP) deployed to secure security force convoys and VIP movement on the highway.

"After hitting the soldiers, the truck driver did not stop, and fled away from the spot. Trooper Sanjay Kumar died on the spot while another soldier, Rafiq Ahmed has been shifted to hospital for treatment," the sources said.

The two soldiers belonged to the territorial army.

The police have registered a case.
New York, Feb 5 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to "reaffirm our vitally important strategic partnership" when they are in Australia for a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Quad bloc next week, said Daniel Kritenbrink, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific.

At the Quad meeting, "I'm confident that part of that discussion will relate to the challenges that China poses to those values (of the Quad) and to that rules-based order in a number of sectors", Kritenbrink said on Friday.

The meeting will take place as the world's attention is focused on the situation in Europe where the US is facing off Russia over Ukraine, and will be an opportunity for Washington to reaffirm its continuing commitment to the Indo-Pacific strategy and to the Quad.

The message that Blinken will project through the meeting is that "in this era of intense competition, changing strategic landscapes, economic coercion, and, of course, this very difficult global pandemic, there is no greater global partnership than what we are trying to accomplish through the Quad with Australia, India and Japan", Kritenbrink said.

The meeting is being hosted by Austria's Marise Payne and Japan's Hayashi Yoshimasa will also be there.

Jaishankar tweeted on January 27 that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and, according to media reports, Australian officials had hoped that the schedule of the meeting would allow time for him to recover.

In opting for a direct meeting instead of a virtual consultation despite the pandemic, Kritenbrink said that "there is simply nothing like these face-to-face meetings to solidify and institutionalize what we view as a foundation of our foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific".

This will be the fourth meeting of the Foreign Ministers and it follows last September's Quad summit of US President Joe Biden, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Scott Morrison of Australia, and Yoshihide Suga, who was the then premier of Japan.

Although, as Kritenbrink said that Jaishankar and Blinken speak frequently, this will be their first in-person meeting since they last met in October in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

Last year's annual 2+2 India-US ministerial meeting of Jaishankar and Blinken, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin that was expected to have taken place in December had been postponed because of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India around that time.

Asked if Ukraine would figure at the Quad ministerial, Kritenbrink said: "As leaders of - for the world's key democracies, I think it will be natural for them to address all of the important issues of the day, and I'm sure Ukraine will be one of them, given the seriousness of the issue and the threat it poses to the rules-based global order.

"I would underscore at the outset that the primary reason why Secretary Blinken is going on this trip is to demonstrate, first, the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to the prosperity and the security of the United States and the American people. The Indo-Pacific is absolutely central to our national interests and will have a great impact, again, on our own security and prosperity.

"Secondly, the Secretary will demonstrate the strength and the credibility of America's commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, and specifically to our most important partners and democratic allies in the region." Talking about China, Kritenberg said: "The Quad is an informal grouping of like-minded democracies who share many interests, principles, and values vis-a-vis the kind of region that we want to live in - a region based on a rules-based order in which all countries big and small follow the rules, a region in which disputes are resolved peacefully, and in which countries have the freedom to make their own sovereign choices.

"It's through this partnership that we're strengthening the security environment in the region to push back against aggression and coercion." The Quad has evolved into a cooperative for joint action in the Indo-Pacific region on health and development going back to its roots when the four countries came together to provide relief in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

A key programme during the Covid-19 pandemic is to jointly provide 1 billion doses of vaccines to countries in the region by the end of the year.

The vaccines are being manufactured by India with US and Japanese financing, and Australia is to provide the logistics for their distribution.

"It is through our partnership with these three democratic countries that we are moving so fast to deliver vaccines around the world and to build a stronger health infrastructure," Kritenbrink said.

"And it will be through this partnership that we help support global economic recovery. We intend to demonstrate that our partnerships deliver, and they deliver practical and real benefits to our own peoples and to the peoples of the region." Blinken will also visit Fiji where 18 leaders from Pacific Island nations have been invited to participate in a hybrid meeting with him.

Besides the pandemic and climate change, they will "issues related to the maritime domain from maritime security to illegal fishing", Kritenbrink said.

Maritime issues in the region centre around China's claims, operations of its fishing fleets and actions by its coast guard against fishing personnel of other countries.

Blinken will end his trip in Honolulu with a meeting with Admiral John Aquilino, the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and a trilateral ministerial with South Korea's Foreign Minister Chung Eui-Yong.

North Korea's recent missile tests and the security situation in the region be on the trilateral's agenda, State Department spokesperson Ned Price had said earlier.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Seoul, Feb 5 : The US and eight other countries have called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to condemn North Korea's recent missile tests after the council's closed meeting apparently failed to take any concrete action against Pyongyang.

Friday's meeting marked the second attempt by the US and other like-minded countries in just about two weeks to hold North Korea to account for its recent series of missile launches, Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday.

North Korea staged its seventh and last round of missile launch of the year on January 30.

"The DPRK's January 30 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a significant escalation in the DPRK's recent violations of multiple Security Council resolutions and seeks to further destabilize the region. We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a joint statement.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The statement was signed by the UN representatives from eight other UNSC member countries -- Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

They noted the IRBM marked the longest-range test conducted by North Korea since late 2017, also adding Pyongyang has so far fired nine ballistic missiles in the seven rounds of missile tests this year.

"The nine ballistic missiles launched in January is the largest number of launches the DPRK has conducted in a single month in the history of its WMD and ballistic missile programs," they said in their joint statement.

"We call on all Council members to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and unlawful acts," they added.

North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing since November 2017 when it last test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, following its sixth and last nuclear test in September that year.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
February 05 : Fans were shocked when on Friday, Nora Fatehis Instagram account went inactive. Late Friday night, she returned back on Instagram and gave the reason for her short exit.

After her Instagram account, where she enjoys 37.6 million followers, went inactive, fans were concerned on Friday. Late at night on Friday, Nora returned to Instagram and shared a note, in which she revealed that there was an attempt to hack her Instagram account. Nora took to her Instagram stories and wrote, "Sorry guys there was an attempted hack on my Instagram! Someone's been trying to get into my account since the morning! thanks to the Instagram team for helping me sort this out quickly!"

Soon after returning to her Instagram page, Nora dropped a number of pictures from a trip to an animal reserve in Dubai, where she spent time with some white lions, who were rescues from circus. In the pictures and a video, Nora was seen feeding a lion. Sharing the video, Nora wrote, This was scary.. thanks to Masood and his entire team for giving me this opportunity to interact with these beautiful animals who have been rescued from circuses and mistreatment. Your whole team is doing a great job at rehabilitating them.. This was a surreal experience for me and Ill remember it forever.

Nora also shared her picture from the Dubai vacation, wherein she can be seen in a black swimwear near the pool. In another video, the actress can be seen feeding a baby hyena with a bottle, making kissing faces at a chimpanzee and talking to an owl.

Nora was last seen in Guru Randhawa's music video, Dance Meri Rani. She was previously a part of Guru's music video Naach Meri Rani as well.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : Traditional medicine manufacturer Hamdard is looking to further diversify its product offerings by entering into new consumer segments.

In a conversation with IANS, Hamdard Laboratories' Chairman Abdul Majeed confirmed the company's plans to bring out new offerings in the form of face washes, shampoos and oral hygiene products.

"We are currently working on new consumer products. Those products which are easily acceptable to the new generation of millennials," he said.

Besides, the company is working on products based on medicinal oils which are even safe to consume.

"We are working on products based on medicinal oils. Currently, we make at least 28 different types of oils in Unani medicines which have therapeutic value. We are looking at five or six areas (products) based on these oils." According to Majeed, Hamdard is evolving into a company which provides holistic healthcare solutions to consumers, be it in any format, for which it is necessary to enter into new segments.

"We have to prove the benefits of our Unani and herbal medicines in new formats, so that we can prove their efficacy." At present, apart from Unani medicines, the company manufactures 'Chyawanprash' amongst other supplements.

"As the market progresses, you have to go with the trend. So, now we have spruced up our R&D for the same, we have got good consultants, who are helping us develop these products." "We started with an R&D investment of at least 2 per cent of our turnover. In the next five years, it would cross five to six per cent on a year to year basis. it will be more than Rs 100 crore." Furthermore, he pointed out that the pandemic has shown the strength of India's traditional medicines in boosting immunity.

"Both -- Ayurveda and Unani -- medicines have been a great help in boosting immunity during Covid. In a country like India the immunity element was led by traditional medicines, while the other part of the fight was led by vaccines and antivirals that were available." "This pandemic has made everyone realise the importance of traditional medicine and how it can help in the fight against this virus. Pandemic has widened the scope of information available to the people about traditional supplements." On the current wave of pandemic, he stated that subsequent phases are expected to be mild, however, safety protocols would still need to be followed.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)
Hyderabad, Feb 5 : Senior politician, former MP, and one of the BJP's pioneer leaders from Telangana, Chandupatla Janga Reddy passed away on Saturday morning. He was 87.

Braving the Congress wave in the 1984 parliamentary elections following Indira Gandhi's assassination, C Janga Reddy stood out as one of the only two BJP candidates who won their way to Parliament. It was also the BJP's debut in the Lok Sabha.

Incidentally, the BJP leader had trounced former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao of the Congress, from the Hanumakonda parliamentary constituency in those elections.

Reddy who was born in 1935, had his early grounding as a Jan Sangh worker. Between 1967 and 1984, he also had stints as an MLA representing the Parakal and Sayampet Assembly segments in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

BJP leaders, including union minister G Kishan Reddy and Telangana unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar have condoled Janga Reddy's death.

Chief Minister Sri K Chandrasekhar Rao has mourned the death of the senior political leader and former MP. The CM conveyed his condolences to members of the bereaved family.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : Genocide Watch, a US-based organisation that campaigns against all forms of mass murder, has recognised the crimes committed by the Pakistani forces during Bangladeshs Liberation War in 1971 as genocide, bdnews24 reported.

"Genocide Watch recognizes the crimes committed by the Military Forces of Pakistan against the Bengali population in Bangladesh in 1971 as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," the organisation said in the declaration on Thursday in commemoration of 50 years of the genocide.

The Washington D.C.-based NGO works to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder.

"These crimes by the Pakistani Military Forces constituted the crimes against humanity of murder, extermination, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance of persons, and other inhumane acts," the declaration states.

"Strong evidence supports the conclusion that the crimes committed against the Bengalis of East Pakistan during 1971 were widespread and systematic and carried out by the Pakistani Army, other militia forces (Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams etc.), and pan-Islamic political forces (including Jamat e Islam, Nezam e Islam and the Muslim League).

"Conclusive research by internationally recognized genocide experts indicates that the nature, scale and organization of the Pakistani Military operations demonstrates planning and intentional design by the Pakistani junta leadership and military command to destroy a substantial part of the Bengali ethnic and national group and a substantial part of the Bengali Hindu religious group," the report said.

Gregory Stanton, an expert in genocide studies and founder of Genocide Watch, called upon the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution recognising the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh.

He urged the member states of the United Nations, especially the US, the UK, and Pakistan, to recognise the crimes committed by Pakistani Military Forces in Bangladesh as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

The declaration also urged member states of the UN to take necessary measures to recognise these crimes in appropriate fora, and to charge surviving leaders of this genocide in national courts with universal jurisdiction.

It called for proper reparations for these crimes from Pakistan to Bangladesh.

Tawheed Reza Noor, son of slain journalist Serajuddin Hossain, applied for the recognition of Genocide Watch in December, the report said.

"This international recognition of the genocide during Bangladesh's Liberation War is a great achievement for us. I am really proud to be involved with this," he told bdnews24.com.

He believes the declaration by Genocide Watch has taken Bangladesh one step forward on the way to get global recognition of the 1971 crimes against humanity.

His application had earned Bangladesh a similar recognition from US-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention in January. It recognised the brutal slaughter of Bangladeshis by the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971 as a "genocide", the report said.
Chennai, Feb 5 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has urged Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to discuss participation of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the annual festival at St Antony's Church in Katchatheevu with the Sri Lankan Government.

He expressed concern over the denial of participation in the festival to the fishermen of Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan government.

In a letter to the External Affairs Minister, the Chief Minister said that generally in the months of February and March, the Tamil Nadu government used to provide all facilities to the devotees from the fishing community of the state to participate in the annual festival of St. Antony's Church in Katchatheevu. However citing some reasons, the Sri Lankan government denied permission to the devotees to participate in the festival this year.

He said that the news of denial of participation by the Sri Lankan government was received with a heavy heart by the fishermen. The community is deeply attached to the St. Antony's shrine in Katchatheevu for spiritual reasons and requested the Union External affairs minister to take up the issue with the Sri Lankan government.

The chief minister also mentioned that the intervention of the Union External Affairs Minister would lead to the betterment of relationship between the people of the two countries.
London, Feb 5 : After Moderna refused to share its mRNA vaccine knowledge, South African scientists backed by the World Health Organization (WHO), made a copy of the jab developed by the US drugmaker.

The vaccine developed by new vaccine - Afrigen Biologics may help boost vaccination rates across Africa, which has the lowest uptake of Covid shots in the world, the BBC reported.

The Cape Town-based company hopes to begin clinical trials in November.

Moderna previously said it would not enforce the patents on its vaccine, allowing scientists in Cape Town to make their own version of it, the report said.

"We have used the sequence, which is the same sequence as the Moderna vaccine 1273," Petro Terblanche, director of Afrigen Biologics, was quoted as saying.

"This is part of a global initiative to build capacity and capability in low and middle-income countries to become self-sufficient,"Terblanche said adding, they were starting small, but had ambitions to scale up quickly.

The mRNA vaccines carry the molecular information to make the protein in the host using the synthetic RNA of the virus. The host body produces the viral protein that is recognised by the immune system, thereby enabling the body to fight against the disease.

mRNA vaccines are considered safe as mRNA is non-infectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by standard cellular mechanisms. They are highly efficacious because of their inherent capability of being translated into proteins in the cell.

Pfizer-BioNTech also made its vaccine using the same technology. Both PfizerA and Moderna's shots were some of the first Covid vaccines to be authorised for use around the world.

In June last year, the WHO helped set up Africa's first Covid mRNA vaccine technology-transfer hub in South Africa, with participants including Afrigen, the Biovac Institute and local universities. The aim was to scale up vaccine production to address those massive shortfalls in the developing world.

The WHO had reached out to Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech to help teach researchers in low- and middle-income countries how to make their Covid-19 vaccines. But the companies did not respond.

Moderna's shot was chosen to replicate because more information on its development was available publicly, compared with Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine.

According to Afrigen's chief scientist, Dr Caryn Fenner, the achievement has been "really significant".

"It puts the power in our hands to be able to produce our own vaccines for the future, to be ready for further pandemics, to produce clinical trial material on African soil and then to look at other diseases of relevance in Africa," Fenner said.

However, it could take a couple of years for large-scale production to begin. Yet it may stop the need for reliance on wealthy countries for vaccines, especially since the technology has also elicited potent immunity against infectious disease targets in animal models of influenza virus, Zika virus, rabies virus and others, especially in recent years.

It has also been employed in numerous cancer clinical trials, with some promising results showing antigen-specific T cell responses and prolonged disease-free survival in some cases.
Los Angeles, Feb 5 : Actress Nina Dobrev has joined Aaron Eckhart in action-thriller 'The Bricklayer', which will start next month in Europe.

'Cliffhanger' and 'Die Hard 2' filmmaker Renny Harlin is directing the movie, which The Expendables outfit Millennium Media is producing with Gerard Butler after both teamed up with Eckhart on the lucrative 'Has Fallen' franchise, reports deadline.com.

In 'The Bricklayer', someone is blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it look like the agency is responsible. As the world begins to unite against the US, the CIA must lure its most brilliant and rebellious operative out of retirement, forcing him to confront his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy.

The film will be shot at Millennium's Nu Boyana Greece studio and its Nu Boyana Bulgaria facility. Screenplay comes from Hanna Weg and Matt Johnson.

Producers are G-Base's Alan Siegel, Butler and Danielle Robinson; Eclectic Pictures' Heidi Jo Markel; and Millennium Media's Jeffrey Greenstein, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger, Yariv Lerner and Rob Van Norden. Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson and Tanner Mobley from Millennium are executive producers.

Bulgarian-born Canadian actress Dobrev is best known for her roles in the 'The Vampire Diaries', 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' and Summit's 'Perks of Being a Wallflower'. Recent work include Netflix's 'Love Hard' and 'Redeeming Love' while upcoming are Netflix's 'The Out-Law' and comedy 'The Reunion'.
Ramallah, Feb 5 : At least 159 Palestinian protesters were injured during clashes with the Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

The medical teams treated 79 Palestinians injured near the villages of Beita and Beit Dajan, located south and east of Nablus city respectively, the PRCS said in a statement sent to Xinhua news agency.

Among the 79 injured Palestinians were two young men shot by live bullets and moved by ambulance to the main hospital in Nablus, it added.

In addition, nine others were slightly injured by rubber-coated metal bullets fired by the Israeli soldiers, including a female journalist who was shot in her face, while 68 suffered suffocation after inhaling tear gas fired by the soldiers.

Since May 2021, Beita village has witnessed almost daily clashes with Israeli soldiers in protest against establishing a settlement outpost on lands owned by the village's residents.

Beit Dajan village has seen weekly protests organised by Palestinian activists against the Israeli confiscation of lands and settlements' expansion in the West Bank.

According to the PRCS, at least three Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers near the city of Qalqilya during protests in a village east of the city.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement the Israeli army and settlers for their assaults on the Palestinians and their properties across the West Bank, noting "these assaults will block any opportunity for resuming the peace process." There has been no official Israeli comment on the incidents.
Chennai, Feb 5 : Director Bryan B George's upcoming investigative thriller 'Koorman', featuring actors Rajaji, Janani Iyer and Balasaravanan in the lead, will revolve around a mentalist, who can read the minds of people! Talking to IANS, director George, who worked with director Ramesh on the critically acclaimed investigative thriller 'Thegidi', said: "'Koorman' is a word which I derived from the Tamil word 'Koormai' meaning sharpness. I wanted to indicate that my film's protagonist had a sharp mind and hence chose the title." Giving out more details about the plot of the film, the director said: "I don't think there has ever been a film in Tamil cinema until now where the story actually revolves around a mind reader. My film may well be the first.

"Rajaji plays Dhanasekhar, a mentalist who can read the minds of others, irrespective of how hard they try to hide details from him. Imagine what would happen if cops choose to use such a man to solve crimes? How the cops use him to investigate difficult cases is what Koorman will be about." The team had recently released the film's first look which caught the attention of everybody for the manner in which it had been designed. The first look had Rajaji, Janani Iyer and Balasarvanan next to each other with their images being reflected below.

Strangely though, while Rajaji's and Balasaravanan's reflections are seen, Janani Iyer's is missing. Talking about this, he smiled and said: "Yes, Janani's character is an illusion. Which is why you won't see her image in the reflection in the first look image that we released." The film, which has music by Tony Britto and cinematography by Shakthi Arvind, is ready for release, the director signs off.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 5 : The gold smuggling case which was the main plank of the Congress-led opposition in the 2020 local body polls and the 2021 April 6 Assembly elections though failed as the LDF led by Pinarayi Vijayan returned to power with a huge mandate, is back to haunt the ruling Left with prime accused in the case Swapna Suresh claiming that the then principal secretary to Vijayan. M. Sivasankar was aware of all the developments.

The 2020 local body polls and the 2021 April 6 Assembly polls, the single biggest campaign point of the Congress-led Opposition was Kerala gold smuggling case, thanks to Covid also, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came out clean by winning both the polls and until Friday, the ruling Left often used to ask, what happened to the the allegations levelled against him, the people have dumped everything and gave him the thumps up. Now it remains to be seen after the explosive revelations of prime accused in the case Swapna Suresh, where she says, the then principal secretary to Vijayan- M. Sivasankar knew everything.

She broke her silence after an autobiography of Sivasankar, written in Malayalam, said he was cheated by Swapna by gifting him an iPhone that was purchased using bribe money. He also said that he had no role in getting her a five figure monthly salary in the IT department of the Kerala government.

After remaining away from the media glare following her release from jail on bail, Swapna hit back at the once blue eyed boy of Vijayan- Sivasankar, revealing he was behind everything which includes her escape from Kerala by road to Bangalore, when the entire state was under heavy lockdown in July 2020 on account of Covid restrictions where inter district travel was banned.

In her interview to a TV channel, Friday night, she made no bones about her closeness with Sivasankar and said that it was with his help that she, along with her husband and children and their friend Sandip Nair, managed to sneak out of Kerala.

On the two audio clips of hers, one which came out on the day she and her family was on the run to Bangalore and another while in custody, she said, it was all stage managed and directed by him and others.

In both these clips, she was speaking in a manner giving a clean chit to Vijayan.

"I was made to say that," said Swapna and added that only master brains can work like this.

Incidentally, the Congress led Opposition and the BJP all throughout the media trial then, had alleged that Vijayan cannot wash his hands, even as Sivasankar was first suspended and later arrested and jailed from October 29, 2020 till February 1, 2021, when he got bail.

The CPI-M and the entire Left rank and file had vehemently attacked the detractors of Vijayan stating that if Sivasankar has done a wrong then he is only responsible and Vijayan cannot be answerable.

The smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020, when the Customs arrested Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, for allegedly smuggling gold in a diplomatic baggage destined for the Consulate.

Swapna and her associate Sandip Nair were arrested in the case by the NIA from Bengaluru a few days later.

Swapna crisply said all what she knew was known to Sivasankar also and he should not have stooped so low to accuse her.

One major revelation made by her was the arrival of the NIA in the case was done by none other than Sivasankar and was meant that Swapna Suresh should not open her mouth for six months and keep her behind bars.

"Had I mentioned the name of Sivasankar when I was arrested, he would have been arrested then itself. Initially I did not say, but later when the probe agencies found out from his WhatsApp chat the discussions that we had, then I had to say," said Swapna.

She also said that now the things are all before the court and very soon everything will come out.

Now all eyes are on the budget session in the assembly which will be convened later this month and with the Congress and the BJP after being snubbed by Vijayan and Left leaders that people have rejected all their allegations levelled in the gold smuggling case and now with massive revelations now, how smooth will be the sailing for Vijayan, as Version 2 of Swapna Suresh has started to roll.

She concluded by saying that she would not have said all these if Sivasankar had not mentioned baseless things about her in the book.
To help professionals and practitioners in various industries safely manage pesky particles, NFPA has developed six standards.

Earlier this year, after an industrial manufacturing explosion in Singapore killed three and injured seven more, NFPA Journal put out a timely piece entitled Dust Disaster and an NFPA Learn Something New video that answered the question, What is a Combustible Dust Explosion?

Speaking to NFPA Associate Editor Angelo Verzoni, Alexander Ing, one of the Associations hazardous chemicals engineers, explained that combustible dusts are created when finely divided solids are turned into smaller pieces. We see this with metal manufacturing where chipping and grinding are commonplace, chemical processing plants when raw materials are turned into plastics and during agricultural manufacturing when grain or products are often converted into a flour or powder, as was the case in Singapore.

Ing pointed to the dust explosion pentagon, which is an expansion of the fire triangle as it relates to dust to set the stage for what might have happened in that February incident. The fire triangle starts with fuel, oxygen and an ignition source. If the three elements are present at the same time, you can get a fire. For example, if a pile of potato starch is exposed to a sufficient ignition source, fire can erupt on the top of that pile because that is where the surface area of the potato starch interacts with oxygen and all three elements of the fire triangle are present. If that same pile is dispersed into the air, a flash fire can be started from it. And, if that pile is dispersed in an enclosed space, that is considered confinement, which allows pressure to build as the gases rapidly expand during the reaction.

So, a dust fire can occur if the three elements of the fire trianglefuel, oxygen and an ignition sourceare present and an explosion can occur if you add dispersion and confinement to the three elements of the fire triangle. So, how common are combustible dust incidents? According to the 2021 Mid-Year Combustible Dust Incident Report generated by Dust Safety Science, there were 51 fires and 28 explosions reported globally in the first six months of the year. These incidents caused 44 injuries and eight fatalities, with two incidents causing more than $1 million in losses. The data shows that wood processing, wood products, agricultural activity and food production typically make up a large portion of the overall fire and explosion incidents, but from January through June this year, the other category of industries made up 45 percent of the injuries and 37 percent of the fatalities reported. Other settings include facilities that deal with pulp, paper or ethanol, and include places like high schools and educational facilities.

A running tally of recent incidents on the Dust Safety Science site indicates that there were 12 fires or explosions around the world in October alone. These incidents wrought varying degrees of havoc on facilities and resulted in employees being evacuated, response resources being called in, water supplies being tapped, operations coming to a halt and export schedules being affected. To help professionals and practitioners in various industries safely manage pesky particles, NFPA has developed six standardsone that covers the fundamentals of combustible dust and five more addressing commodity-based considerations:

*NFPA 652, Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust, which lays out the basics of things that are common throughout the dust world

*NFPA 654, Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids, which generally handles chemical dusts

*NFPA 61, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosions in Agricultural and Food Processing Facilities, which generally handles agricultural and food dusts

*NFPA 484, Standard for Combustible Metals, which generally handles combustible metals

*NFPA 664, Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities, which generally handles wood dust

*NFPA 655, Standard for Prevention of Sulfur Fires and Explosions, which handles the size reduction and handling of sulfur

This fall, a new training program also debuted. It applies the guidance found within the 2019 edition of NFPA 652. NFPA tapped into an expert training advisory group to glean specialized industrial knowledge and input for the training that is set in a grain mill. The three modules cover different forms of dust, proactive preventative measures to be taken to reduce risk and the impact that compliance has on protecting people and property. Completion of a dust hazard analysis (DHA) is emphasized in NFPA 652 and the DHA needs to be reviewed and updated every five years. Therefore, trainees are required to identify potential risks, perform a DHA and then implement the recommendations put forth in the DHA during the training.

The three-part NFPA 652 Combustible Dust (2019) Online Training Series entails Combustible Dust Safety Awareness, Combustible Dust Hazard Evaluation and Combustible Dust Controls and Safeguards modules that feature engaging videos, interactive simulations, informative case studies and other educational enhancements. The training trio benefits manufacturing personnel as well as engineers, designers, health and safety leaders, loss control/facility risk/safety specialists, facilities managers, insurers, inspectors and code enforcers.

And finally, if you are not familiar with all the great research that NFPA generates to inform audiences about persistent threats and emerging hazards, it is time to visit the Applied Research section on our website and the microsite for the Fire Protection Research Foundation, the research affiliate of NFPA. The Foundation issued a report last December on the Variables Impacting the Probability and Severity of Dust explosions in Dust Collectors because, as the NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem outlines, one of the best ways that organizations, including NFPA, can invest in safety is by prioritizing research.

Combustible dust can wreak havoc on facilities, if prescriptive and proactive steps are not being taken by key personnel. That is why NFPA standards, training, content and research exist. Are you taking full advantage of the insights and information found in these resources?
Panaji, Feb 5 : Congress national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Saturday urged Trinamool Congress leaders to introspect and ponder over whether their participation in the February 14 assembly polls, would end up providing support to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"I would urge all political parties including TMC, that you will have to think whether you knowingly or unknowingly will create an obstacle to creating a good government in Goa," Surjewala told reporters at a press conference in Panaji.

"You do not have political grounding here. Are you knowingly or unknowingly helping the BJP? And if you feel through self introspection such is the case, then it is not too late. Go ahead and decide whether you will support the BJP," Surjewala also said.

The Congress spokesperson also said that the party would not need post-poll support from other non-BJP political parties, because the Congress would come to power with a majority.

"God willing we will not need any post poll alliance. I am confident that it will remain a hypothetical question," he said.

The Congress is in alliance with the Goa Forward party, while the TMC is heading for polls in alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
Geneva, Feb 5 : On World Cancer Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for the gap in the availability of cancer care in high and low-income countries to be addressed.

Globally, cancer is one of the leading causes of death, with an estimated 20 million people diagnosed and 10 million deaths from the disease in 2021, the WHO said.

These numbers will continue to rise in the decades ahead, Xinhua news agency quoted the global health body as saying.

Though all cancers can be treated and many can be prevented or cured, available care reflects global inequality. Comprehensive treatment is available in more than 90 per cent of high-income countries, but less than 15 per cent of low-income countries, WHO said.

Cancer services are covered by national healthcare services in only 37 per cent of low- and middle-income countries, compared to at least 78 per cent of high-income countries.

WHO highlighted the role of national cancer centres, saying they can be a one-stop shop for prevention, diagnosis, multidisciplinary treatment and supportive care, which makes it easier for patients to navigate services with concentrated expertise, and leads to better results.

Radiotherapy is among the most cost-effective, efficient and widely-used treatments for cancer, but worldwide access remains inadequate.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries have also experienced disruption to cancer screening and treatment, WHO noted.
Patna, Feb 5 : One person died and six others were injured as three vehicles, including two trucks, collided on Patna-Arrah NH 30, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, the accident took place on Friday, when a truck collided head-on with another in attempt to save an SUV which was trying to overtake it. The SUV too overturned after hitting the rear of one of the two trucks.

The truck was coming from the opposite direction and Bolero was heading towards Arrah. The accident took place at Kalighat near Sikandarpur village around 11.45 pm on Friday.

The deceased has been identified as Dipak Kumar (25), the driver of one of the trucks.

A helper of a truck named Mithilesh Kumar was seriously injured in this accident. Besides, five occupants of the SUV were also injured and admitted in local hospitals in Bihta and Arrah.

"We have registered FIRs for rash and negligent driving against the drivers of the SUV and a truck. However, the two are absconding," said RS Yadav, investigating officer of this case.

The Patna-Arrah NH 30 is turning out to be a death trap with several accidents being reported at night.
Los Angeles, Feb 5 : Canadian actor Seth Rogen told his mother Sandy Rogen to burn Twitter to the ground after she posted about having "great sex".

Sandy tweeted: "You know how when you give blood you get a little badge that says, 'I gave blood today,' well there should be one that says 'I had great sex today.' Ha ha ha." Embarrassed by the post, the 'Knocked Up' star jokingly replied, "Burn this app to the ground." This was not the first time Sandy made a tweet about sex, reports showbiz.com.

Back in 2019, the 66-year-old wrote on the app, "Husband has a cold. Husband says kisses during sex don't have germs." Some Twitter users later summoned the 39-year-old actor and comedian to check out his mom's post.

"Please get your mother @Sethrogen," one person in particular penned, while another echoed the sentiment, "@Sethrogen come get your moms." Others, on the other hand, empathised with Sandy by urging her not to give in to her husband's advances so she wouldn't catch the illness herself.

"Don't listen to him... Trust me.. I've got too many colds from my husband," one fan commented. "Husband is funny but tell him not to quit his day job," another individual replied.

Back in 2017, Sandy shared another joke about her sex life.

"Falling asleep after sex is like shavasana after yoga!" she quipped at the time.

Catching wind of the tweet, the actor portraying Rand Gauthier on 'Pam & Tommy' argued, "Jesus f**king Christ mom."His big sister Danya Rogen then chimed in by replying to his tweet, "Seriously. I actually gagged," along with the sick-face emoji.
Chennai, Feb 5 : Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has called upon people not to get excited over the reduction in the number of fresh Covid cases and instead to be careful against the spread of the disease.

In a statement on Saturday, the minister said that the fresh Covid cases in the state have come down from 30,000 to 10,000 cases a day and said that it was a big achievement.

He called upon the people to be more careful during the coming few weeks to bring the cases under control.

The Minister said that there has been a substantive decrease in the number of fresh cases in districts like Krishnagiri, Theni, and Tiruppur and that was due to focused measures taken by the state health department.

The state health minister said that districts like Coimbatore, Chennai, Namakkal, and Ranipet were also showing similar decline in cases.

He said that vaccination has helped contain the disease and added that people have to be more careful and to bring a self restrain on celebrations.

The Minister also said that people should not treat themselves if the cold or fever was mild but to consult a doctor and take expert medical advice before commencing any medication.

It may be noted that Tamil Nadu has been clocking a steady decline in cases and almost all the religious places, schools, colleges, and offices in the state are open.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has arrested a man, a law graduate, for duping over 200 people on the pretext of investing in different schemes to earn high profit.

The accused identified as Himanshu Singh, alias Rishu, was running the racket along with three others -- Praveen Kumar Singh, Veenu Singh and Deepak Kumar Singh. The three had already been arrested by the police and charge sheeted in the case.

Furnishing details, DCP (EOW) Mohd Ali said it was alleged that Praveen, Veenu, Deepak and Himanshu were operating a society in the name of Jai Maa Laxmi Co-Operative Thrift & Credit Society Ltd. and running a shop in the name of Arpit Cloth Store at Mandawali, Fajalpur, Delhi.

"They had induced and cheated approximately 200 innocent people in the area of Mandawali, Delhi on the pretext of investing in different schemes to earn high profit," the DCP said.

During the course of investigation, it came to the notice that said society was not registered with RBI and hence, they were not authorised to collect the money from the public directly in any scheme.

As the accused Praveen and Veenu were absconding since the registration of the case, they were declared Proclaimed Persons (absconders) in February, 2020 and accused Himanshu was declared absconder in September, 2021 by a Delhi Court.

"Three accused persons were already arrested and charge sheeted. The accused Himanshu was deliberately evading his arrest and has kept on hiding himself and finally he was arrested by EOW," the official informed.

During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused induced innocent people in the local area of Mandawali, Delhi who used to visit their shop to invest in various schemes like interest-earning schemes, loan schemes, flat booking schemes, and lucky draw schemes.

The DCP further cautioned people to be prudent investors and cross-check everything before investing their hard-earned money.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : Valentine's Day is around the corner, and they say that love doesn't make the world go round; it just makes the ride more fun. Love is the most important and magnificent thing in our lives because it improves everything.

Switch basic lingerie for exquisite lace bras in vibrant colours, designer straps, and the highest quality fabric. A good piece of lingerie not only enhances your collection, but also your love life. Groversons Paris Beauty is here to assist you with their lingerie picks and to guide you to wearing exceptionally seductive and luscious lingerie for the month of love.

Perk up with lace The lace ornamented or lacey bra is the most popular and well-liked style. 75 percent of women believe that a lacey collection is the perfect blend of sensuality and charm. It is an absolute must for honeymooners and couples. The vintage lace non-wired style focuses on simplicity and beauty. If vibrant red isn't your thing, you can boost your confidence with the nude and black contrast bras.

Sheer stripes What could be more exquisite than a stunning red sheer striped bra that exudes elegance? A full-cover underwired bra with smooth contouring will make you feel beautiful while also providing comfort. A majority of women believe that red is the colour of love and that it makes a significant difference in their appearance.

Quality fabric Because our underwear is the first thing that comes into contact with our skin, the fabric we choose should never be a compromise. High-quality fabrics, such as premium polyamide fabric, are ideal for your skin. When planning the perfect day, it's important to look and feel good from the inside out; therefore, prioritise quality, style, great looks, and uncompromised comfort.

Go strapless The strapless padded and non-padded multiway bras are a must-have in any woman's wardrobe and are ideal for a romantic night out. It provides support as well as comfort. It can also be worn in a variety of ways, depending on the outfit: Over-the-shoulder, cross-back, or traditional. Even when worn without straps, the inside silicone taping effectively provides support and hold.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 5 : Bombay Shaving Company (BSC), a homegrown Indian personal care and hair removal brand, has raised INR 50 Cr from Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), as part of a follow-up to its INR 160 Cr Series C led by Malabar. This brings the total round size to INR 210 Cr.

The funding comes 11 months after the company received INR 45 Cr from Reckitt, a global FMCG behemoth in the health, hygiene, and nutrition sectors. The company is uniquely capitalised, with two global, strategic behemoths on their cap table-Colgate Palmolive and Reckitt Benckiser.

"We appreciate the company's emphasis on hair removal and personal care as a category." There is first mover advantage in this market, and the company has demonstrated strengths in developing innovative products. "We are delighted to be working with Shantanu and his team," said Pankaj Gupta and Mohammed Alhassan, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Gulf Islamic Investments (GII).

In the next two years, the company plans to scale operations to INR 500 Cr top line with an omnichannel presence, and the funds will be used to expand its portfolio of personal care and hair removal products. GII will also be strategically positioned to provide access to GCC markets in addition to the company's existing domestic market expertise.

BSC was founded in 2016 as a premium, direct-to-consumer (D2C) shaving regimen brand and has since expanded into various hair removal categories. BSC entered the women's hair removal market in 2020 with their brand 'Bombay Shaving Company-Women,' which now accounts for nearly 25 percent of the total business. It has a diverse product portfolio of over 100 SKUs, including hair removal products for both men and women. Shaving regimens, trimmers, beard products, razors for women, wax strips, hair removal creams, and other personal care products and accessories are all on the list. In the six years since its inception, BSC has served over 3 million customers through various channels. With its finger on the pulse of its customers, the brand is perceived as conscious, sensitive, and responsible.

"We are delighted to welcome GII to our cap table." We are solely committed to creating a brand that owns hair removal and personal care. "As we grew from INR 150 Cr to 500 Cr and 1000 Cr, we needed an investor group to help us build an IPO-ready company," said Shantanu Deshpande, BSC's founder and CEO. "Interactions with GII were always focused on the right things - the customer, the product experience, and the team quality," he continued.

This is the company's sixth round of funding, with Reckitt, Colgate Palmolive, Sixth Sense Venture Partners, and industry heavyweights (including former TCS vice-chairman S Ramadorai and 16 senior partners from McKinsey & Company) as investors.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 5 : The first weekend of February is expected to attract the majority of couch potatoes who, rather than venturing out into the cold, would prefer to binge-watch the latest OTT releases. This weekend brings us six amazing stories, each with a unique plot and intriguing storyline. We've compiled a list of this week's releases so you can get a head start on your weekend fun; check it out! The Great Indian Murder - Disney+ Hotstar

The show, based on the novel Six Suspects, is produced by Bollywood star Ajay Devgn and directed by critically acclaimed Tigmanshu Dhulia. The cast lineup, which includes Pratik Gandhi, Ashutosh Rana, Richa Chadha, Raghubir Yadav, and Paoli Dam, among others, is enough to pique your interest, but the genre - thriller - adds to it. A CBI investigation into the murder of a spoiled brat leads to the arrest of six suspects. Following that, an investigation full of numerous twists, turns, and versions begins. The show is available on Disney+Hotstar.

Detective Boomrah - MX Player This week marks the return of a detective series after a long hiatus. Detective Boomrah's first season, which is now available on MX Player, follows a detective duo as they investigate the disappearance of a man who appeared mysteriously in a locked room of a Haveli-turned-heritage hotel in Rajasthan. When Detective Boomrah comes across a Sitar girl and is attacked by an unidentified assailant, the mystery deepens. Sudhanshu Rai, who also plays Detective Boomrah in the series, directed it.

Loop Lapeta - Netflix The Netflix film starring Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin is a roller coaster ride full of thrills, excitement, and edge-of-your-seat moments. As the trailer suggests, a major highlight of the film is a time loop referred to as the 'cycle of life,' in which both Satya and Savi are trapped. Savi has only 50 minutes to raise Rs 50 lakh to save her boyfriend, who happens to be shot dead. Soon after, he comes back to life, as if time has stopped. Loop Lapeta, directed by Aakash Bhatia, is hailed as the perfect blend of comedy and suspense.

Rocket Boys - Sony Liv Rocket Boys is a tribute to two sons of the soil - Dr Homi J Bhabha and Dr Vikram Sarabhai - who are regarded as the forefathers of India's space adventure. The series delves deeper into the lives of great Indian scientists who worked in both foreign lands and India to push India's space programme past the glass ceiling. The series' lead actors include Ishwak Singh, Jim Sarbh, Regina Cassandra, Rajit Kapoor, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya, among others.

Murderville - Netflix Murderville is a must-see for fans of international shows, as it is part scripted crime comedy, part improv exercise, and part immersive plot. In each episode, a celebrity guest joins detective Terry Seattle to solve various cases. Murderville, with its likeable cast, guest stars, and complex mysteries, avoids becoming too intense by including a number of light-hearted and funny moments. As a result, don't miss out on Netflix's improvisational crime comedy.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 5 : One month into the New Year, and people across the country are continuing to prioritise their mental and physical health and make healthier choices for themselves. Flipkart, India's homegrown e-commerce marketplace, shares some intriguing trends that reflect what was on the minds of consumers as the year began.

The exercise and fitness segment grew by 24 percent in the first month of the year, driven by a large fitness equipment portfolio that included treadmills and exercise bikes. As people began to prioritise their health and fitness by setting up home gyms and stockpiling workout equipment, the demand for fitness accessories such as dumbbells, resistance tubes, and skipping ropes skyrocketed.

Yoga essentials increased by more than 31 percent over the previous quarter, fitness equipment increased by 28 percent, treadmills including brands such as Prowl Fitness and HRX increased by 42 percent, and exercise bikes increased by 30 percent. Over 57 percent of this demand came from Tier 3+ cities, with the remaining 20 percent coming from metros. The adoption of almost all fitness verticals demonstrates a clear intent to begin an active lifestyle this year.

Reading is always a popular New Year's resolution this year. While trade books increased by 38 percent year on year, with the most popular genres including self-help, regional, and non-fiction, non-trade books such as exam preparation and academic books increased by 70 percent year on year. With the announcement of many competitive exams earlier this year, there has been an increase in the number of CBSE exams and sample paper books, NEET preparation books, qualitative aptitude and Indian polity for UPSC examinations, as well as regional exam preparation books. Do Epic Shit and the latest Sadhguru books have received a lot of attention. Overall, the books category increased by 15 percent year on year, which can be attributed largely to the academic portfolio.

With the pandemic spreading, there has been a growing interest in safety, wellness, and immunity, with sales of masks, ayurvedic supplements, rapid antigen tests, health drinks, vitamins, and protein mixes increasing significantly. Masks and rapid antigen tests increased by 62 percent and 112 percent, respectively, year on year. While the eastern states had the highest demand for Ayurvedic supplements, the southern states had the highest purchase of healthcare accessories. So far this year, the segment has seen a 12 percent increase in sales.

Sports and fitness, books, and health care have emerged as focus areas for most consumers looking to make the most of the new year as prolonged stay-at-home periods have become a way of life for most.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Africa welcomes the "generous offer" China is set to provide members of the African Union (AU) to help augment exports in the coming years, a senior official has said.

Wamkele Mene, the secretary-general of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), told Xinhua that Africa welcomes China's investments and trade partnership based on mutual benefits.

"We welcome the generous offer of China to boost Africa's export capacity. Individual countries and regions' capacity to export to China is improving day by day," Mene said at the sidelines of the 35th AU Summit.

Mene mentioned China's efforts to build a green channel for African agricultural exports and expand zero-tariff treatment for products imported from Africa, in a bid to import products worth 300 billion U.S. dollars from Africa in the next three years.

Regarding the establishment of the China-Africa industrial park, Mene expressed hope that the park will expand the African market.

"The industrial park is to be fully considered with the support of our partners with China. We will have to look at what products, which areas and services are, including the industrial park and integrated AfCFTA market," he said.

Mene said increasing African exports to China would benefit Africa's industrialization.

African leaders are meeting in the flesh for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the 35th AU Summit, which is currently underway and ends on Sunday at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. 
Bengaluru, Feb 5 : Karnataka police have taken Rs 10 lakh bond from accused Adi Narayana Naidu, grandson of former MP D.K. Adikeshavulu Naidu, for running over his car on street dogs. The accused was given a stern warning that if he indulges in case of animal cruelty in future he will be put behind bars, police said on Saturday.

Accused 23-year-old Adi Narayana Naidu had deliberately run his Audi car over a street dog Lara and killed it in the limits of Siddapura police station in Bengaluru six days ago. The CCTV footage of the incident also went viral on the ocial media triggering public outrage.

Later, animal activists who lodged complaints against Adi in connection with the incident were threatened that they would meet the same fate as the street dog, which further raised concerns among the public. The police finally arrested the accused and released him on bail.

Harish Pande, DCP (South) talking to IANS said, the police have taken Rs 10 lakh bond from the accused person in connection with animal cruelty case. Usually, the bond for such an amount is taken from rowdy elements and people who threaten peace.

He said, the accused has also been warned that if he indulges in any act of animal cruelty in future, his bond amount will be forfeited and he will be sent to imprisonment for the bond period which is one year.

"It is the first such case in the division where such a hefty amount is taken as a bond from the accused in the animal cruelty case. It will create fear among those who indulge in animal cruelty," he explained.

Badrinath Margasahayam, former corporate consultant and animal activist, who filed the complaint against the accused told IANS that it is the first time in the country that such a hefty amount has been taken by the police in the case of animal cruelty. "Usually accused persons get away with paying a fine of Rs 200. Since we managed to get complete evidence, the accused was cornered," he said.

"It was found that previously on Jan 22 at 5 p.m., the accused made an attempt to kill street dogs at the same place where a recent incident occurred with a Black SUV. The police were given CCTV footage and evidence. The police have seized the vehicle and taken up a complaint against him," Badrinath explained.

"We told the accused who asked us to withdraw the complaint to send the person who drove the car on the animal, as we wanted him to know what he had done was absolutely unacceptable and atrocious. He had to realize he had driven the vehicle in a murderous way," Badrinath explained.

Hundreds of animal lovers participated in the final rituals of Lara on Tuesday, the street dog, which was killed by the accused. Sandalwood actress turned politician Ramya also joined animal lovers.

The cremation of Lara has been conducted at Sumanahalli animal's crematorium. Laura was brought to the crematorium in an ambulance.

School children who joined the mourning condemned the death by holding posters denouncing animal cruelty. They also brought roses and other flowers for the deceased canine.

Actress Ramya speaking after the cremation stated that accidents do happen, human beings do commit mistakes, but, in this case, the dog has been run over deliberately. "We couldn't tolerate this. Laws regarding animals are not strict in our country. The accused pay Rs 50 and come out. Empathy is not only for human beings, it should be there for animals too," she said.

"Firstly, the law has to be strengthened. People with deep pockets will escape from clutches of law. I request the government to strengthen laws in this regard," Ramya said.

The case has been filed under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 Section 11, IPC Section 428. Additional charges of issuing threat to life have also been added.
Mumbai, Feb 5 : In a shocker, the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has cancelled the 'Khadi Certification' of Mumbai's 68-year-old and famed 'Khadi Emporium', and banned it from sale of khadi products henceforth, an official said here on Saturday.

The development came after the KVIC detected that fake and non-khadi products were being sold from the Khadi Emporium located in the prime area near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, in the heritage building Metropolitan Insurance House, on Dr D.N. Road.

During a routine inspection, the KVIC officials took away samples from Khadi Emporium that were found to be fake/non-khadi products being passed off to the customers as 'genuine khadi'.

The KVIC slapped a legal notice to the Mumbai Khadi & Village Industries Association (MKVIA), its approved distributors, for flouting norms of the 'Khadi Certificate' and 'Khadi Mark Certificate', which now stand cancelled.

"With cancellation of the registration, Khadi Emporium ceases to be a genuine Khadi Outlet and is no longer permitted to sell Khadi products," the KVIC said.

It has also warned the MKVIA - which reportedly runs other branches in Mumbai and outside - of legal action for criminal breach of trust, cheating the people at large by misusing the credibility and popularity of the Khadi brand.

The KVIC had handed over the management of the Khadi Emporium to MKVIA in 1954 with the strict condition to sell only genuine khadi products.

However, in recent years, the MKVIA allegedly indulged in unfair trade practices like selling fake khadi products, duping the gullible customers who were under the impression that the Khadi Emporium was run by the KVIC.

The once venerable Khadi Emporium was the top destination for buying khadi products from locals, domestic and international tourists, including many celebs and VVIP lovers of the comfy fabric created by Mahatma Gandhi, which has attained global popularity.

In its tough drive against fake khadi products, in the past few years, the KVIC has served legal notices to over 1,200 individuals and firms across the country.

This includes a reputed one like FabIndia accused of misusing the 'Khadi India' trademark brand to sell non-khadi products, and the KVIC has sought damages of Rs 500 crore with the case pending before the Bombay High Court.

Last year, the KVIC targeted online shopping portals like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal to take down 140 weblinks that were hawking non-khadi products and misusing the official brand name.
San Francisco, Feb 5 : Tech giant Microsoft has just released version 98.0.1108.43 of its Edge browser that brings a host of new features, including a new browsing mode that prioritises security.

The company said that this is a browsing mode in Microsoft Edge where browser security takes priority, giving users an extra layer of protection when browsing the web.

Administrators can apply group policies to end-user desktops (Windows, macOS, and Linux) to help protect against in-the-wild exploits (also referred to 0-days), Microsoft said in a blogpost.

With the new update, users can personalise their multi-profile experience with the ability to create a customised list of sites for automatic profile switching in Microsoft Edge.

Starting with version 100, Microsoft Edge will send a three-digit version number in the User-Agent header, for example, "Edg/100".

Starting with Microsoft Edge 97, site owners can test this upcoming user agent string by enabling the #force-major-version-to-100 experiment flag in edge://flags to ensure their User-Agent parsing logic is robust and works as expected.

The company has also updated its scrollbars with an overlay-based design.
Los Angeles, Feb 5 : Actress Rachel Zegler has revealed that she was never expecting to land the role of 'Snow White' in Disney's live-action remake of the classic story.

The 20-year-old actress will play the titular role in Disney's live-action remake of the iconic fairytale.

In a conversation with Andrew Garfield for Variety's 'Actors on Actors' series, she said: "Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me.

"You don't normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent. Even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries. 'Blancanieves' is a huge icon whether you're talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it.

"But you don't particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that." Zegler's casting as the classic character sparked a backlash from some users on social media but the 'West Side Story' star says she is determined to win over them with her performance in the film, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She recalled: "When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry. We need to love them in the right direction. At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I'm really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess." The live-action remake of 'Snow White' has also caused controversy after criticism from actor Peter Dinklage, who suffers from a form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia, which took him at the story's "f**ing backwards" depiction of dwarfs.

He said: "Literally no offence to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. But you're still telling the story of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Take a step back and look at what you're doing there. It makes no sense to me.

"You're progressive in one way but then you're still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man?"
Mumbai, Feb 5 : Actress Ileana D'Cruz shared a picture of herself in a red bikini and has talked about body positivity as she says she is celebrating every inch and curve.

Ileana posted the picture of herself on Instagram, where she is seen flaunting her curves. She even talked about how she deleted applications which make one look 'toned' and 'slimmer'.

The actress wrote alongside the powerful picture: "So easy to get sucked into apps that get you alter body so effortlessly to make you look 'slimmer','more toned' etc etc. Proud of the fact that I've deleted those apps and chosen this instead." "This is me and I am celebrating every inch, every curve, all of me." Ileana will next be seen in 'Unfair N Lovely', a comic take on India's obsession with fair skin. The film is set against the backdrop of Haryana and features Ileana opposite Randeep Hooda.

She also has a film with Indian-American sensation Sendhil Ramamurthy, Vidya Balan and Pratik Gandhi. It is a romantic comedy-drama film.
Mysuru, Feb 5 : Karnataka BJP MP Pratap Simha on Saturday kicked up a storm by stating that those advocating 'Sharia laws' should have gone to a separate nation (Pakistan) created during Partition.

He was referring to the 'hijab' row in the state while addressing a press conference.

"If you want to wear hijab, burka, traditional Muslim pants, wear them and go to madrassas. If you (Muslims) want everything according to your whims, you should have gone to another country carved out in 1947. Since you chose to stay back, you have to respect the culture of the land," he asserted.

"To those who question worshipping of Saraswathi, Ganesh and wearing of bangles and vermillion (forehead marks), this is not British India. This is Bharat. The basic foundation of this land is Hinduism. We are not asking permission to wear vermillion bangles in Mecca, Madina or Jerusalem," he said.

"The religions of Islam and Christianity which took birth in desert had come here seeking refuge. Once you seek refuge, you have to respect the culture of land. Islam and Christianity are foreign religions. You don't have any right to question us (Hindus). In spite of 700 years of imposition of Islam culture, we have managed to preserve our culture. You (Muslims) swallowed Iran, Iraq and finished off Roman civilisation but you couldn't finish ours," he claimed.

Reiterating his stand, Pratap Simha said that the Muslims do not have any right to question. Though the Constitution has given equal rights to all but no one has the right to change the native culture. The Supreme Court has said that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life. No one can question Hindu practices. "If you want to wear a hijab, wear it and go to madrassas instead of colleges, he added." Hijab row surfaced in the state after few Muslim students insisted on attending classes wearing a 'hijab' at a Pre-University College in Udupi district. They were denied entry. The students have approached the High Court and the ruling BJP government has set up a high level committee to look into the issue.

Meanwhile, the controversy row has spread to more colleges across the state triggering a communal turn as Hindu students have started attending classes with saffron shawls.
Srinagar, Feb 5 : Two terrorists killed in the encounter with the security forces at Zakura area in Central Kashmir's Srinagar district have been identified, officials said here on Saturday.

Police said, based on a specific input generated by the force regarding presence of terrorists in Rangpora Zakura area of Srinagar, a cordon and search operation was launched.

"During the search operation, as the search party proceeded towards the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the search party which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter," police said.

In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the gun battle.

They have been identified as Ikhlaq Ahmad Hajam, resident of Kujer Frisal Kulgam and Adil Nisar Dar, resident of Malangpora Pulwama, both linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT (TRF).

"As per police records, killed terrorists Ikhlaq Ahmad was active since June 2021 and Adil Nisar was active since August 2021. Both were categorized terrorists and part of groups involved in several terror crime cases including attack on Police/Security Forces and civilian atrocities. Besides, they were also instrumental in motivating the gullible youth to join terror folds and reviving the OGW network," police said.

"It is pertinent to mention that the killed terrorist Ikhlaq was the mastermind behind the recent killing of HC Ali Mohammad at Hasanpora Anantnag on January 29, 2022. He was also involved in an IED blast on Qaimoh-Yaripora road on January 18, 2022." Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two pistols and five hand grenades were recovered from the site of the encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation.

A case has been registered and investigation has been initiated, the police said.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 5 : A 58-year-old clinical psychologist K. Gireesh, who worked in the state government, on Saturday was sentenced by a local court here for six years imprisonment and a fine of Rs one lakh for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy who had come to him as a patient.

The sentence was delivered by a Special Fast Track court judge R. Jayakrishnan.

Incidentally, this is the first time in the state that a doctor has been sentenced under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The case took place on August 14, 2017 at his house here, when Gireesh was giving consultation to the young boy.

The boy was given a puzzle to work on and he asked him if he sees porn videos and talked about sex.

In between, he kissed the boy a few times and touched his private part.

Then he told the boy that he should not divulge what happened, threatening him with dire consequences.

And when the boy returned home his parents asked why he was very sad and looked frightened. The boy told his parents whatever had happened.

Soon the parents alerted the Child Line officials, who alerted the local police station and a case was registered.

The court observed that the boy and the family came under heavy duress on account of this incident and the court cannot be idle on it.

Incidentally, Gireesh has been charged in a similar case of misbehaving with another young boy and the trial in that case is to begin next month.

Gireesh in the past had been anchoring a programme on his subject on a TV channel and is one who delivers speeches and lectures.
San Francisco, Feb 5 : Tesla vehicle using Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta has been caught on video running into a pole in what could be the first accident on the FSD Beta, media report says.

According to the auto-tech website Electrek, last month, CEO Elon Musk was claiming that Tesla's FSD Beta had yet to have an accident in over a year into the programme.

That is despite a Model Y owner in the FSD Beta claiming in a complaint to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the system caused a crash, but the complaint could not be confirmed.

Now, a FSD Beta driver going by AI Addict on Youtube posted a new video where the car ran into a pole that protects the bike lane.

"It was a small accident that only caused a little paint damage, but it technically crashed into an object," the report said.

It is important to note that Tesla does not take any responsibility for the "Full Self-Driving Beta".

It is considered an early version of Tesla's self-driving software that is currently being tested by a fleet of Tesla owners selected by the company and through its "safety test score".

The software enables the vehicle to drive autonomously to a destination entered in the car's navigation system, but the driver remains responsible for the vehicle and needs to remain vigilant and ready to take control at all times.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : A female paramedical teacher turned into a bag lifter and started stealing goods from X-ray machine at various Delhi Metro stations to meet her financial needs.

She was finally held by the Special staff of Delhi Metro on Friday from outside of Uttam Nagar Metro Station.

A senior police official said that the accused was identified as Garima Pandey (26). She holds a post graduate degree in M.Sc Microbiology and presently working as a paramedical teacher.

A resident of Uttam Nagar, She mostly committed thefts at Uttam Nagar East and West Metro stations.

A senior Police official said that she used to steal goods kept at X-ray machine installed at entry point of the Metro station.

"For the last 15 to 20 days the a number of theft cases committed by a girl were reported at various Police Stations of Delhi Police Metro Unit. Seeing the gravity of the matter, a team was formed to nab her," said a senior police official.

On 11 January, one Anju Arora reported that her bag was stolen from the entry gate X-ray machine of Uttam Nagar Metro station. She asked for help from the CISF staff over there. On checking the CCTV footage an unknown lady was seen lifting her bag. On this instance, she lodged an e-FIR.

Similar incident was reported on January 29 when one Kamal Chhabra lodged an FIR of theft of her goods at Uttam Nagar East Metro station. On January 30, one Jain Gunjan Shripal lodged a theft case of her goods that took place at Uttam Nagar West Metro station.

"Garima also committed one theft at Rithala Metro station. We examined the cctv footages of the Metro stations to identify the accused.

During investigation, CCTV footages of the incidents were analyzed by the team of Special Staff and it was found that the lady thief had entered and exited from different metro stations every day. Due to which it became a challenge for the team as to which Metro Station a trap should be laid to catch her," said a senior police official.

The official said that the team checked the CCTV footages of all Metro Stations of the last 20 days and developed secret information about the female thief.

After analyzing the CCTV footages, it was found that the same girl was once seen exiting Uttam Nagar West Metro Station with a man. Now the team focused all its attention on Uttam Nagar West Metro Station and briefed the staff to nab her.

"On February 4, a girl was seen standing outside Uttam Nagar West Metro Station who was looking similar to the girl seen in CCTV Footages of the incidents. The team stopped the girl with the help of lady constable and interrogated her. She broke down and confessed that she had been stealing goods. Stolen property was recovered at her instance," said a senior police official.
By Trend

At the meeting of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with Azerbaijani youth, a new road map was defined, new tasks were set, and future goals were outlined, Head of the Azerbaijan Youth Foundation Farid Jafarov said at the author's video project Actual with Sahil Karimli developed by Trend News Agency.

He noted that the sincere atmosphere at the meeting, the detailed answers of Azerbaijan's President to the questions of young people, as well as the valuable recommendations given by the head of state left an unforgettable impression.

"President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the decisive role of Azerbaijans young generation in the Victory gained in the 44-day Second Karabakh War. This was the highest assessment of the head of state to Azerbaijani youth," Jafarov noted.

Jafarov outlined that over the years of President Ilham Aliyev's leadership, a patriotic young generation has grown up in the spirit of national and spiritual values, which is an extremely important factor for the future of the country.

"With the formation of strong and patriotic youth, President Ilham Aliyev laid a solid foundation for the future of Azerbaijan," he said.

The head of the Fund also spoke in detail about the upcoming goals, youth policy, and planned steps in this area.

We present this interview in video format.
Hyderabad, Feb 5 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday termed digital agriculture as India's future and that talented youth can play a key role in empowering farmers through digital technology.

Addressing the 50th anniversary celebrations of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru near here, he suggested to the institute and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to expand their partnership for higher productivity and water management in dry land areas to digital agriculture.

The Prime Minister claimed that India has stepped up its efforts in using latest technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) in areas like crop assessment, land records digitization, deployment of drones for spraying of insecticides and nutrients and providing various services.

"On one hand, we are focusing on expanding production of millets, chemical-free farming while on the other we are using modern technology from solar pumps to deploying drones. This is a key part of our vision for agriculture growth for the next 25 years," he said.

Modi said the government was trying to develop ecosystems linked to agriculture research and working with private agritech players to provide affordable and high-tech services to farmers.

The Prime Minister said that agriculture has the potential to pull a very large population of the country out of poverty and take them towards a better life-style.

Stating that a large area lacking irrigation facility could not become part of the green revolution, Modi said the government was working on a dual strategy. On the one hand, a large part of the land is being brought under irrigation through water conservation and connecting of rivers while on the other, water use efficiency through micro irrigation is being encouraged in areas with limited irrigation.

The Prime Minister said India was also focusing on establishing FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations) and agriculture value chain. "We wish to create an alert and potent market force out of small farmers by organizing them into thousands of FPOs", he said.

He said that India's goal is not just increasing food grain production. India has enough surplus food grain to run one of the world's big food security programs. "We are focusing on food security as well as nutrition security. With this vision, we have developed many bio-fortified varieties in the last 7 years".

Noting that ICRIAST has rich experience of working in semi-arid areas, the Prime Minister called for joint efforts with the institute for developing sustainable and diversified production systems by linking farmers.

Modi also mooted the idea of ICRISAT, ICAR and agricultural universities working together in the area of biofuel. "You have been working on sweet sorghum. You can develop seeds to help farmers in drought prone areas and farmers with limited land resources to grow crops which can yield more biofuel," he said.

He exuded confidence that with innovative minds at ICRISAT, people's participation and society's commitment the country will be able to overcome all challenges related to agriculture The Prime Minister also inaugurated ICRISAT's Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and ICRISAT's Rapid Generation Advancement Facility. These two facilities are dedicated to the smallholder farmers of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The Prime Minister also unveiled a specially designed logo of ICRISAT and launched a commemorative stamp issued on the occasion. Governor of Telangana Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy, ICRISAT Director General Dr Jacqueline Hughes were among those present on the occasion.

Underlining the importance of the next 25 years for both the country and also for ICRISAT, the Prime Minister stressed the need for new goals and working for them.

The Prime Minister lauded ICRISAT for its contribution in helping agriculture in large part of the world including India. He appreciated their contribution in water and soil management, improvement in crop variety, on-farm diversity and livestock integration. He also praised their holistic approach in integrating farmers with their markets and promoting pulses and chickpea production in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. "Your research and technology have helped make agriculture easy and sustainable", Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that the worst affected by climate change are the people on the last rung of development with little resources. That is why, the Prime Minister reiterated India's request to the world to pay special attention to the climate change. He talked of LIFE- Lifestyle for Environment; P3 - Pro planet people movements and India's net zero target by 2070. "Pro planet people is a movement that connects every community, every individual with climate responsibility to tackle the climate challenge. This is not limited to just words, but is also reflected in the actions of the Government of India", he added.

Referring to 15 Agro-Climatic Zones and 6 seasons of the country, the Prime Minister highlighted the depth of ancient experience of Indian agriculture. He pointed out that India's focus is on the fusion of 'back to basic' and 'march to future' to protect its farmers from climate challenges. "Our focus is on our more than 80 per cent farmers who are small and need us the most", the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said that the National Mission for self-reliance in edible oils indicates India's new approach. The Mission aims to increase palm oil area by 6.5 lakh hectares in next five years. "This will help Indian farmers at every level and will prove very beneficial for the farmers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well. I have been told that Telangana farmers have set big goals for palm oil production. The Centre will extend them all help," he said.

He also dwelled on the steps taken to strengthen post-harvest infrastructure like creating cold chain storage capacity of 35 million tonnes and creation of 1 lakh crore rupees Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.

Earlier, he visited an exhibition displaying various achievements, scientific agricultural breakthroughs and innovations of the Institute since 1972 which address poverty, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the harshest dryland regions of the world.

ICRISAT is an international organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia & sub-Saharan Africa. It helps farmers by providing improved crop varieties and hybrids and also helps smallholder farmers in the drylands fight climate change.
New Delhi, Feb 5: Daring Balochistan separatists have claimed that they have fired several rockets on the Pakistan Navy base at Turbat in the restive Ketch district of Balochistan province on Friday. Turbat is an important Pakistani naval base, as well as air supply hub serving projects under the controversial China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Baloch militants have also claimed that their fighters are still holding the Pangjur camp of the Pakistani security forces.

"BLA Majeed Brigade's control over FC camp in Panjgur has completed 60 hours now.

5 hours ago, a large number of Pakistan military's SSG attempted to enter the camp, however, fidayeens of Majeed Brigade valiantly fought and repulsed their attack," said the Baloch Liberation Army in a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday.

Earlier, in a separate statement, the Balochistan militant organisation had claimed on Friday that it had shot down a Pakistani military drone over Pangjur camp which is still under their control.

Information on the situation remained scarce as a curfew had been imposed on Panjgur since Thursday, and mobile phone and internet services have been suspended by the Pakistani forces. Even Pakistani media has been instructed to "ignore" the news and publish only the statements issued by the Pakistani sources.

The attacks pose an unprecedented challenge to state forces in restive Balochistan - the most militarised zone of Pakistan. Pakistani experts described the assaults as an "unacceptable breach of security".

On the late evening of Wednesday, BLA militants launched a well -coordinated twin attack on the camps of the Pakistani Frontier Corps at Panjgur and Noshki. Baloch sources claim that more than 100 Pakistani security personnel were killed in the bold strike. In a counter attack, the Pakistani forces managed to recapture Noshki but they are apparently still fighting to regain control of Panjgur camp.

The two attacks started hours before the Pakistani Minister Imran Khan arrived in China. According to the Pakistani security officials, these attacks were designed to send a message to China and derail Khan's talks with the Chinese for more funds for the CPEC projects.

"The attacks were very well coordinated and they are linked with Chinese interests in Pakistan. Khan and Chinese President Xi Jinping are to discuss CPEC and it was to show Pakistan is not a safe country," one Pakistani official told a leading media outlet.

China has invested billions of dollars through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in recent years in infrastructure and energy projects linking China's far-western Xinjiang region with the strategic port of Gwadar in Balochistan.

But it offers the people of Balochistan virtually nothing. This has added to the fury of Balochs who have been protesting against the Pakistan government's exploitation of the province. Lack of inclusive developments in Balochistan is one of the major factors behind the unrest. Continued disregard for the Baloch and their demands is likely to remain the prime reason for the region will remain restive, leading to increased threats to Chinese investments.

The Baloch pro -independence militant groups have waged an insurgency in the vast southwestern province for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.

The series of attacks against Chinese workers and installations in Balochistan including the Chinese consulate in Karachi and elsewhere in the country have forced Chinese authorities into a state of high alert. It has compounded their anxieties about the sad state of affairs in Balochistan province, where it wants to continue working on CPEC -- the flagship of China's ultra-ambitious, connectivity-centred Belt and Road Initiative.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, Feb 5 : The ED has claimed in its document accessed by IANS that Bhupinder Singh Honey, the nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, allegedly used to take money from officials in lieu of their choice of transfer and posting.

Honey was placed under arrest on Friday night by the ED in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to illegal mining in Punjab.

"Moreover, Bhupinder Singh has explicitly stated in his statement during search, inter-alia, that all cash which was seized from his residential premises at Ludhiana (Rs. 4.09 crores), Sandeep Kumar's premises at Ludhiana (Rs 1.99 Crores) and from the Homeland House Premises at Mohali (Rs. 3.89 crores) actually pertained to him. He admitted to have generated such proceeds of crime through mining related activities including clearance of mining files and transfer of officials," read the ED document accessed by IANS.

Sources claimed that since he was close to Channi, he was using the political connection to earn a huge amount of money.

Honey is currently in the ED's custody where a team of officials are interrogating him. His family has been allowed by the court to meet him once for an hour everyday.

According to ED documents accessed by IANS, Honey has confessed that it was his Rs ten crore which were recovered by the ED during raids.

The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that he was making money from illegal mining too.

On January 18, the ED had conducted raids at ten different locations including Homeland Heights which is the residence of Honey.

The ED continued raids at different places for two days and recovered incriminating documents.

Honey was asked to appear at the ED's zonal office in Jalandhar. He had to record his statement in connection with the ongoing probe.

The ED officials had recorded the statement of Kudrat Deep Singh, the business partner of Honey.

The ED officials had said that they seized incriminating documents pertaining to illegal sand mining, property transactions, cell phones, gold worth above Rs 21 lakhs and a watch worth Rs 12 lakhs and cash Rs 10 crore during the raid.

A source said that the documents recovered by them have confirmed that Kudrat Deep Singh was running two firms and Bhupinder Singh Honey was joint director in them.

As per sources, the firms are basically shell companies but the ED has found a lot of money transactions. One of the firms is Provider Overseas Consultancy Limited, which was incorporated in 2018 with 33.33% equal shares.

The ED case is on the basis of a two year old FIR.

On the basis of this FIR of the Punjab Police, the ED conducted raids at ten different locations including one belonging to Bhupinder Singh Honey.

The Punjab Police had on March 7, 2018, lodged a case against more than ten accused.

The ED initiated a money laundering probe on the basis of this FIR pertaining to illegal sand mining in Punjab in November last year.

The FIR has been accessed by IANS which was filed under several sections of the IPC.

Bhupinder Singh Honey was not named in the Punjab Police's FIR and Kudrat Deep Singh was given a clean chit in the matter.

The ED found that money was being laundered by the accused and they started probing the matter.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : Eighty Afghan cadets who have graduated from various military academies in India have been given a one-year breather in the form of learning the English Language, Khaama Press reported.

The Afghan cadets who do not want to return to Taliban-run Afghanistan were previously provided with a six-month extension of visa and will now stay for one year more, the report said.

The young Afghans will be referred to three institutes in India and will be given accommodation as well as a monthly allowance to live on.

The issue had been a matter of discussion between the Afghanistan Defense Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs of India, the report said.

Since the Afghan cadets do not have a working visa, they are not allowed to work and earn money.

Afghan embassy based in India has appreciated the decision and termed it as a move of generosity, the report said.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has not commented on the issue of Afghan cadets in India but earlier they had asked the professional Afghans to return to the country.
New Delhi, Feb 5 : Throughout 2021, Delhi and its surrounding areas saw prolonged and persistent farmers protests by groups that were demanding a repeal of the three farm laws enacted into law by the current government.

The CVoter surveys conducted during the agitation clearly indicated that people thought the government needed to do more for the farmers.

After the presentation of the Union Budget 2022-23, there seems to be a shift in the opinion of people as to how the government is handling and treating the farmers.

This was clearly revealed during the IANS-CVoter Post Budget survey conducted across the country taking into account all income segments.

When asked if the current Budget was pro-farmer, the response was not as expansively favourable as the ones related to infrastructure and financial inclusion.

But overall, it was still positive. While 28.1 per cent of the respondents felt the proposition was true to a large extent, another 34.9 per cent felt it was true to some extent. That makes it an overall majority of 63 per cent respondents feeling the Budget had good things for the farmers.

This was reinforced when the respondents were asked about the Budget decision to buy record amounts of food grains at MSP and transfer of Rs 2.37 lakh crore directly into the bank accounts of farmers.

More than 52 per cent of the respondents felt it was a very good decision while another 29.5 63 per cent said that it was a good decision though more could be done. Just about 11.5 63 per cent of the respondents seemed unhappy with the Budget announcement.

Since Assembly elections are due very soon in five states, how farmers react to the latest Budget announcements will have considerable political significance. Ever since it repealed the three farm laws in November 2021, the government has been going all out to woo the farmers.
Chandigarh, Feb 5 : Ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to announce the chief minister's face in his virtual address from Ludhiana city in Punjab on Sunday, state president Navjot Sidhu on Saturday said the chief minister face should be the one who can win 60 seats in the 117-member Assembly.

This will be Gandhi's second visit to the state in a week.

In his previous visit, Rahul Gandhi had assured workers that the party will decide CM candidate well ahead of the February 20 polling.

"This election is for the betterment of Punjab, this election is for the future of Punjab. Shri Rahul Gandhi ji will announce the next CM face of Punjab via a virtual rally from Ludhiana on Feb 6, 2022," the Punjab Youth Congress said in a tweet.

A day ahead of the announcement, party state President Navjot Sidhu said the CM's face will decide whether 60 contestants of the party become MLAs or not.

"The CM will be elected if there are 60 MLAs. Nobody is talking about 60 MLAs. Nobody is talking about the roadmap for a government to be formed," Sidhu told the media in Amritsar.

With Gandhi's assurance last week a power struggle is on between party state President Navjot Sidhu and Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit Chief Minister of a state that is home to 32 per cent Scheduled Caste population, the country's largest, to be the chief ministerial candidate.

Currently, voters have been getting tele-calls to give their opinion as to who should nominate the Congress as its chief ministerial candidate.

In the fray for 117 seats in Punjab are three prominent parties -- the ruling Congress, the opposition Aam Aadmi Party and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, and two alliances -- the SAD-BSP and the BJP-Punjab Lok Congress.

Punjab will go to polls in a single phase on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10
Beijing, Feb 5 : A team of researchers in China have developed a new type of antibody that could neutralise Omicron and future Covid variants.

New antibody by Chinese researchers may neutralise Omicron Beijing, Feb 5 (IANS) A team of researchers in China have developed a new type of antibody that could neutralise Omicron and future Covid variants.

According to the team at Fudan University in Shanghai, the new antibody is a surprise discovery - made while researchers were investigating another disease, the South China Morning Post reported.

This antibody will put humans "a step ahead in the race" against the pandemic, lead scientist Professor Huang Jinghe from Fudan was quoted as saying.

The new antibody was synthesised from components of two different antibodies produced by human immune cells.A While in their natural forms, these antibodies were futile against the Omicron, the man-made version breached the highly contagious varaint's line of defence, Jinghe said, in the paper posted on preprint and not peer-reviewed yet.

JingheaAs team along with collaborators at the National Clinical Research Centre for Respiratory Disease in Guangzhou developed eight different highly-potent antibodies in a short period of time using this new approach, the report said.A aceThere are very few antibodies that can neutralise Omicron in the world. I feel like I've been hit by God's grace," she said But stitching different types of natural antibodies together was not easy and the team tried various combinations.A The components, despite being from different natural antibodies, "have collaborative roles in the neutralisation process,a Jinghe said.A The team tested these antibodies against a live Omicron variant with a new mutation to evade immune attack, and found they worked just as well.A The bispecific antibodies can also neutralise earlier strains including Delta, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (a distant deadly relative of the current strain that emerged but disappeared quickly in 2003) and even some coronaviruses carried by bats, the report said.

The results suggested that these new antibodies had much potential to deal with new variants in the future, and their method can help the natural antibodies fight the pandemic, the researchers said.
Patna, Feb 5 : After incense sticks business, RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav jumped into the rice business on Saturday.

Tej Pratap Yadav launched a Basmati Rice product called LR (Largest Reach) in Patna on Saturday. He has smartly named the product after his father Lalu Prasad and mother Rabri Devi. Though, he said that the actual meaning of LR is the largest reach.

"The youth of Bihar will get jobs and at the same time we will also provide a good rate to the farmers," Tej Pratap claimed.

"We all know that unemployment is at the highest level in Bihar. A large number of youths are migrating from the state. On the other hand, farmers of the state also have huge issues of fertilizers, seeds, and are facing flood like situation every year. You have seen how the Narendra Modi government forced the farmers of the country to go on agitation for 14 months and over 700 of them sacrificed their lives," Tej Pratap said.

"Our initiative is to address the issues of unemployed youths and farmers. Any youth comes to us for a job, we would provide the same according to our capacity. We have been looking to involve youths in the distribution of LR Basmati rice. It will provide jobs to them," he said.

During the launch of the product, Tej Pratap Yadav also called a leader of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and asked him to purchase the LR Basmati rice for former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi. He also said that LR Basmati rice will be sent to "Chacha Ji" Nitish Kumar through Jitan Ram Manjhi.

Tej Pratap Yadav also said that he will send packets of rice to Mukesh Sahani, the president of VIP.

Tej Pratap lastr year launched LR Agarbatti and says he provides jobs to youths of Bihar.
London, Feb 5 : Rishi Sunak, the Indian-origin chancellor of the exchequer in the British government, was allegedly photographed standing beside Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a gathering in the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street (the historic office-cum-residence of a United Kingdom premier) to celebrate Johnson's birthday in June 2020. It is being determined in a police inquiry as to whether this get-together violated the prevailing Covid-19 rules.

Sunak is visualised as waiting in the wings to mount a challenge in a ruling Conservative party leadership contest, in the event 15 per cent of its MPs in the House of Commons express no confidence in Johnson. There's speculation as to whether Sunak's attendance will affect his prospective candidature.

The photo reportedly shows the head of government holding a can of Estrella beer, with Sunak next to him. Earlier, reliable media reports indicated there was cake cutting and eating at the event, with Johnson's wife Carrie attending as well.

Sunak, when asked about the surprise birthday party in an interview by BBC, said he had been in the cabinet room '100, 200, God knows how many times'. Adding: 'You are asking me about something that happened almost two years ago.' In short, he neither confirmed nor denied he was there. It remains to be seen whether a police investigation currently underway finds him or Johnson culpable in respect to what the UK prime minister's office claimed to have been an impromptu bash. It has, however, acknowledged there was a surprise birthday celebration organised by Carrie Johnson, maintaining the prime minister stayed at it for only 10 minutes.

On Monday, a redacted report of an intra-government examination by a senior civil servant Sue Grey revealed that 12 of the 16 cases of perceived violations of Covid-19 laws then in force were now being probed by London Metropolitan Police, popularly known as Scotland Yard. The Yard are said to possess around 300 pictures from various sources in addition to records of emails and text messages as they attempt to get to the bottom of a matter that has paralysed the central government in Britain, with the prime minister see as a suspect.

Sources told The Mirror newspaper No 10 aides were present in the cabinet room for the birthday celebration, but there was no birthday cake.

Adam Wagner, a barrister, said to The Guardian daily: "The legal question for the prime minister is whether he participated in the gathering. The fact that he was photographed holding a beer strongly suggests he did and therefore committed a criminal offence of the regulations." The punishment for holding social events during the COVID-19 lockdown period is a financial penalty, the sum of which depends on the extent of contravention -- in other words, the size of the gathering and the brazenness involved. However, an attempt to erase evidence by deleting messages and pictorial proof is a more serious crime, a sentence for which could even be prison.

Johnson's woes were compounded during the week with the resignation of a long-serving and trusted head of policy at Downing Street, Munira Mirza, who is of Pakistani-descent. She quit because her boss made a false allegation against the former barrister and now leader of opposition Sir Keir Starmer in parliament about his performance as director of public prosecution and did not comply with her request to the prime minister to withdraw the charge or apologise for it.

Sunak was put a question on the affair at a press conference. He replied: "I wouldn't have said it." This has been quickly interpreted as the chancellor distancing himself from the prime minister as the latter battles to save his premiership.
Bhubaneswar, Feb 5 : A journalist was killed in an IED (improvised explosive device) blast while covering posters put up by people suspected to be Maoists in Odisha's Kalahandi district on Saturday, police said.

The incident occurred when Rohit Biswal (43), who was working with an Odia daily newspaper, was trying to go near a poster put up by suspected Maoists, warning people not to vote in the coming Panchayat polls in Mohangiri village in Madanpur-Rampur block of the district.

According to Kalahandi SP, Saravana Vivek M., "After receiving information, two companies of CRPF and bomb disposal squads were made ready to dominate the area. However, unfortunately, before the security personnel reached the spot, the blast occurred." The SP suspected that the journalist had come very close to the poster while trying to take its photograph and got in contact with the anti-pressure mines, which was meant for security personnel.

Sometimes the Maoists put up IEDs near such posters and the security force normally don't rush to take out such posters before bomb disposal squads scanned the entire area, he said.

According to sources, the Kandhamal-Kalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) Division (CPI-Maoist) had put up posters near Karlakhunta Bridge at Madanpur Rampur. In the posters, the Maoists have appealed to the people to boycott the upcoming rural polls and disengagement of CRPF in the area.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed deep grief over the death of the journalist and announced Rs 13 lakh compensation for his family.

Stating there is no place of violence in democracy, Patnaik said his government will take strong action against all those involved in this barbaric incident.
The 'egg or chicken' conundrum is not required to establish whether books or films came first, but it is indisputable that a whole host of blockbuster movies -- from the James Bond to the Harry Potter series, from "Dracula" to "Gone With the Wind", and from "Ben-Hur" to "Jurassic Park" -- owe their origin to books. War movies are no different.

A constant occurrence in human affairs from the earliest time, wars, given their effect on a society's present and the future, the sacrifices they demand, and the moral issues they raise, figure in all forms of literary works. With the advent of cinema, their cultural depiction got a new -- and much wider -- display.

Since the First World War, war films of all shades, from jingoistic to pacifist, have been a staple of global cinema, being made right even as the conflict they depict rages on, down till the present day. Cinema traditions across the Americas, Europe and Asia have their masterpieces, but it is Hollywood, whose sheer scope and influence makes it predominant, that is most known for its repertoire.

While it has filmed a wide swathe of wars down the ages and around the world, from the Trojan War to the War against Terror, as well as some lesser-known conflicts (the 15th Moorish-Christian battles in Spain known as 'El Cid'), the pride of place belongs to those set in the Second World War.

But, be they broad-spectrum retellings of major battles like the D-Day ("The Longest Day", 1962), or the Battle of Arnhem ("A Bridge Too Far", 1977), or episodes of PoW breakouts such as "The Great Escape" (1963), focused experiences of smaller formations ("Cross of Iron", 1977, or "Squadron 633", 1964), or even varying degrees of fiction ("The Bridge on the River Kwai", 1957, "The Dirty Dozen", 1967, "Where Eagles Dare", 1968, and "The Eagle Has Landed", 1976), all are based on books. Also, most made the transition from the page to the big screen in a considerably short span of time.

Irish-American journalist Cornelius Ryan's eponymous military histories, which draw on the experiences of as many survivors as available from all sides, came out in 1959 and 1974 -- three years before the films based on them; American author E.M. Nathanson's "The Dirty Dozen" came out two years before the film; and Scottish novelist Alistair Maclean's "Where Eagles Dare" and Jack Higgins' "The Eagle Has Landed" just a year before.

There was, however, a lag for "Cross of Iron" based on German author Willi Heinrich's "The Willing Flesh" (German 1955, English 1956), "Squadron 633" on former RAF officer Frederick E. Smith's 1956 book of the same name, and most for Australian fighter pilot-turned-author Paul Brickhill, whose work on the PoW escape -- of which he had first-hand experience -- came out in 1950.

Brickhill, however, is unique in having two other works become successful films -- "The Dam Busters", based on an RAF bombing raid on German industry (book, 1951; film, 1955) and "Reach for the Sky" (book, 1953; film, 1956), on the disabled British fighter ace Douglas Bader.

But there are major differences between the printed and the reel versions. Some are due to the limitations of the form, say, the need for a condensed narrative, or the inability to delve into the background or to represent the thought processes of a character on screen, but most are instances of artistic licence, driven by the need to create a compelling or dramatic scene even if it is made up.

In "The Longest Day", the scene showing a group of French nuns, led by the Mother Superior no less, hurrying into a war zone to minister to their injured compatriots makes for splendid viewing, but never happened in real life. Then, at the end of "A Bridge Too Far", the actor playing the role of a British General, who masterminded the campaign, is shown speaking the phrase from which the book and the film's title is drawn -- he did say that but at a different point, in another context. Then, the motorcycle chase towards the end of "The Great Escape" makes for thrilling viewing, but never happened in real life.

Political and commercial reasons may also play a role in changes. "The Great Escape" was heavily fictionalised, with all its protagonists being composites of the real-life inmates and their roles jazzed up for the stars playing them. American officers, moreover, were given prominence, despite the fact that the PoWs who broke out were British and other Allied personnel.

The Americans were involved in planning and preparations for the escape, but their entire contingent had been moved to a different camp more than half a year before the escape.

On the other hand, some of these books do not make it easygoing for the filmmaker.

"The Dirty Dozen", the film that is, shows the selection and training of the personnel for about two-thirds of the running time and the operation in about the final third. Guess, how much the book, over 500 pages in most editions, devotes to the denouement? Just the last two dozen-odd pages, with most of this being a report for the general concerned, and spending the rest as a character study. You won't even recognise most of the film's 'Dirty Dozen'.

There are more examples of divergences, but let's now look at another half-a-dozen war books and their film adaptations, which are lesser-known, but deserve both reading and viewing.

Less known than his contemporary Nicholas Monserrat of "The Cruel Sea" (1951; film, 1953), British naval officer-turned-writer Denys Rayner's "The Enemy Below (1956; film, 1957) is a fictional but authentic tale of a cat-and-mouse game between an Allied destroyer and a German U-boat somewhere in the South Atlantic Ocean, spread over five days and ending with both in the same boat (figuratively and literally).

On land, much drier land, is British novelist Christopher Landon's "Ice Cold in Alex" (1957; film, 1958), about two British soldiers and two nurses, pulling back after an advance by Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Corps, getting separated from their convoy, and forced to make the arduous drive across the desert to safety.

While Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" (1961; film, 1970) is the defining satirical novel of World War II, American novelist William Bradford Huie's "The Americanisation of Emily" (1959; film, 1964) is a no less barbed look at how some officers will go to any extent to achieve glory, even as some seek to avoid it at any cost.

German novelist Hans Helmut Kirst's "The Night of the Generals" (1962; film, 1967) is the incongruous tale of a dogged German military policeman seeking to catch a serial murderer of prostitutes, believed to be one of the three generals in the vicinity, even as indiscriminate massacres go on all around.

Start with these and note the differences.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
Gandhinagar, Feb 5 : The police in Kalol in Gujarats Gandhinagar district on Saturday arrested one person and filed a complaint against two others in an incident of firing over payment for illegal entry into America.

Notably, this is the same region from where a family of four froze to death recently near the US-Canada border while trying to illegally sneak into the US.

According to the police report, Vishnubhai Maneklal Patel, who runs a grocery shop in Kalol, had struck a deal with two agents -- Rutvik Vijay Parekh and Devam Gopalbhai Brahmbhatt -- for sending his nephew Vishal and his wife Rupali to the US.

The deal was finalised for Rs 1.10 crore, of which Rs 10 lakh was to be shown to the agents while sending the couple off on Friday.

According to the deal, half of the payment was to be made when the couple reaches the US, while rest of the payment was to be made in one-and-a-half months' time after that.

It was also decided that the couple will be emigrated via Delhi in one-and-half months along with a group of other immigrants from Delhi and the process would cost Rs 1.1 crore.

But the departure dates kept on changing, before February 4 was finalised. Rutvik had dropped the couple to the airport while Devam had accompanied them to Delhi.

As per the instructions of the Delhi-based main agent, Rutvik, Raiyan and two other persons reached Vishnubhai's house later and demanded the payment. To this, Vishnubhai argued that money had to be paid after the couple reached the US.

After a heated argument, Raiyan shot at Vishnubhai, but fortunately the bullet missed him. After Vishnubhai's son raised an alarm, the neighbours surrounded the house. Somehow, Raiyan and others managed to escape, while Rutvik was caught.
Jaipur, Feb 5 : Reeling under intense pressure due to subsequent Covid waves, the hotel industry in Rajasthan has been left crippled, and it is hoping the forthcoming state budget to turn their fortunes.

The third wave of Corona has dealt a severe blow to the tourism industry in the desert state. Most of the hotels have sacked their 50 per cent staff, while those who have not done the same are struggling to keep their business running, Gajendra Luniwal, President of Jaipur Hotel Association, told IANS.

"This time, we have high expectations from the state budget. The dying hotel industry has urged the Rajasthan government to provide interest-free loans for next five months. We need to make payments to our staff and when there are no guests coming, it is difficult for us to make payments to them," he said.

After the first two waves of Covid, the hotel industry started picking up pace in September last year and was a little stable in December, but then came the guidelines of restrictions.

Eventually, the tourists cancelled their bookings, marriages were postponed leaving the hoteliers again in losses, Luniwal said.

Most wedding bookings went to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh Haryana borders. Eventually, many hotels have been left on the verge of closure; there are around 20 per cent hotels which are yet to open after being shut for the past two years.

"We contribute 22 per cent revenues to the state's GDP, and hence we expect help from the government in the upcoming budget," Luniwal said.

Meanwhile, when the state budget is being looked upon with high hopes, the Union Budget for tourism has offered some silver linings for the hospitality and tourism industry.

Apart Kumar, President, Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR), said that some proposals made in the Union Budget will boost the tourism sector.

"Tourism will have a positive impact through investments in roads and railways. An increased focus in digital marketing will help in promotion," he said.

It needs to be mentioned here that the number of guests has almost halved in the state.

In December 2021, 6.10 lakh tourists visited Rajasthan, while only 3.43 lakh tourists visited the state in January this year, Kumar said.
Hyderabad, Feb 5 : A war of words broke out between the BJP and the ruling TRS after Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao did not receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Hyderabad on Saturday.

Rao also skipped both the programmes attended by the Prime Minister. The Chief Minister was reportedly down with mild fever.

However, BJP leaders have slammed the Chief Minister for staying away, alleging that he has insulted the Prime Minister.

"He was fine till yesterday. Has he developed fever with Mr Modi's arrival," taunted BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay while reacting to reports that the Chief Minister is indisposed.

Talking to reporters, the BJP leader termed KCR's act shameful. He said the people of Telangana are hanging their heads in shame due to the Chief Minister's action. The BJP MP also said that people would not forgive KCR for insulting the Prime Minister.

"KCR has been regularly insulting our PM. Now violating the protocol is a shameful act on the part of KCR. We will never tolerate this," read a tweet posted from the BJP Telangana Twitter handle.

"As expected! KCR violating protocol stoops to a new low by sending his unimportant minister. Following NCBN, Channi footsteps. You'll be paid back in return," it added.

KCR, who had launched a bitter attack on Modi on Monday, had nominated Minister for Animal Husbandry, T. Srinivas Yadav, as the minister-in-waiting to receive and see-off the Prime Minister.

Yadav, along with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union minister G. Kishan Reddy and top officials received the PM at the airport. BJP leaders were also present to welcome Modi.

Meanwhile, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) hit back at the BJP and asked the saffron party to stop 'these cheap and misleading tactics'.

TRS argued that there is no necessity for the Chief Minister to receive the Prime Minister on a private visit.

"It's totally as per the protocol issued by the government of India validated by the Ministry of Home Affairs," it tweeted.

The party also posted the relevant rules.
Kozhikode, Feb 5 : Model and actress Akshara Reddy has been questioned by a team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in connection with the Nedumbassery gold smuggling case.

The case was filed in 2013. Akshara was called by the ED to join the probe to record her statements before the probe agency.

A team of elite officials grilled her for several hours at its Kozhikode office on Thursday.

As of now, the ED has not come up with any statement.

In 2013, one Shravya Sudhakar was questioned by the CBI in connection with the gold smuggling case. It has been alleged that Akashara Reddy is the same Shravya Sudhakar and to hide her identification, she reportedly underwent plastic surgery.

Reddy has been the winner of Bigg Boss Tamil Season 5 and Miss Globe 2019.

On September 19, 2013, a gold smuggling incident was reported at Kochi Airport.

Two Burqa clad women were held by the Customs officials for smuggling gold. A total of 20 kg gold was recovered from them during the searching and checking. They had failed to produce any document in this connection.

Faiz TK, a resident of Vadakara in Kozhikode was also named as an accused in the case, and was eventually arrested.

Later, the ED also lodged a Money Laundering case.

It was learnt that Faiz had connection in the film industry, and he had allegedly been supplying gold to his contacts in the film industry.

As the probe went on, the name of Akashara Reddy also surfaced.

Akshara has reportedly signed a movie with her Bigg Boss Tamil co-participant Varun.
Imphal, Feb 5 : The opposition Congress, which had earlier formed a Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA) after forging a pre-poll alliance with four Left parties and the Janata Dal-Secular, on Saturday announced a common agenda focusing on securing the territorial integrity of the poll-bound state and its historical boundaries.

The Congress' promise to secure the territorial integrity of Manipur assumes significance as the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) has been demanding integration of the Naga dominated areas of the neighbouring states -- Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh -- though the demand has been also strongly opposed by all the three northeastern states.

Congress' election observer for Manipur, Jairam Ramesh, while announcing the 18-point common agenda, said that the MPSA solemnly pledges to the people of Manipur that if the alliance receives majority mandate in the Assembly elections, the common agenda would be implemented in letter and spirit to ensure an accountable, responsible, responsive and transparent government.

Expressing his confidence of winning the two-phase Manipur Assembly elections to be held on February 27 and March 3, Ramesh said that the common agenda vows to fully implement Article 371 (C) of the Constitution which deals with the special provisions with respect to the development of the mountainous areas of Manipur.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh also recently said that the BJP-led state government would ensure that the special provisions under Article 371 (C) for the hilly areas do not get affected under any circumstances.

Ramesh, accompanied by former three-term Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, said that the MPSA under the common agenda would fulfil the democratic aspirations of all regions of the state.

The other plans in the common agenda include providing unemployment allowance to the youth, bringing about a sustainable economic growth in the next five years to ensure livelihood income to every family, empowering women economically and politically, fighting drug menace, and endeavouring to bring its victims on the path to normalcy.

The Congress, which contested the last Assembly polls in 2017 alone, is fielding candidates in around 55 to 56 seats this time, leaving the other seats to the allies of the MPSA.

Like Goa on Thursday, the 54 candidates of the Congress took an oath of "allegiance" to the Constitution of India and to the party and its ideology and vowed to "serve" the people of Manipur by "remaining" with the party for their "entire tenure" of five years, if elected.

The oath of "allegiance" to the Indian Constitution and to the party assumes significance because many of the 28 Congress MLAs who had won in 2017 polls joined the BJP and other parties subsequently.

The Congress candidates during the past two to three days visited prominent religious places including temple, mosque and church to seek "divine blessings".

The Congress nominees also visited the Kangla Fort, once a seat of administration holding immense historical, religious and cultural significance for the people of Manipur.

The Congress, despite emerging as the single-largest party with 28 seats, was ousted from power after 15 years in 2017.

The 60-member Manipur Assembly will go to the polls in two phases on February 27 and March 3, while the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Bengaluru, Feb 5 : Amid the row in Karnataka over students wearing Hijab, the state government on Saturday issued a circular on uniform, reiterating its earlier stand that all government schools should follow the uniform dress code, declared by the state government.

Stating that students from private institutions should follow the dress code decided by the school management, it said colleges would follow the dress code decided by the college development board.

In case of no such code, students can wear the dress which does not affect equality, integrity and law and order, the circular stated.

Meanwhile, Hindu as well as Muslim students took to streets, with one group demanding permission to wear hijab in classes and another group demanding to permit saffron shawls if hijab is allowed.

Hundreds of students, including boys and girls took out a procession in Kundapur, Udupi district wearing saffron shawls and raised slogans of 'Jai Sriram', 'Jai Lakshmi Bai' etc.

Later, the students were sent back to their homes by the police.

Large group of students and activists staged a protest in front of office of the District Commissioner in Kalburgi, under the leadership of Congress MLA Kaneez Fathima, condemning the move to deny entry to Muslim students for wearing hijab.

MLA Kaneez Fathima challenged the ruling BJP government to stop her from wearing hijab. "I will attend an assembly session in hijab. If they (BJP) have strength let them stop me. We will see how they will ban hijab, it is our right," she said.

The row on hijab surfaced in the state after few Muslim students insisted that they want to attend classes by wearing hijab at a Pre-University College in Udupi district, but were denied entry.

The students have approached the High Court and the ruling BJP government has set up a high level committee to look into the issue.
Gandhinagar, Feb 5 : BJP MLA from Rajkot, Govind Patel, on Saturday wrote to Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, alleging that the Rajkot Commissioner of Police (CP), Manoj Agrawal, takes 15 per cent commission to return sunk money to the victims of financial fraud.

Patel also alleged that in such cases, complaints are not even filed.

Patel on Wednesday wrote a letter to Sanghavi, the copy which went viral on social media on Saturday.

In his letter, the BJP MLA has claimed that Manoj Agrawal didn't lodge any FIR in a case of Rs 15 crore fraud and asked for 15 per cent commission for returning the sunk money.

Patel added that Agrawal collected Rs 75 lakh through an inspector after managing the collection of Rs 7 crore out of a total Rs 15 crore. Patel added that the complainant continues to receive phone calls from the inspector for payment of the rest of the amount.

Patel said that after the intervention of the MoS Home, a complaint was filed and two accused were nabbed. After a complaint was filed, not a single pie of the rest of Rs 8 crore has returned to the complainant.

"Two accused were arrested, and one more is on the run. Proper action has not been taken to recover the money from the arrested accused, so I wrote a letter to the Home Minister. The matter in the letter is as per the issue raised by the complainant (Mahesh Sakhiya)," Patel told reporters.

"Govindbhai (Patel's) letter has raised an issue, and an investigation will be carried out on the allegations levelled by him. I am not saying whether the allegation is right or wrong, but it will be investigated," said Rajkot Joint Commissioner of Police, Khurshid Ahmad.
Chennai, Feb 5 : Launching a federation on your own and appealing like minded organisations to nominate a representative is itself against the principle of federalism, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam said.

Panneerselvam, in a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday, said: "It is the usual practice that before starting a federation, all like-minded individuals and organisations will be invited and discussed about the federation." "Instead of doing this, you have launched the federation on your own and then appealed to the like-minded organisations to nominate a representative.A I would like to say that this itself is against the principles of federalism," Panneerselvam said.

The AIADMK leader was replying to Stalin's letter requesting to nominate an appropriate person from AIADMK to the All India Federation for Social Justice floated by the latter.

When one talks of federalism, social justice, the AIADMK, its late Founder M.G.Ramachandran (MGR) and late General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa are always in the minds of people, Panneerselvam said.

According to him, backward classes in Tamil Nadu are benefitting more in getting admission in education and employment in government sectors as late Chief Minister MGR increased the reservation from 31 per cent to 50 per cent. This is the first example of Social Justice.

Referring to the Mandal Commission recommendation of 52 per cent reservation for backward classes in government jobs, Panneerselvam said it was Jayalalithaa who had claimed the reservation should be extended to education, which could be termed as the second example of Social Justice.

Panneerselvam also said it was Jayalalithaa who had obtained the assent of Indian President for The Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of appointments or posts in the Services under the State) Bill, 1993 and included the same in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India as 257A and protecting the 69 per cent reservation in Tamil Nadu.

"Taking into consideration the deterioration of admission of Government School students into medical education, the AIADMK Government enacted a legislation giving 7.5 per cent reservation to them and upheld the principle of social justice," Panneerselvam added.

He also pointed out that it was due to AIADMK that 27 per cent reservation 27 per cent reservation shall be given to Other Backward Class students in 15 per cent All India Medical Seat Quota in respect of undergraduate courses and 50 per cent in respect of post graduate courses.

The former Chief Minister Panneerselvam also charged that DMK stood by the Central Government whenever the latter acted against federal principles.

"I would like to point out that when the Tamil Nadu Acquisition, Transfer and Taking over of the Administration of Cable Television Network (Including Multiple Service Optical Transport System) Bill, 2006 was passed in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on 27-01-2006 taking into consideration the welfare of the people and to prevent the monopoly rights, the DMK by using its influence with the then Governor stopped the Bill to become an Act," Panneerselvam said.

The AIADMK leader also recalled that it was in 1974 during DMK's rule in Tamil Nadu that Katchatheevu an islet was handed over to Sri Lanka.

"The DMK has committed lot of mistakes like not raising objection for construction of Hemavathy Dam in Karnataka during 1970, withdrawal of case relating to Cauvery Water Dispute in 1971, renewal of agreement between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during 1974, not pressurizing the Central Government to publish the final order of the Cauvery Water Tribunal which was published in the year 2007 in the Gazette of the Government of India," Panneerselvam said.

Panneerselvam said the ADMK has not raised its voice for Social Justice and State Autonomy when it was part of the Central Government for 17 years.

"Now when it is not part of the Central Government, formed All India Federation for Social Justice and made an appeal to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to nominate a person for the above federation will not be entertained cannot be accepted," Panneerselvam said.

Urging Chief Minister Stalin to concentrate on issues concerning people Panneerselvam said the floating of the All India Federation for Social Justice is to divert the attention of the people who are dissatisfied with his rule.
New Delhi, Feb 6 : The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police has arrested two people for allegedly cheating a man of nearly Rs 9 crore on the pretext of providing antique items having radioactive properties that can be later sold to the US space agency NASA at higher price.

The accused were identified as 44-year-old Amit Gupta, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad and 44-year-old Ganesh Ingole, a resident of Maharashtra.

Furnishing details about the case, Delhi Joint Commissioner of Police (CP), Chhaya Sharma said a case was registered on the complaint of the victim Gautam Puri, who alleged that the accused persons -- Amit Gupta and Rakesh Goel -- approached him regarding sale of antique items that is, rice puller, radioactive mirror and antique articles and lured him to deal in the same.

The accused duo arranged the complainant's meetings with other accused -- Ganesh Ingole, Satyanarain Anoria, among others, who even showed him affiliation from various Indian and foreign scientific institutes and assured that they are legally entitled and certified to testify genuineness and authenticity of the antique items.

"The accused persons told the complainant that genuineness of antique items can be checked only by scientists from BARC, DRDO and the archaeological laboratory, and there are rules and regulations which are to be followed in the process of verification of genuineness," the Delhi Joint CP added.

On the assurance of the alleged persons that the market price of antique articles in the international market is Rs 11 crore per inch, the complainant got lured that he will get exponential profit in the deal, but initially he has to incur expenses on testing of antique articles.

The victim was lured to deliver money to the tune of Rs nine crore through cheque, RTGS and in cash to the alleged persons -- Amit Gupta, Ganesh Ingole, Rakesh Goel, Satyanarain Anoria, among others, but the latter did not conduct any testing.

The complainant alleged that the accused persons in a very calculated manner by hatching criminal conspiracy caused him wrongful loss of Rs 8.93 crore.

During the course of investigation it was revealed that the accused persons -- Amit Gupta, Ganesh Ingole along with other co-accused collected the amount from the complainant on the pretext of testing the genuineness and authenticity of antique items for radioactive properties so that same can be sold out to NASA and World Meteorological Organisation for research and development.

The accused Amit Gupta was the kingpin of the alleged cheating racket and he along with co-accused Rakesh Goel had lured the complainant to invest money. The accused Ganesh Ingole was a postgraduate in mechanical engineering and had done his project training from BARC for six months.

The accused persons were also involved in eight more cases registered in different states. "Further investigation into the case is underway," the police official said.
Addis Ababa, Feb 6 : The 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly kicked off in Addis Ababa, as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The AU Assembly session began on Saturday. Issues such as rebuilding Africa from the brunt of the devastating impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring continental peace and security, socio-economic development, as well as representation of Africa in multilateral international institutions took centrestage at the AU Assembly Summit.

The two-day summit, slated from February 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development".

Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, told African leaders the need to exert concerted efforts towards effectively responding to challenges such as Covid-19, expansion of terrorism and insecurity while strengthening and preserving multilateralism.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged mankind deep down in its conscience. We cannot, when we meet physically for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, avoid asking ourselves, about ourselves, our doubts, anxieties, concerns for our organisation and our Africa," he said.

Mahamat said the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a contraction in growth of 2.1 per cent in 2020 and increased the debt ratio by 10 points of the continent's GDP, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The two major scourges that are Covid-19 and terrorism on a continental level, must added to our intrinsic fragilities," he added.

He said Africa's security situation is deeply marred by the metastasis of terrorism and the dangerous resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government.

Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who is also the outgoing Chairperson of the AU, on his part echoed Mahamat's assertion as he emphasised the need to exert concerted efforts in realising Africa's 50-year continental development Agenda 2063.

Tshisekedi, in particular, emphasised the need to silence the guns across the African continent.

"Silencing the guns in the continent is still a major imperative. However, we have to walk the talk. It is high time that we consolidate the African architecture of peace and security and to ensure the general operationalisation of the African Standby Force," he said.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also addressed the AU Assembly summit through a video link.

"We need to ignite the engine of peace across Africa. Conflicts and violence have many roots -- from economic inequalities and competition for scarce resources, to ethnic and religious tensions, among others," Guterres told African leaders.

"African states are proudly multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural. The AU is about showing how people can co-exist, even flourish, by working together," he added.

The UN Secretary-General emphasised that achieving the sustainable development goals depends on supporting massive investments in strong health and education systems, in job-creation, especially in the green and care sectors, and in universal social protection, gender equality, and opportunities for young people, among others.

During the summit, Senegalese President Macky Sall took over the one-year term rotating AU chairmanship from DRC's President Tshisekedi.

In his acceptance speech, the Senegalese President stressed the need to accelerate Africa's short and long-term targets, which includes the fight against the pandemic as well as building an Africa that can withstand current and future socio-economic and political shocks.

African leaders also acknowledged the 20th anniversary of the founding of the AU this year as a successor to the former Organisation of African Unity, reiterating realisation of the major aspirations of the pan-African bloc.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Tehran, Feb 6 : Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian has said Iran has made it clear to the American side, through its intermediaries, that they must show their "good faith in action" in the Vienna nuclear negotiations.

"Good faith in practice, in our view, means something tangible happening on the ground, and the lifting of some of the sanctions could be considered as goodwill that the Americans are talking about," Amir Abdollahian said on Saturday in response to Washington's latest sanctions relief to Iran.

What happens on paper is good, but not enough, he stressed.

He revealed that agreements on political and economic guarantees have been reached with the West in the nuclear talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna, Xinhua news agency reported.

"One of our key points in lifting sanctions is to get guarantees. Regarding the guarantees in the economic and political fields, we have reached some agreements," Iran's Foreign Minister was quoted as saying by IRNA News Agency.

Earlier on Saturday, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, tweeted that "Iran's legal right to continue research and development and to maintain its peaceful nuclear capabilities and achievements, along with its security against supported evils, cannot be restricted by any agreement".

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday that the US sanction waiver on Iran is "insufficient" to the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to Jamaran news website.

Iran is waiting for the US to fulfill its duties and obligations regarding the lifting of sanctions, Khatibzadeh added.

He urged the US to lift all sanctions, including the nuclear ones, underlining his country's readiness to evaluate any action in the right direction of fulfilling JCPOA obligations.

The US government on Friday restored the sanction waiver to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, while the Vienna talks, which were initiated nearly 10 months ago to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the JCPOA, have now reached a crucial stage.
Addis Ababa, Feb 6 : Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat has expressed concern over security situation in the African continent.

Addressing the 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, Mahamat on Saturday said that "the security situation of the continent today is deeply marked by terrorism and the dangerous resurgence of unconstitutional changes of governments".

Chairperson of the pan-African bloc added that terrorism and violent extremism was Africa's security challenge in 2021 with international terror links are embedded in east, west and southern Africa, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The security situation on the continent now calls for a real new approach which should question our peace and security architecture and its correlation with the new destabilising factors in Africa," he said.

The Chairperson added that financing the continent's development through an energetic fight against illicit capital flows and establishment of African financial institutions remain a greater challenge to Africa.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Roche Sequencing Solutions, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The San Francisco employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action complaint alleging that Roche Sequencing Solutions, Inc. violated the California Labor Code. The Roche Sequencing Solutions, Inc. class action lawsuit, Case No. 22CV393406, is currently pending in the Santa Clara County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Roche Sequencing Solutions, Inc. allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required expenses, and (f) retaliated, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in California Labor Code Sections  226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1102.5, et seq., 1194, 1197, 1197.1,, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct.

California Labor Code  226 states that employers shall provide employees with accurate itemized wage statements showing, among other things "gross wages earned and all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period..." The lawsuit alleges that Defendant allegedly violated this California Labor Code by allegedly failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against Roche Sequencing Solutions, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago that dedicates its practice to helping employees, investors and consumers fight back against unfair business practices, including violations of the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act. If you need help in collecting unpaid overtime wages, unpaid commissions, being wrongfully terminated from work, and other employment law claims, contact one of their attorneys today.

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George always had a burning desire to help those in his community and considered education to be extremely important, so I cannot think of a better way to honor his memory.

Private mass and services for George Rogers immediate family were held on May 28th, 2021, at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fresno. This date represented the one-year anniversary of Georges transplant. On November 12th, 2021, the day of his 75th birthday, a tribute luncheon to celebrate his life, achievements, and legacy was held at Fort Washington Country Club.

A self-made success with a strong work ethic, George Rogers was an entrepreneur and innovator who had a profound impact on his family, friends, employees, the staffing industry, and the Fresno community. As The PrideStaff Companies Founder and late CEO, Rogers lived out his passion for providing people with opportunities to create meaningful careers. Today, his dedication continues through the George & Melodie Rogers Foundation, the charitable organization he and his wife established before his passing.

A Fresno native, Rogers was the son of a butcher and a catalog clerk who instilled a strong work ethic and appreciation for the value of education. After attending Fresno High School, Rogers became the first in his family to attend college. His experiences at Fresno State and early on in his career helped him appreciate how education and hard work yield success  they set the stage for what would later shape the legacy he leaves behind.

Rogers entrepreneurial spirit and strong desire to help people spurred the start of American Home Care, his first staffing service, in 1978. He sold the business in 1985 to start American Temporary Services, which he rebranded in 1995 as PrideStaff. From its headquarters in Fresno, Rogers steadily built his business with a mission to Consistently provide client experiences focused on what they value most, guided by the core values of integrity, trust, reliability, respect, innovation, and, of course, pride.

Rogers loved the staffing industry because it was a way to provide meaningful work to people. Rather than calling his owner/operators franchisees, Rogers titled them Strategic-Partners as he had a genuine desire to help them achieve their dreams and wanted to build a culture to reflect that.

A visionary and pioneer in the staffing industry, Rogers received multiple awards and accolades for growing a single-office staffing firm into a nationwide, commercial staffing franchise. Today, PrideStaff operates over 85 franchised and company-owned locations across the country, serving more than 5,000 clients. In 2021, PrideStaff was ranked #93 on Staffing Industry Analysts' list of Largest Staffing Firms for a ninth consecutive year. Rogers was personally named to Staffing Industry Analysts Staffing 100 North America list for a fifth consecutive year.

Over the years, Rogers visions for growth and development also resulted in the launch of four additional divisionsPrideStaff Financial, Rx relief, Insurance Relief, and G.A. Rogers & Associateseach dedicated to serving niche areas within the staffing and recruiting industry. With the exception of G.A. Rogers & Associates, which was launched in 2021, all of PrideStaffs divisions are recognized as multi-year winners of ClearlyRateds coveted Best of Staffing Client and Talent Diamond Awards for outstanding satisfaction. This distinction places PrideStaff in the top 1% of its industry for service satisfactionon par with Nordstrom and above the level of Amazon, Southwest, and Apple.

Throughout his career, Rogers always said that he wanted to make his life stand for something. While he could have sold his business at multiple points, he loved the work and cared deeply about the well-being of everyone who was part of the PrideStaff systemhis Home Office staff, Strategic-Partners, their teams, and associates working on assignments. So instead of selling his organization, he chose to create a succession plan that would ensure PrideStaffs long-term success - and that the work-family he created would live on in perpetuity.

Thanks to Rogers decisive actions and selection of a formidable leadership team, PrideStaff remains at the top of its industry and is poised to help businesses and individuals succeed for decades to come.

Continuing his legacy of giving: The George & Melodie Rogers Foundation

George Rogers always valued education and looked for opportunities to give back to his community. Now, the George & Melodie Rogers Foundation endowment to the Renaissance Scholars Summer Internship Program will help provide a pathway to success for former homeless and foster youth attending Fresno State. This generous gift carries on Rogers' legacy of giving, allowing students to realize their academic and life goals.

Through the foundation, Melodie Rogers will work with Fresno State's Renaissance Scholars Program to help former foster youth, unaccompanied homeless youth, orphan youth, and other independent youth earn a university degree and become leaders in the community.

A check for the Rogers $1 million endowment to Fresno State was presented to David Hembree, Director of Development, Division of Student Affairs CSU Fresno, and Fresno State President Saul Jimenez-Sandoval, Ph.D. on November 12th, 2021, at the tribute luncheon held at Fort Washington Country Club.

At the tribute luncheon, Melodie Rogers announced an initial pledge of $10 million to their private foundation. She will continue to make a $1 million donation each year on her husband Georges birthday, November 12th, to their selected charities and non-profit organizations.

"More than 23,000 children 'age-out' of foster care every year in the US and become instantly 'independent' and homeless," stated Melodie Rogers. "Without support and guidance, fewer than 3% of those individuals will ever earn a college degree.

"This endowment will provide Renaissance Scholars with viable internship opportunities, ample support and a generous financial stipend to build their confidence, experience and a more secure future," continued Rogers. "George always had a burning desire to help those in his community and considered education to be extremely important, so I cannot think of a better way to honor his memory."

About PrideStaff

PrideStaff was founded in the 1970s as 100% company-owned units and began staffing franchising in 1995. They operate over 85 offices in North America to serve over 5,000 clients and are headquartered in Fresno, CA. With over 40 years in the staffing business, PrideStaff offers the resources and expertise of a national firm with the spirit, dedication and personal service of smaller, entrepreneurial firms. PrideStaff is the only nationwide, commercial staffing firm in the U.S. and Canada with over $100 million in annual revenue to earn ClearlyRateds prestigious Best of Staffing Diamond Award nine years in a row highlighting exceptional client and talent service quality.

About The George & Melodie Rogers Foundation

George A. Rogers had a lifelong passion for providing opportunities for people to create meaningful careers while supporting their families and themselves. He put that dream to work with PrideStaff. He founded PrideStaff in 1978 to help job seekers find worthwhile work, provide businesses with workforce resources, and improve the communities they serve.

The George & Melodie Rogers Foundation is a charitable organization established to continue the legacy of our founder, George A. Rogers. The foundation is committed to supporting the Fresno youth community by working with Fresno State's Renaissance Scholars Program and other community programs.
I am honored to have been awarded this mark of excellence and am beyond excited. It is such a true privilege when our next-level work of serving those discovering and investing in Los Cabos is acknowledged and valued, says Fukunaga.

Setting the stage for 2022, Owner, President | CEO of Engel & Volkers Snell Real Estate, Vanessa Fukunaga, has just been announced as one of the 30 Best CEOs of the Year 2022 by The Silicon Review. Recognized as a top CEO from a line-up of noteworthy and high-level business leaders, decision makers and professionals, this award is well deserved for the unstoppable woman behind the #1 real estate brokerage in Mexicos Baja California Sur. Skilled, globally connected and tuned in to the marketplace, its her perseverance and vision that leads the charge as she passionately works to push her companies forward into the future.

Since taking ownership of the brokerage in 2012, Fukunagas level of international business acumen, experience and prowess has been warmly welcomed to the real estate industry in Los Cabos and beyond. In addition to contributing to the historical establishment of the first Engel & Volkers in Mexico, Fukunaga has tremendously elevated the real estate level of profession and marketing power catapulting sales and directing the team in selling over a billion dollars in real estate. Additionally, she is one of the regions top advisors supporting high-net-worth clients interested in selling or buying ultra-luxury level Los Cabos properties.

Now stepping forward into 2022, the brokerage is thrilled to celebrate 25 YEARS of serving the real estate sector and drawing the spotlight to Los Cabos for generations of families. The year 2021 has officially been reported as Engel & Volkers Snell Real Estates STRONGEST year on RECORD and as a result, the brokerage is now positioned at $2.8B in sales since inception. When it comes to the entire Baja market, the constant flurry of activity has resulted in a sales increase nearly triple the amount from 2020. Present day  two weeks into 2022 and the brokerage is already positioned at $28.4M in sales for the year! This amounts to a 20% increase compared to the beginning of 2021. The market is RED HOT. Theres no stopping the incredible trajectory the brokerage is on, and theres certainly no stopping Fukunaga.

This special recognition of 30 Best CEOs of the Year 2022 is a powerful reflection of Fukunaga's position as among the best property professionals from across the globe. I am honored to have been awarded this mark of excellence and am beyond excited. It is such a true privilege when our next-level work of serving those discovering and investing in Los Cabos is acknowledged and valued, says Fukunaga.

This special recognition of 30 Best CEOs of the Year 2022 is a powerful reflection of Fukunagas position as among the best property professionals from across the globe. I am honored to have been awarded this mark of excellence and am beyond excited. It is such a true privilege when our next-level work of serving those discovering and investing in Los Cabos is acknowledged and valued, says Fukunaga.

Joining this award, the brokerage is also celebrating their 12-year achievement as the #1 real estate agency for sales volume in the Baja market, their FIFTH consecutive win for Best Real Estate Agency in Mexico with the prestigious International Property Awards, and their accomplishment as one of the 30 Most Valuable Brands of the Year 2021, among others.

Born to be a global leader, shes at the helm of it all bringing her stroke of brilliance, talent and creativity to the property industry. Leading female entrepreneur, Vanessa Fukunaga, is making her mark and this is just the beginning.

The Silicon Reviews global online and print community raises the spotlight on leading executives and their companies. To read the full story on Vanessa Fukunaga click here.

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Quite literally a store on wheels, consumers who download the Robomart app and set up an account are able to hail a Robomart to their location to enjoy a next-generation frictionless shopping experience. The companys app displays the six different types of Robomarts available: Snacks, Grocery, Pharmacy, Cafe, Ice Cream and Fast Food, and shows consumers a menu of the available products. The Snacks, Grocery and Cafe Robomarts all feature refrigeration and multi-temperature compartments to keep perishable items fresh and drinks cold. The Ice Cream and Fast Food Robomarts are currently in development and scheduled to launch later this year.

Similar to ride-sharing services, once a Robomart vehicle-store is selected and hailed, the store-on-wheels arrives at the customers location in between two and ten minutes. When it arrives, shoppers simply open the vehicle doors with their app and then select their products. Robomarts RFID-based, checkout-free system enables consumers to take the products they want and just walk off without physically checking out and paying. The automated store tallies the products taken and, within a few minutes, provides a receipt and charges the payment card on file. Robomarts solution eliminates out-of-stock and product selection issues because the app shows users a complete list of all available products before the Robomart is hailed.

The futuristic platform is only available in the Los Angeles area for now, but there are plans to expand the serviceable footprint nationwide. The growth plan is supported by a key partnership with Miami-based REEF technology, the leading operator of mobility and logistic hubs best known for its sizable ghost kitchen footprint. REEF manages product stocking, tagging, scanning, integrity, and replenishment of the Robomart stores. In addition, Robomart is introducing a new Retailer Platform initiative. A turnkey solution enabling retailers to partner with Robomart and send their own branded markets to consumer homes, eliminating the time otherwise needed for order fulfillment. Robomart says its branded service can increase deliveries by up to 500%, while retailers will be able to access a robust reporting dashboard for sales data and analytics. Currently, Robomarts vehicles have human drivers, but plans call for the company to add self-driving vehicles as it fine-tunes the autonomous technology and as local regulations permit.

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This article originally appeared in the PSFK iQ report, Enhancing CX with Frictionless Retail Automation.
In recent years, novels in verse for young readers have garnered wide acclaim. Notable examples include Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedowhich won the National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature in, respectively, 2014 and 2018and Kwame Alexanders 2015 Newbery Medal recipient, The Crossover.

The coming months bring numerous works that use the hybrid form to tell their stories (a select list of titles starts on p. 32). PW spoke with authors and editors about how their forthcoming novels in verse convey intense emotion, express issues around identity and difference, and reframe forgotten or submerged histories through the language of poetry.

Song of myself

Poetry allowed Robin Gow, author of a debut novel in verse A Million Quiet Revolutions (FSG, Mar., ages 14 and up), to put into words a story about identity and finding ones place in history. I was trying to write a story for myself as a young person who didnt really have the language to express being a queer person and a trans person, says Gow, whose previous works include the chapbook Honeysuckle and the poetry collection Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy. Writing through verse helped me explore those concepts in a way that felt more authentic to my own experiences. It helped me bring alive a love story between two transgender boys in high school and also navigate really tough topics.

Indeed, verse has proven capacious enough to grapple with global problems such as climate change. Ellen Hagan says her latest verse novel, Dont Call Me a Hurricane (Bloomsbury, July, ages 13 and up), arrived in poems for her. In telling the story of a young environmental activist, Hagan found that verse gave her the language and form necessary to address far-reaching issues surrounding climate injustice. This idea that I was holding this reckless, traumatic, earth-shaking environmental impact in wordsit felt like I could hold that tension in poems, she says. Each line and line break can create that emotional tension on the page.

Other writers have discovered verse to be the missing piece that allowed them to tell personal stories. In the Beautiful Country (Quill Tree, June, ages 812), Jane Kuos debut, is a loosely autobiographical story of a girls first year in the United States after immigrating from Taiwan. Kuo initially struggled to tell the story in prose. Im covering big events like immigrating, at one point being separated from my father, trying to understand the whole idea of being separate from everything that Ive ever known and coming into America, she says. Really big themes about feeling different, about saying goodbyehow do you process that?

The answer turned out to be poetry. Kuo explains that verse helped her to bring larger ideas about the immigrant experience into focus for younger readers. I found that the novel in verse really allows you to zero in and capture these moments, quite minuscule moments, and string them together, she notes. They become a wonderful way to tell a story and to take the reader along.

Another book that draws on the authors life is Diana Farids Wave (Cameron Kids, Mar., ages 1014), illustrated by Kris Goto, about a Persian American girl growing up in Southern California who loves to surf.

Cameron Kids editorial director Amy Novesky, who edited Wave, emphasizes poetrys visual storytelling power. So many of the poems were written in a way that evokes imagery like the wings of a bird or an actual wave, she says. That, in addition to the artwork, allows the reader to move through the story.

Novesky adds that verses association with lyrics and musicality further amplifies the books subject matter. The story weaves in themes of songs and songwriting and ends with the narrator writing a song, she says. It just made senseits so important that the story and the form match up.

Caitlyn Dlouhy, v-p and publisher of her eponymous imprint at Atheneum, also sees a crucial link between form and function. Hazard (Atheneum/Dlouhy, May, ages 913), the first verse novel by Frances ORoark Dowell (Dovey Coe), deals with themes of mental health, toxic masculinity, and the experience of being part of a military family.

Dlouhy, who also edited and published the recent bestseller Aint Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin, says that verses expansiveness on the page may give reluctant young readers more autonomy as they encounter difficult subject matter. Its in an odd way kind of comforting because youre within a space that gives you room to take everything in instead of feeling like theres more and more and more, she adds. Youre in more control as youre reading it.

Into the deep

Writing in verse, editors and authors say, helps reveal certain truths. Great or Nothing (Delacorte, Mar., ages 12 and up) is a Little Women retelling set in 1942, with each March sisters point of view written by a different author. In this version Beth has already died; her sections are the only ones in verse, giving her an otherworldly voice befitting her character, says Wendy Loggia, v-p and senior executive editor at Delacorte. Verse allowed Joy [McCullough, who writes Beths POV] to develop sides of Beth that we normally wouldnt seeher passions, her desires, her flaws.

R.M. Romero, who in The Ghosts of Rose Hill (Peachtree Teen, May, ages 14 and up) draws on Jewish and Eastern European folktales, believes verses emotional intensity makes it especially attractive to young readers. Verse novels resonate so much with young people because theyre so passionate and poetry is a really great format for conveying passion, she says; her debut novel, The Dollmaker of Krakow, was written in prose and for middle graders. Poetry is all about love and anger and disappointment and joyits this perfect snapshot of those powerful feelings.

That piercing insight appeals to young people, says Monica Perez, editorial director at Versify, the imprint founded by Kwame Alexander thats now at HarperCollins: the novel in verse, Perez explains, lays bare the truth of issues or problems in our society in a very visual, impactful way. Versifys forthcoming verse novels include Kip Wilsons The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin (Mar., ages 12 and up), set amid the queer cabaret culture of the 1930s; PWs review said, Its the eras politicsand their connection to the present daythat give the Cabaret-tinged story its urgent momentum. And Nothing Burns as Bright as You (Apr., ages 12 and up), by When You Were Everything author Ashley Woodfolk, explores the fervent connection between two teen girls.

Perez believes the verse novel format, once considered something of a rarity, is rapidly becoming established. For a while the novel in verse had that shiny new appeal, she says. Now, were coming into a period when its going to be a staple and an accepted form of literature.

Dont Call Me a Hurricane author Hagan sees the verse novels growing resonance with young readers as pointing to something fundamental about poetry itself. Its a place for young people to be vulnerable and tender, she says. Theres a generosity and this alive feeling. A teacher as well as a poet, Hagan recalls a classroom experience: I was teaching onomatopoeia to students and they just started making the sounds. It felt like this popcorn moment. Poems are alive on the page.

Matthew Broaddus is a poet and associate poetry editor at Okay Donkey Press.

Read more from our Children's Poetry 2022 feature:

Children's and YA Verse Novels 2022

Here, a selection of the many new and forthcoming YA and middle grade works in verse.
DEAL OF THE WEEK

Holders on the March to One World One Worlds Chris Jackson bought North American rights to Eric Holders Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the VoteA History, a Crisis, a Plan. The Penguin Random House imprint said that the book, cowritten with author and speechwriter Sam Koppelman, will be a chronicle of the brutal, bloody, and at times hopeful history of the vote; a frontline account of how opponents are fighting to take it away; and a powerful playbook for how we can save our democracy before its too late. Gail Ross at the Ross Yoon Agency represented Holder, the former U.S. attorney general and current chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

S&S Kids Pays Big for Monsefs Debut

For Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Kendra Levin preempted world rights to Kiyash Monsefs debut novel, Once There Was. The two-book, seven-figure deal, struck in coordination with Simon & Schuster Childrens Books UK, was brokered by Katelyn Detweiler at the Jill Grinberg Literary Agency. The publisher said Once There Was, slated for spring 2023, is an upper middle grade title that follows an Iranian-American girl who, after her father is murdered, discovers that he was secretly a veterinarian to magical creatures out of the bedtime tales he told her as a child, and that she must take up his mantle.

Rivera Memoir Goes to Harper

Broadway star Chita Rivera sold a currently untitled memoir to HarperOne. Lisa Sharkey took North American rights in English and world rights in Spanish from Mel Berger at WME. Rakesh Satyal at HarperOne will edit with Ariana Rosado-Fernandez at HarperEspanol, which will simultaneously publish the book in Spanish. The publisher said the book, set for early 2023 and written with journalist Patrick Pacheco, will offer stories about the titans of the Broadway worldincluding Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Dick Van Dyke, and Liza Minnelliwho inspired Rivera, encouraged her, and matched her exacting standardsas well as those who didnt.

Minotaur Re-ups Hurwitz

In a seven-figure, three-book deal, Gregg Hurwitz sold North American rights to the next three entries in his bestselling Orphan X series to Keith Kahla at Minotaur. Lisa Erbach Vance at the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency represented Hurwitz in the deal. The latest in the series, Dark Horse, was published this week by Minotaur. Hurwitz has released 23 thrillers and been published, Minotaur said, in 33 languages.

Goldmans Moonset Shines at Tor

Kristin Sevick at Tors Forge imprint bought Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman, an author and TV writer (for shows like Seinfeld and Ellen). Forge said the novel, slated for May, follows a man who must reckon with the deadly secrets, scandals, and suspicions that begin to bubble up in his fathers hallucinatory arguments with figures from the familys past. Jennifer Weltz at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency handled the U.S. rights agreement.

RH Moves for Milch Memoir

David Milch, creator of the TV series Deadwood and NYPD Blue, among others, sold a memoir titled Lifes Work to Ben Greenberg at Random House. The world rights agreement was brokered by Jennifer Joel at ICM Partners, and the book is set for September. The publisher said Milch has grappled with addictions to heroin and gambling and is now dealing with Alzheimers, and in Lifes Work he attempts to look back to make what sense he can of a life of addiction, recovery, loss and creation, abuse and life-saving kindness, and the increasingly strange present and future he now faces.
Morality Tale

The Good Place creator Michael Schur has the #4 hardcover nonfiction title with How to Be Perfect. Schur pored over 2,500 years worth of philosophy to learn about human behavior and what it means to be good while writing for the show, our review explained; the book distills that research into a zippy guide. It was #1 in the West North Central region, which includes the Kansas City area, home of Rainy Day Books.

In a preorder campaign organized by Schur and bookseller Geoffrey Jennings, the author came to Kansas City and personalized 2,700 copies. Rainy Day shipped packages across the U.S. and Canada and as far away as Bulgaria and Singapore, Jennings said. Mike signed for two intense days, wearing the skin down on his index finger so much he couldnt unlock his MacBook at the end.

Southern Exposure

Emma y las otras senoras del narco (Emma and Other Narco Women) by Mexican journalist Anabel Hernandez, the #6 book in the country, chronicles the lives of the wives and girlfriends of Mexicos drug kingpins. Hernandez, who lives in self-exile abroad, supported the book at the 2021 Guadalajara International Book Fair, accompanied by armed guards. Earlier that year, the author had another Spanish-language bestseller: El traidor (The Traitor), an investigation into the Sinaloa Cartel, debuted at #19 on our trade paperback list.

NEW & NOTABLE

Red-Handed

Peter Schweizer

#1 Hardcover Nonfiction, #1 overall

Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute and a Breitbart News senior contributor, follows Profiles in Corruption, Secret Empires, and Clinton Cash with a book that, per the subtitle, shows how Americas elites get rich helping China win.

Violeta

Isabel Allende, trans. from the Spanish by Frances Riddle

#11 Hardcover Fiction

Chilean writer Allende chronicles the lives of an upper-class South American family across various historical events of the 20th century, our review said. Its a mixed bag, but Allende succeeds once again at making the historical feel personal.

The Magnolia Palace

Fiona Davis

#13 Hardcover Fiction

Our starred review called this the best work to date from The Lions of Fifth Avenue author Davis, who returns with the captivating story of a missing diamond and the history of New Yorks Henry Clay Frick House, before and after it became a museum.
The advent of AI-enabled audiobook narration has been a hot topic of discussion in audiobook circles of late, and according to a number of audiobook narrators and other industry professionals, an October PW article raised the temperature of debate further. In that piece, consultant and PW columnist Thad McIlroy discussed the state of AI-enabled audiobook narration and its potential appeal to audiobook creators and consumers. He also profiled several players in this nascent nook of the still-booming digital audiobook segment. As the audiobook industry begins to more extensively weigh the pros and cons of another new technology on its doorstep, a growing number of players are joining the conversation.

Its practically all we talk about, said audiobook narrator Hillary Huber. I am a member of the SAG-AFTRA [Screen Actors GuildAmerican Federation of Television and Radio Artists] Audiobook Steering Committee, and I am a board member of our newly formed Professional Audiobook Narrators Association, or PANA, and believe me we are circling the wagons. She noted that McIlroys piece created an uproar in narrator circlesmuch of it fear driven rather than informed, she admittedand that it had galvanized our community to get educated and get involved.

Proponents of AI audiobook narration tout its much lower production costs (compared to a traditional recording of a human narrator) as a way to improve profitability of audiobooks as well as allowing publishers to publish more audiobooks that have limited audiences. But according to actor and narrator Emily Lawrence, cofounder of PANA and president of its board of directors, Its very easy to reduce this issue to dollars and cents, but its very complicated and nuanced. If AI narration proliferates, its not just narrators who will lose their jobs, Lawrence said. Theres an entire ecosystem of people who rely on audiobooks for their livelihood. People who direct audiobooks, people who edit audiobooks, people who check audiobook narration for word-for-word perfection against the manuscript.

Lawrence believes there are many ethical issues surrounding AI technology. For example, she notes, if I were to license my voice, and lose all control over how my voice is then used, my voice could potentially be used to voice content that I find morally repulsive. She also points out that as of now, a lot of AI licensing consists of non-union contracts, and that narrators are vulnerable to entering agreements that exploit their voices and dont offer fair compensation.

Similarly, in Hubers view, the negatives of AI outweigh any positives. She places loss of livelihoods, loss of integrity in storytelling, and loss of personal connection high on her list of concerns. The only pros I see are financial, she said. And its the other team that benefits, not the narrators nor the listeners. Do you really think [AI company] Speechki is going to pass their savings on to the listener? No. Listeners make choices about what to spend money on, and they have a right to demand clear labeling of robot voices, as do authors. And then there is the potential theft of our voicesour speech patterns, our acting choicesto create the AI. Thats a whole other can of worms.

Publishers wade in

Some traditional audiobook publishers are eyeing new tech frontiers while seemingly treading lightly in terms of AI. Our team continues to weigh the pros and cons and are very vocal about their thoughts and concerns on both sides, said Anthony Goff, who until this month was senior v-p and publisher of Hachette Audio. There are a lot of intricacies here that need to be considered.

For Goff, narrators are the heart and soul of our industry. You simply cannot have a beautifully crafted audiobook, a unique collaboration and work of art, without them. We believe that sensitive attention to casting the right voice actor is a crucial part of bringing our authors works to their fullest expression in audio.

Echoing the position of other audio publishers, Goff sees a future in which human and computer-generated narration can happily coexist. We do not anticipate AI narration replacing human readers, he said, but we do see opportunities to use it in specific waysparticularly as the quality of it has greatly improved. He cited an example: We have been using AI as an in-house tool for advance listening copies to get early reads out to sales reps and even to some of their buyers.

Pushkin Industries, the audio production company cofounded by Jacob Weisberg and author, narrator, and podcast host Malcolm Gladwell, has found AI helpful as a podcast tool. In a blog post on the website of Descript, an audio editing software, producers of Gladwells Revisionist History podcast described employing Descripts Overdub feature to create a cloned version of Gladwells voice for use in a scratch mix, or rough version of the narrative, to test ideas.

According to Nicole Morano, publicity director at Pushkin Industries, this kind of AI narration does not play a part in the companys audiobook productions. Pushkin is dedicated to producing high-quality, sound-rich audio, honoring the human voice in all of its nuance, she said. Our projects, both podcasts and audiobooks, rely heavily on archival audioincluding music, scoring, radio clips, original recordings of speeches and interviewsfor our audiences to appreciate the variety and power of audio. We are also interested in technology and are open to solutions that help us achieve our goal of producing audio in any format that challenges listeners, encourages their curiosity, and inspires joy in them.

Amazon-owned audiobook behemoth Audiblewhich is both a publisher and a retailerhas long held an anti-synthetic-narration policy that is clearly stated in the requirements section of its ACX audiobook self-publishing platform. But in recent months Audible has been called out by narrators and others who have discovered and flagged several AI-narrated titles listed on its site. Audible took down the titles, but concern remains among narrators that other AI-narrated titles will slip through the cracks.

Expanding the market?

At Hachette, Goff noted that his team is looking at using AI for some titles that have never been produced in audio beforea move that would help ensure that the largest possible number of Hachettes titles are always accessible in audio format, he said. Interest in previously unrecorded content would help us make decisions about what would make sense to bring to market as fully produced audiobook editions moving forward, created by a professional narrator and our dedicated production staff.

Goffs experimentation lines up with the key point that those who champion AI narration raise: AI can provide publishers with a cost-effective way to produce more audiobooks to help meet burgeoning consumer demand. Industry statistics illustrate the gulf between the number of audiobooks that get to market and the number that could potentially be recorded. According to the most recent data from the Audio Publishers Association, more than 71,000 audiobooks were published in 2020. Though that number marks an industry high, its still only a fraction of the number of print books published in 2020.

Actor and audiobook narrator Steven Jay Cohen appreciates this mismatch argument, at least in theory. Since most published content each year never makes it into audio, AI-narrated books could solve an accessibility issue on paper, but not in practice, he said. The reason that many of these titles are not made into audio is not the costit is that they were written in such a way as to make them unintelligible when read from beginning to end without the charts, graphs, etc. embedded within their pages. If all that was ever needed was a voice to read out loud, then narration would have died years ago.

Cohen added, Unless the voice talking to you understands the content that it is attempting to relay, the listener will have a harder time owning the information shared. This would be evident to anyone who has studied learning modalities. An auditory learner is doing more than just assessing how human a voice sounds.

Cohen also offered a look ahead at how AI might affect the industry. Because AI will come in as a cheaper alternative to live narration, it will affect the market mostly from the bottom up, he said. I would expect the indie/royalty-share market to be affected first. And as the algorithms improve, they will slowly work their way up the chain to more traditional producers. The traditional publishers will likely test out the technology on their lowest-earning content before considering using it elsewhere.

Despite AI narrations potential to help grow the audiobook sector, its emergence is creating an existential crisis for our narrator community, Lawrence said. It is not only threatening to take away our jobs and completely remove us from the equation butand this is my main concernits threatening the art that we love. And as a community, we fully believe that what we do is art. Whether Im out of a job or not, I would be devastated that the art that I care so deeply about is so horribly compromised.

Next steps

Certainly, industry debate of AI in audiobooks is picking up steam. The forthcoming virtual 2022 APA Conference offers an opportunity to hear from various players via a two-part panel session on March 2 at 1 p.m. ET. The first part offers an overview of how AI is being used in the audiobook field and commentary from three companies providing AI services and tools. During the second part, two audio publishers will share opposing views on AI: one will speak on the importance of humans in audiobook production, the other will discuss how it uses AI in its publishing process.

Were always looking at all of the different things that are happening in the industry, said APA executive director Michele Cobb. Some of those are technology driven, some of those are human performance driven, and were trying to keep our members apprised of whats happening. And because we do have such a large constituency of different types of memberspublishers, narrators, producers, suppliers, retailerseveryone is involved in the conversation.

Narrators are taking action by joining and raising their voices. According to Lawrence, narrators concerns about AI technology in the audiobook sphere was one of the drivers of her decision to cofound PANA last fall. The group grew to nearly 400 members in just three weeks after it began accepting them in October. There was very much a sentiment among the narrator community that an organization that was run by and for narrators was going to be an important force for us in the industry on this issue as well as many others, Lawrence said. Were a member-driven organization that is very focused on community activism and volunteer power.

Huber is one of those member-narrators at the ready. AI is coming, she said. We cant stop it, but hopefully we can be proactive by creating protections and, more importantly, by raising awareness in general so that listeners and authors can make informed choices.

Goff said publishers will continue to assess where AI may fit into the audiobook landscape. The technology is good and getting better but can never fully replace the art of audiobook creation, he noted. With the amazing growth of audio over the past few years, its clear that consumers love narration by professionals, and we do not see AI replacing thatrather, we see it supplementing it.
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/04/2022



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

alum Geoffrey Paschel has been sentenced to 18 years in prison without the possibility of parole on kidnapping and assault charges.Geoffrey, who appeared on Season 4 of : Before the 90 Days with Russian beauty Varya Malina , was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday, February 3, nearly four months after being convicted of multiple charges in October 2021, People reported Geoffrey, 44, was found guilty at his two-day assault trial of aggravated kidnapping, domestic violence, and interference with emergency calls for a June 2019 domestic dispute with his former live-in fiancee, Kristen Wilson "Prosecutors in DA Charme Allen's Domestic Violence Unit obtained an eighteen-year sentence against a defendant who assaulted his fiancee and refused to let her leave her residence," Knox County Tenn. District Attorney Charme Allen told People in a statement.The statement continued, "Judge Kyle Hixson ordered Paschel to serve eighteen years in prison without the possibility of parole."Geoffrey had been held in custody until his court appearance and sentencing this week.Geoffrey pleaded not guilty in February 2020 during a court hearing in Tennessee after Kristen alleged in a petition requesting a restraining order against Geoffrey that he had "repeatedly bashed/slammed my head into the hardwood floors" of the home they shared, the Knox News Sentinel previously reported."He dragged me through the house by my hair and continued throwing my body into walls and furniture. I know this because of blood on my walls, furniture, etc," Kristen claimed at the time.Geoffrey, who claimed at the trial the victim's wounds were self-inflicted, was also accused of disabling Kristen's phone before she took off to a neighbor's house and called the police from there.A previous statement from the Knox County D.A. obtained by People said that the victim was able to leave her residence once Geoffrey had fallen asleep.The night Geoffrey was arrested in June 2019, officers had noticed "bruises" and "abrasions" on Kristen, who also sought medical treatment at a local hospital that evening and was told by doctors she had suffered a concussion, according to In Touch Weekly.In addition, Geoffrey was also reportedly accused of "pushing, hitting, choking" and verbally threatening Kristen on four other occasions dating back to September 2018.A judge reportedly revoked Geoffrey's bail after the guilty verdict and the TLC star was subsequently taken into custody by the Knox County Sheriff.Geoffrey, who began dating Kristen in 2017 and split in 2018, said on "The Domenick Nati Show" in May 2020 that he believed he was going to beat the charges against him and expected nothing less than to walk away fully exonerated.Multiple women have made numerous disturbing accusations against Geoffrey -- who has an extensive criminal history and served nearly three years in federal prison between 2000 and 2003 for dealing drugs, according to Starcasm -- over the years."With the sentence in this case, no other victims will be abused by this offender for a long time," Allen told People.Geoffrey's hearing date for the June 2019 allegations was initially delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic."I have been very eager to go and reveal the truth surrounding the evidence in question. I have continually requested the earliest possible dates every time so that I expeditiously clear my name," Geoffrey wrote on Instagram in May 2020."These claims are the main reason I've been lambasted with such vitriol. I can assure you, if any of these fables were true, I would bow out and accept responsibility. Not all is as it seems."Geoffrey insisted in 2020 that Kristen had made the allegations to sabotage a custody battle he was going through at the time involving a different woman, Geoffrey's estranged fourth wife. (Geoffrey has been married a total of four times)."I am 100 percent categorically innocent and I cannot wait to share my trove of evidence... soon. From the onset of these allegations, there has always been an agenda with the sole purpose of sabotaging my custody battles," Geoffrey claimed."There was never any sort of accusations until court proceedings were initiated. Furthermore, at no point was there any violence exhibited toward that woman or any other woman ever. These are merely combined battles to win their selfish war."The June 2019 allegations prevented Geoffrey from attending his : Before the 90 Days season's Tell-All event, which really seemed to frustrate him In regards to Geoffrey's lengthy criminal record, his second ex-wife -- whom he had married in 1998 and welcomed two sons with -- claimed in her 2005 divorce documents that Geoffrey had "repeatedly raped" and assaulted her during their marriage, Starcasm reported.After obtaining an order of protection against Geoffrey, Geoffrey's second ex-wife also reportedly filed court papers alleging he had "assaulted" and tried to "choke [her] to death."Some of her other allegations reportedly included claims that she had to "wrestle a shotgun away from him" when he threatened to kill them both, and that he also "held a knife to her throat [and] told her he would kill her" during two additional incidents.In 2013, Geoffrey was also reportedly charged with felony larceny for an incident in which he and a friend attempted to steal more than $500 worth of lights from a Home Depot store.He eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail, but he appears to have actually served nearly all that time on supervised probation.In 2014, Geoffrey was also arrested on theft and battery charges in Florida, according to Starcasm, which reported that, in addition to his second wife, Geoffrey's third and fourth wives have also accused him of abuse in legal filings.Geoffrey's third wife -- who was reportedly 21 when they got married in 2007 -- accused Geoffrey of being an opiate drug dealer and having used his children as a "cover" or "mule" in a protection order request she filed in 2018 during the couple's ongoing custody case, Starcasm reported.The couple reportedly separated in 2013, less than two years after the birth of their only child, and finalized their divorce in 2014.And in court documents, Geoffrey's estranged fourth wife Brittany -- who was reportedly 19 when they began dating in 2014 -- claimed he "strangled, slammed and punched" her several times, restricted her access to automobiles, and even "abandoned Brittany in a hotel room" when she was in heavy labor with their second child.Due to his jaw-dropping past, many TLC fans petitioned for Geoffrey, who was billed as a landlord from Knoxville on the series, to be kicked off : Before the 90 Days shortly after his season began airing in early March 2020.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
Simon Cowell is recovering after breaking his arm in an electric bike crash.

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The 62-year-old "America's Got Talent" judge was hospitalized after injuring himself in his second e-bike crash Thursday in London, TMZ reported Tuesday.

Sources told Us Weekly that Cowell was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident and is "lucky to be alive."

"He was pedaling along, with his electric motor on, when the wheels suddenly went from under him after hitting a wet patch. He slipped and went flying over the handlebars into the middle of the road," the insider said.

People confirmed that Cowell broke his arm. Sources said the star has since returned home from the hospital and is "absolutely fine."

Cowell was spotted wearing a cast during an outing Tuesday in London, according to Page Six.

He previously broke his back in August 2020 while testing an e-bike at his Malibu home.

Cowell is known for creating the reality competition series "American Idol," "The X Factor" and "America's Got Talent."

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He joined "America's Got Talent" as a judge beginning with the show's 2016 season.
Gia Giudice says she was "surprised" by Joe Gorga's reaction during their confrontation.

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Gia, the 21-year-old daughter of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice and Joe Giudice, discussed her issues with Gorga -- her uncle and Teresa Giudice 's brother -- during Tuesday's episode of "Watch What Happens Live."

Tuesday's "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" broadcast on Bravo showed Gia Giudice confront Gorga over his comments about her dad -- Teresa Giudice's ex-husband.

Next week's episode will show more of Gia Giudice and Gorga's confrontation.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

On "WWHL," Gia Giudice said she wasn't fazed by the cameras capturing the fight.

"Honestly, you'll see it next week, his reaction," Gia Giudice said.

"I kind of just stayed calm because if I reacted, it wouldn't have really done much."

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"I mean, I was a little surprised by the way he reacted towards me and how defensive he was, because bottom of the line, it is my father. So have a little respect," she added.

"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" Season 12 trailer released in December teased the confrontation between Gia Giudice and Gorga.

"She looks at me like I'm the devil," Gorga says of Gia Giudice. "Her father was the devil!"

Teresa Giudice and Joe Giudice split in 2019 after 20 years of marriage.

The divorce came five years after the pair pleaded guilty to fraud.

Both Teresa Giudice and Joe Giudice served prison sentences.

On "WWHL" in May, Gorga said Joe Giudice "ruined our entire family."
Emergency responders in Britain were summoned to a home where a neighbor's wandering horse had ended up stranded in an empty swimming pool.

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Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said its specialist animal rescue team was dispatched to the village of Grendon when a horse named Wizard ended up stranded Thursday in the 1.5-foot shallow end of an empty swimming pool that is about 5 feet deep.

Officials said Watch Managers Ben Stone and Phil Jones came up with a plan to build a makeshift staircase out of wooden pallets.

The rescue team then used hay, carrots and sugar lumps to coax the equine into climbing the stairs and exiting the pool.

"A vet was on hand to provide assistance if Wizard became distressed, but as the horse remained calm, they did not require Wizard to be sedated," NFRS said in a Facebook post.

The rescuers said Wizard had wandered into the pool area from a neighbor's property through a broken gate.
Rob Delaney says his life is "unrecognizable" after 20 years of sobriety.

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The 45-year-old actor marked the anniversary Friday by reflecting in a video on Instagram.

"As of today, I have been sober for 20 years, which is a long time. It's almost two decades," Delaney said. "I'm shocked and overwhelmed and grateful."

Delaney said he was "in jail and a wheelchair" 20 years ago and celebrated how far he's come since.

"I got a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people. I started doing volunteer work after I'd been sober for a while, and through that I met my wife 18 years ago," he said, referencing his wife, Leah Delaney.

Delaney has four sons with his wife, including their late son Henry, and has also found success in his acting career.

"I had the courage to pursue the career that I really wanted to. Things are better now," the star said. "I'm not hungover. I'm not wondering if I'm in beginning throes of schizophrenia because my desire to drink was so palpable it was, like, personified. It felt like a thing in me being like, 'Drink!' And I don't have that anymore."

"I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who's helped me. And let people who might be struggling with drugs or alcohol know that there is a way out. If it happened for me, it can happen for you," he added. "Love to everyone."

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Actor Nick Offerman showed his support for Delaney in the comments, writing, "You're beautiful."

Delaney previously marked the 17th anniversary of his sobriety in 2019 in the wake of his son Henry's death. Henry died at age two in 2018 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2016.

"This has been a brutal year for my family and me. Our first year without our son and brother Henry. Had I not been sober it would have been far worse. As it was, I squeaked by," Delaney said in February 2019. "Sobriety allows me to grieve fully, and grief is an expression of love."

Delaney is known for co-creating and starring in the Channel 4 series Catastrophe. He will star in the upcoming sci-fi series The Man Who Fell to Earth, which premieres on Showtime in the spring.
"Twilight" actor Kellan Lutz is going to be a father of two.

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The 36-year-old actor is expecting his second child with his wife, Brittany Lutz.

Lutz shared the news in a video Thursday on Instagram.

The video shows Brittany Lutz surprise Lutz with her pregnancy and the couple attending an ultrasound.

"2 under 2 in 2022," Lutz captioned the post. "God is Good! Babies are the Best! Love you forever and always @brittanylynnlutz."

Brittany Lutz also posted the video on her account, writing, "2 UNDER 2 IN 2022!!!! Some might say we're crazy, we say we're crazy BLESSED."

Actress Spencer Locke and actors Riley Smith and Jerry Ferrara were among those to congratulate the couple in the comments.

"SO SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO!!!!!" Locke wrote.

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"Congrats y'all!" Smith added.

"Welcome to the party haha! Congrats you guys!" Ferrara said.

Lutz and his wife married in November 2017.

The couple already have a daughter, Ashtyn Lilly, who turns one year old this month.

Lutz played Emmett Cullen in the "Twilight" movies. He most recently played Ken Crosby in the CBS series "FBI" and "FBI: Most Wanted."
The news desk has compiled a list of events going on throughout the upcoming week that are open to the public. The list features the University of Georgia College of Journalism & Mass Communication Career Day, the Downtown Culinary Showcase at Hendershots and a new Birdwing Butterflies exhibition.
Three groups of students prepare coffee and tea for various teachers as part of a program called Bean Street at Green Street School, in Brattleboro, Vt., on Friday, April 15, 2022. The coffee shop runs every Friday. The coffee and materials for Bean Street are donated by local businesses.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. High 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Submitted photoA look into the history of Black people in Summers County is on display in the library at Concord University in Athens this month as part of local observances of Black History Month. The Marsh Library is open Monday through Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 10 pm. and on Fridays from 7:45 p.m. until 4 p.m.
TORRINGTON  The Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce has scheduled the following meetings. Meetings are on Zoom and staff are working remotely. To reach the office, call Lauren Zordan at 860-482-6586 or lauren@nwctchamberofcommerce.org

Feb. 10: Government Relations Committee Meeting, 8 a.m. The Government Relations Committee of Northwest Connecticuts Chamber of Commerce meets on the second Thursday of the month. The Committee works closely with the Chambers lobbyist, Mike Rell, following the activities of the State Legislature. The committee develops an annual Legislative Agenda which is furnished to the Chambers Board of Directors for their approval and then presented to the State Legislative Delegation from the Northwest Corner. The Agenda reviews those issues that are priorities to the business community of Northwest Connecticut.
TORRINGTON  Mason Gero turns 5 on Feb. 12, and his family and friends are throwing him a parade with local emergency vehicles, cars and  hopefully  his favorite, a fire truck. More than 100 vehicles are expected at the parade.

Turning 5 is exciting for any child, but for Mason its even more special, because he has been waiting for a new heart to replace his defective one for more than three years.

Hes urgently waiting for a heart transplant, said Karen Thomas of Torrington. The situation has become dire, and they are patiently awaiting a donor heart for him.

A GoFundMe page has been set up at gofundme.com (search for Mason Gero) to raise money for the family to help with expenses as they travel to and from Boston in the coming weeks.

Thomas, who runs Friendly Hands Food Bank, said participants are gathering at Torrington High School at 2 p.m. next Saturday, then driving to his home a few blocks away.

I know he loves garbage trucks, and Im working on getting him one, she said. Ive already secured a fire truck and a police car, along with several other vehicles to make this event special.

Masons grandfather, Stuart Gero, a cousin of Thomas, said he will be at the parade.

Hes such a great little boy, his grandfather said. He goes to Boston on Feb. 24, because until now, he hasnt really been on top of the waiting list, and theres a whole process that has to happen before he can receive a transplant.

In 2019, several fundraisers were held for the family to pay for Masons rising medical costs, including a dinner at the Columbia Club/Knights of Columbus Hall in Torrington, where more than 700 people showed up.

When Mason was born in 2017, he had what doctors called a complicated heart anatomy, his mother said, which revealed itself soon after his birth. The family brought him to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, which recommended taking the child to Hartford Hospital. There, doctors recommended surgery at Boston Childrens Hospital.

In Boston, doctors performed a double ventricle repair to Masons heart  a 12-hour procedure  but it was unsuccessful, family members said. Doctors did surgery a second time, and they hoped the operation on the boys heart valves had worked; but soon after, Mason was back in Boston with ventricular dysfunction, meaning his heart was not functioning properly.

The money that was raised went into an account to help (the family), Stuart Gero said. They have many friends who have risen to the occasion.

The process Mason will start in Boston involves desensitization of the childs blood, removing all antibodies, so his body will accept the new heart, family members said.

Meanwhile, Mason is at home with his parents, Danielle Kaczynski and Kyle Gero.

Hes a typical 4-year-old; he loves to play, loves learning; hes good at math, Stuart Gero said. His parents are just amazing, the way they take care of him and help him learn at home.

For Kaczynski and Gero said their little boy is slowly getting worse.

Its been hard to ask for help, Kaczynski said. It helps to let people know whats going on. And for his birthday, its not safe enough to have a normal party for him, so a drive-by parade is going to be great.

January was a difficult month for Mason.

He was sick for a while, Kaczynski said. He had an ear infection, and the medications didnt agree with him; we ended up in the hospital.

I cant deny that his heart failure is worsening, she said. Its time to do something. I kept him home for his quality of life, but now that its declining, I want to do this. I dont want to lose a chance on getting him a heart.

Masons status for a transplant has risen from Status 2 to Status 1B, which is one step before 1A, where he will be eligible for the next available organ, his parents said. Five years later, here we are, Kaczynsk said.

He has to be treated for the antibodies first, and with the treatments in Boston, hell get rid of them, and have a better chance at getting a heart and accepting it, his mother said.

The family had a wonderful Christmas, she said, and Mason got lots of toys. His favorite toys are are Paw Patrol, The Hulk, and fire trucks.

A lot of people like to drop off gifts at birthday parades, but he has a lot already, she said. Id just rather have him see the trucks and the cars, and all the people waving and beeping.
Journey Writers / Contributed photo

HARTFORD  I Put A Spell On You, a virtual dramatic reading of LGBTQ historical figures of African American origin, will be presented at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 on the Journey Writers YouTube channel.

I Put A Spell On You will challenge audience members to take another look at these polarized and popular personalities who arent traditionally presented during Black History Month, according to a statement from Journey Writers members.
Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police

WINDHAM  State police are investigating a disturbance involving a victim in Windham early Saturday.

State police were called to the area of Brick Top Road in Windham around 2:30 a.m. Saturday for a report of a disturbance.
ROXBURY  The Minor Memorial Library in Roxbury will welcome Dr. Paramita Dhar as she presents CryptoCurrency 101 at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 16, on Zoom.

There is no charge for this program, but registration is required. RSVP at www.minormemoriallibrary.org to receive the Zoom link.

Cryptocurrency 101 explores these questions: What is cryptocurrency? Why is it so popular right now? Will it be the new money? Should you invest in Bitcoin or other forms of cryptocurrency?

For answers to many questions like these and to get an introductory view of Cryptocurrency, Dhar will elaborate on these questions and much more.

Dhar, Associate Professor of Economics, joined the Economics Department at Central Connecticut State University in August 2010. Her interests include Urban & Regional Economics, Sustainability and Industrial Organization.

She attended the University of Calcutta, India for her bachelor of science degree in 2001; then the Jaddavpur University, India for her MA in 2003. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut in 2011.

Call the library at 860-350-2181 or visit the website at www.minormemoriallibrary.org for more information and directions.

The mission of the Minor Memorial Library is to promote and encourage literacy and to serve the needs of the Roxbury Community by providing free access to ideas and information through diversity of library materials, programs, services, and experiences. The library is handicapped accessible.
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Authorities in Hong Kong arrested a veteran rights activist known for carrying coffins at protests for "subversion," after he announced he would protest outside the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Central Liaison Office in the city on the first day of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on .



Koo Sze Yiu, 75, was arrested under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP, on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power," a charge that carried a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.



He was arrested by national security police at 6.00 a.m., and is being held at Cheung Sha Wan police station for questioning, local media reported.



Police also brought in four fellow activists for questioning in connection with Koo's case, including veteran activist Lui Yuk-lin.



Koo was a colorful and regular feature of the regular and peaceful mass protests that once took place regularly in Hong Kong, before a city-wide crackdown on "illegal" public assembly in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.



Koo, who has stage four colorectal cancer, has been arrested and jailed several times already since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, including for "desecrating the national flag" in .



Meanwhile, more than 10 police vehicles and dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officers were deployed outside Beijing's liaison office, with roadblocks on the approaches to the building on Des Voeux Road West and Connaught Road West.



Many bore armbands delineating them as "Special Police," including fire department and immigration officers.



Koo's arrest came after he issued a news release on announcing his plan to protest outside the Central Liaison Office on , "raising and sending off a coffin to celebrate the Winter Olympics ... and the national security law."



League of Social Democrats (LSD) spokesman Dickson Chau said he had no idea the arrest would take place.



"[This shows that] they don't just expect Hong Kong to take the same strict COVID-19 prevention measures as the rest of China; they also want zero leniency when it comes to dissidents," Chau told RFA.



"This is a higher-level of stability maintenance and a higher-level alert," he said.



He said the next six months would likely see no let-up.



"We have Xi Jinping seeking a third term and the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China," he said. "Dissenting voices will definitely be eliminated."



Opinion pollster Chung Kim-wah said a political boycott of the Olympics over the CCP's rights record in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as its growing military threats against the democratic island of Taiwan, had made the Olympics a "much more sensitive international issue."



"Beijing is in an embarrassing situation with this Winter Olympics, because so many countries are staging political boycotts," Chung told RFA. "I think the Hong Kong government is working right along with those concerns in Beijing, and so they won't tolerate any negative voices on the subject."



"[That's why] they are taking decisive action against Koo, as a deterrent, to act as a clear warning to people not to try anything in the next couple of weeks," he said.



Meanwhile, hundreds of Hong Kong protesters and rights campaigners took to the streets of central London on night to call for sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for rights abuses in Hong Kong, including the city's leader, Carrie Lam.



Shouting "Shame on China! Free Tibet! Free East Turkestan! Free Hong Kong!" the protesters staged an "alternative" Olympics opening ceremony at Picadilly Circus, some of them dressed as Winnie the Pooh, in a satirical dig at Xi Jinping, while others brought effigies of tanks and the Olympic five rings, and others played out a sketch in which International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach presented a gold medal to Xi for "human rights violations."



Ruling Conservative Party member Nusrat Ghani, who has been sanctioned by Beijing for speaking out against the mass incarceration of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, warned that the CCP will use the Winter Olympics to "whitewash evil deeds", and called on the international community to take notice of the repression suffered by Hong Kong, the persecution of Tibetans, and the genocide of Uyghurs.



"No one can deny what is happening against the Uyghur people. The crime of all crimes: genocide," she said. "No to the genocide Olympic Games!"



MP Lord Alton told the rally, to cheers: "We have to sanction those who have committed these crimes, whether in Xinjiang or Hong Kong. I have Carrie Lam on my list. Sanction Carrie Lam!"



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The government has been cracking down on the use of foreign media.

South Korean dance crew HOOK performs during the 2021 World K-Pop Concert at the KINTEX convention center in Goyang, west of Seoul, on November 14, 2021. Anthony WALLACE / AFP

Authorities in North Korea arrested a dance instructor and several of her students after she used foreign media to teach them capitalist dance moves, sources in the country told RFA.

In late 2020, North Korea passed the draconian Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, which punishes citizens for a wide variety of offenses, mostly related to watching, keeping or distributing media from capitalist countries, particularly from South Korea and the U.S. The law carries a maximum penalty of death for serious offenders.

The law has also been used to punish drivers for tinting their car windows, students for using South Korean-style speech and slang, and now, dance instructors, for teaching youth to emulate the moves of foreign pop stars.

The Anti-Socialism Inspection Group caught a dance instructor in her 30s who was teaching foreign-style disco dances to teenage students in Yangji-dong, Pyongsong City, a resident of the northwestern city of Pyongsong, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFAs Korean Service Jan. 31.

The Anti-Socialism Inspection Group, a joint operation of the State Security Department and the police, has been intensively cracking down on people for watching South Korean movies and distributing foreign media, the resident said.

The source said that North Korea authorities tend to be a bit more lenient in enforcing the rules around Seollal, the Lunar New Year holiday that was celebrated Tuesday, the source said. Consequently, residents feel a bit freer to enjoy South Korean movies or listen to foreign songs during this time.

This year, however, the Anti-Socialism Inspection group has been more vigilant in enforcing the thought and culture law, she said.

At the scene of the crackdown on the dance instructor that day, a USB flash drive containing foreign songs and dance videos had been plugged in, next to the flat screen TV, the source said.

Teenage students were learning how to dance by imitating the choreography on screen. The Anti-Socialism Inspection Group seized the flash drive and took the instructor and all of the students to their headquarters, she said.

In this May 11, 2016, file photo, members of the Moranbong Band, North Korea's most popular all-female pop group formed by leader Kim Jong Un, perform during a concert where high level officials, diplomats and foreign journalists were invited to watch, as part of celebrations on the conclusion of the ruling party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea.

News of the arrests quickly traveled beyond the city and the province. A resident of Sinuiju, about 130 miles to the northwest, near the border with China, told RFA that someone told him the story two days before Seollal.

From what I heard over the phone, this woman had majored in choreography at the Pyongsong University of the Arts. A few years back, she was assigned to teach at Okchon high school in Pyongsong, said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

But it was difficult to live on just the monthly teachers salary of only 3,000 won [U.S. $0.60], so she made her actual living by running a private dance academy out of her home, he said.

Students in middle and high school would attend private lessons twice per week, for one or two-hour sessions at a cost of about $10 per hour, according to the second source.

They preferred to learn to dance like they do in South Korea, China and America, rather than in the North Korean style. So, she taught them how, he said.

Another resident of Pyongsong told RFA that the Anti-Socialism Inspection Group began to be more active in December.

The granddaughter of a provincial party official was caught with an SD card installed on her smartphone, and it contained South Korean movies. In the investigation, she revealed how and where she bought the SD card, the third source said on condition of anonymity.

The rich class usually buy USB flash drives smuggled in by sea from China. In the end, those who have been illegally selling or lending these flash drives and SD cards to teenagers get caught, one after another, including a relative of an official at the prosecutors office, she said.

The relative later confessed who he had sold the movies and dance videos to, which led the authorities to the dance instructor, the source said.

Members of the Anti-Socialism Inspection Group hid in plain clothes around the dance instructors house for two days.  They saw many students go in and then they raided the house, the third source said.

Most of the students are children from wealthy families that typically are not subjected to severe punishment for infractions because of their money and power, according to the third source.

However, since the Central Committee has ordered that those who violate the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act be severely punished regardless of their rank or class, the foreign dance instructor and students caught this time will not be spared from hard labor. Their parents are also likely to be punished by being forced to leave the party, the source said.

Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
The bodies of 11 people have been discovered in Myanmars Sagaing region, days after the military carried out an airstrike on a graduation ceremony for anti-junta militia recruits, killing several civilians, sources said Friday.

A resident of Myinmu townships Padoke Tine village told RFAs Myanmar Service that the bodies were found on Thursday at the edge of a field where the local Peoples Defense Force (PDF) militia held a ceremony for graduates of its training program three days earlier. Eight of them were charred beyond recognition, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

On Jan. 31, while we were watching a training graduation ceremony, helicopters swarmed the area and fired onto the grounds to prevent people from running away, he said.

I think they were mostly firing to warn people  if they had fired more heavily, they might have killed everyone in the village. Those who tried to run back to [Padoke Tine] were killed. We cant identify the bodies because [junta troops] burned them.

The villager said that five helicopters were involved in the attack and estimated that at least 20 people were killed.

More than 70 villagers were detained by ground troops during the attack and were not released until the military left Padoke Tine two days later, he said. It was only when residents were able to return to the village on Thursday that they discovered the bodies.

Kin Do, a member of Myinmu Township PDF, told RFA that everyone who was killed in the attack was a civilian.

Their helicopters came in and started firing. They fired on both men and women  all of the people at the field who tried to run back to the village, he said.

There were no deaths from among the PDF fighters. I think at least 20 civilians got killed. [Junta troops] piled up the bodies on the street, burned them, and discarded the remains everywhere. It was so barbaric.

Kin Do said the military helicopters showed up at the exact time of the graduation ceremony, noting that several leaders from different anti-junta groups were in attendance. PDF fighters did not respond to the attack for fear of injuring civilians, he added.

Other sources estimated that at least 80 junta ground troops were involved in the assault on the graduation ceremony and were members of the Northwestern Military Command Division based in Monywa, Sagaing regions largest city.

Repeated attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the incident in Padoke Tine village went answered on Friday.

Thousands displaced by fighting

Meanwhile, residents of Myinmu township told RFA that around 8,000 people from Padoke Tine, Malae Thar, Thama Taw, Gulu and Nyaung Pin villages remain displaced after fleeing during the helicopter attack.

One villager, who declined to be named, said they are too frightened to return home.

We are hiding as of today. We are all too afraid to return home because of the airstrike. We dont know when they will return to attack again, they said.

Thousands of people have fled their homes. There are many women, children, and elderly people. Many of them are sheltering at a nearby monastery. These people are from five villages near where the incident occurred.

Other residents said that after the helicopter attack, junta soldiers raided their homes and stole their property.

Local PDF sources said tensions have been running high in Myinmu township following a recent clash in which junta troops shot four PDF members in nearby Madu Ya village.

Earlier this week, troops in Sagaing region razed more than 400 homes in two villages they accuse of providing a haven for anti-junta forces, forcing an estimated 10,000 civilians to flee, according to residents.

The attack occurred on the evening of Jan. 31, when around 100 soldiers entered Mwe Tone and Pan villages in Pale township and began setting structures ablaze, sources said.

Prior to the fires, PDF fighters had attacked an outpost in Inn Ma Htee village, where troops were reportedly conducting a training exercise for the pro-military Pyusawhtee militia group.

Villagers told RFA that the burning of the two villages was a form of payback for casualties the military suffered in the Inn Ma Htee village attack.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The days-long strike began on the one-year anniversary of the countrys military coup.

Dozens of political detainees in Myanmars notorious Insein Prison have staged a hunger strike over the past four days to peacefully object to junta rule, sources said Friday, marking the third such protest since the military seized power just over a year ago.

An attorney, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFAs Myanmar Service that 149 political inmates are refusing meals from staff at the prison in Yangon as part of the protest, which began on the one-year anniversary of the militarys Feb. 1, 2021, coup.

They are no longer eating the foods provided by the prison  they only eat food sent from their homes, he said. I dont know how many days the strike will go on.

According to the attorney, the hunger strike was organized by political prisoners in the No. 2 unit of Inseins Thabyay Hall. Prisoners have issued no demands and authorities are not negotiating with the hunger strikers to try to make them stop, he added.

Other sources close to the prison and the families of political prisoners there noted that this is the third prison strike since the coup, following ones in July and December. Authorities responded to the earlier strikes by beating protesters, denying them medical treatment, and putting them in solitary confinement.

When contacted by RFA on Friday, Prison Department spokesperson Khin Shwe denied that there are any strikes taking place in the prison.

RFA attempted to contact the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yangon but received no response.

A former political prisoner who was sentenced to seven months in Insein prison for incitement after the military coup said inmates put their lives on the line to stage prison strikes.

We cant just end a strike once the authorities crack down on us without getting any concessions, said the former prisoner, who also declined to be named. Prisoners need to be determined to succeed.

An aerial view of Insein Prison in Yangon, in a file photo. RFA Risking their lives

Tun Kyi, a member of a former political prisoners group, said the inmates in Insein are willing to take risks to their own safety because they are so strongly opposed to military rule.

They always say, We are like chickens in a basket, and they can pull out and kill us anytime they like, he said.

Thats why the prisoners are determined to resist their rule. I think they want to make sure the military cannot control them, whether it is in the prison or outside it, no matter how brutally they treat us [as a nation].

Tun Kyi said that while he admires the political prisoners for their protest, he is worried for their safety. He noted that the junta had recently reopened an interrogation center inside the prison that was closed in 2004.

Since the coup, RFA has documented many reports of detainees facing abuse in junta interrogation centers, including torture, sexual violence and even death.

Zeyar Lwin, the leader of a local branch of the anti-junta Peoples Defense Force militia, also applauded the political prisoners on their hunger strike.

These prisoners are resisting the junta by refusing to allow the authorities to rule over them, he said.

They are risking their lives to show their resistance. Their strike means challenging the prison authorities and challenging the military regime. They are showing that putting them in the prison will not stop them from opposing the junta.

Myanmars military overthrew the countrys democratically elected government on Feb. 1, claiming voter fraud had led to a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyis NLD party in the countrys November 2020 election.

The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 1,519 people and arresting nearly 9,000 over the last nine months, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
A 99-foot-tall Buddha statue dominates the landscape in Drago county of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern China's Sichuan province, in an undated photo.

Eleven Tibetans beaten and arrested by Chinese authorities in January for spreading news of the destruction of a 99-foot-tall Buddha statue and dozens of prayer wheels in southwestern China's Sichuan province have been sent to labor camps in the region, Tibetans with knowledge of the situation said Friday.

Monks Tashi Dorjee, Tsering Samdup, Nyima Lhamo, and Abbot Pelga, along with Pelgas assistant Nyima, and six other unidentified Tibetans were arrested following the destruction of the statue and 45 traditional prayer wheels in Drago (Luhuo) county of Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in December 2021, said a Tibetan in exile who declined to be named for safety reasons.

[They] are still being held in Chinese custody and now have been sent to labor camps, he told RFA.

The 11 were arrested on suspicion of sending news and photos of the statues destruction  reported exclusively by RFA in early January  to contacts outside the region.

A few of them also sustained injuries from beatings and torture, though much about their current conditions remain unknown, the Tibetan in exile said.

Authorities have restrictions still in place at both the monastery and in the county, he said.

A police station has been set up near the Mani prayer wheel that was demolished earlier by the Chinese authorities in Drago, he said. A few monks from the monastery and a few other individuals are stationed in this police station to keep an eye on the daily activities of local Tibetans and the monks of Drago Monastery.

It is very difficult to explain how intense the situation in Drago is at the moment, the source said.

Authorities in Chinas Sichuan province forced Tibetan monks and residents to watch the demolition of the Buddha statue following official complaints that it was too high, Tibetan sources told RFA in an earlier report.

The prayer wheels authorities destroyed at the same time had been set up for use by Tibetan pilgrims and other worshipers, they said.

Pema Gyal, a researcher at Tibet Watch, a nonprofit that promotes the human rights, said that Tibetans who live in Drago county have told his group that are constantly interrogated by Chinese authorities and face a number of restrictions on their activity.

So, it is clear that the Chinese government continues to suppress the Tibetans, he told RFA.

A Tibetan monk from Drago who now lives in exile said Chinese authorities are wielding a heavy hand because of previous protests staged in the county.

Chinese government officials are extra cautious of the region and try to eliminate everything that empowers the Tibetan language and Buddhist institutions, the monk said.

A previous protest against Chinese rule took place in 2012 in Drago, leading to the arrests of many Tibetans, eight of whom are still serving prison terms, RFA recently learned from Tibetan sources with knowledge of the matter.

They include Sonam Lhundup, who was sentenced to life in prison; Chakbe, sentenced to 12 years; Kunthok, sentenced to 13 years; Kundup, sentenced to 11 years; and Tashi Dhargay and Namgyal Dhoundup, who each were sentenced to 14 years. Two other unidentified Tibetans are serving sentences of unknown durations.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The development comes as a time when China is trying to eradicate use of the language within its borders.

Photo proofreader Georgie Sydnor runs her fingers over Braille at the National Braille Press in Boston, Massachusetts, Oct. 17, 2017.

A U.S. college student and a group of Uyghur researchers have created a Uyghur version of the Braille alphabet, at a time when the Chinese government is working to eradicate the language in its western Xinjiang region.

Harris Mowbray, 22, an undergraduate international relations student at the American University in Washington, D.C., has developed dozens of Braille alphabets, which allow visually impaired people to read and write through touch, for endangered and minority languages throughout the world.

Several of the alphabets have been officially adopted by their respective nations, Mowbray says on his website.

The language enthusiast and programmer has paved the way for visually impaired Uyghurs to read and write in the Uyghur language. Mowbray created the Braille script of the Uyghur language with the help of Uyghur scholars and linguists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the United States, Germany, and Turkey.

I hope this Ugyhur Braille script is used widely, Mowbray told RFA on Jan. 25.

Through this script, visually impaired people will be able to read, write, study and even write emails.

The Braille system was first invented in 1825 by French educator Louis Braille, who lost his sight in both eyes at an early age.

The new Braille script is based on the Uyghur Arabic alphabet  the official writing system used by Uyghurs living in Xinjiang  in which each sound is written independently, which is not the case with Arabic or other languages that use Arabic script.

The Uyghur Braille alphabet in an undated photo. Photo courtesy of Harris Mowbray.

Mowbray used the Uyghur Arabic alphabet at the suggestion of the Uyghurs he consulted, because it is more commonly used than Latin- or Cyrillic-based versions mainly are used outside China.

But Mowbray said a software program can automatically change text from the Arabic-based Uyghur alphabet to the Latin- or Cyrillic-based Uyghur alphabets.

You can use this program to convert the Braille scripts from one to another, he said.

Mowbray also has created Braille alphabets for minority groups in Romania, Azerbaijan and Poland. He began working on a Braille alphabet for Uyghurs in January 2021.

I realized many languages of the world, including Uyghur, did not have a Braille script, and so I started searching the internet and contacting Uyghurs [about it], he said. Creating a Braille script for a language is important because not only does it empower the blind, but also it strengthens the use of their own language, even when minorities are in a very difficult situation.

The Braille alphabet. Credit Wikimedia Commons Safeguarding the Uyghur language

The number of visually impaired people among the 12 million Uyghurs living in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang region has never been disclosed by the Chinese government, which has stymied the development of a Uyghur Braille script.

A Chinese version of Braille was introduced in 1952 in China, which currently has more than 6.7 million blind people and another nine million who are visually impaired, according to a report written by researcher Anwar Ahmad in December 2021 that documents the Uyghur Braille script project.

But efforts to develop a Braille script for the Uyghur language were never completed, according to the report.

US university student Harris Mowbray in an undated photo. Photo courtesy of Harris Mobray In 2000, China banned the use of the Uyghur language in government communications, which also blocked the creation of Uyghur Braille in Xinjiang. But independent linguists from a number of universities still researched the topic, said Enver Ehmet, director of the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) Research Center and a member of the Uyghur Braille script research group.

Even though they made a lot of positive suggestions and research findings, the relevant education departments always ignored them, he told RFA.

Beginning in 2015, the Uyghur language was banned from school curriculums in various regions of Xinjiang.

As Chinese Communist Party policies in Xinjiang threatened the existence of the Uyghur language, members of the Muslim community who are living abroad have stepped up efforts to safeguard it.

The new Uyghur Braille alphabet would be introduced to the visually impaired in Xinjiang only if conditions allowed, Enver said.

If it is said that our country becomes independent or if the right conditions are in place, then this text will be introduced to our blind brothers and sisters in our country, he said. The Uyghurs call Xinjiang East Turkestan and aspire to gain independence from China and establish their own nation.

The creation of the Uyghur Braille script is an important step in our attempts to safeguard the Uyghur language, said WUC president Dolkun Isa. The Uyghur Braille script will also ensure that those in the Uyghur diaspora who are visually impaired are able access this part of our cultural heritage, and transmit it to future generations.

Translated by RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A Russian rocket attack destroyed an airport runway in Odesa, Ukraines third-largest city and a key Black Sea port, on April 30 as the country's president said it was hard to discuss peace amid public anger over alleged atrocities carried out by Russian troops, and Russia's foreign minister claimed that Western sanctions and arms shipments were impeding the talks.

The comments by Ukrainian and Russian officials came as reports emerged that some civilians could be evacuated from the besieged southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol as Russia continued its offensive in Ukraine's east.

Ukraines Operational Command South said late on April 30 that there was no way that the Odesa runway could be used as a result of the rocket attack.



Odesas regional governor said that the rocket was fired from Russian-occupied Crimea. Maksym Marchenko said there were no reports of any injuries.



Elsewhere, another mass grave was found in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, the scene of alleged mass executions of civilians before its recapture by Ukrainian forces in early March, the head of Kyivs regional police force said on April 30.



That came as Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister said Russian invading forces have stolen several hundred thousand tons of grain in territory they hold.



Today, there are confirmed facts that several hundred thousand tons of grain in total were taken out of the Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Taras Vysotskiy told Ukrainian TV.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his latest televised address on April 29 that Kyiv's forces were making tactical gains in the region, while a senior U.S. defense official said the same day that stiff Ukrainian resistance was slowing Russia's Donbas offensive.

Zelenskiy's office had earlier said that an operation was planned to get civilians out of the huge Azovstal steel plant, where some 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are holed up together with about 1,000 civilians. Later in the day, TASS reported that 25 civilians, including six children, had left the territory of the Azovstal steel plant. Later, Ukrainian soldiers inside the besieged plant were quoted by Western news agencies as saying a group of 20 civilians were set to leave the plant.



"Twenty civilians, women and children... have been transferred to a suitable place and we hope that they will be evacuated to Zaporizhzhya, on territory controlled by Ukraine," said Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov regiment.

Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, located in the country's northeast, was reportedly targeted by mortar and artillery shelling on April 30. Zelenskiy said in his televised address the night before that Ukrainian forces had recaptured a strategically important village near the city and evacuated hundreds of civilians.

The Ukrainian military said in its daily briefing on April 30 that the greatest enemy losses were taking place near Izyum, in the region of Kharkhiv bordering the Luhansk and Donetsk territories.

Aleksandr Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk in Russia, said air defenses had prevented a Ukrainian aircraft from entering the region, and as a result shelling had hit parts of an oil terminal, Russian news agencies reported.



The governor of another Russian region, Kursk, said several shells were fired from the direction of Ukraine on April 30 at a checkpoint near its border. Roman Starovoit said in a video on his Telegram channel that there were no casualties or damage.

Seven Ukrainian soldiers and seven civilians have been released in a prisoner swap Saturday with Russia, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.



Were bringing home 14 of our people: seven military personnel and seven civilians," Vereshchuk wrote on Facebook and Telegram. To me, this exchange is special: one of the female soldiers is five months pregnant.

Zelenskiy told the nation on April 29 that the constant "brutal" bombardments on infrastructure and residential areas "show that Russia wants to empty [the Donbas region] of all people," and said that the "defense of our land, the defense of our people, is literally a fight for life."

He said that if Russian forces, which invaded Ukraine unprovoked in late February and have been accused of carrying out war crimes against civilians, "are able to realize their plans even partially, then they have enough artillery and aircraft to turn the entire Donbas into stone."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Zelenskiy said that Mariupol, once one of the east's most developed cities, was now a "concentration camp among the ruins."

Earlier the same day he told Polish journalists that Ukrainian people seek retribution for alleged atrocities by Russian troops, and "when that kind of attitude exists, it's hard to talk about things."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, has dismissed the need for the United Nations to help secure humanitarian corridors from besieged Ukrainian cities. He also called on the West to stop providing arms to Ukraine and said that "difficult" negotiations with Kyiv continue.

Speaking to Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV on April 29, Lavrov said that he appreciated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposals to help evacuate Ukrainian civilians from besieged cities, but that there is no need for anybody to provide help to open humanitarian corridors."

Russia's Defense Ministry has confirmed that it had carried out an air strike on Kyiv during Guterres' visit to the Ukrainian capital on April 28, saying that "high-precision, long-range air-based weapons" were used in an attack it claimed had destroyed a missile-production facility in Kyiv.

Journalist Vira Hyrych, who worked for RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, was among those killed when a missile hit her apartment.

In comments published by China's official Xinhua news agency on April 30, Lavrov said that talks with Kyiv continue daily, with Moscow insisting on the "recognition of new geopolitical realities, the lifting of [Western] sanctions, and the status of the Russian language."

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have not met face to face since the end of March, with Russian troops accused of carrying out war crimes and Western nations tightening punitive sanctions against Moscow and increasing military aid to Kyiv.

Lavrov told Xinhua that, if the United States and the Western NATO military alliance were "really interested in resolving the Ukraine crisis, then first of all, they should wake up and stop supplying the Kyiv regime with arms and ammunition."

The Russian foreign minister also said that Russia, which has been hard-hit by punitive sanctions over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, could "retool" its economy to counter "unlawful hostilities."

French President Emmanuel Macron told Zelenskiy during a call on April 30 that his country would step up military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.

In Washington, Congress is preparing to consider U.S. President Joe Biden's request for $33 billion to support Ukraine, a massive jump in funding that includes over $20 billion for weapons, ammunition, and other military aid.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on April 29 that, in the month since Moscow announced that it would focus its military efforts in Ukraine on the country's east, it had made minimal gains.

In the assessment of the United States, the official said, the Russian military was at least several days behind where they wanted to be in its attempt to encircle Ukrainian troops. The official described Russian troops' efforts to move from Mariupol to advance on Ukrainian forces from the south as "slow and uneven and certainly not decisive."

The British Defense Ministry, in its latest assessment, said that Russia had "been forced to merge and redeploy depleted and disparate units from the failed advances in northeast Ukraine." However, British intelligence said that many of the units are "likely suffering from weakened morale" and "a lack of unit-level skills and inconsistent air support have left Russia unable to fully leverage its combat mass."

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week threatened unspecified retaliation for Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, while Lavrov said the West should not underestimate the elevated risks of nuclear conflict.

Russia's invasion and heightened rhetoric has led to concerns that the war in Ukraine could spill into neighboring Moldova, whose separatist Transdniester region is backed by Moscow and hosts Russian forces.

A series of recent blasts in Transdniester have led to accusations that Moscow is seeking to destabilize Moldova.

When asked about the risk of war in Moldova during his April 29 interview with Al-Arabiya, Lavrov said that "Moldova should worry about its own future, suggesting that the country is "being pulled into NATO.

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters
By Trend

An agreement was reached on sending a UNESCO mission to Azerbaijan and Armenia, Trend reports.

On 4 February, a video conference was held on the initiative of President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron with the participation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of France as Chair of the European Union Emmanuel Macron, President of the European Council Charles Michel and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
Rutland, VT (05701)

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The All Tribes American Indian Charter School in Valley Center was recognized by the California Charter Schools Association for its work educating Native American students.

On March 12, the schools founders and administrators, Michelle Parada and Mary Ann Donohue, received the Hart Vision Award at the 26th Annual Charter Schools Conference in Sacramento.

The California Charter Schools Association bestows the annual award to recognize achievements of charter public schools, leaders, teachers and advocates in honor of Gary K. Hart, retired state senator, former California Secretary of Education and author of Californias charter public school legislation.

Native American students in California have long seen achievement gaps in public schools, and scored 36.8 points below grade level standards for English language arts, and 73 points below grade level standards for math in 2018, according to the California School Dashboard.

Parada and Donohue founded All Tribes American Indian Charter School in 2001 to address problems in the Native American community including low high suicide and dropout rates, along with low academic performance and low graduation rates.

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Their drive and passion to provide a quality education to all students helped change how much the community valued a public education, the charter school association said in a statement about the award.

The K-12 school combines academic instruction in the context of Native American culture, according to its website. It aims to help students develop positive self images about their identity, to see their culture affirmed, and engage with people who care for them at school.

There are 96 students enrolled at the school, which serves students from San Diego area reservations, including the San Pasqual and Pala Bands of Mission Indians, and the Pauma, Rincon and La Jolla Bands of Luiseno Indians, as well as other students from the general area.

Besides founding the charter school, Parada and Donohue provide foster care, and offer housing, financial, and emotional support to the school community, to make sure that students have the help they need to succeed in school, according to the charter school association.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
A third-grade student accused of sexually assaulting a classmate at Enrique Camarena Elementary School last summer has not been enrolled in the school since July, according to an email from Principal Jonathan Strout.

Strout sent the email Sunday, before students returned from Spring Break on Monday, to add more information about the incident because we felt it critical to share some additional information to allay fears that some of you may be feeling.

The email comes less than a week after The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on a lawsuit filed by the parent of a student they say was sexually assaulted at the school after lunch on July 25 and July 27.

In both cases, the school allegedly noted that the victim and another boy, both 8 years old, were alone and unsupervised for 15 minutes but did not tell the parents, according to the lawsuit.

The Chula Vista Elementary School District has previously said that school officials contacted law enforcement as soon as they learned about allegations.

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The principals email sheds light on how the school responded to the incident, why they chose not to tell the public about it, and whether the student accused in the lawsuit was still in school.

Strouts email says neither of the students involved in the incident have been enrolled in the school since July. It also says the school chose not to tell parents about the incident, in part, because no other students were involved.

In order to ensure compliance with student privacy laws, and because no other students were in danger of being harmed, this incident was not shared with the public in collaboration with discussions with (the Chula Vista Police Department) and Child Protective Services, Strout wrote.

Strouts email also describes what policies are in place to keep children from being unsupervised for an extended period of time.

When teachers realize that a student is out of class for a period of time longer than expected, they contact the office, the principal wrote. Administration and staff work to locate the student immediately.

Strout concluded the email by asking parents for their trust and debunking rumors about other incidents at the school, specifically an email he received claiming a student had a knife on campus.

This is false, he wrote of the rumor. I encourage parents to communicate with the school directly before making such statements. I ask for your trust that we will share critical information, but we will not alarm the public regarding isolated incidents or regarding rumors that are simply not true.

Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter
The crimes were chillingly similar. The same San Diego beach. Two teen girls beaten in the head, mutilated with a knife, parts of the breast sliced off. Strangled to death. Wet sand stuffed in their mouths.

Barbara Nantais, 15, and Claire Hough, 14, were both out-of-towners, from Long Beach and Rhode Island, respectively, who felt the same draw to Torrey Pines State Beach on August days, six years apart.

For decades, as their murders remained unsolved, it was hard to mention one case without mentioning the other. There were just too many similarities to imagine the brunettes werent killed by the same person.

SDPD criminalist Kevin Brown works at a crime scene in 1991. Brown, who worked for 20 years in the San Diego Police Department's laboratory, apparently committed suicide as police were making preparations to arrest him in the 1984 murder of 14-year-old Claire Hough.  Howard Lipin / U-T San Diego

Ronald Tatro was identified through DNA as a suspect in a 1984 homicide. He died in 2011.

Last week, San Diego police said theyve solved one of the murders. DNA evidence linked two men  retired San Diego police criminalist Kevin Charles Brown and violent criminal Ronald Clyde Tatro  to Claires 1984 killing, police said.

But no evidence has surfaced that links either one to Barbaras 1978 death, said San Diego homicide Capt. Al Guaderrama.

Barbaras murder is still an open investigation, but police say Claires killing is case closed. Tatro died in 2011 in an apparent boating accident in Tennessee. And on Tuesday, Browns body was found hanging from a tree in Cuyamaca State Park in an apparent suicide.

Browns widow is adamant that her husband is innocent, and that his suicide was not an admission of guilt but of being driven mad by the polices accusations against him. She claims his DNA match doesnt implicate him of murder, but is instead proof of contamination of evidence at the police lab where he worked for 20 years  a possibility that authorities say has been ruled out.

The strikingly similar murders that have haunted detectives for decades have diverged into complex investigations, sparking fresh questions with no easy answers. Are there more clues to be uncovered, or have the best leads died with the two suspects?

Danger at the beach

Barbaras body was found on the beach, near lifeguard tower #7, the morning of Aug. 13, 1978. She had driven down from Long Beach with her boyfriend at the time, and the couple had spent the night in zipped-together sleeping bags on the sand. Her boyfriend was beaten unconscious in his sleep, and he stumbled dazed and bloodied the next morning to a car where his friends were sleeping.

Her body was found nude, spread eagle, her right nipple sliced off. She had facial injuries, a cracked skull and strangulation marks, according to the autopsy report.

Claires body suffered many of the same injuries. The Rhode Island teen was visiting her grandparents, who lived in nearby Del Mar Heights. She walked to the beach alone on Aug. 23, 1984, with a portable radio and pack of cigarettes. A man who lived in the area found her body about 5 a.m. and called police from a nearby convenience store.

Claire was found lying on a white towel, her body mutilated by cuts, her face bruised, her left breast removed with a knife. Her jeans were found torn open and pulled halfway down her hips.

Police have not said whether either teen was raped, although both autopsy reports show the girls suffered injuries consistent with sexual assault of some kind. No semen was recovered from their bodies.

Investigators recovered DNA from three unidentified females and two males that was found on cigarette butts near Claires body, police said. Witnesses told police that they saw a group of people hanging out on the beach in that area that night.

Cases linked

The FBI offered assistance to the investigations, and in 1995 told police the killings were likely committed by the same perpetrator. The cold case homicide website also suggested a connection.

Claires parents, Samuel and Penelope Hough, had their own suspicions.

When the grieving parents visited the site of their daughters murder two days later, they spoke with a lifeguard, who told them the man who had discovered Claires body was down the beach. The man, Wallace Howard Wheeler, was known in the area. He collected aluminum cans.

At first they started toward him, but thought better of it. They felt sure the discovery would have been shocking to him. Maybe he was a suspect.

Despite popular fiction and television programs, amateurs dont solve criminal cases, and thats not what we were there for, Samuel Hough said in a recent interview.

But Wheeler sought them out. He proceeded to inform the family, with seemingly little sympathy, that he was a psychic and had envisioned an angelic girl would be killed by two men. When Samuel and Penelope returned to Rhode Island, they received letters every week for more than a month from the strange man on the beach.

His letters were bizarre, he said.

Samuel Hough said he would photocopy the notes and send them to police. Guaderrama said detectives investigated Wheeler, but determined fairly quickly that he wasnt involved in the death.

Claires father said he didnt remember if that conclusion was something detectives shared with him early on, but if they did, he and his wife likely didnt put much stock in it. He was the only likely suspect in their minds  until the DNA matches.

The parents were told about Browns death days ago.

Wheeler also met a tragic end. He jumped off the 13th-floor balcony of his downtown San Diego apartment building in 1988 at the age of 65. He had been diagnosed with emotional problems and had not been taking his medication of late, his daughter told authorities. He had tried to kill himself two years earlier by driving off a cliff, she said. Numerous writings on his thoughts on religion were found in his apartment, the autopsy report said.

Cases reopened

In 2012, the cold case team took yet another crack at both murder investigations. Around the same time, Barbaras former boyfriend, who was beaten alongside her in the first attack, was putting pressure on investigators to solve the crimes, according to his blog posts.

Related A deadly night that has lasted 33 years

This is a case we really wanted to solve, Guaderrama said Friday.

Police ran DNA from the evidence through a national database of criminals DNA for a match. As it turns out, the database also includes DNA and fingerprints of crime lab personnel, to safeguard against false matches.

In November 2012, the database got a hit on both Tatro and Brown on samples taken from Claires body, launching an exhaustive follow-up investigation. Guaderrama said all efforts were made to determine if the criminalists DNA somehow contaminated the evidence mistakenly, and investigations concluded that was impossible. Brown never worked on any part of the case, the homicide captain said.

Guaderrama said the case against the two men involves other evidence, but he declined to elaborate for now.

Investigators determined Tatro, an Army veteran, had died a year earlier. When they tried to link him to the first murder, they found he was nowhere near San Diego. He was serving prison time in 1978 for a kidnapping in Arkansas. He had snatched a young woman from a liquor store, stuffed her in the trunk of his car, and raped her. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but for unknown reasons, only served eight, Guaderrama said. He was out before Claires killing. A year later he kidnapped a La Mesa teen. He was sentenced to another three years in prison.

The investigation turned to Brown, whose suspected involvement continues to leave doubts, particularly for those who knew him. He passed an independently administered polygraph test, his lawyer said. But the accusations  whether true or not  appear to have been too much. His wife was told there was no suicide note.

As for the first murder, Browns lawyer said he also had an alibi: He was working in New Mexico.
" " Male peafowl  aka peacocks  shed their glorious feathers annually. Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

A peacock without his feathers is like a king without a crown, a tiger without its stripes, a cowboy without his boots. The male of the peafowl species, the peacock has long symbolized beauty, regality and pride. Like many male birds, the peacock's appearance far outshines that of the demure peahen, and he showcases these famous feathers to drive those chicks wild.

But every year, toward the end of summer, peacocks finish shaking their tail feathers, and their stunning plumage gradually falls off. This shedding process, called molting, is a common part of most birds' lives. Feathers can wear out and lose their functionality over time, and since these feathers aren't self-regenerating, birds must replace them entirely. This molting process is the same type of biological change that happens when snakes shed their skins. Hormones trigger the beginning of the molting process, which is timed to occur after the mating season to allow for the energy required to grow the new feathers [source: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology].

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In about seven months  in time for the peafowl mating season to come back around  peacocks will regrow their plumes longer and fuller. The peacock's tail reaches peak development around age 6 [source: Hopkins]. In fact, mature peacock trains can extend more than 5 feet (1.7 meters) in length [source: National Zoo]. Because of the size boost from the feathers, peacocks are one of the largest flying birds.

When the old feathers drop, however, people don't let them go to waste. Stretching back to the Phoenicians during biblical times, peacocks were taken from their native residences in India and surrounding countries and transplanted to royal homes [source: National Zoo]. Different peafowl species feature blue, green, white, light brown or purple coloring, but India's blue and green bird is the most common. There, the peacock is not only the highly protected national bird, but also is considered sacred within the Hindu religion. Even today, commercial peacock breeders will save the molts to sell as the demand for these stylish feathers in the home decor and fashion industries endures.

Peacock Tail Feathers

At the top of each peacock train feather, you'll see a round, jewel-toned ocellus or eyespot. Ocellus comes from the Latin word "oculus," which means "eye." These iridescent spots add the exotic dimension to the plumes.

Peacock tail feathers are specially structured to ensure that they reveal each brilliant ocellus whenever the bird fans them out. This is accomplished by combining multiple layers of feathers on top of each other, called upper-tail coverlets [source: National Zoo]. To the naked eye, the ocelli appear different shades of blues and greens, but in actuality, the feather fibers have a black pigment. It's the different angles of the nanoparticles within those fibers that catch and reflect the sunlight to create iridescence [source: Milius].

In rare circumstances, peacocks may be born without any pigment. These albino peacocks are entirely white, although their feather structure remains the same. Even the ocelli are easily detectable.

During mating season, the males clump together in territorial groups called leks. Peahens will stroll through the leks, almost as though window-shopping for a new beau. To grab the females' attention, the peacocks will display their full regalia, stepping around excitedly and shaking their plumes. Ornithologists refer to that dating dance as shivering.

Charles Darwin had speculated that the number and brilliance of those ocelli determine how successfully peacocks will attract peahens. Due to this form of sexual selection, he proposed that peacocks gradually evolved with more ornate trains to appeal to peahens.

But a 2008 study in Japan challenged the long-held belief behind the ornamentation of peacock trains, asserting that the more shake a peacock shows toward a peahen, the greater the likelihood of snagging her. Because of that interaction, the researchers theorized that it is perhaps this movement and mating calls  not the famous ocelli  that influence attraction the most [source: Viegas]. During a seven-year study of peafowl mating rituals, the researchers found that even the peacocks with the drabber fan and fewer ocelli hooked up as much as the showboats. But going up against Darwin isn't a simple feat. The scientific jury is still out on whether we can dismiss peacock ocelli's role with luring the ladies in.

It's a crazy world out there. Stay up to date (or go down really fun rabbit holes) with our newsletter!

How Peacocks Got Their Spots According to Greek mythology, peacocks got their spots thanks to a woman named Io. She was a priestess to Hera, the wife of Zeus. Famous for his wandering eye, Zeus took a fancy to Io and turned her into a heifer in order to disguise her, thus protecting her from the wrath of jealous Hera. Hera was onto his ruse and tricked Zeus into giving her the heifer/Io as a present. Once she had the heifer in her possession, Hera appointed Argus, a man covered with eyes, to guard Io. Zeus then sent a minion to rescue the priestess, who killed Argus in the process. As a tribute to Argus and his many eyes, Hera bestowed the "eyespot" onto the peacock.

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Originally Published: Oct 21, 2019
Rescue helicopters in Tyrol, Austria (APA/AFP via Getty Images)

Austrian officials have warned of considerable risk of avalanches in the west of the country after nine people were killed within 24 hours.

Police said eight people died in three separate incidents in the states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol on Friday.

In one avalanche near the Austrian-Swiss border, four Swedish citizens, all men in their 40s, and their 42-year-old Austrian mountain guide were killed.

They all died when an avalanche near the town of Spiss buried them completely.

Another member of the group, a 43-year-old Swedish skiier, was able to phone for help and was rescued.

Hours later, two skiers were killed by an avalanche in western Austria, police said on Saturday.

Emergency services found the bodies of two Austrian skiers, a woman aged 61 and a man, 60, after worried family members raised the alarm when they could no longer be contacted.

Their last known location was Breitegg peak, which stands at 1,868 metres, at 3.30pm on Friday.

After they could no longer be reached, relatives made an emergency call at around 9.40 p.m., police said in a statement.

Officials have warned skiers drawn to the Alps amid good weather that even slight tremors could trigger a snow slide.

In recent years, about 20 people have been killed each season by avalanches in the Austrian Alps.

However, the pandemic has meant the last two seasons have been less deadly due to a reduced number of skiiers.
ANKARA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan is set to visit his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine on Thursday after pitching Turkey as a mediator to ease tensions with Russia, and an official said he was not picking any sides in the crisis.

The Turkish official told Reuters that Ankara expects tensions to ease after the meeting in Kyiv. On Wednesday, Ankara and Kyiv said they would sign a free trade agreement and other deals.

Russia has denied any plans of invading Ukraine amid concern by many Western nations over its build up of more than 100,000 troops near the border, but has demanded sweeping security guarantees from the West.

Erdogan's trip comes after visits by leaders of NATO members Britain, Poland, and the Netherlands to Kyiv amid the standoff. Turkey has good ties with Kyiv and Moscow but has said it would do what is necessary as a NATO member if Russia invades.

Ankara offered in November to help ease building tensions, and last month Turkish diplomatic sources said both Russia and Ukraine were open to the idea.

A separate Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Erdogan will call on both sides to exercise restraint, and added Ankara wanted to continue its cooperation with both of the "very important" countries.

Turkey's "approach is not picking one side or standing against one country in the tensions," the official said. "With Erdogan's initiative and with some of the messages he will convey, we expect tensions to ease."

Turkey shares the Black Sea with Ukraine and Russia. Erdogan has said conflict would be unacceptable in the region and warned Russia that an invasion would be unwise.

While forging cooperation with Russia on defence and energy, Turkey has opposed Moscow's policies in Syria and Libya, as well as its annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. It has also sold sophisticated drones to Ukraine and inked a deal to produce more near Kyiv, angering Russia.

Ukraine's prime minister said on Wednesday that Ukraine and Turkey would sign a dozen agreements including a free trade deal during the talks in Kyiv. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Gov. Kathy Hochul won the support of the Cayuga County Democratic Committee this week.

The committee voted on Wednesday to endorse Hochul for a full term as governor. Hochul, who was elected twice to serve as the lieutenant governor, ascended to the state's highest office in August after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned.

Hochul is one of three Democrats in the gubernatorial race. U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams are also vying for the Democratic nomination.

But in Cayuga County, Hochul had an advantage. As lieutenant governor, she visited the county multiple times and developed strong working relationships with local leaders, namely Auburn Mayor Michael Quill.

Dia Carabajal, who chairs the Cayuga County Democratic Committee and endorsed Hochul in December, said her organization is eager to work with the governor to "build a winning coalition."

"As an educator, former school board member and city councilor, I have always known Governor Kathy Hochul to be a fighter on behalf of local communities and a strong voice for central New York," Carabajal said.

The Cayuga Democrats' endorsement was one of three announced by Hochul's campaign on Friday. The Democratic committees in Fulton and Tompkins counties also endorsed Hochul for governor.

Hochul thanked the committees for the support and praised their "strong commitment to upholding Democratic values." She added, "I look forward to working with them to build a New York that works for everyone."

In other news:

 The Cayuga County Democratic Committee endorsed other statewide candidates on Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, state Attorney General Letitia James and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli received the party's backing, according to Carabajal.

Schumer is seeking a fifth six-year term representing New York in the Senate. James is running for a second four-year term as the state's top law enforcement officer. DiNapoli, who was appointed state comptroller in 2007, is running for his fourth four-year term.

The committee has not made any endorsements in congressional races, but is supporting state Sen. John Mannion for reelection in the newly drawn 52nd Senate District.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Chris Carlson/AP

A fatal shooting on Interstate 880 in Oakland closed all northbound lanes for nearly five hours on Friday night, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The victim, identified only as a male driver, was traveling northbound when he was struck by gunfire, causing the vehicle to veer to the right and strike a guardrail before the vehicle came to a stop north of Oak Street, CHP officials said, according to their preliminary investigation.
In 2019, San Francisco identified about 4,000 unhoused people who also struggled with addiction and mental illness, many of them deteriorating visibly on the streets.

The tally came not long after the city broadened its rules on who can be forced into court-ordered mental health and drug treatment, a move that could have applied to 50 to 100 people, according to one estimate.

But only two people have been treated by the expanded rules so far.

The anemic numbers reflect the daunting task San Francisco faces as it tries to help thousands of people suffering from the intertwined crises of substance abuse and mental illness.

At stake is the citys ability to use new legal tools to help some of its most vulnerable residents and confront a public health crisis that has persisted for years.

Were failing every single day, said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who has advocated for court-ordered treatment for the most severely ill patients. Mandelman argues mental illness often prevents people from having insight into their disease and therefore from seeking help voluntarily.

Mandelman was hopeful when city officials in June 2019 opted in to a controversial state law that let San Francisco create a pilot program to expand eligibility for those who can be placed into conservatorship, which allows a court to order people into mental health treatment.

The goal was to get more unhoused people who are publicly struggling with severe mental health and substance abuse problems off the streets and connect them with much-needed care.

But only two people are in conservatorship under the newly expanded rules, according to the health department. That and other problems with the citys approach to conservatorship were outlined in a January report from the city Budget and Legislative Analysts Office that was prepared for Mandelman.

Its unclear why San Francisco has not conserved more people. The city says the new eligibility rules were designed to apply in very limited cases, but supporters of expanded conservatorships think government officials have been generally reluctant to compel unhoused people with severe mental health issues to get treatment.

At the same time, some advocates for homeless and disabled people strongly disagree with the idea that the city should force more people into treatment, arguing that officials should instead invest in more services that dont strip people of their autonomy.

The debate, set to continue in the coming weeks at a pair of hearings requested by Mandelman, reflects how San Francisco continues to struggle with the best way to help its 8,000-plus homeless population, and particularly those with the most extreme mental health and substance abuse problems.

There is a mix of laws that dont quite fit the need for where we are, Mandelman said. Theres a real shortage of appropriate beds where people who might be conserved ... would be placed. And then I think theres a range of feelings about conservatorship, not just in the public and among politicians, but among folks in the city bureaucracy itself.

Additionally, the analysts report found that San Francisco did not track data on those who decline services after theyre discharged from conservatorship, and that sluggish growth in appropriate mental health treatment beds may be affecting the number of people who can be conserved. Average wait times for placement in inpatient treatment in a locked unit increased from about 20 to 50 days in the 2017-18 fiscal year to more than 100 days in the 2019-20 fiscal year, the report said.

Mandelman has held hearings about San Franciscos approach to conservatorships before. Its also a personal issue: His late mother had severe mental illness and was unable to raise him.

I cant give up on solving this problem, because I think its the biggest problem we have as a city, he said.

As of October, judges had approved around 1,300 new conservatorships in the city over roughly the past five years. But those are based on the states two main conservatorship programs.

One of those programs is the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act of 1967, which lets a judge appoint a conservator to make treatment decisions for people considered gravely disabled because of serious mental illness or chronic alcoholism. The other is a probate conservatorship, in which a judge grants a conservator power to make medical or financial decisions or to place a person in a secure facility. These are often used for people with dementia.

But those programs didnt seem to adequately help those struggling on San Franciscos streets. So state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, wrote two bills  SB1045, approved in 2018 and later amended by another bill, SB40  to address the issue. It created a new pilot program for people with substance use and mental health issues who meet certain eligibility requirements, including being subjected to eight involuntary psychiatric holds in a one-year period.

Wiener said hes disappointed to see that just two people had been conserved under the citys pilot program.

Unfortunately, the city has been incredibly slow, Wiener said. This bill was never intended to be some sort of mass roundup of people on the streets. It was very focused on the people who were truly unraveling and dying on our streets, and the bill was sufficient enough to accomplish that.

Wiener said city supervisors made his legislation even harder to implement when they opted into it in 2019. State law says conservatorship should be the least restrictive alternative, but San Francisco went further by adding stricter requirements governing how people forced into treatment need to refuse voluntary services first.

Wiener thought the city had also been uncoordinated and lackadaisical in actually implementing the new program, which is set to expire in January 2024.

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In a statement to The Chronicle, the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the citys public conservator, which both have roles in the pilot program, said it is designed to serve people using the least restrictive and most clinically appropriate treatment options.

Officials said that the documentation, notification requirements and eligibility rules spelled out by law meant that it will always be a very small group of individuals who meet the criteria.

In the past, city and court officials had blamed each other for the slow implementation of the new conservatorship rules, with each side saying the other had prevented them from moving forward.

Now, city officials said they are also working to add about 400 new mental health treatment beds, which will grow the citys residential treatment and care capacity by about 20% when complete, but the timeline to open all the beds is uncertain. So far, 89 of the new beds have been made available.

San Franciscos pilot program has faced strong resistance in some corners of the city.

Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said the push for more compelled treatment may be appealing to politicians, but the city really needed to spend more money and time on more comprehensive solutions. She never thought the push for more conservatorships would work given that we have a mental health system that is in shambles.

You need to ensure that people have intensive case management where the case manager is spending a lot of time with them, Friedenbach said. But even more important than that is you need to have capacity in the system. You need to have appropriate treatment for them and you need to make sure that when they get out of treatment, that theyre stabilized into housing.

Raia Small, an educator and organizer with Senior and Disability Action, said her group does not support expanding conservatorship requirements because it takes away peoples rights and dignity and the city could spend its money on housing and health care with better results.

These problems are cyclical and will keep being created if we dont reform the system in a deeper way, Small said.

But Lisa Dailey, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, said there are some unhoused people struggling with mental illnesses who will need to be conserved, and she questioned whether the city was doing enough to help them.

San Francisco is already investing in a lot of other things, Dailey said. There will always be a persistent chunk of any population where the real factor is untreated mental illness.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
In early January, one of the countrys top public health officials went on national television and delivered what she called really encouraging news on COVID-19: A recent study showed that more than three-fourths of fatalities from the omicron variant of the virus occurred among people with several other medical conditions.

These are people who were unwell to begin with, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Walenskys remarks infuriated Americans with disabilities, who say the pandemic has highlighted how the medical establishment  and society at large  treats their lives as expendable. Among those leading the protest was San Franciscan Alice Wong, an activist who took to Twitter to denounce Walenskys comments as ableism. Walensky later apologized.

Wong, 47, moves and breathes with the aid of a power wheelchair and a ventilator because of a genetic neuromuscular condition. Unable to walk from around age 7, she took refuge in science fiction and its stories of mutants and misunderstood minorities.

Her awakening as an activist happened in 1993, when she was in college in Indiana, where she grew up. Indianas Medicaid program had paid for attendants who enabled Wong to live independently for the first time, but state cuts forced her to switch schools and move back in with her parents. Wong relocated to the Bay Area for graduate school. She has since advocated for better public health benefits for people who are poor, sick, or older or have disabilities.

The founder of the Disability Visibility Project, which collects oral histories of Americans with disabilities in conjunction with StoryCorps, Wong has spoken and written about how COVID and its unparalleled disruption of lives and institutions have underscored challenges that disabled people have always had to live with.

She spoke with KHN via Zoom from her condo in the citys Mission Distric. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Why do you often refer to people with disabilities as oracles?

A: Disabled people have always lived on the margins. And people on the margins really notice whats going on, having to navigate through systems and institutions, not being understood. When the pandemic first hit, the public was up in arms about adjusting to life at home  the isolation, the lack of access. These are things that many disabled and chronically ill people had experienced. Disabled people had been trying forever to advocate for online learning, for accommodations in the workplace. The response was: Oh, we dont have the resources, Its just not possible. But with the majority inconvenienced, it happened. Suddenly people actually had to think about access, flexibility. That is ableism, where you dont think disabled people exist, you dont think sick people exist.

Q: Have you noticed that kind of thinking more since the pandemic began?

A: Well, yes, in the way our leaders talk about the risks, the mortality, about people with severe illnesses, as if theyre a write-off. I am so tired of having to assert myself. What kind of world is this where we have to defend our humanity? What is valued in our society? Clearly, someone who can walk and talk and has zero comorbidities. It is an ideology, just like white supremacy. All our systems are centered around it. And so many people are discovering that theyre not believed by their doctors, and this is something that a lot of disabled and sick people have long experienced.

Q: Which decisions?

A: The overemphasis on vaccinations versus other mitigation methods. That is very harmful because people still dont realize, yeah, there are people with chronic illnesses who are immunocompromised and have other chronic conditions who cannot get vaccinated. And this back and forth, its not strong or consistent about mask mandates. With omicron, there is this huge pressure to reopen schools, to reopen businesses. Why dont we have free tests and free masks? Youre not reaching the poorest and the most vulnerable who need these things and cant afford them.

Q: How has your life changed during the pandemic?

A: For the last two years, I have not been outside except to get my vaccinations.

Q: Because youre so high-risk?

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A: Yeah. I have delayed so many things for my own health. For example, physiotherapy. I dont get lab tests. Ive not been weighed in over two years, which is a big deal for me because I should be monitoring my weight. These are things Ive put on hold. I dont see myself going in to see my doctor any time this year. Everythings been online  its in a holding pattern. How long can I take this? I really dont know. Things might get better, or they might get worse. So many things disabled people have been saying have been dismissed, and thats been very disheartening.

Q: What kinds of things?

A: For example, in California, it was almost this time last year when they removed the third tier for COVID vaccine priority. I was really looking forward to getting vaccinated. I was thinking for sure that I was part of a high-risk group, that Id be prioritized. And then the governor announced that he was eliminating the third tier that I was a part of in favor of an age-based system. For young people who are high-risk, theyre screwed. It just made me so angry. These kinds of decisions and values and messages are saying that certain people are disposable. It took a huge community-based effort last year to get the state to backtrack. Were saying, Hey were here, we exist, we matter just as much as anyone else.

Q: Do you think theres any way this pandemic has been positive for disabled people?

A: I hope so. Theres been a lot of mutual aid efforts, you know, people helping each other. People sharing information. People organizing online. Because we cant wait for the state. These are our lives on the line. Things were a little more accessible in the last two years, and I say a little because a lot of universities and workplaces are going backward now. Theyre doing away with a lot of the hybrid methods that really gave disabled people a chance to flourish.

Q: You mean theyre undoing things that helped level the playing field?

A: Exactly. People who are high-risk have to make very difficult choices now. Thats really unfortunate. I mean, what is the point of this if not to learn, to evolve? To create a new normal. I cant really see that yet. But I still have some hope.

Rachel Scheier writes for Kaiser Health News, an independent national newsroom providing in-depth coverage of health issues. Follow her at @rachelscheier.
When Christopher Johnson decided to become a public elementary school teacher, he was a dream candidate.

Johnson, who is Black and Latino, had experience teaching in China and fluency in Spanish and Mandarin. Whats more, he wanted to teach in a school that struggles to lure teachers.

He landed in fall 2019 in a kindergarten class at San Franciscos Bryant Elementary in the Mission, where 75% of students come from low-income families and 84% are Latino.

Despite the pandemic and a year of distance learning, he saw his career playing out there  until his principal called him into her office a week ago, tears falling as she informed he could be laid off at the end of the school year. A district email confirmed the information later that day.

He was one of hundreds of teachers advised of a potential pink slip.

Because of declining enrollment and a $125 million budget shortfall, the district could cut more than 300 teaching positions next year and had sent out the first round of letters in that process. For the most part, the layoffs go by seniority, meaning teachers with the least experience, many of whom are in hard-to-staff schools, are the first to go.

Johnson was gutted.

Its not because of poor performance, but because we are low enough on the seniority list to be up for the chop, he said. Presumably we will be replaced by teachers from elsewhere who are higher up in the union hierarchy.

San Francisco, like many other Bay Area districts, finds itself in the confounding situation of cutting teaching positions this year while facing a teacher shortage that could mean unfilled positions next fall, especially in special education, math and bilingual education.

The demand and supply simply dont add up in the right columns given specific credentialing requirements for each position.

Its a frustrating and confusing time because theres a disconnect on so many levels, said Troy Flint, spokesperson for the California School Boards Association, adding it can be hard to understand why some districts are issuing layoff notices when it seems that a state surplus and pandemic relief funding could come to the rescue amid a statewide staffing shortage.

But when you look under the hood at the confluence of demographic and structural issues, combined with the fact that staffing is an indefinite commitment and the relief-funding is one-time money, you realize districts are facing a fiscal cliff, he said. Theyre making tough decisions now to try and avert financial disaster a couple years down the road.

Oakland, Novato, Hayward and other districts could see layoffs as well, while in Contra Costa County, education officials are holding a teacher job fair this month, even as West Contra Costa Unified is bracing to send out the first round of teacher pink slips.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, meanwhile, is working on programs and funding to add 15,000 credentialed teachers to the pipeline, knowing the shortage will probably continue in the coming years, despite the spate of layoffs the state will see this year. About 40% of the teacher workforce in California is older than 50 and heading closer to retirement.

Not all districts across the state will have to lay off staff given attrition from retirements and resignations. Many, however, will be forced to address declining enrollment, resulting in part from lower birth rates and exacerbated by the pandemic as families moved out of state, chose homeschooling or transferred to private schools.

The states public school enrollment has dropped to just over 6 million, a loss of more than 233,000 students since 2015, which decreases overall demand for teachers by about 10,000 positions.

San Francisco Unified has lost about 9,000 students since 2014, with enrollment at about 49,000 this year.

These are not numbers in a system. They are human beings who have given so much to the students and this district, said Kristin Bijur, head of human resources in the district. But we cant afford to pay for educators we dont have places for.

While seniority usually determines whos given notice, school boards have some leeway to direct layoffs so they skip over those in hard-to-fill positions. But that doesnt seem to apply to Johnson, who already got his notice.

It doesnt make sense, he said.

Its chilling to think that teachers who entered into this world in 2021 and 2020, with their eyes open about COVID and inequity, are the first up for the cull, he said.

Johnson came through the districts Pathway to Teaching, an accelerated credentialing program to help increase the number of teachers of color in the district. His first year was pitched into chaos as the pandemic hit.

We delivered groceries and dropped off what school supplies we could scrounge together or buy ourselves, he said. We became social and mental health workers. We taught writing to students who only had napkins to write on.

Johnson said he believes at least four teachers at his school received similar emails informing them that theyre on layoff lists. They wont know for weeks or months whether they will have a job at Bryant in the fall.

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Losing teachers such as Johnson is devastating given the districts effort to recruit people of color into the profession in the past few years, Bijur said.

Its a kick in the gut because of seniority rules, the law of the land for lots of good reasons, but a lot of the people who are going to be on this (layoff) list are teachers of color, she said. We want to do everything we can to keep them.

Its possible the school board could adopt policies to avoid layoffs in hard-to-staff schools, or those with a high percentage of English learners, perhaps, or students from low-income families. Its unclear whether this would require support from the teachers union.

Union officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

State law requires districts to send a preliminary pink slip by March 15 to any teachers and other staff who could be laid off and then follow up with an actual layoff notice by May 15.

Yet by those early deadlines, district officials dont know how much money theyll get from the state for the upcoming school year. The Legislature and governor wont pass the state budget until until mid-June at the earliest.

Local school districts face a lot of financial uncertainty because, in Californias system, they have to make staffing decisions  which account for about 90% of expenditures  before they have a decent idea of what their revenue will be, Flint said.

Its possible, if not likely, that many of those getting pink slips will actually not be laid off once all the dust settles.

Johnson isnt sure he wants to stick around to see. He said hes disillusioned by all the unions talk of putting students first and the districts talk of equity and anti-racism, only to see seniority outrank the diversity and energy he brings to the job.

Who is going to be damaged the most by a system like that? he asked. Its going to be schools that have a hard time getting teachers in the first place.

He said he feels like a bargaining chip, that hes not valued.

There are plenty of kids out there who deserve people who want to work for them, he said. But then youre confronted with the seniority list, and you realize its not about students, its about protecting teachers.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
San Franciscos top law enforcement officials are locked in a standoff over an agreement that names District Attorney Chesa Boudins office the lead investigator in serious police use-of-force cases. The conflict came to a head after Police Chief Bill Scott said he intended to pull out of this memorandum of understanding, or MOU, touching off a dispute over police accountability thats now roped in the mayor, city attorney and state attorney general.

Scotts decision came on the eve of the trial against Officer Terrance Stangel, believed to be first city officer to face a jury in a police brutality case. Scott said Boudins office violated their shared agreement on the handling of such cases and that trust between the two agencies was irrevocably damaged. Boudin has denied wrongdoing and said Scotts move was political.

Now, what had already promised to be a landmark case has more far-reaching implications. With the current MOU set to expire on Feb. 23, city and state officials are scrambling to draw up a stopgap agreement that can appease Scotts concerns while blocking a lapse that would allow police to investigate their own ranks.

Heres what you need to know about the trial, the tensions between Scott and Boudin and the potential consequences for police accountability in San Francisco:

Why is the MOU important?

The agreement between the Police Department and the District Attorneys Office spells out how both agencies will work together and share information after police use-of-force incidents, police shootings and in-custody deaths.

The agreement, the product of years of reform efforts after a string of controversial police shootings in San Francisco, makes the District Attorneys Office the lead investigating agency in those cases. The rationale is that police should not investigate their fellow officers and that securing the publics trust required an outside agency to step in. The first agreement was reached in 2019, and an amended version was signed by Boudin and Scott in 2021.

Whats the trial about?

On Oct. 7, 2019, while responding to a 911 domestic violence call near Fishermans Wharf, Officer Terrance Stangel was captured on police body camera footage striking Dacari Spiers with his baton.

In announcing felony battery and assault charges against Stangel, Boudin called the case an example of an officer unnecessarily escalating a situation and then violently beating a Black man.

Stangels attorney, Nicole Pifari, has said her clients use of force was reasonable under the circumstances.

Whats the controversy between Boudin and Scott?

Because of the nature of the incident  in which both a civilian and an officer may have committed a crime  the case touched off parallel investigations. Police were to investigate the domestic violence allegations against Spiers, while District Attorneys Office investigators were to probe whether Stangel used excessive force.

The controversy stems from a key witness in the case who called 911 to report that Spiers was allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

Both the district attorneys investigators and police had access to this witnesss initial interview, and both sought to follow up. When district attorney investigator Magen Hayashi obtained a second interview, she did not tell police about it. This alleged misstep took place before Boudin took office.

In a pretrial hearing, Hayashi testified that she was pressured by prosecutors to remove some evidence from Stangels arrest affidavit, and that she was regularly told that the District Attorneys Office relationship with the police force was not a two-way street.

Herein lies the biggest point of contention between Scott and Boudin: While each have alleged the others department failed to share information with the other, theres a fundamental dispute about how much cooperation there should be in such investigations.

Boudin said probes into police use-of-force cases must remain independent to maintain their integrity. Scott said there needs to be a certain amount of information shared between the two agencies for police to do their jobs.

What does Scott say?

Scott said Hayashis allegations were grounds to sever the agreement. Because of that testimony, he said, officers are convinced that they wont get a fair shake if the DAs office is investigating them.

In a letter to Boudin on Feb. 2, Scott said his confidence has been eroded because of the concerns and MOU violations, and that he would be unilaterally terminating the agreement within 15 days.

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What does Boudin say?

Boudin said it was no coincidence that Scott chose to sever the MOU before the citys first-ever excessive force trial against an officer. Boudins office has been especially aggressive in police use-of-force cases, and is currently prosecuting six officers.

If there were alleged violations of this MOU, Boudin said he and Scott should sit down and discuss how to fix the issue.

Where does the MOU stand?

The current agreement with Boudin and Scott will dissolve on Feb. 23. With that fast-approaching deadline, various city and state officials have coalesced in an attempt to mediate or re-negotiate another agreement before a lapse.

In a joint statement on Feb. 14, State Attorney General Rob Bonta, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and City Attorney David Chiu said they were committed to working with the District Attorneys Office and the Police Department to reach an accord over a revised agreement.

At a Police Commission meeting Feb. 16, Scott announced that he, Boudin and Bonta were negotiating an interim agreement that would kick in if the existing MOU expires.

San Francisco police commissioners, who have the power to compel Scott to stay in the MOU, have delayed that vote in hopes that a negotiation comes first.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
Lila Nelson usually loves getting report cards for her high-achieving daughter, Miriam, but the transcripts from San Franciscos Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School giving the 12-year-old girl some As didnt make her proud. They made her confused and angry.

Nelson, a single mom in the Bayview, pulled Miriam out of the public school district after fifth grade and scored a financial aid package at a parochial school where her bright sixth-grader is thriving. How could her daughter get As at a middle school shes never attended?

But what I thought would be yet one more column about governmental ineptitude, San Franciscos specialty, turned into something deeper: a window into one of the most difficult and stressful academic years in decades.

A teacher shortage, a dearth of substitutes, sinking staff morale, a never-ending pandemic, a budget crisis, incessant politics and kids struggling in the wake of distance learning have contributed to a hugely challenging school climate. And one with so many cracks, its possible for a girl who never showed up for sixth grade to fall through them.

Weve never had a situation like this. Never, Michael Essien, Martin Luther Kings principal, said of Miriams report cards. Just to be clear, its still not an excuse. That means at some point in the system, we failed at our jobs at the school site with taking basic steps and doing our due diligence.

Felix Uribe/Special to The Chronicle

Essien, a popular and respected educator for 30 years including nine as principal at Martin Luther King and the president of the principals union, said the 2021-22 school year has been by far the most difficult of his career, and the demands placed on his staff have been huge.

This is the perfect storm of everything. This year has been insane, he said in a wide-ranging interview in which he sounded exhausted.

The report card saga began in the fall. Miriam attended a public school through fifth grade, but her mother saw her spark and love of learning vanish during dull, never-ending Zoom school. She opted to move her to a parochial school for sixth grade and didnt enter the San Francisco Unified School District middle school lottery.

Miriam received a placement anyway, which a district spokesperson said is normal and intended to help parents who accidentally miss the deadline. When Nelson kept getting daily robocalls announcing her daughter was absent from a middle school she wasnt attending, she spoke to two people at the school about the mix-up. They said theyd sort it out.

But the calls kept coming, and then the report cards did too. Her first progress report showed Miriam getting As in study skills and social studies, a C in physical education and pass or no mark issued in the rest. She received full credits for every class except science. By the end of the semester, she was still getting an A in social studies and had boosted her grade in physical education to an A. The rest were Fs or pass.

Her absences varied by class from 51 to 82 even though shed been absent every day. Nelson said nobody from the school or central office ever called to ask why Miriam wasnt there.

Connor Radnovich/The Chronicle 2016

Nelson, who is Black, said district officials say they care so much about the education of Black students and care about the wellness of Black families, but youre not really connected to the students or the families. You cant possibly be. Youre not connected to my family.

She said it made her wonder whether the school district with a longstanding academic achievement gap between Black students and their white and Asian counterparts was paying full attention to other Black students academic and social needs if they didnt even notice her daughter was missing.

As for Miriam, she loves her new parochial school.

Shes completely back to her old self, Nelson said.

The year has been much harder at Martin Luther King. Seventy-one percent of its kids at the school, in the Portola neighborhood but serving kids throughout the citys southeast sector, are from low-income families, and 28% are learning English. Its student population is almost entirely children of color.

Essien said enrollment before the pandemic hovered around 450 students. This year, he said, it dropped to 386 students, and many arent showing up. No-shows have been a problem all year, but got worse during the omicron surge.

Were not even getting 85% attendance, he said. There are times when weve had in excess of 100 children absent.

He said he doesnt know all the reasons that kids arent attending, but that parents concerns about exposure to the coronavirus is a big one. Teachers have also been out in big numbers all year because of concerns about their own health, potentially spreading the virus to vulnerable family members or simply feeling overwhelmed, he said. Some positions he posted received no applicants.

There are so few substitutes available, every adult in the building is filling in, as are some administrators from the central office.

Essien said the school has long centered on project-based learning, but theres no time for teachers to collaborate and prepare for their classes, frustrating him and his staff. Much of his staffs time is spent contact tracing when teachers or kids get sick.

Essien said one huge help would be the health department taking over contact tracing and other elements of dealing with the coronavirus so teachers and principals can return to a full-time focus on educating students.

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The kids, too, are struggling. Eighth-graders arrived in the fall not having been inside a school building since they were in sixth grade. Theres learning loss for sure, Essien said, but hes more concerned about the social and emotional effects of such a long period of isolation.

Even the best distance learning that was happening was not good for kids, he said, noting that some students social skills have slipped notably and they struggle to work with each other or even ask their teachers questions.

As for Miriams report card, Essien said the social studies teacher has been absent all year for personal reasons, and the kids have had a string of fill-in teachers. Because of that, the school gave everyone in the class an A  including Miriam.

It was just based on kids whove not had a teacher all year not receiving failing grades, he said.

Felix Uribe / Special to The Chronicle

Only in the past few days did candidates emerge as long-term substitutes for the social studies teacher. He said hes not sure why her PE teacher gave her an A. He said he checked with all her supposed teachers, and they all said theyd never seen her.

Essien said that when an enrolled student doesnt show up, the school reports the absences to the central office, which should drop the kid from its computer system. Apparently that didnt happen with Miriam. He said that if a child has attended the school and then stops coming, the teachers often go to great lengths to check in  sometimes even driving to the families homes.

Laura Dudnick, a school district spokesperson, said of Miriams report cards, This is the first time something like this has come to our attention. As for Essiens laments about the school year, Dudnick said the district offers numerous tools to help kids struggling with the effects of the pandemic, including expanded mental health services. She said the district is trying to recruit new substitutes and pay them better to help cope with the teacher shortage.

Essien said the school district is consumed with politics and infighting among adults and not focused on children. For example, the school board voted in 2020 to cut ties with the Police Department, a vote he said his families opposed.

Essien said a police officer worked closely with Martin Luther King students, taking them camping and even writing a play about bullying they were about to perform before schools shut down in March 2020. Now that relationship has been severed.

Overall, he said, the focus in the city and the school district has veered off course and become highly political at the expense of kids.

Its heartbreaking to see what is happening in SFUSD right now, he said. Its adult stuff. Its one thing to argue for the needs of children, and its another thing to meet the needs of children. Were not holding the conversation around meeting the needs of children.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
Island Personal Training, a small Northern California gym chain with locations in Alameda and Redding owned by Jason Wilson, is being called out for a page on its website that promoted massage services and included racist language directed toward Asian Americans.

The gyms website is currently offline (and their Instagram account also appears to have been made private), but ABC 7 reports the page made special note to promote that the gyms massage therapists "speak English kind of rare for the field round these parts," and added that the gym is not like "shady Asian 'massage parlors.'"

Additionally, in a Facebook post on the Redding locations page last May, Island Personal Training accused nearby massage parlors in the area of operating as "brothels." The post also said unlike other nearby massage parlors, Island Personal Training is not a dark shady, and/or dirty place that smells like Chinese food.

The racist posts were first flagged in a Facebook group featuring more than a hundred members, ABC 7 reports, and have since received attention from STOPAAPIHate, a non-profit that tracks incidents of hate and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

The kind of racist rhetoric and commentary adds to the persistent stereotypes that are not only offensive but really put out communities in danger, Cynthia Choi, one of STOPAAPIHates founders, told ABC 7.

Choi, who is also an executive director with Chinese for Affirmative Action, linked the gyms language to the shooting spree at three spas and massage parlors in the Atlanta area last March, which saw eight people killed, including six Asian women, and another person wounded. The shooter, who later plead guilty to 23 charges and received a life sentence with no parole, initially blamed his violence on a sex addiction

Its very triggering given what happened with the Atlanta area shooting. Were coming up on that anniversary where Asian women and Asian businesses were targeted, Choi told ABC 7.

Since ABC 7's initial story, the gym's Yelp page has been flooded with 1-star reviews, examples of abhorrent client interactions and calls for the business to shutter.

Owner Jason Wilson could not be reached for comment.

Anti-Asian hate crimes have skyrocketed both in the Bay Area and across the country during the pandemic. Reported hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders spiked 567% in 2021, according to preliminary figures released by the San Francisco Police Department late last month. The actual increase is likely higher, as not every victim reports their incidents to the police.
Deciding where to go for my partners late-winter birthday was a bit of a challenge this year. It felt natural to head south for some warmth, but thats been everybody elses plan, too, resulting in serious overcrowding in places like Joshua Tree National Park  where insane traffic recently led to road closures.

Our small Northern California town recently got a direct flight to Las Vegas, which we love. But COVID-19 numbers had been skyrocketing, and a long weekend in Vegas seemed foolish.

In the end, the pull of the desert won, but our plan would be a bit out of the ordinary. Wed fly to Vegas, rent a car and explore a less hectic park: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Then wed continue our journey through the Mojave Desert, arriving back in Vegas just in time to fly home.

Red Rock Canyon is one of those places that people say is great, and located just 25 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, it should be incredibly easy to visit. Many people certainly do find ways to escape the gravitational pull of Sin City and get out there, but up until last weekend, that seemed a tall order.

After flying into Vegas, we pushed our luck and hit a Cirque du Soleil show, and then went on a surprisingly lucrative blackjack rampage. But the next morning, as we cruised west with our backs to the glittering skyline, and no traffic to contend with, it felt right.

Ashley Harrell

Anna Gorin/Getty Images

Within a half-hour, we had turned onto Highway 159 and started to see the fire-colored formations rising in the distance. There was no line at the gate to enter the parks top draw, a 13-mile scenic drive through its dazzling multihued sandstone with numerous viewpoints and opportunities to observe prickly cacti, desert tortoises and feral burros.

Our America the Beautiful Pass was accepted in lieu of the usual $15 per vehicle entrance fee, though there was a $2 reservation fee. Like at many California parks, this reservation system became a thing in 2020 because of COVID-19 crowds, and it remains in place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the parks high season, October to May.

An affable ranger who collected our fee told us that the most popular hike in the park  Calico Tanks  was also his favorite. He warned that a storm might blow in, and perhaps this explained how few cars were entering the scenic drive? But at that point, the sky was a hopeful blue with only faint wisps of clouds, and we couldnt wait to get into some nature.

We skipped the visitor center and a giant entrance rock sign, where a bunch of people were taking their photos, and headed straight for the first viewpoint parking lot, Calico Hills. The towering rock formations there were red-and-cream striped, and looked to me like a giant melted candy cane had been poured over them. A yucca-lined gravel path led to a trail through the rocks, but really the hikers were free to create their own journeys.

Ashley Harrell

Ashley Harrell

As we scrambled up the rocks, strong gusts of wind swept through, and the temperature seemed to drop 10 degrees. Luckily, we were wearing gloves and hoodies, but the wind stung our faces, and we were definitely beginning to see why Red Rock Canyon wasnt especially crowded.

Still, the scenery was like nothing I had ever seen before. Before racing back to the car, we stood on a giant streaky rock as a nice stranger took several photos of us.

We continued on to the Sandstone Quarry parking lot and found our way to the Calico Tanks trailhead. This path, too, wasnt particularly well marked at the beginning, and almost immediately we wandered off trail into a canyon. There werent many footprints in the soft sand, but the twisting trees looked like something out of a Tim Burton film, and the two-toned canyon was full of scalable, lichen-covered rocks.

More than 500 million years ago, all of this used to be under an ocean, leaving fossils of ancient sea life behind. And after the water receded, small carnivorous dinosaurs roamed the region, leaving footprints to be discovered in the sandstone.

We kept a lookout for these sorts of treasures, but none materialized, so we instead focused on the incredible contrasting colors in the rocks. Some of the sandstone has been exposed to iron oxide, an element that causes the rock color to transform into reds, oranges and browns. The whiter patches represent areas where iron was never deposited or water leached the iron out.

Ashley Harrell

Ashley Harrell

After our canyon detour, we rejoined the trail and pushed on to Calico Tanks, climbing rock stairways, scrambling over large boulders and following the signage. Although the hike was only 2.2 miles round trip, the scenery kept shifting from desert scrub to rocky climbs to pockets full of leafy trees and other greenery. There were even small, eerily yellow ponds in some areas.

We had hiked well over a mile when the first raindrops started landing on our faces. We turned back, and up over the rocky peaks, we could see a rainstorm moving toward us.

Sandstone is not ideal for traversing in the rain because the porous rock absorbs moisture and weakens. So instead of hiking all the way to the end, where hikers are rewarded with a hidden pocket of water (a tank) and some striking views out toward Las Vegas, we hurried back the way we had come.

Ashley Harrell

Ashley Harrell

More rain fell, and it was beautiful to see it splashing into the yellow ponds. About a half-mile from the parking lot, the rain turned to dainty little snowflakes, which coated the sand and cacti and compelled us to dance around.

Yes, we were wet and cold, and no, we did not see what was apparently the best part of the hike. But the trip couldnt have been more perfect, and weve still got that direct flight to Vegas for the next time we want to hit Red Rock Canyon.
Thousands of students in 14 counties submitted work for the 2022 Central New York Scholastic Art Awards, and hundreds have been recognized aft
Gov. Kathy Hochul is smashing fundraising records, and she isnt being coy about it.

In a recent meeting with the Times Union Editorial Board, Ms. Hochul proudly spoke of her fundraising success, noting the need for New Yorks first female governor to project strength and her desire to match the sizable war chest held by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Both goals are reasonable, but the way Ms. Hochul is raising much of that money is troubling. As reported by the Times Unions Chris Bragg, Ms. Hochuls fundraisers often have been hosted by people with financial interests before the state.

For example, a fundraiser in New Orleans was held at the home of Howard Glaser, a former top aide to Mr. Cuomo who works in the gambling industry. At least one of Mr. Glasers clients has been pressing the governor to legalize lucrative casino licenses in the New York City area.

Another example is the fundraiser thrown by Greenberg Traurig, a lobbying firm that represents Boston-based cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings. As it so happened, Ascend needed  and subsequently received  fast action from state regulators as it faced a deadline for an acrimonious deal in which the company would take ownership of medical cannabis license holder MedMen NY.

As a result, MedMen is now seeking to subpoena records related to communications Ms. Hochuls administration and her campaign had with Ascend. The company alleges that state regulators bent to political pressure and undue influence in granting the rapid approval.

That may or may not be true. But the case highlights the problems associated with elected officials raising campaign money from companies with direct business interests before the state.

Unfortunately, her fundraising is also replicating the dubious standards set by the man she replaced. Her methods, then, will do little to further her own stated goal: to restore New Yorks battered faith in state government. Nor will they help to convince voters that her administration represents a meaningful ethical shift.

 Albany Times Union

Gov. Kathy Hochul, visiting Syracuse, provided some refreshing clarity on the Interstate 81 project. The governor declared the aging elevated highway will be replaced by a street-level community grid, and construction will begin this year.

Now its just time to get it done, Hochul said.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Mind you, the states preference for the community grid is not new. In April 2019, the Department of Transportation selected it over replacing the viaduct or digging a tunnel. Nearly three years later, DOT has yet to complete its environmental impact statement, a necessary step before the project can proceed.

The delay can be blamed partly on the Covid-19 pandemic but we also can point to other factors: bureaucratic inertia; an Executive Chamber consumed by scandal; a lack of political will to make a decision unpopular with powerful, moneyed interests.

Hochul brushed aside all of that during a meeting Tuesday with the editorial board and Syracuse.com journalists. Asked if the community grid is the only option  if it can be that clear now  the governor said, Yes, Im that clear.

Hochuls engagement with the I-81 project gives us real hope it will begin this year. Weve felt that before only to be disappointed by one delay or another. Our new governor is keenly aware that raising expectations, and then failing to meet them, further erodes the publics confidence in government.

Talk is cheap. Lets see an official decision on Interstate 81 by spring and shovels in the ground by fall.

 Advance Media New York

Its no secret that New York state has a spending problem.

The latest evidence of that spending problem came on the floor of the state Legislature last week. During a week when education advocates were calling for more money above and beyond the record aid increases proposed in Gov. Kathy Hochuls budget  and making a convincing case, mind you  state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, pointed toward another issue that needs state funding. Were talking about Borrellos comments on the Senate floor regarding S.6791, which lessens the amount New York businesses will pay into the state Unemployment Insurance Fund in 2022.

New York had to borrow $11 billion from the federal government to pay unemployment claims during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is still $9.3 billion remaining on that loan, which shows up as a deficit in the Unemployment Insurance fund and drives a higher contribution rate for the states businesses. At a time when New York is flush with cash, no mention has been made of paying down the unemployment insurance borrowing to relieve the stress on New Yorks businesses  including those that have had no layoffs during the pandemic. Instead, the states response is to kick the can down the road by postponing unemployment payment increases while writing really big checks to areas that will help Gov. Kathy Hochul win re-election in November.

According to the Business Council, its going to take more than a decade to make up that $9 billion shortfall if some of that money from the fed government isnt diverted to that fund.

As we said last week, Hochuls budget is good politics. But, Borrello made an argument on the Senate floor showing the budget is far from good policy.

 Dunkirk Evening Observer
In 2021, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group added numerous partners in various areas, including Renault, Baidu, Foxconn and Waymo. The group also launched ZEEKR brand, which has produced over 10,000 vehicles by the end of January, 2022. Besides, Li Shufu, founder of the group announced his foray into smart phone business.

Photo credit: Geely

Gasgoo chose some news about Geely in 2021 for your information.

Geely Auto fulfills 87% of 2021s sales target



Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (called Geely Auto for short) announced on Thursday that the annual sales of the Group (collectively referring to Geely Auto and its subsidiaries) amounted to 1,328,029 units in 2021, edging up 1% from the previous year and achieving 87% of the Group's yearly sales target of 1.53 million units.

For the month of December 2021, Geely Auto and its subsidiaries sold 158,765 new vehicles, representing a 3% increase year-on-year and a 17% jump month-on-month.

Geely, Foxconn incorporate chip making joint venture

Geely Holding and Foxconns Shenzhen subsidiary have co-established an automotive semiconductor manufacturing company, Shandong Fujikang Intelligent Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Fujikang), according to corporate database, Qichacha.



Fujikang was registered on December 27th, with a registered capital of RMB100 million. Geely Holding and Futaihua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. each owns 50% of Fujikangs stake.

Earlier in 2021, Foxconn and Geely Holding have already signed a strategic cooperation agreement, announcing their decision to establish a joint venture, serving the global auto industry and mobility companies with manufacturing and customization.

Geelys Zeekr, Waymo partner on autonomous ride-hailing vehicle

Zeekr from Geely Holding Group will work with American autonomous driving technology development company Waymo to develop a new electric vehicle model for Waymos autonomous ride-hailing fleet to be deployed in the United States, both companies announced on Tuesday.



According to the partnership, the new model will be designed and developed at the Chinese brand's R&D facility, CEVT (China Europe Vehicle Technology Centre) in Gothenburg, Sweden. The vehicle will be built on its new proprietary and open-source mobility architecture, the SEA-M, according to Geely. After taking delivery of the vehicles in the U.S., Waymo will then empower the transportation-as-a-service (TaaS)-optimized vehicles with its fully autonomous Waymo Driver.

Geely to set up automobile joint venture with Lifan Technology

Lifan Technology, the holding company owning Chinas named motorcycle brand, Lifan Motorcycle, announced today that it will be setting up an automobile joint venture company with major automaker, Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (Geely Auto).



The two companies plan to each invest RMB300 million into the new company, with a 50% stake each.

The new company will be established in Chongqing. The business scopes of the joint venture will include the design/R&D/sales of automobiles (auto parts, equipment, decorations included), exportation, software development, technology development, and more.

Geely starts presale for new battery-swapping heavy truck

The commercial vehicle arm of Geely Holding, Farizon Auto, introduced its new energy heavy truck, the Homtruck, last night. Presale of the Homtruck started at the same time, and the truck will be on the market in 2024.



According to the truck maker, the Homtruck features multiple new energy power modes, including swappable battery-electric, swappable extended-range, methyl alcohol P2 hybrid, and more. Under Farizon Autos energy fueling network, the Homtrucks battery-swapping mode almost allows unlimited NEDC range.

Farizon has incorporated numerous Chinese cultural elements in the truck. For example, the digital LED headlights are inspired by the Chinese character  (water) in a traditional style of Chinese calligraphy.

Geely Technology to build 12GWh power battery base in Chongqing

Geely Technology Group, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding), plans to build a 12GWh power battery manufacturing plant in Fuling district, Chongqing city, according to a cooperation agreement signed with the district's local government on Nov. 26.



Meanwhile, Geely Technology Group also reached a collaboration deal with local government of Liangjiang New Area, another district of Chongqing, to locate there its headquarters of Western China. Besides, it plans to set up in Liangjiang New Area an innovation research hub that combines the efforts of enterprises, universities, and research institutes, and helps incubates outstanding firms for both upstream and downstream industrial chains.

Notably, the aforesaid two pacts are under an all-around strategic partnership the company forged with Chongqing municipal government on the same day.

Geely builds wholly-owned industrial investment subsidiary

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group recently founded an industrial investment subsidiary, whose business scope covers sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs).



The newborn company, dubbed Zhejiang Geely Industry Investment Holding Co.,Ltd., was established on Sept. 29 in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, according to the company information inquiry platform Tianyancha. Involving a registered capital of 100 million yuan ($15.52 million), it is wholly controlled by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

Geelys Li Shufu officially sets foot in premium smartphone industry

In September, Geelys founder, Li Shufu, officially announced his entry to the smartphone industry and signed a strategic agreement with Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone.



The recent rumor about Lis phone-making endeavor is finally made official. The auto moguls smartphone business will be operated through Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology Co. Ltd., a company co-founded by Li Shufu with 55% in stake. The goal is to target the high-end smartphone market, integrating technologies and resources worldwide, serving the global market.

Notably, the Xingji Shidai Technology Co. Ltd. was registered on September 26th. The other main shareholder at 30% is Shen Ziyu, co-founder and CEO of car technology startup ECARX, which he founded with Li Shufu.

Faraday Future, Geely finish initial technical cooperation

Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (FF) and Geely Holdings has made substantial progress in the initial phase of technology co-development, the California-based global shared intelligent mobility ecosystem company announced on its 919 Futurist Day.



Currently, technical teams from both parties are working closely on the inspection and development of the platform technology. This successful technical collaboration will push the two companies to further their cooperation, accelerating FFs China business expansion.

ZEEKR to raise $500 million from five external investors

ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, a high-end EV company launched this year by Geely, signed an agreement on August 27 to issue and allot to five investors a total of 126,470,585 Series Pre-A Preferred Shares, at a consideration of $500 million, according to an announcement of Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (Geely Auto).



Those investors, who are all independent third parties, include Intel Capital Corporation, CATL, Cathay Fortune Corporation, Bilibili, and Boyu Capital. Notably, Bilibili is an iconic brand and a leading video community for young generations in China.

The shares to be sold will represent roughly 5.6% of the enlarged issued share capital of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology.

Geely, Renault to cooperate in China and South Korea markets

French automaker Renault Group and Chinas largest privately-owned automotive group Geely Holding Group announced today that they have signed an MoU framework agreement to create an innovative cooperation.

Initially, the cooperation will focus on China and South Korea Markets. In China, they will jointly introduce Renault-branded hybrid vehicles based on Geelys technologies and industrial footprint while the French company will be responsible for branding strategy, channel and service development, defining appropriate customer journey.

In South Korea, both parties will develop vehicles for the market based on Lynk & Cos compact modular architecture (CMA). Besides, both parties also plan to seek more in-depth potential partnership.

Geely announces premium EV brand Zeekr

Geely Auto Group (Geely Auto) announced in March the formation of Zeekr Company Limited, a new electric mobility technology and solutions company based in China that aims to meet growing demands for premium electric vehicles (EVs).



According to Geely Auto, Zeekr will be a 51-49% joint venture between Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding) and Geely Auto. Both parties have agreed to plow a total of 2 billion yuan ($307.088 million) in cash into the newborn company.

Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding, will serve as chairman of Zeekr, while An Conghui, president and CEO of Geely Auto Group, becomes CEO of the new joint venture. The Chinese name of Zeeker has been confirmed as Ji Ke.

Baidu, Geely to establish intelligent electric vehicle company

In January, 2021, Baidu, Inc., Chinese search engine giant, announced that it plans to establish a company with Geely to build intelligent electric vehicles. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will be a strategic partner for the new company, which will operate as an independent subsidiary of the technology company.



The new company, with an aim to provide passenger vehicles, will cover the entire industrial chain, including vehicle design, R&D, manufacturing, sales and service. Baidu will provide its full portfolio of core technologies, including Apollo autonomous driving, DuerOS for Apollo, and Baidu Maps while Geely will contribute its expertise in vehicle manufacturing.
By Trend

The office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) commented on the anti-Azerbaijani campaign conducted by UNDP employee Armen Grigoryan, Trend reports.

Grigoryan, who is an Armenian citizen, conducts open anti-Azerbaijani and anti-Turkish propaganda through social networks.

He shared slanderous materials against Azerbaijan, published texts with fascist and revanchist content, and organized discussions on the "Who loves Armenia more" topic.

The UNDP office said that the organization takes the principles of independence and impartiality that regulate its staff very seriously.

"UNDP does not tolerate discriminatory or biased behaviors that may harm the reputation of the organization and staff globally. UNDP has a number of institutional mechanisms, such as the Ethics office, the Office of Audit and Investigations (OAI), the Office of Human Resources and the Office of the Ombudsman, to prevent and investigate allegations of misconduct and non-compliance with rules and policies," the organization said.

UNDP also noted that the organization is committed to its work in Azerbaijan as a long-standing development partner.

So, the UNDP didnt refute the authenticity of screenshots from social networks demonstrating the open anti-Azerbaijani and anti-Turkish position of its employee, who, like other representatives of the organization, should, as follows from this statement, "be guided by the principles of independence and impartiality."
BYD Company Limited (BYD) announced its full-year auto sales in 2021 reached 740,131 units, surging 73.34% from the previous year. Notably, new energy vehicles (NEVs) accounted for 81.6% of total vehicle sales.

As a leading power battery maker in China, BYD recorded a power battery installed capacity of 25.06GWh in 2021, making up 16.2% of the countrys totals and ranking second among power battery makers in China, according to according to the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (CAPBIIA).

Let's review the significant moments BYD experienced in 2021.

BYD partners with RoboSense for automotive intelligence layout

On Dec. 23, BYD struck a strategic cooperation deal with China's LiDAR supplier, RoboSense, for automotive intelligence development on December 23rd.

By virtue of BYD's intelligent technology background and its deep vertical integration capability, plus RoboSenses leading LiDAR hardware, intelligent sense software, and chips, the two parties aim to develop market-leading intelligent automotive products.

BYD, Momenta found intelligent driving joint venture

On Dec. 27, BYD announced its newly established joint venture with China's leading autonomous driving company, Momenta, dedicated to the intelligent driving field.

The new company, Shenzhen Dipai Zhixing Technology Co., Ltd., was registered on November 26, 2021, with a registered capital of 100 million ($15.72 million), according to China's corporate database, Qichacha.

BYD, Daimler agree on stake change in joint venture DENZA

Byd Auto Industry Company Limited, a subsidiary of BYD Company Limited, and Daimler Greater China Limited, signed an agreement for the stake transfer in Shenzhen DENZA New Energy Automotive Co., both parties announced on Dec. 24.

After the deal, BYD will have a stake of 90% in DENZA New Energy while Daimler will hold the rest 10%. The deal is expected to be closed in mid-2022 as it is subject to the approval by relevant regulators.

BYD celebrates 150,000th Han rolling off line

BYD celebrated its 150,000th Han vehicle rolling off the production line in its Shenzhen headquarters.

BYD to build 15GWh power battery manufacturing base in Fuzhou, Jiangxi

On Dec. 17, BYD signed an investment deal with the municipal government of Fuzhou, China's Jiangxi province to build a new EV power battery base.

Per the agreement, BYD will pour 8 billion yuan ($1.26 billion) in an EV power battery manufacturing project with an annual capacity of 15GWh at Fuzhou Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.

BYD Semiconductor celebrates triumphant mass-production of 1200V power device driver chip

The semiconductor developing arm of China's renowned carmaker BYD, BYD Semiconductor, announced on Dec. 14 that it has successfully developed and mass-produced a 1,200V power device driver chip, supplying automakers in December.



BYD said to seek external IGBT supplies as semiconductor unit facing tight capacity

BYD has placed an order worth over 100 million yuan ($15.72 million) to Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd., a Chinese semiconductor manufacturer, for automotive-grade IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistors), a local media outlet revealed in early Dec., citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.

BYD breaks ground on NEV parts industrial park in Xi'an

BYD saw the construction of a new industrial park dedicated to NEV component production commence on Dec. 5 in Xi'an, the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, according to a post on the WeChat account of Xi'an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone.

BYD launches Ocean network with two product series at Auto Guangzhou 2021

BYD Company officially launched its Ocean network and the first sedan model from the network made debut at the Auto Guangzhou 2021.

Ambilight closes Series C round, with BYD, NIO Capital as strategic investors

Electrochromic technology developer Ambilight Inc announced on Nov. 18 that it has completed the Series C round financing, through which it managed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

BYD teams up with loudspeakers company GoerTek Dynaudio to improve smart cabin experience

On Nov. 10, BYD signed a strategic agreement with high-end loudspeakers supplier Shanghai GoerTek Dynaudio Electronic Technolgy Company to improve its intelligent cabin user experience.

BYD permitted by HKEX to hive off BYD Semiconductor for A-share listing

Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) confirmed on Oct. 22 that BYD Company Limited (called BYD or the Company for short) may proceed with the spin-off and separate listing of its non-wholly-owned subsidiary BYD Semiconductor Company Limited, BYD announced on Oct. 26.

BYD launches e-platform 3.0 for BEVs, debuts new concept model Ocean-X

On September 8, BYD officially launched its BEV-dedicated e-platform 3.0, which the company expects to help the global smart EV industry advance faster by at least three years.

At the launching ceremony, BYD also unveiled the concept model Ocean-X built on the e-platform 3.0.

BYD invests in Changzhou-based semiconductor company Vertilite

At the end of Aug., BYD became one of the investors of Vertilite, a Changzhou-headquartered semiconductor technology company, according to the business information provider Qichacha.

BYD Semiconductor IPO plan halted due to probe into advisory law firm

BYD's plan to list its semiconductor unit was suspended in late Aug. due to a regulatory investigation into the adviser to the proposed initial public offering (IPO), according to Shenzhen Stock Exchange's ChiNext Market.

Hefei BYD finishes registration for NEV component project in Changfeng County

Hefei BYD Automobile Co.,Ltd. (Hefei BYD) completed in early Aug. the registration for the project of NEV-related core components, according to the information posted on the website of Changfeng County government.

According to the registration information, Hefei BYD plans to construct an auto parts manufacturing base covering an area of around 3,918 mu (2.612 million square meters) in Hefei's Changfeng County.

BYD's first e platform 3.0-based model named Dolphin

On June 22, BYD announced via its Weibo account that the EA1, an all-electric hatchback unveiled at the Auto Shanghai 2021, is formally named Dolphin, which is the first model based on BYD's e-platform 3.0.

BYD hits 1 million-unit outputs milestone for new energy vehicles

BYD announced its 1 millionth new energy vehicle rolled off the production line on May 19, representing a significant milestone in the automaker's 13-year NEV development history.

Auto Shanghai 2021: BYD launches e-platform 3.0, puts Tang DM-i onto the market

At the Auto Shanghai 2021, BYD announced the Tang DM-i officially hit the market, which came with three trim levels with prices ranging from 189,800 yuan ($29,840) and 216,800 yuan ($34,080) after subsidies.

BYD renames Yuan EV to Yuan Pro

BYD changed the name of the Yuan EV to the Yuan Pro, the automaker announced on March 17 via its Weibo account. The refreshed model with the new name hit the market on March 21.

BYD recruiting engineers for EV battery factory in Europe

Fudi Battery, a battery subsidiary of BYD, prepares to build its first overseas battery manufacturing factory in Europe, according to the company's job posting ad seen by a local media outlet.

The factory is set to work on the production, packing, storage and transport of lithium ion batteries. Fudi Battery is recruiting full-time senior project managers, principal process engineers, senior quality engineers, senior equipment engineers and other posts for the Europe-based factory, according to the job listing. Those staff members will work in Shenzhen or Europe.

BYD DiLink, Aurora Mobile to team up on digital upgrade of NEV industry

Aurora Mobile, a leading Chinese mobile developer service provider, on Feb. 23 claimed it has entered into a partnership with BYD DiLink, a brand for intelligent connected systems of the automaker BYD, to co-promote the digital upgrade for the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry.

BYD's executive confirms receipt of Hillhouse Capital's investment

Hillhouse Capital, an Asia-focused private equity firm, has spent $200 million on acquiring the stocks BYD recently issued to specified objects, a local media outlet reported in mid-Feb.

The report was afterwards confirmed by Li Yunfei, who leads BYD's Branding and PR Division, via his Sina Weibo account. We really appreciate Hillhouse Capital's investment. We believe that the combination of cutting-edge capital and advanced manufacturing technologies will offer BYD better development prospect, said Mr. Li.

BYD launches DM-i super hybrid technology

On Jan. 11, BYD launched its DM-i super hybrid technology that focuses on ultra-low fuel consumption.

Compared to the vehicles adopting traditional hybrid technologies, the DM-i-enabled vehicles are less reliant on engine and fossil fuels, so that the fuel consumption will be significantly decreased.

BYD sets up new battery research institute in Chongqing

A new BYD-backed battery research institute was founded on Jan. 4, according to the corporate data platform Tianyancha.

Dubbed Chongqing Fudi Battery Research Institute Co.,Ltd., the new company involves a registered capital of 100 million yuan ($15.72 million) and is 100% controlled by Fudi Industry Co.,Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of BYD Company Limited. It has a line of businesses including the manufacturing and sale of batteries, graphite and carbon products, as well as the sale of new energy vehicle (NEV)-related components and smart power transmission and distribution facilities.
For almost two months, a couple and their dog had survived, presumably subsisting on stockpiled food and other supplies.

The couple  whose identity was not disclosed by Sierra County officials  was trapped in a remote Sierra cabin since Dec. 6, snowed-in and with downed trees surrounding them.

But on Tuesday, as first reported by KCRA, the Sierra County Sheriffs Office sought the help of the California Highway Patrols Valley Division air forces to rescue the couple, who called for help earlier that day.

They had attempted to leave by car, but the snow and downed trees blocked all roads in the remote Sierra area.

Aerial footage shared by the CHP shows snow packed in around the cabin, with only a few patches of green surrounding the vicinity. An H-20 helicopter flown by a CHP pilot identified as "Lewis" was able to land around the area, despite blocked roads and punishing winds.

The pair and their dog were flown in H-20 to a landing zone where Sierra County Deputies transported them to a safe location, said the CHP in a Facebook post Wednesday.

But details surrounding the couple's circumstances were scant. The amount of supplies the couple had to survive on for nearly two months is unclear, as is the reason behind why the couple did not call for authorities until Tuesday.

Flurries of snow struck the Tahoe and Sierra area all through December, reaching an apocalyptic breaking point late in the month. By Dec. 28, the Tahoe area broke a 51-year record, setting the snowiest December ever recorded by the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab.

A Sierra County Sheriffs Office spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LATEST Feb. 7, 3:06 p.m.: Late Friday evening, Berkeleyside reported that Bette's Oceanside Diner plans to reopen as a co-op at the end of February. The popular breakfast destination closed in mid-January after owner Manfred Kroening announced his intention to retire.

Feb. 5, 4:00 a.m.: The start of 2022 saw more restaurant closures that included several big names.

Among them was Brown Sugar Kitchen, owned by celebrity chef Tanya Holland. Brown Sugar Kitchen had a 15-year run in Oakland, and though quite popular with locals, it wasnt enough to keep the lights on for the long haul. Holland told SFGATE that the COVID-19 pandemic was a huge factor in her decision to shutter, but there were other issues, too.

I mean, it's COVID, but its also whats happening in Oakland right now ... with all the empty offices and storefronts, Holland said. Im between some boarded-up retail spaces, and none of the office spaces are occupied, so there's not traffic."

In nearby Berkeley, Bettes Oceanview Diner, known for its decadent, fluffy pancakes and other breakfast staples, permanently closed after nearly 40 years. Owner Manfred Kroening shared that his decision was made because he was looking forward to retiring, but the restaurant lease was set to expire in the summer.

See the list of other notable Bay Area restaurants that closed in January below. For a list of December 2021 closures, see our roundup.

Smeeta Mahanti

Chef Tanya Holland's Brown Sugar Kitchen and Town Fare

Celebrity chef Tanya Holland permanently closed her soul food restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen, after nearly 15 years in Oakland, as first reported by Oaklandside. "When youre not fully resourced for decades, it adds up," Holland told SFGATE. "I hung in there as long as I could. I fought the resistance probably a lot longer than I should have."

In addition to Brown Sugar Kitchen, chef Holland will step down from her other restaurant, Town Fare, at the Oakland Museum of California, as first reported by Eater SF. Hollands reasons for stepping away from Town Fare are unclear, but according to Eater, the museum will keep the restaurant name and some of its menu items.

Bettes Oceanview Diner

Bettes Oceanview Diner, one of Berkeleys most iconic restaurants, permanently closed in mid-January, as first reported by Berkeleyside. On the business website, owner Manfred Kroening shared that he was looking to retire after nearly 40 years. Manfred told Berkeleyside that since the death of his wife and business' namesake, Bette Kroening, operating the diner had become increasingly difficult.

Ca' Momi Osteria

The owners of Napa based Ca'-Momi Osteria announced on their website that they would permanently close their restaurant given the challenges of operating a business, even before the pandemic. We weathered economic downturns, earthquakes, fires, unreal labor shortages and a pandemic  until we had to decide our health, and whats left of our mental sanity, need to matter too, the message read. Owners Valentina Guolo-Migotto, Dario De Conti and Stefano Migotto opened Ca Momi Osteria back in 2015.

Daughter's Diner

Just a year after owners Keven and Justyna Wilson opened Daughters Diner, the North Oakland restaurant has shuttered. Justyna told SFGATE that the reason behind the closure was due to the challenges of opening and operating a restaurant during the pandemic, especially as variants of concern proved to be a challenge. She said that last December, several reservations were canceled as concerns over the omicron variant grew.

Katya B. on Yelp

Dragon Gate Bar & Grille

Dragon Gate Bar & Grille announced its permanent closure on Facebook after nearly eight years in Oakland, as first reported by Eater. It might not be the end for the well-loved business. Dragon Gate Bar & Grille shared on Facebook that it is currently looking for a new location.

Family Cafe

The North Beach Japanese restaurant, which first opened in 2019, closed in late January, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another.) Co-owner Jessica Furui told the Chronicle that business wasnt financially healthy due to inconsistencies created by the pandemic.

Hermitage Brewing

After 13 years in San Jose, Hermitage Brewing has closed its doors, as first reported by the Mercury News. Specific reasons behind the closure are unclear.

Luka's Taproom & Lounge

Popular Oakland staple Luka's Taproom & Lounge has closed after 18 years. Co-owner Rick Mitchell told Berkeleyside the reason behind the closure was due to a significant rent increase from his landlord. Mitchell explained his remarks further in an interview with SFGATE and said, "I just thought if I accepted his terms, which was my only option, I was pretty much living in indentured servitude. I mean, it was more responsible to just close it down based on my other options."

Image courtesy of Marin Brewing Co.

Marin Brewing Company

Popular Marin Brewing Company shuttered Jan. 31 after 33 years in business, following financial struggles throughout the pandemic. "Its a whole bunch of things coming together at the same time, but probably the biggest thing I would say is COVID," Brendan Moylan, managing owner of Marin Brewing, told SFGATE. Moylan's Brewery and Restaurant in Novato will remain open.

Nordic House

The 59-year-old East Bay marketplace shuttered last month after first announcing its closure three years earlier. Unfortunately, our import laws are just too strict, which makes it impossible for a small store like ours to survive, owner Pia Klausen told Berkeleyside in 2019.

Salvage Hausu

The vegan sushi restaurant in Oaklands Jack London Square closed Jan. 26, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. The business, which began as a pop-up in 2019, shared the announcement on Instagram.
In the latest air travel developments, a coalition of U.S. airline and travel industry groups is pressing the White House to drop mandatory pre-departure COVID tests for all travelers flying into the U.S., as more European nations are taking that step; some Asia-Pacific nations are starting to ease up on their tough COVID entry restrictions; Southwest Airlines will resume in-flight alcoholic beverage service this month; Frontier reduces maximum allowable weight for checked bags; United fine-tunes its international route resumption plans; international route news from Lufthansa, KLM and Alaska; members of Alaskas frequent flier program may face higher award travel costs on American; the CDC adds Mexico and several other nations to its do not travel list; Delta enhances on-line check-ins for Aeromexico connections; and American reopens its LAX Flagship Lounge.

Some nations are justifying the relaxation of entry restrictions for foreign visitors by noting that COVIDs omicron variant is already widespread among their populations, so theyre not really reducing the virus by keeping out travelers. And now a coalition of U.S. travel industry groups is urging the Biden administration to use the same logic and end its requirement that all travelers flying into the country  including returning Americans  must get a negative COVID test result before boarding their flights. That requirement got even more burdensome in December, when the U.S. toughened its testing rule for inbound travelers by requiring a test within 24 hours of boarding; previously, it had allowed 72 hours.

The group said in a letter to the White House that the World Health Organization recommends a risk-based approach to the facilitation of international travel by lifting measures, such as testing and/or quarantine requirements, for individual travelers who are fully vaccinated, and noted that Europe and the U.K. are already moving in that direction. The U.K. concluded that the cost to both passengers and airlines of the testing mandate could no longer be justified as there was no evidence the regime protected the population from COVID, the letter said. It also cited surveys that indicate many people refuse to travel internationally because of pre-departure testing requirements. People simply are unwilling to take the chance that they will be unable to return to the U.S. at the end of their business trip or vacation. As a result, international travel in 2021 was 75 percent below 2019 levels, the letter said. It was signed by Airlines for America, the Global Business Travel Association, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the American Society of Travel Advisors and several other industry groups.

As we reported last week, the U.K. and Ireland recently ended their requirement of a pre-departure COVID test for vaccinated inbound visitors, and other countries are now taking similar moves. Denmark now allows most vaccinated foreign nationals to enter without a pre-departure test. Norway has eliminated a pre-departure testing mandate for inbound vaccinated foreigners and has dropped its quarantine requirement for unvaccinated visitors, although they must still take a COVID test before entry.

Although many Asia/Pacific destinations are maintaining tough entry restrictions if not outright bans on foreign visitors compared with their counterparts in Europe, there are signs that may be changing.

Australia had locked itself off from the world during the pandemic, but late last year it began reopening gradually, starting with its own citizens and then allowing in vaccinated visitors from nearby nations like Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Now news reports from Down Under suggest that the country could be moving toward a much larger reopening for foreigners by this spring. Without offering any specifics, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a radio interview that depending on the course of the current COVID omicron wave, he would like to see the country reopen to foreign visitors well before Easter. It was unclear what kind of entry restrictions other than vaccinations might apply and whether rules might vary depending on the visitors country of origin.

The popular Indonesian tourist island of Bali had banned international flights from its airport for most of last year, and when it started letting some of them return in October, U.S. citizens were still excluded. But the island reopened to all foreign visitors this week, according to press reports, subject to certain entry restrictions including COVID vaccinations and a mandatory quarantine after arrival, although the latter was reduced form seven days to five. And effective Feb. 10, the Philippines will grant entry to fully vaccinated foreign visitors (except those from countries that require a visa) provided they get a negative COVID PCR test result no more than 48 hours before boarding their flight.

Thailand, which last year introduced and then suspended a program called Test & Go that allowed foreign visitors to avoid a mandatory quarantine, resumed that option this week  but its not exactly simple. Qualified visitors must be fully vaccinated and must apply for a Test & Go Thailand Pass up to 60 days in advance of their trip. That application includes proof of prepayment for two nights of accommodations at government-approved hotels for the first and fifth nights of their visit, where they will undergo PCR tests. They can use different hotels for those two nights but must stay in their rooms pending the test results. The government also brought back its Sandbox program, which allows foreign visitors to spend their first seven days in designated destination regions, using up to three different hotels. Visitors are required to show proof they purchased a COVID-specific insurance policy with at least $50,000 in coverage.

We saw some headlines this week about New Zealand laying plans to reopen to travelers, but on closer inspection its going to be a drawn-out and tightly restricted reopening. The government laid out a five-step plan for welcoming vaccinated visitors, starting February 27 for New Zealand citizens and residents, then in mid-March for skilled workers and partners and children of New Zealand residents. Vaccinated U.S. citizens wouldnt be allowed into the country until July, and theyd have to isolate for seven to 10 days and take rapid antigen tests on the first and fifth days after arrival.

Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

Southwest Airlines has changed its mind about resuming alcoholic beverage service. Although officials said recently that they wouldnt do so until late March or early April, the airline announced this week that the drinks will start flowing again Feb. 16. Southwest has suspended in-flight alcohol service since March of 2020. For their convenience, customers may redeem any Southwest Drink Coupon that was set to expire in 2020 or 2021 for an alcohol beverage through Dec. 31, 2022, the airline noted. Offerings will include three kinds of beer for $6 or $7; three varieties of wine for $6; and six types of hard liquor for $7. Southwests decision leaves American Airlines as the only major U.S. carrier still not serving alcohol in the main cabin.

Frontier Airlines said on its website that it is changing the weight limit for checked bags. For travel on or after March 1 (unless it was ticketed before Jan. 18), the maximum weight for a piece of checked luggage will be 40 pounds  down from the previous limit of 50 pounds. Frontier charges a fee for all checked luggage, and for all carry-ons except for one personal item that must fit beneath the seat.

Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

As reported by Simple Flying, United Airlines has cut or delayed some international route plans as government travel restrictions and COVID-related demand slumps continue to affect the market. The site examined Uniteds most up-to-date schedules and found the following results for San Francisco International: SFO-Tokyo Haneda and SFO-Melbourne flights are due to start March 26, while SFO-Hong Kong service wont resume until the end of May and SFO-Auckland until the end of July.

United is also reportedly revising international service from its other hubs. According to Simpleflying.com, March 26 starts are now planned for Los Angeles-Tokyo Haneda, LAX-London Heathrow and LAX-Melbourne; Denver-Tokyo Narita; Newark-Tokyo Haneda and EWR-Munich; Houston to Amsterdam and Munich; and Honolulu-Tokyo Narita. Newark-Stockholm is delayed until May 26, Newark-Hong Kong to the end of May and Newark-Lima through October, for example. The report notes that in other markets, United will cut back on flight frequencies or switch to smaller aircraft.

In southern California, Lufthansa is planning to introduce new service from San Diego to its Munich hub on March 30, initially operating A350-900 flights three times a week but increasing to five a week in May. The German carrier used to fly between San Diego and its Frankfurt hub, a route that it gave up during the pandemic. In Texas, Delta partner carrier KLM is planning to launch new service March 28 from Austin to Amsterdam. The Dutch carrier originally planned to introduce the route in 2020 but delayed it due to the pandemic. In other international developments, Alaska Airlines said this week it will implement a major code-sharing deal with Finnair in preparation for the latter carriers launching of Helsinki-Seattle service on June 1. Both airlines are members of Americans global Oneworld alliance. Alaska will put Finnairs code onto 60 of its routes for easy connections with the Seattle-Helsinki service.

Tom Fox/TNS

Alaska joined Oneworld last March, and since that time it has added more than 250 code-share routes with various alliance partners including American, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Finnair and Qantas. By this summer, Alaska and these eight Oneworld airlines will offer more than 78 daily international flights from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, enabling seamless connectivity to Alaska's comprehensive network up and down the West Coast, Alaska said. Speaking of American and Oneworld, Alaska is advising members of its Mileage Plan loyalty program to look for some changes if they try to book award travel on AA in the months ahead. Effective March 1, 2022, while the current award prices will continue to be available, note that award pricing on American Airlines flights in the U.S. and Canada may vary depending on demand, Alaska said on its website. This is the latest example of a growing trend at major airlines in recent years to adopt dynamic pricing for award travel  i.e., allowing prices to fluctuate with supply and demand just as regular airfares do. Mileage Plans current prices for domestic AA flights range from 12,500 for economy seats to 25,000 for first class; after March 1, those will be the base rates for travel on American but the actual cost could be higher.

Because Mexico hasnt imposed major entry restrictions on visiting Americans, it has been one of the most popular international destinations for U.S. travelers during the pandemic. But this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added Mexico to its Level 4 do not travel list due to the increased level of COVID-19 in the country. The agency is now urging Americans to avoid all travel to Mexico, and if they must go there, to make sure they are up to date with vaccinations. Even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you may still be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19, the CDC advises.

The agencys Level 4 list has been adding more and more countries in recent weeks  it grew from 80 destinations in early January to more than 120 today  and this week was no exception. In addition to Mexico, the CDC also applied its Level 4 designation to several South American nations including Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Guiana and Paraguay; the Pacific destinations of Singapore and the Philippines; Anguilla and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; and Kosovo and Moldova.

American and Southwest have been expanding fast at Austin Bergstrom Airport in Texas to keep up with the citys growth, and now the ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant is adding service there as well to exploit the price-sensitive leisure travel market. The carrier said it will start flying from Austin to Sarasota, San Diego and Washington Dulles in April with fare starting at $49 one-way. In May, Allegiant will begin a new route from San Diego to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. From Orange Countys John Wayne Airport, Allegiant plans to start flying to Des Moines, Iowa, on April 14. Allegiant typically offers less-than-daily service in markets that have little service from other airlines.

Aeromexico

Delta said this week it is introducing new seamless check-in technology for interline travel between Delta and members of its SkyTeam global alliance. The initiative begins with Delta and Aeromexico connections: Travelers can now check in digitally and get their boarding passes through either airlines self-service channels (i.e., apps or websites), then go directly to security without needing to use a kiosk or see an agent, offering a faster, touchless airport experience, Delta said. Its the first practical application of new technology called SkyTeams Digital Spine, which enhances the links between member airlines digital systems. Delta started testing the technology last year with Aeromexico customers connecting to Delta flights, and since then it has been used by more than 300,000 travelers, Delta said, paving the way for a wider rollout of the technology across more SkyTeam members in 2022.

In related news, a U.S. bankruptcy court this week approved a financial restructuring of Aeromexico, which filed for reorganization in June 2020. The plan calls for payments to the airlines creditors and the injection of new capital from outside investors. The carriers largest shareholder will be Apollo Global Management, while Delta will hold a 20% stake in the company.

In airport news, American Airlines last week reopened its Flagship Lounge at Los Angeles International to serve its top-end customers  i.e., first class and business class fliers on long-haul international and some transcontinental and Hawaii routes, as well as top-level AAdvantage elites. The lounges affiliated Flagship First Dining facility hasnt yet reopened, though. In September, American reopened Flagship First lounges at New York JFK and Miami International, while lounges at Chicago OHare and Dallas/Fort Worth are expected to come back this spring. Meanwhile, AA this week also reopened its premium arrivals lounge at London Heathrow.
GAC Group output and sold 2,138,127 and 2,144,387 vehicles through 2021, representing 5.08% and 4.92% year-on-year growth respectively despite the coronavirus pandemic and chip shortage.

Gasgoo hereby summarizes GAC's significant events that happened in 2021 to review what efforts the automaker made to develop NEV, ICV, and mobility service businesses, boost financing progress, and cope with issues of supply constraint and COVID-19 disease.



Photo credit: GAC Group



WeRide invests in GAC's ride-sharing platform OnTime

GAC Group, WeRide and OnTime held a strategic cooperation and investment signing ceremony on Dec. 21, further cementing the trios future collaboration.

GAC Group announced that it will provide strategic investments to autonomous driving company WeRide, while WeRide invest in GACs mobility service platform OnTime.

GAC AION to post registered capital surge by nabbing money from GAC Group, GAC Motor

GAC AION, the wholly-owned NEV subsidiary of GAC Group, will take over the staff members of GAC R&D Centers all-electric R&D business, and implement an internal asset restructuring by means of cash capital increase, asset injection, and conversion of capital public reserve, GAC Group announced on Nov. 29.

GAC Group announces carbon neutrality target at Auto Guangzhou 2021

At the Auto Guangzhou 2021 held in Nov., GAC Group announced that it will realize life-cycle carbon neutrality of its products before 2050, in addition to presenting its electrified and intelligent vehicles.

GAC Honda showcases first e:N BEV at Auto Guangzhou 2021

GAC Honda showcased its first battery-electric model, the e:NP1, at the Auto Guangzhou 2021.

The e:NP1 is built on Honda's e:N Architecture F, a specially developed architecture for compact and mid-sized electric vehicles. With an industry-leading electric motor power density and 20,000 scenario algorithms, the FWD e:NP1 offers an optimal driving experience.

WeRide introduces driverless Robotaxi with GAC Group, OnTime

WeRide, announced on Nov. 18 that it has entered into another strategic cooperation with GAC Group and its subsidiary mobility service platform OnTime to further its Robotaxi commercialization.

GAC Motor to transfer 49% stake in wholly-owned Hangzhou subsidiary

GAC Motor will transfer 49% stake in its wholly-owned subsidiary GAC MOTOR (Hangzhou) Co.,Ltd. via the Guangzhou Enterprises Mergers and Acquisitions Services, at a consideration of no fewer than 1.239 billion yuan ($194.8 million), according to an announcement of GAC Group, the parent company of GAC Motor.

GAC Group invests in Holomatic's C1 round

On Oct. 29, GAC Group signed a deep cooperation agreement with China's autonomous driving solution startup, Holomatic, and invested in the startup's C1-round of financing.

GAC's 1st FCV model put into trial operation on mobility service platform OnTime

The AION LX Fuel Cell, the first fuel cell vehicle model of GAC Group, has been put into trial operation on the OnTime, a GAC-backed mobility service platform, the Guangzhou-based auto giant announced on Oct. 18.

GAC Motor's vehicles to be sold in Mexico under Stellantis Dodge brand

GAC Motor, the wholly-owned PV subsidiary of GAC Group, and the global automaker Stellantis held a ceremony on Sept. 26 for the export of 770 SUVs to Mexico, according to a post on GAC Motor's WeChat account. Those SUVs were manufactured at GAC Motor's Hangzhou plant, while will be sold in Mexico tagged with Stellantis' Dodge brand.

Continental AG, NXP and GAC join hands to create intelligent connected products

Continental AG announced on Sept. 10 it had formed a strategic partnership with GAC R&D Center and NXP Semiconductors to create a new generation of advanced intelligent connect products.

GAC Group plans to bring new strategic investors for GAC AION

GAC Group intends to introduce strategic investors for its wholly-owned NEV-dedicated subsidiary GAC AION, the Guangzhou-based automaker announced on August 30.

According to the announcement, GAC Group will boost the increase of registered capital and shares for GAC AION by restructuring and integrating its NEV-related R&D capability, businesses, and assets.

GAC AION launches new battery tech with high charging multiplier speeds

In late Aug., GAC AION officially launched its super-fast charging battery technology that boasts 6 charging multipliers assisted by the A480 supercharger, which made its world's debut at the same time.

GAC Honda to build NEV assembly lines with 120,000-unit annual capacity

GAC Honda plans to expand its new energy vehicle (NEV) capacity by 120,000 units per year, according to a bidding announcement posted on the website of Guangzhou Public Resources Trading Center on August 13.

GAC Toyota's NEV capacity expansion project 1st phase begins operation

GAC Toyota, the joint venture between GAC Group and Toyota Motor, announced on July 25 the first phase of its NEV capacity expansion project has started operation in Nansha District, Guangzhou, marking a milestone in its deployment of NEV business.

GAC Group, Huawei to co-develop smart BEV model

The first vehicle model co-developed by GAC AION and Huawei is set to go into volume production at the end of 2023, GAC Group announced on July 9.

GAC AION sees monthly deliveries exceed 10,000 units for the first time

GAC AION announced it delivered 10,395 new vehicles in May 2021, representing a robust year-on-year leap of 154% and for the first time recording monthly deliveries of over 10,000 units.

GAC AION, DiDi Autonomous Driving to co-develop driverless NEV model

GAC AION announced on May 17 the strategic cooperation with DiDi Autonomous Driving as both parties plan to jointly develop a fire new driverless NEV model.

Under the agreement, the two companies will explore a joint venture partnership and project cooperation for intelligent vehicle development, combining DiDi Autonomous Driving's hardware & software R&D advantages with GAC Aion's NEV design & manufacturing capabilities and the resource of autonomous car platform.

GAC Group, Tencent step up cooperation for digital applications, mobility service platform

At the Auto Shanghai 2021, GAC Group and Tencent agreed to cement their strategic collaboration to jointly develop more digital products and build new mobility ecosystem, according to a posting on the automaker's WeChat account.

GAC AION to pour 500 million yuan in car plant expansion

GAC AION announced on April 15 it plans to double the annual capacity of its intelligent ecosystem manufacturing plant to 200,000 new vehicles in early 2022 with nearly 500 million yuan ($78.6 million) to be invested.

Huawei, GAC AION said to ally on development of next-generation smart EVs

Huawei and GAC AION had started cooperation on the development of next-generation intelligent EVs, a local media channel reported in early March.

After being reached for comment, GAC Group said it had inked cooperation agreements with Huawei twice since 2017, and the progress for the new project will be announced in due course. Huawei said it will play a role as a technical partner and component supplier for the partnership.

GAC Group, GAC Honda warned of auto parts shortage

Some subsidiaries of GAC Group were warned by their suppliers that the auto parts supply for several models will be impacted by the faltering global economic climate amid the coronavirus spread, GAC Group revealed on Jan. 8.

GAC Group, Pearl River Investment ally on next-generation intelligent vehicle

GAC Group entered into a strategic partnership with Guangdong Pearl River Investment Management Group Co., Ltd. (Pearl River Investment) and Guangdong Yuanzhi Technology Group Co.,Ltd. on Jan. 5 for an intelligent vehicle project, the automaker announced via its WeChat account.
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COVID-19 cases continued to fall the week of Jan. 29, according to Coconino Countys most recent dashboard data report. While the county is still at a high rate of transmission, case rates, percent positivity and the incidence of COVID-like illness in county hospitals all fell for the first time in 2022.

According to the Friday dashboard data report, the county reported 1,707 new cases of COVID-19 for the week (a rate of 1,206.5 cases per 100,000), down from 2,911 the week before (2,057.4 per 100,000). The percent of positive tests continued to fall this week to 25.4%, from 30.3% the week before, as did the number of tests conducted (8,737, compared to 11,632 the week before).

Both metrics are still above the high transmission threshold, which is 100 per 100,000 for case rates and 10% for percent positivity.

Percent positivity of tests conducted on Northern Arizona University's campus also fell this week to 19.7% from 26.1% the week before. The majority (447 of a total of 746) were of people affiliated with the university.

Hospitalizations rose in Coconino County this week to 39 from 24 the week before. The rate of hospital visits involving COVID-like illness (CLI) fell to 15.3% (22% the previous two weeks), as did the number of deaths (three this week, compared to six the week before).

Flagstaff had the highest case rate for the week (1,346.1 per 100,000) and the majority (82%) of identified variants of concern.The age group with the highest case rate was between the ages of 20 and 44 (1,550 per 100,000), while those under the age of 20 had the highest positivity rate for testing at 27.1%.

Omicron was the most prevalent variant in Coconino County throughout January, with a total of 1,050 cases reported to date in TGens Arizona sequencing dashboard -- the second highest in the state, behind Maricopa county.

The state has reported a total of 11,144 omicron genomes since the variant first arrived Dec. 8. Omicron accounted for 99.27% of sequenced genomes in the state the week ending Jan. 29. The delta variant accounted for 0.48% of sequenced genomes; a month before (the week ending Dec. 25), 43.4% of genomes were of the delta variant.

Vaccines are still the primary method recommended by public health experts to mitigate the spread of COVID. The Moderna vaccine received full approval for those 18 and older from the FDA on Jan. 31. It joins the Pfizer vaccine, which was approved in August 2021.

Hours at the Flagstaff Mall vaccine location have changed. Initial series and booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines are now available for both kids and adults from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. Masks are required at the site and no appointment is needed.

A full list of vaccination and testing locations can be found at coconino.az.gov/2294/COVID-19-Information.

Flagstaff schools continued to have similar trends as in the county overall, but with slightly higher case rates.

Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) had a case rate of 1,377 per 100,000 (from 2,138) and a percent positivity of 24.4% (from 29.3%). Metrics at area charter schools were slightly lower, with a case rate of 1,370 per 100,000 (2,138 the week before) and a positivity yield of 23.9% (from 29.1%).

FUSD reported 195 total cases for the week from 375 the week before, bringing the districts total for the year so far to 2,333. Flagstaff and Coconino high schools (52 and 25, respectively) had the highest case numbers for the week, followed by the districts two middle schools (19 cases were reported at Mount Elden Middle School, 12 at Sinagua).

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Flagstaff City Council candidate Lori Matthews considers herself a nice person, a political independent and an expert fundraiser. But as she campaigns for local office, her fundraising has earned her some public scrutiny.

Matthews is the founder and executive director of Anew Living, a nonprofit program designed to help unsheltered people achieve financial stability. Fundraising is a significant portion of her day-to-day business, and thanks to a past life in banking, she also has a network that is financially capable of significant contributions.

When Matthews publicly available campaign finance reports revealed that she had raised over $25,000 in 2021 for her city council run, the number raised eyebrows. It was nearly twice as much as the next highest candidate and a sum not often seen at the local election level.

In 2018, the last election during a midterm year, six Flagstaff City Council candidates combined to raise a little more than $50,000 over the course of the entire race.

Most of Matthews funds came from just two contributing households, neither of them local. Debra and Don Luke, of the Bill Luke Chrysler dealership in Phoenix, each contributed the legal limit, a combined double-max total of $12,900. Another $12,900 came from Tatnall and Roberta Hillman of Aspen, Colorado. Neither party could be reached for comment.

The Hillmans are, without exaggeration, billionaires. Tatnall inherited a fortune amassed through the oil and gas industry and has been dubbed Colorados most mysterious political donor by Marianne Goodland, a political reporter for Colorado Politics who has been following Hillmans contributions for years.

The guy has more money than God, Goodland said.

While she was intrigued to hear that he had contributed to a Flagstaff City Council candidate, she was not surprised.

He has gotten himself in just a ton of elections all over the country that have never made any sense to me," she said.

Hillman famously will not talk to reporters, but his contribution record speaks for itself. Mostly, he supports far-right candidates and PACs. In 2020 alone he gave $589,000 to the Rural AZ PAC, a now disbanded political organization that touted a platform of Secure Our Borders, Ban Sanctuary Cities, Protect Our Right to Bear Arms, Protect Life at All Stages, Defend Religious Liberty, Take Back Arizona Land.

Since 2019, Hillman has given over $1 million to the Drain the D.C. Swamp PAC, which supports congressional representatives Laura Boebert, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and others who are affiliated with QAnon conspiracies and Stop-the-Steal campaigns. He is also the leading contributor to Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, an organization that Goodland characterizes as fond of saying that the NRA is too liberal for them.

Adding his contributions to PACs and individual candidates together, Hillman contributes millions every year to political races all across the country. Now, his money has made it to Flagstaff.

But Matthews does not consider herself similar to the candidates Hillman usually supports, nor does she align herself with the causes to which he typically contributes. She identifies as non-partisan, independent, and is concerned with affordable housing, fiscal responsibility, carbon neutrality and environmental stewardship.

I had no idea, Matthews said she when she learned of Hillmans contribution record.

During her contact with Hillman, his political leanings simply didnt come up.

I called him, told him my background, Matthews said. He shared with me his love for Sedona. He used to live there. I told him what I had done for the unsheltered population, and he said, I'll support you. Next thing you know, hes sent me the maximum amount.

Contribution connections

Thats more or less how the conversation went with her other major contributors, Debra and Don Luke, Matthews said. When asked why she believed the Hillmans and Lukes funded her campaign, she shrugged.

Im a nice person," Matthews said.

But as is so often the case, who you know is just as important as who you are. In Matthews' case, her contact to both the Hillmans and the Lukes can be traced to one person: Sen. Wendy Rogers.

Rogers, who has recently made headlines for SB 1123, a controversial bill that permits concealed carry of firearms on college campuses, is the representative for Arizona Legislative District 6. Its no coincidence that her list of campaign financiers also includes the Hillmans and the Lukes. Rogers focus on gun rights fits her to the description of Hillmans usual interests. She is one of the more far-right politicians in the state.

But to Matthews, Rogers is just a friend from church.

Because my church is very supportive of my nonprofit, [Rogers] became very interested in that, Matthews said. She wanted to know how we can expand Anew Living, so weve met several times about that.

When Matthews decided to campaign for city council, she went to Rogers for recommendations on possible donors.

I asked for a list, Matthews said, I said, Youve been in this. Who do you think would give?

On the list that Rogers provided was contact information for the Hillmans and the Lukes. Two phone calls later, and Matthews had raised more money than any other city candidate -- by a long shot.

Between these contributions and her friendship with Rogers, it may seem that Matthews is primed to reside in the pocket of far-right interests, but she disagrees. Her integrity is uncompromised, she said. Even with Hillmans money in her coffers, she doesnt think hell influence her.

It was chump change to him, Matthews said. I can't imagine him wanting any influence. I would be horrified if I found out he did. If I was ever contacted, he'd get his money right back.

Same goes for her relationship with Rogers. Matthews isnt buying into the hyper-polarized political moment.

I'm not going to pick friends or not pick friends based on viewpoints that are different than what I have, she said.

Matthews maintained that friendships are possible across political disagreements, and voiced opposition to Rogers bill, SB 1123.

I dont think, as a society, were there, she said.

Its too soon to tell whether Matthews will be influenced by her connections or not, said Fred Solop, professor of political science at Northern Arizona University.

Its easy to associate somebody with their friends and say that their ideology reflects that, he said. But I think we need to judge her on her presentation to the community. A huge campaign donation doesnt determine the way a representative makes decisions. It might be a red flag, but well have to see how it plays out.

Integrity aside, Matthews fundraising is symptomatic of a larger political trend, said Andrew Dzeguze, a political science lecturer specializing in state and local politics at NAU.

Local elections are getting more expensive, he said. For different reasons, outside groups are more able to influence the outcome -- not necessarily influence the candidate, but influence how much money it takes to be competitive.

One of the reasons for this trend is the consolidation of wealth into smaller and smaller circles -- into the pockets of people like Hillman, Dzeguze said.

Theres a handful of people in America who think nothing of writing a maximum contribution check for hundreds of campaigns in a political cycle, he said.

With that much money to burn, a single household can influence any election they find strategically important. Such donors may keep their contributions within the capped amount, but they can inject their money into elections in any state, any county and any city council.

If you look over all the United States, there's been a real weakening of what counts as undue influence at every level, he said.

Clean cash

Theres nothing illegal about making political contributions in this way. In fact, they are constitutionally protected under the ruling of the 1970s Supreme Court case Buckley v. Valeo, in which the court ruled that the right to make political contributions was a form of free speech.

As long as money is speech, and some people have more money, than obviously some people are going to have more speech, Dzeguze said.

Both Solop and Dzeguze agreed that the case of Matthews campaign contributions demonstrates the importance of making political finances publicly available.

Disclosure is supposed to be our primary weapon to hold people accountable on these kinds of issues, Dzeguze said. And at least we have, in this case, disclosure. Everybody is free to make their own judgments as to whether or not it meets with community norms and expected forms of behavior.

Disclosure is also important to Matthews, even though it has cost her some public peace.

She said people who become familiar with her platform, her friendships, and her status as a registered independent have demanded, sometimes aggressively, that she declare partisan allegiance or renounce her relationships.

I run that risk, but I made a decision when I started this that I was not going to compromise my integrity and pretend to be somebody I'm not, Matthews said. Im not going to hide people, or acquaintances that I have, because I think it's important for people to get back to learning how to agree to disagree.

Whether by signaling a potential for undue influence, or by inflating the cost to competitively campaign, Matthews is aware that her fundraising could stoke some distrust in the community. Still, she believes that her integrity, her kindness and her positive intent for the community of Flagstaff defines her.

How I can prove that to people that don't know me? I'm not sure yet, she said. Do I need to give the money back? I'm not sure yet. I'm trying to not.[Hillman] has not reached out to me, and I have no anticipation that he has any interest in anything. I just think he's got money to burn. It's inconsequential to him.

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A study published in 2020 by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency showed that having more women at the top meant better company performance, greater productivity and greater profitability. It found an increase of 10 percentage points or more in female representation on the boards of ASX-listed companies had led to a 4.9 per cent increase in company market value. The appointment of a female chief executive was also good for business  that resulted in a 5 per cent increase in the market value of ASX-listed companies, worth the equivalent of $80 million on average. Dr Meraiah Foley, deputy director of the women, work and leadership research group at Sydney University business school, says the evidence is increasingly clear that diversity is beneficial to businesses. Organisations that are open to  and governed by  people from diverse backgrounds are more innovative, resilient, and profitable, Foley says. They benefit from the productive friction that arises that when multiple perspectives and experiences are brought to bear on difficult issues and are less susceptible to groupthink. Purpose Bureaus research suggests the benefits of board diversity apply to small- and medium-sized firms, not just big corporations.

Rhonda Brighton-Hall, co-founder of small technology and consultancy company, Mwah.live, says her firm since its inception five years ago has sought to embrace diversity. It has four female and four male directors and seeks to draw staff from a range of cultural backgrounds. We recruit deliberately to be diverse, says Brighton-Hall. Having people with different life experiences enhances the team and promotes innovation, she says. You lose blind spots if youre [not] all thinking the same, Brighton-Hall says. Emma Lo Russo, co-founder of Sydney software firm Digivizer, tells a similar story. She believes having a diverse company leadership team is a key to effectively engaging with both staff and clients. Emma Lo Russo, co-founder of software firm Digivizer, says diverse company leadership is a key to engaging with both staff and clients. Credit:Photo Nick Moir

If you are not reflecting your employees and customers then how can you be making decisions? she says. There will be a bias thats always there, no matter how empathetic you think you are, that voice will not be there. Having different viewpoints in the leadership team benefits the whole business, says Lo Russo. But mixed-gender boards are the exception rather than the rule. Purpose Bureaus study identified the gender for every director in almost 900,000 Australian businesses across all industry sectors. It revealed 68 per cent of Australian companies had male-only directors while 17 per cent were female-only and only 15 per cent mixed gender.

Sectors with the biggest share of mixed-gender boards were agriculture, forestry and fishing (22 per cent) and financial services (20 per cent). Male-only boards were most prevalent in mining (81 per cent) and construction (80 per cent) while the highest share of female-only boards were in education and training (15 per cent) and health care and social assistance (15 per cent). Overall, the profile of Australian company directorships remains very blokey. Kamper says one reason for this was the large number of small companies, and individual contractors, in sectors dominated by male employment, while in sectors dominated by female employment, there are a relatively small number of firms. Male-leaning industries like construction account for the largest number of businesses in Australia, 11 times more than education and training which has the highest female representation, he says. It certainly seems that the contractor economy is an overwhelmingly male one.

However, the gender balance at the boardroom tables of Australias biggest corporates has shifted during the decade. Back in 2009 females had just 8.3 per cent of board seats at the 200 biggest firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (the ASX 200). But that share had climbed to 34.2 per cent in November 2021, according to data collected by the Australian Institute of Company Directors. All ASX 200 firms now have at least one female board member. Research by the University of Queensland Business School found that Australia was one of the first countries in the world to reach a target of at least 30 per cent women on top listed boards and this was achieved without mandated quotas. Australia now has a bigger share of women on large publicly listed companies than the average for wealthy country members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Louise Petschler, general manager of advocacy at the Australian Institute of Company Directors, says a growing recognition of the benefits of board diversity by Australian companies is demonstrated by how far we have come in recent years. Boardroom diversity matters because it leads to better corporate outcomes, she says.

Loading Different perspectives around the board table improve the quality of decision-making by introducing new perspectives and lived experiences. Having diversity in the boardroom also fosters an environment that encourages healthy debates and discussions which again can lead to more considered decision-making. There are still eight with all-male boards among Australias largest 300 listed firms (ASX 300) while across all listed companies on the stock exchange there are 67 boards with no women. But there is public and investor pressure to appoint more female directors. One ASX 300 company with an all-male board is Melbourne-based voice recording software provider Dubber Corporation. When this masthead put questions to Dubbers directors asking if there were advantages to having an all-male board, a spokesperson for the company said it was changing tack. Dubber has recently commenced an international search to find a suitable female independent director to join the firms board.

When that happens, Dubber will join the 54 boards among Australias biggest 300 listed firms with only one female board member. Dr Foley warns simply appointing a female director does not guarantee the superior performance associated with greater diversity. Its about embracing all that diversity entails, she says. It means recruiting for a diversity of opinions and allowing for that productive tension that can occur when you bring an array of perspectives and experiences to bear on challenging issues. It cant be done in a tokenistic fashion. Research by Canadian academics Camelia Radu and Nadia Smaili underscores this point. They found firms with three or more female board members were more likely to have adequate cybersecurity risk measures in place, and to report significant cybersecurity breaches. But anything less than that critical mass of three female board members was not sufficient to achieve the high standard. One token woman is insufficient for triggering greater cybersecurity disclosure, says the study published in the Journal of Business Ethics. Although visible, she has no impact on old boys club decisions.

The benefits of diversity are not limited to improving the gender balance of directorships. Dr Foley says firms with more racial and ethnic diversity in their executive management teams also outperform their less diverse competitors in terms of profitability. Australias biggest firms are lagging on this measure. A 2021 study of board diversity found nine out of 10 ASX 300 board members were from an Anglo-Celtic background and only one in 20 were aged less than 50 years. Loading Based on current trends it will take nearly 20 years for the boardrooms of the nations biggest companies to reflect Australias cultural diversity, the report by Watermark Search International and the Governance Institute of Australia concluded. The Purpose Bureaus study is just the latest to draw attention to how more diversity in company leadership results in superior performance. But many Australian firms  both big and small  still have a long way to go on that front.
Afghan-born, Sydney-raised journalist Yalda Hakim is one of those weird people who can survive on four hours sleep, getting up early to absorb the news and write. It was in the pre-dawn, during her most recent assignment in Afghanistan, her first trip there since she famously took a call from a Taliban leader during a live cross for the BBC as Kabul fell, that Hakim sensed a profound difference.

Ive always enjoyed mornings in Afghanistan because theyre early risers too. The cyclists are up and about, the bakers are out, the street sweepers are getting to work and children would be going to school. But there was something that felt sinister under the surface. It felt very much like a changed country. All the people I knew, the contacts Id made, the networks Id built over 15 years, I didnt know many people there any more. I didnt know the city. It felt very distant.

Its a devastating time for women in the country. The gains of the last two decades have been rolled back. Yalda Hakim

Under Taliban Rule, a co-production with the BBC, which marks the beginning of the 30th year of Foreign Correspondent, is confronting. Hakim visits a paediatric hospital where babies and children are dangerously malnourished and where health care workers are no longer paid. She meets a family in hiding because of their insistence that their daughter be educated. She learns of the horrors wrought by the ISIS-K insurgency and of the opium trade too lucrative to resist, despite the addiction ravaging the country. She stresses that the situation is not black and white.

Its a complex, nuanced place. There are parts of the country where people are devastated by the Taliban takeover. There are other parts where they are relieved that the war is over after almost two decades caught in the crossfire.

Footage of Hakim interviewing Taliban officials while surrounded by armed men is chilling.
A key turning point in my journey was while sitting in a biology class, during my science degree. Looking through a microscope I was struck by how orderly everything in nature is, even the tiniest cells. I concluded that life couldnt have come about by chance but had to be by design. I set out to find who that creator was. I read many books and spoke to many people about different ways of living. It was eventually through reading the Bible that I came to understand that the Christian god was my creator. Researching the evidence for the first time persuaded me that Jesus was God in the flesh. At that point of my life, I still wanted to do things my way. Consequently, my life remained a mess. I was depressed and, as hard as I tried to live life on my terms, I couldnt attain the fulfilment I was yearning for. Theres a verse from the Book of Jeremiah that says: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future. Finally surrendering to the truth through faith changed my life. It opened up opportunities for me to build a business, do aid work, mentor young businesswomen, foster children and, in my 40s, take on my best role yet  becoming a mother. I was confirmed in my church in 2008. In some ways, I see this relationship with Jesus as being like getting married, and I wanted to make some public vows of faith in front of family and friends. On one of my trips to serve in orphanages in Africa, my mother gave me a card that said, To my daughter, who never wanted to become a dorky Christian.

Still, life isnt always easy. I face plenty of struggles. Ive almost gone bankrupt, had my heart broken and lost loved ones. But when I do go through tough times, its wonderful to know that God is there to guide me. I believed life as a nun would be ideal Ayya Yeshe, 44, is the founder of the Bodhicitta Dakini Monastery in Tasmania. She became a Buddhist nun at the age of 23 and set out to live monastic life on her own terms. For Ayya Yeshe, commitment to justice is how love looks in public, and inner peace and contemplation are how its sustained. I was born in the Snowy Mountains into a Catholic household. I was only 14 when my dad died, and that diminished my faith in God. I looked at the world and questioned: What is God doing? A year later I left home and became a street kid, couch-surfing in hippie communities and hanging out with spiritual seekers. In 1994, I went to Nepal with a group of friends and thats how I discovered Buddhism.

The teachings made sense to me and I ended up living in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery for a year, learning meditation. That time gave me great insight into how I could live a life free from suffering. When I returned to Sydney, I decided I should be responsible and got a job with an insurance company. Simultaneously, I helped a lama run his Buddhist centre and volunteered as a counsellor at Kings Cross Wayside Chapel. After four years I realised that being of service to others made me happier than any materialistic gain. Loading At 23, inspired to embody Buddhist teachings, I ordained as a Buddhist nun. I believed life as a nun would be ideal, but not long after I had a rude awakening. As a nun I received less support than monks, I had less access to resources and I was charged to live at the temple, whereas Tibetans stayed for free. As a Western woman I found that unacceptable and set out to follow my own path as a nun. Being cut out from my tradition and its support, I slept at friends houses and in my car, and I was sometimes homeless. Still, I volunteered and taught meditation in prisons, rehab centres and schools, and this service made me realise that my personal suffering was small by comparison. Five years later, I made my way to India for further studies and in 2009 I settled in Nagpur, central India, where I found an amazing group of Buddhists. There I became involved with the Dalits, the lowest social caste in Hindu culture. In response to their needs and social justice, I created the Bodhicitta Foundation, which for the past 10 years has helped 2000 people a year escape poverty and inequality. We provide job training for women, a girls home supporting education and refuge from child marriage, sponsor 55 kids through school and make 6000 meals a year for undernourished children.

To raise funds for the charity and provide for myself, Ive lived as a wandering monk with my alms bowl, depending on the generosity of others for food and money offerings. This way Ive been invited by seeming strangers, now friends, to teach or attend a fundraising dinner, which has worked out surprisingly well. For me, commitment to justice is how love looks in public, and inner peace and contemplation are how its sustained. I find that wellbeing through silence in nature. After saving for 20 years, I recently bought land in a world heritage forest in Tasmania and started my monastery for Western monastics and lay people to come and reconnect with simplicity and the sacredness of nature.

This life is hard and wonderful in equal measure. Ive felt quite lonely and lived on less than the minimum wage, but the reward is that I wake up and feel peace and joy and know Ive lived by my highest ideal: compassion. It was radical and I lost many friends Lila Elizabeth Knights, 44, is a Sydney yoga teacher who went from a conservative Christian background to being a Hare Krishna nun. Lila Elizabeth Knights has felt at home in her practices as a Hare Krishna nun.

When I discovered Buddhism at university in my early 20s, I became a vegetarian and began meditating. I took my first yoga class at 26 while living in a remote ski resort in Canada simply because there wasnt much else to do in summer. I was quickly hooked. Two years later, back in Sydney, my yoga teacher introduced me to a man who simply asked me, Are you happy? Although I had everything I thought I needed to be happy, deep down I wasnt. Overnight I gave up drugs, alcohol and men, moved into the Govinda Valley yoga ashram, and became a Hare Krishna Vedic nun. It was radical and I lost many friends, even family members. For three years I barely saw my father and sister, but my mother loved it and volunteered each weekend. Becoming a nun wasnt intentional. It just happened without me realising it. Those years were peaceful, and I received wonderful guidance from teachers. Life in the ashram involved early mornings, starting at 4.30am with four hours of yoga, meditation, chanting and study of the sacred texts before breakfast. There wasnt a day off nor chance of a sleep-in. Spiritual work is never easy, but I loved it. I also completed training as a yoga teacher. I still remember my first Kirtan, a type of call-and-response singing. Standing in a temple with a group of Indians chanting in ancient Sanskrit, my conservative upbringing should have rebelled, but it didnt. I felt at home.

As a nun I had no intention of ever owning property, getting married or having children. However, three years later, sick with glandular fever, I received a call from my yoga teacher trainer, who invited me to Byron Bay to rest. After two weeks he offered me a job. I felt it was time to re-enter the world and earn money, so I accepted. Loading On the first day I was there I met a man called Mal, and although I was still very committed to being a nun, he chased me with great determination and we slowly started seeing each other. We eventually moved in together, and after five years he proposed. I said no as I had no desire to go through a wedding, but we compromised by getting engaged. We bought a house and had two children, daughter Tahlia when I was 35 and son Taj when I was 40. Unfortunately, Mal and I havent made it as a forever couple. Now Im obsessed with everything baby. I teach prenatal yoga and run Fertility Empowerment classes to break the taboo around menstruation. I found my dharma, or life purpose, later in life, but I had to go through some strange experiences for it to become clear. To read more from Sunday Life magazine, click here.
How do you stop a four-year-old who wants to sit on the Queens knee and give the monarch a kiss? Its what keeps royal security guards awake at night.

Narelle Dick, 4, approaches the Queen after eluding security guards and tries to kiss her, as the Duke of Edinburgh smiles during a Childrens Rally at the Show Grounds in Brisbane 1954. Credit:Getty

We are amused: Narrelle now on Prince Philips knee. Credit:

Not surprisingly for the first visit to Australia by a reigning monarch, there were those who wanted to get up close and personal. Maybe too personal.

On the death of her father King George VI seventy years ago today on February 6, 1952, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, on a royal visit to Kenya, inevitably abandoned plans to continue the tour on to Australia.
The NSW government will bolster a federal commitment to supply rapid antigen tests to disability residential care homes, while the sector has renewed calls for more support of workers and people with disabilities living in the community.

The NSW government will announce on Sunday an additional 288,000 tests for residents and workers in supported independent living homes and other residential care across the state. That will be distributed through local health districts from February 14 and is expected to last about four weeks.

NSW has 9000 people with disabilities who live in supported independent living and other residential care homes, but most people with disabilities live in the community. Credit: Louie Douvis

That follows an announcement on Friday from National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Linda Reynolds that the federal government had started distributing 1.2 million rapid antigen tests to high-risk residential disability care settings nationwide, with 5 million test kits to be delivered by June.

NSW Minister for Disability Services Natasha Maclaren-Jones said people with disability can often be at greater risk of developing more serious illness if they become infected with COVID-19.
The Australian practice of detaining people for years when they have committed no crime is unjust (Is there a better way? A life in limbo for detained population, January 30). Proven refugees have been detained longer than rapists and some murderers in this country. This contempt of normal standards of human decency is an insult to decent Australians and gives the lie to our claims of championing the fair go, the battler and the underdog.

Stopping the boats has always been about the electoral prospects of this or that political party, keen to manipulate the endemic Australian fear of invasion. The attendance of politicians at Christian prayer meetings does not guarantee their freedom from hypocrisy. Unless the rest of us want to remain complicit in that hypocrisy we must demand the immediate release of Mehdi, Adnan, Joy, Zaki and the many others detained for so long. Susan Connelly and 114 other Sisters of St Joseph, Lakemba

How can we call ourselves a civil society when we lock up refugees for years? It makes me ashamed to be an Australian. Release all refugees now, let them work, pay taxes, enjoy freedom and save taxpayers millions of dollars. Refugees do not take our jobs they invariably work hard and frequently create employment opportunities. Lindsay Somerville, Lindfield

No trickle down

It is time state government support moved its focus away from businesses and towards consumers ($1b NSW help for hard-hit ventures, January 30). Providing direct payments to consumers  ie dine and discover vouchers  increases demand for products and assists workers at a time of declining real wages. As shown by the federal governments support of business, direct subsidies do not sufficiently differentiate between needy and not-so-needy enterprises. Trevor Taylor, Port Macquarie
It was a devastating blow for Suttons Beach Pavilion restaurant co-owner Oli Thomson, the buildings current tenant.

Moreton Bay Regional Council, the buildings owner, has decided it is not long for the world. Next month, it plans to fence the pavilion off, locking the community out ahead of its planned demolition.

A veritable delight for all the senses, but not for much longer.

Just north of Brisbane, the pavilion adds a bit of old-school charm to an old-school beach, with its stunning views to Moreton Island, the smell of salt in the air and the sound of the breeze blowing through the towering Norfolk Island pines.

Excursions to Redcliffes Suttons Beach Pavilion have been a mainstay for locals and daytrippers alike for decades.

Those beautiful art deco curves, shining bright in the sunlight. Those fish and chips, and the endless battle with hungry seagulls.

This isnt about our business or lease, as sadly were now resigned to the fact that council want us gone at the end of the month and the building will be demolished some time afterwards, he said.

That team consisted of 48 staff members, Mr Thomson said, along with the flow-on effects to suppliers, musicians and the like.

Having to tell our team they need to find alternative employment have been some of the hardest conversations weve had to have.

So many people have been in touch to share their stories and experiences here at Suttons, but its been emotional and frankly exhausting, he said.

Mr Thomson said while he had been overwhelmed by the community support since its fate became public, he was resigned to the futility of any potential community campaign.

That post attracted the ire of the council, which wanted to control messaging around the decision. More on that later.

Mr Thomson let the cat out of the bag last week, when he revealed in a Facebook post the council had decided to demolish the building.

Ms DAth was also reluctant to criticise the council for letting its asset deteriorate to a state in which demolition was deemed the only option.

Local state MP Yvette DAth, the Queensland Health Minister, said she would be sad to see the pavilion go, but given the art deco facade was a relatively recent addition, it was not heritage protected.

And while wed love a stay of execution and continue to trade in the current or future premises, its not looking likely.

Our focus now needs to be on the wellbeing of our team and transitioning them and our customers to a conclusion and vacating the premises to meet the councils timelines.

Its about preserving and restoring this amazing building that shares so many wonderful memories for the community.

We know the buildings buggered, so would it be better off rather than doing the extra investigations, just to prove that its buggered, that we put that money towards whatever is going to be coming there in the future?

These investigations were going to be doing will probably cost $150,000, he said.

At a virtual council meeting last week, councillor Mick Gillam questioned the wisdom of spending more money scrutinising the resolution.

And, despite the decision having been made, the council has committed to producing more reports to justify its position.

According to the council, that was unlikely.

Its easy to look backwards and criticise, but the question is, can it be saved? Thats the issue here. Can it be saved?

I dont know how long this has been going on, she said.

But unfortunately, the tenant decided to go on his own track, his own journey.

We werent going to hide anything, we were going to be transparent with this, he said.

In the same council meeting, Cr Flannery criticised Mr Thomson for going public with the councils plans.

If it takes a little bit of money to show that, I think we need to do that to keep our reputation and our relationship with the community intact.

We need to show the community they can have confidence in decisions that we make and that we want to be genuinely open and transparent with the community, he said.

For mayor Peter Flannery, it came down to PR.

Multiple requests to interview Cr Flannery were refused.

In a letter to Mr Thomson, which the council released to this masthead, council chief executive Greg Chemello said it would be an abrogation of our fundamental and legal responsibility to allow the building to remain open.

In addition, the very high maintenance/replacement costs of the buildings do not make the current pavilion structures a viable asset for council to maintain, he said in the letter.

Council has therefore made the decision to demolish the Suttons Beach Pavilion complex and reinvigorate the area, returning to the community, a space that can be used for a variety of purposes.

Like the mayor, Mr Chemello, the former Ipswich City Council administrator, chided Mr Thomson for making the planned demolition public before an official council announcement.

Undated photo of the Suttons Beach Pavilion at Redcliffe. The RTC stands for Redcliffe Town Council.

It is very disappointing that you have chosen to advise the public yourselves of the closure via your Facebook page, particularly in the context of the extensive building defects that prevent safe continuation of operations in the buildings, he said.

Mr Thomson did not dispute the issues with the building, but noted it was the council that let it get into such a state in the first place.

They have openly admitted they have neglected and not maintained sufficiently over the last 20 years, he said.

That being said, part of the charm of old buildings is their character and little niggles and, while not ideal, we have managed to work around some of the building issues and not only managed to survive COVID, weve actually thrived.

Deception Bay resident Jodie Starr was not taking the decision lying down.

The regular Suttons Beach visitor started a Change.org petition on Monday, urging Moreton Bay Regional Council to reconsider.

Its a poor effort from them because theyre the ones who let it get to that point, she said.

They decided not to do anything about it, but still let someone lease it off them for the next however many years without doing the repairs to it.

They didnt really do anything to save it from the start and that feels like a bit of a trend here in Moreton Bay at the moment, where theyre not looking after our old buildings to the point that they get so bad that they need to be demolished.

Within three days, Ms Starrs petition had attracted more than 10,000 signatures. One of those signatories was Dayle Telford.

Smart Pups dog trainers Dayle Telford and Georgia Lawrence are regular visitors to the pavilion, as are Quigley and Clara. Credit:Cameron Atfield

A support dog trainer with Smart Pups, Ms Telford regularly takes her students to the Suttons Beach Pavilion after training on the beach. The dogs also learn socialisation skills at the pavilion, one of the few places in Redcliffe that can accommodate a large canine crowd.

These dogs need to learn how to settle in a social environment and how to learn cafe etiquette, she said.

When theyre little puppies, we try to wear them out a little bit first so that they settle nicely and pretty much fall asleep.

The older dogs, now, they know the routine. When they go into a coffee shop, they tap themselves under the table, they dont beg at the table, and they just pretty much go to sleep while we have coffee at the end of a training session.

Inside, the support dogs learn how to behave in busy social settings in a large, sectioned-off area, something Ms Telford said would be difficult at other Redcliffe locales.

Ms Telford said she would be devastated if the bulldozers came in.

I actually would have thought it would have been almost at the point of heritage listing and I cant even believe that theyre considering knocking it down, she said.

Ms Telford had a simple message for Cr Flannery: Dont do it.

Inside, diners could not believe the old building would soon be consigned to history.

There must be another solution surely, other than knocking it down, said Judith Lee, out for lunch last week with her husband, Douglas Lee, and their friends Ros and Ken Palmer.

Mr Lee said it was not fair that Mr Thomsons business should suffer as a result of the councils neglect of the building.

Bee Gee Barry Gibb at the pavilion in 2015. Credit:Chris Hyde

Its them that have neglected it, he said.

The refrain was common among those who spoke with Brisbane Times.

The building has had many guises over the years. Starting off as a bathing pavilion, it was the site of the Redcliffe Museum for decades before future culinary institution Sams on Suttons moved in around the turn of the century.

It has been a go-to location for visitors and locals alike ever since, with uninterrupted views of Moreton Bay and a sea breeze that could cool the hottest day.

An undated photo of the pavilion, during its time as the site of the Redcliffe Museum.

Around the time of its reinvention as a restaurant the distinctive art deco finishing was added.

That classical look, Ms DAth said, led many people to jump to some conclusions about its level of protection.

A lot of people think its heritage listed, which its not, she said.

And if it cant be saved, if theres no guarantee that spending millions of dollars on it is going to save the building, those decisions have to be made by council.

But I do hope that at the very least of a chunk of it can be saved.

Perhaps the only option for saving the building could rest with her cabinet colleague, Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon.

Anyone who believes a place has heritage value to Queensland is able to apply for that place to be added to the Heritage Register, a Department of Science and Environment spokeswoman said.

DES has received several inquiries relating to the pavilion, including requests for advice on state heritage listing, and the department is providing guidance to those inquirers.

Under the Queensland Heritage Act 1992, the minister is also able to consider a stop order on any demolition work if the place is likely to meet the criteria for entry in the Queensland Heritage Register.

A spokeswoman for Ms Scanlon said the minister was aware of the proposed demolition, but was not yet in a position to comment.

If, as anticipated, the pavilion is demolished, the council has committed to maintaining public space at the site and seeking feedback on options.

If the building could not be saved, Ms Starr, for one, wanted to see a same-for-same replacement.

Petitioner Jodie Starr wants the art deco style to be retained with a new building. Credit:Cameron Atfield

Whats stopping the council from not rebuilding an art deco-style replica of it? she said.

I really dont know how itll play out. I sure hope that it doesnt just get demolished and turned into green space, because theyll have a very disappointed community if thats the case.

And I think theyre going to lose a lot of votes next time round if that does go ahead.

Ms DAth suggested a platform be built, at street level on top of the cliff above the building.

Its so high up, the views are incredible, she said.

Something high up that just shows off our bay and the exquisite views weve got. Whether thats possible, I have no idea.
As conflict between Russia and Ukraine looms, the threat of war could be heard even on a quiet street in suburban Sydney where young children waited to begin learning the language of their forebears.

More than 50 children are enrolled in St Andrews Ukrainian School in Lidcombe, including 14-year-old Anthony Burmey who said the threat of war was a topic of conversation at school and at home with his parents.

Orysia Melnyk and Oleg Sapishchuk pictured with four-year-old son Danylo at St Andrews Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lidcombe. Credit:Steven Siewert

Most of my relatives live in western Ukraine, which is further from Russia, he said. However, if the conflict did escalate and Russia did indeed advance into Ukraine then yes, Id definitely be worried.

Melanya Piskor, 13, said she felt quite worried by the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Australia needs a COVID-19 variant plan that includes warehouses full of masks and tests in readiness for the variant that will inevitably follow Omicron, a strain that could be more deadly or infectious than ever.

That is the view of a number of public health experts who say that the national cabinet reopening plan  which flagged no ongoing restrictions or lockdowns once the two-dose vaccination program was near completion  was too optimistic.

Professor Tony Blakely: The most amazing policy failure. Credit: Supplied

Epidemiologist Tony Blakely said the government plans in place for the second half of 2021 were good for Delta, but failed to consider life after the variant. He said the federal government not securing enough rapid tests was the most amazing policy failure.

Professor Blakely said it was more sensible to have a plan for three main scenarios: a variant like Delta that caused severe disease, a variant like Omicron that was extremely infectious or a variant that was the worst of both.
Surf Coast geologist Kim Straub at Addiscot Beach where cliffs have been crumbling. Credit:Jason South The biggest collapse recorded was 3000 cubic metres of rock and sediment  larger than the volume of an olympic swimming pool. Professor Kennedy said the largest falls had forced the cliff edge back by five metres. Theyre barely hanging on at the moment, he said. If were going to get more rain events and wet summers, we can expect to get more falls. But landslides were also likely at sandstone cliffs at Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula where it faced the open ocean, Professor Kennedy said.

Parks Victoria district manager Dale Antonysen said the decision to permanently close access to Demons Bluff was based on public safety risks that landslides posed on this section of coast. The cliffs in this area have large tension cracks in the order of 50 metres in length and two metres in depth, which indicated further collapses are inevitable  there was another large slip at Demons Bluff just at the end of January, he said. A large crack at Demons Bluff. He said the most recent large landslide nearby at Jarosite Headland took place within an exclusion zone set up where the man was killed on New Years Eve near Bells Beach. An area 450 metres long and 35 metres from the base of the cliffs will now remain closed until further notice.

Loading Nobody is allowed into this area, and weve updated signage to reflect that change. Were also asking people not to stop within 35 to 50 metres of the cliff. Geologist Kim Straub, who lives at Bellbrae on the Surf Coast, said the cliff faces were made of soft rock vulnerable to landslides. On these particular faces, youve got fractures that run parallel to the angle of the cliff face and thats where the slides happen, she said. Ms Straub said better signs were needed to warn people of the dangers.

Over the years, Ive seen people up against the edges of those cliff faces, and Ive gone and warned them. Demons Bluff after part of the cliff collapsed. Credit:Nine However, she said landslides were a normal part of coastal erosion. It definitely will keep happening. Thats the way the Earth works. Two sections of the Surf Coast Walk have been relocated at Demons Bluff and Aireys Inlet after assessments identified safety risks. The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority confirmed several cliff areas between Jan Juc and Point Roadknight as well as Aireys Inlet were also susceptible to instability.

Authority chief executive Jodie Sizer urged beachgoers to remain on designated tracks and not walk or sit underneath the cliffs. Landslips are unpredictable and the size of material that falls onto the beach can be very large, with rocks and debris a potentially fatal hazard, she said. A warning sign south of Bells Beach. Credit:Jason South Tourism strategist Suzanne Cavanagh, who has had a house at Aireys Inlet for 20 years, said the Great Ocean Roads image as a nature-based holiday destination might suffer because of the dramatic images of coastal landslides and erosion circulating on social media. Theyre quite dramatic images, she said. Weve got a potential problem.

Coastal planning and management expert Geoff Wescott said the coast had always been eroding, but it now appeared to be accelerating. He said wild weather might be contributing to large sheets of cliffs peeling away. Anglesea has had some really vicious storm cells just these last three or four months, he said. Dr Wescott, an honorary research fellow at Deakin and Melbourne universities, said sections of the Great Ocean Road might have to be closed one day because of instability in the cliffs. The Great Ocean Road Credit:iStock

I would imagine at some point it will just be untenable to keep it open completely end to end. Erosion has already come perilously close to the road in locations including Apollo Bay. Loading But Environment Minister Lily DAmbrosio insisted there were no plans to move parts of the Great Ocean Road because of coastal erosion. She said the government was working with other authorities to develop coastal adaptation plans identifying short and long-term options to manage the effect of storm surges, wave attacks and rising sea levels.
Loading Ms Bowker said bullies had been protected by members of the Maritime Workers Union, and that numerous workers had been paid out over the years. She said while the company initially tried to address the issues, they gave up after union members responded by slowing their work to damage productivity. With the union it was, you never lag, you never rat, she said. Documents obtained from WorkSafe under Freedom of Information laws show 47 claims for mental injury were received from workers at DP World in Melbourne between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2016. The document shows 24 of these claims were initially accepted. The perpetrators are all the same people. They are all the same group. They [were] influential, had positions of power, they influence where you work, what you do, Ms Bowker said.

Mr Zwarts, a former docks foreman, was paid out more than $750,000 in December 2020. He had attempted to mediate the matter between Ms Bowker and a stevedore accused of making comments about a female colleagues alleged sexual activities. As a result, he became a bullying victim himself. He said he was immediately shunned by his colleagues due to a docks code of silence in which anyone considered a lagger was ostracised and no longer given shifts that led to overtime payments. He said he was also given 24-hour protection after the companys security officer was warned that something was going to happen me. The ostracism was the worst part of it. Youd get given the shittier sort of jobs, no one would talk to you, Mr Zwarts said.

At work they are silent, wouldnt look you in the eye, look away. Youll find that that has a more devastating effect on people than a punch in the mouth. My minds not what it used to be. Im not the person I was. News of the payouts to the former DP World employees, who received the compensation between December 2020 and as recently as January this year, comes after The Sunday Age last month revealed a docks worker who was nicknamed rat dog and had a colleague defecate in his work boots lost a County Court bullying case against DP World and WorkSafe. The Sunday Age is aware of at least three other bullying cases involving former DP World stevedores settled by WorkSafe since December 2020, for amounts of $740,000, $700,000 and $200,000, at least one of which named a key alleged bully identified in the cases mounted by Ms Bowker, Mr Zwarts and the worker nicknamed rat dog. Ms Bowker said it was disgraceful that WorkSafe, which paid them out, had contested their former colleagues claim, resulting in him being cross-examined for 11 days despite his fragile mental health.

In a judgment published in December, County Court judge Philip Ginnane dismissed the mans case after a 23-day trial, finding that although some of the stevedores colleagues evidently disliked him, their behaviour towards him did not constitute bullying. The court accepted the man had sustained a psychological injury in his work on the docks but found his employer should not be held responsible. Overall, Judge Ginnane found the plaintiff was prone to overstatement. A considerable amount of the plaintiffs evidence was unreliable and, unfortunately, in some instances, untrue, he found. Ms Bowker, who was a witness in the mans case, said she couldnt believe the County Court had rejected her former colleagues claim despite the court finding he had been ostracised, insulted and had someone defecate in his boots. Worksafe have paid off everyone in that facility who were bullied by the same people, except for [the man]. Why? At the same time theyre running his case, they are paying us off, Ms Bowker said.

Loading Hes been living off the disability pension, hes got three kids. It shouldnt even have been in the courtroom ... he was on the stand for 11 days, like a goddamn murderer. That stevedore, who worked on the docks from 2004 to 2012 and has been fighting his legal case against DP World since 2014, has launched a Supreme Court appeal. The man, who was twice elected by colleagues as the sites safety officer, told The Sunday Age he had prided himself in his work for DP World and couldnt understand why WorkSafe settled other similar cases but not his. I have no idea, he said. All the hazard reports I made, theyre all verified. Why target me? I dont understand. When I was there I [reduced] injuries. I havent done anything wrong and I dont understand why I cant go back to work.

I just didnt want someone to die on the job. What I said happened, its all happened. Theyve all agreed that it happened [but] they are saying its not bullying. Ive been on a disability pension since 2014. Its heartbreaking. That was a job for life. I love driving machines. I dont know what to do for my family. Shine Lawyers, who are representing the man, said they had acted for three other former docks workers who had their bullying claims settled by WorkSafe in the past two years. Special counsel Sha Hotchin confirmed the mans case would be appealed in the Supreme Court.

We feel WorkSafe Victorias attitude toward our clients compensation claim was unwarranted given the recognised culture of bullying at DP World, but we respect the court process and look forward to the appeal, she said. The Maritime Union of Australia declined to respond to detailed questions about the unions role in addressing bullying on the docks. A DP World spokeswoman said since 2016 the company had undertaken a comprehensive review of its policies and processes. DP World takes its obligations towards providing a safe workplace very seriously, including psychological safety, she said. A WorkSafe spokesman said the organisation continues to monitor the workplace to ensure occupational health and safety obligations are being met.
As I slowed the car at a congested school crossing on Monday morning, with the dutiful fluro-vested lollipop supervisor guarding their precious charges like diamonds, I could not help but notice what at first glance seemed akin to a ritual dance.

As the gate clanged shut, there were high-fives and skipping all around  and that was the parents. With their offspring safely on the other side, gleeful conversations erupted about which local coffee provider was to be the first destination.

There is a wider lesson to be learnt in fixing classroom staffing problems: good ideas can come from the outside. Credit:Matt Davison

I was not privy to what happened on the inside of the gate, but by all accounts the kids felt the same way, albeit without a welcoming latte.

Schoolkids returning to our streets radiate energy and serve as a sure and welcome sign of recovery. As has been well documented in this paper, teachers were mixed in their responses. Some were too anxious to resume their careers at all, others just as determined to get back in front of a class.
The Liberal Party is ramping up efforts to broaden its appeal to progressive voters  including members of the LGBTQ community  as part of a push to avoid the mistakes of its disastrous law-and-order focused 2018 campaign.

The oppositions equality spokesman, James Newbury, will on Sunday promise to create a dedicated professional legal support service, to be based at the St Kilda Pride Centre. The centre is located in Health Minister Martin Foleys seat of Albert Park, but adjacent to the seat of Prahran, held by the Greens Sam Hibbins.

The state oppositions equality spokesman, James Newbury. Credit:Penny Stephens

The LGBTIQ+ community has been calling for dedicated legal services, delivered by professionals who understand the needs of the community, Mr Newbury said. Labor has ignored those calls. The Liberal Nationals Party will step in and deliver those much-needed services to the LGBTIQ+ community.

The seat of Prahran, which covers parts of St Kilda, Windsor, Prahran, South Yarra and Toorak, is regarded as crucial for the Liberal Party. It was retained by Mr Hibbins at the 2018 state election with an increased margin of about 7.5 per cent, although Liberal candidate Katie Allen won the highest proportion of first preference votes.
Celebrities, bless their hearts, can be like children who babblingly amplify our silliest cultural foibles and force us to confront ourselves in the mirror. As fools to our collective king, they have recently delivered in spades.

So it was with 90s sensation Whoopi Goldberg, when she insisted it was impossible for the Holocaust to have been the product of racism because both the Nazis and the Jewish people they targeted were white. The Holocaust wasnt about race, according to Goldberg, because the Nazis and the Jews were two white groups of people.

Whoopi Goldberg said the Holocaust wasnt about race. Credit:Robert Marquardt

It was a wonderful moment in television because, in one brief segment, Goldberg brought to its logical conclusion the inching shift in the definition of racism that has been taking hold in the US and seeping from thence into other countries. She simultaneously exposed the questionable end point that was approaching and, by making the destination visible, hobbled the definitions ability to infest our cultural understanding.

Goldberg, you see, wasnt alone out on a limb shooting the shit. The idea that racism is only visited by white people upon black people was reflected on the website of the Anti-Defamation League, a US organisation founded to combat racism against Jewish people and, as it states in its lore, for all people. But sometime in the last couple of years it had quietly changed its definition of racism from the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another to the marginalisation and/or oppression of people of colour based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people.
For Penrith unit owner Monica Ward and her tradesman partner, the options are far more stark. They are priced out of their local housing market and need to leave the state altogether. We would like to stay within this area to be honest because weve been here for a while, Ms Ward said. The growing family of four live in a two-bedroom unit they purchased for $390,000 two years ago. A move-in ready house to accommodate them in Penrith would cost more than double. We would be looking close to $900,000 for something we wouldnt need to do anything with, she said. Its a big gap. The market in the last six months has just gone crazy. To be honest, I cant believe how anyone can buy a house.

For us to get to that point in Sydney we have to be saving for a very long time, so the only option we have is to move interstate. The 33-year-old, who works in administration, said their money would travel a lot further in Queensland, where they are now looking. I cant believe how anyone can buy a house...the only option we have is to move interstate Monica Ward, Penrith unit owner We were looking in northern Queensland. For the same amount as our unit in Sydney we could get a two-acre block. Median unit prices in the outer west and Blue Mountains region, into which Penrith falls, grew just 5.1 per cent in the year to December 2021, compared to a 24.7 per cent jump in median house prices, on Domain data.

The journey for upgraders has been difficult on a number of fronts, according to Romeo Raad, senior broker at Aussie. A lot of people who bought a unit, their borrowing capacity was a lot stronger than what it is now. A person on the same income could have borrowed $100,000 or $200,000 more than now due to tightening of restrictions, Mr Raad said, adding that house prices have soared in the meantime. He said many upgraders were receiving financial help from their parents a second time. Whether it be going guarantor, gifted funds, inheritances, whatever it may be, a lot of mums and dads are sitting on booming property prices, a lot of equity. Even first-home buyers who bought a unit a decade ago would struggle to make the leap to a house without help, said Henny Stier, principal buyers agent of OH Property Group.

If you got into the unit bandwagon 10 years ago you still would need to go to the bank of mum and dad, but its a lot easier than if you bought three years ago, Ms Stier said. But if you bought a unit in the last three to four years then it would be impossible to make that jump straight away. Units have not appreciated, particularly new units, they dont go up much in value. Demand for houses soared even higher during Sydney lockdowns last year as buyers placed a premium on space. Credit:Peter Rae A first-home buyer who bought a unit in Artarmon had to move out of the suburb in order to buy a house in Westleigh, and even after compromising on location they were only able to buy with the help of mum and dad, Ms Stier said. When they are buying a house in a different area its not singing and dancing either. Theyre generally buying a house that still needs a lot of work.

Upgraders in the past two years want not only an extra bedroom but also outdoor space, as more people are stuck at home. So when a ground-floor unit with a courtyard hits the market, they are highly sought after, especially among cashed-up downsizers, she said. There is a severe shortage of these bigger units and courtyards, which are limited by its very nature as well, said Michelle May, principal buyers agent at her eponymous agency. Sydneys median house price now costs double a unit, leaving many hopeful upgraders behind. Credit:Peter Rae Theyre stuck in this limbo when they are waiting for a bigger property because theyve outgrown their current one, but that stock doesnt really exist, Ms May said. And when it does exist, the sales results are so high because its a matter of competition and whoever has the deepest pockets will win.

Loading Its very discouraging and demoralising because it means people are going to have to live in strata for much longer. Even in top-performing areas like the northern beaches, unit owners are forced out of the area and even the city, according to James Algar, principal broker of Mortgage Choice Dee Why. While the median unit growth on the northern beaches shot up 32.5 per cent during 2021, not far behind its housing counterpart at 36.9 per cent, there is still a price gap of $1.56 million, on Domain data. Mr Algar said one couple who owned a northern beaches unit had a budget of $1.5 million for a house, which would have sufficed 18 months ago, but now they are completely priced out and are looking in suburbs such as Cowan in the Hawkesbury.

Loading Ive probably had nine or 10 people sell their units on the northern beaches who have bought houses way outside of the beaches  Newcastle, Central Coast. The main way he has seen unit owners make the straight leap into the housing market is to either sell multiple properties, if they were lucky enough to buy separately prior to becoming a couple, or return to the bank of mum and dad. Ive had a whole bunch of people who have had inheritances, from a grandparent or significant family member using that money to buy houses  $500,000 or $600,000. Banks dont have an appetite to lend more than 80 per cent of a propertys value. In one instance, a couple who earn above $200,000 a year as a doctor and optometrist was unable to upgrade, despite saving a $300,000 deposit, he said.
Beijing: While the world was getting ready for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on Friday night, the final touches were being put on a document that could set the stage for a new geopolitical conflict.

Timed for release at 7.30pm as hundreds of dancers were twirling their way around Beijings Birds Nest stadium and athletes prepared to walk in, Chinas President Xi Jinping and Russias President Vladimir Putin put a final end to the Sino-Soviet split and made their pitch for a new world order.

The communique  finalised after months of planning and released as both men took their seats in the stands  is extraordinary in its boldness and its overt politicisation of an event that has long pretended to be above politics.

The joint statement released by China and Russia came out just the opening ceremony began, with both Putin and Xi in the stands. Credit:Sputnik

In the strongest statement between the two countries in half a century, the two leaders said there would no longer be any forbidden areas of co-operation between the two powers and their alliance was now superior to the Cold-War era.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have been told that the cameras that had been set up in the bathrooms were about the size of two 20-cent pieces, with the capacity to record for about two hours but not to transmit. The cameras used were not permanently installed, staff have been told, but its unclear for how long and with what frequency they were being placed near womens toilets and showers.

Thamsongsana worked on the ground floor of the embassy and did not have access to the restricted area of the building, which is on another level. But Australian and Thai staff at the mission, where more than 250 people work, have been rocked by the security and privacy breach and the prospect that female employees were secretly recorded.

Staff were informed about the filming in bathrooms the morning following Thamsongsanas arrest and counsellors and psychologists were brought in soon after.

Employees have also since been taken in groups into the bathrooms to show them where the cameras were suspected of being positioned.

Thamsongsana, who was held overnight in a remand centre in Bangkok last month, before being released on bail, has since emailed dozens of women at the embassy, imploring them not to proceed with their complaints against him and offering them compensation, the Herald and The Age has been told.
London: A ministerial ally of Chancellor Rishi Sunak has rebuked Boris Johnson and said that the behaviour of staff in Downing Street during lockdown was indefensible.

John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said yesterday that the culture in Downing Street fell short of what the country had a right to expect, adding that he had personally told the Prime Minister how frustrated and let down we all feel.

Two more Tory MPs - Aaron Bell and Nick Gibb - have announced that they had submitted letters of no-confidence in the Prime Minister.

At least five more parliamentary colleagues have either criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson in public or called for him to resign in the last day. Credit:Getty Images

Gibb, the former schools minister, wrote in the London Telegraph: We need to face up to hard truths. To restore trust we need to change the Prime Minister.
Washington: The Republican Party has officially declared the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and events that led to it legitimate political discourse, formally rebuking two politicians in the party who have been most outspoken in condemning the deadly riot and the role of former president Donald Trump in spreading the election lies that fuelled it.

The Republican National Committees overwhelming voice vote to censure Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois at its winter meeting in Salt Lake City culminated more than a year of vacillation, which started with party leaders condemning the Capitol attack and Trumps conduct, then shifted to downplaying and denying it.

Republican chairwoman Ronna McDaniel at the National Committee Meeting in Salt Lake City where the censure was passed on a strong show of voices. Credit:AP

On Friday (Saturday AEDT), the party went further in a resolution slamming Cheney and Kinzinger for taking part in the House investigation of the assault, saying they were participating in persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.

It was an extraordinary statement about the deadliest attack on the Capitol in 200 years, in which a mob of Trumps supporters stormed the complex, brutalising police officers and sending politicians into hiding. Nine people died in connection with the attack, and more than 150 officers were injured. The party passed the resolution without discussion and almost without dissent.
GRAND ISLAND  Joe Terrazas and his pushcart cover a lot of miles every day.

Terrazas, also known as Jose, is a familiar figure around Grand Island.

Terrazas works in conjunction with Los Hermanos, a popular restaurant at 602 W. Fourth St.

From his cart, he sells snacks that are sometimes called Mexican wheel chips. Those snacks, in the shape of a wagon wheel, are usually enjoyed with lime juice or hot sauce. Toddlers enjoy them plain, Terrazas said.

He also sells frozen treats, including a creamy snack called bolis. Popular flavors include coconut and rompope (egg nog). Also available are Fruitopia frozen bars.

Terrazas, 66, sets out each morning from Los Hermanos. During the day, he swings past schools, such as Wasmer and Lincoln Elementary, and various neighborhoods. On Sundays, he makes a stop at St. Marys Cathedral.

The frozen treats are called paletas. The Spanish term for his cart is carrito de paletas.

Sometimes, he rings a bell. In any language, that means the ice cream man is coming, signaling youngsters to ask their parents for money.

Los Hermanos is owned by brothers Augustin and Rodrigo Sanchez.

Augustin Sanchez says Terrazas has a gift for selling the street snacks.

He knows what hes doing, he knows where to go, he has the style to do it, Sanchez said.

Terrazas is good at getting peoples attention, Sanchez said.

Terrazas and Sanchez refer to the Mexican wheel chips as crackers, churros or duros. They are made with wheat, which Terrazas says is healthier than flour or corn.

The crackers, purchased from a supplier, are cooked each day at the restaurant.

A bag costs $4. The frozen treats sell for $2.25 or $2.50.

Terrazas works six days a week. He and the restaurant take Mondays off.

When the Sanchez brothers took over in 2017, Los Hermanos was mostly a small grocery store. But it has evolved into more of a restaurant.

For cooking guidance, the brothers turned to their mother, who makes three-month visits from Mexico.

The Los Hermanos specialties include Tacos Tijuana, Taco La Isla, Burrito California and a surf and turf plate.

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Anna May Martin, 79, of Waynesburg, passed away Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at the Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital Jean Waddle Care Center. Private Services will be held. Morris & Hislope Funeral Home is honored to assist the family with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed to the 
Enterprise, AL (36331)

Today

Areas of dense morning fog. Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 86F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts on Friday announced he was rescinding a directed health measure that prohibited Nebraska Medicine from performing most non-emergency elected surgeries.

Ricketts had instituted the DHM last month after Nebraska Medicine said it had instituted its crisis standards of care plan for the first time ever because of rising COVID-19 hospitalizations and a staff shortage.

But Nebraska Medicine on Friday said it plans to exit the crisis standards of care plan on Monday.

The DHM had been scheduled to run through Feb. 13, but it now will expire at 9 a.m. Monday.

Nebraska Medicine said in a news release that it has seen a decrease in admissions of COVID-19 patients and the number of staff members out due either to illness or quarantine requirements has "decreased significantly."

The number of COVID-19 patients in Omaha hospitals fell to 379 on Thursday, the lowest level since Jan. 16.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
CBS has given a pilot green light to Cal Fire, a drama from SEAL Team star Max Thieriot, Greys Anatomy alums Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Studios where the company is based. This is CBS second in-cycle drama pilot this season, joining a mother-and-son legal drama from Scott Prendergast and Dr. Phil McGraw.Cal Fire is inspired by Thieriots experiences growing up in Northern California fire country and stems from an original idea by the actor. Phelan and Rater wrote the teleplay from a story they co-wrote with Thieriot.In Cal Fire, seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence, young convict Bode Donovan joins a firefighting program that returns him to his small Northern California hometown, where he and other inmates work alongside elite firefighters to extinguish massive blazes across the region.
Washington, 5 February 2022 (SPS) - The head of U.S. diplomacy, Antony Blinken, reaffirmed Thursday the continued commitment of the United States to support the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura in the UN political process for Western Sahara.



The spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Ned Price, announced in a statement the meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, in Washington.



On this occasion, "Blinken stressed the continued commitment of the United States to support the efforts of de Mistura in leading the UN political process for Western Sahara," he said.



"The secretary and personal envoy also discussed diplomatic engagement with international partners to reinforce a credible political process that will lead to a lasting and dignified resolution of the conflict," he added.



De Mistura had toured the region between January 12 and 19, starting in Morocco, then visiting the Sahrawi refugee camps before going to Algeria and Mauritania, with the aim of examining ways to revive the political process in Western Sahara.



The tour of the Personal Envoy of the UN SG, the first of its kind since his appointment in November 2021, comes in the context of the violation by Morocco of the ceasefire agreement, signed by both parties in 1991, following the aggression carried out by the Moroccan occupation forces against defenseless Sahrawi civilians in the region of El Guerguerat on 13 November 2020.



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Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  A Florida man, who sexually assaulted a teenage girl who had gone to him to be consoled for a prior, unrelated sexual assault, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.

This is embarrassing, 51-year-old Jason Zafrin told Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton as he stood before her. I am getting therapy and trying to do the right thing and this will never happen again, guaranteed.
MILFORD  With each community in the state required to create its own affordable housing plan, Milford officials hosted a forum Wednesday on what that means for the city.

According to the state mandate, each community must have a road map to meet present and future housing needs. Milfords Development Director Julie Nash said this was first such meeting on affordable housings future in the city.

Affordable housing creation has to be a community effort, Nash said. People have to talk.

David Fink, a housing policy consultant for the South Central Regional Council of Government (SCROG), said SCROG is creating affordable housing plans for the state and has hired RKG Associates to assist in the process.

But neither SCROG nor RKG is going to create Milfords housing plan, he said. It has to be created ... by the residents of the town, by the officials all putting their heads together.

Fink said overall, when it comes to housing, people are guided by what they see on TV, and their fears are legitimate.

People who have bought a home its usually the largest check theyve ever written, and they have everything tied up in that home, he said. They have their families security, their childrens education, their retirement and quality of life. So if they are worried about what else you are going to bring into town and whether its going to be in their neighborhood, you cant blame them.

But, Fink said, homeowners fears may be based on misinformation. To guard against that, Fink said communities have to come together and talk about these types of issues.

The approach is to be inclusive and build the community together, he said. Its also important to give people choices, and then you have to decide what are the goals for your town.

When it comes to housing, Fink said people do care.

In 2010, we saw a lot of baby boomers as empty nesters, and they didnt need their house anymore, and they realized they wanted to downsize, he said. We also saw when millennials reached the home-buying and childbearing stage they had a lot of education debt. Their lifestyles did not lend themselves to single-family homes, and they wanted multifamily housing.

So by the end of 2010, there was huge demand for multifamily housing, Fink said.

And suddenly people thought about housing, and they realized they cared about it, he said.

Fink said towns want to create more multifamily housing because property tax revenue attracts future buyers, brings shoppers to town and provides workers for important jobs. In addition, if a town has housing people can afford, they dont fall into homelessness or a very insecure housing situation.

Connecticut is a very expensive housing state. Its got the sixth highest median housing price in the nation, and we are second, according to the Gini coefficient, in wealth disparity, he said.

When there is a big gap between the wealthiest people and the lowest income people in the state or town, Fink added that the wealthiest drive up the price of all business services.

In Milford, the housing prices have gone up in the last few years. So the median housing price has gone from about $250,000 to about $400,000, he said. The rule of thumb in is that families can generally afford a home three times their incomes. So if you have a median housing sales price in Milford of about $400,000, that means that only a family of about $133,000 income can buy that home.

Similarly, median gross rent in Milford is now more than $1,500, he said.

So that requires an income about more than $60,000 to afford the median gross rent in Milford, Fink said. Housing prices have gone up. Why? Because theyve been driven up by people who can afford to pay those prices. The people who lose in that situation are the low and moderate-income people.

Across the state, 48 percent of renters and 33 percent of homeowners are burdened by housing costs.

Its a little lower in Milford right now, its about 46 percent of renters, and 30 percent of homeowners are burdened by housing cost, he said. But thats still a lot of people.

About two-thirds of the towns in the state built 40 percent of their housing after 1970 because baby boomers were in their 20s, and there was a huge demand for that.

As a result, almost three-quarters of towns in the state have housing stock that is very skewed to single-family housing, about 70 percent or more, Fink said. Milford is better than other towns, and its about 74 percent single-family homes.

In Connecticut, in about 140 cities and towns, at least 20 percent of the households are ALICE households. The acronym stands for asset-limited, income-constrained, employed.

Those households are in a position where a (vehicle breakdown), mom getting hours cut at her job or any other unplanned and unforeseen expense can really put that family at risk, he said. Believe it or not, in a wonderful city like Milford, with a lot of wealthy people and a lot of services, 31 percent of households in Milford are ALICE households.

Fink said overall, Milford is doing well regarding income-restricted housing at about 5.3 percent, and the city has kept that level.

Milford has tried to add a number of multifamily units over the years and has done way better than other towns in terms of building permits, he said. In terms of renter and homeowner burden, Milford has done better by creating income restricting housing.

Fink, along with Nash, will drive around next week to do an analysis of potential locations for creating affordable housing.

We are not just going to go by zoning maps, said Fink. We are going to go and look at locations where we can do these sorts of things. So maybe there will be locations where there is existing green space or put it near a created green space, but we are also going to look at other places like along commercial strips.

The two will then meet with city officials and create a set of goals and methods for reaching those goals, he said.

A draft plan will be created by the end of March by RKG, based on those thoughts and the thoughts tonight, he said. Then the town is going to have a conversation about that, and I know having talked to Justin and Julie, they are committed to having input and comment on that draft plan.

The way to make progress when it comes to housing, Fink said Milford is doing it right by having forums, meetings and it would be good to create organizations and groups to talk about the subject more.

The more people you can bring into this, the better, he said. We at SCROG stand by to provide you with surveys, slideshows and videos. The idea is to communicate and educate people on this.
NEW CANAAN  Cheers, boos and interjections filled the auditorium at Saxe Middle School on Thursday when a public forum was held to gain insight from district parents, who felt their voices had not been heard on the issue of mask mandates in schools.

Organized by state Rep. Thomas ODea, a New Canaan resident, he and three other elected officials heard the concerns of a few dozen parents, residents, students, teachers and medical professionals.

The debate surrounded whether mandatory mask-wearing should continue in school buildings with an extension of Gov. Ned Lamonts pandemic executive orders, whether each individual school board should make that decision for their student body, or if the choice should be left to parents. The vast majority of the public in attendance were in favor of the latter.

New Canaan resident and town Planning and Zoning Alternate Commission member James Basch said the town needs to go a step beyond local control and establish parental choice.

A superintendent, or BOE, should not dictate the physical and mental health of any child with mandated masks, he said.

Fellow P&Z Commission member John Kriz reiterated the importance of face-to-face interactions and social and emotional learning as critical life skills.

It seems unarguable that masks impair everyones social and emotional learning. Is that a price worth paying? Kriz asked.

Students from New Canaan High School also chimed in. Sophomore Jacob Kosar, who was competing at a track meet during the meeting, prepared a letter that was read aloud by his father.

I think that teachers have been very lenient when it comes to masks, and I think that we should respect that they are doing the best to protect us, Kosar said in his letter. The more we respect the rules and work together the faster we can get out of the current COVID crisis and return to normal life without masks.

Another student, who did not identify himself before making his comments, said he felt bullied into doing something that is doing more harm than good and asked the elected officials to vote to end mask mandates in schools.

Dozens more individuals aimed their opinions and criticisms at the elected officials, the schools superintendent and, at times, fellow attendees.

A number of speakers were heckled or booed while speaking, forcing those leading the forum to call for order.

Boo at us, not at each other, Democratic state Sen. Will Haskell said, asking parents to demonstrate to kids in the audience that, while disagreeing, the room can still be respectful of one another. ODea also repeatedly asked the room to disagree without being disagreeable and to be respectful.

Haskell said Friday that he felt demoralized not by the way he was treated but rather the way neighbors treated each other.

Boos and jeers have no place in civic meetings like this one, he said. And it was especially surprising since there really isnt that much we actually disagree upon.

Haskell said he supports local control of school masking and that we no longer need a one-size-fits-all approach for every school district.

Republican state Sen. Ryan Fazio noted the frustrations of so many parents and kids have not been heard over a long period of time on Friday, adding it was especially important that they could be heard.

He said he fully understood the frustrations of parents, and hopes his colleagues beyond New Canaan are hearing the concerns.

I think its advantageous for me to listen more than I talk, and I always welcome the opinions of my constituents and colleagues who disagree with me, Fazio said. We are all Americans and Nutmeggers.

During the forum, state Rep. Lucy Dathan thanked the district and its staff for keeping students in the classroom, before saying she supports local control, provided that there are parameters and metrics and guidelines in place to monitor the virus.

Those parameters, she hopes, would focus on community vaccination rates and hospitilizations and not exclusively on transmission numbers.

ODea said Friday that he wished the discourse was handled with more respect, while also appreciating the passion from residents, especially parents and students.

As a district parent, ODea said his first choice would be parental control over mask-wearing in schools, and questioned whether an advisory, not mandatory, guidance from the state would be beneficial if such control was achieved.

An extension of the governors executive orders, he said, was the nuclear option and his last choice.

Citing a phone call with Lamont on Thursday, ODea said the governor is listening to the people and that forums like the one in New Canaan are integral.
Main Street Beatrice invites community members to enjoy mouthfuls of chocolate while also stimulating the local economy.

On Saturday, Feb. 5, Main Street is hosting its 12th annual Chocolate Lovers Shopping Day Extravaganza. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Morgan Fox, Main Streets new marketing and events coordinator, said the event will feature 26 businesses, which will provide participants with free chocolate during their stop.

I know a lot of [the chocolates] are being homemade, Fox said. So not just pre-packaged stuff. Theres a lot of love that is coming from our downtown businesses in putting in this extra time and effort into these homemade chocolates.

Fox has worked for Main Street for almost a full month now and said shes enjoyed exploring Beatrices downtown businesses.

My favorite part of the job so far has been the ability to just go into our local downtown businesses and see all the amazing things that theyve have here, she said. I just dont think people realize what we have in our own backyard.

Fox said the Chocolate Extravaganza is about showing those special, backyard spots to residents who might not normally visit them.

This event is a lot about getting people through the doors of our downtown businesses so they can have the exact same experience I had where I walked in and I go, Oh my gosh, I cant believe this is here,'" she said.

Its free to join in the festivities, though Main Street is limiting the experience to the first 200 participants, who must be 21 and older.

You dont have to pay anything to participate, Fox said. Youre going to come down to 620 Court Street at Vintage Venue and register with us at Main Street. Were going to give you a bag thats got some fliers, some coupons, some information. And well give you a map with all the stops on it and their addresses. Well also give you a punch card with all of our participating businesses. And then you go to each of those stops, and they have their own unique stamper. They stamp your card, and you get free chocolate.

Participants can return their stamped cards by 3:00 p.m. If they have all 26 stamps, their card will get entered into a drawing for prizes.

Individuals interested in the event can call Main Street Beatrice at 402-223-3244 for more information.

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Milton, PA (17847)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 69F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 46F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Eight regional legislators tackled numerous topics affecting businesses during a virtual roundtable forum hosted by the Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Association on Friday morning.

Taxes, the state budget, redistricting, employment and state mandates were on the agenda, but energy and efforts to reduce greenhouse gases were at the forefront of the two-hour discussion.

State Sen. John Gordner, R-27, Berwick, said that there is nothing more prominent now than the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which has a number of Northeast states involved.

Up to this point, there is no energy producing state that is a part of it, he said. Pennsylvania would be the first.

The initiative would come at a substantial expense to energy producers, and they will pass those costs onto businesses and the consumer, Gordner said. As such, there is a bipartisan effort in the Senate and House to combat this, he said.

Gordner pointed to Virginia, one of the states involved in RGGI, where the governor attempted to pull out of the compact. Under RGGI, businesses and industries were to buy an estimated $120 million in credits, with $227 million needed to be bought  almost double the estimate, he said.

That's a huge concern for us, because I think the estimates in Pennsylvania are somewhere around $400 million, Gordner said. So, if we came in double of that, that would be an $800 million tax on our businesses and industries.

The House and Senate passed a resolution saying that only the Legislature could enter into the compact and not the governor by executive order, Gordner said, and Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed it last month.

An effort is underway to override the governor's veto, he said.

State Sen. Dave Argall, R-29, Rush Twp., said the governor has vetoed more bills than any governor since Milton Shapp, and stirred up opposition in the business community and building trades.

In western Pennsylvania, it's thought that this policy will just devastate many of their local economies, Argall said. So, people have tried to band together to take on this executive order.

A participant asked the legislators about the effect on those living on fixed incomes, such as the elderly. Gordner, again using Virginia as an example, said the state had to spend $46 million to help residents with increased energy costs the same year that they saw those credits double as a result of RGGI.

When it was passed, they said that consumers would not see much of an impact, Gordner said. What they saw instead was that energy prices obviously increased because when you're buying these credits, you're passing that cost on to either businesses or the consumer.

The numbers cited were from 2019, which was pre-COVID, he said.

State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-118, Avoca, the only Democrat on the panel, said that in his opinion, climate change is real and something needs to be done about it.

The governor, in absence of any other legislative solution to combat climate change, chose this route, and it is likely because Democrats and Republicans are unable to work together in Harrisburg, Carroll said.

The inability for compromise and agreements among the parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, the House and the Senate, has really sidelined the ability to even do modest change, he said. And when it comes to governing in Harrisburg at this point in time, there's not a whole lot that we do.

Gordner noted that Pennsylvania has actually exceeded the reductions in emissions than those of the states in RGGI, and one of the reasons why is nuclear power. He noted that he can see the steam plumes from the nuclear power plant in Salem Twp. from his front door, and it is a zero-emissions producing plant.

I think it was 12 or 13 years that RGGI has been in existence, that without being in RGGI, we've actually exceeded those states in the amount of emissions reductions, Gordner said.

State Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-124, Rush Twp., said Pennsylvania wants to solve the problems of the world, but other countries are doing what they want in regard to producing greenhouse gases.

RGGI is something that is going to devastate Pennsylvania, particularly the area where we live, he said.

Legislators also discussed the state budget, which Gov. Wolf will reveal next week. Knowles said the state doesn't have a revenue problem, but a spending problem.

I'm more than willing to look at at the governor's budget when he introduces it, Knowles said. I just don't want to go spending crazy.

Reps. Joe Kerwin, R-125, Lykens, and Karen Boback, R-117, Harvey's Lake, agreed.

Other legislators on the panel included state Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-122, Lower Towamensing Twp., and state Rep. Tim Twardzik, R-123, Butler Twp. (Schuylkill County.)

The legislators thanked the association for the opportunity to discuss issues that affect businesses and consumers, and invited the more than 70 people in attendance to signup for online newsletters and to watch some of the state proceedings, many of which are streamed online.
BELGRADE  Firefighters from all over Gallatin County worked to put out a grain elevator fire in downtown Belgrade on Friday morning.

Teams of firefighters could be seen spraying water onto the Columbia Grain Facility in downtown Belgrade from high atop crane lift ladders around 10 a.m. on Friday.

The main building appeared to be a total loss, according to Central Valley Fire District Interim Fire Marshal Jake Zlomie. He could not confirm the extent of the damage to grain bins near the elevator.

The fire could be seen smoldering at 110 Northern Pacific Avenue throughout Friday morning. It kicked up a stream of smoke that drifted across Belgrade beneath the views of the Bridger Mountains.

Multiple parties first reported the fire to dispatch at around 7:08 a.m., Zlomie said.

Crews from Central Valley Fire District, Bozeman Fire, Big Sky Fire Department, Hyalite Rural Fire District, Amsterdam Fire Department, Livingston Fire Department and Gallatin Gateway Fire Department were called in. So was an American Medical Response team.

As of Friday morning, no one had been injured in the fire, according to Zlomie. Montana Highway Patrol deployed a drone to help crews assess hot spots throughout the area. Several streets in the area, including Northern Pacific Avenue, were blocked off.

A Montana state fire marshal was called in to investigate the cause, along with the Belgrade Police Department and Gallatin County Sheriffs Office, Zlomie said.

The Belgrade News reported Friday that the elevator was 102 years old and was originally in Springhill. It was moved to Belgrade in 1973.

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Best No-Exam Insurance Bestow Our Partner Company Highlight: Full online process

Term Coverage: 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, 25-year, 30-year

Death Benefit: $50,000 to $1.5 million

AM Best Rating: A+

Policies Offered: Term See An Estimate Best Guaranteed Coverage Ethos Our Partner Company Highlight: A whole life insurance policy is available for those between 65-85 years of age

Term Coverage: 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, 30-year

Death Benefit: $20,000 to $2 million

AM Best Rating: A

Policies Offered: Term, Whole See An Estimate Best Online Broker Policygenius Our Partner Company Highlight: Compare quotes in one place

Term Coverage: Depends on the insurer

Death Benefit: Depends on the insurer

AM Best Rating: Only offers policies from companies that have an A.M. Best rating of A- or better

Policies Offered: Term, Whole See An Estimate Best Term Life Insurance Haven Life Our Partner Company Highlight: Final quote comes 7-10 days after completing the medical exam

Term Coverage: 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, 25-year or 30-year

Death Benefit: $100,000 to $3 million

AM Best Rating: A++

Policies Offered: Term See An Estimate Best for Flexible Coverage Ladder Our Partner Company Highlight: Premiums start at just $5/month

Term Coverage: 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, 30- year term

Death Benefit: $100,000 to $3 million

AM Best Rating: A++

Policies Offered: Term, Whole, Universal, Variable Universal See An Estimate

If youre the main provider for your family, and are worried about their financial future if you were to die, a life insurance policy can provide peace of mind.

Life insurance can help your family cover burial expenses, education costs for your children, loss of income or any other financial need.

Below, youll find our selection of the best life insurance companies for February 2022. Weve called out their distinctions, along the various types of policies and premiums they provide.

Our Top Picks for Best Life Insurance Companies

With a Life Insurance policy you can take care of your family the right way. Should anything happen to you, you'll want to leave your loved ones a financial nest egg for their wellbeing. Click on your state to find out more.

Best Life Insurance Companies Reviews

Best No-Exam Life Insurance: Bestow

Our Partner

Why we chose it: Bestow issues term life insurance more quickly and easily than most companies, and it offers an unusually high death benefit for policies that do not require a medical examination.

Pros

High coverage (up to $1.5 million) without a medical exam

Online application and quick processing

Terms range from 10 to 30 years

Long (30-day) free look period

Cons

No riders available

Sells only one type of life insurance, term insurance

Must be less than 60 to qualify for coverage

Policies not available to residents of New York

Bestow is our choice for individuals that want to get life insurance coverage but dont want to go through the hassle of a medical exam. The company sells simplified issue term insurance policies (and only those), so you can apply online and purchase a policy without visiting a doctor or having tests such as bloodwork done. You can get up to $1.5 million in coverage, which is a higher maximum than for many other no-exam policies.

The company uses your personal information and your answers about your medical history, hobbies and lifestyle to determine your eligibility for life insurance and your rates. Bestow claims you can get a quote and purchase a policy within minutes, all online.

Bestow policies are issued by top-rated insurer North American Company for Life and Health Insurance. Additionally, life insurance from Bestow is now embedded into Lemonades app and website. Bestow also offers a comprehensive library of helpful information.

Best Guaranteed Coverage: Ethos

Our Partner

Why we chose it: Ethos stands out for accommodating a wide range of potential applicants, including those who may have struggled to qualify for insurance in the past  such as older individuals. Also, prospective customers can receive a quote within minutes without needing to talk to an insurance agent.

Pros

Sells term and permanent coverage

Guaranteed issue policies available

Quotes and application process entirely online

Accelerated death benefit rider included on most policies

Cons

Little information publicly available about optional riders

Limited permanent life insurance options

Ethos offers three types of underwriting:

Simplified issue: Simplified issue policies require you to answer questions about your health and medical history, but medical exams are not necessary.

Guaranteed issue: With guaranteed issue policies, you cannot be denied based on your medical history or health.

Fully underwritten: Fully underwritten policies require medical exams and bloodwork.

Ethos uses either simplified issue and fully underwritten methodology for its term policies, and guaranteed issue underwriting for its whole life insurance policies (no company we know of offers term policies with guaranteed coverage).

The guaranteed issue whole life policy is available to individuals between 65 and 85. Applicants can obtain instant approval for up to $25,000 of coverage, regardless of their medical history.

Most include an accelerated death benefit rider that allows policyholders to tap into a portion of their benefits if theyre diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Best Online Broker: Policygenius

Our Partner

Why we chose it: As a comprehensive online life insurance marketplace, Policygenius offers one-stop access to both term and whole life policies from a wide range of partners. Unlike some other comparison sites, this one pledges not to sell your information to third parties.

Pros

Quickly and easily compare quotes from multiple insurers

Agents don't work on commission, the company says

Multiple types of insurance available

Cons

Online quotes are not available for all providers

Takes more time than some other options to get a final price

Policygenius takes the top spot as the best comparison tool and broker for its satisfying provision of one-stop shopping from a range of insurers. Policygeniuss partners include such names as AIG, Banner Life, Brighthouse, John Hancock, Lincoln Financial, Mutual of Omaha, Pacific Life, Principal, Protective, Prudential, SBLI and Transamerica.

This online marketplace also offers an extensive library of educational resources for those new to life insurance, including recommendations for life insurance for people who suffer from depression and diabetes. Coupled with its broad range of coverage options such as term or permanent coverage policies, these resources make Policygenius a standout option for comparing life insurance quotes.

If you need help choosing the right policy or coverage amount, PolicyGenius agents can give you personalized assistance. They are paid by salary rather than commission, the company says, so they arent incentivized to oversell or to direct you to certain products that may earn them a higher commission.

Best for Term Life Insurance: Haven Life

Our Partner

Why we chose it: Haven Life provides an unusually wide range of term life insurance options, including plans with especially high death benefits. Its plans also come with additional perks such as online services to create a will.

Pros

Offers two types of term policies: Haven Term and Simplified Issue

Haven Simplified Issue doesn't require a medical exam

Up to $3 million in term coverage

Haven Term includes Haven Plus with perks and discounts

Cons

Medical exams required for over $500,000 of coverage

Simplified issue policy not available in CA, DE, SD, ND or NY

Haven Plus not available in FL, NY, ND, SD, and WA

Policies cannot replace another life insurance policy

Haven Life gets our nod for the best term insurance coverage because of its impressive array (10-, 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-year) of policy terms, along with coverage amounts that range from $100,000 to $3 million.

Haven Life offers two types of term life insurance policies: Haven Term and Haven Simple. Haven Term includes Haven Life Plus, a rider that provides access to an online service to develop a will or trust, fitness and sleep tracking apps and an online storage vault for important documents.

Applicants who are younger than 64 can get up to $3 million of coverage through Haven Term. Haven Simple is only available for applicants aged 20-55 and includes the Accelerated Death Benefit rider.

Best for Flexible Coverage: Ladder

Our Partner

Why we chose it: True to its name, Ladders appeal is in its adjustability. As your needs change, you can increase or decrease your coverage. Also, its premiums start at only $5 a month, so you can purchase a policy even if youre on a tight budget.

Pros

Term coverage can be adjusted over time

$100,000 to $8 million in term coverage available

30-day free look period, rather than the 10-day norm

No medical exams for most

Cons

Plans limited to people between 20 and 60

Only term coverage is available

No optional riders

Despite writing only term policies for relatively young applicants, Ladder is the best flexible insurance option weve found. It uses a simple three-step online application and offers affordable policies that start at $5/month. The company also doesnt charge any cancellation fees, which means you can cancel your coverage any time, with no strings attached.

Another appealing feature for Ladder is that, unlike other insurers, it allows policyholders to change their coverage amount online at any time  with corresponding changes in premiums, of course. This perk can help policyholders maintain an affordable policy at all times, and might be especially attractive to those worried about possible changes in their financial circumstances down the road.

Best for Customer Satisfaction and Stability: State Farm

Why we chose it: If a satisfying consumer experience is paramount for you, State Farm should be a leading option. It has an excellent reputation for customer service, along with an outstanding record for financial stability.

Pros

Top-ranked company for customer satisfaction

Low number of customer complaints

Multiple policy options

Simplified-issue (no exam) policies available

Cons

Online quotes not available for all policy options

Most policies require medical exams

No discounts if bundled with homeowners or auto insurance

State Farm is a leading insurance company, and our pick for the best insurer for customer satisfaction and reliability. In 2021, it was ranked by J.D. Power as the top life insurance company based on consumer responses. It beat out 21 other life insurance companies based on its product offerings, communication, pricing and customer interactions.

The company has an A++ (superior) rating from AM Best  the highest rating possible  indicating that its very financially stable. And, State Farm received fewer complaints than is expected for a company of its size.

State Farm sells term, whole and universal life insurance policies. Although most of its plans require medical exams, it does have some simplified-issue options.

Best for Permanent Life Insurance: New York Life

Why we chose it: New York Life insurance options include both term and permanent life insurance policies, and its term policies include a conversion option if you decide you want permanent coverage later on. It also underwrites AARPs life insurance program.

Pros

Multiple term, whole and universal life plans available

Several optional riders can be added to policies

Highly rated company

Potential to earn dividends

Cons

Must work with an agent

No online quotes available

While it also sells term life insurance, New York Life is an especially good choice for those seeking a permanent life insurance policy  which will be more costly but accumulate a cash value in addition to its death benefit. The company offers multiple permanent options, including whole, universal and variable universal life insurance plans. It also has several optional riders you can add to plans to customize your coverage.

New York Life has a strong reputation, and, because its a mutual insurance company, its policyholders own part of the companys shares. Depending on the type of policy you have, you may be eligible to receive dividends.

However, New York Life doesnt allow customers to get quotes online. For details on its policies and rates, you have to work with an agent.

Best for Bundling Discounts: Nationwide

Why we chose it: Its relatively rare to get a break on your life insurance rates by bundling it with other types of coverage a company offers, but Nationwide offers such discounts. It writes term, whole life and universal policies, and has strong ratings for customer satisfaction and financial stability.

Pros

Discounts available when bundled with homeowners or auto insurance

Multiple insurance plans and optional riders

Cons

All policies require medical exams

Most policies must be purchased through agents

Nationwide is a leading insurance company that is well-regarded by third parties like AM Best, which rates financial stability, and J.D. Power, which scores customer satisfaction. It offers multiple life insurance options, including term, whole and universal life coverage. It also has several optional riders you can use to adjust your policy to your needs.

Although Nationwides policies usually have to be purchased through an agent, the company does have a major perk over other companies: it offers a multi-policy discount when you bundle life insurance with homeowners and auto insurance, making your premiums more affordable.

Best for Policy Customization: Northwestern Mutual

Our Partner

Why we chose it: Insurance riders allow you to get coverage for loved ones, access your benefits under special circumstances or even waive your premiums if you become ill. Northwestern Mutual has more optional riders available than most insurers, allowing you to customize your policy as you like.

Pros

Lengthy list of optional riders

Multiple policy options

Potential to earn dividends

Highly rated by third parties

Cons

Policies must be purchased through agents

Medical exams required for most

Limited online quote tools

Like most insurers, Northwestern Mutual offers a broad range of life insurance types, including term, whole, universal and variable universal life insurance. Its distinction in its long list of riders that, when added to your policy, allow you to extend and customize your coverage to meet your unique needs.

As a mutual company, Northwestern Mutual also pays dividends to policyholders. If you purchase insurance through the company, you could be eligible for annual dividend payments.

Northwestern Mutual is a reputable company that is usually listed at the top of industry rankings. It was third out of 21 companies in the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, and its historically received fewer complaints than is typical for a company of its size.

Other life insurance companies we considered

Lemonade

Lemonade is not part of our top insurers because of its limited insurance offerings. It also lacks information about riders and policies on its website.

Pros

Premiums start from $9/mo

Completely online application

Full refund if you cancel within the first 30 days

Cons

Only people aged 18-60 can apply

Term life is not available in NY

If you have heart disease or cancer it's unlikely that you'll be approved by this insurer

Sproutt

Sproutt didnt make it into our main list because its Quality of Life underwriting has very specific qualifications, indicating that its policies target a narrow and specific audience. Also, the companys website lacks information about insurance coverage, riders and term options.

Pros

Options available for those who identify as non-binary

Uses technology to match people with the right policy coverage

Uses Quality of Life Index to underwrite policies

Cons

No phone assistance over the weekend

Coverage may be denied if you're in poor health or have a high BMI

No-exam policies may be denied if you've filed for bankruptcy

Health IQ

Broker Health IQ is not part of our main list, in part because its online service is more limited than some, and its website offers less detailed information than is the norm, too. (We note, though, that the company partners with over 25 national insurers, including Prudential, Mutual of Omaha, and Transamerica, and terms, policies and riders depend on the provider the customer selects.)

Pros

Compare rates from 30 different carriers

Licensed agents guide you through the process

Offers membership rewards program

Cons

Online quotes require that users agree to calls from agents

Must have a healthy lifestyle or pass a quiz to qualify for better rates

MassMutual

MassMutual is not part of our main list because even though it has a wide selection of life insurance policies, its policies have few or no optional riders.

Pros

Young and/or healthy applicants may not need a medical exam

Offer two whole life policies with long term care riders

Direct Term life insurance can be purchased immediately online

Cons

No conversion options for some policies

You can only earn dividends with a whole life insurance policy

Few or no policy riders

Guardian Life

Guardian Life didnt make it to our main list because of its below-average JD Power rating and the limited riders available for its policies.

Pros

Online quotes and account management

Policies available for people with HIV

Cons

Must apply (and cancel) through an agent

Doesn't offer no-exam (guaranteed issue) policies

Term life options are basic

USAA

USAA isnt part of our main list because its only available for military members and their families. Though it isnt included in JD Powers latest study of customer satisfaction or rated by rating agencies, the company has a strong record in this regard, including favorable complaints records with insurance regulators.

Pros

Military members can get coverage during war

Offer survivor support

High cap on the value of their policies

Cons

Medical exam required for all policies

Some policies unavailable in New York

Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha didnt make our list because its premiums are higher than industry norms for applicants who are healthy and/or older. Application and processing times are also slower than those of some other insurance providers.

Pros

Offers online quotes

Affordable underwriting for health conditions, including cancer

Offers a whole life insurance policy for children

Cons

Policies for individuals in good health are pricier than average

Must apply to discover whether a medical exam is required

Sparse website resources

New York residents have limited options

Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual is not part of our main list, in part because other companies on our main list provide more detailed information about policies and offer a larger array of term insurance options.

Pros

Immediate online approval for Passport Term (simplified issue insurance)

Continuing coverage once the term ends

Cons

Monthly premiums are higher than average

No detailed information about policies on the website

A proper life insurance policy will protect your loved ones from the unexpected. No time like the present to get on the estate planning path. Do it right with life insurance and take care of your family. Click below for more information.

Life Insurance Guide

We created this life insurance guide to answer questions related to life insurance, its different policy types, and policy options to help you select the best life insurance policy.

What is life insurance?

Life insurance is a contract between a policyholder and an insurer, in which the latter guarantees to pay a sum of money to the life insurance beneficiary upon his or her death. This sum of money, known as the death benefit, is funded by premium payments made by the insured throughout their lifetime.

How does life insurance work?

Life insurance is meant to protect dependents and loved ones from financial hardship upon the death of a primary breadwinner. Yet, life insurance is not exclusively available for adults and the elderly. Many companies also offer life insurance for children, which can cover any expenses in the case of death, help with future insurability and provide economic support through the cash value component of the policy.

At its most basic, life insurance has two main components, a death benefit and a premium.

The death benefit , also called the face value, refers to the lump sum of money the insurer agrees to pay out to named beneficiaries upon the policyholders death.

, also called the face value, refers to the lump sum of money the insurer agrees to pay out to named beneficiaries upon the policyholders death. Premiums are payments made by the policyholder to the insurer in exchange for the policy. Life insurance premiums are determined by the insureds projected life expectancy. High-risk individuals, or those who purchase larger death benefit amounts or a permanent life insurance policy, generally pay higher premiums.

Permanent and whole life insurance policies also include a cash value component that can serve two functions:

As a savings account in which cash accumulates on a tax-deferred basis, and which the insured can usually access during their lifetime. Some policies may restrict withdrawals, depending on how the withdrawn money will be used.

As a way to cover the policys premiums or to purchase additional coverage.

Its important to note that the cash value is a living benefit that stays with the insurance company when the policyholder dies. Any outstanding loans against it will reduce the policys death benefit.

What are the different types of life insurance?

The different types of life insurance are:

Term life insurance : This lasts for a predetermined period (commonly 10, 15 or 20 years), and then it expires

Whole life insurance: A policy that covers the insured for the duration of their life as long as the premiums are paid. It includes a guaranteed cash value component, and fixed monthly premiums

Universal life insurance: Similar to whole life, this protects the insured for the duration and their life as long as premiums are paid, and it includes a cash value component. The cash value component in this policy is not guaranteed and it will fluctuate with the market

No-exam life insurance allows you to get the coverage you need without leaving the comfort of your own home. Getting quality term life insurance shouldn't be a hassle. Skip the doctor's appointment and get the coverage you need today! Just click below to get a free quote.

What is the difference between term, whole and universal life insurance policies?

Term Life Whole Life Universal Life There are two main types: level term and convertible term There are four main types of universal life insurance: traditional or non-guaranteed, indexed, and variable life There are four main types: traditional or non-guaranteed, indexed and variable life The death benefit is paid to your designated beneficiaries as a lump sum, in installments or as an annuity Policyholders can access the savings component during their lifetime and receive annual dividend payments on the policy Premium payments and cash value influence the value of the policy. It doesnt receive annual dividend payments A lump sum payout means that your beneficiary receives the whole benefit at once. To annuitize, the payment is spread out into fixed installments Policyholders can make payments over the premium and accumulate more Allows policyholders to increase or decrease the death benefit amount, within limits

Both whole and universal are considered permanent life insurance policies, meaning they can last a persons lifetime.

If youre not sure which is best for you, check out our in-depth analysis on term vs whole life insurance.

Life Insurance Glossary

Common life insurance terms

Underwriting Insurance companies use underwriting guidelines to determine how much your policy will cost based on your health and family history, among other factors. They do so by classifying policyholders into risk pools. The higher the risk, the higher the premium. Beneficiary The person, organization or charity that receives the life insurance payout (death benefit). Rider Coverage add-ons to your policy at an increased price, such as an accelerated death benefit, chronic illness, long-term care or return of premium. Disclaimer When a beneficiary declines to receive or fails to claim the proceeds of a policy. In such cases, the death benefit goes to the remaining beneficiaries. If there are no other beneficiaries, the death benefit goes to the insureds estate. Death benefit The amount the beneficiaries receive from a life insurance policy, as long as the insured died when the policy was in effect. Contestability period The first two years of your policy. The life insurance company can review your policy during this period of time and refuse to pay a claim if they find out the insured has committed fraud. Cost of Insurance (COI) Part of Universal Life Insurance policies, COI is the minimum premium amount that must be paid to keep the policy active and includes mortality costs, administrative fees, and other expenses.

Latest News on Life Insurance

With so many types of insurance out there, you might be wondering what type of insurance do you really need. If that is the case, our Dollar Scholar writer Julia Glum contacted the Insurance Information Institutes Mark Friedlander for help. Click on the previous link to learn more.

Did you know that life insurance can provide support in more ways than one? You might be able to use life insurance as collateral for a loan. To learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of collateral assignment, click on the previous link to learn more.

Finally, are you interested in coverage to help reimburse your care needs during the last years of your life? Long-term care insurance can pay for it. Check out our selection of the best long-term care insurance and find out if and when you should purchase one of these policies.

Life Insurance Companies FAQ

How much life insurance do I need?

There's no such thing as a hard and fast rule for figuring out a price tag on your life insurance needs and peace of mind. Still, a basic starting point is to determine your financial obligations and future and final expenses, and then to subtract any liquid asset you may have.

In any case, it's a good idea to consider life insurance within a larger financial context. If you can, it's a good idea to talk over your life insurance needs with a financial advisor.

How does life insurance work?

Life insurance is a policy taken out on your life and paid out in the event of your death, in order to protect those that depend on you financially. The proceeds can serve to pay your final medical expenses or funeral expenses, or be used to set a trust fund for your children's tuition, in estate planning or to pay off remaining debt and mortgages.

What is the difference between term and whole life insurance?

The main difference between term and whole life insurance is that the former type of policy only lasts for a set period (its term). In contrast, a whole or permanent policy covers a policyholder for (essentially) their entire lifespan.

How much is life insurance per month?

The cost of a life insurance policy will depend on various factors including the type of policy and amount of coverage. The monthly premium will also depend on the applicant's age, gender, lifestyle, and overall health. According to Haven Life, a 35-year-old non-smoking male, living in NY, in good health, will pay around a $30 monthly premium for a 20-year term life insurance policy with a $500,000 death benefit.

What is the best life insurance?

There's no one best life insurance policy or company for everybody. Your choices regarding life insurance will depend on your needs and how you plan to use the policy. That said, we selected Northwestern Mutual as our best insurer overall.

A proper life insurance policy will protect your loved ones from the unexpected. No time like the present to get on the estate planning path. Do it right with life insurance and take care of your family. Click below for more information.

How We Chose the Best Life Insurance Companies

As part of our methodology to come up with our list of top life insurance companies, we looked at:

The ability to pay claims on time

Customer experience and product offerings

Customer satisfaction and ratings reported in J.D. Powers latest U.S. Life Insurance Satisfaction Study, and the A.M. Best financial strength ratings

The number of complaints regarding their individual life insurance policies, based on National Association of Insurance (NAIC) data

The selection of insurance plans and related products

Simplicity of underwriting

Summary of Moneys Best Life Insurance Companies of February 2022

 Copyright 2021 Ad Practitioners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This article originally appeared on Money.com and may contain affiliate links for which Money receives compensation. Opinions expressed in this article are the author's alone, not those of a third-party entity, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed. Offers may be subject to change without notice. For more information, read Moneys full disclaimer.
PARIS  Reporters Without Borders has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in France over hate speech and false information, the global media watchdog said in a statement on Tuesday.

RSF said that in a lawsuit filed with the public prosecutor in Paris on Monday, it accuses Facebook of allowing large-scale proliferation of hate speech  notably against journalists  and false information despite promises to provide a safe online environment.

Using expert analyzes, personal testimony and statements from former Facebook employees, RSFs lawsuit demonstrates that ... it (Facebook) allows disinformation and hate speech to flourish on its network ... contrary to the claims made in its terms of service and through its ads, RSF said.

A Facebook France spokesman said he could not immediately comment on the RSF initiative.

RSF said that a court ruling against Facebook in France had the potential to have a global impact and that it was considering filing similar lawsuits in other countries.

It added that the suit concerned Facebook France and Facebook Ireland and is based on the French consumer code, under which companies using deceptive commercial practices can be liable to fines of up to 10% of annual turnover.
SATURDAY, Feb. 5, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- If your baby has a cough, you might immediately think it's COVID-19, but coughing is a common wintertime symptom, a pediatrician says.

Dr. Mona Patel of Children's Hospital Los Angeles offers some advice on what to do when your baby develops a cough.

Congestion and postnasal drip will worsen the cough, especially during naps or at night during sleep, so try to keep nasal passages as clear as possible.

A cool-mist humidifier in your child's bedroom will help moisten airways to reduce the coughing caused by postnasal drip.

Give your child lots of liquids such as water or juice. Warm, decaffeinated tea may also help ease the tickle that triggers coughing. If your child doesn't want a drink, try a popsicle, Patel suggested in a hospital news release.

A spoonful of honey before bed can coat the throat and alleviate soreness. However, never give honey to children younger than 1 year old, and it's not recommended for children under 2 years old. In younger babies, honey can cause botulism, a life-threatening illness.

Children's Tylenol or ibuprofen can keep babies with a fever comfortable. Never give your toddler cough or cold medicines. They aren't effective for young children and can cause dangerous side effects, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.

For little ones who can't blow their noses yet, use nasal saline drops and a bulb aspirator to suction a runny nose.

Patel recommended consulting your child's doctor if the cough doesn't improve, or in these situations:

Onset of cough within the first few weeks of life.



Cough with fever lasting more than five days.

A cough lasting for eight weeks.

A cough getting worse by the third week.

Associated difficulty in breathing or labored breathing.

Night sweats, weight loss, coughing up blood.

A wet or dry, hacking cough without wheezing or fast breathing, day or night.

A cough and stuffy nose that persist for more than 10 days without improving.

Testing is the only way to tell if a child's cough is caused by COVID. Whether or not you think your child has COVID-19, if they are having difficulty breathing, are unresponsive or unable to eat or drink, seek immediate medical care, Patel said.

More information

For more on coughs, go to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

SOURCE: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, news release, Jan. 31, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a case challenging a new gun law opponents say bars police from helping enforce certain federal firearms laws.

The Second Amendment Preservation Act, which went into effect in August, declares invalid many federal gun regulations that dont have an equivalent in Missouri law, including statutes covering weapons registration and tracking, and possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders.

Local departments are barred from enforcing them, or risk being sued for $50,000 by private citizens who believe their Second Amendment rights have been violated.

Missouri police are also prohibited from giving material aid and support to federal agents and prosecutors in enforcing those invalid laws on law-abiding citizens  defined as those who Missouri law permits to have a gun.

SAPA, which was sponsored by Sen. Eric Burlison, R-Battlefield, and Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, has emerged as a major factor in the widening split between law enforcement and backers of increasingly liberal gun laws in Missouri.

The case before the high court on Monday involves a lawsuit brought by St. Louis and the states two most populous counties.

In written arguments to the high court appealing a Cole County circuit court ruling, attorneys for St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County argue SAPA has caused disruptions in federal-state law enforcement cooperation in Missouri.

Violent crime involving the use of firearms is an endemic problem in Missouri, and the problem is particularly acute in St. Louis and Kansas City, the attorneys wrote. The participation of plaintiffs law enforcement officers in federal task forces is important in suppressing violent crime.

The attorneys for the city and the two counties also say the law could put them at risk of the $50,000 penalty if they hire certain former federal agents or police officers.

This section also seeks to limit plaintiffs ability to hire as county or city officers former officers from other jurisdictions within or outside Missouri who participated in any law enforcement activity with federal authorities that incidentally or intentionally involved enforcing federal gun laws, and it imposes penalties if plaintiffs hire or retain such individuals, the brief notes. This is exactly the sort of micromanagement of constitutional charter cities and counties that the Constitution forbids.

In supporting the law, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, dismisses that interpretation of the law.

It just says that people who have knowingly violated fundamental civil rights should not be hired by political subdivisions, Schmitt wrote in the states brief. All SAPA penalizes is knowingly hiring a class of people who have knowingly violated Missourians fundamental rights.

House Bill 85 was approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly as a preemptive strike against future gun control measures from Democratic President Joe Bidens administration.

In response, the law prompted several Missouri agencies to halt common practices that involve working with the federal government. Some police have complained the laws open-ended wording leaves them vulnerable to lawsuits for a wide variety of actions that may only tangentially involve federal personnel, or firearms.

Police departments statewide have withdrawn officers from partnerships with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives. Some departments have cut off the bureau from ballistics information and other evidence in shootings, federal officials say.

Police departments have raised concerns about whether they can run reports of a stolen gun or other weapons-related crimes through the National Crime Information Center, a U.S. Department of Justice database. Some departments argue entering information about any gun-related crimes could be construed as helping the federal government track weapons.

Justice Department opposition

In a brief supporting the city and counties, Justice Department lawyers said the law poses a clear and substantial threat to public safety.

Since taking effect, the law has already seriously impaired the federal governments ability to combat violent crime in Missouri. Owing directly to H.B. 85, dozens of state and local agencies (including the Missouri State Highway Patrol) felt compelled to withdraw from established partnerships with federal law enforcement; many state and local officials are no longer sharing information with their federal counterparts or contributing to federally administered databases; and the state crime lab is no longer processing evidence in aid of investigation of federal firearms offenses, the department wrote.

The Justice Department said the law has caused considerable harm to longstanding information-sharing relationships.

In some localities, federal agents are now required to issue subpoenas for information that is ordinarily available upon informal request. These disruptions to the flow of vital information between previously cooperative agencies frustrates the work of federal, state, and local law enforcement alike, the department wrote.

Gun rights groups also have weighed in on the case. Kansas City attorney Edward Greim, writing on behalf of the Missouri Firearms Coalition and similar groups in other states, said the law was crafted because gun rights are in a precarious situation in America.

Numerous federal gun restrictions are akin to banning parades because they might turn into riots, Greim wrote.

Loosening gun laws

The push to loosen gun laws has been a continuing theme in the GOP-dominated Legislature.

In 2016, lawmakers voted to override then-Gov. Jay Nixons veto of a bill legalizing concealed carry without a permit. That change removed required criminal background checks and gun safety training classes for people wanting to be in public with a firearm.

And the push to pass pro-gun legislation is continuing in the current session.

On Tuesday, a Senate committee debated Burlisons latest bill, which would establish a presumption that individuals who use force against another person reasonably did so in order to defend themselves.

Prosecutors, law-enforcement representatives and civil rights and religious leaders slammed the proposal, arguing it would further stress the states already strained court system.

Proponents said it provided a necessary edit to the states castle doctrine law to guard against overzealous prosecutions.

Missouri law currently requires an individual to prove they reasonably believed physical or deadly force was needed for self-defense, according to a bill summary.

St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Lohmar, a Republican, said Senate Bill 666 would create pretrial immunity hearings during which a defendant would be able to make a self-defense claim. The state would then have to prove by clear and convincing evidence the defendant isnt immune from prosecution.

Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver, a Republican representing the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, told a Senate committee hearing testimony on S.B. 666, I refer to it as the Make Murder Legal Act.

Originally posted at 7 a.m. Friday, Feb. 4

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The tip came in by phone. The allegation: widespread disregard for the federal law prohibiting airborne hunting by civilians. The alleged perpetrators included members of three Wyoming county predator boards, their professional contractors and others who could best be described as thrill seekers.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Steve Stoinski was on the other end of the line on Dec. 2, 2019. His confidential informant, SI-1, told him that contracted pilots for predator management districts in Lincoln, Sweetwater and Uinta counties were violating the Airborne Hunting Act by flying their gunners over federal land in southwest Wyoming and killing every coyote, wolf, bobcat and mountain lion they saw, without the requisite permits. The informant, who provided the nuanced details of an insider, claimed predator board members and their families were partaking in the aerial gunning, describing the activity as some kind of recreational pursuit.

Everybody wants to shoot a wolf from a helicopter! SI-1 told Stoinski, according to documents from a federal law enforcement investigation report.

Stoinski, who has since retired, declined an interview for this story. But the day after SI-1s call, he corroborated the claims with the account of a second confidential source, SI-2, according to documents that WyoFile acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request. SI-2 told the federal special agent that the county predator boards had terminated aerial gunning contracts with Wildlife Services  the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services predator control division  because the agency wouldnt shoot wolves or coyotes unless it could demonstrate the canines had been killing livestock. Instead, SI-2 said, directors of the county boards who are elected by local cattlemen and woolgrowers were using their state funds to hire private contractors, who will shoot every predator they see regardless of circumstances.

The second informant echoed allegations that predator board members themselves were getting in on the aerial shooting because it was a lot of fun."

SI-2 said he knew for a fact that members of the Lincoln County Predator Board including the president, [redacted], has been in the helicopter to shoot animals on Forest Service land, the investigation documents read.

Members of that board presidents family, the tipster said, had done the same.

In the year that followed, Stoinski, Bureau of Land Management agent Tom Hill and U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Lathan Sidebottom led a sprawling investigation of purported Airborne Hunting Act violations in Wyoming. The federal team also sought investigative assistance from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The state agency declined to participate because the case involved wolves and coyotes  predator species that fall outside its jurisdiction and, with the exception of wolves inside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, enjoy no protections under state law.

Eventually, the federal probe made major waves. Woolgrowers contend it disrupted business-as-usual aerial predator control on federal grazing allotments during lambing, and that coyotes took advantage.

The investigation also attracted the attention of Wyoming lawmakers. The Legislature will soon consider a bill that clears a path for county boards to incorporate their plans into those of Wildlife Services, thus addressing federal agencies concerns related to permitting for airborne hunting.

Wildlife Services beat lawmakers to the punch, this month agreeing to include county predator control boards plans on Bureau of Land Management property into its own predator damage management plan that gets filed with the BLM.

Ultimately, Stoinski and his federal counterparts probe fell flat, resulting in no charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kerry Jacobsen was prepared to support prosecutions, according to documents, but federal agencies crossed wires with each other.

Three weeks before the confidential informants tip was phoned in, a BLM staffer with the Rock Springs Field Office signed off on an agreement that stated the federal agency had no objection to aerial predator control in Sweetwater County. That memo was signed in error, according to BLM-Wyoming public affairs officer Courtney Whiteman. Nevertheless, it gave the appearance of consent, and investigators concluded the document made it unlikely federal attorneys would still support prosecution. By December 2020, three federal investigators recommended closing the case. In lieu of indictments, they sent out a batch of warning letters.

Two months after the informants first call, Stoinski received a tip that a Lincoln County Predator Control District-contracted helicopter was going to be illegally hunting up the Greys River the next day. The operation was set for mid-February, in the heart of winter and four months after cattle and sheep would have been herded off their Bridger-Teton National Forest grazing allotments.

The Wyoming Department of Agriculture and Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board, which oversee and provide funding for county-level predator boards, requires pilots and gunners to be licensed by the state. That permitting, however, does not grant carte-blanche consent to kill predators over federal lands.

Wyoming Wool Growers Association Executive Director Amy Hendrickson hasnt heard of predator boards deliberately flouting these requirements in recent years.

But if thats the case, we would not support that, Hendrickson said. We would never support that, and we have an expectation that the activity be done professionally and within the scope of the law.

Rangers with the Forest Service and BLM snowmobiled in to document the mid-winter flight, according to the investigation reports. The two officers saw and photographed a blue Robinson R-66 helicopter flying low, circling designated closed winter range north of Deadman Ranch. One officer reported hearing a gunshot coming from an airship aloft, and they documented four individuals riding snowmobiles in the same area, each with a firearm case mounted to the front of their machines.

One of the men had a coyote strapped to the back of his snowmobile. He told the rangers he was in the area working for the Lincoln County Predator Control Board. The rangers did not inform the snowmobilers of the Airborne Hunting Act investigation, but they did cite them for snowmobile registration violations. While conversing, one of the rangers heard unintelligible chatter from an unidentified male calling one of the snowmobilers over a handheld radio. Audible in the background over the radio was the rotor clap of a helicopter.

The Airborne Hunting Act, also known as the Shooting from Aircraft Act, is a 1971 law that prohibits shooting or harassing any animal while airborne. Its a straightforward, single-page statute that only allows for one exception: Employees or authorized agents of the U.S. Government or any state who are permitted or licensed to aerial hunt for the protection of land, water, wildlife, livestock, domesticated animals, human life or crops. The issuance of those types of permits comes with reporting requirements. Gunners must be named, animals they can kill listed and logged, areas they can fly specified and a reason for the aerial actions stated.

The investigators, who queried federal officials for permits and came up empty handed, didnt believe the predator boards met the exemption.

SI-1 said Wildlife Services is in a tough spot and have kept their mouths shut about this illegal activity, the law enforcement documents say.

Until recent years, Wildlife Services has performed most of the airborne predator killing in southwest Wyoming. The agency still contracts with a dozen of Wyomings 19 county predator control districts. But many agricultural industry stakeholders were dissatisfied with the quality of the federal governments work.

Jon Child, for example, Lincoln County Predator Control Districts president at the time, has openly said he can do a better job killing predators than the federal government, a Game and Fish warden told federal investigators, according to the documents.

The county boards frustrations were also partly financial, Wyoming Stockgrowers Association Executive Vice President Jim Magagna told WyoFile.

If you go back 25, 30 years, Wildlife Services was providing the major portion of funding for predator control in Wyoming, Magagna said. Whats been happening in the last few years is Wildlife Services has controlled the program, so to speak, but the vast majority of the funding that the program utilizes is coming from the state.

According to a May 2021 presentation to lawmakers, Wildlife Services pays about $1.2 million annually for predator control in Wyoming. Woolgrowers and cattlemen chip in another $1 million through predator fees, and the Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board provides the largest portion of $2.7 million.

Dissatisfaction with the federal governments performance killing coyotes bled across jurisdictional boundaries into Sweetwater and Uinta counties, where predator boards terminated their agreements with Wildlife Services in 2020.

Sweetwater County once occupied more Wildlife Service flight time than any Wyoming county except Fremont. Between 2014 and 2018, the agency averaged 218 hours a year in the air working Sweetwater County predator damage claims, according to federal planning documents. But two years later the Sweetwater predator board reworked its predator management programs, turning to private contractors instead, according to minutes from a 2020 Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board meeting. That year the Sweetwater board requested $145,000 from the Wyoming board.

After the Sweetwater predator board ended its contract with the federal agency there was no further communication about aerial control work, Wildlife Services State Director Mike Foster told WyoFile in an email.

Gary Zakotnik, president of the Sweetwater predator board, said the Fish and Wildlife Service officials have since distanced themselves from Stoinskis investigation.

They told us that the [warning] letter was written by a disgruntled employee that was on his way to retirement, and he had no basis to write that letter, Zakotnik said.

Until a warning letter landed in their mailbox two winters ago, Zakotniks impression was that it was legal to send private contractors up to gun coyotes over federal land.

No one had ever told us that we couldnt do it, he said.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Brian Nesvik also suggested that the federal agents investigation caught the predator-killing community off guard. A co-chair of the Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board, Nesvik said theres been a long established authority for predator management districts and the state to lethally pursue animals on federal lands when they see fit.

And its been done forever, Nesvik said. I dont see the federal government wanting to ever pursue a change to this. I just dont see it.

Aerial gunning for predators remains routine business in Wyoming, a state where more than a million cattle and 300,000-plus sheep graze and where the vast majority of federal land is leased out to livestock producers.

Wildlife Services documents killing more than 6,000 coyotes per year on average, and aerial gunning by private individuals claims another 1,300 or so. That collective mortality, the federal agency maintains, does not have much of an impact on Wyomings overall coyote population, judged at 86,000 animals by a 2009 study.

Livestock producers say the ability to shoot coyotes from the sky is important to their bottom lines.

Over a recent five-year period, Wildlife Services agents confirmed an average of 933 coyote-killed domestic sheep and cattle, primarily calves and lambs. All told, those losses cost Wyoming livestock producers about $125,000 annually, according to the federal agencys calculations.

Now more than ever, Magagna said, aerial gunning is a critical tool. Poisons have almost become a thing of the past, he said, and trapping is more restricted than ever, particularly on public lands.

Hendrickson, with the Wyoming Wool Growers Association, agreed.

A 100-pound lamb goes for, lets just say $3 a pound  thats $300, Hendrickson said. And if you have coyotes that come in and kill 20 of them, thats a lot of money.

Predator management is integral, she added, and in some of these areas, its not efficient or effective to try to do it any way other than aerial simply because of the countryside youre dealing with.

Southwest Wyoming sheep ranchers took a hit, Hendrickson said, after the federal investigators written warning grounded private aerial gunners who would have been working BLM allotments.

Partly because of the timing, the issue was hot, Magagna said.

It occurred at the primary time of the year for predator control, he said. People were getting ready to be lambing out on the open ranges.

One year and three weeks after Stoinski first took the tipsters phone call, the Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service and BLMs law enforcement offices issued the warning letters to the predator boards and their contracted pilots.

Specifically, the evidence collected during the investigation documents individuals that identified themselves as employees of Lincoln County Predator Management District killing predatory animals on federal lands with the aid of an aircraft, their letter to the Lincoln County district said.

The agents warned that future unsanctioned flights will be investigated, and violations referred to the U.S. attorneys office.

The predator boards took the threats seriously.

Since the receipt of your warning letters, we have suspended all county-sponsored aerial activities on federal lands until we can resolve this issue with the affected land managers, the three county predator board presidents wrote.

The Lincoln, Sweetwater and Uinta predator board officials defended their actions, writing that, to the best of their knowledge, they were in full compliance with aerial hunting requirements imposed by the state of Wyoming. Participating pilots and gunners were licensed by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, they wrote, and counties were reporting their lethal actions to Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board, which rounds it all up into an annual report.

It is our understanding that the state then compiles the information collected and submits an annual report to the Department of the Interior as required in the Airborne Hunting Act, their letter said.

But the county boards mistook state consent for clearance from the federal agencies. The authorization to operate over federal lands evaporated when they ended or scaled back their contracts with Wildlife Services, the predator districts would soon learn.

Federal land managers who administer the disputed gunning grounds told the predator boards as much in a letter one month later.

You have noted that the counties and their agents carrying out [aerial gunning] activities were acting in accordance with Wyoming state statutes, Lori Armstrong, a former BLM Deputy State Director, wrote to the predator boards. Wyoming state statutes cannot, of themselves, authorize [aerial gunning] activities on public lands.

BLM policies, Armstrong wrote, are explicit about which entities are authorized to conduct coyote sorties over bureau lands: Wildlife Services, or state and local organizations that have contractual agreements with that agency. She disowned the BLMs Rock Springs Field Office agreement that purported to condone coyote gunning in Sweetwater County  the memo that killed the federal agents case.

Local BLM policies must be consistent with national policy, Armstrong wrote.

Two months later, after Stoinskis retirement, a supervisory U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent followed up in writing to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. That agent, Dan Coil, told the predator boards that his agency recognizes theres a provision in the Airborne Hunting Act allowing permitted parties to partake in aerial culls. But that exemption, he added, does not supersede or authorize the violation of other laws and agency policies.

Because your question concerned hunting on BLM and USFS land, any hunting  whether airborne or ground-based  on those lands must comply with regulations or permits issued under authority of those agencies laws, Coil wrote.

The federal special agent cited former BLM Deputy State Director Armstrongs letter, which informed the predator boards that they were lacking a contractual agreement with Wildlife Services.

Wildlife Services and the Wyoming Department of Agriculture recently took steps to remedy this dilemma.

On Jan. 13, the state director at Wildlife Services, Foster, signed off on a new cooperative agreement that pledges the federal agency will annually include county predator district actions on bureau property in its own annual work plan with the BLM.

Responding to emailed questions from WyoFile, Foster said Wildlife Services played no role in resolving the disagreement between the Fish and Wildlife Service and the predator boards.

Wildlife Services was not party to these discussions, Foster wrote, neither do we have regulatory oversight regarding what happens on public lands.

Hendrickson, at the Wool Growers Association, said she was engaged in discussions around the agreement, which she described as a joint conversation between Wildlife Services, the BLM and Wyoming Department of Agriculture.

Some involved parties have moved on. I dont think at this point any more publicity on the subject is probably a good thing, said Zakotnik, the Sweetwater County Predatory Animal Board president. Weve kind of gone back to predator work as we were before.

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

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JEFFERSON CITY  Gov. Mike Parsons office said Friday he has no religious litmus test for state government employees, clarifying a statement he made earlier this week that he wouldnt have appointed a health director who does not share the same Christian values.

The clarification on Friday followed sharp criticism by interfaith religious groups, lawmakers and others.

The Governors statement was intended to point out that (health director nominee) Don Kauerauf shared values that aligned with the Governors and was not intended to imply that he imposes a requirement that job applicants adhere to any particular religion, Kelli Jones, spokeswoman for Parson, told the Post-Dispatch on Friday.

Just because an appointee happens to possess values that align with the Governors Christian faith doesnt mean that he requires them to adhere to his religion, she said in a statement.

Jones said, Governor Parson has never required a religious litmus test for appointments as evidenced by the broad spectrum of religious backgrounds of his appointees.

For instance, on the same day Sen. Mike Moon, a Republican hard-liner who helped upend Kaueraufs appointment, was grilling the nominee during his confirmation hearing, former Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, a St. Louis Democrat, sailed through her confirmation hearing for membership on the state Board of Probation and Parole.

Im Muslim and Im not Christian and he appointed me, Nasheed told the Post-Dispatch on Friday. I dont think that he really meant what he said. Like I said, if that was the case, I wouldnt have been, you know, appointed as a Muslim.

I dont think he meant to say it that way, she said.

On Tuesday, Parson said, Don is a public health expert that is on record opposing masking requirements and COVID-19 vaccine mandates. He is outspokenly pro-life and morally opposed to abortion. Missourians know that I share these beliefs and would not have nominated someone who does not share the same Christian values.

The quote prompted quick criticism on Twitter, where state Rep. Adam Schwadron, R-St. Charles, wondered if he would be disqualified from nomination because he was Jewish.

Im curious Governor, is this a standard you traditionally use? he asked. Article VI of the US Constitution strictly prohibits a religious test as a qualification to any office or public trust. Considering that, I then must ask the question. Would someone who is Jewish, such as myself, be considered for nomination?

The Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis on Friday said it sent a letter to Parson expressing disapproval with the statement.

It is beyond distressing to think that you might not consider or nominate well qualified individuals from serving our great state based on their religious beliefs, the letter said. People of all faiths and no faith, in a variety of occupations and vocations, make significant contributions to our state and community every day.

Originally posted at 12:22 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4.

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ST. LOUIS  Community groups, volunteers, and city workers accelerated efforts this week to shelter the homeless, with temperatures expected to drop to 3 degrees on Saturday morning.

The need is year-round, advocates and officials say. But when weather is extreme, the urgency grows. By Friday afternoon, dozens had arrived at Safe Haven, a temporary cold weather shelter at St. Louis University.

This is a blessing, said Robert Cadwalender, a 52-year-old former truck driver who came for the day to warm up. Like several others there Friday, hed spent the night at a different facility that closes each morning.

During the day, I come here and wait this out, he said, gesturing to a snow-covered Olive Street.

Many of the places people could normally seek daytime refuge  such as libraries and fast food restaurants  have been closed during the storm. Because of that, city-run shelters operate 24 hours a day, said Yusef Scoggin, the director of St. Louis Department of Human Services. Some people are also being housed in hotels and motels.

Every night that temperatures fall below freezing, the city operates a warming bus at 13th Street and Chestnut Street between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The bus takes residents to shelters with available beds. The warming bus was not there Thursday evening because of snow removal efforts, so instead city employees waited there and called Lyft or taxi rides for people who showed up.

The city of St. Louis funds just over 600 shelter beds. Capacity is supplemented by other temporary facilities, like Safe Haven.

Safe Haven is run by a group of community organizations, said Tim Huffman, an associate professor at St. Louis University. It has opened periodically throughout the winter during times of especially cold weather, in a SLU event space at 3050 Olive Street in Midtown.

On Friday afternoon, a group of local doctors came by to offer basic care for things like frostbite, and to try to connect people to primary care services.

Dr. Barbara Lutey, a Washington University physician in the division of general medicine, helped a resident apply to receive medical services through Affinia Healthcare, a local federally qualified health center.

Whatever I can do to get them connected, Lutey said. A lot of people get lost from the system.

Near the front door, plastic crates were filled with donated socks, toothbrushes, and miscellaneous clothing items  but theyd be gone soon, predicted Delanie Muenchen, a volunteer from Tent Mission STL.

Weve really been flying through donations, Muenchen said.

Throughout the afternoon, Muenchen served alternately as a maintenance person, a friend, and a social worker. She picked up discarded items off the floor. She complimented someones jacket. She called around for medical services for a resident who had burns on his hands.

The resident, Chad Gill, 40, sat and waited, chatting with his friend, Rico Norful. The pair had met about a week earlier, and had been helping each other during the cold snap. One of the biggest challenges for them during the storm has been transportation, said Norful, who uses a wheelchair.

I think people have misconceptions about homeless people, Norful said. They profile you. Not knowing the situation, they really dont give you a chance.

They think its automatically your fault, Gill said.

Norful said he wants to see more funding for programs to support the homeless, and more permanent housing options. Many have just fallen on hard times, he said, and need some stability to help them move forward.

Just good people in a bad situation, Norful said.

You got that right, Gill said.

For assistance, please call the United Way at 2-1-1. If it is an emergency, call 9-1-1.

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ST. LOUIS  A city panel voted Friday to give the mayor authority to appoint an interim personnel director, a move that could bolster the mayors influence on the citys employment system, including hiring, firing and salaries. The vote passed despite objections from several of the citys most powerful unions.

The St. Louis Civil Service Commission voted 3-0 Friday afternoon to change how vacancies are filled for the personnel director, a low-profile, yet powerful city post that does not answer directly to the mayors office. The Personnel Department oversees standards for hiring, firing, payment and promotion of the citys more than 5,000 civil service employees and also handles union negotiations.

The vote on Friday will allow the mayor to appoint an interim personnel director of his or her choice when there is a vacancy, as there is now. Previously, the commission, a three-member panel that oversees the Personnel Department and the citys merit system, was required to appoint a current department employee as interim director.

In December, the commission appointed Sylvia Donaldson, a longtime Personnel Department human resources manager, as interim director to replace Richard Frank. He retired after serving in the role since 2004 and was only the fourth person to hold the job since 1942.

Lockouts, investigation as St. Louis city leaders vie for influence over powerful department Some Personnel Department employees were briefly locked out of their offices while documents were secured amid a whistleblower investigation.

Commission member Steve Barney argued Friday that the vote could help make the Personnel Department less insulated from the agenda of the rest of city government.

Its a most unusual organization in the city to have one department head ... have literally no accountability to the mayor once the mayor has appointed that person, said Barney, a commission member for more than 12 years. Barney added that hes watched as three mayors, including current Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, struggled to get cooperation from the department on their agendas.

Several major union representatives argued Friday that the vote could allow mayors to keep interim directors on indefinitely, making a job that has often served as a check on mayors more political.

Jeff Haantz, a representative of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, argued that the move could make the Personnel Department beholden to political influence with impacts for years to come.

Emily Perez, an attorney for the International Association of Firefighters Local 73, representing many of the citys fire and EMS workers, said before the vote that the union would pursue legal action if it passed.

I understand you all might view this as: Oh its just a temporary appointment; it doesnt really matter, Perez said. But the reality is that these sort of appointments never happen on the schedules or time frames that are contemplated.

Jeff Roorda, business manager of the St. Louis Police Officers Association, the police departments bargaining unit, also argued against the change, citing concerns that city jobs may become patronage positions.

I know the urge to comply with the mayors desires is strong, Roorda said. And the mayor wishes to have expanded control over the department of personnel and the civil service commission, but thats not a good thing.

Two unions representing the interests of Black and minority members of the police and fire departments, the Ethical Society of Police and the Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality, spoke in favor of the change.

Weve seen the effects of past directors and things that have been questionable, said ESOP president Sgt. Donnell Walters.

The vote comes as the Personnel Department is in the midst of trying to manage a widespread labor shortage, and is also heading up the selection of finalists for the role of city police chief.

Jones administration has clashed with the department, including over the chief search. Jones said the departments application process needs to start over after it eliminated all but two internal candidates.

The Personnel Department has a degree of insulation from the mayors office  a vestige of a 1941 reform effort to reduce employee churn from patronage and machine politics.

Unlike most other city department heads, whoever fills the permanent director role cant be ousted by the mayor without formal charges of malfeasance.

The mayor will pick a permanent director from three candidates forwarded to her by the Civil Service Commission, which chooses the slate after competitive testing.

The commission is made up of three mayoral appointees who serve staggered six-year terms. Jones has appointed one new member, Dean Kpere-Daibo, an attorney at Constangy Brooks, Smith & Prophete; and reappointed Barney to the panel. Chair Bettye Battle-Turner was appointed by Mayor Lyda Krewson.

Barney said Friday that the city has other measures in place to prevent city employment from become a patronage system.

I think its a stretch, Barney said, adding that he didnt think the rule change would upend the citys civil service system. I think if they were speaking in 1941 when the initial charter was cast, they were against the background of a very different world.

Battle-Turner said commissioners were not voting as they did simply to comply with the mayors request.

You need to know that each of us on this board have a sense of our own independence, Battle-Turner said, adding: Were not going to let anyone shove something down on us if its not in the best interest of the city.

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We Are China

Taiwan reports 71 new COVID-19 cases

Xinhua) 22:43, February 04, 2022

TAIPEI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan reported 71 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, including 25 locally-transmitted infections and 46 imported ones, the island's disease-monitoring agency said.

The new local infections include 12 in Kaohsiung and nine in Taoyuan, it said.

To date, Taiwan has reported 19,029 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 15,143 were local infections.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
By Trend

Given the high rate of COVID-19 infection, meetings of servicemen of the Azerbaijani army with their relatives and friends are temporarily prohibited, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan told Trend.

In order to protect the health of military personnel and prevent the risk of infection with coronavirus, we encourage families and relatives of military personnel not to come to military units and not to attend the swearing-in ceremony, which will take place on February 6," the ministry stated.

The ministry also called on citizens to treat the measures of medical support taken in Azerbaijan's army with understanding, and strictly observe the quarantine regime.
Republican lawmakers are talking seriously about a possible special legislative session in the coming weeks, and that the governor has indicated a willingness to call lawmakers into session if certain conditions are met.

On this episode, Sam Wilson and Holly Michels of the Montana State News Bureau talk about a recent article from Wilson on the rumblings of a special session and the story's fallout.

This podcast from the Montana State News Bureau is created in partnership across five newsrooms  the Billings Gazette, the Helena Independent Record, the Missoulian, the Montana Standard and the Ravalli-Republic. You can support this podcast and our efforts by subscribing. Visit any of these newspapers websites, and click on the Become a Member button at the top of the home page. We appreciate your support of local journalism.
During the 1980 presidential campaign, when candidate Ronald Reagan vowed to put a woman on the Supreme Court for the first time, it was widely viewed as groundbreaking and courageous. Reagan later appointed Sandra Day OConnor, who sailed through the Senate without a single no vote. Supporters included then-Sen. Joe Biden.

Forty years later, in 2020, President Donald Trump, running for a second term, pledged to nominate a woman to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. He later named Amy Coney Barrett.

Yet Republican heads were exploding last week at President Bidens announcement that he will follow through on his campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the court, which they condemn as identity politics. Offensive, declared Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., called it affirmative racial discrimination  adding someone who is the beneficiary of this sort of quota. Former Trump U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley slammed Biden for using a race/gender litmus test.

So  when Reagan, and then Trump, each limited the pool of acceptable candidates to only women, everyone was fine with it. (Democrats objected to Barretts specific record, not to Trumps earlier vow to pick a woman.) But when Biden specifies its going to be a Black woman, suddenly Republicans find it offensive and affirmative racial discrimination and decry the race/gender litmus test.

What do you suppose is the difference here? 

Gee, I wonder what it could be? 

Im just wracking my brains trying to figure it out. 

It would be easy, and accurate, to hold this up as yet another example of the astonishing hypocrisy of todays GOP. Whether its deficit spending, family values, law and order, standing up to Russia, or making up the rules as they go along regarding Supreme Court vacancies, Republicans these days change belief systems the way most people change their socks. The belief is whatever serves, in the moment, the overriding goal of gaining political power.

But whats going on here is worse than hypocrisy. Weve gotten so used to it that most dont bother to say it anymore, even though Trump and other Republicans increasingly arent bothering to hide it: Overt racism has become a primary tool in the GOPs power project.

Those on the political right who dont understand Americas racial history (or pretend not to) often respond to that kind of critique by pointing out that the GOP was literally founded on the principle of ending slavery. And that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. And that it was northern Republicans who helped Lyndon Johnson pass civil rights laws over the resistance of southern Democrats.

That narrative is factually correct as far as it goes, but it doesnt go far enough. It stops just before Richard Nixon launched his southern strategy in the late 1960s, which flipped the racial positions of both parties. His goal was to lure southern bigots away from the Democratic Party and into the GOP fold with racist dog whistles. It worked. The South today is virtually solid red.

And these arent your grandfathers Republicans. They dont bother anymore with dog whistles. Of late, theyve been remarkably open about rewriting laws to make it harder for urban residents (read: minorities) to vote, and easier to discard their votes after they do. Theyve been banning classic works of Black literature from school libraries and prohibiting discussion of race in classrooms. They still strongly support a former (and possibly future) president with a long, grotesque history of racism  most recently, in suggesting that pending criminal investigations against him are illegitimate because the prosecutors are Black.

All the while, they accuse Democrats of engaging in identity politics  that is, premising political support based in part on factors like race, gender or religion.

A prime example might be (oh, just hypothetically) a governor who declares that he would never appoint a state public health director who wasnt practicing Christian values. Of course, that would also be a clear violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

But that didnt stop Missouri Gov. Mike Parson from tweeting out such a declaration last week. Yet we dont hear any of Parsons fellow Republicans lambasting him for this obvious (and obviously illegal) exercise in identity politics.

Sometimes their lack of self-awareness becomes such self-parody that youre almost embarrassed for them. Cruz, for example, decried ruling out potential nominees based on wrong skin pigment and wrong Y chromosome.

The good senator needs a history lesson.

Of the 115 justices confirmed since 1789, 108 have had white skin and Y chromosomes. That was always the sole imaginable outcome of the race/gender litmus test, until Thurgood Marshalls confirmation in 1967. The only reason no president has ever declared, Ill only consider a white male for this seat, is because, for the first 178 years of the courts history, that was assumed. Every other race or gender was, to use Cruzs word, ineligible, as surely as if the White House had announced it in advance.

The truth is that, with the Supreme Court  as with the presidency, Congress, corporate America and most other perches of power throughout most of U.S. history  there has always been a race/gender litmus test. It isnt the longstanding reality of identity politics that has Republicans so aggravated right now; its that they think, this time, its benefitting the wrong identity.

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Thank you for your non-service

SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital billed a mother $1,012 for an emergency room visit after her toddler son burned his hand, even though the only treatment he received were checks by a nurse of his blood pressure, ears, nose and mouth. After waiting 90 minutes for a doctor, the boy and his mom left. Medical professionals say that once a patient checks in to the emergency room, the normal billing procedures apply  not just for the treatment received but also for the precious real estate the patient occupies.

The mother, Mansi Bhatt, tried to get the bill adjusted, but the hospital refused. The familys health insurance only covered $153 of the bill. The parents continued to challenge it, but the hospital wouldnt budge.

That is, until Kaiser Health News began investigating the charges. Suddenly the hospital found a way to reduce the final bill to $39. Chances are that the insurer would have covered more of the cost had the mother waited for the doctor. Besides, she shouldnt have expected fast attention in the middle of a pandemic. So she was wrong. But it shouldnt take news media intervention to make a hospital find a reasonable solution.

Sit down.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, apparently desperate to jump on board the Republican campaign to politicize schools, tweet-railed last week about the scores of Missouri schools that have closed lately, calling it unacceptable and demanding that they reopen and let parents decide what is best for the family.

Would that choice include kids in class with no teachers? Because thats why the schools have closed  too many coronavirus teacher absences. Its a problem that Ashcrofts fellow Republicans have exacerbated with their resistance to school mask mandates.

The first rule of demagoguery is to at least understand the issue youre trying to demagogue. Ashcrofts account was flooded with responses, few of them positive. Some choice samples:

 If a large enough percentage of faculty and staff are ill, students cant go to school. This isnt difficult to grasp, really.

 When should we expect to see you and [Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt] subbing in some of these school districts?

 All the teachers have Covid. [Are] you going to step into a 2nd grade classroom for a week? I didnt think so. Sit down.

Oily hair: A problem as well as a solution

Hair. Its more than a Broadway musical. In fact, its in much demand in Peru to assist with the cleanup of 6,000 barrels of crude oil lapping the countrys Pacific shores. The BBC reports that the recent volcanic eruption in Tonga caused a tsunami with resultant high waves at exactly the time an oil tanker was unloading barrels at a refinery owned by a Spanish company Repsol.

Calls went out to large cities like Lima as well as to smaller towns in the highlands and Amazon basin for human and dog hair (as well as alpaca fleece) to be used to fill sausage-shaped booms to absorb the oil. Nicole Castillo, an environmental engineering student, and cofounder of Hair Boom Peru, says this hair-capture technique had already been employed successfully elsewhere, such as on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius after a previous spill.

Back in Peru, it was reported that about 66 pounds of hair from approximately 470 residents were collected in a recent campaign started by the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima. Since these hair-filled booms will become toxic once filled with oil, it remains to be seen how they will be safely disposed of without causing a different environmental problem.

Catching Maus

A California comic book store owner has come up with the perfect response to a Tennessee school district ban on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Holocaust graphic novel Maus. He is sending free copies to anyone in the district who asks. Maus is based on cartoonist Art Spiegelmans interviews with his father, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor.

It has been praised for making the horrors of the Holocaust understandable to young readers, depicting persecuted Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats. But last month, the McMinn County School Board in Athens, Tennessee, voted to ban it from middle school classes because of profanity and nudity. (The nudity consists primarily of a drawing of a partially nude mouse.)

Ryan Higgins, owner of the Comics Conspiracy shop in Sunnyvale, California, responded by announcing on Twitter he would donate up to 100 copies of the novel to any family in the Tennessee county that asks for it. About 60 families have taken him up on it so far.

Doing their part to help spread the virus

Two nurses in New York are being charged with forging coronavirus vaccination cards and entering the fake vaccinations into the states database. Julie DeVuono, owner and operator of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and her employee, Marissa Urraro, face forgery charges. They allegedly made $1.5 million with the scam.

The two allegedly charged adults $220 apiece and $85 per child for fake records that would be filed to the New York State Immunization Information System database. The scam was interrupted when a record was filed into the database for one particular person who never received the vaccine: an undercover agent.

Just a month ago, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law criminalizing fake coronavirus vaccination cards.
Regarding Positive report on convention center expansion unlikely to spur St. Louis County Council action (Jan. 29): I seriously have to wonder if St. Louis County Council members have any common sense. The controversy in building a recreation center in north St. Louis County is being used as a tool to delay the necessary funding to expand the facilities of our downtown convention center, known as Americas Center.

Apparently there was a miscommunication between Council Chair Rita Heard Days and former council member Hazel Erby regarding the Convention and Visitors Commission support of this project. The commission was to allocate excess funds to help pay for a north county recreation center, and St. Louis County was going to select a site, design and build it. Yet Days apparently thinks the commission was going to do the entire project.

Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, business has slowed at Americas Center, so no extra funding is currently available to do the project, and it may be delayed by several years. Meanwhile, this delay in approving funds to expand the convention facilities and support the recreation center poses the risk of lost business and potential revenue. This sounds like a case of cutting off ones nose to spite your face. It makes no sense to delay the necessary funding and risk losing business and revenue.

Richard Ontiveros  Chesterfield
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2022) - Central African Gold Inc. (TSXV: CAGR) (FSE: BC21) (OTCQB: NDENF) ("Central African Gold "or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will be completing a corporate name change to "African Energy Metals Inc." and will begin trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under a new stock ticker symbol "CUCO" at the start of trading on Monday, February 7, 2022. The Company's ISIN and CUSIP numbers will change to CA00833F1099 and 00833F109, respectively.

There will be no capital changes so no action is required to be taken by shareholders with respect to the name change. Outstanding share and warrant certificates are not affected by the name and ticker symbol change and do not need to be exchanged.

About Central African Gold Inc.

Central African Gold is a natural resource company with a focus on the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of copper, cobalt, and lithium energy metals projects in the DRC. The Company is implementing a carbon credit program complementary to mining operations, and to meet important ESG requirements, and present an opportunity for early revenue. Central African Gold has the intention to acquire interests in additional concessions or relinquish concessions in the normal course of business. Central African Gold has an experienced management team located in the DRC.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Barley, Executive Chairman

Phone: (604-834-2968)

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.centralafricangold.com

Reader Advisory

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although the Company believes considering the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company its securities, or its financial or operating results.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/112649
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NEWARK, New Jersey (Tribune News Service)  University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, is besieged with COVID-19 patients packing its intensive-care unit, where rooms have been improvised from plastic sheeting and staff have fallen victim to the disease. The U.S. Army is reinforcing its defenses.

Capt. Jamie Dowd, a nurse who has treated ghastly trauma in Syria and Iraq, was sent to the hospital on a 30-day mission with 24 other troops to help fight the worst wave of COVID-19 cases since the deadly spring of 2020. Plucked from Fort Polk in Louisiana, Dowd last week peered out from the shadows of a room in the Newark progressive-care unit.

Were fighting COVID like its our enemy in battle, said Dowd, standing before the officer in charge as he conducted his morning rounds. Behind her, an elderly patient lay, eyes closed, hooked up to machines that translate vital signs into an eerie melody.

Hospitals are overwhelmed and understaffed after the raging omicron variant swept the U.S. over the holidays. Though the variant doesnt appear to cause more severe cases, its infected more people than any other wave. As of Friday, more than 2,400 people remain hospitalized for COVID-19 across New Jersey. Though that's a large improvement from more than 6,000 just weeks ago, it's triple the number before Thanksgiving.

To ease the burden, the federal government last month sent military doctors, nurses and other medical personnel to hospitals across six hard-hit states that requested support. From New Mexico to Rhode Island, 1,400 troops are taking position in languishing facilities.

When you need something done, call on the military, President Joe Biden said at a press conference last month.

University Hospital is New Jerseys only public acute-care hospital, and has the state's busiest emergency department. Twelve miles west of Manhattan, Newark is a fallen industrial giant with a resurgent downtown core, but neighborhoods beset by deprivation and disease. Of its 312,000 residents, about 27% live in poverty and 19% of those under 65 lack health insurance, according to the U.S. Census.

The community that the hospital serves is among the most vulnerable to COVID-19: Many are essential workers, live in close quarters or multigenerational households, have underlying conditions or qualify for Medicaid. Eight-in-10 are people of color. As a so-called safety net hospital, University sees patients regardless of insurance status  up to 15% receive charity care.

When COVID-19 assailed the U.S. in April 2020, New Jersey was one of the places hit first and hardest. In University Hospital, the dead were doubled up on stretchers and diverted from the overflowing morgue to a nearby medical school, kept cold alongside cadavers awaiting dissection. We havent really had a surge like that until recently, said the hospitals chief executive officer, Shereef Elnahal.

Omicron tore through New Jersey after Christmas, with the weekly average of COVID cases in Essex County, which encompasses Newark, peaking Jan. 5. Elnahal knew the hospitals own crisis was yet to come as the workers themselves absorbed the viral wave. The key difference is that now its more of a staffing issue than a clinic acuity issue, he said.

By the second week of January, one-third of the clinical staff was out sick with COVID-19 or at home caring for family. The same disease that was keeping them out of the facilities had left 150 patients bedridden within.

When Major Marshall Glenister arrived with his medical team on Jan. 20, Universitys remaining staff greeted them in the outdated lobby with cheers. After an orientation, Glenister worked with civilian administrators to deploy the troops throughout the hospitals hardest-hit units.

On Jan. 28, as snow began to descend, hospitalizations were also falling. Seventy-two COVID patients were bedridden, and among them, 16 were on ventilators. The soldiers walked down halls in combat boots, or typed at computers in windowless conference rooms, patrol caps off and nestled among the cords. Glenister, a nurse with advanced anesthesia skills, began his rounds alongside Elnahal. He addressed the CEO with yessirs and thank you, sirs that would have given away his Army background if the green camouflage hadnt already.

Rounding a bend into the progressive-care unit, Glenister greeted Dowd, who had traded fatigues for scrubs. For the past week, she had commuted from the West Orange hotel where the troops stay to work 12-hour shifts  a few days on, a few days off  in a unit where patients are under constant electronic heart monitoring.

Other troops were in the emergency department and intensive-care units, plugging gaps, particularly among the skeleton night crew. The shortest-staffed teams were also reinforced with what the hospital calls crisis care workers, a fancy title for medical and nursing students.

The soldiers integrated themselves quickly, said Ana Gehan, University Hospitals assistant director for nursing and the emergency department, which had been assigned seven. When a patients heart stopped, the military was right there, she said, They jumped in, hand-in-hand with our staff, on their first real day on the job.

The troops helped in quieter ways. The emergency department was even more chaotic than usual. Physicians shuttled patients around on gurneys. Nurses took on sanitation duties. Patients just want to be cared for, Gehan said. Having the military here gives us the opportunity to spend a little bit of extra time with them.

University Hospital is better equipped to treat COVID-19 patients than the last time it faced a wave of this scale. Doctors and nurses have sufficient personal protective equipment, an arsenal of drugs and techniques to stabilize patients. There are 360 beds ready to be used  and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just arrived to outfit the hospital for more. In a nearby parking lot, the National Guard watches over refrigerated tractor-trailers, a buffer should the morgue fill up again. Yet morale among civilian medical staff remains low.

I used to be able to paint a light at the end of the tunnel, said Elnahal, who was New Jerseys health commissioner before taking over the hospital in August 2019. Now, people roll their eyes when I try.

Drivers no longer honk when they pass University Hospital, and the 7 p.m. cheers stopped erupting from the neighborhood long ago. Worst, health-care workers are grappling with the knowledge that many patients they see could have avoided this: Most are unvaccinated.

Andrew Berman, director of pulmonology and critical care medicine, said the troops brought energy and helped put out the fires. They dont provide a permanent solution. In less than a month, they will depart.

Out of sight behind Berman, in the depths of the ICU, a soldier worked with a Covid patient. When Glenister approached, he informed the officer in charge that he was too busy to be interviewed. A new patient was rolled in, unconscious and with his bare feet exposed. Resting on the gurney against the man's legs was a small brown suitcase. Someone, somewhere, thought he might stay awhile.

2022 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
FORT DRUM (Tribune News Service)  A winter storm Friday prevented Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul from personally addressing about 200 10th Mountain Division soldiers preparing to deploy to Europe in the wake of a Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian border, but the governor was able to thank the soldiers for their service via teleconference.

Gov. Hochul told the soldiers that what they are doing  leaving their families and friends on short notice  is an extraordinary example of patriotism.

There is something so powerful knowing that you are willing to drop everything and respond to that call when the country needs you, she said.

Maj. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr., 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commander, told the gathered soldiers that the governor had really wanted to be on base in person to express her appreciation.

This was important to her, and it always means a lot when they can see the soldiers and family members and personally talk with them, Maj. Gen. Beagle said.

The governor said she was grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to speak with the deploying soldiers.

We will pray for your safe return, and know that your families are well taken care of. You are all part of a great family at Fort Drum, she said.

The 10th Mountain Division, a light infantry division, was the most-deployed Army unit during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Maj. Gen. Beagle said this most recent deployment was the second time in the past several months that a Fort Drum unit was called upon to rapidly deploy.

The nation is never going to ask us if were ready. Theyre going to expect it, he said. No notice, and youre ready to go. That is the epitome of what we are about and what we do here.

Separately, Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said in an interview with the Times the soldiers are being deployed to support NATO allies in Europe, potentially Poland, Germany and Romania, and as we continue to see Russia trying to insert itself on the eastern European border and specifically when it comes to potential incursions in Ukraine, its important that we stand by European allies.

This is not boots-on-the-ground in Ukraine. To be very specific, this is our NATO ally. I support providing munitions and providing that type of financial support to the Ukrainians. And we should have never gotten this far into this, Rep. Stefanik said.

The Congresswoman said she believes that part of the reason a response to Russias aggression is needed is because President Joseph R. Biden has given (Russian President Vladimir) Putin whatever hes wanted.

He greenlighted the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. He has allowed Putin to attack this country when it came to cyber attacks. And now we are seeing the result of this weak foreign policy as Putin senses weakness and is very menacing and threatening on the Ukrainian border, Rep. Stefanik said.

The Congresswoman stressed that the Fort Drum deployment should not be interpreted as the United States sending troops to Ukraine.

This is troops to Europe, which happens frequently when it comes to our 10th Mountain Division soldiers in terms of their rotations and where they served before, Stefanik said. So, I support that and I support the soldiers and we support their family members for whatever they need.

(c)2022 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.)

Visit at www.watertowndailytimes.com

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Someones been murdered. Homicide Det. Terry Seattle (Will Arnett) is on the case. Solving the crime wont be easy, especially for his new partner, a real-life celebrity with no script and often no idea whats going on in the ridiculously entertaining Murderville, Netflixs six-part comedy where improv meets murder-mystery dinner theater meets every rote cop show of the past 40 years.

Each episode of the series features a new mystery and a new guest star whos paired up with the hard-knock detective Seattle by his precinct captain and estranged wife (Haneefah Wood). The team is assigned a case, and the fun is watching personalities like Conan OBrien, Sharon Stone, Marshawn Lynch and Ken Jeong fumble their way through a narrative where theyre the only ones on set without a script. They investigate crime scenes, grill suspects and put up with Seattles bizarre methodology for 30 minutes. At the episodes close, theyre asked to identify the killer from a lineup of three suspects. Then the captain reveals if they got it right or wrong.

The show, which also features Kumail Nanjiani and Schitts Creeks Annie Murphy, throws curveballs after red herrings at its unsuspecting guests, putting them on the spot when theyre asked to go undercover on their own, with Seattle feeding them lines through a hidden earpiece. Some of the best comedic moments come out of the folks who arent from the comedy world: Lynch as a poker dealer who has no idea how to dole out cards. Stone flat-out refusing to do what Seattle asks, turning the tables so Arnett is left dangling.

As the grizzled detective who hasnt recovered from the loss of his old partner (a picture of Jennifer Aniston in a cop uniform hangs in his office), Arnett is an endless font of idiotically funny police tropes and lonesome loser satire. He pivots on the fly, challenging his partner to an ad-lib duel, often causing them to break character, laugh or ask what the hell is going on.

Murderville, which is based on the BBC Three series Murder in Successville, is a pandemic production. It looks as though each scene was done in as few takes as possible, and the sets look like a production office, someones living room or perhaps the parking area behind the soundstage. The unremarkable locations make the players the center of attention in a series that emulates the feel of local theater and sketch comedy.

Audiences have the choice to look for clues along the way, but the shows executive producer Arnett is a master in the art of distraction, which makes it difficult for viewers  and the shows guest stars  to focus. Just try and remember which one of the triplet suspects was left-handed, or who was a terrible speller, after laughing through Arnetts Baretta/CSI/NYPD Blue shtick. Murderville isnt afraid to be an imperfect, silly mess, which is why its the perfect escape for messy times.
Dozens of local government positions in the Burleigh-Morton area are up for election in 2022, along with some area judgeships.

The June 14 election is used to elect city commissioners, park board members and school board members, and it functions as a primary for countywide and judgeship races. The general election is Nov. 8.

City elections

Several municipal seats are up for grabs in Bismarck and Mandan.

In Bismarck, the mayor, two city commissioner positions and three Park Board commissioner spots are up for election this year. Each position is a four-year term.

Candidates must submit a statement of interest and collect 300 signatures from Bismarck residents to get on the ballot, though election administrators suggest collecting 350 in case some signatures are not considered valid. Post office boxes are not considered a valid address. The filing deadline is 4 p.m. on April 11. Signatures must be submitted to the city administration department.

Three Bismarck Public School Board positions are open as well. Board members serve four-year terms. Those interested must file their statements of intent to the Office of Business and Operations by April 11.

Two Mandan City Commission spots, three Mandan Park Board seats and three Mandan School Board positions are up for election. Commission and park board members serve four-year terms, while school board member terms are three years.

Commission and park board candidates must submit a statement of interest and a nomination form with at least 300 signatures by 4 p.m. April 11 to the city administration office, and school board candidates need to submit their statement of interest to Mandan Public Schools Business Manager Ryan Lagasse by the same date.

Countywide races

In Morton County, two County Commission spots and the auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff and state's attorney positions all are up for election. Those positions are four-year terms.

Each position requires a different number of signatures on the nomination form, and forms must be submitted to the county auditor by April 11. The minimum signature requirements are:

Auditor, 242

Commissioner, 225

Recorder, 239

Sheriff, 275

State's attorney, 259

Treasurer, 240

In Burleigh County, the offices of auditor/treasurer, recorder, sheriff and states attorney are up for grabs, along with three County Commission seats. The positions are four-year terms.

Candidates for a countywide position must submit a nomination form with at least 300 signatures to the county auditor's office by April 11.

County candidates will run in the primary election in June, and the top two vote-getters will move on to the general election later in the year.

Judges

Four judgeships in the South Central Judicial District are up for election in 2022.

District judges serve six-year terms. Judgeships Nos. 2 and 5 are up for reelection this year.

The terms for judgeships Nos. 6 and 10 do not expire until 2026, but both positions are filled by appointees who have to now be on the ballot.

To run, candidates must submit a petition with at least 300 signatures to the North Dakota Secretary of State's office by 4 p.m. April 11.

The top two vote-getters in the primary move on to the general election.

More information on how to run for office can be found at vote.nd.gov.

Reach Sam Nelson at 701-250-8264 or sam.nelson@bismarcktribune.com.

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WASHINGTON  The suicide bombing in August at the Kabul airport that killed 13 American troops in the final days of the U.S. war in Afghanistan was not supported by terrorist gunfire and the attack could not have been prevented, the top general in charge of military operations in the Middle East said Friday.

A lone fighter for Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State, known as ISIS-Khorasan, set off a single bomb at about 5:36 p.m. that day, which is counter to initial reports that multiple terrorists fired shots on the crowd immediately following the blast, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie said during a news briefing at the Pentagon.

The new information comes after a team of military leaders conducted an investigation that included expert analysis and testimony from more than 100 people, he said.

While nothing can bring back the 11 Marines, the soldier and the sailor that we tragically lost in this attack, it's important that we fully understand what happened, said McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command. Their sacrifice demands nothing less.

The bomb blast direct[ed] ball bearings through a packed crowd and into our men and women at [the] Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, he said.

The disturbing lethality of this device was confirmed by the 58 U.S. service members who were killed and wounded despite the universal wear of body armor and helmets that did stop ball bearings that impacted them but could not prevent catastrophic injuries to areas not covered, McKenzie said.

The attack also killed 170 Afghan civilians.

McKenzie told reporters in August after the attack that U.S. troops returned fire at enemy fighters shooting into the crowds following the explosion. Investigators later found this was untrue by reviewing witness accounts, video and findings and analysis of medical examiners and explosive experts, he said Friday.

The best information we had in the immediate aftermath of the attack indicated that it was a complex attack by both a suicide bomber and ISIS K gunman, McKenzie said. The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire, either U.S. or Afghan.

Chaos and sensory overload

The initial false reports partially stemmed from instant chaos and sensory overload in the immediate aftermath of the attack, said Marine Corps Col. C.J. Douglas, who assisted with the investigation.

For example, rounds of gunfire from warning shots after the attack added to the confusion, and ball bearings from the explosive device caused injuries resembling gunshot wounds, McKenzie said.

We now know that the explosively fired ball bearings caused wounds that look like gunshots and when combined with a small number of warning shots led many to assume that a complex attack had occurred.

Furthermore, Marines at the scene fought through tear gas as they responded to the mass casualty event, Douglas said.

Marines experienced blast affects which caused disorientation, he said.

Several interviews discuss the presence of tear gas, which was released when the [tear gas] canisters worn on the Marines equipment were punctured by ball bearings from the blast at this point.

Video that the Pentagon released Friday of the scene following the attack shows troops running toward the explosion site as others run away carrying blast victims on their shoulders.

Other photos and video taken before the blast and released Friday show hordes of hopeful Afghan evacuees standing shoulder-to-shoulder, chest-to-back where the explosion would take place, said Marine Lt. Col. John Naughton, who also assisted with the investigation.

The [images] show how densely packed the canal was on [Aug. 26] and this gives you an idea why there were so many casualties as a result of the attack, he said.

Not preventable

The attack was not preventable, as senior leadership on the ground followed protocol with threat warnings throughout the two-week evacuation mission, said Army Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis, who led the investigation.

The leaders on the ground followed the proper measures, he said. Anytime there was an imminent threat warning, they followed the proper procedures, they lowered their profile, they sought cover, and at times, they even ceased operations at the gate.

Several top leaders, including multiple company commanders, the 82ndAirborne Division commander, the 24thMarine Expeditionary Unit commander, were on the ground during the attack. The 2ndBattalion 1st Marine Regiment battalion commander was also there and was wounded in the blast.

The reason that we were leaders who were on the ground throughout the course of the day on the 26this because again, it's understanding the hazards of our chosen profession and knowing that the leaders need to be on the ground to share those same hardships with their subordinates, Army Lt. Gen. Ron Clark, who also assisted in the investigation.

The investigation also revealed the Taliban was not involved in the attack, nor did they threaten U.S. personnel physically, Clark said.

We refer to the Taliban as unlikely partners [because] leading up to the time when we asked them to partner with us on the 16th of August, we were conducting kinetic attacks against the Taliban," McKenzie said.
HASAKAH, Syria  The truck rumbling past Ghwaryan prison didn't look like much to worry about at first. It drove along as expected, but then abruptly veered rightward. It hit the prison's exterior wall near the main gate, and a fireball lit up the night sky.

Several miles away in his operations room, Gen. Mazloum Kobane Abdi, commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, received reports of the blast within moments, he later recalled. He had spent the past three years warning foreign allies, Washington notable among them, that this night might come.

Within 30 minutes, he was sure of it: The nightmare they had predicted was unfolding.

The Islamic State's assault on Ghwaryan prison in the northeastern Syrian town of Hasakah on Jan. 20 was the group's most dramatic attack in years and triggered the longest and deadliest battle with ISIS since its so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq was defeated nearly three years ago. The goal, officials believe, was to break free Islamic State leaders, who were imprisoned there among more than 3,000 suspected militants.

By the time the SDF recaptured the prison after a 10-day battle, American and British forces had joined the fight, carrying out days of airstrikes and dispatching Special Forces on the ground. More than 500 people died, about three quarters of them ISIS members, or men or boys imprisoned among them, according to the SDF. Scores, if not hundreds, of suspected militants remain unaccounted for.

"They wanted to renew ISIS," Mazloum said in an interview. Usually laser-focused, the general looked weary. "They wanted to attack the prison, but after that, the plan was even bigger."

The Islamic State has proved resilient in the past couple of years despite its territorial losses. After being largely chased from northeastern Syria, it has returned, seeding sleeper cells across the countryside and waging an increasingly successful campaign of assassinations and other small-scale attacks. These in turn have intimidated local communities that might have resisted or informed on them, creating space for more ambitious operations.

The attack on the prison was more sophisticated and lethal than Western governments had anticipated. And at the same time that it was under assault, the SDF was reporting other simultaneous attacks in the region, including militant raids on checkpoints and a water tanker, the targeting of an SDF location with rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire, and a similar attack elsewhere on the home of an SDF commander.

In Iraq, the overall pace of Islamic State attacks has slowed in recent months. But the group has still been able to exploit security gaps, especially in central Diyala province, to carry out a pair of dramatic, deadly attacks.

In a briefing for reporters hours after U.S. Special Forces killed ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi during a raid in northwestern Syria on Thursday, a senior Biden administration official said Qurayshi had directly supervised the group's activities across Syria and Iraq and that it had been "seeking to reconstitute under his leadership."

While the U.S. raid had been planned months before the prison attack, the official said Qurayshi had influenced multiple threats against the Hasakah facility. In the past, the Islamic State has renewed itself through prison breaks, and Qurayshi had urged them to do so again.

___

As the winter sun dipped below Hasakah's sprawl on Jan. 20, Malak Maesh, 26, was stealing a nap between shifts. The thickset prison administrator, known as Bawar to his friends, had been keenly aware that the prison was vulnerable to assault. But dwelling on those worries would have made daily life feel untenable, he always said. The room he shared with other prison staff had only one gun, and that was for emergencies.

Like other detention facilities across northeastern Syrian that hold as many as 10,000 Islamic State suspects, the one in Hasakah was never meant to be a prison. It had once been a technical school and was retrofitted with metal doors. The inmates, many of them foreigners, were packed so tightly into some of the old classrooms that their limbs touched when they lay down to sleep.

As soon as Bawar heard the blast of the truck bomb, he was on his feet, scrambling down the stairs and into the corridor below, he recounted. A doorway blown open by the explosion framed the chaos outside. Dozens of attackers had swarmed the perimeter of the compound as flames illuminated it. Inmates in orange jumpsuits and gray prison-issue sweaters were running toward freedom.

When he stepped into the courtyard, he was struck on the head with a metal pole and forced to retreat. Another prison worker, Akef, grabbed the block's only gun and fired it to keep attackers at bay. When one of the militants hurled a grenade toward them, Akef tried to throw it back, but it exploded, killing him instantly.

Bawar stooped to pick up Akef's gun and fixed his eyes on a locked door behind him. "We needed a safe place, so I broke the door down," he said. "I barricaded myself in."

When the sun finally came up, Bawar peered through the room's shattered window to find that the prison yard was littered with bodies. Overnight, he had been joined in his hiding place by 11 prison guards, several of them badly wounded. There were no medical supplies. Three of them died.

___

Within hours of the attack, forces from the U.S.-led military coalition joined the battle, Western military officials said, launching the longest sustained period of airstrikes in support of its SDF allies since the battle for the Islamic State's final redoubt in Baghouz, Syria, nearly three years ago. In a series of more than 20 strikes over the course of a week, coalition jets unleashed Hellfire missiles and other large munitions. Apache attack helicopters strafed targets inside a cordon hastily established by the Kurdish-led SDF fighters, drawn from across Hasakah and the wider region.

When a 30-year-old SDF fighter nicknamed Partizan arrived near the prison with his unit, the battle was so loud that the ground was shaking, soldiers recalled. The father of two girls from Ras al-Ayn joined a line of reinforcements at a nearby traffic circle.

He cocked his gun and waited.

Before long, the battle was spilling into the surrounding streets. Residents were terrified. One mother tried to convince her young sons that the gunfire was celebratory. "I told them, don't be scared, it's just a wedding," said Abir Abdullah, 20. When the excuse wore thin, she gathered the boys in her arms, held their hands and stroked their hair through the night.

The fighting spread into the al-Zuhour and al-Taqqadum districts, north and west of the prison. SDF fighters and other local Kurdish security forces traded fire with bands of militants between the houses.

Partizan's unit was redeployed to comb the old Arab-style homes for ISIS fighters. They had low walls and wide open courtyards and the jihadists were slipping easily among them. Some of the militants wore prison clothes but others were in military fatigues. "You get confused because some of our members wear the same clothes," said Kurdeau, 27, a member of Partizan's unit.

The SDF fighters moved quickly from house to house to minimize their exposure. They were being watched, but they weren't sure from where. At each home, Partizan would slip up the stairs to check the roof, while the rest of the unit waited in silence a floor below.

Sometime around midday, members of the unit later said, the sound of a sniper's bullet sliced the air.

At the top of the stairs, Partizan fell mortally wounded.

___

As the days passed, hundreds of ISIS fighters surrendered and hundreds more had been killed. The SDF reported capturing several prison blocks, but fighting was still fierce. The remaining militants, the SDF said, were holed up in the north wing. Mixed among them were at least 700 adolescent boys, brought to the so-called caliphate by their parents and now imprisoned for it, and the SDF said that the boys were being used as human shields.

Some of the prison staffers who had been taken hostage during the first hours of fighting had been released. But Bawar was still trapped inside, even though the SDF's armored vehicles had penetrated the prison compound days earlier.

Bawar was at a loss. The militants had tried to smoke him out, and so the flag he hoped to wave in surrender had turned the same black color as the Islamic State's. He thought, at one point, he had caught the attention of some SDF soldiers driving past, but their vehicle kept going.

"I couldn't tell if he knew I was one of them," Bawar recalled. He stayed awake the whole night, wondering if they had seen him.

They came back the following morning. And finally, he was rescued.

"I never gave up hope," Bawar said. But he didn't recognize the soot-stained face he later saw in media photographs of himself. "It was like it wasn't me," he said.

___

By the time the fighting ended, nearly 400 prisoners and attackers were dead. According to officials, most of the survivors have been transferred from the shattered prison to a British-built facility close by.

The battle also cost the lives of 121 SDF members and at least five of the prison staff. The SDF is still burying its dead.

This week, thousands of Syrians gathered to watch as Partizan was laid to rest alongside other fallen soldiers in the northern Syrian city of Derik. The freshly dug graves sat at the far end of the cemetery. In front of them were hundreds more headstones for fighters killed in earlier battles against the Islamic State or other enemies.

Days later in the city of Qamishli, about 50 miles to the west, thousands of others collected below a heavy gray sky, this time to bury 13 sons of their own town. "Our boys take our hearts with them," said the mother of a slain 18-year-old fighter, sitting by his headstone. "When we lost my son, we lost ourselves too."

Back in Hasakah, the Kurdish security forces on afternoon patrol remained jumpy. They warned that Islamic State sleeper cells were still operating in the area.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted without warning. Two suspected militants had appeared from a side street, apparently wearing suicide belts over their robes. The security forces shot them dead in the middle of the thoroughfare. A tense silence descended.

Gen. Mazloum believes it all could have been worse. "They wanted to take Hasakah and expand," he said.

His forces had recovered a truck near the prison full of suicide belts and other weapons. It was proof, he said, that the Islamic State had been aiming to escalate its armed campaign once their imprisoned comrades were freed. "This attack could have turned them into an army," Mazloum said. "We warned the world of this many times."

Slumping backward on his office sofa, the general looked exhausted.

"We have a phrase in Arabic: 'There is no life for he who calls,'" he said.

It means no one was listening.

___

The Washington Post's Mustafa al-Ali contributed to this report.
MINNEAPOLIS (Tribune News Service)  Gov. Tim Walz has authorized the Minnesota National Guard to provide security assistance in St. Paul during the federal civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with George Floyd's death.

Walz is readying the guard after a request from St. Paul, which asked for state assistance if necessary. The governor deployed the National Guard in Minneapolis last spring to provide security around the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder and manslaughter.

"Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Minnesotans, and at the request of the City of Saint Paul, I have authorized the Minnesota National Guard to make preparations to assist local law enforcement agencies as needed," Walz said in a statement. "The National Guard will be available to help keep the peace, ensure public safety and allow for peaceful demonstrations."

The order doesn't mean Minnesotans will start to see National Guard members around the city, according to a release from the governor's office, adding the state is preparing to provide aid to local law enforcement only if necessary.

The National Guard is also prepared if the city of Minneapolis requests assistance following the fatal police shooting in Minneapolis of Amir Locke, the release says.

The three former officers  Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao face a state trial later this year.

The National Guard is authorized to help local law enforcement in preparations and planning activities around trial security, as well as efforts "to protect life and property, ensure public safety, and protect freedom of speech by allowing for peaceful demonstrations," according to the executive order.

The guard will be deployed "only where local law enforcement resources have been exhausted," the order continues.

Minnesota National Guard adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, will coordinate the resources and personnel needed to assist St. Paul if necessary. The order is effective immediately.

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2022 StarTribune. Visit startribune.com.

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(Tribune News Service)  Protests have taken to the high seas for years. Greenpeace ships patrol international waters to expose environmental injustice. The Sea Shepherd fleet plies the oceans to protect marine wildlife.

Then theres the tiny, but mighty, Golden Rule peace boat.

Unlike its more visible protest cohorts, the Golden Rule is a 34-foot wooden ketch that embarked on its first anti-nuclear arms protest in 1958.

The boat was turned away, and its crew of four Quaker peace advocates was arrested when they attempted to sail from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands to dispute nuclear bomb testing there.

On Friday afternoon, the Golden Rule sailed purposefully into San Diego Bay in observance of the one-year anniversary of the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty took effect Jan. 22, 2021.

The boat, recognizable by a giant white peace symbol and Veterans for Peace logo on its red sails, arrived here after a stop in Oceanside. It will remain until Feb. 16 to wage an educational campaign that includes online speeches by peace advocates, activists and human rights supporters.

Its crew is offering boat tours and harbor cruises from its berth at the Harbor Police dock on Shelter Island, with details on its website. Its next stop is Ensenada.

Ive only been involved since I heard about it last December, says La Mesa crew member Ron Evans, 69, a semi-retired San Diego State University professor who identifies with the mission.

He trained last month at the Golden Rules home port in Humboldt Bay. The main people involved are veterans of the military who are standing up for peace and nuclear disarmament  that says something to me.

The Golden Rule made an international splash in 1958 when its skipper, Albert Bigelow, a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, was blocked by the Coast Guard from sailing into the Pacific Ocean nuclear test zone as a protest.

After its initial activism, the Golden Rule retired under a series of private owners and ended up in Northern Californias Humboldt Bay. It sank at dockside during a gale in 2010 and was about to be scrapped when the boatyard owner who salvaged it learned of its history.

He gave it to a local chapter of Veterans for Peace, whose members offered to rebuild it. After five years of restoration, a new era of ocean-born political activism was launched in 2015.

Thats when Helen Jaccard, who now manages the Golden Rule Project, entered the scene. She wasnt a sailor or a veteran, but she strongly embraces the peace movement and is a member of Veterans for Peace. Her longtime partner, Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister, is a past Veterans for Peace national president.

They moved their RV into the boatyard to put finishing touches on the restoration. Jaccard, a database manager by training, was tasked with creating crew job applications. She filled out an application to test the digital system, and thats how she ended up on the crew, she laughs.

The maiden voyage of the restored boat was to San Diego in 2015 for an international convention marking the 70th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In the past seven years, the Golden Rule has traveled up and down the west coast of North America and around Hawaii. In March 2020, it was preparing to leave Hawaii to visit the Marshall Islands and Japan when the pandemic emerged.

The organizers changed course  putting signs on the boat, scheduling picture ops, virtual meetings and speeches in outdoor areas to observe socially distancing. We learned how to be effective even during a pandemic, Jaccard says.

She manages much of the daily operations, while Condon is president of the Golden Rule Project.

Hundreds of volunteers and dozens of captains have crewed for the ship.

Currently on the roster with Evans are Ren Jacob, of Oregon; Bob Betts, of Idaho, and Bruce Gustafson, of San Diego. Capt. Chris Appleton was snowed in at his Buffalo, N.Y., home this week, so local skipper Ron Kohl is subbing for him.

Big plans are in its future, which include sailing down the Mississippi River, patrolling the eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine, traveling along the Erie Canal and plying the Great Lakes.

The little boat averages about 5 mph as it parades its three-pronged message: peace, disarmament and sustainability. The Golden Rule has been relatively problem free since its 2015 re-launch. Other than running aground on the Sacramento Delta twice, the biggest setbacks have been a broken tiller, a lost anchor and a damaged rudder

I think we are accomplishing our mission, Jaccard says. Weve had tens of thousands of eyes on our boat, and thousands of people have heard our presentations. We go to Rotary Clubs, schools and churches.

The ocean-going activists pass the hat at in-person events and receive enough donations to maintain the projects $60,000-to-$80,000 yearly budget.

People are friendly. They like to hear our story, hang out with us, trade information, Jaccard says. Even in the military town of San Diego, they support us.

Jaccard, 66, explains that she has been against nuclear everything since high school, when she studied subatomic particles and realized the danger posed.

She came aboard after being inspired by Bigelows book outlining his struggles to cross the ocean to stop the nuclear bomb tests.

When I found out they were considering me as a crew member for a boat with this incredible history, I was in tears.

___

2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Visit sandiegouniontribune.com .
Stillwater, OK (74074)

Today

Increasing winds with thunderstorms likely - a few could become severe during the afternoon hours. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 81F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms, some strong during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low around 45F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Stillwater, OK (74074)

Today

Heavy rain this morning. Becoming windy with strong thunderstorms likely by evening. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 81F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms, some strong early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low around 45F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
In a few short months, states have gone from donating surplus rapid COVID-19 tests to states with shortages to hoarding them as demand driven by the spike in cases strains supplies.

Last January, North Dakota had amassed 2.7 million Abbott Laboratories BinaxNOW rapid COVID-19 tests from the federal government -- roughly 3 tests for each person in the state of 775,000 people.

The state had so many COVID-19 tests that it donated a total of 1 million of them to Montana and Pennsylvania as part of a sharing program among states that formed when the delta variant was the dominant strain and COVID-19 outbreaks rippled across the nation in waves. But now that omicron has turned the entire nation into a coronavirus hot spot and driven up demand for tests everywhere, that system has been upended.

Some states are holding on to expired tests for use as a last resort. In early January, North Dakota was one of them, with a stockpile of 600,000 expired rapid tests.

I want to make sure that our state is covered, said Nicole Brunelle, North Dakotas chief nursing officer. The entire nation is fighting for these tests.

Jasmine Reed, a spokesperson for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the state exchange program has stopped operating, and while federal health officials are working to get it going again, the timing is unclear.

Once COVID-19 and its variants began to ramp up and more testing was needed, states no longer had a surplus to provide extra tests, Reed said.

By early January, some states, including Montana and Indiana, had depleted their inventory of rapid COVID-19 tests for distribution. Along with North Dakota, Florida and Maryland have held on to expired tests in hopes the federal government would extend the tests shelf life.

The inevitable result: States have gone from cooperation to competition.

Emergency management and federal assistance across the country is built on the idea that we wont have a need everywhere at once, said Ken Sturrock, a Colorado-based regional emergency coordinator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The state test exchange program was created amid concerns that tests would expire unused. Federal health agencies built an online platform that states could use to relay what they had or needed.

Some states have gone outside the program to exchange tests. For example, Mississippi donated more than 79,000 tests to Pennsylvania in November, said Jim Craig, senior deputy for the Mississippi State Department of Health.

For the states that participated, the exchange program was effective in identifying and shipping tests to places in need across the country through much of 2021. Colorado, for instance, received tests from five states from May through August of last year, bringing in about 340,000 kits that were close to expiring.

Some donations went farther. When nationwide demand for testing diminished early last year, the Arkansas Department of Health couldnt find a state to take 300,000 tests close to expiring. Danyelle McNeill, a department spokesperson, said Arkansas donated the tests to India, where the delta variant was first identified, in late winter 2021.

Brunelle, North Dakotas chief nursing officer, said the state expanded access to its supply of tests to schools, businesses, health providers and others, offering free kits and training to those who would use them. Even then, Brunelle said, the state had more tests than it could distribute before they expired.

In January 2021, North Dakota sent 250,000 tests to Montana. Demand in Montana was low at the time, but Jon Ebelt, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health and Human Services, said the state did not want to turn down free tests after supplies had been tight earlier in the pandemic.

That summer, Montana sent 51,000 of those tests to Colorado.

But by January 2022, Montanas supplies had been depleted. Health officials notified school districts that the pool of BinaxNOW test kits had run dry. The state worked through suppliers to order 650,000 tests and planned to start distributing them on Jan. 30. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, blamed the Biden administration, saying it had repeatedly failed to increase testing supplies.

The Biden administration has created a website where households can sign up to receive four free tests, and officials have said tests are expected to ship within seven to 12 days of orders being placed. But that initial rollout raised access issues for some of the most vulnerable.

In fall 2021, North Dakota sent 750,000 rapid tests to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. David Rubin, the hospitals director of population health innovation, said the hospital distributed those supplies to a school-based testing program in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Rubin said that without the federal platform, the hospital is trying to get more tests for the program through federal agencies but that the line for them is long.

Were starting to imagine a world with less testing right now because its the reality, Rubin said.

In some cases, the federal Food and Drug Administration has extended the shelf life for certain tests, most recently this month when it put a 15-month life span on Abbotts at-home tests.

Amid the shortage, states have also sought permission to use outdated stock still on their shelves. Andy Owen, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health, said that on Jan. 18, the FDA gave the state an additional three months to use 97,000 expired rapid tests that must be administered by a provider. Thats after Florida got another three-month extension to use roughly 1 million test kits that had expired at the end of December.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released guidelines in 2020 that allowed states to use expired tests until non-expired supplies become available.

New Mexico Department of Health spokesperson Katy Diffendorfer said the state told a school that it could use older tests after the schools supply dwindled to outdated kits. They desperately needed to be able to test, Diffendorfer said, adding that the state would send non-expired tests as soon as possible.

In North Dakota, which once had an abundance of tests, Brunelle said the state was starting to see access issues this winter, especially in rural places. The state has been careful about sending tests out, even within the state. North Dakota stalled its program to distribute tests to businesses, which Brunelle hopes is temporary.

Right now, we need to keep our priority with our health care system, our first responders, our vulnerable populations, she said.

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The New Mexico Department of Health on Friday (Feb. 4) renewed pandemic restrictions related to the pandemic. A surge in cases of the Omicron variant have begun to decline after a steep increase in infections in early 2022.
One can only sympathize with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Vladimir Putin has a dagger aimed at the heart of Ukraine. For months he has mobilized troops along the Ukrainian border. The recent deployment of troops to Ukraine's almost undefended border with Belarus raises the possibility of a blitzkrieg strike against Kyiv, the capital.

Zelenskyy has every reason to lose his cool. And yet, he seems to be the only player in this crisis keeping his eye on the ball. In response to President Biden's gaffe about how a "minor incursion" into Ukraine would probably elicit a more restrained response from America and NATO, Zelenskyy tweeted: "We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones."

Last week, he chastised Western powers, including the U.S., for fomenting panic by talking about how a devastating war is now imminent and perhaps inevitable. "These signals have come even from respected world leaders, who speak openly and with undiplomatic language. They say simply 'tomorrow there will be war.' This is panic," he said. Zelenskyy reportedly delivered this message to Biden directly.

Sure, Russian officials insist war is the furthest thing from their minds. Putin and his subalterns claim this is defensive deployment. At the U.N. on Monday, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused America of "whipping up tensions and provoking escalation," repeating that the last thing Russia wants is war. "You are almost pulling for this," he said to the American ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield. "You want it to happen. You're waiting for it to happen, as if you want to make your words become a reality."

Contrary to a growing chorus of commentators in the U.S., mostly on the right, who have rallied to Putin, this is balderdash. In affairs of state, yes, words matter. But you know what speaks even louder? Massing battalions of tanks, artillery and 100,000 troops at your border, almost surrounding a neighboring nation.

Even if that didn't send a clear message, Russia's claim that an invasion of Ukraine is unthinkable shouldn't pass the laugh test. Remember, it's Putin who invaded Ukraine in 2014 and who has actively supported insurgents in eastern Ukraine ever since.

Zelenskyy correctly argues that the U.S. should have implemented sanctions against Russia already, both to signal that Putin's de facto threat of war is itself unacceptable and to give Putin a taste of how bad things could be if he keeps up his aggression. Of course, Zelenskyy has a very real incentive to solve the challenge at hand.

The problem is that everyone else wants to talk about the problem they want to have rather than the problem we face. France, per usual, wants to prove it is a great power unto itself and demonstrate its independence by following an independent diplomatic track. Germany is going its own way too, but not because it wants to preen. It's still hobbled by guilt over World War II and entangled with Russia culturally and economically, especially because of its dependence on Russian natural gas.

The Biden administration at times seems more interested in proving the glories of diplomacy in all things, the solidity of the NATO alliance, and Joe Biden's own foreign policy expertise. Given his low approval ratings, which never recovered from the Afghanistan fiasco that arguably helped invite this crisis, the administration would also like Biden not to look weak. These are all understandable priorities, but one can see why they are not Zelenskyy's top concerns. Still, the administration can be commended for at least understanding the stakes.

Meanwhile, responsible Republicans like Sen. Rob Portman are quietly trying to play a constructive role. Sen. Mitch McConnell recently said that the Biden administration is "moving in the right direction."

The problem is they're too quiet, drowned out by much louder voices on the right that are increasingly taking a pro-Putin stance and imposing their domestic culture war agenda on the crisis. Tucker Carlson of Fox News bizarrely insists that "NATO exists primarily to torment Vladimir Putin," as if Putin's propaganda and paranoia are the voice of reason. Carlson asserts that America is "pushing Ukraine to join NATO." It isn't.

Some on the right have even convinced themselves that the West is hostile to Putin because he opposes the West's pro-gay agenda. Others are simply letting partisanship cloud their judgment. Nikki Haley, who was the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under President Trump, offers the not-so-helpful advice that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should "resign" (which would make Nancy Pelosi president).

One can only hope that it's Zelenskyy's voice that prevails amid the din.

Jonah Goldberg writes for the Los Angeles Times.

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Why it matters: Oculus announced the addition of a feature in Facebook's Oculus applications that establishes a minimum distance of contact between avatars. It comes in response to reports of sexual harassment between avatars in the company's virtual worlds.

Today Meta rolled out "Personal Boundaries" in Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues for the Oculus Quest. The one by default feature creates a barrier extending about four feet around each avatar. It will simply stop the forward motion of any avatar that hits it, with no haptic feedback.

The company says it introduced the personal bubbles---which it will tweak as needed---to help set social norms in VR. A previous feature already caused an avatar's hand to disappear if it crossed someone's personal space.

In November, a Meta beta tester reported another user in Horizon Worlds groped her. She reported and blocked the user but said the guide in the Horizon Worlds plaza--a sort of moderator--didn't do anything. In the report, she asked for a protective "bubble" that would force people away, which seems to have led to Meta's introduction of the new feature this week.

Metaverse researcher Nina Jane Patel claimed she was gang-raped in one of the virtual spaces. A few male avatars surrounded hers, took photos, and verbally harassed her within 60 seconds of her joining. Other cases of VR sexual harassment go back to the early years of modern VR headsets.
WTF?! Months after English-language media started reporting about a Japanese company's super-thin, super-tall secondary PC monitor for social media feeds, another Japanese company has unveiled one. The first one seemed like a joke, but now it looks like it could be a trend.

Thanko recently unveiled the TL (Timeline) Portrait Display. At 11,200 (about $100), it's a 7.9" 70 x 208mm screen that connects to a PC or laptop through HDMI and gets power through micro USB.

In November, Elsonic's EK-MD088 appeared with a similar shape and purpose---shifting social media feeds to a cheap second screen. According to those reports, Elsonic's screen should be going on sale right around now, just as a competitor appears.

Thanko's screen is 480 x 1280 pixels, slightly lower resolution than Elsonic's 420 x 1920, but the Elsonic is a bit more expensive at 14,800 ($130). Nothing seems to indicate the Elsonic can't be used in horizontal orientation, but Thanko's product page advertises this for displaying system metrics.

The only potentially significant downsides of the Thanko are that it doesn't officially support Mac, and there's no information on its display technology. It also doesn't come with a stand, but a phone or tablet stand will probably work.

The advantages of these odd-shaped screens are price and portability. They're a bit cheaper than the cheapest new 1080p monitors on Newegg and PCPartPicker and can be easily carried along with a laptop.
The United States Department of Homeland Security revealed this week that it is currently working with its Science and Technology Directorate to explore the use of quadrupedal dog robots on the country's southern border.

US Government's Use of Robots

The department is deploying these robots to patrol stretches that might be difficult for human agents to patrol.

The DHS' Brenda Long said that the southern border could be an inhospitable place for agents, which is why they believe a machine is needed as a substitute.

Long added that the Science and Technology Directorate-led initiative focuses on Automated Ground Surveillance Vehicles, also called AGSV. The AGSV program is all about robot dogs, according to The Verge.

Also Read: Boston Dynamics Sells Robot Dogs for $74,500

The program has teamed up with Ghost Robots, which is a firm based in Philadelphia. The firm made headlines when one of its robots was seen sporting a remote-controlled sniper rifle called SWORD Defense Systems Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle or SPUR at a trade show.

It is a line that the best-known quadrupedal robots firm, Boston Dynamics, has not been willing to cross, despite earlier conversations with DARPA.

The stated use for these robots on the southern border is patrolling. The systems can wander autonomously or be controlled remotely, sending live video feeds to operators.

There is no indication here that these robots would be equipped with any weapons systems, of course, despite that being the thing that put the company on a lot of people's radar.

Ghost stated that it proudly partners with the US government and takes a largely agnostic approach to things just like payload.

Ghost CEO Jiren Parikh told TechCrunch's Brian Heater last year that they do not make the payloads. He added that they are not going to promote and advertise any of the weapon systems.

Parikh also said that even though they are selling to the military, they don't know what the military does with them. Ghost does not want to dictate to the US government how to use the robots.

Parikh said they draw the line on where they are sold and only sell to the US government and allied governments.

They do not sell the robots to enterprise customers in adversarial markets. He added that they get a lot of inquiries about their robots in China and Russia but do not ship there, even for their enterprise customers.

The DHS cites several reasons for their interest in the technology, aside from the inhospitable nature of the southern border, according to PCMag.

US Customers and Border Protection Agent Brett Becker said that just like anywhere else, there is standard criminal behavior, but along the border, there is drug smuggling, human smuggling, and smuggling of contrabands.

Becker added that anyone from one person could conduct these activities, all the way up to organizations, terrorists, hostile governments, and everything in between.

Deployment of the Robots

The DHS has not revealed when they will deploy the robots on the southern border. However, the team deployed testing robots equipped with night vision, and they are being put to work in outdoor spaces and scenarios designed to mimic residential buildings.

Long said that technology is semi-autonomous drones and robot dogs are no different. Given the history of the United States government's use of drones, it might not be the ideal connection for the DHS to draw in singing the praises of putting robot dogs to work on the border.

In 2019, Virginia Tech revealed that they are using an algorithm to train robot dogs to walk like real dogs.

In 2020, Boston Dynamics deployed robot dogs in the streets of Singapore to remind people of social distance.

Related Article: Spot, Dynamic Robot Dog, Hired As New Employee in Alberta Shell Refinery

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has explained why his company took Joe Rogan's side in the latter's recent row with veteran musician Neil Young.

Ek told employees in a controversial company town hall that the decision was due to how crucial Rogan was to Spotify's "ambitions," reports BusinessInsider. Essentially, the company was protecting their investment in the controversial podcaster because he allowed the streaming platform to "find leverage" over their biggest competitors.

In simpler words, it was all about business.

For the unaware, Spotify paid Rogan $100 million for exclusivity rights to his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE). This was a deal that both parties signed in 2020.

According to Ek, they're not keen on changing their content policies based on one creator alone or based on "any media cycle or call from anyone else," as reported by NBC News.

Furthermore, the Spotify CEO clarified that Rogan still has to abide by their policies and rules, even if he is the number one podcaster on the platform as of the moment.

The JRE podcast averages a massive 11 million listeners per episode, which is part of why Young criticized Rogan's tendency to peddle scientific and COVID misinformation on his show. According to the veteran rocker, this kind of reach puts so many people's lives at risk, especially those of more "impressionable" ones like young people.

The explanation was taken from a 15-minute video recording of Ek's speech during the town hall, which was obtained by The Verge. Before the speech, employees were apparently waiting for the discussion with a hint of skepticism, as the aforementioned workers have been "venting" about why they chose Rogan over Young.

The move was considered a distasteful one by the employees since it kind of caused a domino effect. It wasn't just Young who decided to pull his music off the platform, but also his contemporary Joni Mitchell, who did it in support of his fight against the alleged rampant COVID misinformation on the platform.

Read Also: Spotify Q4 2021 Earnings: CEO Address Joe Rogan Issue, Says No One is Exempted from Policies

Spotify Feeling The Heat

In their decision to side with Rogan, Spotify has been feeling the heat of the backlash.

Amidst the Joe Rogan and Neil Young controversy, the company's stock tanked by a significant margin when investors "shied away", as reported by 9 News Australia. Company stock prices fell to as low as $149.95 per stock from a high of $191.84.

Not only that, but Young pulling his music off the platform also fed some trolling efforts from Spotify's biggest competitors. Among these included Apple Music, who sent out this tweet shortly after the issue went public:

The home of Neil Young.



Listen to his entire catalog on Apple Music: https://t.co/sUGtz4JbB9 pic.twitter.com/YgRMygUqhi  Apple Music (@AppleMusic) January 28, 2022

This isn't even the only thing they did, as Apple Music also used their Push Notifications to take advantage of the situation:

lol @ this Apple Music push notification pic.twitter.com/eOh5Y5YhhU  Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) January 28, 2022

If you're a massive Neil Young fan, then you're going to have to get your fix of his music elsewhere. Fortunately, there are a lot of other alternatives to Spotify that you can choose from.

Related Article: Spotify Account Guide: How to Delete Your Account and Cancel Your Premium Subscription

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A company based in Queensland, Australia has created a new COVID-19 detecting device that works like other breathalyzers. According to the latest report, this tool poses 98% accuracy in identifying the results, among patients.

Queensland Firm Develops Breathalyzer Detection For Coronavirus

According to an article written by Australian-based news outlet 4BC, a new breath testing device could detect the virus within a single minute. Examin Holdings Managing Director Colin Hickey spoke that this handheld equipment was indeed a "very simple" device.

Hickey said that this breathalyzer can now detect coronavirus among Australians like any other roadside breath tester. With that, there's no need anymore to resort to conducting a swab test for a patient who wants to be tested.

He continued that this tool was non-invasive thus very easy to use. It will only take five seconds before the patient knows the result if he/she is positive or negative to the COVID-19.

After the COVID-19 testing takes place, a QR code will appear. You can further scan it to know the answer for the test, as per Hickey.

Related Article: Ohio State Researchers Develop COVID Breathalyzer For Rapid Coronavirus Screening

Breathalyzer Test is 98% Accurate Based on Studies

In another article by 9news, another Aussie news publication, the COVID-19 detection device could reportedly pose 98% accuracy according to the early studies of the Queensland company.

For those individuals who want to immediately know if they are infected or not, this would be an effective tool to use for quick detection of the virus.

Meanwhile, the government said in the same report that it gave a $650,000 grant for the development of the product and its test.

Per Angus Taylor, the Federal Industry Minister, this creation was a "brilliant piece" made in Australia. The 55-year-old politician who also serves as the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction said that they are looking forward to supporting the company with their resources.

Aside from Australia, Singapore also approved of the Go COVID-19 breath test system which can yield test results in just 60 seconds. Back in May 2021, Tech Times reported that this works by identifying the existing Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs in the exhaled breath of a patient.

The researchers would take note of the "biochemical reactions" on this test so they could detect the coronavirus in an individual. The one-way valve mouthpiece will be connected to the breathalyzer. The patient will blow the air after that.

Examin Founder Partners With Utah

For the roll-out of the tests around the world, Hickey announced that he's partnering with the University of Utah to make it happen. He expected that the distribution of the products would commence around April or May 2022.

The collaboration of Hickey and the said institution can be traced as early as February 2019 when they wanted to create a breathalyzer tool for the detection of the Zika virus.

Meanwhile, some scientists said that smartphone-based COVID-19 tests are cheaper than the usual PCR tests., per Tech Times last month.

Read Also: Singapore, Taiwan Now Accept Both COVID-19 Test, Vaccination Digital Certificates-Easing Border Restrictions



This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A mother from the United Kingdom was shocked after a delivery driver delivered a $1 bottle of hand soap instead of a new iPhone 13 Max Pro that she ordered. The latest iPhone model costs 1500 or $2,000.

UK Mother Got Hand Soap Instead of iPhone

The 32-year old mother from the United Kingdom, Khaoula Lafhaily, bought the gadget from Sky Mobile and the company dispatched it through the post, according to Mirror UK.

The gadget was supposed to be delivered the following day by DPD, but she said that the delivery driver contacted her to say that he was stuck in traffic.

Two days after the delivery driver dropped off the package, she opened it and saw a refill bottle of blue hand soap wrapped up inside.

Also Read: Avoid buying stolen iPhone, iPad using this Apple iCloud tool

Lafhaily signed a 36-month contract to pay the gadget on an installment basis. The mother in north London called Sky Mobile, and the company said they launched an investigation, but after a week, she did not receive any update about the incident.

Lafhaily said they live in a first-floor flat, so they have to watch out the window when they get deliveries; otherwise, the packages can get delivered to the wrong flat. They saw the driver pull up to their house, take a picture from outside the house and leave.

Lafhaily added that the driver told them that he came to the door, knocked, and no one was there, so he would return the next day, but she said that they were watching at the window, and the driver lied.

After two days, a different delivery driver came, and her husband went down to collect the package at 8:05 a.m., which they opened at around midday because she was asleep, and they saw a bottle of hand soap.

Laifhaily said they were in complete shock and needed the phone. They believe that the gadget was stolen. She bought the phone on Jan. 24, and she paid for the next-day delivery.

The driver did not turn up, but he messaged her to say he was stuck in traffic and would return the next day. On Jan. 26, the drive returned, but he failed to deliver the iPhone, as he only took a picture of the front door and left without even knocking or leaving the package.

The following day, a different delivery driver dropped off the package, which turned out to be a hand soap, and she said the driver did not even ask for her ID, according to iMore.

Fake Packages

Getting the wrong package has been rampant among iPhone buyers. In February 2021, a woman bought an iPhone 12 Pro Max, but instead of getting the gadget, all she got was an apple-flavored yogurt.

A woman from China named Liu said that her new iPhone was swapped with an apple-flavored yogurt drink. According to Apple Insider, she uploaded a video on Weibo and explained that she spent more than $1,500 to purchase a new iPhone on Apple's official website.

Liu did not get the package directly from her courier but rather from a parcel locker in her residential community.

In 2017, more than 300 iPhone Xs were stolen from a UPS truck in San Francisco, California.

In 2021, Apple issued a warning to a Chinese tipster who advertised stolen iPhone prototypes.

Related Article: Is the used iPhone you just bought, a stolen device? Now there's a tool for that

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
BMW and Electrify America have partnered to give the new electric vehicles or EVs buyers of the German automaker free charging sessions in the United States.

BMW EV Buyers' Free Electrify America Charging

As per a news story by Electrek, Electrify America announced that it has collaborated with BMW North America to give the new buyers of the EVs of the latter complimentary charge sessions on the widespread network of supercharging stations of the former.

The partnership only applies to BMW North America for now. As such, only the buyers of the EVs of the German carmaker in the United States could exclusively get the free charging promo.

On top of that, if you are thinking of purchasing your BMW EV now, you will have to think twice as the complimentary charging is kicking off no earlier than March.

That said, those who have previously bought their EVs from the German brand would not get the free charging as well.

The free charging promo only lasts for 30 minutes for every session. However, the new BMW owners get to enjoy the complimentary battery top-up for two years since they bought their EV in the US.

BMW's New EVs

The complimentary charging with Electrify America is rolling out along with the debut of the new BMW EVs, such as the iX and the i4.

BMW has been one of the biggest automakers that pride their vehicles on being powered by combustion engines. However, the German brand started trying out the electrified engine way back in 2013.

This time around, BMW is expanding its EV lineup with the upcoming release of the i4 sedan and the iX SUV in the US.

According to a report by MotorTrend, BMW plans to increase its EV sales on an average of 20 percent every year globally from 2025 to 2030. However, the automaker said that 50% of their car offerings will still sport combustion engines until 2030.

Read Also: BMW to Remove Touchscreen Feature Due to Chip Shortage, to Give Customers $500 Credit

New BMW Drivers and Free Charging

The German-based carmaker estimated that both the i4 and iX could rapidly charge up to 90 to 108 miles of range in merely 10 minutes.

As such, the 30-minute free charging that Electrify America is offering to the new BMW drivers is more than enough for short trips. Not to mention that it could even give them enough juice even for long road trips.

The new owners of BMW EVs could easily locate charging stations either from the My BMW or the Electrify America apps.

Elsewhere, BMW recently unveiled its last V12 production car.

Related Article: CES 2022: BMW Unveils Theatre Screen With Amazon Fire OS | Next-Level In-Car Cinematic Experience

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Teejay Boris

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Woot is offering a massive deal for the LG C1 65" 4K OLED Smart Television today, and it is something that you do not want to miss if you are looking for a new display device. That is because the LG C1 is almost less than $900; the original selling price now puts it at $1649.99 compared to its previous price, which goes beyond $2,000.

Woot! Sale: LG C1 65" 4K OLED Smart TV for $1650

According to a report from IGN, the LG C1 appeared on a sale offer by Woot!, and it brings a massive discount for all buyers, but if people want this deal, they have to purchase it now or never. The deal will only last until 11:59 PM EST or 9 PM PST, and this limited deal only popped up over at the sale platform.

Nevertheless, this is the lowest price for the LG C1 4K OLED Smart TV now, and it boasts of a 65-inch screen that brings the webOS and top features of the device.

In the last Black Friday sale, IGN said that the TV's lowest offer was at $1799, but in this deal from Woot!, it would only take a user to purchase the display for only $1649.99.

Read Also: LG CLOi Service Robots to Come to the US | First Commercial Service Robots with UL 3300 Certification

Where to Find this Deal

Woot knocks off an impressive $850 for this deal, and it is a massive one, something that is not seen on other deals and offers of the smart device. The LG C1 4K OLED Smart TV on Woot! is one of the best displays from LG's lineup now, and it is even considered its flagship device available from the company.

LG Smart TVs Now

LG focused its technology and innovations on the smart home industry and its famous display technology, including Smart TVs. In the last CES 2021, there was supposed to be a so-called "LG Rollable" that brought a promising device that fans loved and adored better than existing folding smartphones but eventually got canceled.

In fact, the entire smartphone leg and production of LG got scrapped, with the company focusing on its other strengths that invite revenue instead of losing them.

The new perspective of LG helped them to focus on a massive aspect of its business and play its strengths more into the battery cell production and display technology.

Smart TVs are one of the "cream of the crop" by the South Korean company, and it proved to be at the top of them all with its webOS and superior OLED. The company is also one of the first to bring 4K video quality to the market and give the world a massive 325-inch TV that has never been seen before.

The Woot sale is one for the books as it almost takes half the price for the television, and it helps save a few extra bucks.

Related Article: Eaton and LG Electronics To Enable Flexible Home Energy Management

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Unsplash/Marques Thomas @querysprout.com) Amazon website

Amazon is in hot water yet again after a group of lawmakers questioned the e-commerce giant over listings that its third-party vendors had made.

The lawmakers stated that Amazon's third-party vendors had been selling preservatives on the site that tied to several cases of suicides.

Amazon's Third-Party Vendors

At least seven members of Congress sent a letter to Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy. They asked the e-commerce company 15 questions about the sale of the preservatives, including the number of customers that had passed away after the sale.

Lori Trahan, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and David B. McKinley, a Republican from West Virginia, led the group of lawmakers.

Both McKinley and Trahan labeled the issue as concerning, especially since listings for the preservatives are available for all customers, and some sellers even offer overnight delivery. There are also no warnings added to listings for customers to see.

Also Read: Apple and Amazon are Facing Investigation in Spain for Teaming Up to Remove Third-Party Sellers of Apple Products

According to CNET, the lawmakers stated in the letter that Amazon is giving suicidal customers fast access to dangerous methods like chemicals, thus increasing the number of deaths. The letter was not published as it contains the names of the chemicals under investigation.

Ongoing Product Problem

This is not the first time that safety issues have been raised about products sold by third-party sellers on the e-commerce site.

In 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that they'd discovered several dangerous products on Amazon, including those that have been banned by the Food and Drug Administration or FDA.

Counterfeits are also listed on the site, and it causes issues for both buyers that bought items with faulty features and companies that got their trademarks infringed.

Amazon has teamed up with several businesses to sue third-party sellers who posted counterfeit items on the site, but most are from outside the United States.

Even though Congress has specifically called out Amazon over the types of items that are posted on the site, it does not mean that the other e-commerce sites do not have listings of chemicals tied to suicides.

The New York Times reported that the same chemicals had been sold on eBay and Etsy. In November 2020, Etsy announced that they've officially banned the sale of all preservatives.

Meanwhile, eBay did not respond to the accusations, but it was reported by The New York Times that the company eventually banned the preservatives too.

An Amazon spokesperson sent condolences to the loved ones of those who have died by suicide. The spokesperson stated that the chemicals listed on the site are used to preserve foods and also can be used as a reagent in laboratories. Unfortunately, the products were misused.

Amazon's vice president of public policy, Brian Huseman, responded to the letter from Congress and said that all of the preservatives on the site are sold legally, and the listings passed the site's strict guidelines.

The products comply with laws and regulations, and Amazon has a product safety program that ensures the safety of its customers.

The use of chemicals for suicide has been going on since 2017. The concerns of lawmakers stem from the easy availability of the chemicals and the lack of precautions in the listings.

In 2016, Amazon UK was fined for mislabeling and airmailing chemicals, and other dangerous packages.

Last year, Amazon's third-party sellers were exposed for undermining the system and deleting negative comments left by their customers, which makes listings even more unreliable.

Related Article: Amazon Allegedly Exploits Small Businesses Through Hefty Fees! Third-Party Sellers Pay $34 per $100 Sale?

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.


94,059 2022130

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvLxuJYKXaA

26

866 





[Music]

look at it this way there's an understanding in among those who manage the capitalist system there's an understanding that one of the ways that inequality continues to be reproduced over generations

is that there's a large belt of countries in africa asia latin america; it just

seems to be these places a large belt of countries which had formerly been

colonized, where the workers in these countries are being paid subhuman wages

see and this subhuman wage is justified on cultural grounds; so we are told for instance in zambia standard of living is low.

if the standard of living is low then

you can pay people very little

to pull the copper out of the ground now

you and i cannot be holding this

conversation right now

without that zambian miner

that zambian miner went into the ground

brought out that copper that copper was

then processed into wires into small

components for our computers

it's what connects you to me we are

connected through copper

and yet the idea is that copper miner

whose children sixty percent of whose

children can't read in the copper belt

region of zambia that copper miner

doesn't need to be paid

a good salary or a good wage

because their their

standard of living is lower they don't

need so much money in zambia

they just eat a little bit of you know

tap

some flour an onion here and there you

know when they come up

give them something to entertain

themselves maybe they get a cheap

smartphone

some kind of

knockoff smartphone

they watch a little video they go to

sleep in their house they don't need air

conditioning

you know they're not used to all this

that's the attitude why can't the

zambian miner be paid more so their

children go to school

so they have an existence where they

have proper cultural life you have to

keep their wages artificially suppressed

by making a racist

argument about culture this is not just

in zambia it's there in india

it's there in malaysia

it's there across this belt of countries

miners who go into the earth

you know workers who do things in the

fields peasants who grow crops and so on

they say oh you can keep the wages down

this is an old colonial idea

that these people don't need the modern

world

they can be kept in a low form

of human civilization so horribly

offensive idea

but in a way the whole structure of

capitalism

relies on these workers being paid these

sub power wages that's a colonial

structure that gets reproduced

generation after generation even though

these are nominally free countries

zambia is a free country it's not a

colony

but its economy is kept in a colonial

structure ghanaian prime minister

president kwame nkrumah called

neocolonialism

it's neocolonial the structure so that's

the colonial structure you know zambia

will go and borrow money from the

international monetary fund

money apartheid

international monetary fund will say

we'll lend you money okay

but

you have to cut your health care system

you have to cut subsidies to education

that's why 60 of the children in the

copper belt can't read

because the government doesn't have the

resources to have educational

institutions the imf has told them cut

education cut health care cut pensions

cut all this stuff privatize everything

see that reproduces the colonial

structure

how is the zambian miner then

going to lift their life experiences how

are they going to do that

they are not getting paid enough

government is being told cut health care

cut you know education all this how are

they going to do this they can't so

generation after generation the colonial

structure is reproduced

this comes from a colonial mindset as

well that's what's important there's

also a mindset the mindset that says

well look you know

what do they know of civilization that

racist idea is there

they don't need to be paid much

so that structure and

the ideology

go hand in hand in a way you know and

you see what's interesting

is that like a country like china

um

doesn't care about this

it has produced its own path

now

some people can argue this is going back

a long way you know but that's not true

this is not about some old chinese

attitude towards the west or towards

it's not true

your emperor

told the british in the 19th century we

don't need anything from you

we've got everything here and then the

british forced opium on china

and china was humiliated

and the chinese people became addicted

to opium

wages were kept suppressed and down you

know western companies were doing to

china

what is continuing to be done in africa

today it's not that china has a

different history

it's the chinese revolution in 1949

that said no we are not going to accept

new colonialism we're not going to

accept it

we're going to build our own

agriculture we're going to lift the

standards of our own people we're going

to give them

a medical education all this stuff

so i don't agree with people who make

the argument

that china's advance

is because of chinese culture that's

nonsense to me where was chinese culture

in the 19th century when you were

defeated in the opium war

where was chinese culture when hong kong

was taken

where was chinese culture

when the foreign

you know

entities came and demanded extra

territorial protections in shanghai you

know

where was it it wasn't it's really after

the chinese revolution of 1949

that a new spirit is born in china when

mao says you know we stand up now

that's powerful look countries around

the world want to stand up that's what

i'm trying to say what are you standing

up against

when mao says we are standing up

what does people may should ask what are

you standing up against

you're standing up against colonialism

you're seeing no more opium war

you're seeing no more humiliation you

see that's the important aspect that mao

is not just talking about standing up

abstractly he's talking about standing

up concretely

standing up against colonialism

[Music]

that's a very important question um

if i may i'll say it's afraid of neither

it's afraid of something else

so um the united states continues to

have the world's largest military let's

be clear about that

i know china has the military capacity

to defend its borders but the united

states is a very dangerous military

force it can wipe out countries now it

can't tell people what to do

they destroyed libya destroyed iraq

you know to some extent destroyed

afghanistan

destroy countries but you can't tell

them what to do people are not going to

accept it but you can still

create

terrible physical damage you know uh

china can have great damage inflicted on

it if the us is crazy enough to go to

war you know why is the united states so

bothered by china that's the question

today right

nothing to do specifically with china

nothing to do specifically with

socialism you specifically

the immediate thing that they are

bothered by is that the chinese

government and chinese people made a bet

about

let's say now 40 some years ago

it's around your period of the reform in

1978 chinese people made a bet

what the chinese people bet was the

chinese people said okay look at this

we've been able to improve the general

condition of our people we've improved

the nutrition level by 1978 nutrition

levels went up from 1949. that was not

that hard because in 1949 because of the

terrible war nutrition levels were

appalling you know

agriculture had been destroyed in

central china and so on but they still

lifted nutrition levels lifted health

levels lifted education levels lifted in

fact what's very important is life

expectancy people in china were living

longer and so on okay now here's the bet

look

they said

um

it's not enough in the modern world to

feed people it's not enough to have

medical care and so on we also need the

best of science and technology

because a lot of advances are coming not

through necessarily you know

redistributing the surplus that we have

you know

taking the surplus and saying let's put

more into medical let's put more into

health no it's not just socialism is not

merely redistributing the surplus we

have to advance our science and

technology why do i keep saying science

and technology

you can't just improve your technology

technology in a sense is yesterday's

science

science is tomorrow's technology so you

have to improve both science and

technology side by side so they said

let's do that

and from 1978 the chinese government

made some clever moves for instance

when they said to the french

solar energy companies you can come and

you can create factories in shenzhen and

other places that's okay but you have to

tell us what is the science behind solar

energy we want to learn this

and the friends said because they were

so excited by being given access to high

quality chinese labor you see labor is

high quality because better fed

it's educated right it's not just for

cheap wages it's a wrong approach if you

want cheap wages there are many

countries to go to

what these companies wanted access to

was in a sense the advantages of

socialism

better fed workers if the workers are

better fed they can work with more

concentration they're not drifting off

in hunger you know

and so on so the companies were so

excited by access to better you know

socialist workers that they said okay

fine you can here's the science

and then chinese science poured over

those advances learned everything super

fast and then began to innovate and

develop their own scientific industry

inside the country

by about 10 years ago

in five or six key areas

chinese science was ahead of western

science

chinese science had gone ahead in areas

of telecommunications

in areas of robotics in areas of green

technology and so on and so forth you

know high-speed rail for instance a lot

of different areas

these advances particularly in

telecommunications

are a direct threat

to western telecommunications companies

see these companies rely on their

monopoly

to make profits

and because they are such important

parts

of western capitalist countries they are

so important if tomorrow

the chinese company like huawei zte and

so on wipe out nokia

if they wipe out the american tech

companies these economies will go into

serious crisis

so this is actually this whole cold war

business

is actually a fight

over whether china should be allowed to

go ahead of the west in science and

technology that's really in my opinion

that's the core of the fight and the

reason the evidence i have for this

is when trump accelerated the pressure

on china when trump accelerated this see

trump was a right-wing republican

you'd think that all the liberals

would be opposed to the cold war the

democratic party and so on you'd think

they would say hey listen trump what are

you doing this is crazy no

even the ceos

of the leading silicon valley firms

the ceo of apple for instance he himself

is a liberal personally

he they gave money to the democratic

party he went to see trump

during the high point of the pressure

campaign on china

and he all he said was listen go ahead

with your pressure campaign because we

want to we want your help to defeat

huawei

you go ahead with the pressure campaign

just make sure that

samsung in south korea

isn't getting too much of an advantage

from this pressure campaign over apple

while you're at destroying

huawei and zte also destroy samsung

because apple and others they must

benefit you see

apple didn't go and see mr trump and say

what are you doing our production lines

are in china

we with foxconn we produce all our

phones in china

stop this no he said you accelerate the

campaign

more important

to destroy huawei and zte and to take a

short-term hit

on production facilities

then the long-term issue of having their

advantages destroyed

so actually in my opinion

the united states obsession with china

is an obsession to prevent china from

fully standing up

in that sense this is really a colonial

situation because what they're saying to

china is

we don't mind it if you are the producer

of the world if your workers produce

everything we don't mind that

but we don't want you to produce things

for yourself

we don't want your companies

to have an advantage over our companies

this is the colonial mindset

[Music]

you know the one of the great tragedies

of the socialist project has been that

all socialist experiments have taken

place in poor countries

none of the advanced capitalist

countries advance to socialism none of

them

not germany not the united states not

the uk none of them

the where was where was the socialist

experiments the tsarist empire

relatively poor backward place you know

china which as you know because of the

long war 1937 to 1949

war against the japanese civil war and

so on was devastated

socialism comes in cuba very poor

country you know colonial context and so

on um you can't think of any socialist

experiment that took place in a rich

country the closest thing we have is

east germany

but east germany was destroyed by world

war ii it wasn't the east germany of the

past and so on

because of that we had to experiment you

know marx had had theorized

that under capitalism you build the

productive forces

and then you just merely need to have a

revolution and you socialize the means

of production what if there are no means

of production what if the productive

forces are weak what if you don't have

factories but you have poor peasants and

so on how are you going to build

socialism there

we had the disaster of cambodia for

instance disaster where in cambodia what

happened was they basically tried to

socialize poverty

everybody will be equally poor that's

not socialism you see my impression of

socialism is that we want to abolish

poverty we don't want to generalize

poverty we want to ebola how do you do

that you have to experiment you have to

build the productive forces you have to

maintain levels of equality a socialist

culture and so on for that you have to

do all kinds of interesting things you

know you have to at some points open up

to various forms of private enterprise

then you have to reign in private

enterprise don't allow the people who

run these companies to think they are

you know captains of industry nothing

you are just doing another job my friend

you're building a company that's just

another job

you know between you and the janitor is

a difference of skills a difference of

experience and so on you know but don't

think you're a better person than that

person that's a very bad attitude you

know when when somebody says oh i'm a

captain of industry i built a big

company i'm better than a school teacher

that's not true my friend you are just

two human beings doing two different

tasks in the world admittedly sometimes

the captain of industries tasks are more

complicated i understand that i'm not a

fool i understand that you do more

complicated things you a lot of pressure

in your life and so on but you're not a

better person than a school teacher you

both play an important role in society

so we have to experiment with new ways

of because we are not building socialism

in rich countries we have to experiment

in new ways

it's an illusion to believe for instance

or china is a rich country you know

china is a country rooted in the

experiences of the global south you know

it faced the pressures of imperialism

terrible pressures in the 19th century

and you've just eradicated absolute

poverty which is a huge feat but let's

be frank there are there were sections

of china till you know last year that

lived in terrible the grip of poverty

you know it's hard to

get out of it so you have to experiment

let's try this let's try that

that's the attitude of socialism you

know socialism is about using pragmatic

uh mechanisms to advance the cause of

humanity it's not about being rigid you

know let's keep doing the same thing

whether it's working or not no we have

to be experimental we have to be supple

i like the word supple

supple you know you have to like a good

yoga you know you have to your body has

to not be all in the grip you know like

that you have to be able to move in a

way that's gentle and if something is

not working try the other try the

opposite sometimes you know be

open-minded but

make sure that you're along the

path of advancing the cause of your

people and and of nature you know don't

destroy nature i learned that from karl

marx mark said one of the terrible

things about capitalism was the tendency

to use nature

as a free resource but nature is not

free

nature is very expensive it is uh it is

the great gift that the planet has given

us we can't take advantage of it towards

destroying it you know i i'm a great

believer in having a balanced attitude

towards nature you know i i don't want

to live in a planet without trees and

plants and birds and you know i like

nature a lot

you know

i mean it's not a question of like and

aesthetics it's a question we rely on

nature nature feeds us you know our

labor goes and transforms

nature into into what we eat so

yes you must experiment and so on but

keeping in line the idea of advancing

the cause of humanity and maintaining a

balance with nature



6

   

Jason Lee

5



Sophie Bao

6

It will be great if the subject title is also translated to English since the content is in English.

VJ's talk was so captivating! It is so because he speaks passionately, truthfully, and confidently about the subject matters. To be able to talk like him needs extensive reading and studies and open-mindedness. We have many great scholars or domain experts as well but not many can talk like him, either short of passion or lack of confidence. I don't mean to speak in English. China is a great country that is doing great things. The Chinese need to come out telling their stories with great passion, conviction, and confidence. I not only hope the hosts and anchors of CGTN etc can speak like him but also select high-quality speakers to come to their show. I have learned several knowledge points from his talk. However, not many shows or talks provide such benefits to their audience.

Comrade Stannis ? CPUSA

3

Vijay Prashad is a treasure. I'm glad that he's having an honest conversation and discussion on Chinese television.

suger

6



M. Y.

3

I'm so EXCITED to have found this! Definitely on the high level with Eric Li when discussing about China and on going frictions with the west.



Arch Mag

5

CIA.



Edward Hochwand

6





6

Vijay is spot on the point of Science and Technology and agree with him that this is what the West fears China most to be technologically more advanced than they are in areas where the West have been enjoying super profits for years.



Jacky Jackson

5

 100% ......, , , ..... 



tony tan

4

Vijay is a true wonder, an independent,wise thinker, despite the poisonous environment that was not condusive for independent intelligent thinking in India

Ariel

5







5

He is correct. Even in Singapore, if you observe carefully, Lee Kuan Yew when fighting against the British criticised the colonial master. Once he became rich and powerful, he turn into a colonial master himself. Colonialism did not die, it just use currency as a control instead of weapon thats all.





5





C san

6

Learn a lot from him! Many thanks!



Juan Jiang

5





ting wang

5

I really enjoyed your speech Mr Vijay. Thanks for sharing your brilliant insights with us.



Wenke Adam

1

Hi Vijay! I almost missed this video because the titles were only in Chinese. But the YouTube algorithm for once worked fine when I did a search for Vijay prashad. Lovely presentation. I agree with your views on how to create socialism. It is probably the biggest experiment that humankind has embarked on. Be supple, be flexible, but never underestimate the power of the capitalist class. Don't let them take the upper hand.

Francis Lee

4

Yes China made a mistake of missing the Industrial Revolution, but no the Chinese Culture should not be totally dismissed in China's successful and outstanding revival.

It is Chinese Culture, amid the Japanese invasion and foreign powers' aggression/abuse/suppression, that holds China together still.

It is Chinese Culture that has made it possible for China, this civilization of 5,000 years, to revive to become world #2 economy from ground zero in a mere 40 years.

It is Chinese Culture that has enabled Chinese people to reject Democracy USA style, and to find her own way that is proven to be working extremely well for China.

It is Chinese Culture that has led Chinese people to choose a Government that controls Capital, not controlled by Capital.

It is Chinese Culture that has enabled China to be a large country (1.4B population) that is most successful in containing the Coronavirus.

And most importantly: because of the Chinese Culture, we thankfully see China becomes world power (again) PEACEFULLY without the waging of wars like USA.



Ruipeng Li

9

VJ
Peloton was once considered a promising company with a massive valuation of $50 billion, but the company dropped to just $8 billion in value over the past year. Several reports imply that Nike and Amazon are now planning on buying the exercise equipment company.

Amazon 'has been Consulting Its Advisers' on Possibility of Purchasing Peloton?

According to an article by The Wall Street Journal, Amazon, the e-commerce and cloud giant, "has been consulting its advisers" regarding the possibility of them purchasing Peloton. To add, Amazon might not be the only company contemplating purchasing Peloton.

An article by The Financial Times states that another company, Nike, is also thinking of buying the exercise equipment maker. With that, neither company has talked directly with Peloton yet, "and they may end up not making an offer at all."

Peloton's Rise to Popularity During the Start of the Pandemic

During the pandemic, Peloton became a huge hit, with a lot of people looking for alternatives to fitness after the lockdowns caused the gyms to close. At the start of 2021, Peloton reached a market value of $50 billion, far from its current $8 billion valuations.

The company halted the production for its Bike and Tread amid the demand slowing down due to a number of factors, including "stiffer competition," as per a report by CNBC in January.

Workers' Issues within the Company

John Foley, the CEO of Peloton, denied later on that the company was pausing its production in a letter towards the company's employees. The CEO, however, did admit that the company is "resetting [its] production levels for sustainable growth."

An article by BuzzFeed News dove deeper and stated that a number of workers claimed that the company owed them money for unpaid labor. In addition to the story, workers were accusing the company of not paying for overtime done during breaktime and even "not reimbursing them for company expenses."

Read Also: Amazon Announces Plans to Add to Its 70K Workforce in the UK by Creating 1.5K Apprenticeships

What Would Happen If Amazon Bought Peloton?

According to the story by Engadget, should Amazon acquire Peloton, it could use the company for them to "expand its health and wellness offerings" as well as make sure that it becomes easier for customers to get one of its bikes or treadmills.

The Journal notes that Amazon buying Peloton would give the company more access to users' data, which could also help them when it comes to future health and wellness projects. As of the moment, however, Peloton hasn't dropped any hints regarding the company "looking for a new owner/"

An article by Reuters reported that both Peloton and Nike did not give any immediate response to their request for comment. Amazon, on the other hand, denied giving a comment.

Related Article: Amazon Finally Reveals Ad Business Publicly: Company Held Back on Disclosing How Profitable It Is

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Michigan plans to ramp up its efforts to support electric vehicles by potentially building a wireless electric vehicle charging system. With that, the state plans to add a new partner to the project, ElectReon.

Michigan Plans to Build In-Road Wireless Charging Systems

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has just announced that the state plans to have the nation's first "in-road wireless charging system for electric vehicles" or at least a segment of the system operational by next year.

Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer stated that the state aims to "lead the future of mobility and electrification by boosting electric vehicle production" while lowering consumer costs. The governor also added that "a wireless in-road charging system is the next piece to the puzzle for sustainability."

Initial Plan is to Make a Mile-Long Section of Road Outside Detroit

According to the story by PCMag, the system, which is reportedly supposed to be capable of charging vehicles that are both moving and stationary, will be making its debut in a mile-long section of road located outside Detroit.

Electron is an Israeli startup that is expected to lead the design, iteration, evaluation, testing, and implementation of the state's pilot program. With that, ElectReon will be joining Jacobs Engineering Group and NextEnergy to build the system.

Electrified Roadways and Its Potential to Help Accelerate Production

Ford, DTE Energy, and the City of Detroit will also support this particular project, which "will be hosted by and live within Michigan Central," referred to as a mobility innovation district as per the announcement.

Governor Whitmer's office noted that electrified roadways reportedly have the potential to help accelerate the adoption of EVs by consumers and fleet operations alike. As per the governor, this is through "enabling continuous vehicle operations" as well as turning certain public streets into "safe and sustainable shared energy platforms."

Read Also: Tesla Global Headlamps are Customizable for Countries' Requirements; Elon Musk Says Patent 'A Bigger Win'

Michigan Department of Transportation to Contribute $1.9 Million in Funding

As per the announcement, a $1.9 million funding is expected to be contributed by the Michigan Department of Transportation. ElectReon will be picking up the tab for the rest, as per PCMag, "presumably in exchange for an ongoing contract should the system expand beyond this initial mile-long stretch."

As per the announcement, US representative Brenda Lawrence stated that the new plan is "such an exciting time for the Motor City and the entire state." Besides, the state also continues to lead the charge for EVs. The particular investment in the first public wireless in-road charging system in the US would be able to solidify their position as a leader further when it comes to EV technology.

As per the US representative, public-private partnership, like what they plan to do, is how they will be able to promote innovation and even "outcompete the rest of the world."

Related Article: 2022 Toyota Tundra is a Hybrid: Here's its Fuel Economy-Will It Be Better than the Ford Maverick?

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The first electric Batmobile replica is now available for purchase. This life-size version of the popular antihero, Batman.

There are different versions of the Batmobile that appeared in different "Batman" films. And now, the popular automotive gallery, VAN DARYL, which Daryl Villanueva founded, is offering this new electric car for those interested in purchasing it.

On the other hand, the new Batmobile EV replica developer is a 23-year-old graduate from the Hanoi University of Architecture, Nguyen Dac Chung.

He already developed a gas-based version of the Batmobile. But, the electric model is quite better in many aspects.

First Electric Batmobile Replica's Features

VAN DARYL's official website stated that Chung's Batmobile replica's new electric version is more sustainable than its predecessor.

Also Read: Tesla Global Headlamps are Customizable for Countries' Requirements; Elon Musk Says Patent 'A Bigger Win'

"The piece he's most proud of? The Dark Knight's most iconic weapon in his crime-fighting arsenal - the Batmobile," said the automotive gallery.

Thanks to its advanced lithium-ion battery, this new movie-based electric car can reach a top speed of 65 mph. On the other hand, it also offers hydraulic doors, automatic transmission mode, as well a 360-degree camera view, as reported by Tweak Town.

Since it has features, the electric Batmobile is not only for show. Those who will purchase this new EV can have a fully-functional version of Batman's popular vehicle.

Aside from the mentioned specifications, here are the electric Batmobile's other features you need to check:

Frame built from tubular steel.

Armor panels are built from ABS, carbon fiber, and steel.

Four safety cameras and monitors.

One driver seat and one passenger.

How To Inquire?

VAN DARYL is currently accepting inquiries from those who want to know more about the new electric vehicle, especially from individuals interested in buying the Batmobile.

If you want to make an appointment, all you need to do is visit the official website of the automotive gallery through this link.

In other news, Ford EV sales last January is its highest recorded revenue. But, Tesla remains the top electric automaker.

On the other hand, the official Tesla Supercharger map has been updated, showing more upcoming charging stations and their timelines.

For more news updates about the electric Batmobile and other similar EVs, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: 2022 Toyota Tundra is a Hybrid: Here's its Fuel Economy-Will It Be Better than the Ford Maverick?

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Jericho Road Community Health Center, which has been providing medical care and other services to underserved and marginalized communities in Buffalo for a quarter century, has seen the city's population grow over the years in diversity and, as of late, size.

When Anna Ireland Mongo joined Jericho Road about 15 years ago, for instance, the nonprofit organization saw Somali Bantus come to Buffalo. Other major influxes came over the years from Burmese refugees, Bangladeshis and Congolese. Last year and into 2022, Jericho Road has seen about 150 evacuees from Afghanistan and is expecting another 150 over the next couple of months, said Mongo, the organization's chief program officer.

"They're coming in, trying to get settled, trying to restart their lives," she said.

Jericho Road plays a major role in that process, through its medical care offerings and community development programs. With the Afghan population  many of whom have arrived traumatized, Mongo said  Jericho Road has helped children get ready for school enrollment here by doing medical checkups. For adults, some of whom remain in limbo as they wait for their documents to be processed by the U.S. immigration system, Jericho Road has been educating and encouraging them to get the Covid-19 vaccine as more employers mandate it.

Refugees account for about half of Jericho Road's patient population, Mongo said, but it's the nonprofit's goal to serve any person who needs its services.

"We take pretty seriously that we want to stand next to whoever needs us and provide medical care to everybody," Mongo said.

Seeing growth

The numbers show Jericho Road continues to serve more people.

The nonprofit saw nearly 28,000 unique patients and totaled more than 107,000 clinical visits in its fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021, which was up from about 22,000 patients and 98,500 visits in its prior year.

A major driving factor behind that growth was Jericho Road's health center at 1021 Broadway, which opened in 2018 in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood of Buffalo's East Side.

The Broadway health center saw nearly 30,000 clinical visits in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, a big jump from roughly 18,300 in the prior year.

Jericho Road's services are spread across the first three floors of the Broadway building, part of a five-story health services hub there.

"That corridor has had a number of practices start and leave and start and leave and start and leave, and I think we've been able to go in and sustain it," Mongo said. "And we're not going anywhere."

A major reason for that, she said, is that Jericho Road is a Federally Qualified Health Center, a designation that allows it to receive extra federal funds for serving the Medicaid population.

In addition, Jericho Road has continued to add services that are in high demand on the East Side.

That included Jericho Road Family Dental, which opened in November 2020 on the second floor of the Broadway building. Mongo said the organization has doubled its dental staff and is booking appointments for several months out, showing the high demand for a dental clinic, especially for patients who only have Medicaid.

On the first floor, Jericho Road opened a full-service retail pharmacy in June 2021, a big complement to its existing services.

"Just like our other services, we can provide services regardless of ability to pay," Mongo said. "We can also provide medication regardless of ability to pay through that pharmacy, which is just such an important need all across the City of Buffalo but particularly in that community."

A diverse workforce

To serve a diverse patient base, Jericho Road has built an in-person interpreting team.

Its website indicates it has interpreters of more than 24 languages and dialects, helping to build trust with Buffalo's many communities.

When a new population comes to Buffalo, Mongo said, sometimes it can be a scramble to find and hire an interpreter. With the influx of evacuees from Afghanistan, she noted that Jericho Road already had several Afghans on staff who were "very passionate about working with this population."

When the nonprofit hires, it often looks for candidates with additional language skills, though it's not a requirement. As of the end of 2021, Jericho Road had total employment of 299 full-timers and 61 part-timers in Buffalo  not including its tally of global employees.

"I think we strive really hard to have a diverse staff from all the populations, whether they were born overseas or born in the U.S.," Mongo said. "We try to make sure that our staff reflects the diversity of the communities that we're serving. It's something that we take a lot of joy in doing."

Jon Harris can be reached at 716-849-3482 or jharris@buffnews.com.

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Musician Michal Menert, formerly of Pretty Lights, will perform at the Sheridan Opera House Saturday. (Courtesy photo)
Madisonville, KY (42431)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 83F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Rain showers early with scattered thunderstorms arriving overnight. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Ada, OK (74820)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then cloudy skies this afternoon. High 79F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Strong thunderstorms likely. Low 47F. SW winds shifting to NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Banks are flush with deposits. They're hoping this will be the year they get to put those financial resources to work.

During the pandemic, businesses stockpiled funds from sources like the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, which was aimed at keeping them afloat.

Many businesses hunkered down and curbed their spending, unsure of what lay ahead. When they did spend, they were strong in liquidity and had less need for the loans that banks count on to deploy deposits and generate income.

"A lot of people got the much-needed PPP funds," said Michael McMahon, KeyBank's Buffalo market president and commercial sales leader. "Some needed to deploy it right away. Some were able to keep the companies going but didn't necessarily need to deploy it right away. Maybe they had other forms of liquidity.

That's left banks holding a lot of cash  more than they prefer. So they're looking to lend.

As of late last year, deposits at commercial banks across the United States had soared to nearly $18 trillion. That was up 33% from $13.5 trillion in March 2020, just as the pandemic was striking the U.S. economy.

The challenge for individual banks is to find ways to deploy those resources.

"We're doing as many loans in the community as we can, and we've hit the gas pedal there," said David Nasca, Evans Bank's president and CEO.

Evans also sees a need to invest in other securities, such as bonds, to strengthen the bank, Nasca said.

Bank on Buffalo's deposits have soared to $1.2 billion. But it's aiming even higher, with the goal of reaching $2 billion within the next few years.

As part of that quest, Bank on Buffalo keeps adding branches and has increased the size of its commercial lending team.

"I think that has exemplified the growth and put it on hyperdrive," said Michael Noah, the president.

Bank on Buffalo was set to open a branch in the Northland complex early this year, and plans to add a branch in Lancaster by year's end.

While some banks are adding branches, and others have continued to scale back, the Buffalo area's banking landscape didn't change much last year.

M&T Bank still captured the greatest share of deposits in the market, followed by KeyBank. But there weren't any shakeups along the lines of Key acquiring First Niagara Bank several years ago. M&T was awaiting the green light to complete its acquisition of Connecticut-based People's United Financial, which will expand its reach throughout the Northeast.

When it comes to putting deposits to work through increased lending, the dynamics might be changing for banks this year.

The worker shortage could drive some of that spending. As small manufacturers face the reality of older workers retiring  and not enough younger workers ready to take their place  they might invest in automation as one way to fill the gap.

Businesses may feel more confident this year about making capital investments in their operations, or making deals to acquire other companies, McMahon said.

"It's the need to start spending for the future," he said.

Matt Glynn

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James Finn writes for The Advocate as a Report For America corps member. Email him at JFinn@theadvocate.com or follow him on Twitter @RJamesFinn.

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Six White Republican senators voted in lockstep Friday to advance legislation that redraws Louisianas state Senate and congressional maps without creating additional majority-Black districts, repeatedly overriding the wishes of three Black Democrats.

At the opposite end of the State Capitol, House lawmakers voted to move congressional and state school board maps out of committee and onto the House floor, even though neither creates additional opportunities for Black voters to elect candidates of their choice.

Fridays flurry of votes, the first to take place as part of the Legislatures three-week redistricting session, come after repeated warnings from civil rights groups that failing to draw additional majority-Black districts likely violates the Voting Rights Act  and could result in costly court battles.

Many lawmakers assume litigation is inevitable.

State Sen. Sharon Hewitt, a Slidell Republican and chair of the upper chambers redistricting committee, said shes confident her proposal to redraw Louisianas six congressional districts with just one majority-Black district will pass muster in court. The measure, Senate Bill 5, advanced out of committee on a partisan 6-3 vote. It maintains a single majority-Black district stretching from New Orleans East to north Baton Rouge.

Were working very hard, not just to pass bills, but to pass bills that we can defend in court, Hewitt said.

However, with 33% of the state identifying as Black, civil rights groups have argued that a map that doesnt create a second majority-Black congressional district would violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires minority voters be given an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The same six White Republicans on the Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee voted to shelve five Democratic measures that would have created a second majority-Black district.

Hewitt argued those maps would backfire for minority voters, even as her Black colleagues disagreed and pushed for their approval. She's previously said it's unknown whether a district with a Black voting age population of less than 58% could perform.

The proposals from Senate Democrats each include two districts where Black voters make up between 53% and 56% of voters.

But civil rights groups said Hewitts racial benchmark is misinformed and said a more complicated analysis is needed to determine whether Black-preferred candidates will succeed in a given map. They hired their own experts to do that work and said its clear that Black-preferred candidates would perform.

Louisiana GOP lawmakers outline opposition to two majority-Black congressional districts Republican lawmakers on Thursday detailed their opposition to creating a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, amid threa

The Legislature hired a Washington D.C. law firm to conduct its own analysis, though Hewitt said shes waiting on a final report. In an interview Friday, Hewitt declined to name the law firm, even though its services are being paid for with taxpayer dollars.

The Senate committee also voted 6-3 to advance Senate Bill 1, which draws new district lines for the state Senate and maintains the status quo of 11 majority-Black districts.

Across the State Capitol, the House & Governmental Affairs Committee met for the first time to consider House Bill 1, Speaker Clay Schexnayders proposal to redraw Louisianas congressional districts. Similar to Hewitts bill, HB1 makes tweaks along the existing maps edges  and includes one majority-Black district.

St. Landry currently is split between three congressional districts. Schexnayder would put all of St. Landry Parish in the Monroe-based 5th Congressional District. Hewitt put St. Landry in the Shreveport-based 4th Congressional District. Both plans split Baton Rouge, sheering off the majority Black neighborhoods in north Baton Rouge for the minority-majority 2nd Congressional District. The majority White south Baton Rouge districts went to the 6th District.

Shreveport Rep. Sam Jenkins, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, asked Schexnayder whether he had taken into account the publics desire, repeatedly stated at road shows across the state, for a second majority-Black district.

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Did you consider this public input in drawing your map? Jenkins said.

I took the information that I had to create this map, Schexnayder replied.

Did you attempt on this particular map to draw a second minority district, Jenkins said. Did you see at all if it was possible that there could be two separate majority-minority districts? Or do you think thats not possible? Or did you consider at all?

Taking everything we were able to get from the road shows, from the Census, I think this is my best interpretation of a map that I think represents Louisiana, Schexnayder said.

Michael Pernick, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Inc., told lawmakers in unequivocal terms that Schexnayders proposal violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

This is one of the worst bills that weve seen, Pernick said.

Still, House lawmakers voted 13-5 to send Schexnayders bill to the full House for debate.

The battle over redrawing Louisianas six congressional districts is expected to intensify over the next two weeks, as the Legislature also crafts new district lines for 105 state representatives, 39 state senators, 8 state school board members, five state utility regulators, and, perhaps, seven state Supreme Court justices.

Last week, a federal court in Alabama blocked that states congressional map after lawmakers packed Black voters into one of seven congressional districts. The three-judge panel  which included two appointees of former President Donald Trump  determined the configuration likely violated federal law prohibiting minority vote dilution. Similar challenges are ongoing in Texas and North Carolina.

In light of the Alabama lawsuit, I think this is going to be more or less a common occurrence throughout the country, said Senate President Page Cortez, a Lafayette Republican.

Voting for a congressional redistricting map with one minority-majority district (6): Chair Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell; Vice Chair Barry Milligan, R-Shreveport; Sens. Bret Allain, R-Franklin; Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge; Mike Reese, R-Leesville; and Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg.

Voting against SB5 and for Senate Bills 4, 9, 11, 16 and 17 (3): Sens. Gregory Tarver, D-Shreveport; Edward J. Price, D-Gonzales; and Jimmy Harris, D-New Orleans

Voting for a congressional redistricting map with one minority-majority district (13): Chair John M. Stefanski, R-Crowley; Reps. Gerald "Beau" Beaullieu IV, R-New Iberia; Daryl Andrew Deshotel, R-Marksville; Les Farnum, R-Sulphur; Foy Bryan Gadberry, R-West Monroe; Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs; Dodie Horton, R-Haughton; Barry Ivey, R-Central; Mike Johnson, R-Pineville; Jeremy LaCombe, D-Livonia; Tanner Magee, R-Houma; Polly Thomas, R-Metairie; and Malinda White, No Party-Bogalusa.

Voting against House Bill 1 (5): Vice Chair Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans; Reps Wilford Carter Sr., D-Lake Charles; Sam Jenkins, D-Shreveport; Rodney Lyons, D-Marrero; and Candace N. Newell, D-New Orleans.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Sen. Sharon Hewitt had argued a majority-minority district needed a Black voting age population of at least 58% to perform. We regret this error.
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Thousands of people marched from Canberras CBD to Old Parliament House on Saturday as part of a convoy protesting against government COVID-19 restrictions such as vaccination mandates.

The marchers, many carrying Australian and Eureka Stockade flags, were joined by trucks on roads as they marched through the city.

Protesters from the Convoy to Canberra march towards the Parliamentary Triangle. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Victorian man Mark Anania said hed joined the Convoy to Canberra protests to fight vaccination mandates.

Were here for our freedoms, he said. Were from Victoria, weve been through just about every rally in Victoria and weve come down yesterday just in the spur of the moment.
Housing has emerged as a bigger issue for Sydneysiders than for people in New York and London, as a poll reveals overwhelming fears in Australias largest city about the cost of living and housing affordability.

With inflation rising, 85 per cent of those polled in Sydney in early January were concerned about the cost of living, an Ipsos survey for urban policy think-tank Committee for Sydney shows. Concern is highest among women, those aged 35 to 49, and the unemployed.

New York City, London and Sydney. Credit:Getty, Leonid Andronov, www.sydneyimages.com.au

While people in Sydney are largely satisfied with their quality of life, the number who are dissatisfied has grown slightly over the past year to 10 per cent. Sydneys quality of life is regarded as on par with other global cities such as New York, London and Toronto.

In a worrying sign, 27 per cent of people say they frequently or always choose to go without essential goods and services because of the high cost of living.
NSW has recorded 18 deaths and 8389 new cases of COVID-19, as the federal government contemplates mobilising healthcare staff from other areas and the Defence Force to help the aged care sector with soaring infection rates.

There are 2337 people in hospital with the virus, of whom 152 are in intensive care units.

Premier Dominic Perrottet addresses the media on Saturday morning. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Of the 18 people who died, two had received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, 14 had received two doses, one had received one dose, and one was not vaccinated.

More than 40,000 aged care residents are yet to receive booster vaccine shots across the sector and an industry peak body estimates just 40 per cent of workers have had three doses.
Queensland has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, as Chief Health Officer John Gerrard warns that elderly people wanting booster shots are becoming lost in the system.

There were 21 deaths in the latest reporting period  all older than 60  and only two had received their booster shots.

Seven of the deaths were recorded in aged care.

Dr Gerrard said most elderly people who were yet to be boosted were not anti-vaxxers but, for various reasons, had not been able to access their third dose.
Victoria has recorded 7169 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths on Sunday, as public health experts call for a stronger national plan to deal with the coronavirus variant that will inevitably follow Omicron.

There are now 652 people in hospital with the virus in Victoria, with 28 on ventilators and 73 in intensive care.

Of the new cases reported across the state, 2703 were confirmed by PCR tests, while 4466 were self-reported from rapid antigen tests. More than 20,624 PCR tests results were returned on Saturday.

The six Victorians who died from COVID-19 were in their 70s, 80s and 90s.
Some of these species were described by naturalists in the 18th and 19th centuries but have been overlooked in recent decades, but excitingly there are dozens of species still unknown to science - even on a relatively well-studied ecosystem such as the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists say climate change is the overwhelming threat to coral reefs. Bleaching caused by climate change is forecast to reduce global coral cover by 95 per cent under 2 degrees of warming, and 70 per cent under 1.5 degrees. Museum of Tropical Queensland senior curator of biosystematics, Peter Cowman and senior curator of corals Tom Bridge. In response, the government is investigating a range of interventions to help the reef, many of which wouldnt have been considered a decade ago, such as cooling and shading patches of reef during heatwaves, moving corals to cooler waters, assisting corals to evolve more rapidly to their changing environment, and restoring degraded reefs. But scientists urge caution, saying direct interventions in the ecosystem risk unintended consequences, and that deeper understanding of the ecosystem, including basic information such as where different species occur, is needed to reduce the risk of negative outcomes.

This ecological complexity is being uncovered by an international team of scientists, with research at the Museum of Tropical Queensland under the CoralBank program to collect samples for a repository of Australias threatened corals. James Cook Universitys Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies is also involved. Spurred by five mass coral bleaching events since 1998 that affected more than 98 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef, studies are underway into relocating corals adapted to hotter water from the reefs northern reaches to southern parts of the reef. Also to cross-breed corals from cooler habitats with those adapted to warmer temperatures to increase their tolerance to thermal stress. Scientists are tapping into advanced genetic research and uncovering a new level of complexity in coral reef ecosystems. Credit:Matt Curnock The prevailing view has been that because many corals look alike that theyre the same species living across a wide area, with some ranging from coral reefs in the Red Sea between Africa and the Middle East to Tahiti in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean - a distance of over 15,000 kilometres. The new advanced genetic techniques to get under the hard exoskeleton of corals is enabling scientists to show that even though they look the same its more likely for corals to be specialists, with many unique species evolving to live in the local region.

Museum of Tropical Queensland senior curator of biosystematics, Peter Cowman, says the advanced technology was being used to answer some fundamental questions that had puzzled scientists for centuries. Were acting like Ancestry.com for corals, trying to find out which species are related to each other, Dr Cowman said. Its really, really exciting. We now have the ability to analyse all this data really quickly.

If science fiction has taught us anything its that eventually well be able to scan complete genomes of different species and be able to identify them in an instant. Were trying to figure out how many coral species there are, where they live, and which species are rare. And so the problem we face is that over the past 200 years coral species have been identified and distinguished mostly on how a coral looks. Were acting like Ancestry.com for corals, trying to find out which species are related to each other. Dr Peter Cowman

But in the molecular age corals have been left behind. Over the last 25 years, researchers around the world have shown that many coral families contained species that are not closely related. Dr Cowman says the were finding some similar-looking species are quite distantly related, but theyve just solved the same problem in the same way. A coral with a particular branching pattern might not have inherited that trait from a common ancestor, it might be that two different species are solving the same environmental problem using the same method, he says. Think of it like birds and bats. They both acquired flight, but they didnt acquire it from the same common ancestor. For example you could pick up a coral in the Red Sea, and a coral and in the Great Barrier Reef. The taxonomic information would tell you that currently those two specimens ought to be the same species. But what genetics is telling us is that theyre quite different.

Museum of Tropical Queensland senior curator of corals Tom Bridge says understanding species is important as they are the fundamental unit of biological science, and conservation efforts like threatened species lists require accurate identification of species. The government is investigating new ways to help the reef, such as cooling and shading during heatwaves, moving corals to cooler waters, and assisting corals to evolve more rapidly to their changing environment,. Credit:Matt Curnock. Different interpretations of species can lead to very different assessments of how threatened a species may be. Without such information, it is impossible to assess the impacts of events such as coral bleaching on the diversity of corals on the reef, he says. Bridge says climate change was driving damaging marine heatwaves, with one bleaching event in 2016 affecting 83 per cent of the Great Barrier, and the trend is particularly concerning because some species were limited to relatively small ranges. If coral species are restricted to relatively small geographic regions, large-scale bleaching events such as the ones we are increasingly seeing will have severe impacts on many species and could put them at risk of extinction he says.

Code breaking: genetic analysis shows there are many instances of look-a-like corals being unrelated. A particularly pressing example is the specialised species that inhabit unique environments like those of Lord Howe Island, the southernmost coral reef in the world. Studies of Lord Howe Islands coral fauna from the 1970s to the 2000s suggested that the island supported around 70-80 species of corals, all of which also occur on the Great Barrier Reef, Bridge says. New data is indicating that many coral species are endemic to these subtropical areas and not found further north. These species appear to be restricted to a few isolated locations in the cooler waters of the subtropics, and one large-scale bleaching event in the region could wipe out these species before we even know. This phenomenon where species go extinct before being described is called silent extinction. History is littered with unforeseen impacts from introduced species like cane toads, which were introduced to Australia in the 1930s to eat cane beetle but have since prolifically bred and spread.

Bridge says interventions proposed to protect corals must be underpinned by robust fundamental science to avoid unforeseen and potentially negative consequences. For example, there have been proposals to move heat-tolerant northern species south; however, a lack of understanding on species distributions presents a range of risks that are hard to predict. We run the risk of accidentally introducing non-native species to new habitats, and we have countless examples throughout history of the detrimental effects this can have on ecosystems. Introducing hybrids into natural populations could also carry substantial risk, he says. We really need to understand the fundamentals to properly assess the effect of these types of interventions. Sometimes I feel a bit like Dr Malcolm from Jurassic Park, who continually cautions the park scientists about unintended consequences. Pledges and promises The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation is currently considering listing the Great Barrier Reef as in danger of losing its World Heritage status, due to concerns about water quality and action on climate change.
The Liberal candidate vying for the seat is local Strathfield businesswoman Bridget Sakr, the mother of one of four children killed in the 2020 Oatlands car crash. Describing her tilt at politics as a calling following tragedy, the first-timer hopes to return the seat to the Coalition for the first time in more than a decade. High-density living and urban congestion are key issues in the Strathfield electorate. Credit:Anna Kucera From Flemington and Homebush, across Burwood and Strathfield, to the edges of Croydon Park, the culturally diverse electorate covers 23 square kilometres of Sydneys inner western suburbs. More than 55 per cent of the electorate has been born overseas, the second-highest proportion in the state, while more than 70 per cent of the seat counts both parents as born overseas. Almost 22 per cent of residents were of Chinese ancestry in the 2016 census, four times the state average.

Strathfields almost 80,000 constituents will head to the polls next Saturday to cast their ballot for one of six candidates. However, a majority is expected to vote early by optional postal vote, potentially adding weeks to the counting process. There are concerns within the Labor Party that complexities in completing postal votes could have a disproportionate impact on the opposition. Prestige homes along leafy streets have attracted the golden mile moniker in parts of Strathfield. Credit:Anna Kucera Increased postal voting is also expected among voters in corresponding byelections in Willoughby, Bega and Monaro to replace former premier Gladys Berejiklian, former transport minister Andrew Constance and former deputy premier John Barilaro. Four polls in one day will make it Mr Perrottets first major political test since he took the reins from Ms Berejiklian and hit go on a new brand of COVID politics.

Ten days out from the byelection, plenty of locals have no idea its even happening. Its largely the small business owners who have the upcoming poll on their radar, having inevitably been asked to donate a window for a candidates poster or two. We support all the candidates because they all come into our shop, says Homebush cafe and bakery owner Theo Psaltis, of his entrance sporting candidate posters. They are peoples people. Theyre all very friendly. I mean, they have to come across that way. Otherwise, theyre not going to be elected. Homebush cafe owner Theo Psaltis. Credit:Anna Kucera Among the faces is Independent Elizabeth Farrelly, who is campaigning for the protection of public spaces, opposing overdevelopment and calling for a royal commission into dodgy developers.

The architectural and urban planning critic was until recently a columnist for the Herald, before she failed to disclose her registration as a Labor candidate in the recent Strathfield local government elections. At 23, Greens candidate Courtney Buckley is also running in the byelection to promote the interests of young people, including housing affordability, climate inaction and public transport. Im a woman, Im a worker, and Im a renter. And I dont see many people in politics who actually represent me. A few doors down, owner of Homebush Wok Inn Lawrence Duong has just one poster of Liberal candidate Ms Sakr in his window. Although it could have been anyone. I will always vote Liberal. I dont care who it is, just Liberal, he said. I moved to Australia from communist Vietnam in the 80s. Since then, I always vote Liberal.

For many locals across the electorate, this weeks Lunar New Year has been marked at home, with a preference for at-home food options as the Omicron outbreak continues. It is a sign of the times in which Mr Li believes any poll will be fought and won on the governments COVID response, ahead of other local issues such as congestion, building standards and urban planning. A pre-poll booth in Burwood Park. Credit:Anna Kucera The Omicron response is always the thing residents raise with me, and in different ways. Some are concerned about the business impact, some are concerned about the school and education impacts. The 50-year-old is a repeat Labor candidate who has been a vocal supporter of an Australian republic and aspirational targets for cultural diversity in the party.

A second-generation Chinese Australian with a background in law and finance, Mr Li says it is his familys migrant experience that makes him the best candidate for the area. This is despite currently living with his wife and three children in Cremorne on Sydneys leafy lower north shore, a trait his opponents have capitalised on throughout the short campaign. I didnt grow up on the north shore. I grew up in south-west Sydney, where we werent at all wealthy, he said. Its that first-generation migrant experience, where the parents come, they work really hard and make a lot of sacrifices to give the children the best opportunities and the best education in life. The electorate is home to a number of prominent private and public schools, four of which ranked in the top 100 high schools in the most recent HSC. Family and education are also at the centre of Ms Sakrs campaign to claim the seat for the Coalition, after her candidacy was announced with great fanfare by the Premier shortly before Christmas.

A financial services specialist, Ms Sakr said she accepted the call-up to give back to the community that supported her following the death of her 11-year-old daughter Veronique and the three Abdallah children in the 2020 Oatlands car crash. Losing Veronique, that in itself made me realise there is much more that I could do. This is calling for me, a vocation to serve, Ms Sakr said. Liberal candidate Bridget Sakr on the hustings near Burwood Westfield. Credit:Anna Kucera Road congestion, green space and the revival of hospitality out of the pandemic are high among her commitments. I think the government has done a lot, but I have realised after talking to people that a lot of them need more information about whats available in terms of grants. Thats something I could really do if I am elected, Ms Sakr said.

At Homebush Village, cafe owner Virginia Cheong has just finished serving Ms Sakr, who has taken a quick break from the hustings to grab coffee with Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello and Small Business Minister Eleni Petinos. Ms Cheong says it has been a chance to give feedback to the government about her small business experience during the pandemic, adding that Ms Sakr will earn her vote because she listens. Cafe owner Virginia Cheong. Credit:Anna Kucera We are 50 per cent down on trade. Im struggling with not being able to get staff. So, Ive been pulling 14-hour days. Support so far has been good, she said, but adds there is still too much red tape.

I recently had a $10,000 quote to get my [accounts] and paperwork up to date, just so I can get a $10,000 grant. For Ms Farrelly, who moved to Homebush last year, enhancing liveability in the electorate 10 kilometres from Sydneys CBD is paramount, while protecting heritage homes and public spaces from development. Independent candidate Elizabeth Farrelly meets with local residents concerned about the proposed development of Victorian homes. Credit:Anna Kucera She concedes she has not lived in the area hugely long, but certainly longer than Jason  Im the one who lives here and Im not a banker. If I had a single thing I could do to this electorate, it would be to find places where medium density, lively, vibrant enclaves could be built, she said.

The environment and animals  thats my drive. Sustainable Australia Party candidate Ellie Robertson. Credit:Anna Kucera Ms Farrelly has rejected preference deals with any of the major parties, attracting criticism from NSW Labor that she may as well be feeding preferences to the Liberal party. I think the major parties have continued to let us down, being spineless and without a platform, Ms Farrelly said. They dont have a God-given right to every progressive vote. The Independents message speaks to Strathfield resident Annette Macdonald and husband Joe, who say they are alarmed by the constant creep of high-rise development. Weve got one of the lowest open space ratios of any of the councils in the area. Its about quality of life, not just economic growth.
A Civil Service manager at Erie County Medical Center was named to fill a vacancy on the Tonawanda Common Council after the city's mayor cast the tie-breaking vote for her appointment.

Council members had deadlocked this week in selecting between the two finalists for the 1st Ward seat. This gave Mayor John White the final say in a process that again exposed divisions among city Democrats after Council President Jenna Koch broke ranks with her party.

Thomas A. Newman, 53, Tonawanda councilman and city GOP chairman Thomas A. Newman, who represented the Council's 1st Ward neighborhood where he had lived nearly all of his life, died Friday from complications from Covid-19. He was also a longtime volunteer firefighter and the city Republican chairman.

White voted for Monica Ljiljanich, a fellow Republican, over Gerald Frizzell, who had run with Democratic support for the seat last fall but lost to GOP incumbent Thomas A. Newman.

"It was not an easy task, and I took it very seriously," White said, adding he was impressed with Ljiljanich's resume.

Ljiljanich replaces Newman, 53, who died from complications of Covid-19 on Dec. 17, six weeks after winning re-election to a two-year term. It was the first time in 83 years that a Council member died in office, according to the city.

Widow of Tonawanda councilman no longer seeks to replace him Kerrie Newman had expressed interest in replacing her late husband Thomas A. Newman, who had served as the council's 1st Ward representative and its only Republican member.

Nine people, including Newman's widow, Kerrie, had expressed interest in taking Newman's place. Kerrie Newman later withdrew from consideration after the prospect of her selection prompted a backlash on social media.

Council members interviewed six candidates before voting Tuesday on separate resolutions that proposed appointing Frizzell or Ljiljanich.

The resolutions, which were not included in the agenda available before Tuesday's meeting, both failed to pass 2-2.

Koch and 2nd Ward Councilman Carl Nocera, a Republican, supported Ljiljanich, while 3rd Ward Councilman Sean Rautenstrauch and 4th Ward Councilman David Mileham, both Democrats, supported Frizzell. White broke the tie on Thursday.

Ljiljanich, 51, is a former art teacher who previously worked part-time as a Civil Service specialist for the city. She is not a native of New York, but moved to Tonawanda after meeting her husband, David, who is.

She is a neighbor of Frizzell's and voted for him last November. She described herself as a spectator to city government who decided to try to get more involved.

"I wanted to be a part of the process," she said.

Ljiljanich takes the oath of office Saturday and her appointment runs through Dec. 31. She said she hasn't yet decided whether she will run in the special election in November to fill the remaining year on Newman's term. She must make a decision in the coming weeks because candidates soon must begin collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot.

The Democrats haven't settled on a candidate yet, Tonawanda Chairwoman Gayle Syposs said, with Frizzell saying he won't make another run.

Democrats are frustrated Koch supported the Republican over Frizzell, Syposs said.

Democratic detente in Tonawanda, but city GOP sees opening With the mayor's job and four Common Council seats up for election this fall, Republicans are gleefully highlighting the Democratic infighting taking place in the city.

"I'm extremely disappointed in Jenna's decision," Syposs said, adding it wasn't the first time Democrats have questioned "where her loyalties lie."

Koch favored the GOP's White over fellow Democrat Rick Davis in last November's mayoral race. Davis, the incumbent who regularly sparred with Koch, was handily beaten by his Republican challenger.

"I wasn't the reason Mayor Davis lost," Koch said.

Koch said she thought Ljiljanich was the best candidate to fill the vacancy. Party labels, she insisted, didn't factor in her decision.

But for Tonawanda Democrats, Koch's votes were the final straw.

Tonawanda Mayor Rick Davis survived an ethics probe. Can he withstand a challenge from his own party? Republicans say with Davis and four Common Council members up for re-election, the Democratic infighting and Davis' polarizing behavior give them a chance to make gains.

At a meeting of city Democrats, the committee overwhelmingly voted no confidence in Koch and asked her to resign from the committee.

Koch did not attend Wednesday's meeting and learned of the vote from a reporter. She said she won't resign, but doesn't know if she'll run for another term on the committee this year.

"I have to do a lot of reflection, apparently," Koch said. "I know the committee's not happy with me."

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Dar Al Arkan, a leading real estate company in Saudi Arabia, has continued its dynamic growth momentum by announcing the opening of its office in Beijing, China. This is in line with its strategic expansion and builds on spreading the leading Saudi brands globally.

Dar Al Arkan said the Beijing office will help serve multiple functions to allow for joint ventures between the Saudi group and leading Chinese real estate developers for the Chinese and the Saudi market, further increasing and facilitate collaboration between the two countries and enhance investment and knowledge sharing opportunities.

The office will primarily promote co-operation and partnerships within the real-estate and technology sectors to exchange and implement global best practices in these respective industries.

Dar Al Arkan recently appointed Guo Jiancheng as General Manager for its office in Beijing to lead the companys operations in China.

On the office opening, Jiancheng said: "Over its 27-year history in Saudi Arabia Dar Al Arkan has pioneered a distinctive approach to development, introduced new technologies, and raised the benchmark for the real-estate and technology sectors in the Kingdom."

"With this expertise and industry know-how, the company is well-positioned to take this knowledge and creativity to a global level and promote it as best practice. By entering into the Chinese market, Dar Al Arkan is also well positioned to enhance relations between the Kingdom and China across multiple fronts," he noted.

According to Jiancheng, Dar Al Arkans office will act as a hub to support Chinese companies and investors seeking expansion, company formation and investment opportunities in the kingdom.

By providing access to required information, permits, legal and financial knowledge, as well as support on partnerships and other requirements, Dar Al Arkan is making entry into the Kingdom more accessible, he added.

Likewise, the office will support Saudi Arabian companies to explore expansion opportunities and gain entry into the Chinese market. Furthermore, Dar Al Arkan will encourage other areas for mutual collaboration, especially in tourism and cultural exchanges.

Starting in 2021, Dar Al Arkan has embarked on a global expansion drive starting with the announcement of its Sidra project in Bosnia last March, followed by the launch of two luxury co-branded towers in the UAE in collaboration with luxury fashion brand, Missoni, and hypercar manufacturer, Pagani Automobili, respectively.

The company also announced expansion into the Qatari and Omani markets through premium residential and commercial projects.-TradeArabia News Service
By many accounts, the City of Buffalo did a better job plowing streets from this weeks snowstorm  even with side streets remaining a challenge.

Common Council members reported far fewer complaints from residents than compared to the Jan. 17 storm.

After record snowfall, frustration mounts as city residents wait for plows Snowed-in residents are not happy with City Hall's response in the wake of the snow storm that hit late Sunday night and covered Buffalo with a record amount of snow.

Credit quicker parking enforcement, said Public Works Commissioner Michael Finn.

The city towed 110 illegally parked cars from Thursday through about 1 p.m. Friday, starting the ticketing and towing quicker than it did during the Jan. 6 and Jan. 17 snowfalls. Widespread criticism of snow removal efforts on side streets during the Jan. 17 storm that dumped nearly 2 feet on most of the region prompted the quicker parking enforcement.

Theres been improvements, but theres still work to go," Finn said. "I think (that) would be the best way to describe how were seeing parking compliance right now.

As next winter storm nears, Buffalo promises strict parking enforcement for plows In Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown said the city has taken a lesson from the last snowfall that dropped some 2 feet on metro Buffalo on Martin Luther King Day. While main roads were mostly kept clear during and after the storm, many residential side streets went untouched by plows for days.

Assuming the light, tapering snow does not pick up again, the clock started late Friday morning on his departments goal to have every street across the city plowed, at least once, within 24 hours, he said.

Some residents, such as Saranac Avenue resident Joe Guzzetta, were patient, even though he had not seen a snowplow on his street Thursday or Friday by 2:30 p.m.

Its a mess, he said while outside with his granddaughter. Im not slamming the plow drivers, he added. It is what it is. Theres so many miles of road they gotta do. And they got to keep the main routes open.

Paulo Soltoski, who was born in Brazil, moved to Buffalo about a month ago with his family for a position as a cardiac surgeon at the Buffalo VA Medical Center.

He said when he left his Tacoma Avenue home at 6 a.m. Friday for work, he could tell a plow had come down his street, but by around 3 p.m., the road was snowed over again. He also showed patience, saying snowplow crews have had a hard time keeping up.

Early in the morning, it was better, Soltoski said, shoveling out his driveway. At that time, it was actually better than it is now. Since then, I think no plow has passed by.

Several Council members, who were flooded with calls from constituents frustrated over the citys response to the last snowstorm, said they received fewer calls or none at all.

Niagara Council Member David Rivera said the Brown administration seems to be on top of plowing efforts and kept councilors informed on street conditions.

They have kept us abreast, which is good, because that way we can keep the general public abreast, Rivera said. Ive been able to manage up and down the streets this morning.

Lovejoy Council Member Bryan Bollman also pointed to better communication from the administration, but he was still getting some calls late Friday morning from constituents about side streets.

City says most main, secondary roads have been plowed at least once, but more snow coming "This snow is not going to stop until late tonight, so it's going to be a continual effort of just driving all around mains and secondaries all across the city and continually redoing them," said Michael Finn, the city's commissioner of Public Works.

I can see that they made more of an effort to get onto the streets, and even pre-storm I saw them on Bailey (Avenue) snow blowing some of the bridges," Bollman said. "I could tell the Mayors Impact Team was out doing that. They were removing snow trying to make an effort, but we still have some issues on our side streets, specifically. They really havent made it to us just yet, Bollman said late Friday morning.

But the administration did better communicating with residents through the BuffAlert system, Bollman said. The city sent a message Friday morning saying snowplows had begun to fully transition into side and residential streets.

Its a helpful update. At least you know that theyre moving onto the residentials, Bollman said.

University Council Member Rasheed Wyatt said he had not received any complaints from residents as of 4 p.m. Friday. A lot of side streets had not been plowed by then, but the main streets had.

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Batavia, NY (14020)

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Considerable cloudiness. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 57F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

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Western New York's death rates due to Covid-19 are much worse than most other counties in the state.

Erie and Niagara county death rates are much worse than most other comparable New York counties with urban centers.

Why is that?

Vaccination is an important factor  but not the only factor  when it comes to who lives and who dies from Covid-19.

Even before the Covid-19 health crisis, many Western New York counties have long ranked near the bottom of the list when it comes to good community health. Those with chronic conditions such as lung or heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity are at greater risk for Covid-19-related hospitalization and death.

"All the things that put Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier-Western New York region on the poor health lists are the exact things that led to our increased mortality from Covid here," said Dr. Sam Cloud, associate medical director and attending emergency physician at Erie County Medical Center.

The Buffalo News compared county Covid-19 death rates per 100,000 residents against both vaccination data from the state and county health rankings from the 2020 annual report by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

The analysis found:

 Erie and Niagara counties each had much higher Covid-19 death rates than comparable upstate counties with urban centers like Monroe, Onondaga and Albany counties. All three other counties  home to Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, respectively  rank higher on the County Health Rankings report and have higher vaccination rates.

 The difference is most stark when comparing Erie County to Monroe County. The vaccination disparity between the two counties is only 2 percentage points, but Erie County has had 1,000 more deaths due to Covid-19 than Monroe County has.

 Allegany County has not only the third highest death rate in the state, but also ranks worst among all counties for vaccinations, with only 46% considered to be fully vaccinated.

In general, the data show that counties with poor health rankings also reflected high Covid-19 death rates. Cattaraugus, Orleans, Erie and Niagara counties, all of which fall among the 10 worst communities in terms of overall health outcomes, also rank within the top 20 counties with the highest Covid-19 death rates.

An exception to this is the New York City region, which was an initial U.S. epicenter for the virus due to international travelers. Though the overall health rankings for New York City and downstate counties are high, the per capita death toll for New York City and nearby downstate counties are also high.

This data considers all deaths since the health crisis began in New York State in early 2020. Prior to vaccine availability, a person's age and baseline health offered the biggest indicators into whether someone would suffer severe illness or death. They remain key indicators among those who aren't vaccinated.

"You cant outrun Darwin," said Dr. John Sellick, an infectious disease specialist at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Measuring health and other factors

The health rankings used in The Buffalo News' analysis come from the 2020 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps report by the University of Wisconsin and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which take a multitude of factors into consideration.

The rankings measure age longevity, low birth weight, child and infant mortality, mental distress, diabetes and HIV infection rates when considering health outcomes. Tobacco use, obesity, excessive drinking, exercise options, sexually transmitted diseases, teen births and child mortality also help establish health factors.

The report also weighs things like income inequality, child poverty, educational status, health care availability, screenings and preventable hospital stays.

Sellick, who also oversees infectious disease control at Kaleida Health, notes that no one health ranking can adequately pinpoint a particular health factor resulting in Covid-19 deaths.

"These are not really meant to be sliced and diced to a very granular level," he said.

For instance, it is common and reasonable to compare Erie and Monroe counties, home to Buffalo and Rochester. They are closer in population size and makeup than other counties closer to Erie. But Monroe County is also wealthier and slightly younger than Erie County is. Those contribute to better health numbers.

When it comes to health factors that people can control, however, vaccination with boosters come up again and again.

In a social media post Friday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz pointed out that since Nov. 1, of the 471 Erie County residents who have died from Covid-19, only eight were fully vaccinated and boosted and under the age of 70.

Obesity and deaths

Aside from lack of vaccination, the obesity rate in Western New York is a major driver of deaths among the young, local health experts said.

"Under 65, obesity seemed to be the big driver of critical illness," said Dr. Cloud, regarding his experience with ECMC patients.

The County Health Rankings report noted a 30% adult obesity rate, four percentage points higher than statewide. Surrounding rural counties have obesity rates that are even higher.

That doesn't mean that people who are otherwise healthy won't get seriously ill or even die, Cloud said, but the odds of dying climb much higher with a higher body mass index.

Beyond that and advanced age, Cloud said, patients with compromised immune systems, such as those treated for kidney failure or kidney transplants, have been susceptible to critical illness.

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ONEONTA - Leslie Bischoff passed away peacefully, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at the A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital. He was 96. He was born March 7, 1926, the son of the late Edward and Martha (Stohr) Bischoff. Les was an avid outdoorsman and excellent craftsman. He made furniture and many wooden
Tim Lomperis is a Maryville resident, former military intelligence officer, author and political science professor emeritus at Saint Louis University. He worked in the Vietnamese Resettlement Program from 1975-76. Email him at tjlomperis@gmail.com.
In 1935, Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey appointed Eunice Carter his assistant in what was up to that point the largest prosecution of organized crime in U.S. history. It was Carter who provided the essential legal strategy in convicting Charles Lucky Luciano, the most notorious Mafia crime boss in New York.

Carter was part of the prosecution team that marshaled a massive assault on organized prostitution in New York City. She was the only Black woman on a team of white males. Without her work, the Mafia crime boss could never have been convicted. She is credited with establishing key facts in the prosecution of Luciano.

Carter was tough and uncompromising. The cover of the book titled Invisible shows a strong Black woman  poised, well-dressed and ready to take on the mob. This book was written by her grandson, Professor Stephen L. Carter. a best-selling author of several books.

Luciano was arrested 25 times on charges of assault, blackmail and robbery. He operated mostly in the United States. In June 1936, Luciano was finally convicted of 62 charges of compulsory prostitution and sentenced to 30-50 years in prison. He was the most powerful chief of organized crime in the 1930s and a major influence from prison from 1936 to 1945.

Later, his sentence was commuted by Dewey, then New Yorks governor, with the understanding that he would leave the country and return to Italy. He was finally deported. He died of a heart attack at the Naples airport where he had gone to meet a movie producer considering a movie about his life.

The case was a triumph for Carter, who became a well-known lawyer. She reaped benefits across the country. She was influential in New York for many years. She served as district attorney for 10 years.

In 1938, Carter was named to Deweys staff to lead the Abandonment Bureau of Womens Courts. In 1945, she entered into private practice and connected her work with the National Council of Negro Women concerned with international issues.

In 1955, she was elected chair of the Conference of International Organizations as a consultant to the United Nations. She was very active in issues affecting the status of women. She served in the NAACP, the National Urban League and the YWCA. Her work included being a legal advisor to the National Council of Negro Women.

Carters rise to success as a lawyer and the first female prosecutor of color in the United States is extraordinary. Born Eunice Roberta Carter on July 16, 1899, her early years were centered around family and education. Her parents were both prominent educators and activists. However, they were forced to move to New York after the Atlanta race riots in 1906. The riots followed the brutal lynching of a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman. A white mob descended upon Atlanta and burned and looted hundreds of Black businesses. These businesses included restaurants, banks, newspaper offices, homes and insurance companies.

The riot continued for two days. The tables were turned when a group of armed Black men met the mob to protect their community. The police came and arrested mostly Blacks. As a result of the riot, thousands of Blacks left Atlanta. Booker T. Washington, a noted educator, pleaded with them not to leave. But they left anyway.

The Carters moved to Brooklyn in 1907. They continued their work of activism. Carter's father, William, was the international secretary of the YMCA. Her parents were world travelers. They went to Switzerland, Japan, Korea, England, Belgium, Holland and France. Eunices mother was known for her work with Black soldiers during World War I. She was also worked with Black mothers, helping then to seek a better life.

The story of Eunice Carter is long, complicated and sometimes controversial. However, her work as New Yorks first female African American prosecutor left a lasting impression. She entered politics at one point and ran as a Republican for New Yorks 19th District Assembly seat. She lost by 1,600 votes, but she continued to move forward.

On Oct. 20, 2020, in the Historical Society of the New York State Courts, the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission and the Unified Court Systems Office of Diversity, a program was held on this womans life and career. A plaque in her memory was rededicated.

Eunice Roberta Carter died on Jan. 25, 1970. She will be remembered as an African American lawyer who made a difference.

Eva M. Doyle is celebrating 44 years as a columnist.
130+ UK Doctors: Failed COVID Policies Caused Massive Harm, Especially to Children

Commentary

A letter signed by more than 130 UK medical professionals accused UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other government officials of causing massive, permanent and unnecessary harm to the country

A letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other UK government officials, signed by more than 130 UK medical professionals, accused the government of mishandling its response to the COVID pandemic, resulting in massive, permanent and unnecessary harm to the country.

The letter, Our Grave Concerns About the Handling of the COVID Pandemic by Governments of the Nations of the UK, outlined 10 ways in which the authors argued UK government policies not only failed to protect citizens, but in many cases caused additional, unnecessary harm.

The letters 10 lead authors wrote:

We write as concerned doctors, nurses and other allied healthcare professionals with no vested interest in doing so. To the contrary, we face personal risk in relation to our employment for doing so and / or the risk of being personally smeared by those who inevitably will not like us speaking out.

The authors accused government officials of failing to measure the harms of lockdown policies, of exaggerating the virus threat and of improper mass testing of children.

They wrote:

Repeated testing of children to find asymptomatic cases who are unlikely to spread virus, and treating them like some sort of biohazard is harmful, serves no public health purpose and must stop.

The letter also called out officials for actively suppressing discussion of early treatment using protocols being successfully deployed elsewhere, and said vaccination of the entire adult population should never have been a prerequisite for ending restrictions.

The authors concluded:

The UKs approach to COVID has palpably failed. In the apparent desire to protect one vulnerable group  the elderly  the implemented policies have caused widespread collateral and disproportionate harm to many other vulnerable groups, especially children.

In addition to Johnson, the letter was addressed to Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister for Scotland; Mark Drakeford, First Minister for Wales; Paul Givan, First Minister for Northern Ireland; Sajid Javid, Health Secretary; Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer; and Dr. Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Officer.

Read the Full Letter:

Dear Sirs and Madam,

Our grave concerns about the handling of the COVID pandemic by Governments of the Nations of the UK.

We write as concerned doctors, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals with no vested interest in doing so. To the contrary, we face personal risk in relation to our employment for doing so and / or the risk of being personally smeared by those who inevitably will not like us speaking out.

We are taking the step of writing this public letter because it has become apparent to us that:

The Government (by which we mean the UK government and three devolved governments/administrations and associated government advisors and agencies such as the CMOs, CSA, SAGE, MHRA, JCVI, Public Health services, Ofcom etc, hereinafter you or the Government) have based the handling of the COVID pandemic on flawed assumptions.

These have been pointed out to you by numerous individuals and organisations.

You have failed to engage in dialogue and show no signs of doing so. You have removed from people fundamental rights and altered the fabric of society with little debate in Parliament. No minister responsible for policy has ever appeared in a proper debate with anyone with opposing views on any mainstream media channel.

Despite being aware of alternative medical and scientific viewpoints you have failed to ensure an open and full discussion of the pros and cons of alternative ways of managing the pandemic.

The pandemic response policies implemented have caused massive, permanent and unnecessary harm to our nation, and must never be repeated.

Only by revealing the complete lack of widespread approval among healthcare professionals of your policies will a wider debate be demanded by the public.

In relation to the above, we wish to draw attention to the following points. Supporting references can be provided upon request.

1. No attempt to measure the harms of lockdown policies

The evidence of disastrous effects of lockdowns on the physical and mental health of the population is there for all to see. The harms are massive, widespread, and long lasting. In particular, the psychological impact on a generation of developing children could be lifelong.

It is for this reason that lockdown policies were never part of any pandemic

preparedness plans prior to 2020. In fact, they were expressly not recommended in WHO documents, even for severe respiratory viral pathogens and for that matter neither were border closures, face coverings, and testing of asymptomatic individuals. There has been such an inexplicable absence of consideration of the harms caused by lockdown policy it is difficult to avoid the suspicion that this is willful avoidance.

The introduction of such policies was never accompanied by any sort of risk/benefit analysis. As bad as that is, it is even worse that after the event when plenty of data became available by which the harms could be measured, only perfunctory attention to this aspect of pandemic planning has been afforded. Eminent professionals have repeatedly called for discourse on these health impacts in press-conferences but have been universally ignored.

What is so odd, is that the policies being pursued before mid-March 2020 (self-isolation of the ill and protection of the vulnerable, while otherwise society continued close to normality) were balanced, sensible and reflected the approach established by consensus prior to 2020. No cogent reason was given then for the abrupt change of direction from mid-March 2020 and strikingly none has been put forward at any time since.

2. Institutional nature of COVID

It was actually clear early on from Italian data that COVID (the disease, as opposed to SARS-Cov-2 infection or exposure) was largely a disease of institutions. Care home residents comprised around half of all deaths, despite making up less than 1% of the population. Hospital infections are the major driver of transmission rates as was the case for both SARS1 and MERS.

Transmission was associated with hospital contact in up to 40% of cases in the first wave in Spring 2020 and in 64% in winter 2020/2021.

Severe illness among healthy people below 70 years old did occur (as seen with flu pandemics) but was extremely rare.

Despite this, no early, aggressive and targeted measures were taken to protect care homes; to the contrary, patients were discharged without testing to homes where staff had inadequate PPE, training and information. Many unnecessary deaths were caused as a result.

Preparations for this coming winter, including ensuring sufficient capacity and preventative measures such as ventilation solutions, have not been prioritised.

3. The exaggerated nature of the threat

Policy appears to have been directed at systematic exaggeration of the number of deaths which can be attributed to COVID. Testing was designed to find every possible case rather than focusing on clinically diagnosed infections and the resulting exaggerated case numbers fed through to the death data with large numbers of people dying with COVID and not of COVID where the disease was the underlying cause of death.

The policy of publishing a daily death figure meant the figure was based entirely on the PCR test result with no input from treating clinicians. By including all deaths within a time period after a positive test, incidental deaths, with but not due to COVID, were not excluded thereby exaggerating the nature of the threat.

Moreover, in headlines reporting the number of deaths, a categorisation by age was not included. The average age of a COVID-labelled death is 81 for men and 84 for women, higher than the average life expectancy when these people were born.

This is a highly relevant fact in assessing the societal impact of the pandemic. Death in old age is a natural phenomenon. It cannot be said that a disease primarily affecting the elderly is the same as one which affects all ages, and yet the governments messaging appears designed to make the public think that everyone is at equal risk.

Doctors were asked to complete death certificates in the knowledge that the deceaseds death had already been recorded as a COVID death by the Government. Since it would be virtually impossible to find evidence categorically ruling out COVID as a contributory factor to death, once recorded as a COVID death by the government, it was inevitable that it would be included as a cause on the death certificate.

Diagnosing the cause of death is always difficult and the reduction in post mortems will have inevitably resulted in increased inaccuracy. The fact that deaths due to non-COVID causes actually moved into a substantial deficit (compared to average) as COVID-labelled deaths rose (and this was reversed as COVID-labelled deaths fell) is striking evidence of over-attribution of deaths to COVID.

The overall all-cause mortality rate from 2015-2019 was unusually low and yet these figures have been used to compare to 2020 and 2021 mortality figures which has made the increased mortality appear unprecedented. Comparisons with data from earlier years would have demonstrated that the 2020 mortality rate was exceeded in every year prior to 2003 and is unexceptional as a result.

Even now COVID cases and deaths continue to be added to the existing total without proper rigour such that overall totals grow ever larger and exaggerate the threat. No effort has been made to count totals in each winter season separately which is standard practice for every other disease.

You have continued to adopt high-frequency advertising through publishing and broadcast media outlets to add to the impact of fear messaging. The cost of this has not been widely published, but government procurement websites reveal it to be immense  hundreds of millions of pounds.

The media and government rhetoric is now moving onto the idea that Long Covid is going to cause major morbidity in all age groups including children, without having a discussion of the normality of postviral fatigue which lasts upwards of 6 months. This adds to the public fear of the disease, encouraging vaccination amongst those who are highly unlikely to suffer any adverse effects from COVID.

4. Active suppression of discussion of early treatment using protocols being successfully deployed elsewhere

The harm caused by COVID and our response to it should have meant that advances in prophylaxis and therapeutics for COVID were embraced. However, evidence on successful treatments has been ignored or even actively suppressed.

For example, a study in Oxford published in February 2021 demonstrated that inhaled Budesonide could reduce hospitalisations by 90% in low risk patients and a publication in April 2021 showed that recovery was faster for high risk patients too. However, this important intervention has not been promoted.

Dr. Tess Lawrie, of the Evidence Based Medical Consultancy in Bath, presented a thorough analysis of the prophylactic and therapeutic benefits of Ivermectin to the government in January 2021. More than 24 randomised trials with 3,400 people have demonstrated a 79-91% reduction in infections and a 27-81% reduction in deaths with Ivermectin.

Many doctors are understandably cautious about possible over-interpretation of the available data for the drugs mentioned above and other treatments, although it is to be noted that no such caution seems to have been applied in relation to the treatment of data around the governments interventions (eg the effectiveness of lockdowns or masks) when used in support of the governments agenda.

Whatever ones view on the merits of these repurposed drugs, it is totally unacceptable that doctors who have attempted to merely open discussion about the potential benefits of early treatments for COVID have been heavily and inexplicably censored. Knowing that early treatments which could reduce the risk of requiring hospitalisation might be available would alter the entire view held by many professionals and lay people alike about the threat posed by COVID, and therefore the risk / benefit ratio for vaccination, especially in younger groups.

5. Inappropriate and unethical use of behavioural science to generate unwarranted fear

Propagation of a deliberate fear narrative (confirmed through publicly accessible government documentation) has been disproportionate, harmful and counterproductive. We request that it should cease forthwith.

To give just one example, the governments face covering policies seem to have been driven by behavioural psychology advice in relation to generating a level of fear necessary for compliance with other policies.

Those policies do not appear to have been driven by reason of infection control, because there is no robust evidence showing that wearing a face covering (particularly cloth or standard surgical masks) is effective against transmission of airborne respiratory pathogens such as SARS-Cov-2.

Several high profile institutions and individuals are aware of this and have advocated against face coverings during this pandemic only inexplicably to reverse their advice on the basis of no scientific justification of which we are aware. On the other hand there is plenty of evidence suggesting that mask wearing can cause multiple harms, both physical and mental.

This has been particularly distressing for the nations school children who have been encouraged by government policy and their schools to wear masks for long periods at school.

Finally, the use of face coverings is highly symbolic and thus counterproductive in making people feel safe. Prolonged wearing risks becoming an ingrained safety behaviour, actually preventing people from getting back to normal because they erroneously attribute their safety to the act of mask wearing rather than to the remote risk, for the vast majority of healthy people under 70 years old, of catching the virus and becoming seriously unwell with COVID.

6. Misunderstanding of the ubiquitous nature of mutations of newly emergent viruses

The mutation of any novel virus into newer strains  especially when under selection pressure from abnormal restrictions on mixing and vaccination  is normal, unavoidable and not something to be concerned about. Hundreds of thousands of mutations of the original Wuhan strain have already been identified.

Chasing down every new emergent variant is counterproductive, harmful and totally unnecessary and there is no convincing evidence that any newly identified variant is any more deadly than the original strain.

Mutant strains appear simultaneously in different countries (by way of convergent evolution) and the closing of national borders in attempts to prevent variants travelling from one country to another serves no significant infection control purpose and should be abandoned.

7. Misunderstanding of asymptomatic spread and its use to promote public compliance with restrictions

It is well-established that asymptomatic spread has never been a major driver of a respiratory disease pandemic and we object to your constant messaging implying this, which should cease forthwith.

Never before have we perverted the centuries-old practice of isolating the ill by instead isolating the healthy. Repeated mandates to healthy, asymptomatic people to self-isolate, especially school children, serves no useful purpose and has only contributed to the widespread harms of such policies.

In the vast majority of cases healthy people are healthy and cannot transmit the virus and only sick people with symptoms should be isolated.

The governments claim that one in three people could have the virus has been shown to be mutually inconsistent with the ONS data on prevalence of disease in society, and the sole effect of this messaging appears to have been to generate fear and promote compliance with government restrictions.

The governments messaging to act as if you have the virus has also been unnecessarily fear-inducing given that healthy people are extremely unlikely to transmit the virus to others.

The PCR test, widely used to determine the existence of cases, is now indisputably acknowledged to be unable reliably to detect infectiousness. The test cannot discriminate between those in whom the presence of fragments of genetic material partially matching the virus is either incidental (perhaps because of past infection), or is representative of active infection, or is indicative of infectiousness.

Yet, it has been used almost universally without qualification or clinical diagnosis to justify lockdown policies and to quarantine millions of people needlessly at enormous cost to health and well-being and to the countrys economy.

Countries that have removed community restrictions have seen no negative consequences which can be attributed to the easing. Empirical data from many countries demonstrates that the rise and fall in infections is seasonal and not due to restrictions or face coverings.

The reason for reduced impact of each successive wave is that: (1) most people have some level of immunity either through prior immunity or immunity acquired through exposure; (2) as is usual with emergent new viruses, mutation of the virus towards strains causing milder disease appears to have occurred.

Vaccination may also contribute to this although its durability and level of protection against variants is unclear.

The government appears to be talking of learning to live with COVID while apparently practicing by stealth a zero COVID strategy which is futile and ultimately net-harmful.

8. Mass testing of healthy children

Repeated testing of children to find asymptomatic cases who are unlikely to spread virus, and treating them like some sort of biohazard is harmful, serves no public health purpose and must stop.

During Easter term, an amount equivalent to the cost of building one District General Hospital was spent weekly on testing schoolchildren to find a few thousand positive cases, none of which was serious as far as we are aware.

Lockdowns are in fact a far greater contributor to child health problems, with record levels of mental illness and soaring levels of non-COVID infections being seen, which some experts consider to be a result of distancing resulting in deconditioning of the immune system.

9. Vaccination of the entire adult population should never have been a prerequisite for ending restrictions

Based merely on early promising vaccine data, it is clear that the Government decided in summer 2020 to pursue a policy of viral suppression within the entire population until vaccination was available (which was initially stated to be for the vulnerable only, then later changed  without proper debate or rigorous analysis  to the entire adult population).

This decision was taken despite massive harms consequent to continued lockdowns which were either known to you or ought to have been ascertained so as to be considered in the decision making process.

Moreover, a number of principles of good medical practice and previously unimpeachable ethical standards have been breached in relation to the vaccination campaign, meaning that in most cases, whether the consent obtained can be truly regarded as fully informed must be in serious doubt:

The use of coercion supported by an unprecedented media campaign to persuade the public to be vaccinated, including threats of discrimination, either supported by the law or encouraged socially, for example in co-operation with social media platforms and dating apps.

The omission of information permitting individuals to make a fully informed choice, especially in relation to the experimental nature of the vaccine agents, extremely low background COVID risk for most people, known occurrence of short-term side-effects and unknown long-term effects.

Finally, we note that the Government is seriously considering the possibility that these vaccines  which have no associated long-term safety data  could be administered to children on the basis that this might provide some degree of protection to adults. We find that notion an appalling and unethical inversion of the long-accepted duty falling on adults to protect children.

10. Over-reliance on modeling while ignoring real-world data

Throughout the pandemic, decisions seem to have been taken utilising unvalidated models produced by groups who have what can only be described as a woeful track record, massively overestimating the impact of several previous pandemics.

The decision-making teams appear to have very little clinical input and, as far as is ascertainable, no clinical immunology expertise.

Moreover, the assumptions underlying the modeling have never been adjusted to take into account real-world observations in the UK and other countries.

It is an astonishing admission that, when asked whether collateral harms had been considered by SAGE, the answer given was that it was not in their remit  they were simply asked to minimise COVID impact. That might be forgivable if some other advisory group was constantly studying the harms side of the ledger, yet this seems not to have been the case.

Conclusions

The UKs approach to COVID has palpably failed. In the apparent desire to protect one vulnerable group  the elderly  the implemented policies have caused widespread collateral and disproportionate harm to many other vulnerable groups, especially children.

Moreover your policies have failed in any event to prevent the UK from notching up one of the highest reported death rates from COVID in the world.

Now, despite very high vaccination rates and the currently very low COVID death and hospitalisation rates, policy continues to be aimed at maintaining a population handicapped by extreme fear with restrictions on everyday life prolonging and deepening the policy-derived harms.

To give just one example, NHS waiting lists now stand at 5.1m officially, with  according to the previous Health Secretary  a likely further 7m who will require treatment not yet presented. This is unacceptable and must be addressed urgently.

In short, there needs to be a sea change within the Government which must now pay proper attention to those esteemed experts outside its inner circle who are sounding these alarms.

As those involved with healthcare, we are committed to our oath to first do no harm, and we can no longer stand by in silence observing policies which have imposed a series of supposed cures which are in fact far worse than the disease they are supposed to address.

The signatories of this letter call on you, in Government, without further delay to widen the debate over policy, consult openly with groups of scientists, doctors, psychologists and others who share crucial, scientifically-valid and evidence-based alternative views and to do everything in your power to return the country as rapidly as possible to normality with the minimum of further damage to society.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Jonathan Engler, MB ChB LLB (Hons) DipPharmMed

Professor John A Fairclough, BM BS B Med Sci FRCS FFSEM, Consultant Surgeon, ran vaccination program for a Polio Outbreak, Past President BOSTA, for Orthopaedic Surgeons, Faculty member FFSEM

Mr. Tony Hinton, MB ChB, FRCS, FRCS(Oto), Consultant Surgeon

Dr. Renee Hoenderkamp, BSc (Hons) MBBS MRCGP, General Practitioner

Dr. Ros Jones, MBBS, MD, FRCPCH, retired consultant paediatrician

Mr. Malcolm Loudon, MB ChB MD FRCSEd FRCS (Gen Surg) MIHM VR

Dr. Geoffrey Maidment, MBBS, MD, FRCP, retired consultant physician

Dr. Alan Mordue, MB ChB, FFPH (ret), Retired Consultant in Public Health Medicine

Mr. Colin Natali, BSc(Hons), MBBS FRCS FRCS(Orth), Consultant Spine Surgeon

Dr. Helen Westwood, MBChB MRCGP DCH DRCOG, General Practitioner

Click here, for the complete list of signatories.

Republished from GreenMedInfo.com

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
16 States File New Challenge to Biden Administrations Health Care Worker COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

Louisiana and 15 other states on Feb. 4 lodged a new legal challenge against the federal governments COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers, arguing that the dominance of the Omicron virus variant undercuts the justification for the mandate.

Approximately 10.4 million workers fall under the vaccination requirements, which apply to every facility that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding.

The Supreme Court lifted injunctions against the mandate on Jan. 13, finding in a 54 decision that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had the authority to issue the rule requiring vaccination. The mandate took effect in 25 states in January and will take effect this month in the other 25 states, which had challenged the rule.

The rule, signed by Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, repeatedly references the danger the Delta virus variant poses to the unvaccinated, and says that vaccines continue to be effective in preventing COVID-19 associated with the now-dominant Delta variant.

Becerra had good cause to impose the rule without accepting comments, mandated in most circumstances under federal law, because of his belief that any further delay would endanger patient health and safety given the spread of the Delta variant and the upcoming winter season, the nations top court ruled.

But as of mid-December 2021, the Omicron variant is the dominant strain in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another agency within HHS.

It is now established beyond any serious question that the secretarys speculation was wrong. The Delta variant effectively disappeared from the scene within weeks of the issuance of the rule, the states say.

The primary series of COVID-19 vaccines, required by the mandate, provide little protection against infection from Omicron and reduced protection against severe disease, studies show. Just about everybody will contract the variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser, has said.

The mandate was promulgated in response to the Delta variant, which now accounts for only 0.1 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the United States. But research suggests that COVID-19 vaccines do little to stop the transmission of the predominant strain todaythe Omicron variant, which accounts for 99.9 percent of all caseswhich undermines the premise for forcing people to submit to them, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican representing one of the 16 challenging states, said in a statement.

(LR) Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In addition, the federal government has shifted its position on several key fronts, such as issuing guidance saying health care workers who test positive for COVID-19 can still go to work, undercutting the rule that bars unvaccinated workers from working even if they test negative for COVID-19, the fresh challenge notes. Further, states and facilities are dealing with worker shortages due to the mandate, prompting some to appeal to the government to delay or abolish its mandate.

Despite the changing situation, CMS issued guidance on Jan. 25 (pdf) that broadens the mandate. In addition to health care workers, surveyors who enter health care facilities must be vaccinated, the agency said for the first time. That clashes directly with laws in the plaintiff states, such as a Montana law that prohibits discrimination based on vaccination status and an Indiana law that bars government entities from requiring anyone to show proof of vaccination.

The states are asking the federal court in Monroe, Louisiana, to block the mandate before it takes effect in 25 states that have previously challenged it in courts.

Workers in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming will be required to provide proof of receipt of one COVID-19 vaccine dose on Feb. 14 if the mandate isnt blocked. They must become fully vaccinated, or finish a primary series of a vaccine, by March 15 to comply with the rule.

Workers in Texas have until Feb. 22 to get one dose and March 21 to become fully vaccinated.

In the other 25 states, the deadlines are Jan. 27 and Feb. 28.

CMS declined to comment on the filing, which saw existing plaintiffs Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia joined by Tennessee and Virginia.

Government lawyers told the court in January that the case was effectively concluded because of the Supreme Courts ruling and moved for its dismissal.

The case is being overseen by U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee who in November 2021 blocked the mandate nationwide.

An appeals court, though, lifted the preliminary injunction in 26 states. A different judge imposed a block on the rule in Texas.

The Supreme Court lifted the injunctions that remained in half the country.
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects), also known as CCP virus, the virus that causes COVID-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab that were isolated from a patient in the United States. (NIAID-RML via Reuters)

4 in 10 COVID-19 Patients in California Hospital Fully Vaccinated After Omicron Emergence: Study

Some four in 10 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in California during late December 2021 and most of January were fully vaccinated, according to a new study.

The percentage of fully vaccinated patients in an academic hospital in California climbed from 25 percent in the summer of 2021 to 40 percent after the Omicron virus variant became dominant in the United States, researchers said in the study, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) quasi-journal.

The number of unvaccinated patients in the hospital, which was not identified dropped from 71 percent when the Delta virus variant was dominant to 56 percent following Omicrons emergence, according to the study, which analyzed electronic health records.

Fully vaccinated refers to patients who received two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, or those who got the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab, at least 14 days before getting a positive COVID-19 test associated with their hospitalization. Unvaccinated in the study was counted as patients with no documentation of receipt of any COVID-19 vaccine before they received a positive test.

The remaining hospitalized patients had received one dose of a vaccine or had received two doses, but 14 days had not elapsed following their second shot.

About 10 percent of the patients were fully vaccinated and had gotten a booster shot.

Compared with the period of Delta predominance, a higher proportion of adults hospitalized during Omicron predominance were fully vaccinated, researchers wrote in the study, which was reviewed by CDC officials before publication.

Increases in infections among vaccinated persons during the period of Omicron predominance were likely driven both by waning vaccine-derived immunity over time and by relative resistance to vaccine neutralization in the Omicron variant compared with the Delta variant, added Dr. Peter Chen, director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and his co-authors.

The primary series of the COVID-19 vaccines have proven increasingly ineffective against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, particularly after Omicron became dominant in the country.

Health officials recommend all eligible vaccinated persons get a booster to restore some of the lost protection, though its unclear how long the booster effects will last.

Another recent study performed by researchers in California and published by the CDC found that the COVID-19 infection and hospitalization gap between the unvaccinated and vaccinated narrowed, though vaccinated people were still less likely to get infected or be hospitalized.

Chen and the other researchers in the new paper said the data indicated patients hospitalized with the illness during Omicron predominance had less severe illness when compared to patients hospitalized during the period when Delta was dominant, but attributed the effect to the increase in numbers of adults who became fully vaccinated.

They also said that about 20 percent of the hospitalizations during the period studied post-Omicron emergence were admissions not linked to COVID-19 conditions.

Patients with a history of prior COVID-19 infection were not separated out and Chen didnt respond to emailed questions, including why the study didnt explore how natural immunity is holding up against Omicron.
An Asymmetric Strategy for Defending Taiwan

News Analysis

If Russia invades Ukraine, could it embolden the Chinese regime to also attack Taiwan? Moscow is clearly looking to Beijing for moral support, as Russian President Vladimir Putins recent trip to China would indicate.

As The New York Times puts it, Putin sees Chinese leader Xi Jinping as offering a lifeline to Russia, if not a formal alliance. At the very least, Beijing could help block the United Nations Security Council from taking any action in support of Ukraine.

Nothing is more speculative than a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, but a Russian victory over Ukraine could encourage Beijing to tighten the screws on Taipei. For Taiwan, deterrence is a job that never ends.

For these reasons, a recent paper by Drew Thompson, a visiting fellow at the National University of Singapores Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, makes for particularly relevant, and compelling, reading. His monograph, Winning the Fight Taiwan Cannot Afford to Lose, was published late last year by the U.S. National Defense University (it can be accessed here). In a nutshell, Thompson argues that deterring an invasion is the ultimate objective for Taiwan (and the United States) and that this, in turn, demands that Taiwan transform its military to adapt to growing power-projection capabilities.

The answer, Thompson believes, lies in a new asymmetric strategy called the Overall Defense Concept (ODC). The ODC was originally proposed a few years ago by Taiwans then-Chief of General Staff Admiral Lee Hsi-min. The ODC explicitly rejects Taiwans traditional defense strategy of attrition warfare, which is based on the American approach to warfare, particularly the ability to project power over great distances and to maximize mobility and networks to take the fight to the enemy with overwhelming superiority.

Taiwan, Thompson argues, needs the opposite: short-range and defensive systems that can survive and initial bombardment from a larger adversary and that are suitable for deployment close to home in defense of the island should it come under blockade or attack. Overwhelming superiority against China is impossible, so innovative and symmetric strategies are necessary.

Instead, the ODC would target Chinese forces where they would be at their weakest: Taiwans littoral, or the waters closest to Taiwan (within 62 miles of its coastline). The ODC is divided into three phases.

The first phaseforce preservationis to protect Taiwans military and critical civilian infrastructure from attack, mainly from Chinese missiles. Taiwan has already put considerable resources into building up its air defenses with anti-air and anti-ballistic missiles, hardening shelters and underground hangers for its fighter jets, and improving its capabilities for rapid runway repair and camouflage.

The second phase is what Thompson calls the decisive battle in the littoral. This means engaging and destroying, as much as possible, Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) forces in the Taiwan Strait. The main weapons would be anti-ship cruise missilesboth on large warships (such as Taiwans Lafayette-class and Perry-class frigates) but especially on Taiwans new and stealthy, high-speed Tuojiang-class corvettesand sea mines, laid by new fast mine-laying boats. Swarming and shoot-and-scoot tactics would be instrumental during this phase.

A Taiwan destroyer launches a surface-to-air missile during exercises meant to simulate an attack by the Chinese regime, near the east coast of Taiwan, on Sept. 26, 2013. (Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images)

The final phase entails destroying any PLA forces that make it to Taiwans shores. The ODC envisions a kill-zone extending approximately 25 miles out from likely invasion beaches. This zone would be heavily mined and supported by land-based mobile anti-ship systems (including U.S.-made Harpoon missiles recently released for sale to Taiwan) and saturation artillery attacks (such as the U.S.-made HIMARS multiple-rocket system). The Taiwan Air Force would operate mainly over this zone and seek to deny Chinese fighters, bombers, and drones the ability to operate effectively within Taiwans battlespace.

Aiding Taiwans beach defenses is the topography of the island itself. Taiwans shoreline is a defenders dream come true. It features a complex infrastructure of cliffs and sea walls, paddy fields, bridges, tunnels, overpasses, mountainous zones, and urban jungles. Its hills are honeycombed with tunnels and bunker systems, and there are numerous places where mobile missile launchers can hide. Finally, Taiwans outer islands are bristling with missiles, rockets, and artillery.

Missiles, mines, and passive defenses comprise the core of the ODC. Of less utility, according to Thompson, are large and expensive traditional weapons systems, such as fighter jets, large warships, and submarines. Thompson also notes the vulnerability of Taiwans runways to repeated enemy attacks.

This smashing of too many rice bowlsparticularly long-favored legacy weaponshas made it difficult to get the Taiwanese military to sign on to the ODC. But, according to Thompson, more military officersparticularly mid-level staff officersare beginning to appreciate the value of asymmetric operations based on speed, mobility, indirect fires, and swarming with large numbers of less-expensive weapons.

Thompson notes in his monograph three other hurdles to implementing the ODC. The first two are domestic: the lack of personnel and gaps in the Taiwanese militarys logistics supply chain. In the first place, the end of conscription and the reduction of military service to only four months has created a huge shortfall in manning the Taiwanese armed forces. In addition, the Taiwanese military lacks sufficient numbers of stockpiled weapons or a dynamic system for distributing them in a hostile environment close to home.

Finally, Thompson asserts, the United States constitutes a problem: it may support the asymmetric operational concepts embedded in the ODC, but it also likes selling Taiwan large, expensive but perhaps more and more marginally useful weapons like fighter jets. The solution, therefore, would be for the United States to supply critically enabling systems and technologies, such as long-range missiles, air-launched sea mines, vertical-launch F-35Bs (partially solving the problem of vulnerable runways), and cyberweapons.

It is important that Taipei begin to look at more innovative, asymmetrical ways to deter China. The ODC doesnt solve all of Taiwans defense challenges, but it does offer some intriguing new ideas. It is worth further study.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The logo of an Apple store is seen in Washington, on Jan. 27, 2022. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Apple, Broadcom Win New Trial in $1.1 Billion Caltech Patent Case

A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected a jury verdict ordering Apple Inc. and Broadcom Inc. to pay $1.1 billion to the California Institute of Technology for infringing its Wi-Fi technology patents, and ordered a new trial on damages.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the January 2020 award by the federal jury in Los Angeles, one of the largest ever in patent cases, was legally unsupportable.

It also upheld the jurys findings that Apple and Broadcom infringed two Caltech patents, and ordered a new trial on whether they infringed a third patent.

The California Institute of Technology had sued Apple and Broadcom in May 2016, alleging that millions of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and other devices using Broadcom chips infringed its data-transmission patents.

The jury had ordered Apple to pay Caltech $837.8 million and Broadcom to pay an additional $270.2 million.

The California Institute of Technology, Apple, and Broadcom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Apple is a major purchaser of Broadcom chips, and in January 2020 reached a $15 billion supply agreement that ends in 2023. Broadcom has estimated that 20 percent of its revenue comes from Apple.

Caltechs damages model was based on an argument that the school could have simultaneously negotiated a license with Apple for devices containing Broadcom chips, and a license with Broadcom for chips used elsewhere.

Writing for the appeals court, Circuit Judge Richard Linn rejected that theory.

The mere fact that Broadcom and Apple are separate infringers alone does not support treating the same chips differently at different stages in the supply chain, Linn wrote. Caltechs two-tier damages theory is legally unsupportable on this record.

Caltech, based in Pasadena, California, has also sued Microsoft Corp., Samsung Electronics Co., Dell Technologies Inc., and HP Inc. for alleged infringement of the same patents. Those cases are pending.

By Blake Brittain and Jonathan Stempel
Travis McMichael looks on during the sentencing in his trial along with his father Greg McMichael and neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, in the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., on Jan. 7, 2022. (Stephen B. Morton/Pool Photo via AP)

Arberys Shooter Withdraws Guilty Plea on Hate Crime Charge

BRUNSWICK, Ga.The man convicted of murder for shooting Ahmaud Arbery withdrew his guilty plea on a federal hate crime charge Friday, electing to stand trial for a second time in the 2020 killing of the black man.

Travis McMichael reversed his plan to plead guilty in the federal case days after a U.S. District Court judge rejected terms of a plea deal between defense attorneys and prosecutors that was met with passionate objections by Arberys parents.

Asked by U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood for his decision, McMichael said: I withdraw the plea.

That means all three men convicted of Arberys murder will return to court for the federal trial next week, after plea deals for McMichael and his father fell apart. Greg McMichael backed down from a plan to plead guilty in a legal filing late Thursday.

A mural depicting Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Ga., on May 17, 2020. (Sarah Blake Morgan/AP Photo)

Wood has scheduled jury selection in the hate crimes trial to begin Monday.

The Friday plea hearing for Travis McMichael was so brief that Arberys father missed it. He was standing by the elevators downstairs as reporters were leaving the courthouse.

All we want is 100 percent justice for the Arbery family, Marcus Arbery Sr. said. Thats all were looking for.

The McMichaels and a neighbor, William Roddie Bryan, were convicted of murder in a Georgia state court last fall and sentenced to life in prison. Georgia lacked a hate crimes law at the time of the killing. The U.S. Department of Justice had them indicted on charges that the three men violated Arberys civil rights and targeted him because he was black.

(LR) Travis McMichael, William Roddie Bryan, and Gregory McMichael during their trial at at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., in a file photo. (AP Pool)

The McMichaels armed themselves and chased Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting the 25-year-old man running past their home just outside the port city of Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery with a shotgun.

The father and son had planned to plead guilty to a hate crime charge after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to propose a 30-year sentence that would include a request to transfer the McMichaels from Georgias state prison system to federal custody. The deal would have required the McMichaels to admit to racist motives and forfeit the right to appeal their federal sentence.

Wood rejected the deal Monday after Arberys parents argued that conditions in federal prison wouldnt be as harsh. Wood said she ultimately denied the deal because it would have locked her into a specific sentence.

Prosecutors asked the judge to approve the plea deals despite the objections from Arberys family. Prosecutor Tara Lyons said that attorneys for Arberys parents had told the U.S. Justice Department that the family wouldnt object.

But Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arberys mother, said the slain mans family had previously rejected the same terms and no longer wanted to engage with prosecutors, who took that as a deferral.

During the murder trial in state court, defense attorneys argued the McMichaels were justified in pursuing Arbery because they had a reasonable suspicion that he had committed crimes in their neighborhood. Travis McMichael testified that he opened fire with his shotgun after Arbery attacked him with fists and tried to grab the weapon.
This image from a video hows U.S. Marines around the scene at Abbey Gate after a suicide bomber detonated an explosion, outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021. (Department of Defense via AP)

Attack That Left 13 US Troops Dead in Afghanistan Was Not Preventable: Pentagon

The bombing at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan last year that left 13 U.S. troops dead could not have been prevented, Department of Defense officials said on Feb. 5.

Based on our investigation at the tactical level, this was not preventable and the leaders on the ground followed the proper measures, and any time there was an imminent threat warning they followed the proper procedures: they lowered their profile, they sought cover, and at times, they even ceased operations at the gate, Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis, the military official who led the probe, told reporters in Washington.

The Aug. 26, 2021, attack came as U.S. service members controlled the Hamid Karzai International Airport in order to ensure Americans and others could leave the country, which had recently been taken over by the Taliban terrorist group.

U.S. leaders decided to cooperate with the Taliban, which stationed fighters around the outside of the airport at checkpoints and stopped some Americans from reaching the facility.

The ISIS terrorist group was behind the attack, the group and U.S. officials say. It killed 11 Marines, one soldier, and one sailor.

U.S. service members act as pallbearers for the service members killed in action during operations at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 27, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps/1st Lt. Mark Andries via Reuters)

Investigators interviewed more than 100 people and collected other evidence, concluding that the attack was actually the detonation of a single explosive device at the Abbey Gate, one of the entrances at the airport.

The disturbing lethality of this device was confirmed by the 58 U.S. servicemembers who were killed and wounded, despite the universal wear of body armor and helmets that did stop ball bearings that impacted them but could not prevent catastrophic injuries to areas not covered, said Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command.

U.S. officials said last year that during the attack, people on the scene were struck by gunfire. However, the probe found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire, either U.S. or Afghan, McKenzie said.

At the time, the best information we had in the immediate aftermath of the attack indicated that it was a complex attack by both a suicide bomber and ISIS-K gunmen, he said. We now know that the explosively fired ball bearings caused wounds that looked like gunshots, and when combined with a small number of warning shots, that led many to assume that a complex attack had occurred.

The fact the initial portrayal of what happened is different from what investigators concluded shows the investigating team went into the probe with an open mind, officials said.

The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ordered by President Joe Biden, on Aug. 30.
Protesters with flags are seen during an anti-vaccination rally outside Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 5, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Australian Politician Joins Canberra Protest in Solidarity With Canada Truckers

Australian politician George Christensen MP has called for COVID-19 vaccine mandates to end while attending the Convoy to Canberra protests at the nations capital held in solidarity with the Canadian and U.S. truckers convoys.

In a video he live-streamed on Facebook, the conservative politician, oft maligned for his views on COVID-19 treatments, Big Tech censorship, and vaccine mandates, appeared in a crowd of thousands of diverse people outside Old Parliament House calling for an end to the nonsense.

Literally thousands of people here from all walks of life. You know, they claim that were fringe dwellers but look at the people here. Look at the mums and dads. There are frontline workers; youve got police, medicos, nurses, pilotspeople whove lost their jobs because these vaccine mandates, Christensen said on Feb. 5.

All theyre wanting is for this nonsense to end. So this is going to be a very peaceful protest here today. The message is: we want our freedom back. It wasnt anyones to take away in the first place.

We want our freedom back. We want these vaccine mandates to end. We want the medical segregation to end; lockdowns, state border closesall the restrictions, he said.

Enough is enough. Now is the time. People in Australiatheyre getting very, very angry, he added.

Social media has been flooded with videos and images from protesters and supporters, who drove from around the country to mobilise in Canberra in solidarity with the Convoy to Ottawa.

In a video shared in the Telegram channel 2022 Official Convoy to Canberra, people can be seen carrying the flags of various countries, including Australia, Hungary, Scotland, Turkey, along with Australian state flags, the Aboriginal flag, and the Eureka flagfrom the 1854 rebellion of miners on the Victorian goldfields against the cost of permits and the authoritarian way officials enforced the system.

Protesters with flags are seen during an anti-vaccination rally outside Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 5, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Others wore army fatigues and held up signs, one of which read: Since when was two weeks to flatten the curve consent to join the worlds biggest medical experiment.

People chanted Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi, and sang, We dont need no vaccination.

Protesters and supporters shared messages on social media, encouraging non-violence and offered suggestions on ways to show police they were not part of any paid troublemaking.

Youve got a choice of living forever with fear or living forever with freedom, an elderly veteran who served as a cook in Australia for soldiers returning from the Vietnam War told Turning Point Australia in Canberra.

In Canada, the movement saw tens of thousands of truckers mobilise in response to ongoing vaccine mandates and harsh government-mandated restrictions.

In Australia, mandates have been widely enforced across the country with largely bipartisan support politically, as well as from the business and medical community. It remains a contentious issue, however.
A skier stands above large insulation sheets covering parts of Rettenbach glacier in the ski resort of Soelden in Austria, on Oct. 28, 2007. (Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)

Avalanche in Austria Near Swiss Border Kills 5

VIENNAAn avalanche in an area of Austria bordering Switzerland has killed five people on an unusually dangerous day in the Alps after heavy snowfall followed by warmer weather, spokespeople for rescue services said on Friday.

A separate avalanche earlier on Friday swept down a ski piste at the popular resort of Soelden, where five people had so far been rescued alive, said Patrick Ortler, supervisor of the emergency services control centre in the province of Tyrol where both avalanches happened.

One further person caught in the deadly avalanche near the town of Spiss on the border with Switzerland suffered minor injuries, and rescue helicopters from Switzerland and Austria were deployed, he added.

It was not immediately clear what activity the avalanche victims in Spiss were involved in or where they were from, Ortler said.

Ortler initially put the death toll at four with one person missing. Another supervisor at the control centre, Andreas Baur, later said the missing person had died. The total number of people involved was six including the slightly injured person.
Biden Is Killing His Own Green Economy in Its Cradle

Commentary

In a recent conference call, Tesla founder Elon Musk warned that some plans to roll out new models will be delayed because of supply chain issues. As I wrote in this publication recently (See Making Bricks Without Straw: Bidens Raw New Deal for America), this issue is contributing to the new energy crisis that will only be growing more acute in the coming months and years.

In the case of Tesla, it has been making some attempts to build its own vertical supply chain of the battery metals and such needed to meet its goals. Within the United States, Tesla just announced a deal with Minnesota-based Talon Metals (which is partnered with global giant Rio Tinto) to buy nickel from Talons Tamarack Project once its (hopefully) developed.

This follows a very high-profile announcement in fall 2020 of a deal between Tesla and North Carolina-based Piedmont Lithium, which is nearing the development of a substantial lithium project in the Carolina TinSpodumene Belt: a legacy area that few realize was the cradle of modern-day lithium production and global processing technology.

Tesla and Piedmont already have had to push the deals start date back, as Piedmont is slogging its way through the permitting process. As for Talons Tamarack, here, too, it will be several years before Tesla sees its first shipment of nickel concentrate for the manufacture of batteries.

Contrary to both its prior claims and its continuing disingenuous propaganda, the Biden administration and its allies have made this whole situation much worse, even just in the past week. While claiming to have a goal of having half of the new vehicles produced in the United States by 2030 be electric vehicles, President Joe Biden and others seem to be doing everything they can get away with to guarantee that we wont have the various metals necessary to produce either the vehicles or their batteriesat least in this country.

Although he looked some of these very people in the eye while campaigning in Minnesota, praised them for their industry, and lauded an area with the largest resources of battery metals in the United States, Biden has allowed his administration to pull the plug on the Twin Metals Project in northeast Minnesotas storied Iron Range area. Vast amounts of nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum group metals, chiefly, now wont be available to feed a vertical supply chain in the United States.

Its neighbor to the southwest, PolyMet Mining, reportedly has the single-largest development stage resource of metals in the United States, including (anticipated production in the first phase based on existing resources) about 1.2 billion pounds of copper, 170 million pounds of nickel, 6.2 million pounds of cobalt, and 1.56 million ounces of gold, platinum, and palladium.

PolyMet, for the more than 20 years that Ive known about and followed the company, is still beset by efforts to keep these needed metals in the ground, some of which were renewed under Biden.

Elsewhere, Bidens Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has maneuvered her far-left allies into position for a challenge to the Energy Fuels-owned White Mesa Mill in Utah, the only mill in the United States that can process both conventional uranium ore and rare earth-containing materials.

As I wrote in my recent Green Manual for both concerned citizens and investors, its inevitable that lawsuits to come will attempt to hinder work therea prospect since made even more likely by the Environmental Protection Agency turning newly hostile there as well.

Incredibly, this comes as the Biden administration claims to want to (1) bolster the near-dormant U.S. uranium industry for both strategic and green energy reasons and (2) lift the United States from almost complete dependence on China for refined rare earth elements.

On the latter, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is co-sponsoring a bipartisan measure to address at least part of the issue: the militarys dependence for strategic uses on some rare earth products from China.

Weve got to stop relying on Chinese rare earths in our defense industry, Kelly said. Its a national security risk to us. If China decided to cut us off on those rare earth minerals right now, this would have a serious impact on our national defense. So this requires that DOD [Department of Defense] and the Department of Interior work together to build a stockpile of rare earth minerals.

But by and large, the Department of the Interior is going in the opposite direction. And the erstwhile leader of all these folksBidenis AWOL.

NOTE: For a copy of Chriss Green Manual referred to above, write to chris@nationalinvestor.com.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Buffalo Niagaras woe is us attitude has packed up and left town. The region is leaning into a growth mind-set that top business and community leaders reflect upon in Sunday's Buffalo News Prospectus edition.

Numbers from the 2020 U.S. census planted the seeds of optimism. The City of Buffalos population grew by 6.5% in the past decade, while Erie Countys rose 3.8%, outperforming the gains of other counties in upstate New York.

Immigrants from other countries were the leading contributors to our growth, but not the only ones. There are Buffalo expatriates choosing to move back, millennials who want to be in a livable mid-sized city and students from our colleges and universities who come to get an education, then realize they dont want to leave.

The transition from decline to expansion will bring new opportunities, along with some growing pains. Businesses can count on gaining new customers without needing to lure them away from competitors. More dollars will be pumped into the local economy while more taxpayers are contributing to sustaining our community services.

There will be more residential construction in the region, to keep up with the growing demand for housing. Demand for now is outracing the supply, causing bidding wars that make home sellers happy and buyers frustrated. It also drives up local real estate prices, which puts pressure on the rental market. Its not in our communitys interest to displace older residents or those of lesser financial means and force them to leave the city, nor do we want the price of admission for new residents to become too steep.

The turnaround from a dwindling population to one thats growing is itself an impressive achievement for a city in the Rust Belt. The challenge, of course, is how to continue our ascent. Cities large and small are trying to reinvent themselves; they are our competitors.

Buffalo Niagara will need to put marketing muscle into touting the citys virtues, not just as a fun place to visit for a weekend but as a great place to live. Whether its primary migration from other countries, secondary from other U.S. cities or climate migration from anywhere, we must spread the message that all are wanted.

Our regions efforts at welcoming people from other countries have born fruit. For example, Buffalonians who moved away from the West Side 25 years ago would scarcely recognize it now. Diversity is a strength in our multicultural city, which is fortunate to have several nonprofit resettlement agencies for new residents.

New American Economy, a pro-immigration research and advocacy organization, assigns grades to cities based on how they set up immigrants for success. The group in 2021 graded Buffalo at 3.67, out of a top score of 5. Buffalo received top grades for government leadership and economic empowerment, but only scored 1s in job opportunities and economic prosperity.

Businesses that try to employ more refugees will reap dividends. A 2018 report from Tent Partnership for Refugees and the Fiscal Policy Institute showed that companies that hire refugees benefited from better retention  refugees tend to stay with their employers longer than other hires. They also gained in recruiting, as refugees who find a workplace where they feel welcome tend to tell others.

Federal policies, of course, affect the pool of foreign talent. Former President Donald Trump put considerable curbs on legal immigration. According to the Cato Institute, the second half of fiscal year 2020 (ending in September 2020) saw the U.S. gain 87% fewer immigrants from abroad than in the first half, the largest decline in U.S. history. That has been a contributing factor to our countrys shortage of workers. The Biden administration has been raising the quotas and should continue to expand them.

The new normal in weather across the country has nothing to do with coronavirus. Dramatic storms, rising sea levels, forest fires and droughts are all too commonplace, showing that climate change is not a someday prediction but a present reality.

Posting I Love Buffalo signs in some beleaguered cities may help some climate refugees to look us over, but there is also a role for the federal government. In cities like New Orleans, which still bears the scars of Hurricane Katrina, it doesnt make sense to keep pouring money into trying to insulate against future weather havoc. In 2019 alone, Louisianas population declined by nearly 13,000.

Instead of building back better, a smarter investment by the federal government would be giving financial support to relocating New Orleans residents who are ready to strike out for new territory. That's just one example. There are many others as climate change ratchets up the misery index in many American locations. Our city by the Great Lakes would be happy to show some Northern hospitality to residents of Louisiana or anywhere else that is challenged by a rapidly changing climate.

Buffalo Niagaras decade of growth is one to celebrate and build upon, as long as we keep our foot firmly on the gas pedal.

  

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.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about Russia and Ukraine during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Brendan Smialowski/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken Set to Visit Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii to Push Back Against Chinas Assertiveness

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel to Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii next week to demonstrate the United States commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, keeping the region in focus despite the mounting Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The State Department said Blinken will attend a Quad ministerial meeting in Australia from Feb. 9 to Feb. 12 for talks with Indo-Pacific alliesAustralia, Japan, and Indiato discuss maritime security, climate change, and the cooperation to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Blinken will have several important bilateral meetings with the Australian leadership, including Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, during his trip to Australia.

Its through this [Quad] partnership that were strengthening the security environment in the region to push back against aggression and coercion. And it will be through this partnership that we help support global economic recovery, the State Department said.

Blinken will then proceed to Fiji to meet with Fijian Prime Minister Bainimarama and Pacific Island leaders to discuss regional cooperation. This will be the first visit by a Secretary of State to Fiji since 1985.

The U.S. top diplomat will conclude his trip in Hawaii, where he will host a trilateral meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts to discuss global challenges and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The Secretary will demonstrate the strength and the credibility of Americas commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, and specifically to our most important partners and democratic allies in the region, the State Department added.

Policy analysts claimed that Blinken is making the trip despite the escalating Ukraine crisisas more than 100,000 Russian troops amassed near its borderto demonstrate support for the Indo-Pacific region and to focus on pushing back Chinas growing assertiveness.

Facing U.S.-led efforts to pressure the Chinese Communist Party regime over its human rights abuses, and Russia over its military buildup near the Ukraine border, the two leaders proclaimed a no limits friendship on the opening day of the Winter Olympics on Friday. They also signed gas and oil contracts worth an estimated $117.5 billion.

Displaying a united front, the two leaders issued an over 5,000-word statement after the meeting, highlighting their opposition to what they called interference in the internal affairs by other States, in a veiled reference to Washington and its allies.

According to the statement, Russia recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of China and rejects the self-ruling islands independence in any form, while Beijing backed Russias opposition for the enlargement of NATO.

The two nations also strongly condemn the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdomnamely the AUKUS pactunder which the United States and the UK will help Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Dorothy Li and Reuters contributed to this report.
In a file photo a demonstrator holds a "Thin Blue Line" flag and a sign in support of police during a protest outside the Governors Mansion on June 27, 2020 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

California Teacher Calls Pro-Police Mask The Next Confederacy Flag

A California substitute teacher referred to a mask worn by a student bearing the thin blue line flag for police officers as the next confederate flag and told the teen he had no right bastardizing the American flag.

The middle school teacher, whose identity could not be confirmed by The Epoch Times, was caught on video by a student in the math class using a smartphone. In the video, the burly teacher is yelling at 13-year old Lucas Lillar, who argues back with the teacher that he was wearing it in honor of his father, a police officer, as a way to, keep him safe, the teen says.

If cops dont like you, they shoot you, the teacher, who appears to be in his mid-50s, said to Lucas and other students who began arguing in support of their classmates mask.

Amanda McCallum, Lucass mother, told The Epoch Times that she was shocked by how willing the substitute math teacher was to go toe to toe with her young son over his clear anti-police sentiment. Hes clearly uneducated, said McCallum, who works as a dental assistant.

It was extremely inappropriate no matter where you stand politically, said McCallum. This should never ever have happened in a classroom.

McCallum, and her husband, who is a county deputy sergeant, are divorced but she said she supports his service in law enforcement and her sons homage to him.

In a statement released to The Epoch Times, Nevada County School District Superintendent Scott Lay said the teacher has been dismissed as a substitute teacher for the county.

Lay told The Epoch Times that he could not comment on anything specifically to do with the incident because it is pending an investigation.

We expect all educators to perform their duties with utmost respect and professionalism to afford our youth an environment conducive to learning, Lay said. He would not confirm the identity of the teacher.

According to McCallum, her son was working quietly at his desk on an assignment when the teacher sat in an empty desk behind him and heckled him about his mask, saying it was not American.

McCallum said the incident came at an especially bad time with the two police officers recently shot and killed in New York City while answering a domestic violence call in the Bronx. She said her son and daughter have a heightened awareness of police killed in the line of duty, even reacting when they hear sirens in their small town.

Children of law enforcement sacrifice a lot, she said.

McCallum said she is also appalled that a teacher used a school classroom to bully children with his political views. That should never ever have happened in a classroom. A child should feel safe to express themselves with their First Amendment rights and teachers should understand they dont have those same liberties with kids, she said.

Grass Valley is a small town of about 12,000 residents located about 50 miles outside of Sacramento.

In 2020, police shootings became a divisive subject for the community when a Nevada County deputy shot and killed a mother in front of her two young children in the town. Some in Grass Valley said the shooting was justified given the woman tried to attack officers with a knife while others asked why one of the officers didnt just wound her instead of firing on her multiple times. An officer did fire a taser at the woman but it was ineffective in stopping her attempted knife attack. Coincidentally it is the same sheriffs department where Lucass father works.

More fodder on the debate came from a 2019 study from The Center for Policing Equity, which showed that police in nearby Sacramento were 4.5 times more likely to commit acts of force against black people.

The study was performed at the request of the Sacramento police department following the beating of a Nandi Cain by a police officer in 2017 and the shooting death of Stephon Clark by two police officers after mistaking his cell phone for a gun.
Barnaby Joyce leaves the National Press Club, following an address by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 1, 2022. (Rohan Thomson/Getty Images)

China and Russia Are Bigger Issues Than Canberra Intrigues: Australian Deputy PM

Australias Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has apologised for calling Prime Minister Scott Morrison a hypocrite and a liar in a leaked text message. But he said Australians cared more about geopolitical tensions, the pandemic, and infringements on religious freedom than the intrigues of Canberra which consumed news media reporting in the country this week.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Feb. 5, Joyce took full accountability for the texts while suggesting the media and political class cared more about the texts than the general public, who are more concerned about Russia and China.

The Australian people  have no real interest in some of the intrigues of Canberra to the extent that were interested in them. What theyre interested in is their future, Joyce said.

What theyre terribly concerned about, and interested in, is such things as what China and Russia are agreeing to at the moment, he added, referring to the no limits friendship announced by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Feb. 4.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) meets Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2022. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Joyce said Australians more concerned about the defence of the country, the pandemic, and how certain pandemic response measures have infringed on religious freedom.

People in a suburb of Perth are concerned about why police went into St. Bernadettes church to close down a service. People want you to build things, they want you to make the nation stronger, and they want you to get back to your job. And thats precisely what I intend to do, he said.

Read More Western Australian Police Halt Church Service to Enforce Mask Wearing

Resignation Offer Denied

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused Joyces offer to resign after he admitted to sending the leaked texts dated March last year.

Joyce sent the text when he was a backbencher in the Liberal-Nationals coalition government. Now the leader of the Nationals after ousting Michael McCormack, Joyce said he should never have written the texts, citing his now closer working relationship with Morrison for a change of heart.

My view from the backbench about the prime minister was based on assumption and commentary, not from a one on one working relationship, Joyce said.

From a one-on-one working relationship, I found a man who has honoured every agreement that hes made with me and who I have noted has honoured every agreement that hes made with others from both sides of the political fence.

The deputy PM said that while he never expected the texts to end up in the public realm, the fault was squarely his for writing them.

Former political staffer Brittany Higgins (centre) leaves the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices after meeting with the Leader of the Federal Opposition Anthony Albanese in Sydney, Australia, on April 30, 2021. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

The texts were sent around the time that former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins came forward with allegations that she was raped in a ministers officer at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019.

Joyce sent the texts, which were published by Nine, to a third party who later passed them on to Higgins.

Tell BH (Brittany Higgins) I and Scott, he is Scott to me until I have to recognise his office, dont get along, a screenshot of the text reads.

He is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time. I have never trusted him and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison shakes hands with National Party Leader, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 11, 2021. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Joyce said he immediately called Morrison to apologise when he was made aware the texts were circulating among third parties this week.

He accepted my apology. I offered my resignation and he did not accept my resignation, he said. That in itself is a statement of a person of greater character. That is not one of a person of any form of vindictiveness, or pique, or a sense of retribution.

Joyce admits the text message is damaging to Morrison but does not believe it will dent the coalitions chances of winning a fourth term in government, with a federal election due by May.

In a statement, Morrison said he accepted Joyce was in a different headspace last year and he believes the deputy PM genuinely no longer feels this way.

The prime minister added relationships change over time, politicians are humans beings too and none of us are perfect.

Since coming to the role of DPM (deputy prime minister), it is fair to say that we both positively surprised each other. We were never close before this and never pretended to be, Morrison said.
China Censors Law Professors Reflection on Facing the Real World

A law professor from a prominent Chinese university posted a reflective essay on her WeChat public account, only to see it deleted within two hours.

Professor Lao Dongyan holds a Doctor of Law degree from Chinas prestigious Peking University and works as a law professor and Ph.D. advisor at Tsinghua University. Lao is a published author and often appears on the media talking about various social issues and the law.

Laos latest 6,000-word dissertation titled Facing the Real World met with immediate censorship.

Professor Jerome A. Cohen, New York University School of Law Founder and Faculty Director Emeritus, added a link to Laos essay in his blog, and said that it is not only about the plight of legal scholars, lawyers, free speech, and the abuse of criminal justice It is also a meditation on arriving at middle age and on the responsibilities of raising children to cope with the contradictions of Chinas present political, social, and economic environment.

Living Among Absurdity, Busy while Feeling Lost

As a reflection on the year 2021, Lao started by lamenting about how Chinese society is inundated with positive energy rhetoric, yet people are drowning in a tidal wave of insecurity. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses the phrase positive energy as a catch phrase to encourage citizens to take all suffering, including that which it inflicts, on the chin.

Laos essay commented on the absurdity of society.

Under the zero-COVID policy, an eight-month pregnant woman, who tested covid negative, was not admitted and suffered a miscarriage outside the hospital because she came from a high covid risk area; an old man died of a heart attack while waiting to be PCR tested at the hospital; a mother and her teenage daughter, who passed 18 rounds of covid tests, were stranded on the streets in the cold winter night and not allowed to enter their neighborhood to go home.

Other incidents include migrant workers, who were discouraged from returning home for the Chinese New Year, being labeled as returning home with malicious motives, and will be first quarantined and then detained, according to a CCP official for a township. A healthy and rational school teacher was sent to a psychiatric hospital simply for speaking from her heart on social media.

The absurdity does not stop there, Lao wrote, under the banner of ensuring harmony and safety, the fast-developing internet and big data technology have become the newest tool of control and a heavy shackle of the people.

In her essay, she called out the evil of the system as the root cause of societal problems. Looking at the history of the 20th century, nearly all the catastrophes were caused by the evil of the system, [and] compounded by the evil of human nature.

Lao concluded that society has lost empathy. She said that the lack of feelings has become the prevalent sentiment during the past year. For a long while, she stopped posting on social media and had no interest in publishing because other than causing myself trouble, what use do these writings have?

In addition, Lao resonated with the lie flat movement. She explained that hard work has been de-valued so much that people choose to do nothing, or lie flat, as a form of passive resistance.

At the end of her essay, perhaps as an encouragement to her readers, Lao quoted J.K. Rowlings commencement speech at Harvard University, If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change.

Professor Cohen wrote in his blog, I wonder whether Professor Lao will now suffer the fate of her former colleague, the ex-communicated, shunned, and impoverished Professor Xu Zhangrun, who is being quietly and informally but severely punished for his brilliant and courageous critiques of Xi Jinpings repression.
A Delta Airlines plane sits on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 29, 2019. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

Delta Seeks Support of DOJ to Have Unruly Passengers Added to No-Fly List

The CEO of Delta Air Lines is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to have passengers convicted of disruptive behavior added to a national no-fly list that would prevent them from future travel on any commercial air carrier.

We are requesting you support our efforts with respect to the much-needed step of putting any person convicted of an on-board disruption on a national, comprehensive, unruly passenger no-fly list that would bar that person from traveling on any commercial air carrier, Delta Chief Executive Ed Basian wrote in a letter reviewed by The Epoch Times.

This action will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft, the CEO added. The DOJ did not immediately comment on Basians letter.

Right now, the no-fly list only includes a subset of the terrorism list watch that allows the U.S. government to prohibit persons considered a threat to civil aviation from traveling on airlines.

In the letter, written to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday, Basian explained that though such incidents represent a small fraction of all overall flightsdisruptive behavior of passengers onboard Delta airlines has increased by nearly 100 percent since 2019.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, on Jan. 5, 2022. (Carolyn Kaster/Pool/Getty Images)

The CEO said Delta has placed nearly 1,900 people on the airlines no-fly list for refusing to comply with masking requirements and submitted more than 900 banned names to the Transportation Security Administration to pursue civil penalties.

Delta also called on other airline companies in September to share the lists of problematic passengers who have been bannedas an effort to protect airline employees.

Last month, three New York residents were charged with assaulting a Delta security officer at JFK Airport in September. The three were charged with viciously [assaulting] an airline security officer by beating him to the floor with his radio and then kicking and punching him in the face and body while he was down, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in January.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last year it had taken a zero tolerance approach and referred more than three dozen unruly passengers to the FBI for potential criminal prosecution.

While the FAA does not have the authority to prosecute unruly passengers, the federal agency has built an information-sharing protocol with the DOJ so that the department is notified about criminal conduct occurring on commercial aircraft.

Unruly passengers may face up to a $37,000 fine per violation, and multiple violations can be imposed per incident.

President Joe Biden said in October that he had instructed the DOJ to deal with the rising number of violent incidents on board air carriers.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Dr. Ryan Cole: Clinical Studies Needed as Uptick in Cancers Observed After COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

Dr. Ryan Cole, pathologist and founder of Cole Diagnostics, says that he is observing a concerning pattern of certain cancers after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and that rigorous studies need to be conducted.

In the laboratory, Im seeing an uptick in cancers that I shouldnt be seeing at rates I shouldnt be seeing in age groups I shouldnt be seeing, Cole told The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders.

Cole, who examines about 40,000 biopsies a year, said he first noticed an increase in a contagious skin disorder, molluscum contagiosum, in the older adults that were part of the first group to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

So I get a lot of skin cancer biopsies from the dermatologist and family doctors around the country in my region, and I started noticing an uptick in this bump that I usually see in children, in the elderly  I never see this, this is an infection of childhood and not the elderly, Cole said. And then I started seeing more and then more, and I thought, Wait a minutethis is immune dysregulation of some sort.'

Molluscum contagiosum, normally seen in children, is a viral skin infection that causes small round, firm bumps with a small dimple in the middle caused by a poxvirus. The skin disorder is not painful but can cause itchiness, and spreads via skin-to-skin contact with an infected individual or from touching contaminated things. The infection in children with a healthy immune system usually clears up on its own and by the time youre in your tweens or teens, your immune system keeps it in check, Cole says.

So I saw that bump, I saw that immune dysregulation, I thought, Houston, we have a problem because that line of cells, that line of T-cells that keeps viruses in check, that family of cells also keeps cancers in check, Cole added.

T-cells, also called T lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell that plays an important role in keeping people healthy by protecting them from infection. As part of the adaptive immune system, T-cells circulate in the body searching for viruses or cancer cells and killing them. They also indirectly help in fighting cancer by organizing an immune response.

Soon after noticing the disturbing trend of the skin disorder, Cole began observing an uptick in cancer.

Well, at the same time, about a month or two later, all of a sudden there are certain types of cancers that I commonly see in the laboratoryafter 500,000 patients you kind of have an idea year over year what youre seeingI started seeing endometrial cancers go up, and melanomas I started seeing thicker and earlier as well.

In his travels across the country giving presentations, Cole has met other doctors who echo his observations. One radiation oncologist told him, I am seeing cancers that we normally keep in check, and we know we can manage this cancer and the patient will get two, three, five, six good years of life. But they got their shot or they got their booster, and then two months later, their cancer is a wildfire.

Cole says the pattern he was seeing with cancer and the skin disorder was likely due to a combination of people not seeing their doctor during the lockdown and the timeframe in which people were getting vaccinated.

A Netherlands study helped explain the elevation of cancers that he was observing in his laboratory.

There was a really good paper by Dr. Fohse et al. out of the Netherlands looking at the Pfizer vaccines and they did a pretty good analysis of the immune system after the shots, Cole said. And their conclusion was alarming and concerning in the sense that it said, Were seeing an alteration of the innate immune response.

The authors of the study concluded that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine induces the effects on both the adaptive and the innate branch of immunity and the reprogramming of innate immune responses.

The Netherlands studywhich has yet to be peer-reviewedhas not been updated since it was posted on the medRxiv website in May 2021. One of the authors told The Epoch Times via email that the study is still ongoing with longer follow-up.

When the innate immune response is altered and not acting right, this affects the functions of the toll-like receptors that make up the first line of defense against cancer cells and other pathogens. These receptors will not be able to detect whether a cancer cell needs to be marked for elimination, and they will not initiate the innate immune response or coordinate the adaptive immune response to fight off the cancer cells as a result of these receptors being dropped down and tuned out or tuned all the way off, Cole said.

Pfizer did not respond to a request for comment.

Rigorous Trials Needed

Cole says that studies need to be conducted to investigate whether the COVID-19 vaccines are as safe and effective as promoted.

When something is novel and newi.e. these gene injectionsto stimulate an immune response, thats novel and new, so we should take this approach of the French legal system: guilty until proven innocent, Cole said.

Every adverse reaction, every odd pattern outside the norm after the shots should have triggered a red flag to say, We need to do an autopsy on that death, it was proximate to their shots, or Gosh, this patient that was healthy and well, now is not so healthy and well. We need to investigate is this related to this new experimental modality that were putting onto a broad world population, he added.

The federal health authorities, according to Cole, should have already conducted an age stratification study on cancer upticks and the COVID-19 vaccines as data already exists.

It would be really easy for the insurance companies and the government to do a statistical age bracket analysis for every type of cancer because we have to code, when we put on our reports what type of cancer, what code it gets. We could do an age stratification to very easily look at upticks post rollout of the shots, Cole said.

And you can do a very easy comparative cohort of that against the unvaccinated, those who have chosen not to get the shots, and you could do it from 2018 to 2019. We have the datasets and these should be open public record.

The National Institutes of Health did not respond to an inquiry asking if the agency is looking into whether COVID-19 vaccines may cause a recurrence of cancer and if trials are being conducted.

Cole says that these studies need to be done since lives are on the line.

I could be wrong in my assessment and if I am, I want to know, Cole said. This is about humanity, this is about, Is there harm or not? If there is a signal, then we need to change what were doing quickly.

Because lives are on the line here. if this is supposedly a pandemic, we should be doing the most assiduous scientific pursuit of anything weve ever done.

According to the American Cancer Society, after heart disease, cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States. It is estimated that there will be 1.9 million new cancer cases and 609,360 cancer deaths this year.

The numbers do not account for the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has likely had on cancer diagnoses and deaths because they are projections based on reported cases through 2018 and deaths through 2019, the cancer society said.

Meiling Lee Follow Meiling Lee is a health reporter for The Epoch Times.
Supporters and members of the LGBTQI+ community are seen protesting against Citipointe Christian College during a protest march through the CBD in Brisbane, Australia, on Feb. 4, 2022. (AAP Image/Darren England)

Embattled Principal Stands Down Amid Backlash Over Faith-Based Statement on Sexuality

The principal of an Australian Christian independent school mired in controversy over an enrolment contract affirming the schools stance on gender and sexuality has stood down, saying he is heartbroken.

Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane, Queensland has been the target of public criticism and two government-led probes in response to a contract it sent to parents on Jan. 28.

The agreement, which it subsequently withdrew on Feb. 3, described homosexuality as a sin and stated that the college would only enrol students on the basis of the gender that corresponds to their biological sex.

In an email to parents on Feb. 5, Principal and Pastor Brian Mulheran said he had decided to take extended leave to reflect on what has transpired and provide the college community time to heal.

Citipointe needs to be ready to welcome students on Monday with a positive outlook to start the new school year, the statement read.

Our intention was only to offer families a choice about how their children are educated, and to be open and transparent about our religious ethos that guides the way we teach and care for students.

I am heartbroken that, by doing so, our college, and our community have suffered so much.

Mulheran revealed he had been devastated talking to the students who have suffered hurtful and hate-filled verbal assaults simply because of their beliefs or for attending the college.

I am sorry, sorry that some students felt that they may be being discriminated against at Citipointe. We would never discriminate against any student on the basis of their sexuality or gender identity, he wrote.

Ruth Gravestien, the schools head of primary will become acting principal.

The move comes amid heightened pressure on Mulheran to resign.

Supporters and members of the LGBTQI+ community are seen protesting against Citipointe Christian College during a rally in King George Square in Brisbane, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. (AAP Image/Darren England)

People who are against the new enrolment contract of Citipointe Christian College protested the schools decision in King George Square in Brisbane, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. (AAP Image/Darren England)

On Feb. 4, crowds gathered in Brisbanes King George Square in the CBD to protest the principals actions. On the same day, a group of 23 parents wrote a letter to the school accusing Mulheran of stigmatising a vulnerable community and causing hurt and distress.

Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli on Feb. 5, said it was absolutely the right decision for the principal to step down as the contract clearly wasnt one that was right either in law or in practice.

At the heart of it we have to reflect on the impact that these things have on the kids, he said.

However, fellow Liberal National Party member and federal MP of Dawson, George Christensen, noted that parents and students had a choice of whether to go to a Christian school or not.

I can solve the problem: If you dont subscribe to traditional Christian beliefs, dont send your kids to a traditional Christian school, he wrote on Facebook on Feb. 2.

LGBTQI+ flags can be seen in a general view of Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane, Australia, on Jan. 31, 2022. (AAP Image/Jono Searle)

Rebecca Fishcher, a former student of the college, said she was glad the principal stood up for Christian values but was disappointed by the response of some political leaders who identified as Christians.

On Feb. 5, in a letter to Lyle Shelton, member of the Christian Democratic Party, she said the school was isolated and on their own in the war shooting a pistol surrounded by bazookas.

If they waited to have a group of Christian schools to support, it would take years. Not many schools make a stand for their values, she wrote.

We get so-called good people into positions of power but when they are there, they cave and dont stand up for truth.

The Human Rights Commission in Queensland said they were reviewing complaints, while Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace, and Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman have been critical of Citipointe Colleges actions.
The logo of Facebook parent Meta is beneath a 3D-printed logo of Facebook on a laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on Nov. 2, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Facebook-Owner Meta Says It Will Pay New $2 Million UK Fine

LONDONBritains competition regulator said on Friday it had fined Facebook-owner Meta 1.5 million pounds ($2 million) over fresh issues regarding its purchase of Giphy, a sanction that the U.S. firm said it would accept.

Britains Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has taken a tough line with major tech groups in recent years, investigating their dominance of markets such as digital advertising and seeking to block the Facebook-Giphy deal.

The CMA ordered Meta to sell animated images platform Giphy, which it acquired for a reported $400 million in May 2020, after it decided the remedies offered by the U.S. company did not answer its concerns over the impact to digital advertising.

It said on Friday that Meta had failed to comply with certain aspects of its requirements in regard to the handling of Giphy, with the U.S. firm failing to notify the UK regulator that key staff had left Meta.

The CMA described this as a serious and particularly flagrant nature of Metas failure to comply with rules it set to make sure the two firms were still competing with each other, and do not integrate, while the regulator investigated the deal.

Fridays announcement marks a new deterioration in relations between the U.S. tech giant and the UK regulator.

The CMA fined Facebook 50.5 million pounds over other breaches in October last year, and ordered Meta to sell Giphy. Meta is appealing the ruling to sell. It said on Friday it did not agree with the CMAs latest fine but would pay it.

It added that it could not prevent staff from leaving the company.

We intend to pay the fine, but it is problematic that the CMA can take decisions that could directly impact the rights of our U.S. employees protected under U.S. law, a spokesperson said.
FDA, Doctors Group Reach Agreement on Production of Pfizer Vaccine Documents

A group seeking all of the documents analyzed by U.S. drug regulators before approving Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine has reached an agreement with the government on how fast the documents will be produced.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must produce 10,000 pages by March 1 and another 10,000 pages by April 1 in response to the Freedom of Information Act request and subsequent lawsuit by the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, according to the agreement, which was approved by the judge overseeing the case on Feb. 2.

The FDA must then produce 80,000 additional pages in three tranches, one due May 2, one due June 1, and one due July 1.

The regulatory agency was also ordered to produce 70,000 pages by Aug. 1 and 55,000 pages on or before the first business day of each month thereafter.

The amendment to the production requirement keeps the total schedule at about eight months.

The case was brought by the doctors group after the FDA resisted handing over the documents, which analyze Pfizers clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of its vaccine and other data.

Both sides agree that the group is entitled to the approximately 450,000 documents, but the FDA had pushed for a production schedule that, if approved, would have taken roughly 75 years to complete.

In a Dec. 14, 2021, hearing, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee and the judge overseeing the case, described it as involving the most important issue of our time.

When youre being asked or, indeed, mandated to take something and insert a foreign substance in your body, I would think, first and foremost, that the government ought to have toin our system of government, were not in communist Russia or China or in Nazi Germanywhen the government has mandated something, I would think the American people are entitled to know the underlying efficacy of what theyre being asked to do. Its no doubt in my mind that this is something that needs to be produced posthaste. The only question I have in my mind is when and how it can be done in a manner in which Im not shutting down the entire FDA, Pittman said.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney said the FDA had bent over backwards to get the plaintiffs the information they wanted, but warned against ordering too much production too soon because of the labor the government insists is required.

The attorney pointed to a set of 3,000 documents that the FDA sent to the group, noting that FDA employees had found dozens of instances of potentially identifying information that needed redacting, highlighting why officials want to review the documents line by line.

Aaron Siri, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told Pittman that the FDA could hire independent contractors, get reviewers allocated from other agencies such as the DOJ, or make Pfizer review the documents. The DOJ attorney suggested that only FDA workers can do the review. Siri also noted that the government reviewed Pfizers request for emergency authorization for the vaccine in 108 days and that 108 days had already passed since the time of the request for documents.

At one point, Siri told the judge that making the documents public would give confidence to the American people that the medical product that theyre being mandated to receive, the medical product that the federal government has said is the only thing that will be able to end this pandemic has, in fact, been properly reviewed, licensed and approved.

Pittman hasnt ruled on Pfizers move to intervene in the case, though that decision should be coming shortly.
Fired Syneos Health Workers: Company Ignored Tennessee Vaccination Law

While Syneos Health fired employees who refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19, it allowed Florida residents to keep working. Presumably, the company was following Floridas law, enacted in November, that prohibits private employers from mandating COVID-19 vaccines.

Under Floridas law, businesses with 99 or fewer employees face a fine of $10,000 per employee violation, while larger businesses must pay $50,000 per violation. But Tennessee employees were fired despite a similar state law, also passed in November.

Tennessees law says a private business, governmental entity, or school cannot compel a person to provide proof of vaccination if the person objects to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine for any reason. No fine is associated with the Tennessee law.

Essentially, it gives them the right to sue for either threatenedor loss ofemployment and they can recover, in addition to compensatory damages, attorneys fees as well. So it has teeth in it, Larry Crain, a Brentwood, Tennessee, constitutional lawyer representing a Syneos employee, told The Epoch Times. An outfit as big as Syneos Health has got to have general counsel that is aware of this statute, just as they would be in Florida. But in case theyre not, it certainly is our intention to make them aware of it.

Syneos Health, which didnt respond to a request for comment, is a global pharmaceutical outsourcing company with some 28,000 employees in more than 110 countries. It supplements the sales and management teams of major pharmaceutical companies with additional employees. For an unknown number of employees, Jan. 31, 2021, was their last day.

Crain represents Randy Parker, 63, who managed Syneos sales representatives. Parker has an extensive history in virology and has worked in pharmaceuticals for 34 years, the last nine at Syneos. For the past seven years, he has been working from home, so when the vaccine mandate first came out, he assumed it didnt apply to him, until a manager told him to complete his vaccination paperwork.

Our industry is driven by clinical studies, by efficacy, safety data, and multi-level studies with thousands of patients involved, to roll out a safe product, Parker told The Epoch Times. We didnt see that with these vaccines. They passed it under emergency use. They forewent all the different parameters that you have to hit, in order to launch a product safely. I wasnt satisfied these were safe products.

Terri Marsh, 66, a clinical sales specialist, has worked in pharmaceuticals for 22 years and for Syneos for two years. She wasnt thinking about retirement. As the No. 2 salesperson in the company, she says she was expecting to receive incentives she earned, including a bonus in March and a possible trip to Rome. She says being terminated cost her about $30,000 in bonuses.

I was planning on reaping those benefits, and its devastating. I have never been fired for anything in my life, Marsh told The Epoch Times.

Yet, she is comfortable with her decision not to get the shots.

We are trained constantly that we cannot promote any product unless it [has a] package insert. And if you look at all these vaccines, they do not have a package insert. Theres no ability to evaluate the risk and benefit of the product based on whats it going to offer you, and the risks associated, Marsh said. These vaccines didnt even have animal studies, let alone long-term human studies. I just felt I could not make a reasonable risk/benefit decision. In time, the efficacy came into question. Because, for a while, they said if you get this shot you cant get COVID.

Well, that has turned out to be false. And then, if you get the shot, you cant transmit it. That has also turned out to be false, so the house of cards is falling. I have less and less confidence that product is either safe or effective.

The two Tennessee residents asked for religious exemptions. But on Dec. 9, they learned that Syneos wasnt recognizing exemptions. They had until Jan. 14 to get the shots or face termination.

Marsh sent a letter to Syneos alerting them of the Tennessee law.

We understand that this is a challenging time, a Syneos employee relations coordinator responded. Based on your job duties and customer requirements, we are unable to deviate from the timeline described in your working notice letter. The letter urged her to let the company know if she got vaccinated.

Parker says the pandemic should have run its course a year ago.

The pandemic is pretty much dying out, and they are still trying to prolong it. These mandates and vaccinations are part of that. For whatever reason, theyre trying to prolong it, and its just wrong, Parker said. Most pandemics last 18 months. This thing should have been over about a year ago.

Marsh said the treatment of the unvaccinated is un-American.

I feel theres some kind of agenda here that is marginalizing people who think for themselves, and who have different opinions than the herd. I dont think America is a place where that was tolerated in the past. We always celebrated free thinkers and accepted people who thought differently than we did. But now were being marginalized and fired, for our sincerely held beliefs, and I think its the wrong direction. I think its unamerican.
Plus, what we can learn from the viral balaclava trend.

Photo: Courtesy of Kenzo

These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.

Kenzo releases the first collection under Artistic Director Nigo

Kenzo has unveiled its first collection under new Artistic Director Nigo. The limited-edition Spring 2022 capsule drops on Feb. 5 in select stores and on Kenzo's website. Nigo's first designs for the label feature comfortable wardrobe classics, like crewneck sweatshirts and jersey cardigans, adorned with a graphic flower print and Kenzo's new label. "In homage to Kenzo Takada, each drop revolves around the idea of elements key to the legacy of the founder," the press release states. "Expanding on the form and function of these motifs, Nigo draws on the Japanese sensibility of flora and fauna as signifiers of symbols and feelings." {Fashionista inbox}

The big business of ugly shoes

In a new piece for Bloomberg, Kim Bhasin dives into what's fueling the growing popularity of once-mocked shoes like Ugg boots, Velcro sandals and chunky dad sneakers. "While uglycore  fashion that scorns beauty in favor of self-affirmation  isn't new, the collective hangover of two years of barely squeezing a foot into a heel, pump, loafer, wingtip, oxford or even a pair of ballet flats has intensified an unapologetic love affair with pragmatic footwear," Bhasin writes. Brands that have always favored function over fashion are reaping the benefits of this cultural moment, with Bhasin noting that shares of Crocs have reached record highs and the world's largest luxury company acquired Birkenstock in a $4.9 billion deal. {Bloomberg}

What we can learn from the viral balaclava trend

The balaclava trend has spurred comparison to hijabs, which have long been criticized. In Teen Vogue, Alia Khan, a member of the Islamic Fashion and Design Council, sheds light on the positive role that the balaclava plays in the Islamic fashion narrative. "The recent trend has opened people's eyes to see the popular, practical and comfortable aspects of head coverings," Khan writes, adding that the "balaclava trend is another opportunity to highlight the values and beauty of Islamic fashion." Khan's most powerful takeaway from the viral trend is that it can bring people together: "Along with the external look, the faith-based group also brings in the aspect of nourishing their soul through their fashion choices. They intend to tap into a higher connection, that Muslims believe is activated by the way the body is covered. The latter group's focus is primarily on style or function. However, by shifting their intention to include the dimension of a soul connection through their fashion choices, the two worlds can align." {Teen Vogue}

How Malaysia became a hotspot for secondhand clothing

According to an Ezra Marcus piece for The New York Times, familiarity with e-commerce and a fairly globalized population has helped Malaysia become a large player in the secondhand clothing market. The country has thrift stores  including giant warehouses run by corporate chains  that contain piles of discarded items, often from the West, and clothes that local merchants buy from wholesalers. Secondhand sellers in Malaysia will then sort through giant bales of clothes and resell them on Etsy, Ebay and Grailed. {The New York Times}

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File photo showing a U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft being unloaded after landing at Jasionka Airport near Rzeszow, Poland, on Feb. 4, 2022. (REUTERS/Kacper Pempel)

First US Troops Arrive in Poland to Reinforce NATO Amid RussiaUkraine Tensions

The first U.S. troops reinforcing NATO allies in Eastern Europe amid RussiaUkraine tensions arrived at a military base in southeastern Poland on Saturday.

A handful of U.S. troops arrived in a small Beechcraft C-12 Huron that landed at Rzeszow military base shortly after 10 a.m. on Feb. 5, Polish military spokesman Major Przemyslaw Lipczynski told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Lipczynski said the arrivals included some support and command-level staff, adding that a much larger contingent is expected to arrive at the airfield on Sunday. The second transport was initially slated for arrival on Saturday afternoon, but those plans were changed for undisclosed reasons, Lipczynski added.

We await the arrival of our allies, Lipczynski told PAP, adding that our collaboration has been going very smoothly.

In total, some 1,700 U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are expected to be stationed in Poland, the spokesman said, describing it as an elite rapid response force that Polish troops have worked with on multiple occasions.

We served alongside them on missions, including Iraq and Afghanistan, Lipczynski said, adding that the soldiers had also trained together during international war games like Dragon and Anaconda.

We can count on each other, and trust one another, he added.

The U.S. troop contingent arrived on the same day that the Russian Defense Ministry announced it had sent a pair of long-range nuclear-capable bombers on patrol over Moscow ally Belarus, which shares a border with Poland.

In the course of their flight, the long-range aircraft practiced joint tasks with the air force and air defense of the Belarusian armed forces, the ministry said, according to Russian state news agency TASS. The patrol mission lasted around four hours, after which the Russian planes returned to base in Russia.

The patrol mission came as the Kremlin has moved troops from Siberia and other remote parts of Russia to Belarus for sweeping joint drills, with the deployment adding to a large Russian military buildup near Ukraine that has fueled Western fears of a possible invasion.

Russia has denied any plans of attacking Ukraine and has asked the United States and its allies for a binding commitment that they wont accept Ukraine into NATO.

Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed for his countrys admission into the military alliance.

The Kremlin has also asked the United States and its allies to promise not to deploy offensive weapons and to roll back NATO deployments to Eastern Europe.

Washington and NATO have rejected those demands.

From our perspective. I cant be more clearNATOs door is open, remains open, and that is our commitment, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in late January, though he renewed an offer of reciprocal measures to address mutual security concerns between Russia and NATO, including missile reductions in Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled Moscows readiness for more talks with Washington and its NATO allies.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are set to make separate trips on Feb. 78 and Feb. 1415 to Kyiv and Moscow as part of a high-level diplomatic effort to defuse tensions.
For the Love of Learning: An Educators Passion for Truth and Joy

Hillsdale president Larry Arnn on science, big government, and the nature of learning

The trouble with tyranny, says Larry Arnn, is it takes the best in us, and interferes with it. Whereas better to let our best flourish, and then we can be happy.

In a recent episode of American Thought Leaders, host Jan Jekielek spoke with Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College and a professor of history and politics. They discussed such topics as the past, the meaning of education, the role of experts in government, and tyranny.

Recently, Hillsdale College launched a new Academy for Science and Freedom to pursue the free exchange of scientific ideas. Its fellows include Dr. Scott Atlas, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff.

Jan Jekielek: Youve launched this new initiative, the Academy for Science and Freedom. All of the members are also American Thought Leaders like youve become here. Give me a sense of why this is important. Whats going on?

Larry Arnn: I have a particular responsibility. Im supposed to operate a college, and for the first time in our 177 years, there were disruptions to that goal.

The pandemic hit in spring break, and most colleges announced there were no more classes. The Ivy League colleges announced no more classes until Christmas.

I thought, I should figure out if we can have college. Would it be safe for the students?

We thought urgently about thisnight and day during spring break.

And I found out about these three guys [Dr. Scott Atlas, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and Dr. Marin Kulldorff], and I discovered their writing and that theyre very serious academics. Theyre like the best teachers youve ever had. Theyre also restrained and good at not saying more than they know.

They helped us on a weekly basis for months and wouldnt let me pay them anything. We had college, and we were threatened a fair amount by the government. But we had lawyers and thought we could defend ourselves, and we had a case that they helped us assemble.

Anyway, these guys were very helpful to me, and I developed a deep respect for them and friendship with them. They called me three or four months ago and they had this idea. I said, So you want to start an institution? They said, Yes, and I said, I know how to do that, and Ill help you. They said, We want to do it with you.

These guys are all faculty members. Theyre pretty shrewd. So yes, were going to do this thing.

Science is a way of knowing. It proceeds at its own rate, takes time to find out. On the other hand, decisions are an exercise of power that has to be done all the time. Its just foolish to say that scientists can rule.

I study Winston Churchill a lot. In 1901, when Churchill was 27, he wrote to H.G. Wells. Churchill loved the novels Wells wrote about the future. But he said: I cant agree that a future society can be governed by experts. Because expert knowledge is necessarily limited knowledge.

Anthony Fauci may know a lot about infectious diseases. But he doesnt know about subjects that are relevant to these lockdowns, like teen suicide, unemployment, bankruptcy, and third-world starvation.

Churchill asks, How do you make those decisions? You consult the experts. You consult those from whom you get your authority, which in the case of a democratic country is the people. And you make practical judgments from day to day, because the facts are changing all the time.

Mr. Jekielek: How is it that we suddenly have accepted this idea of rule by experts?

Mr. Arnn: Churchill said that science has taken over the world. Weve been conscripted into its ranks, put to work according to its principles, and educated by it. No generation has ever been handled like this before.

Weve delivered ourselves into the hands of people who have distorted their own art or discipline.

In totalitarian regimesthe big one is China nowtheyre just like ancient tyrannies, except they have the tools of science, which are very powerful tools.

In Book Five of Politics, Aristotle explains how these tyrants sustain themselves. No one is to have high thoughts or privacy. People are not to have trust and friendship among one another. Nothing is higher than the rule and the ruler.

Thats why you have to spread the power around. The reason I like these three scientists, the reason I like your newspaper, is you dont think you can tell everybody in the world what to do.

Mr. Jekielek: It seems so simple, doesnt it?

Mr. Arnn: It is simple. In the education system today, were not to read anything outside this time, and that means we wipe out human history. That was all slavery and oppression.

In Book One of Aristotles Politics, he condemns slavery. Isnt that interesting? He condemns it on just the ground that you condemn it, the same ground Abraham Lincoln condemned it. Its taking from somebody something that is naturally theirs.

Thomas Jefferson also condemned slavery. Hes the single most important reason there was no slavery in the Old Northwest Territory where I happen to liveMichigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.

What was his argument? Men are not born with saddles on their backs nor others booted and spurred to ride them. Men are not horses, and they shouldnt be governed the same way that horses are governed.

In Orwells 1984, Winston Smiths job is to rewrite every encyclopedia article, every news account, every bookto make them say what the Party says. Hes changing history. And thats the destruction of reality.

Mr. Jekielek: How did we end up assuming that experts get to rule?

Mr. Arnn: Theres something powerfully attractive about that idea. Its not some plot that nobody believed in.

Imagine the American government in 1900. It consumes 6 to 8 percent of the gross domestic product. That money is distributed in a pyramid and the big bit at the bottom is in counties and towns. Then the second thinner bit is in the states, and the federal government is a little bit at the top.

Now the government is 52 percent of the gross domestic product, and theres a system of centralized control up and down the line. It turns the whole thing upside down and makes it much bigger.

In the Progressive Era in the 19th century, these ideas came into America from Germany. People like Woodrow Wilson, John Dewey, and Frank Goodnow started gathering power into a permanent class of experts now known as the administrative state, and that has become a force of its own.

They believed that if you took a group of trained people and gave them a guaranteed position and a salary, then they wouldnt have any personal interest than to serve.

Come to find out, those people are still human. The old laws of human nature cant be repealed. We dont get to create heaven here on earth.

Mr. Jekielek: Theres also this ideology that reality is whatever we say or believe it is. Hence our acceptance of a whole lot of rules and dictates over the past couple of years.

Mr. Arnn: Force can do a lot. What tyranny cant do is make people happy. China is richer than its ever been today. Are the people happy there? I know some people in Hong Kong and Taiwan who are very unhappyHong Kong because theyve been taken over; Taiwan because they fear communist China.

And in mainland China, people surely dont like to be scored and rated and their compliance constantly measured. And thats possible now in America, too.

The trouble with tyranny is it takes the best in us and interferes with it. Whereas better to let our best flourish, and then we can be happy.

Mr. Jekielek: What motivated the interest in K12 education for Hillsdale?

Mr. Arnn: The first line of Aristotles Metaphysics is, The human being stretches himself out to know.

We want to know and we can know. Everybody at some point falls in love with learning. Something strikes you and all of a sudden, youre in a different place.

Theres a great kindergarten teacher in Leander, Texas. Shes in one of the charter schools we sponsor. Ive turned her into a tourist attraction.

If you go in there on a given day, therell probably be three or four adults sitting there. They want to see the show. And those little wigglers, they want to learn from her. They learn amazing things right away.

That classroom is joyful. We forget that learning is a fulfillment and exercise of our nature and not an engineering project. I like to say, weve got to stop thinking that education is making something.

Instead, youre helping something grow, and things that grow have the principle and energy of growth inside themselves.

At Hillsdale, my favorite sport is eating in the dining hall with the students. Theyre all in there, and Im the old guy who sits and talks with them. And they put cartoons in the paper about it. If they dont have class, theyll sometimes sit there talking for three hours, and so will I.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Jan Jekielek Senior Editor Follow Jan Jekielek is a senior editor with The Epoch Times and host of the show, "American Thought Leaders." Jans career has spanned academia, media, and international human rights work. In 2009 he joined The Epoch Times full time and has served in a variety of roles, including as website chief editor. He is the producer of the award-winning Holocaust documentary film "Finding Manny."
Freedom Friday: Students Segregated, Sent Home for Protesting Mask Mandate

One chilly January morning, Sacramento County student Kinsey decided to walk into school without a face mask. She would later say the simple act took all the courage [she] had in the face of the states indoor mask mandate for schools.

Kinsey, a high school junior at Bella Vista High School, said she used to love school, but has experienced growing feelings of isolation and anxiety due to the masks, as well as growing feelings of frustration toward state and school officials who insist on the mandate despite reports that children have the lowest rates of COVID-19 transmission.

After being forced to sit outside her classrooms the first two periods, Bella Vistas vice principal finally sent Kinsey home.

Eventually, Kinsey learned she was not alone. A week later she took to social media, asking her fellow students classmates to join her in exercising their First Amendment rights.

I want this to show high school students that they can stand up for themselves, Kinsey said. I want high school students and kids to know that they have a voice, regardless of adults who tell them that they dont.

Parents and students gather to protest wearing masks in front of the Orange County Department of Education in Costa Mesa, Calif., on May 17, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

On Feb. 4, about 20 students from Bella Vista were sent to the principals office for not wearing a mask. There, they were given the choice to either mask up, isolate in a room on campus, or go home. Most chose the latter.

Down the street, a handful of students at Andrew Carnegie Middle School, part of San Juan Unified School District, said school officials told them on Feb. 4 to sit on a street curb after they were sent to the principals office for refusing to wear a mask.

Students said in a video posted on Twitter they were told by school officials that if they had any stranger danger while sitting on the curb off campus, they should run back into the school.

Parents later showed up later to supervise the students, according to additional posts on social media.

Other California students are organizing similar protests.

This week, more than 500 total students from six K12 schools in the Oakdale Unified School District, in the Modesto area of Northern California, showed up without masks for three consecutive days, according to Let Them Breathe, a parent advocacy group that provides legal support to parents challenging school pandemic mandates.

Another photo taken by a student that was posted on Twitter shows folding tables propped up in front of the gyms doors in an attempt to barricade the maskless students inside.

Learning [has been] disrupted, absolutely, said Oakdale Superintendent Dr. David Kline.

Let Them Breathe founder Sharon McKeeman told The Epoch Times that the organization isand will continue supporting students who no longer want to or cant wear masks.

This week, California students followed Kinseys example and peacefully unmasked en masse, McKeeman said. In Oakdale, over 500 students shared their smiles and were segregated in gyms. At a San Juan middle school, students were literally kicked to the curb when forced to leave class and sit next to the road off-campus without supervision. [We will support] unmasked students throughout the state by sending legal letters and taking legal action to support their right to an in-person education.

On Feb. 4, state Assemblyman Kevin Kiley announced on Twitter that he sent a letter to every legislator signed by 124 board members throughout the state demanding an end to all masking, testing and vaccination mandates and a return to normal school activities.

Officials from Bella Vista High School and Carnegie middle school, both in the San Juan Unified School District, didnt respond to requests for comment.
Trucks parked in downtown Ottawa as demonstrators continue to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 2, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

GoFundMe Says All Donations to Trucker Convoy Will Be Automatically Refunded; Florida to Investigate

The GoFundMe fundraising platform said Feb. 5 it will automatically refund donations made to a trucker convoy in Canada protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates after backlash.

GoFundMe said Friday it was preventing the funds from going to organizers of the Freedom Convoy and would instead send the money to established charities verified by GoFundMe.

The justification for the unusual move? We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity, GoFundMe said.

The website didnt provide any evidence of the alleged violence or unlawful activity.

Jon Carpay, president of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom, a legal group representing the convoy organizers, told The Epoch Times that the fundraising company has no credibility without making the evidence public. Organizers told a briefing that police officers were using measures typically utilized by oppressive regimes to try to take away the truckers right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression and media reports and officials were falsely linking crimes committed by outsiders with the protesters.

In its update on Saturday, GoFundMe, which hasnt responded to requests for comment, claimed it had already enabled donors to get a refund and only the remaining funds would have been distributed to charities.

However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process. We will automatically refund all contributions directlydonors do not need to submit a request. You can expect to see your refund within 710 business days, the company said.

GoFundMes actions have drawn scrutiny, particularly in light of the platform allowing campaigns for people linked to violence before.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said it was a fraud for GoFundMe to commandeer $9 [million] in donations sent to support truckers and give it to causes of their own choosing.

DeSantis said he will work with Floridas attorney general, Ashley Moody, to investigate these deceptive practicesthese donors should be given a refund.

Jeff Landry, the attorney general of Louisiana, and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey also said they would probe GoFundMes practices.

My office will be looking into whether or not #GoFundMe violated our state law, Landry, a Republican, wrote on Twitter, adding that residents who donated to the convoy should contact his offices consumer protection section.

Convoy organizers have recently turned to GiveSendGo, a GoFundMe competitor, to raise funds. GiveSendGo was down Saturday due to bot cyber-attacks, a spokeswoman told The Epoch Times via email. She said the company was working as fast/hard as we can to restore the website.

Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.
Demonstrators take part in the Freedom Convoy protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Jan. 31, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

GoFundMe Seizes $10 Million of Trucker Protest Fundraising, Will Give to Charities Instead

GoFundMe says it wont be giving the C$10 million ($8 million USD) raised to support the truckers protesting COVID-19 mandates to the organizers anymore, saying it will instead work with the organizers to send the funds to established charities verified by GoFundMe.

To ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform, we work with local authorities to ensure we have a detailed, factual understanding of events taking place on the ground, the fundraising platform said in a statement on Feb. 4.

Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.

GoFundMe added that it has evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.

John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) which is providing legal representation for the organizers, told The Epoch Times that the linking of protesters to violent or unlawful activity is unfounded.

I would like to see what evidence there is, Carpay said. Thats political spin.

Carpay said the organizers have maintained that the protests are peaceful.

Its a constitutional freedom to protest peacefully, Carpay said.

He also said that its his understanding from people on the ground that people can move freely in Ottawa, and for example in a recent case an emergency vehicle was able to rapidly race through the streets because the trucks were neatly parked off to the side.

Theyre not obstructing the daily lives of people in Ottawa, and theyre committed to peace and non-violence, he said.

The Epoch Times reached out to GoFundMe for comment but didnt immediately hear back.

Trucks parked in downtown Ottawa as demonstrators continue to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 2, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

GoFundMe had earlier put a freeze in withdrawal of the funds as it undertook a review to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.

Keith Wilson, a lawyer from JCCF representing the organizers, had said earlier at a Feb. 3 press conference that GoFundMe has been bombarded with an orchestrated social media and other campaigns to try and shut [the fundraiser] down.

Ottawa police have made a few arrests while the protesters remain in Ottawa. On Feb. 1, the Ottawa Police Service announced that it had charged one man with mischief under $5,000 and another man with carrying a weapon to a meeting. Police charged another man from Quebec while in Ottawa on Feb. 2 in relation to threats and comments made on social media. Police say there have been no injuries or riots during the protests.

I have it on very reliable information that people from the movement were not associated, and that offences related to property damage, and just an assault this morning, committed by agitators were witnessed and reported by a trucker and one of our volunteer security personnel, which was reported to the police and handled by the Ottawa Police Service, said Daniel Bulford, a former RCMP officer who worked as a sniper to protect the prime minister and is now helping the protest organizers, at the Feb. 3 press conference.

Preliminary data shows there has been a decline in police-reported street crime since the protest began in downtown Ottawa, according to Blacklocks Reporter.

In the week prior to the protest, there were 31 police calls for crimes such as robbery, assault, drug trafficking, public drunkenness, and other crimes in the Ottawa district the protest is set up, but there were only three reports of street crime since the protests began, Blacklocks Reporter said.

In a Feb. 4 post on Twitter, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson thanked GoFundMe for listening to the plea made by the City and the Ottawa Police to no longer provide funds to the convoy organizers.

Im hopeful that limiting their access to  funding and resources will restrict their ability to remain in Ottawa, Watson said.

GoFundMe had earlier allowed withdrawal of C$1 million by the organizers to be used for expenses such as fuel and food for the protesters. The fundraising platform said in its Feb. 4 statement that donors may submit a request for a full refund of their donation until Feb. 19.

The trucker convoy demonstration initially started as a protest against the federal governments requirement for truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border to have COVID-19 vaccination, but became a large movement as many across Canada opposing various COVID-19 mandates and restrictions joined the protest.

The convoy converged in Ottawa on Jan. 29, and many protesters have remained in the city, parking their trucks and vehicles by Parliament Hill. Sounds of horn honking by protesters can be heard throughout the day.

The protesters say they will remain in the nations capital until the government removes COVID-19 mandates.

The organizers have now set up an alternate donation site on GiveSendGo, which they say will ensure the money gets to the protesters. The donation site had raised over $175,000 in just a few hours after its creation.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during an event in New York City on Sept. 9, 2021. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Governor Hochul Signs Pro-Democrat Congressional Maps for New York

Kathy Hochul, the Democrat governor of New York, has signed off on congressional district maps for the state in a move that is facing criticism for giving massive political advantage to Democrats.

The maps have been created in such a way that Democrat voters will be the majority in 22 of the 26 congressional districts in New York in 2023. At present, Democrats have control over 19 out of 27 seats in the House. According to the Board of Elections, there were 2.3 registered Democrats for every single Republican in the state last year.

A bipartisan commission was set up to create the congressional maps. However, both parties failed to arrive at a consensus. As such, the power to decide the maps fell on the legislature.

The New York state legislature approved the new maps along party lines on Wednesday, with Democrats pushing through the maps using their supermajority in the Assembly and the Senate.

Democrats did not hold any public hearings while drawing up the maps, which the party says is justified since they have to finish the proceedings to comply with the electoral calendar. On Feb. 3, Hochul signed the congressional maps into law.

State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) pointed out that the maps reflect the population growth of the state. Insisting that Democrats have done a service to the people of New York, Andrea said that the maps will stand up to scrutiny, according to the Daily News.

We are 100 percent confident that the lines are in compliance with all legal requirements  They are a gigantic step forward for fairer representation and reflect the strength and diversity of New York like never before, said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Democrat majority leader in the state Senate, reported the NY Times.

Non-partisan groups like the League of Women Voters and Common Cause have criticized the maps for being politically biased. The states primaries are scheduled for June.

Fourteen plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Hochul and other parties, stating that the newly passed congressional maps are unconstitutional. In the petition, the attorneys argued that the legislature had no authority to enact the new map as it did not follow the necessary processes as outlined in the constitutional amendments made in 2014.

If this Court holds that the Legislature somehow had the authority to adopt a replacement map notwithstanding these procedural failures, this Court should reject it as a matter of substance, as the map is an obviously unconstitutional partisan and incumbent-protection gerrymander.

If this Court takes this approach, it should invalidate the map and then send it back to the Legislature to create a new congressional map, which complies with the law, the petition said, the NY Post reported. The lawsuit has been filed in the State Supreme Court in Steuben County.
How to Lead the Office of Secretary of State Under Georgias New Voting Law: Candidate David Belle Isle

On March 31, 2021, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 202 into law, titled the Election Integrity Act of 2021. The law made significant changes to how elections were administered in the Peach State. David Belle Isle, a Republican candidate for Secretary of State, shared his vision on how to lead the office under the new law.

Secretary of State, prior to Senate Bill 202, was the chairman and voting member of the state board of elections, and now that Secretary of State has no seat other than a non-voting seat on that board, Belle Isle told The Epoch Times. So the rules are made by the State Board of Election of which the Secretary of State has no vote. The 159 county board of elections no longer answers directly to the Secretary of State. The election law is made by the state legislature and its interpreted by our courts.

So as Secretary of State, youve got to do something that is not typically done, Belle Isle said. You have to lead through the platform of leadership. In other words, you have to take that platform and be able to chart a course and cast a vision that people do not have to follow. But youve got to give them a reason to want to follow it.

Belle Isle said that the Secretary of State could certainly have some input in terms of how you count the votes, but most of the work is being done by the counties that dont report to the secretary.

It is an executive job, Belle Isle said. The only way youre going to make that job work is if you know how to run and lead without having the authority to do so. And thats what a mayor does.

Between 2012 and 2018, Belle Isle was the mayor of Alpharetta, a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia. In 2018, he ran for Secretary of State but lost to Brad Raffensperger in the primary.

Belle Isle said when he was the mayor, he created tremendous opportunities for the city, such as creating a new technology incubator downtown.

Georgias new voting law has been controversial since enacted. President Joe Biden described the law as a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience. Former President Donald Trump called the law too weak.

I think Senate Bill 202 all in all was a good step. I do not believe its the end. And I dont believe it covers all the bases that we want, Belle Isle said.

Belle Isle said, for instance, its a good thing for the law did away with the signature verification of absentee ballots and required a more objective standard, which would be a drivers license number in most cases. But the problem is there have been security leaks, and that kind of information has been released.

Voting is a right. But voting by absentee ballot is a privilege. And I believe that the same level of security for voting in person should apply to voting by absentee ballot, said Belle Isle.

Winning Back Trust in Elections

Belle Isle said to fix the mistakes of the 2020 election, people need to first understand what happened.

He said that if he is elected, the first thing he would do is reverse the settlement agreement signed by Raffensperger with Democrat groups in March 2020. He also wants to clean the voter rolls, eliminate drop boxes, and no-excuse absentee voting.

Georgias new voting law allows drop boxes but restricts the number, places, and handling of ballot transfers from the drop boxes.

Georgia voters mark their ballots during the first day of early voting in the U.S. Senate runoffs at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Ga., on Dec. 14, 2020. (Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images)

But the settlement agreement placed a burden on the counties and led to the rejection rate dropping significantly, Belle Isle said.

The settlement agreement also required a three-member panel to reject an invalid mail-in ballot. And if two of them decided to reject a vote, theyd have to notify the alleged voter within a single business day by mail and at least one other form of communication.

Heres the big issue on that, Belle Isle said. Prior to this consent decree being signed, you had a rejection rate2018 and 2016average rejection rate of about 4.6 percent. But in the 2020 election, because of the consent decree, because of the burden placed on all counties, you went to a rejection rate of 0.4 percent. And thats a difference of 55,000 ballots or votes that in any other election would have been rejected.

Keep in mind, the election was decided by about 11,600 votes. And when you take those 55,000 ballots out, based on the split the absentee ballots fell in Georgia, which was 65 percent Biden 35 percent Trump, youve got two big things that just happened, Belle Isle said.

One is, Georgia, without having to prove a single fraudulent vote, Georgia or Brad, in this case, certified the wrong result for President, Belle Isle said.

David Perdue, whos currently running for governor against our current governor, would have avoided the runoff for the Senate. So in that case, the power of the Senate would have remained in Republican hands nationally, and Georgia would have had at least one U.S. senator, and the balance of power now in Washington would be incredibly different.

Another thing that happened is that Raffensperger decided to send unrequested absentee ballot applications to everyone on the voter rolls, which was 6.9 million addresses.

The problem is that not every county maintains its voter rolls well. For instance, Fulton County has 103 percent of eligible voters registered to vote, Belle Isle said.

In addition to that, Raffensperger sent out the applications using first class mail, which would automatically be forwarded to a new address if the person no longer lives there, Belle Isle said.

The absentee ballot application sent out also had a new feature that would allow people to receive ballots for the duration of the election cycle, which is a seven-month period, whether you moved or died, according to Belle Isle.

Fulton county workers continue to count absentee ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 6, 2020. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

These are the kinds of things that really screwed up the election, certainly the confidence in our elections before it ever took place, Belle Isle said.

Neither the Secretary of State nor Fulton County offices have responded to requests for comment. But in a letter (pdf) sent to lawmakers on Jan. 6, 2020, Raffensperger said the assertion that the settlement agreement unconstitutionally changed the law has been rejected by courts and is not supported by the facts.

Raffensperger added that 0.22 percent of ballots were rejected due to missing or invalid signatures. The numbers are actually slightly higher than the number of rejected ballots for signature issues in 2018.

Champion Georgia Jobs

Belle Isle said hes running to win back trust in Georgia elections as well as to champion Georgia jobs, those are two very important things.

I want to make professional licensing work in Georgia. I want to blaze a path for first-generation farmers because agriculture continues to be our biggest industry in the state. And I want to make Georgia the number one AgTech state in the country. And these, like I said, are the untapped potential of that office, and a huge opportunity for our state, Belle Isle said.

I think this is the worst job in politics for a lot of the reasons that I said earlier: you are called the chief elections officer, and you have no authority, and its a mess, and theres a high profile on it, Belle Isle said. But I also think its the most important job right now. It has to be done right and by somebody [who] knows how.

Belle Isle will face Raffensperger, Trump-endorsed Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), and a former probate judge TJ Hudson during the primary.
The IBM logo is pictured in the Garibaldi-Porta Nuova modern district of Milan, Italy, on June 22, 2021. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

IBM Collaborates With Quebec Government

International Business Machines Corp. collaborated with the Government of Quebec.

They look to further establish Quebec as a leading technology hub in the development of quantum computing, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and high-performance computing through the launch of the Quebec-IBM Discovery Accelerator.

The new technology hub focuses on developing new projects, collaborations, and skills-building initiatives in crucial areas of research such as energy, life sciences, and sustainability.

The Quebec-IBM Discovery Accelerator will work in alignment with the goals of the Government of Quebecs Innovation Zones in Sherbrooke and Microelectronics Innovation Zone in Bromont, promoting the use of advanced technology across the province.

IBM also looks to advance technology education and skills development and use software technologies such as the Generative Modeling Toolkit for Science, and RoboRXN.

By Anusuya Lahiri

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Japans Kishida Confirms Cooperation With New US Ambassador Amid Regional Tensions

Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his country will closely cooperate with the United States to counter regional threats posed by China and North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday, following Kishidas first meeting with the new U.S. ambassador to Japan.

During the meeting with newly-appointed ambassador Rahm Emanuel, the two officials reportedly discussed Chinas growing military assertiveness n the region and North Koreas latest missile tests.

Kishida expressed confidence in Emanuels ability to strengthen the two nations partnership, referring to the ambassadorship as the ironclad bond of the Japan-U.S. alliance, the ministry said.

I pledged to the prime minister that I will wholeheartedly work every day on behalf of the ideals of the alliance, Emanuel told reporters after the talks.

Walking to the @Kantei to meet Prime Minister Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno. While we have traveled many miles over many years, the US and Japan will journey many more miles together, walking in step together as allies. pic.twitter.com/x1rkwIMVol   (@USAmbJapan) February 4, 2022

Prior to meeting Kishida, the new envoy met with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa on Tuesday and reaffirmed that the United States is fully committed to working with Japan as a full ally to counter the challenges and to achieve a free Indo-Pacific.

Emanuel previously stated that the two countries face a critical juncture, while emphasizing the countries capability to confront common challenges through the alliance.

Our two nations will not shy away from any challenge or any adversary who undermines [democratic] values. What we do in partnership over the next three years will decide Americas and Japans posture for the next 30 years, he said in a video message on Jan. 24.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to attend a Quad ministerial meeting in Australia next week for talks with Indo-Pacific alliesAustralia, Japan, and Indiato discuss the security environment amid economic coercion and cooperation to fight the pandemic.

The State Department said in a statement that Blinken also aims to hold a bilateral meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister to reinforce Washingtons ironclad alliance with Japan.

Blinken will also travel to Fiji to discuss regional cooperation and Hawaii where he will host a trilateral meeting with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea to address the global challenges and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, it stated.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on during a press conference in Geneva on Jan. 21, 2022. (Alex Brandon/AFP via Getty Images)

Japan and the United States had vowed to push back against Chinas attempts to alter the status quo in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

President Joe Biden affirmed the United States unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan, using its full range of capabilities, including the application of the 1960 Japan-U.S. security treaty, during virtual talks with Kishida last month.

Kishida had also pledged that Japan would be fully behind the United States on taking strong action if Russia attacks Ukraine.

As for North Koreas recent missile tests, Biden and Kishida condemned Pyongyangs actions as in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and committed to maintaining close coordination on the issue, including with South Korea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A man adjusts a boy's mask as they arrive at a school in Chicago on Jan. 12, 2022. (Ashlee Rezin /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Illinois Judge Blocks School Mask Mandate; State to Appeal

An Illinois judge has granted a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit that sought to end mask mandates in schools districts statewide, effectively blocking the masking requirement and other mitigation measures, prompting Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office to declare that it will appeal the ruling.

Sangamon County Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow said in a Feb. 4 ruling that the defendantsPritzker, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and more than 140 school districtsare barred from enforcing school mask mandates, exclusion protocols, and COVID-19 testing requirements.

The ruling, which explicitly states that some of the measures are null and void, comes in a case that saw parents file suit against a series of COVID-19 restrictions as set out in a number of Pritzkers executive orders. The executive orders directed students and staff to wear masks inside school buildings, required people unvaccinated against COVID-19 to submit weekly negative tests in order to occupy school buildings, and refused entry to buildings for students and teachers who were close contacts of confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases and if they refused to submit to a test.

The premise for Grischows decision was, essentially, that the suing parents have due process rights in objecting to the various mitigation measures that are violated by blanket statewide executive orders.

This Court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken, not only on this State, but throughout the nation and globe, the decision reads. Nonetheless, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the bounds of the authority granted under the Constitution.

Grischows ruling temporarily blocks Illinois public school districts from requiring students and teachers to mask up, unless a local health department issues a quarantine order.

The court decision also bars districts from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly negative tests in order for individuals to enter school buildings, unless such individuals are first provided with the due process of law.

The ruling also states that teachers and students deemed a close contact of an individual infected with COVID-19 cant be denied entry to school buildings, with a similar caveat of due process having to be provided to individuals that object.

Following the ruling, Pritzker said in a statement that he has asked the state attorney general to seek an expedited appeal of the decision.

The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communitiesand this may force schools to go remote, Pritzker said. As we have from the beginning of the pandemic, the administration will keep working to ensure every Illinoisan has the tools needed to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
The ordinary people of Beijing were not allowed to buy tickets to the opening ceremony so they stood at the Bird's Nest, waiting for the fireworks.

They watched the ceremony on their phones, shivering in the freezing cold.

At least until police moved them away, a mile and a half down the road, to a place deemed appropriate for the public.

Soldiers quickly put up barriers to corral them.

They were a long way from the pomp and the politics, and a long way from the real business. That had been decided before, when Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met.

As the countries of the world came together for the Olympics, the two leaders were already carving it up.

They coordinated their positions on Ukraine and in statements agreed that NATO should not expand in Eastern Europe and that Taiwan belonged to China.

It felt like a moment. While Western leaders stay away from Beijing, China and Russia are fashioning a new world order.

"Russia and China are pushing back against the notion that only the US and its allies are writing the rules," Alexander Gabuev, chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Programme at the Carnegie Moscow Centre, told Sky News.

"The unipolar moment is long gone and the US should actually try to negotiate and establish rules of behaviour together with other great powers.

"Otherwise, it's going to be a source of conflict, competition, and even wars."

The mood from the 2008 Summer Olympics, also held in Beijing, has been very different.

Much of that is down to COVID. The city has been divided into separate "loops", where there is no contact between the Olympic bubble and the outside world.

It has made for a flat atmosphere.

And there is the diplomatic boycott by some Western governments, over allegations of human rights abuses - of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, of the crackdown in Hong Kong.

But it is also a product of how China has developed since that spectacular summer.

"China was basically getting a seat at the top table in 2008," Mark Dreyer, the author of Sporting Superpower: An Insider's View On China's Quest To Be The Best, told Sky News.

Story continues

"Now it's writing the name cards, and it's telling everyone else where to sit.

"Fourteen years ago, the West had very clear predictions about where it thought China was going. China has made a lot of progress and developed further in those 14 years since, but it hasn't been in the way that the West expected."

Some of those political tensions were evident in the opening ceremony itself, for all its blandness.

The opening speech, by a Chinese Communist Party official, praised the "strong leadership of Xi Jinping".

The athletes of Taiwan, where democracy is flourishing, marched alongside Hong Kong, where it is crumbling.

And one of the torchbearers to light the Olympics flame was an Uyghur from Xinjiang - a pointed act of political PR by the Chinese organisers.

But for the Beijingers out on the street, all that was immaterial.

The long cold wait was worth it. They grinned and cheered as the fireworks went off.

Even from a distance, it was spectacular.

And that must be the hope of the Chinese governments, that for the next few weeks people focus on the spectacle and ignore the harder questions - of the redrawing of the geopolitical map, of the repression of the country that is hosting the Olympics.
Apple's iPhone 13 models are pictured at an Apple Store in Beijing, on Sept. 24, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit over Apple iPhone Water Resistance Claims

NEW YORKA federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing Apple Inc. of misleading consumers about how resistant its iPhones are to water exposure.

Apples advertisements had made various claims about the iPhones resistance to damage when submerged or otherwise exposed to water, including that some models could survive depths of 4 meters (13.1 feet) for 30 minutes.

The named plaintiffs, two from New York and one from South Carolina, claimed that Apples false and misleading misrepresentations let the company charge twice as much for iPhones than the cost of average smartphones.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that Apples ads could mislead consumers, but did not show their iPhones were damaged by liquid contact Apple promised they could withstand.

The judge also found no proof of fraud, citing a lack of evidence that Apple intended to overstate its water resistance claims, or that the plaintiffs relied on fraudulent marketing statements when buying their iPhones.

Spencer Sheehan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said his clients are disappointed with the decision, and no decision has been made whether to appeal.

Neither Apple nor lawyers for the Cupertino, California-based company immediately responded to requests for comment.

In the quarter ended Dec. 25, 2021, iPhones accounted for $71.6 billion, or 58 percent, of Apples $123.9 billion of net sales.

The case is Smith et al v Apple Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 2103657.

By Jonathan Stempel
Gov. Glenn Youngkin is seen on election night in Chantilly, Va., on Nov. 2, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Judge Halts Virginia Governors Order Ending Mask Mandates in Schools

A Virginia judge on Friday afternoon granted a temporary injunction to seven school districts in Virginia to allow school boards to continue to mandate mask-wearing for students.

One of Gov. Glenn Youngkins first executive orders sought to give parents flexibility in whether to allow mask-wearing for their children in education settings. Several school boards, in response, filed a lawsuit in the Arlington Circuit Court on Jan. 24.

Arlington Circuit Court Judge Louise DiMatteo ruled in favor (pdf) of seven school boards involved in the lawsuit. The judge ruled that Youngkin cannot override the decision of local school boards on mask-wearing under a 2021 state law.

DiMatteo also ruled that she believes the current policies of universal masking are beneficial.

Keeping rules in place that have been established over the school year helps children, families, and staff understand how they may be impacted during the pandemic. Without a restraining order, children and staff would have to reassess certain health conditions they believe are impacted by a mask policy, she wrote.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Jason Miyares told local media that his office will appeal the ruling.

The governor will never stop fighting for parents ability to choose what is best for their children, Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in a statement Friday. The governor often said that this is not a pro-mask or anti-mask debate. Its about parents knowing whats best for their childs health, and opting-out should there be a mask mandate.

During a Wednesday hearing, Deputy Attorney General Steven Popps argued that Youngkin is entitled to issue executive orders responding to the coronavirus pandemic just as his predecessor, Democrat Ralph Northam, did when he imposed a statewide school mask mandate.

It should not matter whose name is on the executive order, Popps said at the time.

But John Cafferky, a lawyer for Alexandria Public Schoolsone of the seven school boards that jointly filed the lawsuit opposing Youngkins ordersaid Northams actions were justified because he was acting to preserve public health.

The ruling comes as more and more experts and public health officials have suggested an end to school mask mandates. An infectious disease expert who works for the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other researchers recently wrote that several studies cited by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for mask mandates in schools are flawed.

We reviewed a variety of studiessome conducted by the CDC itself, some cited by the CDC as evidence of masking effectiveness in a school setting, and others touted by media to the same endto try to find evidence that would justify the CDCs no-end-in-sight mask guidance for the very-low-risk pediatric population, particularly post-vaccination, they wrote for The Atlantic late last month. We came up empty-handed.

At the same time, a number of separate studies have shown that children are at an extremely low risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, hospitalization, or death.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trucks parked in downtown Ottawa as demonstrators continue to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 2, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Just Spin: Trucker Convoy Legal Team Says GoFundMe Seizure of $10 Million Unjustified

The head of the legal group representing the organizers of the Freedom Convoy demonstration in Ottawa says GoFundMes claim linking the protest movement to violent and illegal activities is unfounded.

That is political spin, John Carpay, president of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), told The Epoch Times.

GoFundMe said in a statement on Feb. 4 that it wont be giving the C$10 million ($8 million USD) raised in funds to the trucker protest organizers, and will instead work with them to give it to charities verified by GoFundMe.

We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity, GoFundMe said.

Carpay said he would like to see what evidence there is, because its an easy assertion to make.

John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. (Courtesy of John Carpay)

Normally, law enforcement is not at all shy about showing evidence to public, and that evidence would have to show that the individual is actually a member of the Freedom Convoy. It could be some agitator who is deliberately seeking to discredit the freedom convoy. So what evidence is there that this alleged criminal was even involved with the Freedom Convoy? Carpay said.

So this is just spin, and it has no credibility.

Carpay, who is based in Calgary, said that people on the ground report that the protests have been peaceful, and that the protesters havent been obstructing the daily lives of people in Ottawa.

JCCF currently has multiple lawyers on the ground in Ottawa.

The Epoch Times contacted GoFundMe for comment but didnt immediately hear back.

On Feb. 3, a House of Commons committee voted unanimously to call on GoFundMe to testify before MPs to learn about the source of the funds donated to the protest movement, and what safeguards are in place to ensure the money isnt used to promote extremism.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson had said previously that he has asked his staff to find out if the city can use the GoFundMe funds to cover the costs of policing the protest in Ottawa.

After GoFundMe removed the protesters funding, Watson thanked the organization for listening to the plea made by the City and the Ottawa Police to no longer provide funds to the convoy organizers.

Im hopeful that limiting their access to  funding and resources will restrict their ability to remain in Ottawa, Watson said in a Twitter post on Feb. 4.

A class-action lawsuit has also been launched by some Ottawa residents seeking C$9.8 million from the protesters over continuous vehicle noise in the citys downtown, according to CTV.

The trucker convoy demonstration first began as a protest against the federal governments requirement that all truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border need to have COVID-19 vaccination. The protest became a large movement as many people joined to oppose all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, raising C$10 million on GoFundMe to support the protest in just a few weeks.

Protesters drove from different parts of Canada to Ottawa by Jan. 29, and many say they will remain in the national capital until the government lifts COVID-19 mandates.

Truckers intend to stay until our charter rights and freedoms are restored. Theyve been missing now for 23 months. Theres no rational or scientific or medical basis for continuing these restrictions, Carpay said.

Its been a long two weeks to flatten the curve, he added, referring to claims by authorities early in the pandemic that they need to impose lockdowns for two weeks to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Carpay said his team would be reviewing the case and deciding on the next steps.

GoFundMe said in its Feb. 4 statement that donors may submit a request for a full refund of their donation until Feb. 19. Protest convoy organizers have now set up an alternate donation site on GiveSendGo, which they say will ensure the money gets to the protesters. The donation site had raised over $175,000 in just a few hours after its creation.
People rally against provincial and federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and in support of Ottawa protesters, outside the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg on Feb. 4, 2022. (The Canadian Press/John Woods)

Man Arrested After Jeep Hits Protesters at Winnipeg Trucker Convoy Rally

A man has been charged after four people were injured when a Jeep ran into a group of protesters who were participating in the Freedom Convoy rally on the grounds of the legislature in Winnipeg on the night of Feb. 4.

The Jeep fled the scene down Portage Avenue, where witnesses said it was travelling at high speeds and running red lights. Winnipeg Police released a statement on Feb. 5 saying that with the help of the RCMP, they made an arrest about 40 minutes after being advised of the incident.

At the end of the day yesterday in Winnipeg. A provocateur deliberately ran over a protester with his suv and injured 3 others. He's been apprehended. All Day long the crowd of protesters were peaceful, lots of smiles, hugs and laughter. Let's pray for the injured and the driver. pic.twitter.com/KoJboNTIt5  Tobias Tissen (@TissenTobias) February 5, 2022

Winnipeg Police arrested a 42-year-old male from Headingly, Manitoba. He is facing a number of charges, including four counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of dangerous operation of a conveyance cause bodily harm, and two counts of failing to stop at scene of accident.

In a press conference on Feb. 5, Rob Carver, public information officer with the Winnipeg Police, was asked to comment on the motivation of the accused, who is in police custody.

The accused was not participating in the protest. What some comments he made after his arrest suggested is that his motivation was not specifically about the underlying causes of the protest or the mandates, he said.

Three men sustained minor injuries and received medical attention onsite, while a fourth man was treated in hospital and released.

It was moving at a fairly decent clip and and its its pretty miraculous that nobody sustained any any serious injuries, Carver said.

Winnipeg Police had previously described the protests as peaceful, and Carver said he believed the incident was a one-off.

I would like to say that everyone has been very peaceful, very cooperative with us. Very prepared to engage in dialogue with our officers, he said.
Alvin Bragg speaks during a Get Out the Vote rally at A. Philip Randolph Square in Harlem in New York City, on Nov. 1, 2021. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Manhattan District Attorney Backtracks on Controversial Crime Policies

Democrat Alvin Bragg took over as the Manhattan District Attorney on Jan. 1 and soon introduced criminal policies that attracted criticism for being too soft on crime. A month into his office, Bragg is now backtracking on policies, presenting a tougher stance on crime.

In his Day One memorandum issued after assuming the post, Bragg stated that the District Attorneys office would no longer consider resisting arrest, fare evasion, and other nonviolent crimes for prosecution.

In addition, prosecutors were asked to consider armed robbery carried out against commercial institutions as misdemeanor petty larceny provided there is no risk of physical harm. Bragg insisted that his newly revamped policies will make the region safer.

The proposed rules were heavily criticized, with New York City police commissioner Keechant Sewell warning that the measures will invite violence against police officers. They will also damage the relationship between officers and members of the local community they are obliged to protect, Sewell said.

On Jan. 21, police officer Jason Rivera was shot along with his colleague while on duty. At his funeral, Riveras wife blamed Bragg and his new policies, saying that the system continues to fail us.

Meanwhile, the head of NYPDs largest union pointed out that officers have no interest in trying to enforce laws that district attorneys will not prosecute.

Facing mounting pressure, Bragg updated his policies. In a letter sent to staff on Feb. 4, the district attorney said that violence against police officers will not be tolerated. Anyone who tries to harm an officer will be prosecuted, he promised. Bragg also admitted that his Day One memorandum had caused confusion among people.

A commercial robbery with a gun will be charged as a felony, whether or not the gun is operable, loaded, or a realistic imitation. A commercial robbery at knifepoint, or by other weapon that creates a risk of physical harm, will be charged as a felony  In retail thefts that do not involve a risk of physical harm, the Office will continue to assess the charges based on all of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented, the letter said.

Republican Joe Borelli, city council minority leader, stated that Bragg must have realized the jeopardy officers would face if his Day One policies would have been enforced. He found it shameful that Bragg was the last person to realize that the public wants criminals behind bars, reported the NY Post.

We hope this updated memo filters down to the streets the way the first one did because gun-toting criminals definitely believe they have a safe haven in Manhattan  DA Bragg needs to keep sending the message that they wont get a pass, and his staff needs to back that message up in the courtroom, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said in a statement.

Manhattans assault and robbery crime rates tend to be higher than the overall rate of the country. Out of 100,000 residents, Manhattan has an annual assault rate of 378.4 and a robbery rate of 228.3, compared to the countrywide rates of 282.7 and 135.5 respectively, according to Niche.
Minnesota Man Who Pled Guilty to Attempted Arson During 2020 Riots Avoids Jail Time

A Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burn down a high school during the 2020 riots was sentenced to 60 hours of probation, avoiding jail time.

Mohamed Hussein Abdi, 20, was informed of the sentence during a court hearing on Feb. 3.

The charge to which Abdi pleaded guilty carries no mandatory minimum jail sentence but allows a judge to impose up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. District Judge David Doty handed down the sentence. According to a court document, the sentence was guided by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.

Prosecutors were seeking 37 to 46 months in jail, based on factors like Abdis criminal history and cooperation. Judges are free to diverge from prosecutorial recommendations.

Mr. Abdi was thrilled to avoid jail time, Ryan Garry, one of his attorneys, told The Epoch Times in an email.

In addition to 60 hours of probation, Abdi was ordered to undergo mental health treatment, perform 120 hours of community service, perform additional community service unless he obtains a job, and pay a fine of $34,028 to Gordon High School in St. Paul, which he tried burning down.

A representative of the school didnt immediately return a request for comment.

Prosecutors say Abdi and others gathered near the high school on May 28, 2020, during the riots that unfolded following the killing of George Floyd in nearby Minneapolis. The group broke the glass out of a door and entered the school. When inside, Abdi poured the accelerant on the floor of the school cafeteria and inside a trashcan, which the defendant positioned near the door, and defendant poured a trail of accelerant on the ground behind him as he exited the school, according to court documents, which described surveillance footage.

Abdi set a piece of clothing that was doused with accelerant on fire, re-entered the school, and dropped it into the trashcan before tipping the trashcan over towards the accelerant he had poured onto the floor, prosecutors said.

Abdi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. According to the plea agreement, he and the group engaged in conduct designed to maliciously damage or destroy the building by means of a fire.

The sentencing came several days after FBI Director Christopher Wray said federal agents aggressively pursued both rioters from 2020 and Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach defendants.

Jose Felan, one of the accused co-conspirators, pleaded not guilty in 2021 and has a change of plea hearing set for Feb. 24.
A road is seen near Thingvallavatn lake in southwestern Iceland, on Feb. 15, 2013. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

Missing Tourist Plane Found at Bottom of Lake in Iceland

Authorities in Iceland have found a small plane at the bottom of a lake two days after the aircraft went missing with three tourists and a pilot on board, police said on Saturday.

The three tourists on the Cessna 172N planewho departed for a sightseeing tour on Thursdaywere from Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States, Icelands Morgunbladid newspaper reported.

Icelands coastguard said in a statement the plane crashed into Lake Thingvallavatn some 25 miles east of the capital, Reykjavik, and was located with the help of an unmanned submarine.

The plane has not been pulled to the surface and no bodies have yet been recovered.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry told Reuters it had been informed by the airline company that a 27-year-old Dutch man living in Belgium was on the plane when it disappeared.

Coastguard officials could not immediately confirm the nationalities of the two other missing passengers.
Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in New Jersey, at a Freedom Plaza rally in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. (The Epoch Times)

New Jersey Gym Owner Who Defied Lockdown Is Running for Congress

A New Jersey gym owner who gained national attention for keeping his business open during Gov. Phil Murphys lockdown confirmed on Thursday he will be running for Congress.

Ian Smith, the co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, said on a website promoting his campaign that hes truly excited to have the possibility to serve the people of [New Jersey] with a platform focused on liberty, small government, and America First policies.

Smith will be running in the states 3rd Congressional District and challenge two-term Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat. The 3rd District combines much of Burlington County and portions of the Jersey Shore region in Ocean County.

He formally declared his candidacy in Delran on Thursdaypledging to fight a number of government-imposed CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus mandates as a congressman and also limit illegal immigration and government spending.

I will fight [COVID-19] mandates at the federal level as a congressman, and I will use my bully pulpit in Congress at the state and local level to help my constituents fight back, he said, New Jersey Globe reported. We must end mandates and embrace medical freedom.

In his announcement, Smith also said he will stand for people, not politicians.

For too long, good people have not gotten involved in politicswhether that is because the establishment wont open the door for them or they dont want to participate in the foul world of politics. More than anything, this needs to change. And I will be a part of that change, Smith said.

Smith and his gym hit the headlines last year when the doors were locked and protesters gathered in support of the owners. The businesss attempts to remain open despite New Jerseys extreme COVID-19 measures included heavy fines, arrest, and a suspension of the owners business license.

In December 2021, Smith said the gym was being fined $15,000 per day for being open against Murphys CCP virus mandates. The co-owner said at the time he had racked up more than $1.2 million in fines, but he didnt intend to pay them.

Smith said the gym has a range of safety protocols in place, masks are optional, and the business hasnt had a single case of COVID-19 traced back to the facility, despite more than 84,000 visits.

Epoch Times reporter Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Firefighters rally against vaccine mandates outside Mayor Bill de Blasio's residence in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 28, 2021. (Enrico Trigoso/The Epoch Times)

New York Police Officers, Firefighters to Be Fired Unless They Comply With Vaccine Mandate

Unvaccinated NYPD, FDNY, and DSNY (New York Department of Sanitation) members will be terminated on Feb. 11, unless they comply with the citys COVID-19 vaccine rules.

Letters obtained by The Epoch Times, written by the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) and the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) to its respective members, indicate that the NYC Mayor has decided to proceed with the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirement that threatens noncompliance with leave without pay and termination.

The NYPD will notify new hires who have not provided proof of a second vaccination dose and employees on LWOP (Leave Without Pay) who refused to get vaccinated that they have until February 11, 2022, to comply, reads the SBA letter.

The UFA has been informed that the Mayor is moving forward with termination of members who are non-compliant with the vaccine mandate.

Its not immediately clear how many police officers or firemen will be laid off for rejecting the controversial COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the New York Post, about 5,000 police officers have requested religious or medical exemptions and have been allowed to work while doing weekly testing.

Firefighters, Medics, and EMTs have formed a grassroots pro-choice group called Bravest for Choice and have been trying to have the city back down on the mandates.

Bravest For Choice believes every person has the right to make his or her own informed choice when it comes to medical decisions, Matt Connor, a member of Bravest for Choice, told The Epoch Times.

Furthermore, we acknowledge the right to make these choices based on an individuals own medical history, and/or sincerely held religious and personal belief, he added. We object to a work environment where medical decisions must be made under the coercive threat of unemployment.

Their union representatives previously said during a press conference in early November 2021 they have been understaffed for a long time, and many were already overworked.

FDNY firefighter Mike Connor speaks at anti-vaccine mandate in Manhattan, New York. on Nov. 21, 2021. (Enrico Trigoso/The Epoch Times)

Connor said the group is gravely concerned about the situation and that if the city denies the thousands of requests and appeals for reasonable accommodations and terminates the applicants, there will likely be severe impacts to public health and safety.

For example, in the case of the FDNY, New Yorks Bravest, terminations will exacerbate an existing staffing shortage that has been further impacted by a sustained elevation in medical leave due to illness and injury during the past several months following the mandated vaccination program.

In October last year, thousands of firemen protested against the mandates en masse, often citing that they have strong natural immunity and dont need the shots after having been exposed to the virus to a high degree during the height of the pandemic.

Connor noted that thousands of New York City employees have yet to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status or provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination, and are doing weekly tests while their requests for reasonable accommodations are being evaluated. Other workers have been segregated and involuntarily placed on Leave Without Pay since November 1st and thereafter, he said.

He said a lack of manpower will mean more need for overtime staffing, and the vaccine mandate has disastrous potential to overtax an already stressed workforce.

This policy could very well lead to further increase in illness and injury, and the resulting manpower shortage would invite a chain reaction, he continued. Potential reductions in staffing  in combination with elevated emergency activity, can lead to a further rise in medical leave rates.

Firefighter Union leaders speak to reporters in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 29, 2021 (Enrico Trigoso/The Epoch Times)

He also said that terminations as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate may affect fire departments with staffing and the ability to promptly respond to calls.

An out of service unit can cause the relocation of units across the city to balance coverage, or prompt neighboring units to come from greater distance to a call for an emergency, Connor said. With resources spread thin geographically, response times have the potential to increase, which can put the public in grave danger, and the safety of first-responders at-risk.

In November last year, FDNY members told The Epoch Times that manpower shortages were causing alarmingly low firetruck availability due to many of them being sent home without pay for rejecting the jabs.

Unvaccinated DSNY members are also facing termination on Feb. 11 for the same reason.

Tommy Libretti works for the DNSY. On Jan. 31, he received a few text messages followed by a call from his representatives telling him he needed to report to a location in downtown Manhattan by the next day, and sign a waiver in order to keep his leave without pay (LWOP) status until June 2022 with benefits, he told The Epoch Times.

I asked to see a copy of this waiver and was denied my request, Libretti recounted. I also asked to see a document alerting me of this message so I can properly digress and reference any informationI was told its in the mail.

The very next day, the day of the 1P.M deadline, I received a rush order/overnight UPS envelope at 11:45 A.M containing the document to report downtown. I had all of one hour and 15 minutes to respond to a notice that required me to report and sign a waiver that would wave my right to sue but keep my LWOP status until June with benefitsORIll be terminated on February 11th, 2022.

He said the situation is unacceptable and inhumane.

My concerns and pleas have fallen off deaf ears with no direction, no guidance, no interaction whatsoeverjust a document sent hours before a deadline that wasnt promptly placed in my possession, he said.

Thousands of police officers from around the country gather at St. Patricks Cathedral to attend the funeral for fallen NYPD Officer Jason Rivera in New York City on Jan. 28, 2022. The 22-year-old NYPD officer was shot and killed on Jan. 21 in Harlem while responding to a domestic disturbance call. Riveras partner, Officer Wilbert Mora, also died from injuries suffered in the shooting. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Joshua Goodman, the DSNY Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, said the department hopes that all remaining employees will take the vaccine. [W]e are working with our partners in organized labor to make that hope a reality, he told The Epoch Times in a statement

Vaccines help keep our workforce and the City at large safe, and DSNY currently has a vaccination rate of over 94 [percent], he said, adding: Any unvaccinated employee that is currently on Leave Without Pay is encouraged to submit proof of receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, and no later than 5pm on February 11th.

The immediate termination doesnt apply to NYPD, FDNY, and DSNY members who still have pending reasonable accommodation requests.

NYPD and UFA did not respond to a request from The Epoch Times for comment.
The Orange County Department of Education campus in Costa Mesa, Calif., on July 7, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

OC Board of Education Accused of Illegally Appointing Trustee

COSTA MESA, Calif.Tim Shaw rebutted allegations on Feb. 4 from a lawsuit that claimed he was illegally reappointed to his vacant Orange County Board of Education seat in December.

I was eligible in all respects, Shaw told The Epoch Times.

The legal challenge filed in Orange County Superior Court on Jan. 28 by Michael Sean Wright, a local resident, argues that Shaw shouldnt have been reappointed to his former seat on the school board due to state law that says the local board may not re-appoint to the office the person whose resignation caused the vacancy in the first place, according to the lawsuit.

Shaw resigned from the board of education in November 2021 after facing another legal challenge accusing him of partaking in a conflict of interest by holding incompatible offices and serving simultaneously on the county board of education and La Habra City Council.

While Shaw didnt agree to the allegations, he stepped down from his role as a trustee to avoid costly legal fees.

As required by state law, the board of education had to either appoint a new trustee to fill Shaws vacant seat within 60 days or hold a special election.

In December 2021, the board reappointed Shaw after interviewing seven eligible candidates to fill the vacancy.

To ensure there would be no further conflict if he were voted to be reappointed, Shaw resigned from the La Habra City Council the morning before his reappointment.

Wright filed the lawsuit earlier this week ordering a judge to issue a special election to fill Shaws position.

Democracy is about the rule of law. I filed this lawsuit to ensure the Orange County Board of Education follows the law, Wright said in a statement sent to The Epoch Times.

Shaw, whose seat will be up for grabs during the upcoming June 2022 election, states the lawsuit will waste millions in taxpayer money.

Were in February already, Shaw said. Im going to be on the ballot anyways. Youre going to try to wedge in a special election between now and June? Do people understand how much that costs for a special election to happen in May, and literally one month later were going to have an election all over again.

Despite the allegations, Shaw is confident that the board of education will be well represented in the legal challenge.

The state law argued in the lawsuit doesnt apply to the board of education, according to Shaw.

The law applies only to the governing body for a city, county, or districtwhich the board of education doesnt fall under.

We are none of those things, Shaw said. I think the law is on our side here.
Photo credit: simon_leviev_official/Instagram

Simon Leviev (a.k.a the Tinder Swindler) duped women around the world out of an estimated $10 million.

A new Netflix documentary is now exploring how he did it, how it got this far, and his eventual downfall at the hands of his victims.

His con came to an end in 2019and he is now back in Israel.

A spokesperson said Tinder can confirm Simon Leviev is not active on Tinder under any of his known aliases.



Netflix is completely owning the true crime game lately, and the streaming service has a new documentary you definitely dont want to miss. Its called The Tinder Swindler and it tells the story of a man who claimed to be Simon Leviev, a son of a diamond billionaire.

Simon ran through a series of cons to get millions of dollars from women he met on Tinder, jumping to the next victim before a woman realizes whats actually happened. The story is fascinating and terrifying at onceand its already trending on Netflix despite only being released on Wednesday.



But who is the man behind The Tinder Swindler and where is he now? Heres what you need to know.

What is the Tinder Swindlers real name?

While he usually went by the name Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler's real name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut. Shimon has a rap sheet and had to flee to Israel when he was in his 20s.

How did the Tinder Swindler con women?

Several women shared in the documentary that Simon claimed to be the son of diamond billionaire Lev Leviev, who is a real person. (Leviev reportedly has nine kids, BTW.)

Simon would find women on Tinder and blow them away with things like rides on private jets and stays at luxury hotels. But eventually, he would fake some kind of crisis and get them to pony up thousands upon thousands of dollars to help him outranging from $20,000 to more than $140,000. By the time a woman realizes shes been the victim of an elaborate con, hes moved on to the next woman.

Simon swindled women around the world.

Story continues

Simon moved through women from all over the worldincluding London, Rome, Barcelona, Mykonos, and Tel Aviv.

Photo credit: Pernilla Sjoholm/Instagram

He fled Israel to avoid charges.

Simons criminal behavior goes back more than a decade. He was charged in Israel with theft, forgery, and fraud in 2011 for cashing stolen checks, according to The Times of Israel. But, the paper says, he fled the country before he was sentenced.

Photo credit: TORE KRISTIANSEN - Getty Images

He was caught and convicted in Finland for defrauding women and was sent back to Israel in 2017, but he fled the country again, the paper says.

Did Simon go to jail?

Simon was arrested in Athens, Greecethanks to intel provided by his victims Cecilie Fjellhy, Pernilla Sjoholm, and Ayleen Charlotte.

The Times of Israel says that he was imprisoned in Israel after pleading guilty to fraud charges, but was released after serving five months of a 15-month sentence reportedly as part of a program aimed at reducing the prison population amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak among inmates.

So, where is Simon Leviev now?



After he got out of jail, Simon started posting photos of himself doing rich people things on Instagramlike hanging out in private jets, smoking a cigar on a yacht, and hanging out in an expensive-looking car.

FWIW: He hasnt posted since October, although it's unclear if that's related to the documentary or something else.

Simon actually did an interview with Israels News 13 where he said he was wronged for things I never did. I always loved the good life, I will not lie. When he was asked if he had any connection with the Leviev family, Simon said, I did not know there was a copyright to this family name.

Is Simon still on Tinder?

Nope: He's officially been banned from the app.

"We banned Simon Leviev and any of his known aliases as soon as the story of his actions became public in 2019," a Tinder spokesperson told E! News. "In the lead up to the release of the documentary, we conducted additional internal investigations and can confirm Simon Leviev is not active on Tinder under any of his known aliases." (So you can resume swiping as usual!)

Does Simon have a girlfriend?

So, he's not on Tinder anymore. But based on social media, he seems to have settled down with an Israeli model, per Metro UK. Her identity is not known, and no one knows how long they've been together.

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Ottawa Polices New Measures Against Protesting Truckers Are Those Used by Oppressive Regimes, Says Organizers Lawyer

The new measures announced by the chief of Ottawa police against truck convoy protesters are those used by oppressive regimes around the world, says a lawyer representing organizers of the Freedom Convoy protesting COVID-19 mandates in Ottawa.

He effectively announced that he is going to be taking away Canadians charter right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, Keith Wilson, a lawyer with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), said in a video on Feb. 4.

Peter Sloly, chief of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS), said in a Feb. 4 press conference that police will be implementing a surge and contain strategy to deal with the protesters camped in Ottawa.

The strategy includes sending 150 more police officers to the protest area in the downtown core of Ottawa, barricading the protest area with concrete and heavy-equipment barriers, as well as increased efforts by national, provincial, and local intelligence agencies to target those who are funding/supporting/enabling unlawful and harmful activity by protesters.

Our residents are frustrated and they are angry. They have every right to be. Their lives continue to be severely impacted by unlawful and unsafe events, Sloly said.

Officers and our partners will be focused on illegal activity associated with the demonstrators. Surge will deliver a clear message to the demonstrators: Lawlessness must end.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly speaks at a news conference in Ottawa, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Sloly added that the demonstrators in the core area remain highly organized, well funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstration safely.

Wilson called Slolys announcements disturbing and said they should trouble Canadians and those around the world who support this trucker protest for freedom.

The police chief essentially announced an assault on the protesters. He announced that very specific measures that we normally only see instituted by oppressive regimes around the world, would be initiated, he said.

The Epoch Times reached out to the Ottawa Police Service for comment but didnt immediately hear back.

Preliminary data shows there has been a decline in police-reported street crime since the protest began in downtown Ottawa, according to Blacklocks Reporter.

In the week prior to the protest, there were 31 police calls for crimes such as robbery, assault, drug trafficking, public drunkenness, and other crimes in the Ottawa district the protest is set up, but there were only three reports of street crime since the protests began, Blacklocks Reporter said.

Tom Marazzo, who is helping the organizers as a police liaison, said in a press conference on Feb. 4 that statements and actions by Sloly have deliberately set the conditions for potential violence against the peaceful protesters of Freedom 2022 Convoy.

The OPS is fully aware many of their ongoing investigations are initiated as a result of the truckers reporting incidents that they have witnessed. This protest has been peaceful. We have been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with the OPS and PPS [Parliamentary Protective Service], Marazzo said.

Marazzo said the Freedom Convoy doesnt condone aggressive behaviour or violence, and that anyone exhibiting such behaviour should be individually held accountable.

Trucks parked in downtown Ottawa as demonstrators continue to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 2, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

He added that Ottawa taxpayers call the city their home, but all tax-paying Canadians call Ottawa their nations capital. He noted that many Ottawa residents have invited the protesters to their homes for meals or to rest.

The JCCF said in a statement on Feb. 4 that it has learned that closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) in downtown Ottawa where the protest is taking place have been off for the duration of the demonstrations, and asked city officials to make the cameras active.

These cameras do not actually show what is happening on the ground in downtown Ottawa. For safety reasons we strongly urge you to remedy this situation and restore live feed from those CCTV cameras. It is imperative that law enforcement and the public have access to video footage, in order to know what is actually occurring in and around the protest, Eva Chipiuk, staff lawyer at the JCCF, said in a statement.

Canadians have the legal right to protest peacefully in their capital city. The freedom of peaceful assembly is expressly protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Freedom Convoy has always been clear that it supports only peaceful assembly.

The Freedom Convoy movement initially began as a protest by truck drivers opposing the federal governments COVID-19 mandates for cross-border travel. But it has since attracted many followers from around Canada who want an end to all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.

Protesters demanding end to COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Feb. 2, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

The protesters converged in Ottawa on Jan. 29, and many say they intend to stay until COVID-19 mandates are lifted. Trucks and other vehicles are parked in the downtown core by Parliament, and sounds of horn honking by protesters can be heard throughout the day.

Marazzo said he has built a strong working relationship with local law enforcement and members of the OPS and the PPS, but not with the police service leadership.

In my negotiations with them, they have chosen to take the posture of a hostage negotiation rather than working toward a safe, peaceful, and responsible relationship that may exist for months to come, he said.

Daniel Bulford, a former RCMP officer who quit the force because of its vaccine mandate and is now helping the protest organizers, said many media reports have been falsely associating crimes committed by others with the protesters.

He added that the protesting truckers in Ottawa have been victims of vandalism.

Many trucks have been vandalized and spray-painted throughout the night, Bulford said at the Feb. 4 press conference.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a Senate committee hearing on the COVID-19 response, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool/Getty Images)

Pandemic Lessons Learned: Scientific Debate Silenced, With Deadly Consequences

Commentary

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines science as knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation. So science is human knowledge of facts, which has nothing to do with human intention or politics.

Yet Mao Zedong said in 1940 that Natural science is one of mans weapons in his fight for freedom. In Maos China, science became a tool for the communist leader and his comrades to conquer the world and achieve their freedom.

For my purposes here, I will call fact-based science Objective Science and Maos totalitarian science Subjective Science.

My Sister Didnt Have to Die

I lost two brothers to infectious diseases, and one sister to famine.

I am the ninth and the youngest child in my family, and I was named Jiu (meaning ninth in Chinese). But three of my siblings died very young. Two boys died from unknown infectious diseases days after they were born, and a girl, Zhen, died from malnutrition during the Great Famine in 1960 when she was only 3 years old.

Life was tough growing up during Chinas Culture Revolution, to put it mildly. However, life was also very beautiful, as I enjoyed the love of my parents and my siblings. I thought it was so unfair that my two brothers did not make it. As for Zhen, it was unfortunate, but the Great Famine was a natural disaster, as we were told by the government. There was nothing anyone could have done about it.

I did not want the tragic death of my brothers to ever happen to another defenseless child, so I devoted my scientific career to vaccine development. Thanks to the well-tested, safe, and effective vaccines that have been developed, we see far fewer children die from infectious diseases today than 70 years ago.

A small group of Chinese youths walk past several dazibaos, communist revolutionary placards, in downtown Beijing during the Cultural Revolution in February 1967. (Jean Vincent/AFP via Getty Images)

As a vaccine research scientist in Canada, I realized my dream of advancing fact-based science to reduce the child mortality rate. Also, unlike in China, where information the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deems harmful is censored, I had access to uncensored information in Canada. Thats how I discovered a phenomenon that could be more deadly than any infectious disease: Subjective Science.

I learned that my sister Zhen did not have to die; she would have lived if it wasnt for Maos insane Great Leap Forward campaign. Many families in our village died with no survivors, while my family was one of the luckiest with only one dead.

And it was a good harvest year! After the start of the Great Leap Forward in 1958, in order to please their superiors, local communist officials exaggerated the reporting of their agricultural output, sometimes 10 times or more than the real output. They then had to collect the harvest in its entirety as tax, leaving nothing for the farmers. The Great Famine was largely man-made.

There were scientists and scholars who voiced their disbelief about the reported figures. However, they were labelled as rightists and anti-revolutionists and silenced. Some were executed.

As a direct result of the communist propaganda and the controlled narratives based on political campaigns that ignored common sense and scientific findings, millions of people like Zhen died. The agricultural experts who verified and praised the fake reports, representing the science as Mao wanted them to, were practising Subjective Science.

Some may argue that even though the Great Leap Forward was an abysmal failure, the CCP has changed. Today, CCP officials are well-dressed, smart businesspeople. Nobody would stoop to verifying fake reports, even if pressured by their superiors.

Well, I wanted to believe that too. But in essence, todays CCP is the same as it was back in 1958. All you have to do is look at how they handled the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in December 2019 and January 2020. They still practice Subjective Science. Facts are not important. The CCPs narratives are the only allowed thoughts on SARS-CoV-2, be it the origin of the virus, human-to-human transmission capability, lockdown measures, etc.

Not only that. Since the pandemic, it looks as though the CCPs Subjective Science had pervaded the United States and the free world.

Dr. Fauci: I Represent Science

On Nov. 28, 2021, I watched Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical adviser to the President of the United States, say on CBSs Face the Nation: Its easy to criticize [me], but they are really criticizing science, because I represent science.

I thought, how interesting, in China, science is used to serve the Communist Party. The CCP represents science in China. The CCPs science is not to be criticized or questioned, but to be followed. If you criticize the Party, you are criticizing the representative of science. Now suddenly in the United States we have an individual who says he represents science! And anyone who dares to challenge him is deemed anti-science.

Science is about facts and truth. The interpretation of facts is often debated to reach well-thought-out conclusions. Research findings must go through a peer-review process before being recognized as scientific. When was this basic scientific principle replaced by CCP-style science, where a powerful and influential person claims to represent science, and therefore cannot be criticized?

In June 2021, after the contents of redacted emails from Dr. Fauci on the origins of COVID-19 were published, some things that had puzzled me from the beginning of the pandemic started to make sense.

I was a true believer in science and devoted my career to vaccine development for two decades, the second of which was with the largest vaccine company in the world at that time. I always believed in my fellow scientists as being noble, trustworthy, honest, and humble. So I almost fell out of my chair when I read a research paper in February 2020 on Nature Medicines website titled The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2. It was written by Kristian Andersen (Scripps Institute), Andrew Rambaut (University of Edinburgh), Ian Lipkin (Columbia University), Edward Holmes (University of Sydney), and Robert Garry (Tulane University).

A creative rendition of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. Note: not to scale. (NIAID [shorturl.at/hHKWY]) The authors showed that SARS-CoV-2 binds to human ACE2 much better than any computer programs predicted. Thus, the high-affinity binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to human ACE2 is most likely the result of natural selection on a human or human-like ACE2 that permits another optimal binding solution to arise. This is strong evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is not the product of purposeful manipulation, they wrote.

Excuse me? If SARS-CoV-2 infects people better than your computer predicts, then the only conclusion you can draw is that your computer sucks. How did these world-renowned scientists get the basic logic so wrong? And how did the prestigious publication Nature Medicine not catch that? Did anyone even read the paper before publishing it, not to mention peer review it?

This paper, as bad as it is, has been read 5.64 million times, referenced by 2,123 other papers, and used by authority figures such as Dr. Fauci to conclude that the debate on COVID-19s origin is over, and label the possibility of a non-natural origin for SARS-CoV-2 as a conspiracy theory.

It seemed that the SARS-CoV-2 origin narrative had been decided uponeven when the existing facts did not support the narrative. The scientists took the existing facts and forced them to fit the preferred narrative, and also forced the general public to accept it, while silencing all other opinions and essentially banning scientific debate on the issue.

These scientists remind me of the agricultural experts in China in 1958.

Seeing what was happening in the science world, and the controlled narrative of the authorities on scientific matters, as a former proud scientist I was dismayed and distressed. I couldnt believe prominent scientists like Kristian Andersen and publications like Nature Medicine could betray the very principle of science: telling the truth. Instead, they used peoples trust in science to silence scientific debate and advance their own narrative. This is Subjective Science, the Mao-style totalitarian science, at work in the free world!

I decided to write to Nature Medicine to complain about the paper and demand a retraction or at least an explanation. I sent my letter, titled It is Premature to Conclude that SARS-CoV-2 Did not Have a Lab Origin, by email on April 15 but did not receive a reply. Then I forwarded my email to Andersen, the papers lead author, with no response either.

Maybe I was being naive to question their science. It might have actually been their intention to use the facts to draw conclusions that are opposite to the facts, and drive the narrative directed by their mastersjust like the so-called agricultural experts praising the fake reports in China during the Great Leap Forward.

It would take a corrupt system to do that. Is this really happening in America, I wondered?

Andersens Flip-Flop

Well, the Fauci emails accessed via Freedom of Information Act requests made public in June 2021 revealed what happened. On Jan. 31, 2020, Andersen emailed Fauci about the coronavirus, saying, some of the features (potentially) look engineered. The next day, a group of people, including Fauci and Andersen, held a secret teleconference. The Nature Medicine article concluding that Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus was published online a few days later (and finalized on March 17, 2020).

Kristian Andersen briefs reporters in San Diego on Dec. 30, 2020. (The Associated Press)

We now know that in early February 2020, something happened to change Andersens opinion from some of the features (potentially) look engineered to SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus. Sounds exactly like what Subjective Scientists would do.

Interestingly, after the publication of the paperwhich was used by Fauci to silence all other voicesthe main authors, Andersen and Garry, received an $8.9 million grant from Faucis NIAID on Aug. 17, 2020.

A win-win-win all around. But the taxpayers are the losers, the public are the losers, and potentially millions of lives are at risk due to this Mao-style Subjective Science.

It turns out I wasnt the only one questioning the Nature Medicine paper. In January 2021, Dr. Steven Quay from Seattle published a paper titled Bayesian Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Origin where he revealed he had written to Andersen on May 25, 2020, questioning his conclusions. He didnt get a response either. Instead, Andersen blocked Quay from following his Twitter account.

There are so many lessons to be learned from missteps during this pandemic, such as the rushed vaccines, the damaging lockdowns, the denial of sound early treatments, the disregarding of natural immunity, and so on. In my opinion, the most important lesson is that we must get back to science that is fact-based, Objective Science. Any scientific conclusions must be vigorously debated based on raw data, and no one should be allowed to claim to represent science.

Facts and truth are stubborn. They are sometimes slow in coming, but they do bubble to the surface eventually. Dr. Fauci and company tried very hard to suppress the scientific investigation that SARS-CoV-2 might have escaped from a laboratory. Now, it has become an accepted possibility, after all attempts to find a natural origin failed.

Natural Immunity

The issue of natural immunity and how it was cut out of the equation in the fight against COVID is another example of Subjective Science.

It is known to all scientists with even a slight immunology training that a person develops natural immunity after recovering from an infection. The protection afforded by natural immunity is what all vaccines strive to achieve; some do it better than others, but vaccines rarely surpass natural immunity. It was extremely anti-science to impose vaccine mandates on the millions in Canada and America who contracted and then recovered from COVID-19. Now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control admits in a report released on Jan. 28 that natural immunity against COVID-19 is superior to any of the available vaccine regimens.

So what happens to people who lost their jobs because they refused to take the jab, but have recovered from COVID and are now immune? Why not adjust the vaccine mandate accordingly? Why are public health policies still dictated by a few people representing the science rather than by science itself?

It is refreshing, though, to see that the scientific community has started to awaken to the narrative-driven reports in scientific journals. For example, the prestigious British Medical Journal published an editorial on Jan. 19 titled Covid-19 vaccines and treatments: we must have raw data, now. It is a timely call and relates to the very core of the issue. In order to know the science, we have to have the facts.

But dont expect to be able to peruse the raw data on the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines any time soon, as Pfizer has indicated that it will not begin entertaining requests for trial data until May 2025. We paid for the vaccines with our tax dollars (and many paid with their lives, as vaccine-related deaths do happen), but were asked to just take the vaccine and blindly trust the representatives of science like Dr. Fauci, without any kind of verification that the vaccines are safe and effective?

The agricultural experts in China during the Great Leap Forward did release their data, just no one believed any of it was real. I just hope peoples trust in scientists today is not in danger of plummeting to that point. Substantial changes in our scientific funding system are needed if confidence in sciences reputation is to be restored.

Before Canada and the United States become Mao-style communist states, we still have a chance to get rid of Subjective Science and restore fact-based, Objective Science. That will put us in a much better position to take on the next challenge Mother Nature may throw at us.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
People wearing face masks walk through the quiet streets of the Strathfield suburb of Sydney on August 11, 2021, as the city's more than five million people are enduring their seventh week under stay-at-home orders. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

NSW Labor to Run Pro-Belt and Road Candidate in Sydneys Inner-West

NSW Labor has named a pro-Belt and Road candidate to run in Sydneys inner-west in the upcoming by-election slated to take place on Feb. 12.

Jason Yat-Sen Li, former United Nations lawyer, turned investment firm CEO, announced his candidacy for the seat of Strathfield on Jan. 5. Pitching Li, the Labor party hopes to retain the seat of its former leader Jodi McKay, who resigned in 2021.

The father of three has a versatile professional background in law, investment, insurance, and education. He is now the CEO of Vantage Asia Holdings, an investment group with offices in Beijing and Sydney, and Yatsen Associates, a corporate advisory firm focusing on the Chinese and Asian markets.

An alumnus of the University of Sydney, Li has also been heavily involved at his alma mater, and after serving on the Strategy and Risk Committee and the People and Culture Committee, he now stands as the Pro-Chancellor of the university.

From Federal to State-level election

Li had previously run for Labor at federal elections in the House of representatives in Bennelong in 2013 and the senate in 2019, respectively, despite not living in the area.

This time, Li has been pitched by the ALP to run for NSWs state-level by-election in the seat of Strathfield, despite being a resident of Cremorne. Strathfield is a multicultural area, and according to the 2016 census, over 60 percent of Strathfields electorate were born overseas.

However, Li said he knows the place in many ways, and his family is always here, promising that the family will move into the electorate as soon as they can.

My youngest daughter will go to school in Burwood next year, while my son goes to school on the border of the electorate, he told Daily Telegraph. I used to spend heaps of time in this electorate throughout high school and university, my core friendship group is here, and Ive got businesses here as well.

Its also an area that really reflects who I am and my own background, and thats why I feel like itd be a really good representative for the people here.

(L-R) Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment Jason Clare, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen, Labor Candidate for Reid Sam Crosby and Labor Senate Candidate for New South Wales Jason Yat-Sen Li are seen during a doorstop at So Wai Seniors Wellness Centre in Sydney, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (AAP Image/Steven Saphore)

Strong Pro-Beijing Stance

A second-generation migrant from Hong Kong, Li never concealed his support of Australia developing a good relationship with Beijing.

In 2019, Li said Australia should consider investing in the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a controversial project criticized for being a debt trap that also poses significant national security risks.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne cancelled Victorian premier Daniel Andrews BRI deals with Beijing in 2021, citing their inconsistency with Australias national interest and foreign policy. The move was supported by federal and state politicians from around Australia.

In an article published in 2019, Li praised a good China because it brought critical dynamism to a faltering global economy during the financial crisis, provides global leadership on climate change and renewable energy, defends free trade, promotes arts and culture, contributes to peace-keeping, disaster relief and anti-piracy operations, and in short, provides a range of international public goods and leadership to the global commons.

In May 2021, Li wrote an opinion article titled Theres a way to ease tensions with China that would be a win for the Australian economy for the Sydney Morning Herald, arguing that Australia can defend its security and sovereignty against the CCP without destroying the relationship with its largest economic partner.

In the op-ed, Li, the Pro-Chancellor at the University of Sydney, urged the federal government to get international students and tourists back from China as soon as possible. He also accused Australia of unnecessarily provoking the PRC in having barred their entry to the country.

Students walk through The Quadrangle at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, on May 8, 2013, (AAP Image/Paul Miller)

It is our [Australias] profitable trade with the PRC over the past 30 years that has buttressed this sovereignty, he claimed. Put starkly; it is the money we make from our profitable trade with the PRC that pays for the military hardware that our Defence Minister says we need to defend us from the PRC.

In a 2021 interview with people.cn, the online version of the CCPs official media outlet Peoples Daily, Li claimed that the Chinese in Australia have an inseparable affection with China and argued that it was necessary to maintain good cooperative Australia-China relations.

We dont have to be unnecessarily provocative of China. Gareth Evans has a nice phrase, we can dial down our rhetorical stridency, he said.

I think its important for us to recognize were not the United States. Were not a superpower with a razor-sharp view to our own national interests.

Running for the upcoming NSW state by-election, Li has accepted interviews in Chinese by Australian Chinese Daily and Sydney Today, a popular app among Chinese Australians, with the latter interview featuring his vow to speak for Chinese Australians and the anti-racism petition he joined with other Asian-Australians in 2020.

Jason Li accepted the interview by Sydney Today, a popular app among Chinese Australians. (Screenshot)

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has also published his endorsement of Li on social media.

The son of migrants. A business owner. The Pro-Chancellor of the University of Sydney. And someone who truly reflects the community that hes seeking to represent, Minns wrote in a post on Twitter.

Im proud to announce our candidate for the Strathfield by-electionJason Yat-Sen Li!

A Packed-Field Competition

Li will be contesting the seat against Bridget Sakr (Liberal Party), Courtney Buckley (Greens), Rohan Laxmanalal (Animal Justice Party), Ellie Robertson (Sustainable Australia Party), and Elizabeth Farrelly, an independent candidate who is a former columnist for The Sydney Morning Heraldbut who was recently fired because she did not declare herself as a registered candidate for NSW Labor before writing critically about the Liberal.

Liberal candidate Bridget Sakr, a business owner and advocate, is described by NSW premier Dominic Perrottet as a strong-willed woman who has had success in business and is determined to make a difference for the Strathfield electorate.

Sakr, whose 11-year-old daughter passed away with three other children in a car crash at Oatlands in 2020, said she was going through the most unimaginable time in her life when this community wrapped its arms around me, opened its heart to me and came to my aid.

I would like to repay their love, kindness. and generosity by fighting to build a better community for every one of them.

I will campaign for safer and less congested roads, educational opportunity, policies to improve homeownership in our community, and more accessible grief support, trauma and mental health care for the multicultural community that calls Strathfield home.

Liberal candidate for Strathfield Bridget Sakr speaks to the media during a press conference announcing her candidacy at Burwood Park in Burwood, Sydney, Dec. 20, 2021. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi)

The Epoch Times reached out through different channels to Jason Yat-Sen Lis campaign team for a comment on his opinion on Belt and Road Initiative, Australia-China relations, and the CCPs policies in Hong Kong in recent years, but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

Liberal candidate Bridget Sakr, Greens candidate Courtney Buckley, and independent candidate Elizabeth Farrelly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Strathfield by-election will be held on Feb. 12, along with by-elections in Willoughby, Bega, and Monaro. Early voting has opened on Jan. 31, and voters will have the option to mail their ballot amid the Omicron outbreak.
Restaurant Industrys Recovery Remains Incomplete Despite Strong Jobs Report, Group Says

While the U.S. governments latest employment report showed jobs continuing to bounce back in the restaurant industry in January, the recovery remains incomplete, with the U.S. restaurant sector still down over 1 million jobs compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Employment at food service and drinking placesthe major component of the total restaurant and food service industryrose by a net 108,200 jobs in January, according to Feb. 4 data released by the Labor Department. Overall, U.S. employers added 467,000 jobs during the month.

But while Januarys payrolls figures represent the 13th consecutive month of job gains for eating and drinking establishments, the industry remains around 1 million jobs down compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and the imposition of lockdowns that decimated the hospitality industry, eating and drinking places employed 12 million people out of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of 15.6 million, according to the National Restaurant Association.

While Januarys gain was a positive sign, it wasnt enough to put a significant dent in the 1.5 million hospitality job openings on the last business day of December, the National Restaurant Association said in a statement, commenting on the job recovery numbers.

Job openings in the hospitality industry accounted for around 14 percent of the total 10.9 million vacancies on the last day of December, according to government data.

While lower than the record-high of 11.098 million job vacancies recorded in July, the 10.9 million vacancies represent a historically elevated reading that suggests that U.S. employers stepped up their search for workers at the end of the year despite the Omicron variant wave.

The latest data confirm that the industrys recovery remains incomplete, and restaurants across the country continue to face a challenging business environment, the National Restaurant Association said in a statement, adding that an industry survey of 4,200 restaurant operators showed that the Omicron surge led to a rapid deterioration of business conditions for many restaurants at the beginning of 2022.

Actions taken by restaurants in recent weeks in response to the spread of Omicron include reducing hours of operation (51 percent), closing on days that a given restaurant would be open (34 percent), and reducing seating capacity (26 percent).

A total of 76 percent of restaurant operators told pollsters that business conditions were worse in January than three months prior, while just 3 percent said they were better.

In its annual State of the Restaurant Industry report, released on Feb. 1, the National Restaurant Association predicted that restaurant industry employment would rise by 400,000 jobs to a total of 14.9 million by the end of 2022.
In this photo illustration, "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast is viewed on Spotify's mobile app, in New York City, on Jan. 31, 2022. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Rogan in the Free World

Commentary

Democracy is a messy thing, relying as it does on debate and dialogue. This means that people we dont like, or who express unpopular views, or who articulate ideas we find hateful, or subscribe to ideas we think dangerous get to express their annoying, wrong-minded opinions.

As George Orwell put it, If liberty means anything at all, it means the ability to tell people what they do not want to hear.

Practically, those of us who are devoted to democratic norms need to listen respectfully to our political adversaries, as well as to those who promulgate ideas that arent to our taste or liking. Dialogue is the lifeblood of democracy. Just as a musician requires the ability to improvise in different keys, so, too, do democracies require diverse opinions and free-flowing and open discussions. In short, we need to listen to interlocutors who say things we dont want to hear.

Free speech is the ne plus ultra of democracy. The freedom to express ourselves candidly and openly protects us from groupthink, irrationalism of various kinds, and authoritarian diktats emanating from across the political spectrum. Investigating and critiquing all ideas and orthodoxiesespecially the orthodoxy du jouris a crucial aspect of democratic life.

This leads us to the controversy between Neil Young and Spotify, which hosts the podcaster, Joe Rogan. Young is unhappy with two guests Rogan has interviewed on his podcast, accusing Rogan of using his show to spread dangerous misinformation about vaccines and COVID-19. Young delivered an ultimatum to Spotify: They can have Rogan or Young. Not both. Spotify went with Rogan.

Misinformation is a curiously wobbly concept. It appears that misinformation consists mainly of ideas that those in power find inconvenient or troublesome. For example, a few months ago, anyone who said that cloth masks dont work was accused of spreading misinformation. Today, we know that cloth masks are useless. A year ago, anyone who opined that COVID-19 likely originated from a lab leak in China was swiftly condemned as a Sinophobic conspiracy theorist trading in misinformation. Now, the preponderance of evidence points to COVID originating in a Wuhan lab.

When politicians and their proxies in the media prattle on about misinformation, its a good rule of thumb to ask what they are trying to hide.

The guests whom Young accuses of spreading dangerous misinformation are two well-credentialed and highly accomplished medical doctors. Dr. Peter McCullough is a cardiologist and the most published physician in his field. Dr. Robert Malone owns nine patents on the invention of mRNA technology. By any standard, these two doctors are experts.

Both men have misgivings about the safety of the COVID vaccines.

Rogan doesnt assert whether these two doctors are right or wrong. He claims no expertise. But neither can Young. And, of course, having expertise is no guarantee of getting it right. As Steven Weinberg says, An expert is someone who avoids the small errors while sweeping on to the grand fallacy.

Yet, Young somehow believes its incumbent on him to determine the information appropriate to a critical discussion concerning social well-being. He seems to think that Spotify shouldnt host a show that debates the safety of vaccines and is doing his best to shut it down.

Certain questions arise. Why does Young think he should be the gatekeeper of what others can listen to? Does he truly believe that people who listen to alternative views on Rogans show are incapable of weighing the evidence? And why does Youngagain, a man with no scientific expertiselabel the doctors views misinformation? Drs. MacCullough and Malone might well be wrong, but they arent cranks. As with any scientific dispute, the way to ascertain the truth or falsity of their views is via an open debate, something Young disdains.

Rogan, by contrast, is simply a guy who sits down and has conversations. As he says: Do I get things wrong? Absolutely. But I try and correct it because Im interested in telling the truth. Im interested in finding out what the truth is. Im interested in having conversations with people who have different opinions.

As he puts it, he isnt interested in speaking with people with only one perspective. And like any true conversationalist, Rogan changes his mind in light of better arguments or evidence.

Rogan is guided by genuine curiosity rather than party loyalty or ideological conformity. He asks of his guests only what we all seek in our interlocutors: that they should speak sincerely. The result is a conversation between someone with something interesting to say and a sympathetic, open-minded, and non-ideological interviewer.

There is no editorial control beyond the intellectual and moral norms that should govern any real conversation. Like open-ended science, conversations set the stage for future theoretically endless talks. The death-knell of dialogue is the dogmatic assertion, the suffocating orthodoxy that declares that the matter is settled and the conversation is closed. Dialogue is the enemy of certainty and fanaticism, which is why there is no genuine conversation in totalitarian regimes, only endless sophistry to buttress the truth or the science or the dear leader. Such regimes are experts at stifling misinformation.

There is something deeply appealing about Rogans personality, which undoubtedly accounts for the shows popularity. He is an old-fashioned liberal who displays open-mindedness, sensitivity, and a willingness to listen. His on-air personality exudes honesty, respect for others, fair-mindedness, thoughtfulness, attentiveness, and the other quiet virtues central to the art of conversation. Of course, in any dialogue about serious matters, there will be disagreements. But on such occasions, Rogan is equanimous. He uses disagreements as an opportunity to probe deeper into the interviewees views rather than as an occasion for ridiculing, shaming, or discrediting.

Rogan is an old-fashioned liberal, that is, one who believes in such quaint notions as freedom of thought and expression. His openness to engage with people with differing opinions points the way forward for a liberal society. Like Rogan, we need to tolerate views antithetical to our own. At the same time, disagreements should be seen as opportunities to deepen our perceptions and understandings rather than occasions for finger-wagging, reprimand, or triumphant boasting.

Now, if only Neil Young would get the memo.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A set of Childcraft books once brought a whole library for children into the home.

Sixteen Book Titles up for Ban consideration in Florida Schools

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.Sixteen books in Polk County school libraries have been pulled from the shelves and quarantined because the content was considered obscene, or harmful to children.

Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) administrators spent the morning of Jan. 25 collecting books from media centers throughout the county after County Citizens Defending Freedom (CCDF), a conservative organization, complained to Polk County School Superintendent Frederick Heid that the books contained material harmful to children.

In an email sent throughout the district, Heid said he did not believe it was his role to approve/evaluate instructional or resource materials at that level. But, it is also my obligation to provide safeguards to protect our employees. The district will be taking steps to ensure that we address this issue honestly, fairly and transparently.

Director of Communications for PCPS, Jason Geary responded in an email that books have been placed in quarantine until a review committee has had time to read each book in its entirety. He said the process follows a longstanding protocol whenever a book is challenged. The committee is made up of district curriculum staff, media specialists, parents, and community members.

This process is traditionally done at the individual school level. However, copies of some of the name titles are currently housed in multiple secondary school media centers, so this review will be conducted at the district level, he wrote in the email. It is important to note that these books will not be available during this period of review.

The initial concerns were that the books conflicted with values, but the allegations may be in violation of Florida statutes that deal with distributing obscene or harmful materials to children, Geary said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

PCPS is committed to the safety and well-being of children, as well as the freedom of expression, he said.

Polk County School Board Building. (Courtesy of Polk County School Board)

The American Library Associations deputy director of communications, Macey Morales, said the ALA strongly condemns acts of censorship and intimidation. In recent months, a few organizations have advanced the proposition that the voices of the marginalized have no place on library shelves, she told The Epoch Times in an email.

We are committed to defending the constitutional rights of all individuals of all ages to use the resources and services of libraries, she wrote. We champion and defend the freedom to speak, the freedom to publish, and the freedom to read, as promised by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

According to the ALA website, in 2020, 273 books were the subject of attempted censorship, and the majority of them centered on race, gender and sexuality.

The concern for books in the schools library system was brought to light by a grassroots organization, County Citizens Defending Freedom, which grew out of a need that fills gaps for parents who dont have time to police what is happening in their schools.

Most parents are working full time, and dont have time to look deeply into what government and education facilities are doing, founder Jimmy Nelson told The Epoch Times in a telephone interview. So, were filling that role and raising awareness to the things that were findingand we feel the best way to affect whats going on throughout the country is to begin locally.

We trust our schools  not to expose our children to things that were not ready for them to be exposed to yet. Thats the parents job; that goes back to family responsibility, he continued.

The list of books in question was compiled by an organization called Florida Citizens Alliance, Nelson said, adding that FCA has done yeomans work.

Nelson is currently working with other counties in Florida, Texas, and Georgia as well.

Pornography, Children and Florida Law

Florida Statute 1006.34 2b(4) clearly prohibits sexually explicit material: Any instructional material containing pornography or otherwise prohibited by s. 847.012 may not be used or made available within any public school. And FS 847.012 (3) states A person may not knowingly sell, rent, or loan for monetary consideration, to a minor: (b) Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced, or sound recording that contains any matter defined in s. 847.001, explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement or sexual conduct and that is harmful to minors.

Keith Flaugh, CEO and co-founder of FCA, which has been compiling lists since 2019, told the Epoch Times that the 16 books in question can be found in all of Floridas 67 counties.

The books are chosen for the school libraries on a local level, not a state level, he told The Epoch Times in a telephone interview. Larger districts have a team of people headed by a purchasing manager or media center manager; smaller districts have one person with other job responsibilities.

Jared Ochs, Director of Communications and External Affairs for the Florida Department of Education, told The Epoch Times in an email: Individual school districts are responsible for determining the content within their own libraries. Therefore, these are decisions that need to be addressed at the local level. Parents have the right to object to materials they believe are explicit and inappropriate for their children and districts should have processes in place to address these parental concerns.

Ultimately, decisions should be made in the best interest of students  we expect school districts to follow all pertinent laws and that content provided to students is both age and grade appropriate, he said.

Flaugh went on to explain that a number of media center managers use sources like goodreads.com. However, some districts pay a bonus at the end of the year to media center managers, based on how much the materials they put in the library are used.

But the problem is: they should be providing reference materials that follow Florida standards, he said. This is a little scary.

Flaugh denies that his organization is banning books.

The left accuses us of banning books, he said. This is not about book banning at all, its about protecting our children and giving parents control.

In compiling a list, Flaugh said he has to file public records requests, and it was like playing whack a mole with the school districts.

Were playing whack a mole. he said. Fifty-eight books is not an exhaustive listwe are trying to protect not only children but teachers from being accused of violating Florida statute.

A simple fix would be a search engine called an electronic robot, Flaugh said. If a publisher wants to sell a school district a book or other material, they would first submit an electronic version which would be run through the robot.

The robot is supplied with a glossary of terms, and, if the robot picks up any of these terms that the school district deems as sexually explicit, then the book can be pulled before it gets to the shelf, he explained.

One of names on the FCA list is award-winning African-American author Toni Morrison, who died in 2019 at the age of 88. Prior to her passing, she responded to attempts to ban Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain for its use of the N-word.

Morrison wrote: Banning books is the purist and yet elementary kind of censorship designed to appease adults, rather than educate children.

One of her books, The Bluest Eye, is on the FCAs list. It depicts the life of an African-American girl who equates whiteness to beauty and believe her skin color automatically makes her ugly. The book covers many themes, including rape, incest, domestic violence, alcoholism, infant mortality, and racism. It also includes profanity and sexually explicit content, according to the FCA.

A bill that has advanced in the Florida senate has been called the book ban bill. SB 1300 proponents describe it as providing transparency and give parents a bigger say in what children are exposed to. It gives parents the authority to question the appropriateness of books and other materials in public schools.

Fairfax County parents and residents protested against a library holiday display featuring the Bible next to Gender Queer and Lawn Boythe two challenged books returned to Fairfax County school libraries after the Thanksgiving holidayoutside Dolley Madison Public Library in McLean, Va., on Dec. 11, 2021. (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times)

In a discussion of the bill at a Jan. 26 committee meeting, state Sen. Manny Diaz, a Republican, addressed the age appropriateness of some material circulating in Florida public schools.

My concern is that some of these materials are not age-appropriate  and forcing these conversations with students that are not age-appropriate, he said at the meeting.

The bill charges principals with collecting and documenting complaints about questionable material available to students in public schools.

The purpose of the bill is to create transparency in the process; its not to censor anything, said Sen. Joe Gruters, (R).

A parent, Amanda Silvestri, expressed her concerns about certain book content, as did attorney Brenda Fam.

They were showing LGBQT cartoon videos to the kids. It was never disclosed to the parents, Fam told committee members.

A member of Florida Parents Know Best, Karen Moran said: We have porn, we have critical race, we have gender confusion, and other objectionable materials in our schools.

Democratic state Sen, Tina Scott Polsky told the speakers: If you want them (children) insulated so much that they shouldnt learn about the outside world, then you should homeschool them, or you can send them to religious private school with voucher money.

The bill advanced and will be read and debated in the rules committee.
Taiwan Says China-Russia Partnership Timing An Insult to Olympic Spirit

Taiwans government denounced the timing of the China-Russia partnership on the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics, calling it an insult to the Olympic spirit that should be held in contempt by democratic countries, its foreign ministry said on Friday.

Taiwan, a self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own, asserted that the Chinese Communist Party appears to have utilized the Russian summit to expand authoritarianism at a time when the world is focused on the Winter Olympics.

It not only increases the Taiwanese peoples disgust at and loathing for the Chinese governments arrogance and bullying, it also clearly shows all the worlds countries the sinister face of the Chinese Communist regimes aggression, expansionism, and damaging of peace, the ministry remarked.

China and Russia declared a no limits partnership on the opening day of the Winter Olympics, backing each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to enhance collaboration against the West.

The two nations released a joint statement outlining their intention to counter interference by outside forces in the internal affairs of sovereign countries under any pretext, oppose color revolutions, and will increase cooperation in the aforementioned areas.

Russia recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of China and rejects the islands independence in any form, while Beijing backed Russias opposition to the enlargement of NATO, according to the joint statement.

The two nations also strongly condemn the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdomnamely the AUKUS pactunder which the United States and the United Kingdom will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

The United States condemned the China-Russia meeting, saying that Chinese leader Xi Jinping should have used the opportunity to encourage Russia to pursue diplomacy and de-escalation in Ukraine.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of State for East Asia, said Friday that the meeting and subsequent joint statement reflected an approach that China and Russia have been pursuing for some time, namely to move closer together.

If Russia further invades Ukraine and China looks the other way, it suggests that China is willing to tolerate or tacitly support Russias efforts to coerce Ukraine, even when they embarrass Beijing, harm European security, and risk global peace and economic stability, Kritenbrink said.

Several Western countries, led by the United States, have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games in protest of the Chinese regimes ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.

Reuters contributed to this report.
In an aerial view, U.S. and Texas state flags fly over car dealerships as light traffic moves through snow and ice on U.S. Route 183 on Feb. 3, 2022, in Irving, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Texas Power Grid Withstands Winter Storm Test

In its first major test since crashing last February, the Texas power grid held steady as Winter Storm Landon swept through the state on Feb. 2, leaving snow, ice, and sub-freezing temperatures in its wake.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the states independent power grid operator, reported that demand peaked at nearly 69,000 megawatts on the morning of Feb. 4a number that triggered the blackout in 2021, which left millions in the dark for days and contributed to hundreds of deaths.

In a live news conference on Feb. 4 on states response to Winter Storm Landon, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott credited the grids strength to a variety of proactive strategies, including winterization, the availability of alternate fuels, the designation of natural gas facilities as critical infrastructure, and a 15 percent increase in power generation capacity compared to 2021.

The Texas power grid is more reliable and resilient than it has ever been, and we are continuing to actively respond to the impact of this winter storm, Abbott said.

Beckett Woolley, 6, slides down a hill at White Rock Lake after a winter storm in Dallas on Feb. 3, 2022. (Emil Lippe/Getty Images)

Major issues in 2021 during Winter Storm Uri included a reduced flow of natural gas to power plants, natural gas supply issues, and frozen wind turbines that cut electricity production. In 2022, state officials said they werent concerned because the grid has plenty of excess power. At the height of power generation, more than 86,000 megawatts of power were available, according to state officials.

Commissioner Christi Craddick of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and natural gas in the state, said during the news conference that fluctuation in production had been brief and within the norm, even as icy roads hindered distribution.

The system is working as it should, Craddick said.

ERCOT confirmed instances of gas curtailments, particularly in the Dallas area, but said they werent major.

The loss of available reserves is expected to be between 1,200 and 2,600 megawatts, ERCOT told The Epoch Times in an email.

At least 70,000 customers in Texas were without power on Feb. 3 because of local issues such as downed power lines affected by ice-draped trees, according to officials. On Feb. 4, that number was reported to be 20,000 customers at the time of the midday news conference.

Snow lies on the ground near power lines at White Rock Lake after a winter storm on Feb. 3, 2022, in Dallas. (Emil Lippe/Getty Images)

Icy roadways snarled traffic in some areas of Texas. Two accidents on Interstate 10 West near Kerrville, Texas, involving 18 wheelers brought traffic to a virtual standstill for more than 10 hours, leaving some motorists stuck on the interstate running low on fuel.

On Feb. 4, Texas Department of Public Safety officials reported 49 serious injuries and three deaths during the winter storm event.

Josh Rhodes, an energy expert with the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas, Austin, told The Epoch Times that the states grid passed the test this time.

The final exam wasnt as hard as last year. The lights stayed on. Id give them a B, Rhodes said.

Rhodes said the 15 percent increase in power generation capacity mentioned by the governor was mainly because of increased reliance on wind farms and battery storage capacity.

The grid is powered mainly by natural gas, which generated 46 percent of the electricity in 2020. But the grids share of renewable power has been increasing over the past decade, with wind providing 23 percent of the grids electricity, surpassing coal, which currently supplies 18 percent of the electricity. Another 11 percent is supplied by nuclear power, and the remainder comes from other sources.

Snow lies on the ground and on the backs of sculptures at the Dallas Cattle Drive Sculptures after a winter storm on Feb. 3, 2022, in Dallas. (Emil Lippe/Getty Images)

Rhodes said wind generated another 5,000 megawatts more than the 7,000 megawatts expected during the winter storm. But he pointed out that temperatures werent as cold and freezing precipitation wasnt as ubiquitous as it was in 2021. The wind was blowing during the 2022 winter storm, while it dropped off significantly during Uri.

Natural gas power plants seemed to be better prepared in 2022 by incorporating the ability to burn diesel as an alternative fuel in case of natural gas delivery issues. Communications have also improved, he said.

Rhodes said Texas should continue to work on communication between energy sectors and make natural gas production more transparent.

S&P Global Platts, which provides analysts of the commodities market, reported that initial production estimates on Feb. 3 show Texass Permian production dropped by 12 percent compared with the prior week average because of prolonged freezing temperatures.

Rhodes said while that kind of production drop might be normal and acceptable in a less severe weather event such as Landon, they stand to be more dramatic and potentially devastating should another storm such as Uri hit the state.
General Motors assembly workers connect a battery pack underneath a partially assembled 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicle on the assembly line at Orion Assembly in Lake Orion, Mich., on March 19, 2018. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

The Under-the-Radar Market That Could Produce the Next Tesla

Commentary

It appears to be game on in the EV world.

For over a decade, Tesla (TSLA) has dominated the public consciousness when it comes to electric vehicles (EVs).

Other car manufacturers had tinkered with hybrids, but it was only Tesla that focused solely on creating a line of all-electric vehicles. Minor players like Fisker and Rivian have entered the market, but no one can really touch the 800-pound gorilla that Tesla has become.

And through all of the companys ups and downsno matter what you think of its CEOElon Musk has stubbornly dragged the automotive world, quite possibly kicking and screaming, toward the EV market.

When ARK Invests Cathie Wood tapped Tesla to be one of the innovation leaders in her ARKK fund several years back, it was nothing but upside for the car manufacturer. (Yes, the valuations that come with a share of TSLA stock are still pretty insanebut so were Amazons back in the 90s.)

In any event, the other car manufacturers have been forced to take notice. And theyre coming out swinging.

Ford and GM Are Ramping Up Fast

Ford (F) recently came out and announced its plans to ramp up EV production by spending up to $20 billion over the next five to 10 years to convert current internal combustion engine infrastructure into EV production-capable facilities to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles.

Fords CEO Jim Farley made no secret about the companys goals saying Ford wants to challenge Teslas dominance in EVs.

(Of course just to hedge that bet a bit  Farley sees gasoline-fueled vehicles as a core part of the company for many years to come and still intends to invest enough to keep it competitive with rivals, he said in a separate interview last week.)

But no matter, Ford is now making a major commitment, and shareholders are approving. The companys stock rallied over 100 percent since August of 2021.

General Motors (GM) is also putting on the EV gloves.

Theyve announced their expansion plans revealing theyll be opening a third factory that will produce plug-in trucks. GMs CEO Mary Barra said the company is now targeting sales of 400,000 electric vehicles in North America by the end of 2023. Thats a very aggressive goal when you consider that in 2021 it sold fewer than 25,000 EVs.

Barra said in an interview, We also recognize we need to launch more EVs faster. Thats exactly what were going to do.

To the displeasure of income investors, the company also announced it was continuing to suspend its dividend in order to prioritize spending on EVs and other growth opportunities.

And its the other growth opportunities that I think investors are going to find interesting.

Where the Real Opportunity May Lie

While all the majors are duking it out over whos going to dominate the electric highway, theres another developing EV market thats flying under almost everyones radar.

The electric boating market.

Before you roll your eyes and stop reading consider this, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association (the NMMA), outboard boat engine sales hit a record high of $3.4 billion in 2020. And that was the ninth consecutive year of sales growth. (If there was ever a sign of a burgeoning growth market, that may be it.)

Apparently, GM was impressed as well. They recently took a 25 percent/$150 million stake in a Seattle-based electric boat start-up called Pure Watercraft. A $150 million investment may not sound like much compared to the billions theyve pumped into their auto side, but its exactly these unknown, barely believable companies that become the next Tesla.

Investors can do well to examine these fringe markets where future growth stock leaders are trading quietly under the radar. Companies like Vision Marine Technologies (VMAR) that touts the fact theyve built the worlds most powerful electric outboard motor. These are the giants of tomorrow that you can find at great values today.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Thousands Converge in Ottawa as Trucker Convoy Protest Enters Week 2

OTTAWAThousands of protesters once again gathered in Canadas capital to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5.

The trucker convoy protest was joined by farmers who took their own farm vehicle convoy to Ottawa to take part in the protest.

Protesters listen to speeches and performances during a rally on Parliament Hill as the protest against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions continues, in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Trucks and other vehicles are parked close to Parliament Hill in Ottawa as protesters gather to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

The protest on Feb. 5 featured speakers, music, dancing, and a singing of the Canadian national anthem. There were also tables set up to serve free food and drinks to protesters.

The number of protesters dropped after last weekend, the first weekend of the Freedom Convoy demonstration, but many joined again this weekend.

Several other large protests were held on Feb. 5 in provincial capitals around the country against COVID-19 mandates.

The convoy, which first began as a demonstration against the federal governments vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers, has since evolved into a large movement against all COVID-19 restrictions and mandates.

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Limin Zhou/The Epoch Times)

The first convoy left the West Coast for Ottawa on Jan. 23, culminating in a large protest held in the nations capital on Jan. 29. Many protesters have remained in Ottawa, saying they will stay until the government lifts COVID-19 mandates.

Ahead of the Feb. 5 protest, Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said police are implementing a surge and contain strategy to deal with the protesters. This includes sending 150 more police officers to the protest area in Ottawas downtown core, barricading the area with concrete and heavy-equipment barriers, as well as increased efforts by national, provincial, and local intelligence agencies to target those who are funding/supporting/enabling unlawful and harmful activity by protesters.

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Protesters gather in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Keith Wilson, a lawyer with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms who is representing the organizers of the protest, said the new measures by Ottawa police are similar to those used by oppressive regimes around the world.

[Sloly] effectively announced that he is going to be taking away Canadians charter right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, Wilson said in a video on Feb. 4.

Also on Feb. 4, GoFundMe said it is seizing the C$10 million (US$8 million) raised in donations to fund the trucker protest. The fundraising platform had been under pressure by political leaders and Ottawa police to remove the donation funding to the protesters. It had earlier released C$1 million to the organizers to be used for expenses such as fuel and food for the protesting truckers.

Protesters gather in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Annie Wu/NTD)

GoFundMe had initially said that donors had to request a refund, and the remaining funds would be donated to a charity verified by GoFundMe. But on Feb. 5 it said all donations will be automatically refunded.

The organizers have now set up an alternative donation site on GiveSendGo, which they say will ensure the money gets to the protesters to help cover costs.

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Annie Wu/NTD)

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Annie Wu/NTD)

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Annie Wu/NTD)

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Annie Wu/NTD)

Protesters gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. (Annie Wu/NTD)

People play street hockey in Ottawa as protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions continue on Feb. 5, 2022. (Courtesy of Simon Alary)

Volunteers provide free food and drinks to protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 2022. (Courtesy of Simon Alary)

Farm vehicles joining the trucker convoy protest against COVID-19 mandates parked in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 2022. (Courtesy of Simon Alary)
Thousands Protest in Toronto Against COVID Mandates and Lockdowns

TORONTOThousands gathered on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5 to oppose COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates, as police barricaded vehicle access to the area.

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Allen Zhang/The Epoch Times)

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Yi Ling/The Epoch Times)

The protest was one of several across the country as part of a large movement against COVID-19 restrictions, initially started by the Truckers for Freedom convoy protest, which has been ongoing in Ottawa since Jan. 29.

Police had blocked vehicle access to Queens Park to prevent vehicle convoys from accessing the site. Trucks and other vehicles parked away from the grounds, honking continuously in what has become a signature mark of the convoy protests across the country. A convoy of farm vehicles also joined the protest in Toronto.

Demonstrators walked to the legislature grounds, where a rally was held that included speeches.

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Yi Ling/The Epoch Times)

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Yi Ling/The Epoch Times)

Peter Karandysovsky, who was born in Czechoslovakia (since split into the two nations of Czech Republic and Slovakia), said he came to Canada for freedom from communism, as his home country used to be under communist rule.

We support the truckers  and they stepped in at the right time. We needed that, Karandysovsky told The Epoch Times.

Karandysovsky said COVID-19 mandates are authorities dictation, and thats why he opposes them.

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Allen Zhang/The Epoch Times)

Peter Karandysovsky (centre, holding sign) takes part in demonstrations against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Allen Zhang/The Epoch Times)

I have been under dictatorships in the communist regime, and I know its not good, he said.

Mississauga, Ont., resident Rafael Maro said he wants to see people have freedom of choice on whether to get a COVID-19 vaccination or not, and wants an end to lockdowns.

Its been two years now, enough is enough, he said in an interview. I got three kids, Im here for my kids. The schools have been online, that stuff doesnt work. They need to get their lives back, thats why were here.

Rafael Maro takes part in demonstrations against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Allen Zhang/The Epoch Times)

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Allen Zhang/The Epoch Times)

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on the grounds of the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022. (Yi Ling/The Epoch Times)

Maro said on top of COVID-19 vaccination mandates, theres now talk of a requirement for booster shots, but he said the shots dont stop transmission of the virus.

There is no end in sight if we dont stand up.

Similar protests as those in Toronto and Ottawa were held in other areas across Canada, including at the Quebec legislature in Quebec City and in Alberta.

Annika Wang Follow Annika Wang is a reporter based in Toronto.

Allen Zhang Follow Allen Zhang is a reporter based in Toronto.
A tiny, four-legged member of a family in Bartow, Florida, who went missing last September was reunited with her owners after the New Year.

The 10-year-old Chihuahua, whose name also happens to be Tiny, had never even left her home before, according to the dogs owner Sophia Burgess. But somehow, Tiny ended up in Clearwater Beach, some 70 miles away, where she was found by a police officer.

But neither the police nor her owners have any idea how she ended up there.

The Clearwater Police Department stated, If only Tiny could talk, she might be able to shed some light on how she made it from Bartow to Clearwater Beach more than three months after going missing.

They added: Sophia Burgess and her family put up signs in the neighborhood when Tiny turned up missing and also posted online pleas for her return. After more than three months, it wasnt looking promising.

Then, in the last week of December 2021, she was spotted on the beach near Tower 1 by Officer Ryan Kenna, who brought the dog to Pinellas County Animal Control.

After some digging, the facility traced her back to her family, as Tiny is microchipped, and contacted Burgess just before the New Year.

I had to hold it in all weekend, Burgess had told police; the animal control facility was closed for New Years, and the mom didnt want to get her familys hopes up only to find out it was the wrong dog.

Fortuitously, Burgesss 15-year-old daughter, Jaliyah, had dreamt of Tinys return just weeks before learning the good news.

Sometimes, a dream can turn into reality, the department added.

The family and their lost membernow foundwere reunited. But the mystery of how she made her journey remains unsolved.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Bright newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
In this weeks episode of Kashs Corner, Kash Patel interviews former President Donald Trump.

In this exclusive interview, Trump and Patelwho previously served as a top White House aide and Pentagon chief-of-staffdiscuss the state of the country, the threat from communist China, the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, the investigation by special counsel John Durham, and much more.

Below is a rush transcript of this Kashs Corner episode from Feb 7, 2022. This transcript may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Kash Patel: Mr. President, thanks so much for joining us at Epoch Times and Kashs Corner. Were excited to have you and thank you for being with us today here at wonderful Mar-a-Lago. Were glad to be talking with you.

I want to jump right in, sir. We know what your administration accomplished against China, against the CCP, and how you made Xi Jinping respect you. And we saw how the last year has gone, sir. Mr. President, what does the next three years look like? How do we take on China? What does the next administration, the next president have to do not to just get us back to where we were, but even further along.

President Donald Trump: It is the saddest period of time that Ive ever seen for our country. We had everything so good. Youre a part of it. The borders, the relationships with other countries, they respected us. We made trade deals that were good deals. We broke bad deals and made great deals, like we got rid of NAFTA, (North American Free Trade Agreement) which was a horrible thing. And we have the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) with Canada and Mexico.

But this is the saddest time for our country, and I think the most embarrassing time for our country. Look, the borders are a disaster with millions of people coming in. Everythings a disaster. Theres nothing good, inflation. But the point that was the worst, I think, was that whole, the way they withdrew from Afghanistan.

I got it down to 2000 soldiers. We were going to get out with strength and dignity, and our equipment, no deaths. The way they withdrew from Afghanistan was like we were the gang that couldnt shoot straight. And to take out the military before you take outnow theyre hostages, well call them the hostages, the Americans, and some othersbut now theyve just taken thousands and thousands of people out of Afghanistan. They dont even know who they are and where they come from. We are going to pay a big price later, you watch. You are going to pay a big, big price with terrorism and other things. But it is so sad to see it.

Mr. Patel: How do we reset China?

President Trump: Its got to be reset. China now is going to be on a rampage. I think after the Olympics, bad things will happen with respect to Taiwan. If the election werent rigged, this stuff would have never happened. It was a rigged election and a disgraceful situation. And whats happening with Russia and Ukraine, whats happening with North Korea, whats happening with Iran, now they are renegotiating from weakness.

We would have had a deal with Iran in one week after the election. It was going to be done. They were all set to make a deal. They would have made a deal in one week. Instead, this deal theyre talking about now is a disaster for our country. Its just you need new leadership. I could give you 20 different things. I could say, Do this, do that. Theyre not going to do it.

Mr. Patel: Theyre not going to do it, but I think what America wants to know is what should be done. Because no one in a position of power like you, Mr. President, is saying What should be done? It was great, I agree. I was part of your national security apparatus. We took on Iran. We withdrew from Afghanistan smartly with conditions and put America first. But people are out there, and I talk to them. They want to know, What do we do? We know its gotten so bad.

President Trump: Well, you need leadership, though. Its easy to say what you can do. You close the border, you go back to stay-in-Mexico, you go back to all of the policies that we had, catch-and-release, we ended it. Its easy to say thats what you have to do, but theyre not going to do that. I used to think they were just grossly incompetent. Now, its a combination of that and their policy is so bad. So, its easy for me to say you have to get strong with China, you have to do tariffs, you have to do a lot of different things. But theyre not going to be doing it.

Mr. Patel: If they dont do it, what do we tell Americans? What do we tell the world? You know, telling them to wait three years is tough.

President Trump: Ill tell you that we have got a problem, because three years is a long time. Look, they have destroyed our country in one year, and theyre going to get three more years. They rigged an election, theyre going to get another three more years. I cant tell you whats going to happen. Because our country has never gone down so much, so fast.

We have never been in this position, what theyre doing to our country, in terms of criminal justice, in terms of trade, and in terms of our military. We have these woke generals that dont know what the hell theyre doing, where they leave $85 billion worth of equipment behind and they move the military out before they move the people out.

Its easy to say. I could give you a list of things. I could give you a list of 10 to 15 items and every one would be perfect, but theyre not going to do them. Theyre not closing the border. I used to think that they were just late. The wall could have been done and completed in three weeks. It was almost complete. It took two and a half years to get it started because I had to win 11 lawsuits, mostly from Congress and Democrats. I won all the lawsuits, and it was almost complete.

We had the lowest numbers ever on our southern border. Now we have the worst numbers and that includes drugs. The drugs are 10 to 15 times more than they were one year ago. Think of that, 10 to 15 times, theyre saying. So, we can give you everything to do, but its just a waste of time. Because unless you have the right people in, theyre not going to do it.

Mr. Patel: So, speaking of the right people, sir, we have a midterm election. And it looks like the Republicans are poised well. Can leadership in the House and the Senate, like when Chairman Nunes and I were running the Russiagate investigation, can we have oversight investigations that help stall or pause the bad policies? And do we have that leadership coming into Congress?

President Trump: You have a lousy leader in Mitch McConnell, and hes proven that a lot. But having the Senate is a good thing. And getting the House is going to be like a stopgap. Because it will be able to stop a lot of the things that are being done to destroy our country.

So, getting the House is a very big thing, because you need the House majority, which we should be able to get. I mean, some people are saying by 45 votes. We could get them by a lot, maybe even more than that. And who wouldnt vote for the Republicans right now? And if we get the House, we can stop most of this stuff from happening, at least. Thats so big.

But what they are doing is in between now and November, thats a lot of time. They are going full speed to get as much as they can. They were never given a mandate, to use mandate as a different term. Because the mandates are bad, right? But they were never given a mandate in this election. Because even if you looked at it where they won, they didnt, they lost by a lot. But if you look at the number, it was so close. So thats not a mandate to destroy our country.

Mr. Patel: But Americans are seeing that its going the wrong way.

President Trump: Its going the wrong way. If somebody won an election by 40 points, maybe could do whatever you want. But this was a thing that they just snuck over the line. And its all coming out. Look, they lost the election. And now theyre destroying the country. So, think of it. Theyre destroying our country; theyre making us a different country. Were becoming like a socialist or a communist state.

We no longer have a press. The press is absolutely the enemy of the people. We dont have a press. If you do a story that is very important from your view, you cant get the story out. Its very hard to get the word out. Thats why what you do is so important, because you will find a way. But we dont have a free press anymore. We dont have a fair press anymore.

Kash, you really have to wonder why they would want to have a weak military? Why would they want to have high interest rates and higher taxes? And why would they want to have no border? I mean, no border? Why would they want to have no voter ID, for example, or sanctuary cities that take care of criminals? All of these thingsdefund the police? Why do they want to defund our police? They want to take money away; they want to take our police away. Why? It cant possibly be good. So, either theyre stupid, which I dont think they are, or they hate our country. Why do they want to do this stuff? Why does somebody want to defund the police? And you see the crime rates in these Democrat cities, it has gone through the roof, like its never been before.

Mr. Patel: Youre right, sir. I think most of America, the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with you and your policies from the past administration. What I think Americans are missing right now is the solution. I know three years is a long time away. If you were back in, what is the first thing you would say to Xi Jinping?

President Trump: Back in? If I were back in, the wall. First of all, the wall

Mr. Patel: Finish it.

President Trump: Even for him. You know why? Because when he sees millions of people pouring into our country, he loses respect for our country. This is before the Afghanistan disaster. When he and Putin and Kim Jong-un and Iran leaders, when theyre watching millions of people from 129 different countries walk into our country, just walk in, they lose respect.

Its so easy. You close it up, you have to close it up. That would send a big signal, a really big signal. And then youve got to get their respect again.

Mr. Patel: How do you do that?

President Trump: You do that by making sure that they know that this country is here, and its here to stay, and were not going to take any nonsense. Number one, our military budget, they cut the hell out of it. So, Chinas building a military like nobodys ever seen before, and were cutting our budget. You cant let that happen. We have better everything than they do, if we are allowed to use it. And you have to gain their respect. Right now, Putin no longer respects our country. Thats why theyre doing what theyre doing.

Mr. Patel: Hes doing the same thing as Xi, right? Over in Russia. He is running the same campaign.

President Trump: These things would never have happened had I been President.

Mr. Patel: Would you call Putin today and say, This just cant happen.

President Trump: If I were president, Id call him. I wouldnt call him if Im not President, because it wouldnt be appropriate. Look, Im the one that stopped their pipeline.

Mr. Patel: Yeah, the Nord Stream 2.

President Trump: Then they say, Oh, Trump was easy. Thats the biggest thing thats ever happened to them. I got along well with Putin. I had a very good relationship with him. But he understood and I understood, and we had an understanding. He would have never done Ukraine. And Xi would have never been doing what hes doing. Look, hes looking to do Taiwan. That would have never happened under my administration.

Mr. Patel: You set the posture. When I was a chief of staff for you at DOD, you set a very tough posture on the South China Sea and with Taiwan. And youre right, he didnt think for a second to come in and do anything.

President Trump: Never even thought of that.

Mr. Patel: Now hes taking shots at American dummy ships in the South China Sea. Youre absolutely right. With Putin, during the Obama administration, he did the Crimea invasion. In the Biden administration, hes thinking about coming into either Kazakhstan or the Ukraine. But it didnt happen under yours. Why is that?

President Trump: You were there. I wiped out 100 per cent of the ISIS caliphate. Everyone said it couldnt be done in less than two or three years. I did it in one month.

Mr. Patel: I got to tell a story. I dont mean to interrupt the president here, but I was running counterterrorism for you. And you said Kash, I have some very simple policies I would like to get done. I want to kill Al-Qaeda senior leadership, I want to wipe out the Amirs of ISIS, and I want to make sure we shut down Iran.

Mr. President, I had an organizational chart for ISIS and Al-Qaeda on the back of my office door when I was head of counterterrorism for you. And we xed out 98 per cent of the people on the chart because you took the fight to them. That was a humbling and impressive experience. Do you think now with what happens in Afghanistan, that theyre going to be back on the rise, and we are going to have to deal with this situation?

President Trump: They already are on the rise. Look, they were wiped out. 100 per cent. Remember, I wanted to leave because we were 95 per cent there. I said, We can leave now. Let these other countries handle it. Let Russia handle it. Let Iran handle it. Were doing their work for them, like with ISIS, in particular. They hate ISIS. I said, They can handle the rest. And then the press said, Oh, it wasnt 100 per cent. I said, Okay, Ill do 100 per cent. And I wiped it out in two weeks100 per cent Isis-free, Iraq and Syria. Nobody could believe it. And I had great generals.

Heres the good news. We have great generals, not the guys like Milley that you see on television. We have really great generals. I know a lot of them. Look at the job they did for me. When I said, Go get them, that was the end. And I didnt go through Milley. When I said, Go get them, we did an incredible job with ISIS. People dont even believe it to this day.

We also had 1000s of soldiers on the border between Syria and Turkey. I said, Why are we protecting Turkey or Syria? Why are we in the middle of these two armies that had been there for 1000 years more? Why are we doing that? I took the soldiers out. So, we got down to like 50. I said, Im not going to let 50 soldiers be between these armies. I got them. Everyone said, Oh, what a mistake. Nothing happened.

We had 5000 soldiers there. And I kept taking them out and taking them out. We cant protect our own border, our southern border, and yet were protecting a border 1000s of miles away between Turkey and Syria. I said, Bring them home. I took them out. You know what happened? Nothing. They went back to where theyve been for the last 2000 years.

Mr. Patel: With your foreign policy, you drew us out of wars, the forever wars, as we call them. I ran that in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. And you did that successfully. Do you see us going back the other way in the next year or so with the current leadership structure, and with the politicization of the national security apparatus? How do we stop us from going back into an Afghanistan with the rise of ISIS and Al-Qaeda?

President Trump: Well, people dont know, but we also fought Russia. We were being hit a little bit by Russia. And I said, Dont do it again. Dont do it. I said it two times. And then we did somethingpeople dont talk about it. And Id rather have them not talk about it, but we hit them very hard. And they know it and we know it and and it was a level of respect that we developed that was very good. And even a relationship, but we developed a level of respect. We shouldnt be fighting with Russia. We shouldnt be fighting with these countries. We should get along and that includes China. We would have had a very good relationship with China.

COVID was too much to take, because when that came in, it came in from China, and it came in from the Wuhan labs. Now everyone agrees.

Mr. Patel: You and I knew it back then when Ric Grenell and I briefed you.

President Trump: Ric was great.

Mr. Patel: You shut down travel from China right after the briefing that Ric and I gave you when we were running the intel community. That was the right move.

President Trump: But people didnt want it done.

Mr. Patel: Now, two years later, the rest of the world still has travel bans in place. What do you say to them about all these travel bans and everything that theyre still doing?

President Trump: I say this. I say China got away with something thats absolutely terrible, one of the worst things ever to happen to the world, maybe the worst thing, because the whole world has been so affected by the China virus. The world has been affected. But I had a great relationship with China up until that point. At that point, it was too much. How do you have a great relationship when you have millions of people all over the world dying?

And now Biden gets in, and he does such a horrible job with the COVID. Its like they dont know what the hell theyre doing. He came in [saying], Im going to solve COVID. They had more in his year. We developed therapeutics, vaccines, everything. With all of the stuff they have, all of the knowledge that we learned, all of the gear that we bought, with the ventilators and with the outfits, the masks, and the goggles. We stocked up the whole country, we did a great job. I got very little credit for doing it, that was an incredible job. All the cupboards were bare, the states were bare, the United States government, our cupboards were empty. They were all empty and we stocked them up. And Biden comes in and they didnt know what they were doing.

Mr. Patel: Now we have tests coming in that are made in China.

President Trump: We have tests coming in made in China that dont work. They didnt have any tests for the new variant that came in, they are so unprepared. Its been terrible.

Mr. Patel: What do you tell the American public who are now sick and tired of being locked up for two years, who know your administration did all that successful stuff? What do you tell America now going forward? What do we do?

President Trump: We have to end the mandates. The mandates are horrible, and they have to be ended. They shouldnt have started. Initially, I closed it to China, but I let the governors make the decision on what theyre going to do. Not every state closed, some did some didnt. Some absolutely remained open. You know the ones, and I know the ones. But I said, You make your own decision. From a state standpoint, it was really the right thing to do.

The Democrats went crazy, and they just closed everything. New York, I dont know if its ever going to be the same, what they did in New York. Its just so sad what happened in New York. Look at what happened in Los Angeles, what happened in parts of California. But a lot of Republicans did a very, very great job in terms of that. But you know, I didnt close anything. I let the governors make that decision.

Mr. Patel: Thats a distinction thats lost on a lot of people Mr. President. You respected the states rights and powers.

President Trump: I said to the governors, you do what you have to do. But I did close our country to China and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. And I closed it to Europe too, when I saw what was happening in Italy, France and Spain. And then if you look at virtually every country, I closed them very early, a little bit after China, but we closed it to Europe. And those two closures, Europe and China, they saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Mr. Patel: Now were past that, and you would tell the American people now?

President Trump: Get on with your life.

Mr. Patel: Move on, right?

President Trump: The whole concept of children, with the children going through all of this, masks and getting vaccinated, what theyre doing is just absolutely crazy. They say they do it because theyre on a power trip. Its hard to believe. Whats the power trip? I dont get it. Its just wrong what theyre doing.

Mr. Patel: Ive only got two more things. I know you have to get going, Mr. President, but I definitely want to ask you about two things, and then a personal story if I may. One, we talked about it brieflyIran. Okay, we got the Ayatollah rising, Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism. You took out Soleimani, rightly so. I was there with you when you did it. An amazing day. Again, it was your march to eliminate, not just defeat, but eliminate terrorism flat out. What do you tell the American people about Iran marching towards a nuclear weapon now? How do we give them confidence to say that we wont let that happen?

President Trump: You cant let it happen, and I think Biden is letting it happen. You cant let it happen. You wont be able to talk. This is a religious ideology that is not going to be acceptable. You cant let it happen. If he lets it happen, it is going to be a horrible day for the world. Israel will not exist in my opinion, if they let that happen.

If you look back at Israel, and what I did with the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, and Golan Heights, but the biggest thing I did was ending the Iran nuclear deal. That was the biggest thing. You know, I did Golan Heights. I did the capital of Israel with Jerusalem moving the embassy. Not only did I move it there, I built it. I built the embassy. I built it for $500,000. I took a building that we already had in Jerusalem, and I built the embassy. We built it, and its beautiful. Its uses Jerusalem stone.

Mr. Patel: Would you tell Israeli-Americans and people in Israel that you think this administration is going to let Iran get a nuclear weapon?

President Trump: I think so. It looks like they are going to. Yes. Its not even conceivable. I think its going to be one of the tragic moments of history.

Mr. Patel: How do we prepare for that? We know this administration is politicizing How do you give the American people, the so many people that backed you, how do you give them a little faith that in the next year or two with new leadership, we can get it back and make it better?

President Trump: There are different kinds of things. We can stop people from doing this horrible thing thats happening. Again, the election should have never been allowed to go through. The Supreme Court didnt have the courage to do what should have been done. A lot of very bad things happened, very bad things.

The House will help, but they wont be able to help very much. I think were going to have a tremendous victory in the House, and we can win the Senate. But I think were going to have a tremendous victory in the House. And that will be a blocker. But that doesnt stop Iran from having nuclear weapons. Thats done through the administration. Right now, it almost seems like they dont mind if they have nuclear weapons. That seems to be their policy. And the problem they have is they are being decimated on so many fronts.

Look, I had no inflation. I had low gas prices. We were energy-independent. We were respected by Russia. We were respected by China, respected by Kim Jong-un, North Korea, we were respected by Iran. We were really respected by Iran. Im telling youwe would have had a deal with Iran. We were respected by everybody. Every single thing that I just said, multiply it by times three, its a disaster now, even supply chain.

I never heard the term supply chain while I was in office. There was no such thing. Everything just worked out well. There was no supply chain issue, there was no problem. I leave office, and within less than a year, the stores are all empty for Christmas. It was only good if you didnt want to buy somebody a Christmas present, you could save the money, because if you went into a store, you couldnt buy anything. And that was the only time, KashIve never seen anything like it.

I dont want to take credit for supply chain. This was just happening routinely, and it had been for many, many years. These guys have destroyed our supply chain. I was in California where the boats come in with big cargo containers.

Mr. Patel: Yes, Long Beach.

President Trump: I have never seen anything like it. Ive been passing it for 20 years; I have property out there. Ive been passing it for 20 years, and Ive seen it for 20 years. A container would come in, it would be on a truck, then it will be gone. Theyre stacked up like Ive never seen before. There are thousands and thousands of containers. I said theyll never get rid of these things. They will never get rid of them. This goes on for miles. By the way, thats a big port, and this is going on for miles. And I said, look at that. I just got to see it for the first time in a few years. And I said Ive never seen anything like it. So, supply chain is a big problem.

Mr. Patel: You would take that on?

President Trump: Look, everythings fixable, but you need the right people to fix it. We dont have the people. Id like to be optimistic, say, Heres what you do. I can say what to do. And Ive said a lot during this interview, I can say what to do, but theyre not going to do it.

Theyre not going to freeze the border. Theyre not going to throw out murderers and drug dealers and terrorists that have poured into our country. We have terrorists coming in from Afghanistan and being flown in on planes. 3 per cent of the people that theyve taken in are vetted and checked. Look, when you have a war, and that war endsand Im the one that really ended itall I wanted to do is take it out very efficiently. But when that war ends, no country has ever taken in all the people. So, the war ends and now we take in tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people [without vetting them.] They have no idea who those people are. A big price will be paid.

Mr. Patel: I want to get one more personal story and then one last thing I think you and I always enjoy talking about, sir. When you and I get together. I was fortunate to head up a lot of your hostage rescue operations. What the world doesnt remember is that you, sir, brought home more Americans and citizens from around the world than all the previous presidents combined.

President Trump: 48 hostages.

Mr. Patel: Actually, I have to correct you, its 54.

President Trump: Okay, Ill take that. I like that, good. 54 hostages and zero dollars. We never paid.

Mr. Patel: We never paid and it was such a priority for you, and then there was the taxing work that goes into getting just one. But I remember this moment, sir. We were in the Situation Room. I was heading up counterterrorism for you. It was the night of the Baghdadi strike. And we call signal jackpot. You ordered the raid. The absolute right call, even though some people were advising you not to do it, the absolute right calltake out Baghdadihes dead.

You, on a Saturday evening at the White House, looked at me and said, Kash, I want the contact information of the Muellers, the Sotloffs, the Foleys and the Kassigs, and we know who they are. Their children were ravaged by Baghdadi, raped, tortured and killed. After killing the worlds number one terrorist, Mr. President, I have to ask, why was it so important to you to call the families that you had avenged?

It was pretty emotional for the rest of us that were there that night when the commander-in-chief said, I want to focus on these individuals. Then just two months later, you and the First Lady had Carl and Marsha Mueller as guests, and you honored them at the State of the Union. And you reveal that we named the operation; 8-17, which is Kayla Muellers birthday. Why was that always such a pressing issue?

President Trump: I didnt know until you just told me that so many people were watching. But I felt it was very important. These are people that have been absolutely decimated, their families destroyed by Al Baghdadi and what he did. And what he did personally, it was on a personal basis. One of the first things I said is, You have to get Al Baghdadi. This was when I first got elected and first came in, and not easy.

They had been looking for himfor 16 years they had been looking for him. I said, You got to get him. I always say, The guy with a fan behind him. Remember, he always had that same picture of him with the little fan behind him as he was preaching? But we took out Al Baghdadi. Yes, the first thing I did, I called the parents and the relatives and friends of the people that were just absolutely decimated.

Mr. Patel: Why was that so important to you?

President Trump: Because nobody suffered like they did at the hands of this animal. He was an animal. And he was rebuilding ISIS. He was building it and he was rebuilding, and he was going to rebuild it fast. If I werent president, youd have ISIS all over the world right now. We knocked it out.

Mr. Patel: We wouldnt have gotten our hostages back.

President Trump: You would have never gotten them back. No, we got them back. And we didnt pay for it. If you start paying, if you say, Ill give you 5 million, if you start paying, its no good, because then youll have plenty of negotiations. We got, as you say, 54, 55, 56, I hear different numbers, but whatever it may be, we got them back. And we never paid. If you start paying, everybody all of a sudden becomes a hostage. But when they know youre not going to pay, it makes life a lot better.

Mr. Patel: There are still Americans that are hostages. What would you tell those parents?

President Trump: They have them in Afghanistan, you have hostages right now. And it could be in the thousands. Nobody is telling me the numbers. Nobody knows the numbers. People are saying two or three hundred. Thats too many. One is too many, but it could be in the thousands. You have people there because we took our military out first. How stupid is that?

Mr. Patel: Actually, Im going to add one on air. You came up with the conditions-based withdrawal for Afghanistan, and I was fortunate enough to be over at DOD and you said, Kash, were not leaving until we get the Americans first. Were not leaving till we wipe out al Qaeda and ISIS. Bagram, were going to keep it. Were going to leave Special Forces in the country. And were going to bring every American home.

Fast forward, in juxtaposition to what theyre doing now. They just left. People are falling out of the sky to their death. By the way, they were texting American citizens in Afghanistan saying, Please come to Kabul, if you can, and well get you out. What kind of foreign policy is that?

President Trump: We gave the Taliban a list of all the people that we knew that were Americans as we were leaving. It was crazy. So now they know it, and they probably have them, and some are captured. Theres no question about it. And some are living a very bad life. But we gave all of this to them.

The way they did that, number one, is not excusable. And the way they did it is just not even believable, that somebody could be so stupid, that they could be so weak and so stupid. We look like we surrendered.

Not one soldier was killed in 18 months. I spoke to Abdul, who was the leader of the Taliban, and still is. I had a very strong conversation with him, and we didnt lose one soldier in 18 months. And then we flee? There was not even any reason to go quickly. I would have said, Take the people out, take the equipment out, and when everythings gone, get some of the people from Afghanistan that helped us, the interpreters, not tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands. Its a small group, but get them.

People are fleeing Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of people are coming out. Theyre coming into our country. We have no idea who they are. Its a very sad day.

Mr. Patel: Do you think in the next three years we have to go back into Afghanistan? We as a convention military?

President Trump: I hope not. But I would have kept Bagram. It was always my plan to keep Bagram, not because of Afghanistan. They spent billions of dollars building it 20 years ago. It has the longest most powerful runway stick, it can handle anything. And its right next to China. Its one hour away from where they build their nuclear weapons.

Mr. Patel: The world doesnt know that part. I dont think people know that.

President Trump: I dont know if they know it or not. How can you lose Bagram? Its one hour away from where China does its nuclear weapons. Now, to add insult to injury, they have a parade displaying all of the equipment that they got from us.

Think of it, 70,000 trucks, and these are armor plated, many of them, the most expensive, this not like you go down to your local dealer. 700,000 machine guns, rifles, weapons. Helicopters, tanks, night goggles, out of the box, brand new, better than what we have, the new model, the newest model.

And heres the other part, China is now taking over Bagram. China is going to have Bagram. They also have a lot of our weapons, because theyre re-engineering and going to build them for themselves. We made the greatest Apache helicopters. And theyre now studying our helicopters, because they want to build them just like that.

This is one of the greatest catastrophes, and not only in terms of actual, but also in terms of psychological. I think its the most embarrassing day or week in the history of our country. And the fake news media hardly wants to talk about it.

Mr. Patel: How do we get it back? Who does that? What does the next leader have to do?

President Trump: You need a leader. You need a leader. If you have the leader, it will all work out. But we dont have that right now.

Mr. Patel: Are we going to have that later?

President Trump: Right now you have nothing close to it. I hope we do. Youre going to find out. Im going find out. I will say this. We had the country better than its ever been, the economy, everything. It was the best economy we ever had.

And then COVID came in from China. I call it the China virus, because its a much more accurate term. But the China virus floated in, and then we rebuilt it again. And we handed over something that was incredible. And they blew it.

And he ran on the basis that I will stop COVID. He didnt stop anything. It was a disaster. And they werent prepared. They didnt order the kits. They didnt order the tests. They didnt order the therapeutics that you need. The therapeutics are so important. We developed great therapeutics. They didnt know that. They were totally unprepared.

Mr. Patel: What I see is the difference, Mr. President, across the board, from a national security defense law enforcement position is you just did the mission. You ordered your priorities to be executed. Compared it to today, they politicize it. They want to know what the media is going to like. They want to take their cues from the media. Thats just what Ive been saying recently on TVjust because President Trump placed the priority against Russia, against China, against Iran, bringing hostages home, killing terrorists, they want to do the opposite. Thats just a tragic day for America. What do you think?

President Trump: I think this, theyre good at two things, politics and rigging elections. Thats it. If they used the same genius on running our country, wed have a country like no other. When I say Make America Great Again, I mean that, because we have to make America great again. They never talk about greatness. All they talk about is the same old stuff. You watch the news, its COVID. Its global warming. They talk about global warming; they dont talk about nuclear warming.

Mr. Patel: Yes, the DODs priority is global warming and climate change.

President Trump: Woke, everythings woke. Lets make sure that a guy can participate in womens sports. You see the records that are being broken now? A record that held up for 11 years in swimming was broken by 38 seconds. Weightlifting records are being broken up by numbers like nobodys ever seen. Its a disgrace.

Mr. Patel: When you and I get together, Mr. President, we always have to chat about Russiagate. What happened to you when you were running for president and then when you became president, was the biggest criminal enterprise. I dont want us to stew over the past, But I do think our viewers are really interested in John Durham, and they want to know what you think about John Durham. You and I talked about it with me being a former federal prosecutor, national security guy, I think I know where John Durham is going. How do you think hes done, and where do you think hes going?

President Trump: I wish it were faster, because I think it could have been much faster. It would have been nice to have been done before the election because they cheated viciously and crazily, what they did was so criminal. It would have been good if the voters would have known that, but it didnt matter because I won the election by a lot anyway. So, it didnt. Honestly, I dont think that was the big defining moment.

But he did come up with some really interesting stuff with the lawyers and Sussmann and all of these people, number one. I hear theres a lot coming. So, I think the jury is out. Were going see what happens. But what hes doing is one of the most important jobs being done right now in America.

Mr. Patel: What do you say to the American people every time I am on TV or every time you do a rallyIm sure you see this on a much greater level than I ever willWheres John Durham? Wheres John Durham? Do you have faith in him? I tell people hes on the right path, it takes time.

President Trump: Youve said that, and that makes me feel good too. You know a lot about that. But I will say that he came out with that initial statement and report, and it was big. And thats felt like a foundation for very big things to come. So hopefully, who knows? Were going to see. I wish it were faster. Were going to see what happens.

But it was a criminal. I call it the crime of the century. It is really the crime of the century. And it changed everything, including the election, it changed everything. It was so disgusting, what took place. And all of the things they said about me and Russiait was them and Russia. It was them and Russia, they worked with Russia. And they would lie.

I watched this Adam Schiff. I call him, respectfully, watermelon head, because his head is shaped just like a watermelon. Id watch him go up to the microphone, and act as so hurt. Hes so hurt, talking about Trump and Russia, when he knew it was a rigged deal, when he knew it was a fake. He knew it was fake. He was one of the people that made it up, along with Hillary Clinton and others.

Mr. Patel: Maybe theyre looking at him.

President Trump: And they go out there and that act as though theyre so hurt by what took place. These are bad people. So, I hope John Durham, for the good of the country, comes up with everything that you know took place, and that everybody knows took place, because it has been exposed. It would be really nice to have it fully exposed. So, well see what happens. I will give you a really good answer, hopefully, in a year from now.

Mr. Patel: Ill take your word for it Mr. President. Look, I know your time is precious. Thank you for joining us on Kashs Corner. Thank you for inviting us into Mar-a-Lago and meeting the team, meeting my parents. It made my day, made my year, and Im going to come back and see you soon, sir.

President Trump: Your parents did a great job with you, have a good time. Thank you very much.

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People on a highway overpass support the Freedom Rally and the protest of the truck drivers against vaccine mandates, in Surrey, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Jan. 29, 2022. (EdgarBullon/Shutterstock)

Solidarity Trucker Convoy Protests Planned for Provincial Capitals this Weekend

After the cross-country Freedom Convoy made its way to Ottawa on Jan. 29 for its ongoing protest, other convoys are converging on other cities this weekend, notably Quebec City and Toronto, to call for the end of pandemic restrictions.

Participants from Quebecs remote northeastern region of Cote-Nord started arriving in Quebec City on Thursday and staged an initial protest, and convoys from other regions of the province arrived Friday evening.

Bernard Gauthier, an organizer of the protest in Quebec, told Theovox Actualites on Thursday that the reason for organizing local actions was not to split the movement, but rather to allow people who could not make it to Ottawa to get involved.

Thank you to the families, were doing this for you, and youre getting involved, he said. Please come see us tomorrow, come show support.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters Friday he would not tolerate a repeat of what transpired in Ottawa, with trucks blocking parts of the downtown core, saying tow trucks were ready to intervene.

In Toronto, Mayor John Tory also said he wants to avoid the development of a similar situation to that in Ottawa.

Videos circulating on social media show that a number of trucks and farm tractors have already arrived in Toronto.

NOW  Trucks and farm tractors begin to arrive in #Toronto.pic.twitter.com/AlPtDVhfdn  Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) February 4, 2022

Tory said in a press conference on Feb. 4 that his city is used to hosting many protests, including weekly ones against pandemic measures, and even though he disagrees with those views, he respects the right of all Canadians to peaceful protest.

Weve seen many peaceful and respectful protests in our city and it is my hope, if people are determined to gather, to protest this weekend in our city of Toronto, that a commitment to respectful, peaceful protest will be demonstrated.

Tory said hes been in contact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, and Premier Doug Ford, whove all offered to help.

We live in a democracy. If people want to come down and protest, God bless em. I understand their frustration, I really do, Ford told Hamilton radio station CHML.

Ford struck a different tone on the Ottawa protest during a press conference related to the meeting of the premiers, calling it an occupation.

Out west, a poster circulating on social media is calling for an Island Convoy on Vancouver Island on Feb. 5 that will end at the legislature in Victoria. Similar to the Freedom Convoy, the poster says the intention is to remain in place until the mandates are lifted.

Another B.C. event announced on social media is called Stand United The Media is the Virus Convoy.

Participants are invited to gather in Langley before driving to Vancouver in a convoy.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Then-President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One en route to Ohio on the White House South Lawn in Washington on Aug. 1, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Trump Responds, Criticizes Pence Over Comments Regarding Jan. 6

Former President Donald Trump late Friday issued a statement in response to former Vice President Mike Pence who, earlier in the day, disagreed with Trump about his role in the electoral vote certification process on Jan. 6.

At a speech to the conservative Federalist Society in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Pence said that the former president was wrong, after Trump said on Jan. 30 that Pence did have the right to change the outcome of the election.

Pence, as vice president, served as the president of the Senate and presided over the joint session of Congress to count Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021the final step in the Electoral College system to certifying a president-elect.

Vice President Mike Pence presides over a Joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via Getty Images)

If the Vice President [Mike Pence] had absolutely no right to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans  are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election? Trump said in a statement.

Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didnt exercise that power; he could have overturned the Election! the 45th U.S. president said.

Pence on Friday told the conservative legal group at the event in Orlando: There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress, I possessed unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes. And I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election.

President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election, said the former vice president. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. Frankly, there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.

He continued, Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election. And Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024.

The audience applauded Pences line about beating the Democrats in the upcoming presidential election, but remained silent when Pence said earlier that Trump is wrong, reported The Associated Press.

Later Friday, Trump issued a statement through his political action committee, Save America, criticizing Pences remarks.

Just saw Mike Pences statement on the fact that he had no right to do anything with respect to the Electoral Vote Count, other than being an automatic conveyor belt  to get Biden elected President as quickly as possible, Trump said.

Well, the Vice Presidents position is not an automatic conveyor if obvious signs of voter fraud or irregularities exist. Thats why the Democrats and RINOs are working feverishly together to change the very law that Mike Pence and his unwitting advisors used on January 6 to say he had no choice.

The reason they want it changed is because they now say they dont want the Vice President to have the right to ensure an honest vote, Trump continued. In other words, I was right and everyone knows it.

If there is fraud or large scale irregularities, it would have been appropriate to send those votes back to the legislatures to figure it out. The Dems and RINOs want to take that right away. A great opportunity lost, but not forever, in the meantime our Country is going to hell!

A group of Democrats and some Republicans, led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has been meeting behind closed doors to discuss potential changes to Electoral Count Act that would make it more difficult to challenge results of a future presidential election, reported The Associated Press. The group hopes to come up with draft legislation in the near future.

Collins told reporters at the Capitol that Trumps repeated assertions that Pence could have altered the outcome of the election underscored the need for us to revise the Electoral Count Act, because they demonstrated the confusion in the law and the fact that it is ambiguous.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Feb. 1 he is open to the effort, and said the Electoral Count Act is flawed and it needs to be fixed.

Leading up to Jan. 6, Republican electors in seven statesPennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexicohad cast alternative slates of votes for Trump.

Related Coverage Power of Vice President to Count or Reject Electoral Votes Disputed

Pence presided over the joint session on Jan. 6, where he read out the electoral votes for all 50 states. During the session, Pence did not acknowledge the alternative slates of votes for Trump from the seven states and only read off the certificates for Biden.

At the time, Pences office didnt return an inquiry from The Epoch Times on why he didnt acknowledge alternate slates.

On Jan. 6, Trump called on Pence to send key battleground states electoral results back to state legislatures and he said that if Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency. Trump also said in a statement the day prior that Pence had several options under the U.S. Constitution. He can decertify the results or send them back to the states for change and certification. He can also decertify the illegal and corrupt results and send them to the House of Representatives for the one vote for one state tabulation, Trump wrote.

But shortly before the joint session began, Pence indicated he would not reject any disputed electoral votes, saying he lacked the power to do so under the U.S. Constitution.

Given the controversy surrounding this years election, some approach this years quadrennial tradition with great expectation, others with dismissive disdain, Pence said in a statement at the time. Some believe that as Vice President, I should be able to accept or reject electoral votes unilaterally. Others believe that electoral votes should never be challenged in a Joint Session of Congress.

After a careful study of our Constitution, our laws, and our history, I believe neither view is correct.

But Pence did support efforts by Republican legislators to object to the certification of electoral votes.

Given the voting irregularities that took place in our November elections and the disregard of state election statutes by some officials, I welcome the efforts of Senate and House members who have stepped forward to use their authority under the law to raise objections and present evidence, Pence said in a letter to Congress at the time.

Read More Timeline of Events in DC on Jan. 6

In the afternoon of Jan. 6, a group of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building while lawmakers were debating whether to reject votes for Arizona. It remains unclear exactly what group or groups were behind the breach.

The incident, around 2:15 p.m., forced both congressional chambers to temporarily go into recess, and lawmakers had to shelter in place. The session was delayed for several hours before congress resumed the electoral vote count process around 8 p.m.

Congress ultimately certified the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden in the early hours of Jan. 7, after the chambers debated and voted to reject Republican lawmakers challenges to electoral tallies from Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Update: This article has been updated to provide more context about the events of Jan. 6.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the audience as he attends a ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 19, 2021. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)

Turkeys President Erdogan Tests Positive for COVID-19

Turkeys President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The result of our COVID-19 tests done after showing mild symptoms with my wife came back positive. Thank god we are going through Omicron variant of the disease mildly, Erdogan said in a tweet, shortly after addressing a rally in Black Sea Province of Zonguldak via video conference.

Erdogan also said he will continue his work from home during their recovery.

Erdogan made a speech via live videolink during the opening ceremony of a road and tunnels in northern Black Sea Province of Zonguldak earlier on Saturday.

Party officials, ministers, and opposition leaders have sent wishes of fast recovery following the announcement.

On Thursday, in a trip to Kyiv, Erdogan held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and offered to host a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy.
An employee with Hughes Oil makes a delivery in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Mass., in this file photo, taken on Nov. 24, 2004. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

US Heating Oil, Diesel Stocks Dwindle as Demand Rises

Supplies of diesel and heating oil in the United States have dwindled as refiners are having trouble replenishing the domestic fuel supply this winter, which may keep oil prices elevated for months.

Heating oil futures reached $2.83 per gallon at the markets close on Feb. 4, the highest price in seven years.

U.S. and global benchmarks for crude-oil futures hit above $90 a barrel, as a harsh winter storm affected large portions of the country, adding to existing supply concerns.

The latest national average price for diesel was at $3.78 per gallon, the highest since September 2014.

Fuel production in the United States has not kept up with demand for months with East Coast stockpiles at their lowest levels since April 2020.

When inventories are low, refiners generally respond by ramping up output, but several key U.S. refineries have been out of action since the start of the pandemic, while others are under maintenance.

Many of the operational refineries are currently producing less output to avoid producing too much jet fuel, where demand still lags below 2019 levels.

Global refining capacity shrank by more than 2 million barrels per day during the pandemic, while U.S. refining capacity last year fell 4.5 percent to 18.1 million barrels per day (bpd).

Demand for diesel, heating oil, and other related products has been running 5 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels, putting inventories at 15 percent less than the five-year moving average, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Stronger than expected demand is a key reason why fuel prices are expected to reach pre-2020 levels by mid-year at the latest.

Increased fuel costs may remain an ongoing theme for the time being, as oil companies are finding it difficult to react to tightened supply situations.

The weather has boosted demand for natural gas, as fuel stocks are being tested by frigid temperatures throughout much of the United States, which is expected to persist through next week.

The latest upswing was triggered by a cold snap in Texas, which is fueling concerns about production outages in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. shale play, said Carsten Fritsch, a commodity analyst at Commerzbank.

A year ago, a period of extreme cold weather had caused massive disruptions to oil production there, said Fritsch, referring to a crippling storm last year that left 4 million in Texas without power.

About 350,000 homes and businesses in states such as Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas were without power as of Feb. 4, due to a winter storm that brought freezing rain and snow.

Some power companies in states facing severe weather are preparing to use more distillate oil to meet demand.

In New England, oil-fired generation is expected to surge temporarily in the coming days, which could raise prices more.

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies on Feb. 2, stuck with its plan to boost global production by another 400,000 barrels a day in March.

However, OPEC member states have been unable to produce oil at their assigned quota levels, which will not alleviate the global supply-demand deficit.

Prices should ease as winter subsidies and demand for heating fuel drops off, allowing inventories to restock, but if the cost of crude oil used to make distillates remains high, fuel prices might remain elevated.

Backwardation

Low distillate inventories have pushed the market into backwardation, as current prices have been pushed higher than expected future prices.

This has led several major oil traders to see little financial incentive to store extra diesel and many are choosing not to renew their long-term storage contracts.

Record-high natural gas prices have led European refiners to reduce production in Europe to save on cost, leading to tightened inventories.

European diesel last week was boosted with a six-month spread to its widest backwardation since March 2008.

U.S. exports of distillates to the European Union have strengthened as a result of the high demand.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery climbed by $2.42, or 2.7 percent, to $92.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with prices trading roughly 6.8 percent higher for the week.

Global benchmark, Brent crude for April, gained $2.21, or 2.4 percent, to $93.32 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange, while prices are poised for a weekly rise of 5.4 percent.

The positive U.S. monthly jobs report was mostly supportive and upbeat in terms of the outlook for energy demand, as the nation added a robust 467,000 jobs in January.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 27, 2018. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

US Lawmakers Push to Rename Taiwans de Facto Embassy in Washington

WASHINGTONA bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers proposed matching bills in the Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday that would require the United States to negotiate the renaming of Taiwans de facto embassy in Washington as the Taiwan Representative Office, a move certain to rankle the Chinese communist regime.

It is currently called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), using the name of the islands capital city.

Should the measures become law, any change in the offices name could provide cover to smaller countries to take similar steps to boost engagement with Taiwan.

It would also be certain to create a new rift in U.S.China relations, already at their lowest point in decades as Washington seeks to push back against what it sees as Beijings growing economic and military coercion.

The United States, like most countries, does not have official ties with democratically governed Taiwan, but is its biggest international backer.

The bills direct the Secretary of State to seek to enter into negotiations with TECRO to rename its office as the Taiwan Representative Office.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) sponsored the Senate bill, with John Curtis (R-Utah) and Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) leading on the House version.

The U.S. must make clear that, despite all efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to intimidate and coerce Taiwan, hostile powers have no right to claim sovereignty over democratic countries, Rubio said.

Menendez told Reuters the bills were consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act defining the United States unofficial ties with Taiwan, and demonstrate Washingtons support for Taiwan to determine its own future.

We must take this step to strengthen our diplomatic partnership with Taiwan and counter Chinas repeated attempts to threaten and coerce nations around the globe, Pappas said.

The White House and U.S. State Department and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

The Chinese regime claims the island as its own, despite the fact that Taiwan is a de facto independent country, with its own military, democratically-elected government, and constitution.

The Chinese regime downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania and pressed multinationals to sever ties with the country after Taiwan opened an office in Vilnius last year called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.
White House Pushes Back on China-Russia Joint Statement

The White House offered some pushback Friday to a joint statement issued by Beijing and Moscow.

Russias Vladimir Putin met with Chinas Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympics Friday, and the two issued a joint statement.

Without naming the United States, the lengthy statement mentions a minority of actors on the international scale that advocate unilateral approaches, interfere in the internal affairs of other states, and are hampering the development and progress of mankind.

The statement also joins China in Russias opposition to the further enlargement of NATO and calls on NATO to abandon its ideologized cold war approaches. It also expresses Russian opposition to an independent Taiwan.

The statement comes as Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine and days after Chinese warplanes imposed on Taiwanese airspace.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday pointed to the United States own relationship with China as a response to the statement.

What we have control over is our own relationships and the projection of our own values and also looking for ways to work with countries even where we disagree, said Psaki while citing recent talks between U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart.

Psaki also reiterated that proposed U.S. sanctions against Russia in the event that it invades Ukraine would have massive consequences for the Kremlin. She also said that a destabilizing conflict in Europe would impact Chinas interests all over the world as well.

The inputs to the major foundational technologies of the world still come from the West so theres an enormous amount of power we have as we work to continue to strengthen our diplomatic efforts with our partners around the world, Psaki added.

Psaki and her State Department colleague, Ned Price, have each come under criticism after both of them separately answered questions from the press Thursday by suggesting reporters were parroting propaganda from foreign entities.

In an exchange with a reporter, Price was repeatedly asked to provide evidence supporting the U.S. governments claim that Russia plans to create a false flag propaganda video as a pretext for invading Ukraine.

Price responded: If you doubt the credibility of the U.S. government, of the British government, of other governments and want to, you know, find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do.

That same day aboard Air Force One, a reporter asked Psaki for evidence to back the claim that ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi detonated a suicide bomb killing civilians during an attack by U.S. forces in Syria.

Psaki responded by asking the reporter if she thought the U.S. military is not providing accurate information and ISIS is providing accurate information.

Psaki addressed the criticism Friday by saying that we welcome tough questions and good-faith scrutiny, adding that the Department of Defense is still conducting after-action assessments of the events in Syria, and evidence of U.S. claims will be provided once they are available.

She also said the United States has a significant amount of credible intelligence about Russian efforts to use a false pretext to justify an invasion of Ukraine, adding that weve seen them run false-flag operations in the past and use confusion to launch military action many times in history.
New study offers insight into how our brains work by looking at brain activity changes during sleep

Ever awakened from a dead sleep, certain that something was wrong? Something woke you up, yet you have no idea what or why?

We all know that the brain can respond to the environment during sleep. If it didnt, your alarm clock would never wake you up in the morning. But exactly how the brain responds to outside stimuli is a lot less clear. Sleep is inherently mysterious. As humans, we analyze the world using the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain which essentially disconnects during sleep. In fact, sleep scientists have found that communication between different parts of the cerebral cortex, abuzz with connection while youre awake, stops during sleep, according to research published in 2005 in Science.

Now a new study from a sleep laboratory at the University of Salzburg in Austria, The Brain Selectively Tunes to Unfamiliar Voices During Sleep, published Jan. 17 in The Journal of Neuroscience, sheds a little more light on how our brains process auditory input during non-REM (rapid eye moment) sleep, that is, when we arent actively dreaming. This Austrian study suggests that our brains constantly monitor the environment for threats even when we are unconscious.

In the new study, doctoral candidate Mohammed S. Ameen and a team of three other researchers reanalyzed data gathered by the same lab for a 2018 paper. In the experiment, 17 young adults (14 females and three males), slept two nights in the lab. During the first night, the subjects became acclimated to the unfamiliar environment. On the second night, the sleepers physiological functions were recorded throughout the night.

Unfamiliar Voices Trigger Brain Wave Changes

The scientists wanted to learn how the brain responds to audio stimuli during sleep, and how brain waves change in response to specific stimuli.

To test this, the team recorded six different auditory stimuli, personalized for each subject. When we are awake, our brains pay more attention to our own names than to unfamiliar names. So the subjects own name, as well as two unfamiliar names, were recorded in both a familiar voice (they used the voice of the father or mother of the subject) and a gender-matched unfamiliar voice.

For each subject, the researchers made sure the volume was loud enough to be heard but not so loud that it disturbed the subjects sleep. Then, the audio recordings were played in a random order for periods of 90 minutes at a time, separated by 30 minutes of silence, for a total of four 120 minute cycles.

Interestingly, the scientists detected no apparent difference in the sleepers response to familiar versus unfamiliar names. However, brain-wave responses to unfamiliar voices were significantly stronger than to familiar voicesat every stage of sleep. The researchers believe it is likely that these changes mean that our brains go into what they call sentinel processing mode, ceaselessly monitoring the environment for potential threats, even during sleep.

Assessing Threats While Asleep

This new analysis focused on particular types of brain wave patterns, specifically K-complexes (a brain pattern that occurs during non-REM sleep) and micro-arousals (moments of partial wakefulness during sleep).

The recorded sounds, whether familiar or unfamiliar, triggered more K-complexes in the sleepers than the silent periods, and unfamiliar voices triggered more K-complexes than familiar voices. According to neuroscientist Manuel Schabus, a senior researcher at the lab, this increased response makes sense. Unfamiliar voices should not be speaking to you at nightit sets off an alarm, Schabus told a journalist at New Scientist.

That alarm is the micro-arousal, which increases in frequency along with the K-complexes. Micro-arousals, a part of healthy sleep patterns, are just what they sound like, short periods when the sleeper gets closer to waking. According to the study: The increase in micro-arousals following [unfamiliar voice stimuli] suggests a transient shift towards external processing of vital environmental stimuli. In other words, the researchers consider these transient shifts to be little windows of information processing that keep us connected to our environment while we sleep.

As Ameen explained in a thread on Twitter about the research: The sleeping brain extracts relevant sensory information for further processing.

K-complexes appear to play a dual role. These brain waves have been previously associated with both an arousal response that leads to further sensory processing and with neuronal silencing that protects sleep. So, even though the brain reacts more strongly to unfamiliar voices (with more K-complexes and micro-arousals), those voices were associated with deeper sleep.

A Safety Mechanism or Something Else?

According to a 2020 study, even during our waking hours, our brains selectively tune into sensory changes, with new stimuli triggering noradrenaline, a chemical signal that tells the brain to pay attention.

When I was doing graduate work at the University of California and living in Berkeley, California, I was startled from sleep before dawn one morning. I dont know what initial stimulus woke me up but I opened my eyes on high alert, my heart racing. Whos there? I boomed, terrified.

An intruder was just behind the door. He called back in a singsong voice, Im just going to school, as if he were pretending to be my brother, with whom I shared the apartment (and who happened to be out of town). Without thinking, I jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. I could feel the air stirring as I chased after the intruder who presumably rushed down the stairs and out the apartment buildings front door. I never saw him and I didnt catch him. As scary as that experience was, I am grateful that my brain woke me up out of sleep, ready to fight or flee.

Still, the scientists who conducted this new sleep study dont know, yet, whether unfamiliar voices evoked greater responses simply because they were unfamiliar or because the subjects brains interpreted the lack of familiarity as a threat. The researchers noted, however, that the unfamiliar voices generated fewer K-complexes in the second half of the night, while the frequency of K-complexes due to familiar voices didnt change. This could mean that the sleeping brain learned over time that the unfamiliar voice didnt constitute a threat.

Though the auditory stimuli used in this experiment were more complex than in previous experiments done by this lab, its likely that our brains responses to different auditory stimuli are far more nuanced than this experiment could detect. Mothers, for instance, are often highly tuned to their infants mewing cries and their childrens voices, which are both very familiar, waking out of deep sleep at the slightest cry.

Another nuance: The familiar voices in the study belonged to parents of the subjects. Ask the parent of any teen or young adult: Our children are often quite good at tuning out their parents voices, especially during waking hours. The human brain is a marvel of complexity and subtlety: Surely our sleeping brains respond differently to other types of familiar voices as well, such as those of our children, lovers, bosses, or coworkers.

Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., is an award-winning science journalist and book author. A sought-after speaker, she is also a frequent contributor to The Epoch Times.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  Multi-awarded veteran actress Cherie Gil flaunted her shaved head as she graced the cover of Mega Magazines 30th anniversary issue.

Along with her new look, the 58-year-old thespian is currently in the United States to mark her rebirth.

Im completely finding myself and coming to terms with who I really am," Gil told the magazine. "Its just great to have this opportunity and to be alive to start over. Its like a rebirth of sorts."

The actress confided that she got rid of everything that symbolized her past life and even her hair.

Whats hair diba? It grows back. Its symbolic to my personal growth. When a woman is in distress, she cuts her hair, she said.

Gil is known for her villainous roles on film, television and stage. One of her most memorable characters was Lavinia Arguelles in the 1985 blockbuster film Bituing Walang Ningning alongside Sharon Cuneta and Christopher de Leon.
It was an act of desperation, said Diana Martinez, an English teacher at the Center for Global Studies.

Her 11th grade students were unmotivated and silent after 18 months of remote and hybrid learning.

No one was talking, she said. But she knew from past experience that writing a college admission essay creates a bond with the teacher and among the students, so she taught the topic in October.

She read personal stories of trauma and pain, of hardship and strength; as she predicted, her classroom turned into a more caring, supportive, and open environment.

I didnt believe that this little virus could ever affect my family. But when I received that phone call from my sister saying my brother had been affected by this little virus, I had this feeling of not knowing what to do. What I could have done was give him a big hug, Johanna Moran wrote in her essay. What I could have done was tell him that he is the best brother in the world. What I could have done is give him one last goodbye. But I didnt get to see him and comfort him when he was in pain. ... My brother had suddenly disappeared. This little virus took my best friend away.

Martinez first learned about Morans loss during class. The students were all working, so Martinez picked up Morans essay and started to read, hoping to mark one more paper before class ended. Instead, she started to cry.

She took Moran out into the hall to talk.

I didnt know about her brother, Martinez said. She knew that Moran was having trouble completing her work and worried about her skills, but this knowledge changed Martinezs outlook.

Now Im more likely to say, Johanna, whats going on? Where are you?

I dont understand what grief is, said Moran. I think of it like a sinkhole. I try to step over it, but its always there. But my brother would want me to find my way out.

Before her students started writing, Martinez asked them to read models of excellent essays. Often, the writers revealed their own vulnerability but used it to show resilience and maturity. She taught her students that they could show their hurt and turn it into a positive.

People dont know what it means to go through this. I dont like talking to people and being vulnerable, Moran said. Writing was my only way.

I had forgotten that my life before the States was not normal. I had soldiers surrounding my house, making it feel like a fort instead of a home, Camilo Ham wrote in his essay. My parents had soldiers escort me to school and back. When threats started becoming more recurring, they sent me to live with my grandparents.

The coup (in Honduras) turned into a fun vacation with my grandparents. While I was laughing with my cousins as we passed notes to each other, my parents were getting death threats. While my cousins and I played in my grandparents backyard, my dad just woke up from a 12-hour surgery to get a bullet out of his stomach. While I was watching and imitating my favorite wrestlers in the WWE, my mother was getting attacked by three armed soldiers.

Ham was 8 years-old when his family fled the country. His father had run for president of Honduras, and his mother was the mayor of their town. For his essay, he asked his parents about their ordeal.

We all knew it happened, but we didnt talk about it, Ham said.

Martinez said she teaches the craft of the college essay by showing how successful writers use details, anecdotes, and description to set a mood. She asked some of her students to share their writing.

When the class heard how powerful it was and saw other people doing it, she said, they started writing for each other. At that point, it was not about me.

Ham shared his essay with a small group in the class.

Being able to be more vulnerable has made us closer, he said. Seeing other peoples essays has been a great experience.

On March 15, 2011, Syria had the worst day and night, Bisan Almajareesh wrote in her essay. Was it fireworks? Thats what I thought at the time, fireworks like what I see on TV. The sky was orange like a sunset. Was it a sunset? No, it was fire. Fire from the bombs, from the bombs and rockets. Our house was shaking, and the rockets were close to us.

For about a month, I lived into with many people, breathing out from hunger and needing water. Theres one time a woman had water, and Mom asked if she could give us just a little bit. She said no. I told Mom, its OK. God is watching us. When we hear a bomb over us, its like having the last hug forever and ever.

Finally, after praying for days, Mom found a way to get us out of Syria. Imagine selling your marriage ring just to have money. Even my gold earrings that I had since I was born, I gave to my mom.

Almajareesh and her family made it to Jordan and finally the U.S., settling in Wilton with the help of a refugee aid group.

Martinez said this is the highest level of trauma she has ever seen in her 20 years of teaching. Part of it is this particular group of students, but part of it, she said, is that she was more open about her own past trauma, about her own childhood poverty and her father dying of cancer.

As I got older, I was more able to do that. Theres less vanity, she said.

As students shared their stories, Martinez could see the sense of community in the class growing.

CGS kids are extremely supportive of each other, she said, but I could see some of the quieter, shyer kids becoming part of the supportive network that was always there.

A stupid, fast-paced song marked where the sixth-grade me truly began socializing with others online. As I began to befriend these right-wingers, the memes I saw used the disabled, the LGBT, and racial minorities as the butt of their jokes, and I took it all and laughed, Joshua Recinos Moya wrote in his essay.

2017 was the peak of my involvement. I would repost propaganda videos depicting the Waffen-SS marching slowly, while the sounds of Hitler giving a rallying speech would be heard in the background. Little did anyone know that I was actually a bisexual Hispanic teen, and not the tall, strong, chad white man that everyone else was. Or that everyone else pretended to be.

Eventually, I realized what I had become. I had become the epitome of evil, a carrier of a horrible, diseased, excuse of an ideology that had killed millions.

But I was also a victim. I was only 12, and I was lonely. This horrible community did what it did best; it made a family.

Recinos Moya chose this topic because he wanted to get it off his chest.

It was kind of like an apology, he said. It was a really horrible thing to do. I never hurt anyone, but I felt really guilty about associating myself with those people.

He said he worried that Martinez and other students would think differently about him once they knew, but they didnt.

Seeing these personal parts of peoples lives and me sharing out helped me connect with others, he said. We all shared this tiny part of our lives with each other, and it helped us start new relationships.

Martinez shared a personal story of her older brother who, because of hearing loss, was in the same grade as her for many years. In high school, however, he became depressed and dropped out.

I thought about that moment of graduation when I was there by myself and he was not there. I talked about that moment, she said.

But he recently graduated high school at 50 years old, and she showed the class a picture of him clutching his diploma.

I shared my own life-story, she said. I modeled how to be open and show vulnerability.

These moving essays should help students get into college. They are well-written, honest, and show strength emerging from troubles. In the meantime, however, the students have forged bonds with each other, and Martinez knows her students better.

Still, she wishes she had known these stories earlier.

We know their test scores and their prior grades, she said. Shouldnt we know that someone survived a coup detat and was brought to school with armed guards?
EDWARDSVILLE  New author Kevin Rader, of Edwardsville, and artist Tim Gusewelle, of Bethalto, have teamed up for a childrens book that adult readers also will enjoy.

Raders childrens book What's That? is inspired by the wonder and imagination of his daughter, Evie, who will be 4 years old next month.

What's that? is a constant question that every parent will know and resonates with them, Rader said. Time and time again, the question comes from a place of genuine wonder and interest  and innocence. There are no other layers to that question of what is an object, a sound, a place.

As we get older, we lose that innocence, the question becomes more fact based, logic based, we Google it and move on, Rader explained. Children see the world through different eyes, which ties into Tims artwork. He captures that sense of beauty in all of his works.

Gusewelle, a professional artist with his own commission business and an art teacher for Greenvilles Bond County Community Unit No. 2 High School, and Rader, a self-described computer jockey by day as a analytic consultant for Wells Fargo, have been friends since grade school.

He does a lot of animal paintings and has a specific art style, said Rader, married to Lindsey Rader, who also have a 3-month-old daughter, Leta. I knew when I started this book, I wanted his art style because its just fantastic and varies from a typical childrens book because its not cartoony.

It makes this book as much a work of art, as it is a story, Rader said. The wondrous scenes experienced in What's That? range from mysterious noises in and outside the house to commonplace summertime pests buzzing around.

Whimsical descriptions will have your little reader guessing what the animal, sound or scene is, while the artwork will speak to the big reader.

At its core What's That? is an exploration of the world through a childs innocent eyes and a celebration of imagination with a challenge to appreciate and transform the ordinary at its essence, Rader said.

This is the first of more planned books, which Rader is self publishing, thus he is launching a Kickstarter campaign at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, to help with the making of What's That? through public investment.

There will be a Kickstarter Kickoff Party at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at Sacred Grounds Cafe, 233 N. Main St., in Edwardsville, followed by the official Kickstarter campaign launch at 8 p.m. The party is free to attend and open to the public, with music, coffee, including specialty drinks, and treats. Those who pledge to support the project will receive awards, such as original artwork as illustrated in the book or a signed pre-order copy of the book.

Additionally, during the Kickstarter campaigns first 48 hours three local nonprofits will receive 10 percent of all pledged project money, with one of those nonprofits being Partners for Pets. The other two will be announced following a CrowdSource poll via social media; whichever local nonprofits gets the most mentions, Rader will choose from those.

Ive found a passion in this, and also a great contact who has been very helpful to me as a self publisher, which involves a lot of work, self marketing and a heavy investment up front. Because of that, Im conducting a Kickstarter campaign.

Rader will continue to collaborate with Gusewelle, expanding childrens title offerings in varying degrees for different ages.

The expected release date of What's That? is mid to late summer, well before the holidays, which is a busy time for independent bookstores. Afterwords Books, 441 E. Vandalia St., in Edwardsville, will be the first store in the country to carry the book. It will be available at at least 20 other independent bookstores around the country, but not Amazon and corporate bookstores.

I want to support indie bookstores, brick-and-mortars and small businesses, Rader said.

Find more information at the What's That? about the book and its Kickstarter campaign at the books Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as at www.kevinraderbooks.com. Find more information about Gusewelle atwww.timgusewelle.com.
3 1 of 3 City of Edwardsville Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy of Christopher Noga Show More Show Less 3 of 3





EDWARDSVILLE  Though he started his duties on Jan. 10, Christopher Noga was sworn in Tuesday as the citys newest police officer.



Noga is one of many lateral transfers but unlike many of the citys recent lateral hires, Noga comes from a tad farther away. He served as Philadelphia police officer since graduating from a police academy in 2013.



I followed my girlfriend down here, he said. He said they met while she was doing a fellowship at Childrens Hospital in Philadelphia. After she completed that and started searching for work, she applied at Saint Louis University, which offered her a position.



Contrary to what one might think, Noga, 34, does not miss the fast pace of urban policing.



I have not found it slow [to the point] where Im bored, he said, citing the overall lack of violent crimes here compared to Philly as one of many positives.



Even without those things, I find ways to stay busy, he said. I find I have more time to interact with the community instead of jumping from call to call. He said Edwardsville reminds him of where he grew up, the Cheltenham area of Philadelphia.



Noga said when he is not on duty, he enjoys mountain biking, fishing and he airbrushes model cars, particularly police cars. He and his girlfriend presently live in St. Louis but he plans on making a move to Madison County this summer.



Im very approachable, I want to hear what you have to say and if you have any concerns, I will do what I can, he said as a message for Edwardsville residents.
EDITORS NOTE: The Intelligencer requests briefs be submitted at least 10 days prior to the desired publication date. Due to the volume of community-submitted briefs, the content may be published within 10 days of submission. Holidays and weather forecasts may impact some events. The Intelligencer cannot guarantee that submission will be published.

Love Stinks Teen Take-Home Kit

Ongoing through Feb. 12 at the Edwardsville Public Library. Kick Cupid to the curb this year at the Edwardsville Public library. Pick up a pack of projects and treats including: DIY anti-valentines, black heart origami and more. Teens who register can pick up their kits at the Youth Desk. Registration Required.

A Plethora of Pens

6:30 p.m. at Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. This is an open group, walk-ins are welcome. For all writing levels and all genres. Different topics every month. This is NOT a critique group, although there are occasional group critiques, mostly to improve the ability to critique others. Please wear a mask. No registration required.

Take-Home Storytime Bundles

9 a.m. - 8 p.m. at the Glen Carbon Library. Bring Storytime home with you. Grab a Storytime Bundle at the Library or request one for curbside and enjoy books, a craft and songs all in one place. Theyll also include a Hoopla recommendation with a brief Storytime guide for you and your family! Limited quantity available.

Tuesday, Feb. 8

Exploring Ancient New River Gorge National Park and Preserve



6-7:30 p.m. online via Zoom. Zoom registration is available on the Sierra Club Piasa Palisades Group Events tab at www.sierraclub.org/illinois/piasa-palisades. Join this presentation of the February Speaker Series to hear more about the interesting story from long-time Piasa Palisades Group member Dr. Rich Keating. For questions contact Chris Krusa 410-490-5024.

Cribbage Club

6 p.m. at Camelot Bowling Alley, 801 Beltline Road, Collinsville. Beginners welcome, free to attend. Contact Phil (618) 288-7910 or Susan at (618) 978-1664 for more information.

Toddler Time

10 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Ages 0-2. Theyve got the books, bops and bubbles. Bring your babies and toddlers to share stories and songs with Miss Kristen and all the Story Time friends. Registration Required.

Pasta Dinner Every Tuesday

3-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. Edwardsville. Pasta of the week served with salad. 618-656-9774

American Legion Post 199 meeting

6:30 p.m. at the American Legion Post 199 at 58 S. State Rt. 157. All legion members are encouraged to attend the meetings. Non-member visitors are welcome.

Teen Game Night

6-7 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Grades 6-12. Game Night is back every week. Go on a quest with fellow players in Dungeons & Dragons or choose from a variety of board games to play with friends.

Book Club & Chat

6:30 p.m. at Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. Reading: "Small Great Things" by Jodi Picoult. Space is limited. Requires Registration. Call 288-1212, register at the Help Desk or register online at www.glencarbonlibrary.org.

Southern Illinois PAL

7-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. The Southern Illinois Parents of Addicted Loved Ones group meets each week to provide hope through education and support. For parents and loved ones over the age of 18 who have someone in their life who is struggling with or recovering from substance use. PAL respects anonymity and is free of charge. Contact Craig at 618-567-6095 to receive the link for the Zoom meeting or for questions. More information can be found at www.palgroup.org.

Thursday, Feb. 10

NAMI Meeting

7-8:30 p.m via Zoom. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwestern Illinois (NAMI SWI) family support meetings may also be in person. To receive the link for a Zoom meeting or address for an in-person meeting contact Pat Rudloff, silverlining6@charter.net.

Preschooler Story Time

10 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Ages 3-5. If youre ready for a story, clap your hands. Every week Ms. Megan will be sharing fun tales & tunes, and bubbles. Registration Required.

Chicken Dinner Every Thursday

4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two or four pieces of chicken and vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit. 618-656-9774

EPL Book Club for Adults

6:30 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. They will be discussing "Party of Two" by Jasmine Guillory. Good books. Good company. Good talk.

Adult Zumba with Aimee

6-7 p.m. at the Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. Join in for an evening workout with a Zumba Fitness instructor. Come in comfortable exercise clothing and bring a water bottle.Space is limited. Requires Registration.

Friday, Feb. 11

Fish Fry Every Friday

11 a.m.-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two pieces of cod or one catfish filet and sides. 618-656-9774

Fish Fry

4:30-8 p.m. at the Edwardsville Moose, 7371 Marine Road, Edwardsville. Dine-in and carryout options. 618-656-5051

Glo-Bingo

6 p.m. at the Edwardsville Moose Lodge, 7371 Marine Road (Rt. 143). $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Bring your own snacks. Register online at Glo-Bingo.com.

Art with Greta

11 a.m. at Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. Each month different mediums will be explored including acrylics, watercolors, pastels, mixed media and more. Space is limited. Registration required. Call 288-1212, register at the Help Desk or register online at www.glencarbonlibrary.org.

Saturday, Feb. 12

Galentine's Party

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at The Ink House, 117 North Second St., Edwardsville. Presented by Opal & Lace. Over 25 vendors, cash bar, photo mini shoots, music and makeup and eyebrow tint and waxing. Vendors interested in participating can email kemiller2014@gmail.com

Preschool Valentines Dance Party

10:30 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Ages 3-5. Its time for the Librarys Valentines Dance Party. Share sweet stories, sing along with fun songs and dance til you drop.

Geek Con

1 p.m. at Glen Carbon Library. Save the date for their first-ever Comic-Con. See a performance by the EHS Drama Club, make a geeky craft, scour the library for hidden objects, and much more. Facemasks are required. Registration required. Registration opened Jan. 2. Call 288-1212, register at the Help Desk or register online at www.glencarbonlibrary.org.

Virtual Saturday Morning Yoga

9:30 a.m. at Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. Get fit and healthy when you join in for an energizing session of yoga. Space is limited. Requires Registration.

Monday, Feb. 14

Coventry Crafters

6-7:30 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Enjoy crafts, snacks and lively conversation. Adult crafters bring portable crafts including needlework, quilting, scrapbooking, knitting, etc. Newcomers always welcome.

Tuesday, Feb. 15

Cribbage Club

6 p.m. at Camelot Bowling Alley, 801 Beltline Road, Collinsville. Beginners welcome, free to attend. Contact Phil (618) 288-7910 or Susan at (618) 978-1664 for more information.

Toddler Time

10 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Ages 0-2. Theyve got the books, bops and bubbles. Bring your babies and toddlers to share stories and songs with Miss Kristen and all the Story Time friends. Registration Required.

Pasta Dinner Every Tuesday

3-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. Edwardsville. Pasta of the week served with salad. 618-656-9774

Teen Game Night

6-7 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Grades 6-12. Game Night is back every week. Go on a quest with fellow players in Dungeons & Dragons or choose from a variety of board games to play with friends.

Take-Home Storytime Bundles

9 a.m. - 8 p.m. at the Glen Carbon Library. Bring Storytime home with you. Grab a Storytime Bundle at the Library or request one for curbside and enjoy books, a craft and songs all in one place. Theyll also include a Hoopla recommendation with a brief Storytime guide for you and your family! Limited quantity available.

Southern Illinois PAL

7-8:30 p.m. via Zoom. The Southern Illinois Parents of Addicted Loved Ones group meets each week to provide hope through education and support. For parents and loved ones over the age of 18 who have someone in their life who is struggling with or recovering from substance use. PAL respects anonymity and is free of charge. Contact Craig at 618-567-6095 to receive the link for the Zoom meeting or for questions. More information can be found at www.palgroup.org.

Wednesday, Feb. 16

An Evening with Jasmine Guillory

7 p.m. at the Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. Join for an evening with bestselling author Jasmine Guillory as she discusses her newest novel, While We Were Dating and the modern rom-com. Jasmine Guillory is a writer, lawyer and New York Times bestselling author of six romance novels including The Wedding Date, Royal Holiday and Party of Two. Register for this online program at: https://bit.ly/ILP_JasmineGuillory. This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present.

Lego Club

45 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Ages five-11. Theyll supply the Legos, just bring your imagination. In the Librarys Meeting Room.

Thursday, Feb. 17

Adult Zumba with Aimee

6-7 p.m. at the Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. Join in for an evening workout with a Zumba Fitness instructor. Come in comfortable exercise clothing and bring a water bottle.Space is limited. Requires Registration.

NAMI Meeting

7-8:30 p.m via Zoom. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwestern Illinois (NAMI SWI) family support meetings may also be in person. To receive the link for a Zoom meeting or address for an in-person meeting contact Pat Rudloff, silverlining6@charter.net.

Preschooler Story Time

10 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Ages 3-5. If youre ready for a story, clap your hands. Every week Ms. Megan will be sharing fun tales & tunes, and bubbles. Registration Required.

Chicken Dinner Every Thursday

4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two or four pieces of chicken and vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit. 618-656-9774

Friday, Feb. 18

Fish Fry Every Friday

11 a.m.-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two pieces of cod or one catfish filet and sides. 618-656-9774

Fish Fry

4:30-8 p.m. at the Edwardsville Moose, 7371 Marine Road, Edwardsville. Dine-in and carryout options. 618-656-5051

Saturday, Feb. 19

Goshen Winter Market

10-noon in the expansion parking lot on St. Louis Street. Outdoors.

Coloring for Grown-Ups

1-3 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Join in for a relaxing and fun afternoon session of coloring. The library will provide colored pencils, adult coloring books and refreshments.

Ongoing Events

Al-Anon

For information call 618-463-2429. For more information, visit SIAFG.org and District-18.org.

Youth Take Home Crafts

Pick up a take-home craft bag at the Edwardsville Public Library with all the materials to make the project. A new craft will be available each month at the Youth Desk.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5) The Paris-based International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an eight-kilometer-wide asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter "7431 Jettaguilar," in honor of Dr. Jose Francisco "Jett" Aguilar, a neurosurgeon and an amateur astronomer.

"I am really at a loss for words  not even in my wildest dreams have I imagined having an asteroid named after me," Aguilar said in a statement Friday. "Honestly, I sincerely believe that there is a long list of more deserving Filipino amateur astronomers ahead of me, but I guess there had never been a Filipino, or American, neurosurgeon yet who had received such an honor!"

Asteroid 7431 Jettaguilar was discovered on March 19, 1993 from the European Southern Observatory in Chile and was initially introduced as 1993 FN41, according to IAU's Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN)  the sole organization responsible for assigning names to asteroids, comets, satellites of minor planets, and other small solar system bodies.

The United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration has recognized more than 1.1 million asteroids, which are remnants from the early formation of the solar system about 4.6 million years ago.

WGSBN described Aguilar  who works at the Philippine Children's Medical Center, Philippine General Hospital, and Cardinal Santos Medical Center  as "a Filipino neurosurgeon who has saved over one thousand children in the Philippines by volunteering his time and surgical expertise to treat their congenital malformations and brain tumors."

"He is also an amateur astronomer and serves as vice president of the Astronomical League of the Philippines," read WGSB's bulletin.

Aguilar has been giving neurosurgical services to children for more than two decades. In 2019, he successfully removed a parasitic twin from a three-week-old infant, nicknamed "Baby Ned."

The 60-year-old is also the clinical director of the Philippine Movement Disorder Surgery Center, which pioneered the "Deep Brain Stimulation" surgery for patients with a rare genetic movement disorder.

Despite his busy schedule providing neurosurgical services to children, Aguilar has been an avid astrophotographer with his photos of the Sun, the transit of Venus, lunar eclipses, and other celestial events published in astronomy websites spaceweather.com and skyandtelescope.org.

Aguilar is also known as an avid eclipse chaser, and has traveled abroad to observe and photograph total and annular solar eclipses in China, Indonesia, Singapore, and the United States.

Other asteroids named after Filipinos

Asteroid 7431 Jettaguilar is an addition to the growing number of asteroids named after Filipino astronomers and scientists.

The first Filipinos to have asteroids named in their honors were astronomers Imelda Joson and Edwin Aguirre. In 1995, IAU named asteroid 1980 TS4 "6283 Eswelda," a combination of their first names, in recognition of their accomplishments in Astronomy.

In 2005, the IAU named asteroid 1988 VB3 "4866 Badillo" after Jesuit astronomer Fr. Victor Badillo, the former director of the Manila Observatory and co-founder of the Philippine Astronomical Society.

In 2007, asteroid 1988 RK8 was named "6636 Kintanar," in honor of Dr. Roman Kintanar's service as director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

The IAU also named 2000 EL157 "30100 Christophergo" after astrophotographer Christopher Go, in recognition of his expertise in high-resolution imaging of the planet Jupiter and its satellites.
Elizabethtown, KY (42701)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 78F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
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The National Executive Committee (NEC) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has passed a vote of confidence on its President General, Ambassador Professor George Obiozor. The motion for the vote of confidence was moved by the National Publicity Secretary of the association, Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia. The Ohanaeze Spokesman expressed immense delight that Professor Obiozor has shown leadership in the quest for a Nigerian president to emerge from the South East of Nigeria.

Ogbonnia explained that Obiozor has maintained an unwavering and vigorous advocacy for the prevalent Igbo project. Obiozor has used his profound intellectual prowess, diplomatic finesse, national and foreign contacts to sustain the Igbo dream. Ogbonnia recalled the Obiozor deliberations with the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum led by Chief Edwin Clarke that gave rise to a communique that it will be a regrettable requiem for any political party that fails to pick its presidential candidate from the South.

The Forum asserted that Nigeria is founded on a negotiated unity between the diverse Nigerian nationalities and that only a balance of interests among the component units can guarantee its corporate existence. Ogbonnia noted that since the present cycle of Nigerian democracy, 1999 to date, the presidency has rotated between the North and the South; any effort to truncate the norm is a back-pedal and indeed a downward trajectory to the dark days of Nigerian history. On the other hand, the least General Muhammadu Buhari owes Nigeria is to do unto the South East in 2023 what General Olusegun Obasanjo did unto the North in 2007. This is equity; an irrevocable universal principle whose violation attracts perilous consequences.

Ogbonnia also cited the unalloyed position of Ambassador Obiozor on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; reiterating that even when it is clear that Obiozor does not align with the Kanu methodology, he has nevertheless displayed incredible large heart, fatherliness, creative empathy and offered useful suggestions through which Kanu can be set free. Ogbonnia recalled that Obiozor is the author of political solution for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. In furtherance to that, he also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to invoke his powers on the Prerogative of Mercy on the issue of Nnamdi Kanu. Obiozor has through a sustained engagement with various stake holders harmonized the various diverse interest groups in Igbo Land.

In seconding the motion, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Delta State, Hon. Frank Nwandu stated that Obiozor is God-given and that there couldnt have been a better turbulent manager than the Obiozor genius. In supporting the motion, Comrade Paul Nwankwo, the President of Abia State commended Obiozor for his wisdom, competence and inter-ethnic political relations. The President of Ohanaeze, Imo State, in his own contribution, commended the vision, integrity, diplomatic dexterity and uncommon zeal in the President General. The motion received unanimous support and ovation.

Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide
A military Shiroro local government Area of Niger State military base has been reportedly attacked by terrorists.

A source disclosed that the location had about 85 soldiers, but that the terrorists attacked the location and burnt a number of artillery guns in the process.

Though no official statement has been issued on the matter, it was also gathered that a number of soldiers at the base have not been accounted for after the attack which was said to have happened on Friday night through early Saturday morning.

The north-east part of the country has been under terror attacks for a few years now by the Boko Haram and Islamic State for West Africa Province (ISWAP) terror groups which have sacked a number of communities and displaced hundreds of thousands of Nigerians.

Thousands of Nigerians have also been killed by the terror gangs with properties worth billions of naira lost.

Many communities are unable to carry out their livelihoods of farming and fishing in many of the affected areas, even as the Nigerian government tries to bring the situation under control.
Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo, Anambra State Governor-elect has received very high commendations from Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide on his decision to adopt the Innoson brands of Vehicles as his official vehicle when he assumes office come March 17, 2022 as the Executive Governor of Anambra State.

Cee Cee Soludo, a world renowned development economist, has, during his electioneering campaign leading to the November 6, 2021 governorship election in Anambra State, told Ndi Anambra and the world that he would make the Innoson vehicles his official vehicle if elected as Governor of Anambra.

Reacting to this statement, Mr Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide on behalf of the Igbo Apex socio-cultural organisation commended the wise decision of Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo to adopt Innoson Vehicles as his official vehicle when he assumes office as Governor of Anambra State.

The statement read in part:

"The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide extols Professor Charles Soludo on the far-reaching policy statement that Innoson vehicle will be his official car while in Office as the governor of Anambra State.

The Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Ltd (IVM) is a Nigerian automobile manufacturer based in Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria.

The IVM was founded by an Igbo entrepreneur, Chief Innocent Chukwuma. The Innoson vehicles, also known as the Pride of African Road, have gained wide market and acceptability, especially in African countries, namely; Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana, etc.

In July 2017, the Malian government placed an order for 400 Innoson vehicles and they were duly supplied. Also, in August 2020, the Sierra Leone government placed an order to the IVM worth over $4.7million and were delivered. A lot of other transactions of this nature with IVM by African countries are replete.

It is therefore morally reprehensible and indeed the worst form of imperialism for Nigerian governments at all levels to prefer and patronize foreign companies as against the locally manufactured goods.

For instance, while other African countries patronize IVM, the Nigerian Lawmakers in 2019, placed an order for Japanese cars valued over N5.5 Billion. On the other hand, the aggregate expenditure on foreign cars by all the levels of Nigerian government is over 200 Billion per annum.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo posits on a firm wicket that when the volume of import into a country far exceed its exports, the balance of trade is distorted and the value of its currency severely threatened.

Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo (Anambra State Governor-elect)

The self-induced imperialism and mass poverty by the Nigerian leadership takes various forms: most people in government own buildings in the USA, UK, Germany, France, etc, and their children attend schools in foreign countries; the fuel for cars, gas for bigger machines, including kerosene; health care, etc are sourced from foreign countries.

In fact, almost everything which can be sourced within are imported without corresponding effort for meaningful exports. This obnoxious self-inflicted injury has already thrown Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world and fragile states index status; and counting.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo had in October 2019 urged the Federal Government and other State Governments to patronize locally manufactured goods. Elementary economics informs that the more we promote our locally manufactured goods, the more the employment opportunities for our teeming population and the better the indices of economic growth.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Ambassador Professor George Obiozor in a congratulatory message to Professor Soludo after his emergence as the governor elect of Anambra State had prophetically enthused the age-long strategic place of Anambra State in Igbo Land and hopes that his sterling pedigree will add extra-ordinary value to the social economics of the State and the entire Igbo Land

Soludo, has by the robust steps he has taken so far, proved beyond doubt that he is an experienced development economist and a scholar of world renown. Professor Chinua Achebe had long lamented that the problem of Nigeria is leadership. The implication of the Achebe lodestar is that if FederalGovernment, 36 State Governors, National Assembly Members, Ministers, etc adopt the Soludo Model by patronizing the local goods and services including Medicare, schools, cars, foods, etc, the regrettable tailspin of Nigerian economy, perhaps, may be reversed." The statement added
St Petersburg, FL (33711)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 84F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy. Low 71F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
Canadian gunned down at Phuket resort

PHUKET: Police are investigating a planned attack that saw a Canadian man gunned down dead at a resort in Rawai last night (Feb 4).

murderhomicidedeathpolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Saturday 5 February 2022, 01:25PM

Police at the scene of the slaying this morning (Feb 5). Photo: Chalong Police

Police at the scene of the slaying this morning (Feb 5). Photo: Chalong Police

More than 20 bullet casings were recovered at the scene. Photo: Chalong Police

Police at the scene of the slaying this morning (Feb 5). Photo: Chalong Police

Chalong Police were called to The Beachfront Hotel Phuket on Wiset Rd after a maid who came to clean the mans accommodation discovered the body at about 6:30am.

The mans bullet-riddled body was found on the ground beside a red MG car in the car park area beside the building where he was staying.

Officers identified the man by his Canadian passport, issued in Saskatoon, as Mandeep Singh, 31, born in Chennai, India.

However, among the mans belongings police found a Quebec drivers licence issued to Amarjit Singh Sindu, 33, registered as living at an address in Montreal.

Chalong Police reported that CCTV footage at the resort showed Mr Singh pull up in front of the building in the red MG car at about 10:30pm last night.

As he got out of the car two men jumped out from the bushes and opened fire.

They kept shooting until Mr Singh hit the ground.

Mr Singh was shot 10 times in the attack. Many bullet casings were found at the scene, police reported.

Police are continuing their investigation into the slaying.
Moro Hub (Data Hub Integrated Solutions), a subsidiary of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has partnered with SAP to enhance intelligent automation at government and private organisations.

The initiative will allow government and private entities to unlock new efficiencies with intelligent automation across their mission-critical processes, that will be hosted from state-of-the-art Moro Hubs data centres, complying with data residency and cyber security requirements of the UAE.

The offering will be based on converting clients capital expenditures (Capex) to predictive operating expenditure (OPEX), primarily aimed to reduce the total cost of ownership and allowing the businesses to focus on their core operations, and the estimated savings will be 20 to 30 percent for customers.

The announcement was made during Shaping the Future with Digital Innovation Forum, which Dewa organised in partnership with SAP at Expo 2020 Dubai.

It was attended by Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, and Saif Humaid AlFalasi, Group CEO, ENOC, and other representation from Dubai Government entities from Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Digital Authority, Dubai Health Authority, and many others.

Al Tayer pointed out that its strategic partnership with SAP began in 2009 when Dewa implemented SAP Wave 1 for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to measure, integrate, and automate all its processes to provide the highest level of service to customers, employees and partners.

The relations later extended to Moro Hub. Since 2018, Moro Hub became the Authorised Cloud provider for SAP HEC.

This year Moro Hub has been certified by SAP as RISE partner  the first local provider to be certified in UAE - to offer in-country cloud-based, highly secure SAP services. SAP also supported our largest solar-powered Uptime TIER III-Certified Data Centre in the Middle East and Africa at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, stated Al Tayer.

"Dewa is helping to shape the future of the UAE over the next 50 years to become the worlds leading nation by its Centennial in 2071. Through Digital Dewa, we are redefining the concept of a utility and contributing to creating a new digital future for Dubai," noted Al Tayer.

"This is achieved through four pillars. The First is Solar power which includes launching advanced solar power technologies in Dubai. The second is energy storage. This is where we are deploying a renewable energy grid with innovative energy storage technologies. The Third Pillar is Artificial Intelligence (AI). We will develop AI to make Dubai the first city to provide AI-based electricity and water services. The Final Pillar is Digital Services," he explained.

This pillar expands our use of digital services through three subsidiary companies of our Moro Hub, InfraX, and DigitalX. Dubai, which started its digital transformation journey 20 years ago, steadily continues its innovation journey to become the smartest and happiest city in the world," he added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) The COVID-19 inoculation of children aged 5 to 11 will push through next week despite delays in vaccine shipment and the petition to stop the pediatric vaccination drive, officials said Friday.

On Thursday, two petitioner-parents told a Quezon City court that the vaccination is unconstitutional and children should be spared from undue experimentation.

But health officials maintained all vaccines used in the country have been studied by local and global experts. The Health department said it has already received the petition.

"We will wait for the process to take its course, but sabi nga nila we are committed to pursue the vaccination kasi sa ikakagaling naman yan ng mga bata and whole of the country... May mga nanay and children (na) eagerly waiting. Itutuloy natin 'yan unless the process of the TRO takes its course," Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center chief Myrna Cabotaje said in a public briefing.

[Translation: We will wait for the process to take its course, but as what we have said we are committed to pursue the vaccination for the benefit of the children and the entire country... There are mothers and children eagerly waiting. We will push through with it unless the process of the TRO takes its course.]

She added that the government provided enough venues to discuss the benefits and safety of the vaccines with parents and health workers.

"Meron tayong townhalls para sa healthcare workers para i-explain ang scientific basis, bakit kailangan mag-bakuna ng bata. And these healthcare workers are the best sources of information. We also have townhall meetings with our mothers and parents para maexplain sa kanila ang kabutihan ng bakunahan."

[Translation: We have townhalls for healthcare workers to explain the scientific basis and the need to vaccinate kids. And these healthcare workers are the best sources of information. We also have townhall meetings with our mothers and parents to explain the benefits of vaccinating their children.]

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, meanwhile, shared a global report that shows 97.6% of 8.7 million fully-vaccinated children did not experience any adverse effects following immunization. The rest only had mild side effects that were resolved eventually.

Vergeire also reiterated that pediatric vaccination is not mandatory.

"Ito po ay naaayon sa kagustuhan ninyo at ng inyong anak... informed consent is required for all. Ang mga polisiya po natin hingil sa pagbabakuna ay boluntaryo," she said.

"Para sa ating mga magulang na meron pa ring kaba at pangamba, hinihikayat po namin kayo na magbasa ng mga studies at magtanong sa inyong mga pediatricians tungkol sa bakuna natin," Vergeire added.

[Translation: It is up to you and your children, informed consent is required for all. Our policy on vaccination is that it is voluntary. To our parents who are apprehensive, we urge you to read studies and ask your pediatricians about the vaccines.]

About 160,000 children aged 5 to 11 have been registered for vaccination  with around 100,000 in Metro Manila.

After facing delays in shipping, Cabotaje said the 780,000 low-dose Pfizer vaccines will arrive Friday night and will be delivered early Saturday morning.

The rollout in Metro Manila will begin on Feb 7. Inoculations will also start in selected areas in Central Luzon and Calabarzon next week.

The rest of the regions will follow on Feb. 14.
Commerce Ministry says grocery prices stabilising, declining

BANGKOK: Prices for grocery items are starting to stabilise, with some even falling as the Ministry of Commerce says it will continue to monitor sellers.

economics

By National News Bureau of Thailand

Saturday 5 February 2022, 05:23PM

Officials from the Ministry of Commerce recently inspected the World Market in Bangkok and checked prices. Photo: NNT

Officials from the Ministry of Commerce recently inspected the World Market in Bangkoks Thawi Watthana District. During the inspection, officials found pork selling between B165 and B175 per kg, with chicken leg quarters selling at 65 baht per kg and chicken thighs between B73 and B75 per kg, reports state news agency NNT.

Wattanasak Sur-iam, director-general of the Department of Internal Trade, said retail pork prices are still going down due to the price cap placed on production pigs, on top of surging supply.

The pricing of chicken meat is also being regulated along with chicken eggs. The farm price of eggs is B3.33 apiece for No.3 eggs.

Meanwhile, prices of bottled palm oil range between B59 and B62, thanks to cooperation with the commerce ministry on the part of manufacturers and retailers. Palm oil prices have been rising due to the labor shortages in Indonesia and Malaysia, with Thailand being one of many countries to feel the impact.

The ministry also acknowledged that the recent surges in fuel prices have been moderately affecting the prices of consumer goods, but noted that local manufacturers are willing to help manage the situation.
Indian gangster slain at Phuket hotel

PHUKET: Police are searching for two men who were caught on camera shooting an Indian gangster to death in the parking lot of a hotel in Rawai.



By Bangkok Post

Saturday 5 February 2022, 08:39PM

Jimi Slice Sandhu, 32, was deported from Canada for serious criminality six years ago, according to the newspaper, which said several sources had verified his identity.

Police originally said the dead man was a Canadian  and earlier reports in local media including the Bangkok Post carried this assertion  but he was in fact an Indian national with a long criminal history in Canada noted the Vancouver Sun, the Bangkok Post reported this evening.

Jimi Slice Sandhu, 32, was deported from Canada for serious criminality six years ago, according to the newspaper, which said several sources had verified his identity.

When his body was found on Saturday morning, Sandhu was carrying two different pieces of identification: a passport bearing the name of a Canadian of Indian descent, and a drivers licence bearing the name of another Canadian of Indian descent. Local police released one of the names as that of the dead man, and it was published in several local media outlets.

The shooting occurred at the Beachfront Hotel Phuket, which also offers villas for sale on the property near Rawai beach. Sandhu owned a villa there, according to the Sun, whose reporters spoke with a staff member of the complex.

Officers were called to the hotel at 6.30am on Saturday after an employee reported a body in the parking lot of the villa zone, said Pol Lt Phalakorn Nuansuthi, deputy investigation chief at the Chalong police station.

The man was found lying face-down in a pool of blood behind a red MG hatchback with Phuket licence plates. Wearing a white T-shirt and cream shorts, he had sustained about 10 gunshot wounds on his body. Police believe the man had died at least 6 hours before his body was discovered.

Nineteen spent cartridges from a .38 were found scattered around the area. Some banknotes and some dried marijuana were found inside the car.

The body was sent to Vachira Phuket Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

When police examined security video from the hotel, they saw the victim driving the car to park in the villa zone of the 180-room hotel. As he was about to get out of the car, two men wearing woolen balaclavas to cover their faces jumped out at him. They fired several shots at close range and when the victim fell down, they shot him again.

Pol Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikhong, chief of Phuket police, said the victim had arrived in the province on Jan 27 and was staying at the villa wing of the hotel.

According to the Sun, Sandhu had been a member of the United Nations, a criminal gang active in the Pacific coast province of British Columbia.

Rivals in the Brothers Keepers gang were posting insults and taunts on social media when the news broke of Sandhus death, the newspaper said.

Sandhu was born in India and moved to Canada as a seven-year-old and grew up with relatives in Abbotsford, near Vancouver. After getting caught up in gang life and convicted of serious assaults in 2010 and 2012, he faced deportation, the Sun said.

He was deported in early 2016 and two years later news emerged that he had been arrested in India and charged with operating a large ketamine factory. After he was released on bail, he disappeared and is believed to have been travelling between Dubai and Southeast Asia ever since, the newspaper said.

At his immigration hearing in 2015, the Sun said, Sandhu acknowledged the risk of gang life:

I know that path is either go to jail or you die, he said.
Light Cobra Gold to go without Myanmar

BANGKOK: The annual Cobra Gold military exercise will be held from Feb 20 to March 5, but in a reduced format and without observers from Myanmar.

militarySafety

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 5 February 2022, 01:20PM

Soldiers take part in an exercise during Cobra Gold in Chon Buri province in February 2020. Photo: Apichart Jinakul / Bangkok Post

Details were announced at Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters by Chief of the Joint Staff Gen Natapol Boon-ngarm, accompanied by US charge daffaires Michael Heath, reports Bangkok Post.

He said the number of troops would be reduced from 8,964 to 3,460 and participants would be subject to strict health measures to ensure control of Covid-19.

There would be no amphibious landing, civilian evacuation or live-fire exercises, and the number of troops participating in each drill would be capped at 500.

Gen Natapol and Mr Heath jointly denied a rumour the United States would use the exercise as an opportunity to secretly supply weapons to ethnic minority groups fighting the junta government in Myanmar.

Gen Natapol said he was aware of the rumour but Cobra Gold would not be held near the Myanmar border. The exercises would be in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Lop Buri, Rayong, Chon Buri and the upper Gulf of Thailand, he said.

Thailand and the US cooperated only on humanitarian aid and vaccine support for Myanmar, Mr Heath said.

Lt Gen Chitchanok Nujjaya, Director of Joint Operations, said Myanmar military observers would not participate in this years 41st Cobra Gold, as they had in previous years, because of the Covid-19 situation. There was not enough time to prepare for Myanmars participation, he said. This was a joint decision by Thailand and the US.

Twenty countries would take part in the exercise, the biggest annual military drill in Southeast Asia. Fully participating nations would be Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the United States.

India, China and Australia would have limited participation, in human aid exercises.

Contingents from Bangladesh, Canada, France, England, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Fiji and Vietnam would participate in the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team project.

There would be 1,953 soldiers participating in this years Cobra Gold from Thailand, 1,296 from the US, 50 from Singapore, 16 from Indonesia, 35 from Japan, 41 from South Korea, 36 from Malaysia, 10 from China, five from India and 18 from Australia.
Man charged after cams found in bathrooms at Australian embassy

BANGKOK: A former staffer at Australias embassy in Bangkok has been charged after multiple spy cameras were found in womens bathrooms at the mission, a Canberra official said on Saturday (Feb 5).



By Bangkok Post

Saturday 5 February 2022, 03:32PM

In this file photo taken on June 4, 2014, a woman attaches flowers to a gate during a gathering outside the Australian embassy in Bangkok. Photo: AFP / Bangkok Post

Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Royal Thai Police had arrested a local former staff member last month, reports Bangkok Post citing AFP.

"The welfare and privacy of all staff remains a priority for the department and we continue to provide appropriate support," a department spokesman said in a statement to AFP.

The spokesman declined to comment further on the ongoing legal matter.

Khemmarin Hassiri, commander of the foreign affairs division of the Royal Thai Police, said that the Australia embassy filed a complaint against a man on Jan 6. Thai police said the investigation was ongoing.

It was unclear how long the cameras had been in the bathroom, with the matter only coming to light after a camera SD card was found on the bathroom floor last year, according to a report by ABC Australia.

The incident represented a serious security breach, an Australian defence and foreign policy expert told AFP.

"If security was lax enough to allow devices like cameras to be installed anywhere within a secure area, it suggests its not tight enough to keep the embassy secure," Hugh White, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University, said.
Patong business explains high taxi fares, prices

PHUKET: This Friday (Feb 4) Phuket reporters visited Patong Beach to meet local taxi drivers and vendors and ask questions about expensive taxi fares and prices in the resort town in general.

tourismtransporteconomics

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Saturday 5 February 2022, 12:29PM

Patong: lively, colourful but not as cheap as some people expect. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Mr Chamni Thimakul, a 45-year-old taxi driver from Patong, said that the fact that taxi fares in Phuket are expensive has to do only with some groups of people who are not Phuket locals. Phuket people themselves welcome everyone to visit the province.

The taxi fares are high because the cost of living is high. Also the road up and down Patong Hill is not a smooth road [which also has an impact]. The taxi fares in Patong start at B200, but when the passengers bargain down to 150 baht, drivers agree and take passengers to their destinations. The driver and passenger can negotiate the price, he said.

After that, the reporters went to speak to a shop operator in front of Patong Beach.

Ms Suchada Pakong, a 34-year-old food vendor on Patong Beach, said another factor affecting the fares is the price of the car an operator buys. The signage fee and the tax fee are already expensive, yet the fares still start at B200 in Patong.

The fare of a taxi motorbike is 40 baht per person. And for a car, for example, if tourists take a taxi for five people or six people, its 200 as usual. I want relevant officials to fix problems from the roots, she added.

Water and electricity bills are expensive. The food cost in restaurants is expensive since the raw materials are expensive. After the purchase, we have to waste time doing it in order to wait for customers to buy. We cant sell cheaply. We have to sell expensive goods, she said.

We are already having an impact, and we do not want to sell expensive goods. Taxis dont want to charge expensive fares. I want relevant agencies to take care of this issue. If the cost of living is high, we all have a very difficult life. I would like the officials to come and see the picture themselves. Is the value over there the balance?, she added.

The cost of a tuk-tuk when an operator buys is B700,000-800,000 while some tuk-tuks cost B1 million. Some passengers of tuk-tuk wont take a tuk-tuk without a sound system, so tuk-tuk drivers have to install a good sound system for passengers. Most westerners dont have a problem and they are satisfied to go, if they are not satisfied they just dont go, she said.

The atmosphere of Patong Beach yesterday was lively with many tourists enjoying themselves on the beach. The Patong Municipality created some colourful artworks on the boardwalk which is a new check-in point for Patong Beach to stimulate tourism. Also there is a project to conduct road improvement, including painting pedestrian crossings in gold colour at Taweewong Rd [the beach road] and Laem Phet intersection as well.
Prayut on trigger-happy students: Enough

BANGKOK: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is demanding that all hands from Uthenthawai vocational school and the Education Ministry put an end to problems after the latest controversy involving students firing guns into the air on campus.

culturemilitarypolice

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 5 February 2022, 10:00AM

Some former and current students fire pistols into the air at the Uthenthawai campus of Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok on Tuesday (Feb 1). Photo: Archiwha News / Facebook, via Bangkok Post

For all alumni and students, I think its enough, the prime minister said at Government House yesterday (Feb 4), reports the Bangkok Post.

Gen Prayut was commenting on an incident in which 54 former and current students fired pistols into the air on Tuesday at their school  the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus. Teachers, students and alumni had gathered at the school on that day to celebrate its 88th anniversary.

The firing stirred a public outcry after a video was posted on social media.

The prime minister said executives of Uthenthawai, the Education Ministry, all students at the campus and other agencies must bring an end to a longstanding problem. The incident undermines attempts to change the image of vocational students as brawlers when they should be a driving force to help build the country, he said.

What they did was to damage the country, society and law and order, Gen Prayut said.

A police search at the campus on Tuesday found small arms plus knives and some handgun ammunition.

Arrest warrants have been issued for one student and one alumnus who were seen standing in the front row to lead the shooting, Pathumwan police station deputy chief Pol Lt Col Daenchai Toolaung said on Friday.

More people could be summoned after evidence emerged from interrogations of teachers and other witnesses, said Pol Maj Gen Jirasant Kaewsaeng-ek, spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

The university issued a statement apologising to the public for the incident committed by ill-intended persons.

Firing guns into the air was beyond the supervision of teachers and duty officials responsible for holding the activities, it said, referring to the anniversary event.
Russia wins Chinese backing in showdown over Ukraine

BEIJING: Russia won Chinas backing in its showdown with the West over Ukraine yesterday (Feb 4), as Beijing agreed with Moscow that the US-led NATO military alliance should not admit new members.

ChinesemilitaryRussian

By AFP

Saturday 5 February 2022, 09:46AM

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photograph during their meeting in Beijing yeterday ahead of the start of the Winter Olympics. Photo: AFP

The demand for NATO to stop expanding came after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing that saw Putin hail the two countries dignified relationship.

In a long strategy document, Moscow and Beijing hit out at what they said was Washingtons destabilising role in global security.

The parties oppose the further expansion of NATO and call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War era, the document read, urging respect for the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries.

The call echoes demands from Russia that have been at the centre of weeks of intensive negotiations between Moscow and the West, under the shadow of a potential conflict.

Western capitals have accused Russia of amassing some 100,000 troops on the borders of pro-Western Ukraine in preparation for an invasion and have vowed to impose devastating sanctions on Moscow if it attacks.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the latest European leader to announce a visit to the region yesterday, saying he would go to Ukraine on Feb 14 and Russia the next day.

Delusional false flag claims

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Moscow on Monday and Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.

Putins meeting with Xi - hours ahead of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games - came after the United States said it had evidence of a plan by Moscow to film a fake Ukrainian attack on Russians to justify an attack on its neighbour.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the US had information that the Russians are likely to want to fabricate a pretext for an invasion, but did not provide evidence.

Russia, which has repeatedly denied any invasion plans, said the US claims were absurd.

The delusional nature of such fabrications - and there are more and more of them every day - is obvious, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised remarks.

Washingtons claim came on the back of visits from European leaders to shore up support for Kyiv, including from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday welcomed the displays of support, saying they had prevented Russia from further aggravating the security situation.

Intimidation strategy

Our partners believe in Ukraine and that means Moscows intimidation strategy is not working. Russia has lost this round, Kuleba said.

During Erdogans visit Thursday he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an agreement expanding the production of parts in Ukraine for a Turkish combat drone whose sale to Kyiv has angered Moscow.

Erdogan has tried to position Turkey, which is a member of NATO, as a neutral mediator close to both Moscow and Kyiv.

Following his trip, Erdogan accused the West of making the crisis worse.

Unfortunately, the West until now has not made any contribution to resolving this issue, he said in comments published by local media yesterday.

They are only making things worse, Erdogan said, adding that Joe Biden has not yet been able to demonstrate a positive approach.

Russias relationship with the West was severely damaged in 2014 when it annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and threw its political weight behind armed separatists in the east the country.

Nearly eight years of fighting between Kyiv and the pro-Moscow fighters has cost more than 13,000 lives and seen the West and Russia exchange waves of tit-for-tat sanctions.

In the most recent diplomatic flare-up, Putin has demanded guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO and has implicitly threatened the former Soviet state with the massive military build-up.

Russia also wants NATO and the United States to foreswear the deployment of missile systems near Russias borders and to pull back NATO forces in eastern Europe.

These tensions have been aggravated by plans for joint military exercises between Russia and neighbouring Belarus, where Washington claims Moscow is preparing to send 30,000 troops.
Tourists rescued from hillside wildfire at Nai Harn

PHUKET: Tourists stranded on rocks at Laem Krathing, just north of Nai Harn Beach, were rescued this evening (Feb 5) after a hillside wildfire cut them off from returning to safety.

tourismSafety

By The Phuket News

Saturday 5 February 2022, 10:44PM

The fire as seen from Nai Harn Beach at 6pm. Photo: The Phuket News

The fire as seen from Nai Harn Beach at 6pm. Photo: The Phuket News

The fire spread across the hill at Laem Krathing, north of Nai Harn Beach. Photo: via Aroon Soros

The fire spread across the hill at Laem Krathing, north of Nai Harn Beach. Photo: via Aroon Soros

All the stranded tourists were rescued safely. Photo: via Aroon Soros

Rawai Mayor Aroon Soros reported that the tourists were safely recovered after Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew was informed that tourists were stranded.

Governor Narong informed the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, based at Cape Panwa, on the east side of the island, to responde, Mayor Aroon said in a post online.

A special operations unit with rubber dinghies was dispatched. The tourists were safely recovered and transferred to a Rawai Municipality speedboat, he added.

Mayor Aroon said that the fire had spread very quickly, and that Rawai Municipality officials and forest officials helped to suppress the fire and keep an eye on it

He thanked all those who helped in the coordinated efforts.

The Phuket News witnessed the first firefighters passing through the Nai Harn Beach area toward the fire after 6pm. By that time the fire had already been burning for hours.
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Year of the disappearing tiger

The 2022 Lunar New Year, which began on Tuesday (Feb 1), marked new beginnings for many citizens throughout the Asean region, celebrating this holiday as we welcome the Year of the Tiger.

Environment

By The Phuket News

Saturday 5 February 2022, 02:00PM

Tigers are mostly solitary and highly adaptable. They prey on large animals like deer, wild boar, and even elephant calves and require large contiguous areas approximately between 70 and 600 square kilometres to thrive. Photo: Amri Afrianto

Lunar traditions and celebrations welcoming the Year of the Tiger bear more significance for the Asean region, being home to three out of the six existing subspecies of Tigers: the Indochinese Tiger, which has been recorded in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailandand Vietnam; the Sumatran Tiger in Indonesia; and the Malayan Tiger in Peninsular Malaysia and Southern Thailand.

Tigers (Panthera tigris), the largest member of the cat family (Felidae), are mostly solitary and highly adaptable. They prey on large animals like deer, wild boar and even elephant calves, and require large contiguous areas approximately between 70 and 600 square kilometres to thrive.

These powerful apex predators continue to be pivotal players in ensuring the health of our ecosystems, and consequently the wellbeing of humanity. Yet, throughout their range, wild tiger populations are declining due to various threats resulting from human activities.

In Malaysia, the dwindling population of the Malayan Tigers, considered as one of the countrys iconic species, is a major concern. Based on the latest figures from the survey that the Malaysian government is conducting, fewer than 150 tigers remain in the wild.

In Thailand, a group of 18 tigers has been recorded from June 2016 to February 2017 in the Dong Phyayen and Khao Yai forest complex, based on a survey conducted by the countrys Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Freeland Foundation and Panthera Foundation.

In Myanmar, tigers have been rarely spotted in the region and have been considered extirpated (root outed and destroyed completely), according to the countrys 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

We laud the efforts of the Asean Member States in addressing the decline of wild tigers and their prey. The Asean Centre for Biodiversity is currently supporting transboundary efforts between Malaysia and Thailand in protecting the important tiger and elephant landscape at the border of these countries.

In Malaysia, routine patrolling is supplemented by the all-year-round anti-snare programmes and the recently established National Tiger Conservation Task Force chaired by the Prime Minister. In Indonesia, ex-situ wildlife conservation (off-site conservation) efforts have succeeded in breeding several endangered animals, including the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae).

The Asean Centre for Biodiversity congratulates the government of Malaysia and the Global Tiger Forum for successfully hosting the 4th Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation from January 19-21, 2022 and adopting the Kuala Lumpur Joint Statement on Tiger Conservation.

These developments reflect the strong commitment of the tiger range states to protecting the regions majestic felines. The Asean Centre for Biodiversity is ready to support further collaborations and dialogues to address the main threats to the tiger populations, including contributing to actions outlined in the Joint Statement.

Amid the challenges of biodiversity loss, the Asean Centre for Biodiversity urges everyone to take part in the shared responsibility of protecting tigers, their prey and their habitats. This endeavour can only be possible through stronger partnerships and effective strategies on the ground to address threats, such as wildlife trafficking and habitat loss.

May the citizens of Asean draw inspiration from the magnificent wild tigers of our region in wielding the opportunities that the Lunar New Year has to offer. Just like how tigers are, may we be key figures in maintaining the harmony and balance in ecosystems, because #WeAreASEANBiodiversity.

By Dr Theresa Mundita S. Lim

Dr Theresa Mundita S. Lim is the Executive Director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  The government is hoping to vaccinate five million individuals during the third round of 'Bayanihan, Bakunahan' next week.

The two-day mass inoculation drive will be held on Feb. 10 and 11, according to National Vaccination Operations Center co-lead Dr. Kezia Lorraine Rosario.

"Ang tinitingnan natin ay mabakunahan natin around 5 million individuals," she said during a virtual briefing. "Ongoing pa ang preparation kaya hindi masabi kung ilan ang nag-register."

[Translation: What we are looking at is to vaccinate around 5 million individuals. Preparations are still ongoing so we cannot say yet how many have registered.]

Rosario said the government is looking into designating more vaccination sites, especially in industrial parks, universities, and schools to reach more Filipinos.

"Marami po tayong mabibigay na bakuna, especially booster doses," she said.

[Translation: We will give many vaccines, especially booster doses.]

The first two rounds of the national vaccination drive happened in December last year.

For February alone, Rosario said the government hopes to vaccinate more than 25 million individuals.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Feb. 7, the government will launch its pilot vaccination for children aged 5 to 11.

Various inoculation sites in Metro Manila, Regions 3 and 4A, and Cotabato City will participate in the program.

Rosario said the immunization drive for children may be available nationwide starting Feb. 14.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  Authorities have arrested 618 violators since the election gun ban was implemented about a month ago, the spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Saturday.

"May naaresto na tayong 618 na katao na lumabag sa umiiral na gun ban," PNP spokesperson Jean Fajardo said during an interview with PTV's Laging Handa.

[Translation: We have already arrested 618 individuals who violated the existing gun ban.]

The violators were netted through the PNP's 699 operations, Fajardo said, noting that most of those apprehended were from Metro Manila.

The nationwide gun ban started on Jan. 9 and will be in effect until June 8.

READ: Gun ban in effect as election period officially starts

During the period, the Commission on Elections prohibits the unauthorized bearing, carrying, or transporting of firearms and deadly weapons outside residences, businesses, and public places, based on the poll body's Resolution No. 10728.

According to the resolution, personnel from the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and other members of law enforcement agencies are exempted from the gun ban, provided that they obtain authorization from the Comelec.

They are also required to wear their prescribed uniforms during their official duties for the entire election period.
In the Press Corps of the Indiana Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis, in an office lovingly called "the Shack," the journalism majors of Franklin College's Pulliam School of Journalism work alongside the best reporters in the state, digging into the behind-the-scenes stories of Indiana politics. We're a student newsroom, but our work doesn't sit on a professor's desk. We create content five days a week for this website and 35 professional media partners around the state.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Cloudy this morning with showers during the afternoon. High 17C. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 9C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 17C. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 9C. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  Presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos emphasized that he will strengthen the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the agency mandated to recover his family's ill-gotten wealth, if he gets elected to the country's top post.

"Siguro ang anti-corruption, mas patibayin pa natin ang (In terms of anti-corruption, we need to strengthen) PCGG," Marcos told DZBB's Ikaw Na Ba? Presidential Interviews on Saturday.

The son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. said it will be best to study the role of the agency in fighting corruption in the government.

"Kailangan natin pag-aralan kung ano ang magiging role nila sa (We need to study what will be their role in the) anti-corruption drive," said Marcos.

The PCGG was formed in 1986 when former President Corazon Aquino assumed office. Aquino deposed the elder Marcos, who had been ruling the country for 21 years, in a peaceful revolution in February that year.

The primary objective of PCGG is to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and their cronies.

As of September 2021, the PCGG has recovered about 174 billion worth of cash and other assets from the Marcoses and their cronies. It is still running after at least 125 billion more.

RELATED: Sandiganbayan orders return of hundreds of millions in Marcos ill-gotten wealth to govt

Marcos is running under Partido Federal ng Pilipinas with presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte as his vice presidential bet along with 11 senatorial aspirants.
EDWARDSVILLE  A pair of hearings related to Madison Countys suit over the creation of judicial subcircuits are set for the near future.

Members of the county boards Judiciary Committee were given an update by Assistant Madison County States Attorney John Hanson at the meeting Friday.

The suit stems from the passage and signing of a bill modifying judicial subcircuits in Cook County, and creating subcircuits in some downstate counties, including Madison County.

A major concern is while bill does not take effect in the rest of the state until the 2024 election cycle, in Madison County it will impact the 2022 cycle, which is now under way.

It also sets up a system where the first three judges elected must come from one subcircuit, which is heavily democratic; then then next three from a second subcircuit, which is split. The third subcircuit, more heavily Republican will only have two judges and voters will be unable to vote for a judicial race for approximately 10 years, according to county officials.

On Jan. 21 Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine filed suit against the act. A Sangamon County judge issued a temporary restraining order Jan. 23.

A Feb. 10 hearing is set to consider allowing a potential plaintiff from Lake County to participate in the process, and a Feb. 15 hearing is set on Madison Countys request for a preliminary injunction against the new law.

A temporary restraining order was issued following the initial Jan. 24 hearing in Sangamon County. According to Hanson that will expire Feb. 15.

If a preliminary injunction is granted, it is unclear exactly what will happen next, but the case could then bypass the district and appellate courts and move directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Hanson said part of the TRO was to maintain the status quo. A concern is that two sitting judges are up for election, and they only have until mid-March to obtain signatures on nominating petitions.

Committee Chairman Mike Walters, R-Godfrey, said he was concerned that there isnt enough time to resolve the issue in time for candidates to obtain signatures and do other necessary tasks.

Current Circuit Judges Amy Sholar and Christopher Threlkeld, both Republicans, had previously announced they would seek retention in the November election that originally included the entire circuit. Because of the new law, within a week both established new residencies inside the newly created Subcircuit 1, a heavily Democratic region, so they could seek to continue their positions.

"We are very happy that, as requested, this binding TRO preserves Madison Countys at-large judicial elections for the time being, Haine said at the time of the filing.

This is not a partisan issue; it is a Constitutional issue," he said. "I appreciate the judges diligent work in allowing our Madison County judicial elections to go forward without being burdened by this seriously flawed subcircuit law, which has many constitutional issues."

The bill was introduced and voted on Jan. 5, and signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on Jan. 7.

The new law creates four judicial subcircuits in the 3rd Judicial Circuit, which includes Madison and Bond counties; as well as the 7th Circuit in Sangamon and surrounding counties; and DuPage County.

The bill also changes subcircuits in Cook, Kane, McHenry and Will counties.
ST. LOUIS  Bryan Glebavicius is living proof of how deadly the COVID-19 virus can be, but he is taking another step on the road to recovery.

The 27-year-old Glebavicius, a former Maryville resident who now lives in Wright City, Missouri, had a nearly three-month stay at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and is now at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. What started as a bad cough in October 2021 turned into life-threatening complications from COVID.

Just a few days after being admitted to SLU Hospital, Bryan was put on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), a life-saving treatment that pumps oxygen into the bloodstream.

I pray with all my heart and soul that they can save him, Bryans mother, Pat Chrismer-Glebavicius of Maryville, wrote in a Facebook post. If you are not vaccinated just look at what he is going through. Get your vaccine folks, I will preach this forever and always.

Bryan would end up staying on ECMO at SLU Hospital for a record-breaking 78 days  the longest a patient at SLU Hospital has ever survived on ECMO.

Bryan was transferred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital on Jan. 24 for a potential lung transplant.

The transplant team has been starting to run tests and coming in and talking to us, said Pat in a Facebook post on Jan. 27. Respiratory came in and he was able to talk and talk. Something he hasn't done in months. A lot of jokes were told today and stories of him. It was a good day.

Pat said that before Bryan tested positive for COVID, he was healthy as a horse and he did not have any pre-existing medical conditions, which doctors at SLU Hospital confirmed.

He was not vaccinated, though, and that is something Pat wants to bring awareness to.

Id rather see people six feet apart than six feet under, Pat said in a phone interview on Tuesday. I cant emphasize enough how important this vaccine is and I think that people that dont get it are foolish because they could end up like Bryan.

Weve been going to the hospital for three months now going on four and we still have a long way to go. Its been extremely emotional, and its been heartbreaking for him. He was a very independent, strong healthy young man and now he isnt.

Pat recalled her sons reluctance to get vaccinated for COVID.

He always told me, Mom, its just the flu and Ill get over it. If I get it, I dont need to worry about those shots, Pat said. He said that people are talking bad things about it. I told Bryan, Dont listen to them  you need to get the vaccine. Now he is welcoming the vaccine.

Bryan, who lived in Maryville for about three years, used to work at the TA (Travel Centers of America) location in Troy. He then transferred to the TA location in Foristell, Missouri, where he was working until he got COVID.

After he graduated from high school, he was up in Omaha (Nebraska) with his dad, and we were separated, Pat said. I was the general manager of the TA in Troy and thats how he ended up working there.

As with many long-term COVID patients, Bryan wasnt overly concerned when he started displaying symptoms of what turned out to be the virus.

He called me (in October) and said, Mom, Im not coming over Saturday because Ive got this rotten cough and I dont feel very good. I told him that I understood, and that I didnt want him around me if he was sick, Pat said. On Sunday, he felt a whole lot worse, and I told him he needed to go either to urgent care or to the ER (emergency room) and get looked at.

He went to urgent care, and they tested him for COVID, and he came back positive. They told him to go home, and they gave him a breathing device like they give you if you have COPD.

Pat and Bryan continued to talk every day, with Pat leaving food and drinks on his front porch. On the following Thursday, Bryan could hardly talk.

I told him to unlock his front door and get his cell phone, his wallet and his charger and call 911, Pat said. He was taken to (SSM) St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles. He was put on a ventilator on Nov. 1 and was transferred to Saint Louis University Hospital on Nov. 4.

After that, it wasnt long before Bryan began his 78-day ordeal on ECMO, and there were times when the outlook was bleak.

There was a lot of tears, a lot of smiles, but eventually he was able to do more physical therapy and that helped a lot, Pat said. The physical therapy team at SLU and the one at Barnes have both been awesome, and if it wasnt for SLU, I wouldnt have my son.

SLU Hospital President Steven M. Scott commended the teamwork that led to Bryans recovery.

Exceptional care delivery, persistence, and mission-driven advocacy all came together to save this patient's life, Scott said in a press release. Thank you to Nichole Russell, Drs. Prasad, Abo-Salem, Charbek, Kamel, our ECMO team and the entire 4N ICU team for their dedication to this patients care.

Wed also like to recognize Lisa Erlinger in Case Management, whose diligence, tireless persistence and focus on the patient led to her obtaining Medicaid for him, which led to his acceptance for lung transplantation.

This is a huge win for our team, added Nichole Russell, cardiac program manager at SLU Hospital. We could not have gotten him where he is today if it were not for these people.

Dr. Ghassan Kamel is SLUCare medical director of the ICU at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. Like Scott, he saluted the work done by dozens of people in helping Bryan get through his record-breaking stay on ECMO.

It took a lot of effort from a lot of different people at the hospital here, including multiple doctors, nurses, therapists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, case managers, social workers and many more, Kamel said in a phone interview. Everybody collaborated for months to get Bryan to a point where he could transfer to a facility for a possibility of getting a lung transplant.

Weve been through a lot with Bryan. He was on the ventilator or the ECMO, which is the maximum form of life support along the lines of giving someone oxygen. Its been a long couple of months, even more, but we were able to get him to the point where he can be transferred.

Kamel added that the turning point in Bryans recovery started several weeks ago.

The last few weeks was when we were able to keep him awake more, and he was able to do more physical therapy, Kamel said. He was able to walk more often, and every time he walked, it required five or six people to help him. But he got stronger.

For transfer to another facility, even if you are on life support, you should be able to at least walk a few feet and be awake and not sedated. He was able to gain more strength and that made the difference.

Kamel cited Bryans ordeal as another example of the importance of getting vaccinated for COVID.

The point of vaccination is to try to prevent severe illness. Vaccination will not necessarily prevent you from getting the virus, but it can prevent you from becoming deathly ill or even dying, Kamel said.

Pat added that she and Bryan should know by Thursday or Friday whether he will be put on the transplant list right away or if hell have to wait two weeks until he gets his second vaccine shot.

Lisa (Erlinger) was the care coordinator at SLU for Bryan, and she was very hands-on with helping us Missouri Medicaid for him and talking to the doctors at Barnes, Pat said. Barnes finally accepted him (for the lung transplant list), which I will be forever grateful for.

In any case, Pat cautions that a lung transplant is not an instant cure-all, as the surgery has several potential risks.

There are so many things that could go wrong within a few weeks with the lung transplant, and (Bryan) could possibly die, Pat said. Im very hopeful and Im hoping that it works out. The surgeon came in and talked to us and told us the ins and outs and what could happen.

Bryan has a lot of scarring in and around his lungs and they have to work through that. The surgery could hurt his voice box and it could hurt his diaphragm and there are so many different things that could possibly happen. But there is the positive side that everything could go well, and he could be out of the hospital within three weeks (after the surgery).
ALTON  Being snowed in presents the perfect time for everyone in MERS Goodwills Southeastern Illinois communities to rethink their home organization and help create local jobs at the same time.

All community members are invited to bring the clothing and household items they no longer need to their closest MERS Goodwill donation center so they can find new use with a new family, a budding hobbyist, or a thrifty deal-seeker, said MERS Goodwill CEO and President Dave Kutchback.

The Alton MERS Goodwill, 1719 Homer M. Adams Pkwy., receives more than 100 donations per day, from 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m., seven days a week under the blue awning at the side of the building.

Weve had six or seven donations today, but on average we have more than 100 donations a day. Its pretty great, said Alton store manager Lisa Paulin, of Alton, who was at the store Friday after this week's heavy snowfall.

Last year, MERS Goodwill received 1,561,256 item donations. With the support of donors, MERS Goodwill programs offer guidance and support to clients seeking stable employment and a brighter future in 2022.

The donations that MERS Goodwill receives are invaluable to supporting the organizations life-changing programs, Kutchback said. Its a win-win. MERS Goodwill supporters can clean out their closets and get organized while our shoppers and clients benefit.

Paulin began working at the Alton MERS Goodwill store 18 years ago. After eight months she went to manage the Granite City MERS Goodwill for more than 12 years. She came back to Alton as the store manager four years ago. MERS Goodwill District Manager John Feldman, of Glen Carbon, has been with the company 11 years and has been the district manager for five years.

MERS stands for Missouri Employment Rehab Services, which includes the Metro East. Its 44 locations stretch from Hannibal, Missouri, to Marion, Illinois.

The stores assist with funding MERS Goodwill job training and employment services along with four locations of The Excel Center and a MERS Goodwill Career Center at 2524 State St. in Alton.

The four Excel Centers help adults get high school diplomas; its something we are proud of and we support, Paulin said. Another one of the things we do is help individuals with disabilities overcome barriers to employment, and we have several veterans programs, as well. All three of those are close to our heart.

Right now MERS Goodwill also is hiring with starting salaries of $13.50 to $23.50 per hour. Interested individuals can scan a QR code at the Alton Goodwill or apply online; more details are online at www.mersgoodwill.org.

This is a great place to be; its fun to work here, Paulin said. We have 30 employees at the Alton store. It takes a lot of people with the donations we get. Its just wonderful.

The Alton story receives especially large amounts of donations at the beginning and the end of each year, she said, as people clean out their homes, storage and garages.

Goodwill representatives suggested now is the perfect time for people to declutter:

 It relieves stress. With so many external stressors right now, it can be easy for negative feelings to pile up and create emotional turmoil. Getting organized can help lift that weight off of your shoulders! By letting go of what you no longer use, you can gain a clear (and less stressful) outlook on your home and life.

 It increases productivity. Disorganization can make you feel unmotivated and unproductive. Clearing out what you no longer need can give you the energy to focus on whats important in the new year. If one of your New Years resolutions is getting back on track with healthy habits, decluttering and organizing can be a great place to start!

 It removes distractions. As you move through the first months of the new year, take a look each day at the things youre actually using in your home. When you allow yourself to reflect on what you need versus what you dont need, you can let go of clutter and set clearer intentions for the future.

The Alton store is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. To find other nearby stores, or donation centers, visit https://mersgoodwill.org/stores/.

I enjoy it with the staff and the public, get to know your regulars and the people who come in, Paulin said. On the sales floor, someone will run into someone they havent seen in a long time.

"It is fun to see relatives meeting up here. Its, just, neat," she said. "Its really been awesome and I plan to hang out with them as long as possible.

MERS Goodwills mission is to change lives through the power of work. Its vision is a community where each individual has the opportunity to learn, work and achieve their greatest potential. Annually serving more than 11,000 individuals, the nonprofit is governed by a local board of directors, and operates in 46 locations serving 93 counties in the bi-state area.

MERS Goodwill is a member of the United Way and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau. The agency is also profiled on the nonprofit organization database GuideStar, where MERS Goodwill is ranked with the Platinum Seal of Approval. For more information, visit www.mersgoodwill.org and the corporate MERS Goodwill Facebook page.

To contact Paulin, or for more information about the Alton store, call 618-462-8828.
EDWARDSVILLE  The Madison County Jail is still waiting to transfer 40 prisoners to Illinois Department of Corrections facilities, according to information provided Friday to members of the county boards Judiciary Committee.

Next week we have six females set to go, Madison County Chief Deputy Maj. Jeff Connor told the committee. We hope that the week after that we can get some of the males out.

The failure of the IDOC to take inmates has been a major concern at the jail. Because of an upswing in COVID cases, the IDOC stopped taking new prisoners Jan. 11. Although the agency resumed taking prisoners on Jan. 27, they have still been stacking up in Madison County.

IDOC previously halted the intake of prisoners at the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. The Illinois Sheriffs Association filed suit, but an appellate court sided with the state. IDOC eventually began taking in new prisoners in August 2020.

Connor noted the jail was housing 295 prisoners as of Friday morning. The jail capacity is supposed to be 312; prior to the pandemic it routinely held as many as 350 prisoners.

He said COVID concerns have lessened and the jail is down to one quarantine block. A cell block can house about 32 prisoners.

We still have some very serious medical conditions back there, he said, noting a murder suspect has dialysis three times per week.

Connor said health concerns led to a crisis at the jail several weeks ago when all of the nurses tested COVID-positive and one had retired. The county normally has four nurses working at the jail. Connor said the state brought in nurses who will be there through Feb. 12.

We were the first county facility where they came into a jail setting, he said. Its been a great help.

The judiciary committee on Friday also approved several spending requests for the sheriffs department.

A resolution to renew an annual medical care professional services contract with Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc., for $428,631.80 was approved, and a software maintenance agreement for video cameras with Ocularis Enterprise, for $8,412 was OKd.

Also approved was a resolution to buy five new 2022 Ford Explorers for the Madison County Probation Department from Morrow Brothers Ford Inc. at a cost of $158,850. The new vehicles will replace existing vehicles used by the department.
SPRINGFIELD  A political battle is shaping up between Gov. J.B. Pritzkers administration and one segment of the nursing home industry over a key element of the governors budget proposal, expanding the states health care workforce, particularly in long-term care facilities.

On Wednesday, Pritzker outlined a $45.4 billion budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 that included several elements aimed at recruiting and retaining nurses and other health care workers, such as more funding for college scholarships and increased pay.

But one of the biggest initiatives is a $500 million plan to overhaul the way Medicaid pays for nursing home care in order to improve staffing levels and the quality of care residents receive.

Funding would come from an increased assessment on nursing facilities that would be used to draw down additional federal matching funds. The money would then be distributed back to those facilities in a way that rewards those that increase their staffing to recommended levels.

Its called the patient driven payment model, or PDPM, and it was first developed in 2018 within Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors.

Now, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services wants to adopt a similar model for the states Medicaid program, the joint state-federal program that provides health coverage to low-income individuals and families.

To us, this is all about access and quality of care for Medicaid recipients. That's what this whole process is about, HFS Director Theresa Eagleson said in a recent interview.

Incentives for staffing

Illinois stands out among all states for having the most understaffed nursing homes in the country, according to the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Thats measured by the federal governments Staff Time and Resource Intensity Verification system, or STRIVE. In 2021, 47 of the 100 least-staffed nursing facilities in the country were located in Illinois.

The proposed new payment model would replace the current model known as the Resource Utilization Group system, or RUG. In that system, facilities are reimbursed based on the level of care a resident needs. Medicaid pays more for residents that need higher levels of care such as therapeutic services than those who dont.

The problem, HFS officials say, is that nursing homes have figured out ways to classify their residents as higher-needs residents in order to get higher reimbursements without actually providing those higher levels of service, a practice known as upcoding.

Over time, facilities figure out how to maximize the coding within these rate methodology systems so that they can get the most money for the residents that they're serving, said Kelly Cunningham, the states Medicaid administrator. And so in part, the federal government moved to PDPM from RUG because they recognized that this upcoding was happening, particularly on the Medicare side in therapy, which was very high-dollar, very lucrative for facilities to code residents as needing rehabilitation.

Over the last two years, HFS has negotiated with the nursing home industry and lawmakers on a new payment system and last fall reached a conceptual agreement. But they were not able to get it through the General Assembly during the fall veto session.

This year, HFS has proposed Senate Bill 2995, sponsored by Sen. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights, who chairs a subcommittee on Medicaid funding.

It would direct HFS to develop a reimbursement system through administrative rules in which nursing home residents would no longer be coded for their level of acuity. Instead, facilities would receive a base rate of $85 to $90 per day for each patient, plus graduated add-ons as their staffing levels approach their STRIVE targets.

Those add-ons would start at $9 per-day for facilities at 70 percent of their STRIVE target and would gradually ramp up to as much as $38.68 for facilities at or above 125 percent of their target.

Industry opposition

Even combined with the higher assessments, most nursing homes would come out ahead under that plan. But the Health Care Council of Illinois, an association whose members are mainly for-profit nursing homes, argues that around 130 facilities would lose revenue under that plan, including 50 that would be at risk of having to close.

And if that was the case, do we as a state really want to put 50 nursing homes out of business, close the facility, displace about 5,000 residents, possibly more, with absolutely no plan for where those residents would go, HCCI Executive Director Matt Pickering said in an interview.

In January, HCCI proposed an alternative plan, contained in Senate Bill 3116 and House Bill 4443.

It, too, calls for establishing a patient driven payment model, but it would offer per-diem add-ons even to facilities below 70 percent of the STRIVE target. It also calls for an additional $6 per diem Medicaid access add-on for large facilities where Medicaid residents make up 70 percent or more of their case load.

Also, in developing that plan, HFS would have to report to a new 12-member Nursing Facility Oversight Committee appointed by legislative leaders, with one member recommended by nursing home trade associations.

That committee would have to sign off on any changes to the payment system. The bill also provides for a two-year hold harmless period during which no nursing home could see its reimbursements reduced.

Pickering said in an interview that HCCI members serve 60 percent of all the Illinois Medicaid patients in long-term care, and in order for them to agree to paying a higher assessment rate, they are insisting on more legislative oversight.

We can't agree to all this unless it's transparent, there's accountability for everybody involved, he said. That that's what we can agree to. And you know, so far, I have to say that I think the General Assembly from early indications are that they agree with our position that should remain in statute.

HFS response

I have called this bill a distraction, and I think quite appropriately, Eagleson said of the HCCI proposal. On one hand, they say this is critical, we're at a critical stage, we need more money to pay for staffing, we need all these things. And on the other hand, they just keep delaying.

HFS recently published an analysis of HCCIs claim that 50 nursing homes would be pushed to the brink of closure under the agencys plan and found they were all for-profit facilities with low staffing and high percentages of Medicaid residents.

But when comparing them to other for-profit facilities of similar size, the analysis found that those 50 are currently significantly more profitable than other similar facilities and that they have significantly lower staffing levels than their peers.

What we found is that the 50 were distinguished by exactly the targets of our reform, not by the Medicaid tax bracket that we're proposing, and really not by Medicaid utilization, because there are plenty of higher Medicaid homes in the state that aren't doing this, said HFS Director Andy Allison, who led the review.

Allison also said HCCIs prediction of the negative impacts of reform was based on an assumption that those facilities would continue operating just as they are with low staffing levels and that they would not adapt to the new payment structure.

We don't think they will do nothing. We think they'll adapt just like they always have, Eagleson said. They'll either hire more staff or code appropriately or both, and thus have more income.

Pickering said he could not comment on HFSs analysis because he hadnt seen the data behind it. But he did say he thinks a compromise will be reached sometime during this session.

We all know that session is supposed to end April 8, he said. I'm hoping that this compromise comes sooner rather than later. It's hard for me to say, I don't think anybody can say when that compromise might happen. But I do think it's going to be sooner rather than later because really, the administration and all of the nursing homes, not just HCCI, we're all under enormous pressure to get this done.
(CNN)  NASA intends to keep operating the International Space Station until the end of 2030, after which the ISS would be crashed into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean known as Point Nemo, according to newly published plans outlining its future.

Launched in 2000, the space lab has orbited 227 nautical miles above Earth with more than 200 astronauts from 19 different countries enjoying stints aboard -- representing a continuous human presence in space.

NASA said that commercially operated space platforms would replace the ISS as a venue for collaboration and scientific research.

"The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA's assistance. We look forward to sharing our lessons learned and operations experience with the private sector to help them develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective destinations in space," said Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters in a statement.

"The report we have delivered to Congress describes, in detail, our comprehensive plan for ensuring a smooth transition to commercial destinations after retirement of the International Space Station in 2030."

Space graveyard

In the International Space Station Transition Report, NASA said the plan was for the ISS to fall to Earth in an area known as the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area -- also known as Point Nemo. The report said that its budget estimate assumed that the deorbit would happen in January 2031.

Named after the submarine sailor in Jules Verne's novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," Point Nemo is the point in the ocean that is farthest from land and has been a watery grave for many other spacecraft.

The area is approximately 3,000 miles off of New Zealand's eastern coast and 2,000 miles north of Antarctica and it's estimated that space-faring nations such as the US, Russia, Japan and European countries have sunk more than 263 pieces of space debris there since 1971.

The report said the ISS would perform thrusting maneuvers that would ensure "safe atmospheric entry."

Third decade

The ISS won't rest on its laurels for the next eight years. NASA said goals for the next decade including using the ISS as "analog for a Mars transit mission," according to the report.

"The International Space Station is entering its third and most productive decade as a groundbreaking scientific platform in microgravity," said Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters, said in the statement.

"We look forward to maximizing these returns from the space station through 2030 while planning for transition to commercial space destinations that will follow."

The space station has been home to many scientific firsts. The first item to be 3D-printed on the space station occurred in 2014. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins sequenced DNA in space for the first time in 2016. And the fifth state of matter, called a Bose-Einstein condensate, was produced in space by NASA's Cold Atom Lab on the station in 2018.

Astronauts have learned how to grow lettuces and leafy greens in space. The first space-grown salad was sampled by astronauts in 2015. Now, they're even growing radishes and chilis on the station. This could be used to one day help astronauts grow their own food on deep space missions.

China, whose astronauts have long been excluded from the ISS, launched the first module of its planned space station last year. While not as large as the ISS, the Chinese space station is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year.

Russia has said it will leave the ISS project in 2025 and plans to build its own space station that could launch in 2030."This third decade is one of results, building on our successful global partnership to verify exploration and human research technologies to support deep space exploration, continue to return medical and environmental benefits to humanity, and lay the groundwork for a commercial future in low-Earth orbit."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "NASA plans to retire the International Space Station by 2031 by crashing it into the Pacific Ocean"
SPRINGFIELD  Senate Republicans this week unveiled an updated package of crime bills this week that they say will help curb violent crime and provide a morale boost to law enforcement.

Its substantially similar to the package the GOP introduced three months ago during the fall veto session to little fanfare from Democratic supermajorities in either chamber of the General Assembly.

We were here in October to offer reasonable proposals to help reduce crime, but the Democrats who control Springfield have refused to act since then, Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said at a news conference Tuesday. Were here again, demanding the Democrats take action to protect the people of Illinois from the violence on our streets.

The proposal includes a Fund the Police Grant Act that would provide $125 million in funding per year to local governments that will help with hiring, rehiring and retaining officers. Funding would help with the purchase of equipment and storage for body cameras along with other equipment designed to keep officers and communities safe and provide additional training.

Grants would be administered by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.

Asked about that provision at a separate news conference Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker said his administration will look at anything that we think will help address the problem of rising crime, but he said his budget proposal contained significant investments to address the challenges that municipalities are having with crime.

The governors proposed budget for the fiscal year 2023 includes $4.5 million to help fund body cameras for Illinois State Police in accordance with the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T Act, passed in January 2021.

The SAFE-T act overhauls police certification, reforms use-of-force standards, improves police accountability and abolishes cash bail beginning in 2023 in favor of a system that prioritizes risk of re-offending over an offenders ability to afford release.

In accordance with the SAFE-T Act, Pritzker proposed $3.5 million in additional resources for ILETSBs operational costs, which include creating new trainings for officers and creating a public officer misconduct portal. Another $10 million would go to ILETSB to provide grants for body cameras related to the SAFE-T Acts requirements.

But the law continues to face strong opposition from Republican lawmakers.

Their package in response to rising crime also proposes mandatory sentences of 10 years to life for violent gun offenders, imposes a 10-year minimum on those who sell or give firearms to convicted felons, and requires defendants who commit aggravated battery against an officer or brings a weapon into a penal institution to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.

These measures are necessary to not only give law enforcement the tools that they need, but also to send a clear message  go after our police and there will be consequences, Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said.

Juveniles who commit crimes related to gun violence or violent carjackings could receive 10 years to life in prison, per the proposal.

But Pritzker, in his budget address, drew a stark contrast between his favored policies and those backed by the GOP.

With the state and the nation experiencing a rise in violent crime, addressing public safety requires major investments. But too often those elected officials yelling the loudest about public safety concerns are also those voting to defund government budgets, Pritzker said in his speech. Crime is a complex and multi-faceted problem to tackle, and its cynical and counter-productive to simply shout Lock them up while providing fewer resources to the people and programs that prevent crime in the first place.

His FY23 budget includes $240 million for the Reimagine Public Safety Act, which aims at investing in youth-focused violence prevention resources in the states most dangerous areas. That includes $235 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act for grants and $5 million in general revenue for staffing and operations.

Pritzker noted his budget includes an $18.6 million increase to allow for three classes of Illinois State Police cadets, about 300 officers.

But in their news conference, Republican Senators said local police need more funding, more recruits and the opportunity to provide more input on what police departments need in order to safely do their job.

David Hunt, a retired Piatt County Sheriff who joined GOP Senators at the news conference, said the reason he decided to retire before the end of his term was because of Democrats pushing police reform without the proper funding, as well as the measure end to cash bail.

Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp and Chris Southwood, President of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, said that the reason for an increase in law enforcement members leaving is due to a lack of support from lawmakers and an increase in violence against the police.

Our current system under the anything but SAFE-T Act is failing all of us. Violent crime is surging unchecked in our communities all across the state, Southwood said.

The Senate Republicans package would repeal the end of cash bail, but that provision, among others in the SAFE-T Act, doesnt take effect until January 2023.

In response to House Republicans introducing legislation repealing the SAFE-T Act last month, Legislative Black Caucus Chair Sonya Harper, House Chair Kam Buckner and Senate Chair Robert Peters said the SAFE-T Act will help improve public safety and accused Republicans of using racial scare tactics.

Were not saying that we have all the answers to stop crime in its entirety, Sen. Minority Leader Dan McConchie, R- Hawthorn Woods, said. But we are saying we have good ideas that are derived from the law enforcement community itself that are saying that this will put us on the path to safer neighborhoods and help us defend our police.
Dewalt

When I bought our first/current house, I told myself I would approach each home improvement job with the same brand of levity, wisdom, and laugh-out-loud antics as Tim Allen in "Jungle 2 Jungle", but quickly myself feeling overwhelmed and underprepared for the tasks at hand like Tim Allen in "The Santa Clause".

Giving you everything you need to conquer DIY jobs around the house or in the garage, this 71-piece DEWALT bit & driver set includes philips and flat bits, SAE nut driver bits, hex bits, Robertson bits, and more.
Scranton, PA (18503)

Today

Cloudy this morning with showers during the afternoon. High 67F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable.
Time to bite? Actress Eva Longoria was the face of Unilever-owned Magnum ice cream

A failed takeover of GSK's consumer health division. accusations that strategy is driven more by the desire to be woke than world-leading.

And now the appearance on the scene of Nelson Peltz, boss of Trian, the US activist investment fund, who has been building a stake, and perhaps planning a break-up bid.

These are just a few of the challenges facing Alan Jope, chief executive of Unilever, the 97billion giant that supplies us with dove soap, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Marmite, Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Hourglass vegan red lipstick.

Shares have tumbled by 27 per cent since their high in the autumn of 2019, which is why investors are applauding the intervention of Terry Smith, manager of Fundsmith, the man behind the woke claims.

Smith says that Unilever has 'lost the plot, publicly displaying sustainability credentials at the expense of focusing on the fundamentals of the business'.

Other problems besetting Unilever include its substantial debt pile, and the difficulty of raising prices to counter surging commodity costs as household budgets become ever more squeezed.

Pricing power is key in the current climate and, as Unilever unveils its full-year results on Thursday, this will be one of the issues under scrutiny. Analysts want evidence that it can exploit brands, of its strength in emerging markets and its distribution networks.

JP Morgan has reiterated its advice to sell Unilever shares. But Smith, who favours other consumer stocks such as Estee lauder and L'Oreal, continues to be a holder. He seems confident that Peltz can force change.

Private investors who are snapping up the shares seem to be of the same opinion. As Ryan Lightfoot-Aminoff of Fundcalibre puts it: 'Activist investors are really only coming on board for one reason  to make money.'

If you are intrigued by the emergence of Peltz, be aware that results will not be immediate.

James Yardley of Chelsea financial Services argues that Unilever should be 'the kind of share you put in the cupboard for ten years, reinvest the dividends, and don't worry about it too much.'

But, despite Smith's contention that Unilever has focused too much on whether Hellmann's has a 'purpose', younger customers could be won over if the company is strongly associated with sustainability. ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues matter to this group.

Peltz's stance on sustainability is not clear. But his tactics at past targets are well-known. Wielding what observers call his 'piratical charm and an iron fist', he brought about a make-over at Procter & Gamble, streamlining the business into fewer units. Over the past year, shares in the leaner and meaner P&G have risen by 24 per cent.

The Tide detergent group has been able to raise prices to offset higher costs and is diversifying into premium eco-conscious skincare. Woke can be lucrative.

It is not a coincidence that Unilever is shedding staff and splitting into five divisions: home care, personal care, beauty and wellbeing, nutrition and ice cream.

Nick Edwards, manager of Guinness European equity income, professes relief that the GSK deal failed, as Unilever would have had to concentrate on reducing debt, rather than driving growth.

But there is more optimism in the medium to long-term. Edwards adds: 'The reorganisation appears a big step forwards toward a decentralised, more accountable, focused and incentivised organisation.' Edwards considers Unilever shares 'an increasingly attractive prospect.'

This assessment is one of the reasons why I am sticking with Fundsmith. The other fast-moving consumer goods stocks in the portfolio are also an attraction.

Shares in Estee Lauder and L'Oreal are up by 16 per cent and 20 per cent respectively over the past year, reflecting the allure of their premium products in tough times.

Over the same period, there has been a 19 per cent increase in shares of Nestle, the provider of comforts like Quality Street.

The markets seem impressed with the company's transformation under Mark Schneider.

This has included acquisitions in niche and expanding areas, but it is also based on the calculation that environmental stewardship and transparency will matter more and more to consumers.

Unilever shareholders can only hope that their company can execute a similar balancing act.
City centres are roaring back to life as workers return to their desks, according to two leading companies.

Upper Crust-owner SSP and West End landlord Shaftesbury said the ending of work-from-home guidance is boosting business and helping the economy to recover.

In particular, the return of office workers has been a much needed boost for pubs, restaurants and shops devastated by the spread of Omicron.

On the move: The ending of work-from-home guidance is boosting business and helping the economy to recover

The Government's Plan B measures and work-from-home guidance turned city centres into ghost towns.

On what should have been one of the busiest days in the run up to Christmas, footfall in city centres was a third below pre-pandemic levels.

But Shaftesbury and SSP said footfall and commuter numbers are surging back following the guidance lifting.

Shaftesbury, which owns 600 restaurants, cafes, pubs and shops in London's West End, said it is ready for an 'extended period of uninterrupted growth'. It said vacancy rates are falling back towards pre-pandemic levels, in a further sign the worst of the pandemic has passed.

The business said the return of international travel would also support city centres bouncing back from Covid.

SSP, whose brands include Camden Food Co and Ritazza, said the emergence of Omicron and extra restrictions was a blow to its recovery.

The company is seen as a barometer for commuter traffic and international travel because of its stores in airports and train stations.

It was hammered by the pandemic as railway stations and airports were emptied and it was forced to cut around 4,000 jobs. At one point, just ten of its 580 UK sites were open, eight of them in hospitals.

Before the Omicron variant emerged, it was trading at 66 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as the number of passengers on trains picked up, driven by the ending of lockdown and staff returning to offices.

This dropped to 57 per cent in December and January because of Plan B measures and the work-from-home guidance. But sales have since picked up, especially in the UK and in European countries where restrictions have been dropped.

It said yesterday that sales are heading back to pre-pandemic levels driven by strong demand at train stations as workers get back to their desks. Around 1,950 of its 2,700 outlets are open and it said barring any further restrictions it is well placed for a strong summer.
Hundreds of staff at the City watchdog will have their pay frozen because they are not performing well enough.

Under plans slammed by trade unions, the Mail understands around 15 per cent of the Financial Conduct Authority's 4,000 staff will not be eligible for a wage hike.

The move comes as FCA chief Nikhil Rathi tries to link pay more closely with performance.

Pay freeze: We understand around 15 per cent of the Financial Conduct Authority's 4,000 staff will not be eligible for a wage hike

Until now, the watchdog handed out 'bonuses' to staff every year, worth around 10-to-12 per cent of their salary. These payments were purportedly to reward strong performance, but around 70-to-90 per cent of the FCA's staff were getting them every year, at a time when many considered the regulator to be failing at its job.

The rewards were so common that most staff looked at them as part of their salary. Now, Rathi is axing the bonuses.

Staff will instead be funnelled into one of five categories every year, ranging from 'underperforming' to 'significantly outperforming', which will dictate their pay rise for the year.

On average, under the new system, staff are due to get a 5 per cent hike this year and 4 per cent next year. Those top-performing staff will get bigger rises, and its 800 lowest paid workers will on average get a 3,800 raise.

But the plans have angered union Unite, which claims the changes will create 'a bargain basement regulator'.

The union said 87 per cent of its members at the FCA have voted to strike, but it has refused to reveal how many that actually entails.

It also claimed workforce morale was 'dire' and employees had been leaving in 'droves'  but it is understood that staff attrition is little-changed from usual levels.
GlaxoSmithKline's full-year results on Wednesday will be another test for embattled chief executive Emma Walmsley as she continues to fend off attacks from activist investor Elliott Management.

The company has been under increasing pressure over the planned de-merger of its consumer healthcare business, although an aborted 50billion swoop on the division by Unilever last month has helped push GSK's shares to their highest levels in nearly two years.

The share price rise may have brought Walmsley some breathing space to pursue her strategy. However, the stock is still below pre-pandemic levels which is unlikely to appease Elliott or other shareholders.

Meanwhile, investors will be keenly eyeing the firm's outlook in next week's results.

GSK upgraded its full-year guidance in October. But it is still forecasting a year-on-year decline in earnings. Investors will be hoping this has been narrowed further or potentially turned positive. Sales for 2021 are also expected to be around 34billion, about flat year-on-year, so any alterations will be closely watched.

Also in focus will be the total dividend for the year, which GSK has previously targeted at 80p per share.

Meanwhile, GSK's medicine and vaccine pipeline will continue to attract investor attention with around 63 products in development.

Key areas in focus will likely be infectious diseases, HIV and cancer drugs, particularly any updates on progress from ongoing clinical trials.
In this series, we bust the jargon and explain a popular investing term or theme. Here it's ESG.

What does ESG investing involve?

The managers of an ESG fund pledge to pick firms that prioritise environmental, social and governance factors or results.

The focus of governance is corporate behaviour: companies that break the law, or treat employees and other stakeholders badly should be excluded.

ESG investing is also known as 'ethical impact', 'stakeholder', 'socially responsible' or 'sustainable' investing. ESG considerations are becoming core to how directors develop strategy.

A sign of the times: ESG considerations are becoming core to how directors develop strategy

Is it a big thing?

Absolutely. By the end of this year, savers throughout the globe will have amassed 30.2trillion in ESG funds, according to a forecast from Bloomberg intelligence.

Who is the biggest name in the sector?

Larry Fink, boss of Blackrock, is credited with the recent ESG boom, arguing in 2020 that a fundamental shift in capitalism was underway to which companies and investors must respond if they wish to prosper.

Fink argues that investing in this way is neither ideological or woke, but the best route to long-term returns. doing the right thing should mean greater profitability. Some find the pronouncements on social responsibility hypocritical coming from a Wall Street billionaire, but his is a voice that cannot be ignored.

Why has ESG investing soared?

Many younger investors do not want their money put into businesses that pollute the planet, or back 'Big Tobacco' or 'Big Oil'.

Older generations are also thinking this way and fund managers are catering for them. The influence of David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg on investors' thinking should not be downplayed.

How are ESG investments selected?

There are at least 14 different frameworks used to assess the credential of a business, leading to confusion.

The Financial Conduct authority is under pressure to introduce a consistent terminology to be adopted by all funds. In the meantime, the watchdog requires ESG assertions 'to be reasonable and substantiated'.

Does ESG have its critics?

Yes. Companies, including many fashion retailers, are frequently accused of 'greenwashing', misleading consumers into believing that a product is sustainable.

Others are said to be failing to reveal the impact of climate change on their operations in their financial statements.

Tariq Fancy, who led the ESG division at Blackrock, called ESG investing 'a dangerous placebo that harms the public interest'.

He contends that the ESG managers can be subjective in their choices, or use unreliable data.

Can I trust my fund manager to do the right thing?

A company may amply fulfil certain criteria, but fail on others  which is why there is a rumpus about the inclusion of Facebook in some US funds. In 2020 it emerged that some UK ethical funds had stakes in Boohoo, the much-criticised fast fashion retailer.

The sustainability report of a company spells out its policies on ESG. A fund's monthly factsheet, available online, will detail the companies in which it has stakes. If you are unhappy, ask for an explanation.
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Washington Central town ready for un-Town Meeting Day

EAST MONTPELIER  Town meeting historically has been a bigger deal in some towns in the Washington Central Unified Union School District than it has been in others, but for the second straight year, all five communities have taken a pandemic-related pass on participatory democracy.

That means voters in Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex, Worcester and, to a lesser extent Berlin, wont be getting together to take care of town business on March 1, and many  if not most  will be voting by mail.

A blizzard of ballots will start being mailed next week with four of the five towns following the lead of the school district, and agreeing to send municipal ballots to all active registered voters. (Berlin is the exception. School ballots will automatically be mailed to voters in that town, but the municipal version will be available on request or at the polls on Town Meeting Day.)

School ballotsNone of the towns in Washington Central and beyond will be automatically mailing a separate ballot asking voters to create a new school district to run the barre-based Central Vermont Career Center.

Voters who opt to vote early in Berlin will get the career center ballot, but voters in the other four towns will have to remember to ask for a ballot many wont know they didnt get because theyve never seen it before.

Voters across the five-town district will all be mailed school ballots that will provide them with the opportunity to weigh in on the Washington Central School Boards $36.2 million school budget request. The proposal calls for spending nearly $1.2 million  an increase of nearly 3.4%  on the operation of the pre-K-12 district, which is anchored by U-32 Middle and High School than voters collectively approved a year ago..

Though there are no contested races for seats on the school board, voters in all five towns will have a voice in who represents their community, as well as the other four.

This year, they also will collectively decide whether to convey 3.8 acres of undeveloped land to the town of Berlin to accommodate its new town center initiative. The land, which is located near the Berlin Malls entrance off Route 62, is part of the property upon which Berlin Elementary School was built several decades ago. Washington Central inherited that school, along with the property, as part of a state-mandated merger in 2019, and town officials in Berlin say the sliver of land is needed to advance plans to replace the malls entrance with a new town road that will access a housing development in the process of being permitted. Most of the 3.8 acres would be retained as a future location for a municipal building.

The school ballots will be mailed to all voters, as will town ballots in the four communities that before last year took care of most municipal business on the floor of more traditional town meetings. Berlins two-year-old plan to move its watered-down town meeting to the Saturday before Town Meeting Day has been shelved again and voters there who are used to considering all money matters by Australian ballot have received postcards reminding them that absentee ballots are available on request.

Whats on those ballots varies somewhat from town to town, but the questions are now fixed, the ballots have been ordered, and must either be mailed, or available, by this coming Wednesday.

BerlinTown Meeting Day will be something of a missed opportunity in Berlin, where the Select Board had hoped to spark a robust floor discussion about the future of the volunteer fire department, while proposing a charter change that would have paved the way for imposition of local option taxes.

The decision to cancel town meeting has pushed the fire department discussion to the back burner, and a missed deadline has postponed a local option tax proposal at least until August, possibly November, and maybe even next March depending on the decision of the five-member board that, come March 2, will have two new members.

With Chairman Justin Lawrence and Selectman John Quinn III stepping down, voters will settle a three-way race to fill those two one-year seats. The field includes Carl Parton, former chair of the Berlin School Board; Bill Wolfe, the towns former police chief; and Deputy Fire Chief Joe Staab.

Those elections aside, the current Select Board is asking voters to approve a $3.8 million budget to finance the day-to-day operations of the town and the maintenance of local highways. The municipal spending plan reflects an increase of just over $109,000, or roughly 2.9%. An earlier version of the budget reflected a 4.1% spending increase, before a decision to pare $45,000 from the towns $250,000 capital budget in what was described as a nod to taxpayers.

The big increase  more than 28%  is reflected in a special ballot item that asks voters to approve $365,276 for the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Thats $80,197 more than the $285,197 voters approved for the department last March and some of the money  roughly $25,000  would cover the cost of a pair of two-man shifts working four hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays. Another $10,000 would boost money available for firefighter stipends from $20,000 to $30,000.

The increase comes at a time when the autonomous department is weighing the possibility of establishing a closer relationship with the town  an item local officials had hoped to discuss on the floor of town meeting this year.

Berlin voters also will be asked to separately approve more than 20 special funding requests that range from a low of $300 for Good Beginnings of Central Vermont to a high of $35,188 for the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier.

Unlike its Washington Central counterparts, all of those funding requests  like the municipal and school budgets  have been voted by Australian ballot in Berlin for many years. Other questions, like the Capital City Granges renewed request of a one-year tax exemption, have been considered during Berlins town meeting. That one-year request has again been added to the ballot this year.

Due to the pandemic, a virtual pre-town meeting will be held Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. The link will be posted on the towns website  berlinvt.org  and residents with questions are encouraged to attend.

Polls will be open at the municipal office building from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 1.

CalaisCalais voters, who have historically conducted most town business on the floor of a traditional town meeting, are facing an unusually busy ballot this year. Way busier than last year, when the pandemic prompted the Select Board to cancel town meeting for the first time in forever.

Part of the reason involve the inclusion of six separate articles that go a long way toward explaining why the $1.48 million budget proposed by the Select Board calls for spending about $230,000 less than the $1.71 million voters approved a year ago  a 13.4% reduction.

The municipal budget has historically included line items to cover money  more than $255,000 this fiscal year  Calais pays to volunteer fire departments in East Montpelier and Woodbury. This year, that money isnt included in the budget, it is on the ballot instead.

There are three articles asking voters to approve funding for emergency services provided by the East Montpelier Volunteer Fire Department and a third to help that department finance the planned acquisition of a new fire engine.

One article asks voters to approve $62,857 to pay the East Montpelier department for fire coverage it provides to Calais; and another requests an additional $121,083 for ambulance services. Voters also will be asked to authorize the town to borrow up to $66,667 to help pay for the new fire truck.

Three other ballot items reflect annual appropriations to the Woodbury Volunteer Fire Department  $35,370 for the service it provides, an additional $17,850 contribution to its truck replacement fund and $31,000 to its capital replacement fund.

In addition to those six articles, voters also will be asked to approve five requests for five-year tax exemptions involving properties owner by the Maple Corner Community Center, the Calais Community Recreation Association, the Aldrich Memorial Association, the Adamant Community Club, and the Adamant Co-op Inc.

Voters will be asked to approve a single article that includes $28,444 for 28 separate special funding requests, ranging from a low of $100 for Green Up Vermont to a high of $4,950 for the Montpelier Senior Activity Center. That all-or-nothing article doesnt include the Kellogg-Hubbard Librarys request for $29,898, or a pair of separately warned cemetery-related appropriations. Voters will be asked to approve $42,500 to maintain and operate local cemeteries and an additional $20,000 to replace fencing at Robinson and Old West Church cemeteries.

The Select Board is looking to take voters pulses on whether the town should provide notice to residents when sources of radiation, such as, but not limited to, that generated by cell towers/transmitters, WiFi tower transmitters and 5G antennas, are being proposed for licensing and installation within the town limits?

All of those questions would normally be discussed and decided on the floor of town meeting in Calais, but wont be again this year. Instead, voters will again use the Australian ballot to make those decisions.

There are a couple of contested elections in Calais, including one for the two-year Select Board seat currently held by John Brabant. A long-time board member, Brabant is being challenged by Jonathan Fitch and Tina Golon.

An online public informational hearing will be held Saturday, Feb. 19, at 10 a.m. The Zoom link will be posted on the towns website  calaisvermont.gov  and an in-person option will be available to those who need it at the Calais Town Hall.

Municipal and school ballots will be mailed to all active registered voters. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 1 at Calais Elementary School.

East MontpelierA $2 million municipal budget request and a proposal to help purchase a new fire truck, are among the questions East Montpelier voters will be answer during another year without town meeting.

Though some on the Select Board were tempted to propose the abolition of the towns elected listers and auditors, they ultimately decided against proposing what some suggested were controversial changes that warranted discussion when the town returns to a traditional town meeting.

The $2 million budget proposed by the board calls for spending about $73,000 more than the $1.9 million proposal voters approved last year, an increase of roughly 3.8%.

The board also is asking voters for permission to use $133,333 from the towns capital reserve fund to fund the local share of a fire truck the East Montpelier Volunteer Fire Department plans to purchase.

With the exception of the article calling for the appointment of a first constable, this years ballot is fairly standard. It includes a mix of funding requests  some that will be voted separately, others collectively and none on the floor of town meeting.

Some of the more notable separately warned articles include: $46,764 for the Kellogg Hubbard Library in Montpelier; $12,000 for the East Montpelier Signpost; and $9,000 for the Montpelier Senior Activity Center.

Other separately warned requests include: Rural Community Transportation ($7,834); Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice ($6,500); the Twin Valley Senior Center ($5,000); the Four Corners Schoolhouse Association ($4,400); East Montpelier Trails Inc. ($4,000); and Green Mountain Transit ($1,499).

There is a package of requests from three dozen organizations that totals $23,666. Those request range from a low of $150 for Downstreet Housing and Community Development to a high of $2,500 for East Montpelier Community Connections.

There are no contested races in East Montpelier this year. Absentee ballots will automatically be mailed to all active registered voters.

A virtual forum will be held on Monday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. to walk through the municipal ballot items. The link will be posted on the towns website  eastmontpeliervt.org  and those with questions are encouraged to attend.

Polls will be open at East Montpelier Elementary School from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 1, though voters are encouraged to cast ballots by mail.

MiddlesexMiddlesex voters will be asked on Town Meeting Day to approve a municipal budget that includes a higher-than-usual spending increase, and decide how they feel about marijuana being sold and grown in their community.

Though the select board had been flirting in recent weeks with a budget that reflected a 10% tax increase, they managed to whittle that number to 8.7%.

Recent and proposed salary adjustments are responsible for a good chunk of the $120,000 spending increase reflected in the $1.4 million budget that will be on the Town Meeting Day ballot.

In addition to the budget, voters will be separately asked whether they are interested in allowing cannabis retailers in town, and how they feel about a commercial growing operation. Board members could have bundled the two questions in one, but opted to give voters a chance to consider each.

Voters also will be asked to approve the Enhanced Energy Plan as an appendix to the previously adopted town plan and consider a host of special spending requests.

Three of the more notable separately warned requests involve organizations in neighboring communities. The Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier is asking for $32,022; the Waterbury Senior Center is requesting $7,500; and the Montpelier Senior Activity Center is on the ballot for $7,000.

Other separately warned requests include: Middlesex Conservation Fund ($5,000); Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice ($4050); Community Connections ($3,000); North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier ($2,000); Girls/Boyz First Mentoring ($1,500); and Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation ($600).

Like East Montpelier, there are no contested races in Middlesex this year. Absentee ballots  both town and school  will automatically be mailed to all active registered voters.

The select board will host a virtual informational meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. The Zoom link is posted on the towns website  middlesexvermont.org  and residents are encouraged to attend.

Polls will be open at Middlesex Town Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 1, though voters are urged to cast ballots by mail.

WorcesterWhen it comes to Town Meeting Day ballots, the one in Worcester is shorter than the other Washington Central communities, but it provides voters with the chance to do what they would have done on the floor of town meeting if there were one this year.

Voters will pass judgment on the $788,777 budget proposed by the select board without discussion or debate. The budget calls for spending roughly $51,000 more than the $737,396 proposal approved last March, an increase of just under 7%.

They will be asked to authorize the board to appoint the town treasurer. That elected position has been held by Katie Winkeljohn since 2015. Winkeljohn has served as town clerk and town treasurer for the last seven years, but is only running for treasurer this year as part of the proposed transition.

Worcesters ballot includes Kellogg-Hubbard Librarys request for $17,352 in funding this year, as well as $10,450 in jointly warned requests from area organizations.

There will be some transition, but there are no contested races in Worcester this year. Absentee ballots will automatically be mailed to all active registered voters.

The select board will host a virtual informational meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 21. The link will be posted on the towns website  www.worcestervt.org  and residents are encouraged to attend.

Polls will be open at Worcester Town Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 1, though voters are urged to cast ballots by mail.

david.delcore @timesargus.com
(CNN) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife, Emine, have tested positive for COVID-19.

Erdogan said on Twitter that the couple had contracted the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and were experiencing mild symptoms.

"We will continue our work at home. We look forward to your prayers," he said.

Erdogan had traveled to Ukraine on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the ongoing tensions with Russia in the area, before returning home to Turkey.

The Turkish President said he was willing to serve as a mediator and host a summit between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wife test positive for COVID-19"
Funeral services for Mollie Lillian Mirick will be held at 11:00am on Thursday, April 28, 2022, at Trinity Baptist Church with Pastor Ken Burgess officiating. Interment will be in Laurel Hill Cemetery. Mrs. Mollie Lillian Mirick, age 81, of Thomasville passed away on April 26, 2022. She was 
Princeton, KY (42445)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 82F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Showers this evening then scattered thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 66F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police made the arrest, and authorities say the call to the Hawkins County school and at least one other U.S. school (in North Carolina) came from the Fisher River Cree Nation.
Steam climbs into the sky on Jan. 31 after a steam line failure at Eastman Chemical Co. The line break scattered debris on cars and houses near the plant and caused a droning noise that was heard for several miles. Eastman also recorded three discharges that sent more than 2.4 million pounds of wastewater into the South Fork of the Holston River that day.
Voters on the Virginia side of Bristol by a wide margin decided to take the chance gambling will help rejuvenate the community, the towns' shuttered mall and maybe even the region.
TROY  In 2018, the state attorney general's office released a much-anticipated report on the fatal police shooting of Edson Thevenin. It did not flatter the Troy Police Department.

The investigation said a police sergeant's claim that he was pinned by Thevenin's vehicle before he fired eight shots at the unarmed Black motorist was "contradicted by forensic evidence" and eyewitness accounts. The report also found that the department "overlooked crucial evidence" as it rushed to clear the sergeant, with officers at the scene telling witnesses to "get the f*** out of here."

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden did not like the report. Without getting into details, the Democrat said the findings were biased and marked by "factual inaccuracies and errors."

A subsequent investigation from within the department was likewise unflattering. The searing 69-page report by Joseph Centanni, a Troy police captain working for internal affairs, found the official account to be "inconceivable" and "empirically untruthful." It also recommended disciplinary charges against Randall French, the sergeant who fired the shots after forcing the fleeing DWI suspect's car off the road.

Madden didn't like that report either. He kept it hidden, failing to mention its existence to the City Council. Then, his administration secretly hired an outside consultant, Michael Ranalli, to rebut the investigation.

That's remarkable. What's the point of having an internal affairs unit if the city isn't going to accept its findings?

The Ranalli report was far more flattering to French and the police department, which, of course, was its point. The secret memo was about bolstering the city's legal case in the civil lawsuit filed by Thevenin's family. Truth wasn't its aim. It was advocacy.

Truth has never been Madden's goal in all this. He's never sought to honestly and openly confront what happened on that night in 2016. From the get-go, the mayor has viewed this whole mess through the lens of legal liability, no matter the pain felt by Thevenin's family or the questions raised about police accountability.

Madden's strategy was unethical, and it failed. In September, the council unanimously approved a $1.55 million settlement with Thevenin's widow.

Now, nearly six years after the shooting, the city has finally agreed to release the memo written by Ranalli, a lawyer and the former police chief in Glenville. It's an odd, 19-page document.

First and foremost, it argues that the use of force was justified, even if French's claim about being pinned by Thevenin's car was inaccurate. The pertinent question, Ranalli argues, "is whether Sgt. French reasonably believed he was at risk of serious physical injury or death at the time he deployed deadly physical force."

Ranalli also notes that it was Thevenin who put the confrontation in motion with his misguided decision to drive away from a police stop. That is undeniably true, of course.

Ranalli spends considerably more time addressing whether French, who died in 2020 after contracting COVID-19, provided false testimony  whether he lied, to put it bluntly.

It's impossible to know, Ranalli concludes, because officers don't remember such confrontations accurately and their testimony is therefore unreliable. After citing several studies backing his point, Ranalli concludes that "it is common for officers in high-stress situations to have incomplete and/or inaccurate recollections."

That will be happy reading for defense attorneys. It is also a strong argument for body cameras, which Troy police began wearing only last year.

Left unanswered by Ranalli's dissertation on memory is this key question: If French's recollection was inherently unreliable, why did the department publicly back his version of the story while ignoring the accounts of others at the scene?

"You shouldn't have done that," said one witness, according to the AG report. "You didn't have to shoot him."

"Get the f*** out of here."

In a sense, the release of Ranalli's memo concludes this terrible, anguishing chapter in Troy's history, but sadness endures. Thevenin and French, at 37 and 39 years old, respectively, both died tragically and far too young. There's a hole in two families.

The case will also have a lasting impact on the city and its relationship with police. Consider, for example, the message Madden has sent to the department's internal affairs unit: Tell us only what we want to hear.

By hiring an outside consultant to rebut an internal investigation, the mayor showed that critical looks at police conduct will not be accepted or believed in his Troy, especially if they undermine a legal case. Money trumps honesty and accountability.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Certain area libraries will have extra help this summer through internship grants from the Nebraska Library Commission.

Thirty public libraries in Nebraska are receiving funds to hire student interns who will learn about library work while shadowing staff, assisting with day-to-day operations and implementing projects. A total of $34,040 has been awarded for the program, according to a Nebraska Library Commission press release.

The Columbus Public Library has been selected to receive funds, along with other libraries in the Platte County area, including the Shelby Community Library in Polk County, Rising City Community Library in Butler County and the Clarkson Public Library in Colfax County.

Shelby Community Library Director Laura Alt noted the program has been going on for several years.

In the state of Nebraska, there is a shortage of librarians for school libraries and for public libraries, Alt said. They're going to learn how to do everything there is. If they're interested in someday maybe being a librarian, they'll have a good taste of what actually happens.

Librarians do more than check books in and out, Alt said. For example, she added, work also includes preparing the books for circulation, such as logging items in the online catalog, placing the protective cover on books and putting the tags on the spines so the books can be easily identified and located.

We have a couple of field trips planned for them, (including) to go to the Polk County Library Association meeting where every library gets together and I want them to see that what goes on there, Alt said, adding that the intern will also attend a Polk County Board of Commissioners meeting where library officials will talk budget matters.

Alt said the Shelby library will be hiring one intern, who can earn a total of $1,000. She added that libraries could choose hiring two interns at $500 each or one intern for $1,000. The internship would be a summer position.

Alt noted that she is planning on being lenient with scheduling, such as if the intern would also be involved in a summer camp. She said the facility had received the same grant last year, so she was surprised Shelby was selected again in 2022.

We're a small town of only 700 people here in Shelby. And so it's amazing that we are able to get that grant, Alt said.

At the Rising City Community Library, the help will be greatly needed, according to Director Melissa Praught.

Last year was our first year having a computerized system everything was logged by hand on paper before. So I'm still working on getting books put into our system, Praught said. I'm going to be really happy to just have that help. I'm also hoping to have someone with us during summer reading programs so that we can have some extra hands on with the kids.

Praught noted the library received the computerized system about 18 months ago, but implementing it has been a slower process due to her only being with the facility for a year.

Right now I believe I have 1,100 entered in. And I've got part of one section and all the kids section left to do, Praught said, adding that she is also hoping that the intern will be able to assist with their summer reading program.

I'm planning to have the applications out within about a month and then I'll have the deadline probably four to six weeks after that, Praught said.

In addition to the previously mentioned activities, interns can also participate in bilingual story time, STEAM programming and crafts, maintaining and assisting with makerspace, updating the librarys community needs response plan, enhancing social media presence, newspaper digitization and many others.

The internships are a great opportunity for students to get involved in library work, Nebraska Library Commission Director Rod Wagner said in a provided statement. Beyond earning money and gaining valuable work experience, the student is exposed to the broad range of library services and programming. Internships provide an opportunity for the student to view the library as a viable and satisfying career choice. In addition, interns bring a fresh perspective and their own unique talents to the library.

Hannah Schrodt is the news editor of The Columbus Telegram. Reach her via email at hannah.schrodt@lee.net.

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In November 2017, a guest speaker in Alyssa Burmeister's health class at a public high school in central New York presented a male student with a chewed-up piece of gum as "a gift."

It was a lesson about virginity and abstinence, the woman said. "As casually as I just treated this (piece of gum) is as casually as some people treat sex. Truly, you can only give your virginity away once."

Horrified, Burmeister recorded the episode. A year later, she and her mother, Gina Tonello, founded Stop the Shaming, which campaigns against use of the so-called bubble gum analogy promoted by abstinence-only organizations.

Stop the Shaming is part of a coalition of reproductive health, LGBTQ, sexual violence prevention and civil rights groups that on Friday wrote lawmakers and legislative leaders urging them to advance a comprehensive sex education bill that would require schools to provide age-appropriate, scientifically accurate and LGBTQ-inclusive instruction in every grade.

"This needs to be a K-12 requirement, because navigating healthy relationships is a lifelong skill that requires building blocks," said Danielle Castaldi-Micca, vice president of government affairs at the National Institute of Reproductive Health. "First of all, if you are only getting sex ed in 12th grade, that is absolutely too late ... but folks are getting information that is all over the map at different times and to different degrees."

The legislation would have the state Education Department create a model sex education K-12 curriculum. Currently, the state only requires one semester of health education in middle school and one semester in high school, which may or may not include sex education. The state curriculum standards haven't been updated since 1996, advocates say.

Most schools have moved away from abstinence-based sex education, which studies show is ineffective at delaying sexual activity and preventing pregnancy. Educators have also expanded the lessons that historically centered on disease prevention and pregnancy to include topics like dating violence and sexual assault.

Many LGBTQ teens say that sex education classes are irrelevant to them, advocates said. The law would require schools to provide LGBTQ-inclusive instruction.

In New York, about 10 percent of teenagers report experiencing physical dating violence, which is a strong indicator of sexual assault and violence later in life, advocates said.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

"There has always been a need for CSE (comprehensive sex education) in New York State, but the latest statewide reckoning on sexual harassment has underscored the urgency," the letter reads.

In August 2019, New York passed Erins Law, which requires public schools to teach child sexual abuse prevention classes to students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Erin's Law is named for Erin Merryn, a sexual abuse survivor and activist who has advocated for similar laws across the country.

Like Erin's Law, the comprehensive sex education bill would not be a curriculum mandate; rather it would require the state to establish guidance for schools to develop their own curricula. Curriculum decisions are made at the local school district level in New York.

Advocates are hopeful that the legislation, which includes funding to hire a staff member at the state education department specializing in sex education, will be included in the state's 2022-23 budget, which is due April 1.
Albany Police Department

ALBANY  Albany detectives this week arrested a man they say is responsible for the sale and distribution of firearms and narcotics throughout Albany.



The police Community Response Unit, assisted in the investigation by the state Attorney Generals Organized Crime Task Force in Albany, arrested the 39-year-old after a search warrant was used Wednesday afternoon at two homes on the 100 block of North Allen Street between Lincoln Avenue and West Street. Detectives said they recovered six loaded handguns, 400 grams of cocaine and hydrocodone pills, Oxycodone pills, OxyContin pills and ecstasy pills.

Firearms recovered were: Two 9mm handguns, a .357 caliber revolver, a .380 caliber handgun, a .22 caliber semi-automatic AR platform pistol and a .40 caliber handgun. The .357 caliber revolver and .40 caliber handgun were both reported stolen from Richland County, S.C. The .22 caliber pistol was reported stolen out of Columbia, S.C.



Search warrants used at homes on Bradford Street and Judson Street also turned up several rounds of ammunition and firearm supplies.



The suspect is charged with 17 counts of criminal possession of a weapon, three counts of criminal possession of stolen property and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was arraigned and jailed.


If you believe in the survival of the soul after the death of the body and in the righteousness of independent redistricting as sound public policy, you know that wherever Ed Koch is right now he is laughing his skinny rear end off. Or maybe he's crying  the afterlife is hard to fathom these days.

But for now, I'm going with the notion that he's laughing: howling out towering gales of Bronx-inflected yuks as the former mayor of New York City watches New York's Republican party hoist on what Koch might describe as its own petard after the Legislature's overwhelming Democratic majorities voted last week to approve redistricting maps that will likely make life even more miserable for the GOP for the next decade.

They can't say Koch didn't warn them. In 2010, two years after Republicans briefly lost their last bastion of power to a bare majority of state Senate Democrats, dozens of GOP lawmakers and candidates signed a pledge crafted by Koch's reform group New York Uprising that committed them to create a truly independent redistricting process. When the GOP were returned to the majority the following year, they joined Assembly Democrats and passed a redistricting bill that fell well short of that definition, at least according to Koch and virtually every good government group in the state.

"It's the most devious Legislature in America," Koch said after the deal was struck. "We tried our best, and the ghouls won."

The new system handed the task of redistricting the state to a commission that had the word "independent" in its name ... but in its first field test deadlocked along party lines, thus handing the job over to the Legislature. For the first time in modern memory, that meant the task was solely in the hands of Democrats.

A decade after sowing the wind, Republicans are reaping the whirlwind in the form of Congressional lines that are going to make life rather difficult for House GOP incumbents Nicole Malliotakis and Claudia Tenney, and legislative lines that will not draw huzzahs from friends and family of Sen. Daphne Jordan, among others. Halfmoon's Jordan was so incensed that she threw the Greek word for "Shame!" at Democratic Sen. Mike Gianaris, who is of Hellenic descent, during the floor debate. (I hope Jordan keeps this up for opposing lawmakers of every ethnic background, because this state is a beautiful quilt.)

Other Republicans have responded as if the Democratic plan was the thing that possessed young Regan MacNeil in "The Exorcist," and was now barfing all over New York's voters. State Sen. Jim Tedisco called the plan "treachery and the essence of evil. ... What the Democrats couldnt do fair and square through the ballot box theyre scheming to do now through gerrymandering to build a bigger power base in New York City.

In fact, what the Democrats are doing now is arguably what they were empowered to do under the rickety plan approved by Senate Republicans, Assembly Democrats and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo a decade ago, according to the majority powers that Democrats won at the ballot box in 2018, and then saw enhanced in 2020. I'm not saying it's right, but it's definitely something Republicans could have stopped or at least tried to stop a decade ago, but chose not to.

A group of Republican voters, represented by a team of lawyers that includes former Republican Sen. George Winner, has challenged the new lines in a lawsuit that cites a relatively new anti-gerrymandering provision of the state constitution that requires congressional districts to be drawn to preserve the cores of previous ones and be designed to be competitive, among other criteria. It will be an interesting court case for redistricting nerds like yours truly, but it's on a clock: Petitioning deadlines and more ahead of June's primary are fast approaching.

Along with the lawsuit, we can all look forward to the state Republicans' call for federal redistricting reform, which is of course the only way to put a stake through the problem of gerrymandering. It will be edifying to hear Tedisco and state GOP chair Nick Langworthy bemoaning egregious partisan gerrymandering in Florida and Texas.

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It might be equally edifying to remember more history beyond the betrayal of Ed Koch. According to the state Board of Elections, in 2000 there were 5.2 million enrolled Democrats in New York and 3.1 million Republicans, but the GOP controlled the state Senate after that year's elections with a 36-25 advantage. While party enrollment is not destiny, you have to wonder how they pulled it off, and what role the district lines set in 1992 played.

In 2010  two years after Senate Republicans were narrowly cast out by Barack Obama's blue wave  GOP enrollment had dropped by 400,000 but the party, running on the lines its members had drawn in 2002, still managed to depose the bare Democratic majority, thus enabling Republicans to once again take over the next redistricting round. In 2020, Democratic enrollment had swelled to 6.2 million while Republican enrollment has dropped to 2.7 million. This roughly 2-to-1 ratio is that same as the party makeup of the current state Senate and Assembly, and the Congressional delegation.

Whether the new maps will stand or fall, or upend that makeup, remains to be seen. From the Great Beyond, perhaps Ed Koch knows the answer.
A Behlen Mfg. Co. acquisition of Freeland Industries and Freeland Trucking promises the Columbus-headquartered company will expand its product offering, Behlen Country President Jen Miller said.

Residents will see the impact later this year. The agreement could mean more jobs, as well as offering Freelands products to local retailers, Miller added.

Behlen Mfg. Co.  4025 23rd St.  announced earlier this week it signed an agreement with Freeland Industries, Inc. and Freeland Trucking, Inc.  based in Portage, Wisconsin  to acquire the companys industrial tank and feeder assets.

Their customers are very similar to ours and some of them are the same customers as ours but because we dont make those items, they get them from Freeland," Miller said.

Behlen Country is a business unit of Behlen Mfg. Co. with an emphasis on livestock equipment. Freeland Industries is a fourth-generation family-owned company, established in 1909. The business manufactures steel stock tanks, hog troughs, creep feeders and structural foam plastic tanks.

These products will be on the shelves of several local retailers soon, Miller said.

Once we get everything integrated and implemented later this year, theyll be able to put some of those product orders as well to go directly to their stores, warehouses or wherever they would like us to ship them, Miller said.  Down the road later this year, hopefully, youll be able to see some of these products at Tractor Supply or Bomgaars here in Columbus.

The agreement also has the potential to create three to seven jobs in the area to help with delivering shipments. This is because the majority of the Behlen Country shipments are transported from its Columbus location to its regional plants in Oregon and Texas. It means there will be additional volume and manufacturing, Miller said.

(It) will help manufacture these products, Miller said. So were excited about it.

According to a Behlen press release, Miller will lead the efforts to integrate Freeland and Behlen through the transition. Meanwhile, Freeland President Lynn Van Epps and the current leadership team will continue to manage the daily operations of the Portage manufacturing facility and trucking company crews.

Meanwhile, Freeland Trucking - which was established in 1983 - and Behlens own transportation unit - BMC Transportation - will combine forces to support the growth and maintain pace with the expanding customer business, products and timely deliveries.

Behlen Mfg. Co. President Tom Boal said the Freeland acquisition will make the Wisconsin-based company's products more readily available compared to before.

Freeland has a very small regional distribution and with Behlen Countrys footprint - that Jen has helped develop  it expands way beyond that, Boal said. So the potential for more job opportunities is very high. Were very excited about that. Were able to bring on a well-renowned name in the industry and make it part of the Behlen Country portfolio  and Behlen overall  is a big deal.

Andrew Kiser is a reporter for The Columbus Telegram. Reach him via email at andrew.kiser@lee.net.

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ALBANY  The programs that were supposed to support the state's Raise the Age statute, which was intended to ensure young offenders are not unfairly punished as if they were adults, have arguably failed to provide many of those teenagers with the services needed to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into their communities.

The breakdown has occurred as a recent New York City study found nearly 50 percent of 16-year-olds were rearrested for new crimes in the first year after the Raise the Age statute went into effect more than three years ago. The study revealed similar high rates of recidivism for 17-year-olds affected by the change.

When the law took effect nearly four years ago for 16-year-olds, then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul joined Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in casting the change as a new era for New York's previously harsh treatment of adolescent offenders.

"We're raising the age of criminal responsibility to remove 16- and 17-year-olds from the adult criminal justice system and place them in settings with proper services and treatment," Hochul said at the time. "We championed this cause of ending the injustice of treating teenagers as adults."

Cuomo billed it as a "major accomplishment" in his efforts "to ensure a more fair and equitable justice system."

But over the past few years, adolescent and juvenile offenders who would have been placed in detention because of the severe nature of their alleged crimes were instead released from custody due to the lack of secure juvenile facilities. That situation has become so serious that a proposal buried in Hochul's 2023 executive budget would enable 16- and 17-year-olds to be held in local adult jails for certain violent felony offenses.

The proposed legislation calls for the adolescent offenders to be separated from adult defendants in the jails. They could only be placed there after a hearing where a judge must weigh factors that include public safety, the physical and mental maturity of the alleged violator, and the youth's prior criminal history. A similar hearing would be conducted every 30 days for the duration of the youth's incarceration in an adult facility.

Measuring the success or failure of the Raise the Age statute has also been hampered by the fact that many of the cases that fall under its provisions are shifted to Family Courts, where probation departments become largely responsible for oversight  but apparently do not track the rates of rearrest or the number of times young offenders violate the terms of their release.

Broken promises

A monthslong Times Union examination found that in many instances, young offenders whose cases have been transferred to Family Court are released under supervision  often with ankle-monitoring bracelets that are tracked by county probation departments  only to have their cases languish for months without any court-ordered intervention, according to interviews with law enforcement officials, prosecutors, defense attorneys and others involved in the juvenile justice system.

The recent study by the New York City Criminal Justice Agency, which tracked recidivism rates of adolescent defendants after the law took effect, said their research "documents extremely high rates of rearrest among these young offenders." The report noted that if they could track outcomes in Family Court, the rate of recidivism for those age groups might have been ever higher.

But Albany County's probation department, like others around the state, does not track rearrests or "noncompliance" by 16- and 17-year-olds released under their supervision by Family Court judges.

Still, the New York City report's findings that recidivism is high among teenagers affected by the Raise the Age statute is not surprising to some law enforcement officials, nor to attorneys who routinely handle cases involving adolescent and juvenile offenders.

"I was there when all the deals were made. There was all sorts of promises of services with Raise the Age," Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler said in an interview in December. "They were going to get more services ... (and) work on computers; get their GED, get substance abuse and mental health counseling. Somebody even mentioned job training. Here we are a couple years later  and I understand COVID has wrecked it for the last 18 months  but the structure was never put in place for all that."

Indeed, the state has distributed just $270 million of the $800 million that was allocated for the Raise the Age legislation enacted into law as part of the 2018 state budget.

Much of the money that has been spent, according to the Division of Criminal Justice Services, was used to hire new probation officers, fund direct services for youth, and contract with nonprofit organizations to provide additional services, including mentoring, counseling and activities.

Melissa A. Carpinello, a criminal defense attorney who has worked for the Albany County public defender's office and has handled juvenile criminal cases in Family Court for more than two decades, said there is a glaring lack of services in that venue at a time when shootings and other crimes of violence are surging.

"Its a gun thing thats out of control right now," Carpinello said in a recent interview. "These kids are carrying guns for their own protection because Albany is literally the Wild West right now; so these kids are getting picked up for gun charges and nobody is doing anything."

She said that while Albany County District Attorney David Soares' office has launched a program to provide adult offenders with services to help them find jobs  before their cases are adjudicated  "none of that is going on in Family Court."

"I thought the point of the reforms was to get these kids out of the system on a more permanent way so they dont come back," Carpinello said. "If youre asking me if thats happening in Family Court, absolutely not. I dont think its through the fault of the Family Court judges; theres just no system in place."

Pandemic pause

Mike McLaughlin, the county's director of policy and research, said its plans to increase programming and add to the number of beds at its juvenile detention facility in Colonie  similar to the designs of multiple other counties across the state  were put on hold when the pandemic struck.

"It literally stopped everything completely," McLaughlin said. "We were down the road on design and everything related to the expansion of the facility and internal changes. ... (The state) literally said 'Stop everything,' because any capital reimbursement ... wont be honored until we figure out where financially the state will be. ... All of the other stuff  programmatic, operations-wise  that also was halted, or I guess you could say thats slowed."

The law went into effect in October 2018 for 16-year-olds and a year later for 17-year-olds. Pressing for those reforms, advocates and many lawmakers had argued that New York was one of the last states to automatically treat offenders as young as 16 as adults in criminal prosecutions.

Much of the funding allocated for the judicial transformation was supposed to be devoted to adding juvenile detention beds in secure facilities across the state, where young offenders would receive programming and counseling to help put them on a better path. But very few beds have been added in the past three years. State officials confirmed that as of December, only the Hillbrook Juvenile Detention Center in Syracuse had expanded its capacity, from 32 to 50 beds.

As a result, there are often no secure juvenile beds available in New York; the severe shortage has resulted in many teenage defendants being released from custody for violent offenses or, in some instances, transported to juvenile detention facilities hours away from their homes.

The state Office of Children and Family Services, one of the multiple state agencies that has a stake in the Raise the Age implementation, also blamed the pandemic for the delays in implementing a juvenile justice network that would accomplish what lawmakers had pledged it would do.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted locally administered pre-adjudication detention facilities throughout the state and created delays in counties detention planning and design efforts to increase bed capacity," said Monica Mahaffey, a spokeswoman for OCFS. "Additionally, delays in criminal trials have led to prolonged lengths of stay for adolescent offender youth awaiting adjudication, and local detention facilities have been plagued by the workforce crisis affecting many service sectors."

Mahaffey said the state is waiting for final plans from Long Island and Erie, Monroe and Westchester counties to increase capacity at juvenile facilities to locally house their youth. Counties are not required to operate juvenile facilities, but they must have access to one because detention of a juvenile or adolescent offender falls to the local county. There are nine state-operated juvenile facilities where youth are placed after adjudication of their criminal cases, Mahaffey added.

The New York City Criminal Justice Agency's study, released in December, found rearrest rates for adolescent offenders were high even before the pandemic struck.

"These youths warrant concerted attention from the NYC criminal justice and child welfare communities to address their recidivism," the report noted.

Not all counties have fallen short in their development of programs for troubled youth. Ulster County Probation Director Nancy Schmidt said that while their county does not deal with the level of violent offenders that counties like Albany do, they have developed an alternative system for handling and helping adolescent offenders, including transforming an empty warehouse into a restorative justice center.

Youth in that county, like many others that have developed similar programs, receive guidance on applying for jobs, improving their schoolwork and staying off a path of criminal activity.

"We've really tried to take this to heart, and do exactly what the state intended and utilized the funds to expand services," Schmidt said.

But in many counties, including Albany, there are adolescent and juvenile offenders who engage in criminal activity so serious, including attempted murder, that connecting them with programming they will accept can be extremely challenging. Still, law enforcement officials said there are some programs that are helping stem violence among youth, including Albany's SNUG program, which tries to connect with troubled adolescents before they clash or engage in criminal activity.

Justin Gaddy, an anti-violence supervisor with Albany 518 SNUG, one of the community organizations that receive funding to help troubled youth, said their programs require voluntary commitment, and they will not force a teenager to take part.

"We want to be there. We want the kids to know that were here in support of them," Gaddy said. "Its just strictly volunteer and confidential. Thats the way that we work and it's been the best way. ... It takes time to get the high-risk individuals. Their minds arent really there on changing, so you have to kind of work them into it."

Gaddy said probation departments would like to mandate treatment in programs like SNUG, "but as soon as that person says he doesnt want to be involved with the program, we step off.

"Its never going to work if we force it," he said.

But Hoovler, the Orange County district attorney, noted that especially in rural counties there is often no way to connect an adolescent offender with the services they need because many of the programs  if they exist  are in urban areas.

"Lets just say ... that we didnt expand the beds that we were supposed to, but where was the plan for mental health, for substance abuse, for job training. ... The infrastructure, it didnt exist. It was a great talking point; it was a great pie in the sky idea. ... They sold it as the end-all, be-all and here we are a few years out and we haven't got the end-all or the be-all."
If youve ever watched one of the myriad TV shows on tiny homes and thought, Id love to stay in one of those, but theres no way Id live in it full time, heres some good news: these seven unique rentable tiny houses make ideal cozy winter weekend getaways.

The tiny home movement is both architectural and social, advocating for simple living in a small space in order to reduce our load on the environment. In the U.S., the trend stretches back to 1845, when Henry David Thoreau constructed a 10-by-10-foot petite paradise on Walden Pond. More recently, the 2008 financial crisis created renewed interest in miniature houses, with promises of affordability and, in some cases, portability.

The craze shows no sign of abating. HGTV, the mothership of residential vogue, now has not one or two but six shows dedicated to diminutive domiciles.

Todays tiny home isnt a Thoreau-esque exercise in ascetism. The most popular size is 8 by 24 feet outside, with 400 square feet of living space inside  a little larger than the average hotel room. They come equipped with scaled-down versions of the same basic spaces youd find in a full-size home  kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and living area  and often have amenities like porches, hot tubs, and fire pits.

But the appeal goes beyond simple convenience. Dan Dobrowolski, founder of ESCAPE Homes, a tiny home manufacturer whose designs can be found around the region, says, "Tiny houses are social distancing personified. Their unique nature makes them a great experience, and many are in great locations. Plus the smaller footprint makes them extra cozy this time of year. Whats not to love?"

(Speaking of love, many tiny homes only sleep two people, so theyre romantic to boot.)

Consider one of these small spreads for your winter vacation. Remember to ask about amenities youre excited about, to ensure theyll be available during your visit.

Tiny home rentals east of the Hudson

The Tiny at the Hemptons in Chatham

Airbnb

This rectangular curiosity in a quiet neighborhood is a snug, light-filled delight. With 400 square feet of space, a full-size bathroom, and a loft bedroom on each end, its a good choice for a small family or two couples.

The kitchen has a coffeemaker and tea kettle, along with all the basics for cooking a simple meal. For lazy afternoons or evenings in, The Tiny is equipped with WiFi and HDTV. Have breakfast on the deck, or toss a few logs on the fire pit and watch the sun set. Guests have access to the propertys private fields, as well as marked trails in the surrounding woods. From $172/night on Airbnb for up to four people

Goose Landing Cottage in Red Hook

A burst of cheerful red on the edge of a spring-fed lake, Goose Landing Cottage checks a bunch of vacation boxes: its quiet, surrounded by nature, mere steps away from a scenic body of water, and a short drive from central Red Hook and Tivoli.

Sip a hot toddy from the dock or pergola and enjoy Canada geese flying in V formations over the lake, or deer browsing at the edge of the forest. Or unwind in the private hot tub after a day of snowshoeing and sightseeing. The cottages interior is a mix of rustic and modern, including a sleek black-and-white palette in the kitchen and a living room with beamed ceilings and wide-plank floors, plus a cushioned window seat for curling up with a book (it doubles as a twin-size bed). The bathroom features radiant-heat floors and a walk-in rain shower, plus a washer and dryer. From $270/night on VRBO for up to four people

Tiny home rentals west of the Hudson

Tiny house in New Paltz

Airbnb

Looking for a getaway to the Gunks? This property is close to the hikers favorite, as well as to Minnewaska State Park and downtown New Paltz. The couple who owns the rental are all about healthy living, and have outfitted it accordingly. Youll find natural woods; organic sheets, mattresses, and pillows; a composting toilet; and a fresh-air system. The home is solar powered, and includes an outdoor fire pit for toasting smores.

Whether its the warm blond paneling, the winding walk down to the river, or the sunshine streaming through the well-placed windows, this tiny house has a soothing quality that invites relaxation. From $120 a night on Airbnb for two people

A Tiny House Resort in South Cairo

A Tiny Home Resort

Located in the Catskill Mountains just 2 hours from New York City and 25 minutes from Woodstock and Saugerties, this is the regions first resort composed entirely of tiny houses. Among the dozen-plus styles and sizes, you can easily find a dog-friendly mini cottage for a solo or couples getaway, or a vacation space for up to six friends or family members.

Downtime is the best time Make the most of your Hudson Valley weekend, every week with our newsletter.

In addition to a kitchen, bedroom, and full bathroom with flush toilet, each rental has a private patio with fire pit and gas grill. Wake up to fresh, complimentary eggs from the owners chickens. Dont feel like cooking for yourself? Head to  or order delivery from  the onsite food truck for breakfast or lunch Thursday through Monday, or dinner on Fridays. Get your fill of cuteness with a visit to the propertys coterie of critters, including goats, ducks, and rabbits. Starting at $275/night for two people (and up to $499/night for six)

The Glass House in Marlboro

Airbnb

Famous among tiny houses, this glass-walled stunner has made appearances in the New York Times and on the Today show, which dubbed it an off-grid oasis.

Located in wine country about 90 minutes north of New York City, the Glass House sits high on a hill on a 30-acre farm, overlooking vineyards and orchards. Modern and plush in only 180 square feet, its the ultimate sleep-under-the-stars experience. This is the place for you if youve ever wanted to sip a nightcap nose-to-nose (through glass, of course) with a coyote, or count the stripes on a Coopers hawks tail as it swoops overhead, panning the landscape for snacks. Starting at $239/night on Airbnb for two people

Container Cabin in the Catskills in Saugerties

Airbnb

A tiny home rental that also qualifies as a hipster glamping retreat, this four-season, 20-foot cabin is made from a shipping container and is completely off-grid. It has a wood stove (BYO firewood) and a foot pump for producing running water. In nearby outbuildings, theres a shared sauna and a bathroom with composting toilet, complete with a holder for your beer.

The Container Cabin has a kitchenette with a cooler, and a queen-size sofa bed with organic linens. Kick it old school with the battery-powered record player. Lounge on the patio. Or practice your Cat and Cow on the yoga platform. Spend the day hiking nearby, then fall asleep to the not-too-distant sound of the 250-plus-foot Kaaterskill Falls. Starting at $204/night on Airbnb for two people

Getaway House in the Catskills

Joe Thomas/Getaway

In a sense, Getaway is like a short-term rental platform dedicated to tiny homes, specializing only in modern, minimalist cabins for one couple or two. The compact kitchenettes and baths have everything you need, and beds are situated by picture windows that peer into the woods. A small library is standard so youll have reading material, and a cell phone lockbox encourages you to unplug (a landline is installed in each cabin in case of emergencies, as WiFi is spotty). The Eastern Catskills cabins are located in Catskill; the Western Catskills cabins are in Roscoe, and youll get the exact location when you book. From $109 a night for two people
Farmington, WV (26555)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High near 70F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low near 50F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
Carlisles Create-A-Palooza hopes the Force will be with it in its endeavor to raise money for two local organizations.

Create-A-Palooza at 11 E. High St. in Carlisle allows visitors to paint pottery, glass, wood and more and hosts classes and workshops to learn and improve skills. The business will hold a Star Wars themed fundraiser called Set Blasters on Stun from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday during the sixth annual UPMC Ice Art Fest.

Jim Griffith of Create-A-Plooza said in an email that volunteers will dress up as a LEGO stormtrooper, Han Solo frozen in carbonite and a Mandalorian.

Attendees can donate any amount (large or small) to the charity of their preference and in return they can fire a Nerf blaster at a character, Griffith said.

Funds raised will go to the Charles Bruce Foundation, dedicated to promoting the arts in Carlisle, and the Carlisle Tool Library. The latter is exactly what the name suggests: a library like ones used for books only in this case for tools.

As a board member for both Charles Bruce Foundation and the Carlisle Tool Library, I wanted to find a way to benefit both groups, Griffith said.

The event will also include photo opportunities, along with a chance to see Create-A-Paloozas ice sculpture which is, fittingly, baby Yoda.

Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. You can contact her at mseiler@cumberlink.com and follow her on Twitter at: @SeilerMadalyn

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Johnstown, PA (15901)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 63F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 46F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Mostly sunny skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High around 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Rain. Low near 60F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
Police said they think the thieves parked a vehicle in the grass off the Harrisburg Pike to load up the beehives.
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Dubai flag carrier Emirates will make a full return of passenger services to and from Casablanca starting from February 8.

The return of Casablanca in Morocco marks a full restoration of Emirates pre-pandemic African network including 21 cities spread across the continent.

Customers flying to and from Casablanca can safely travel on Emirates to Dubai, and enjoy an array of onward connections to Europe, the Middle East and GCC, the Americas and West Asia.
The initial ART Blooms Banner Contest took place in 2015 when the first group of young artists work was chosen to display in downtown Farmington.

For the 8th annual light pole banner contest, the artwork of 258 artists will be displayed in nine locations throughout the area.

The 2022 theme Paws, Fins, Wings & Things emphasizes pets and wildlife. The final deadline has now been extended to Friday.

This years light pole design contest has expanded throughout the region because of generous sponsors including the City of Farmington, First State Community Bank, Ozarks Federal Savings and Loan, and Unico Bank. For 2022, banner artwork will be displayed in Arcadia Valley, Bismarck, Bonne Terre, Caledonia, Desloge, Farmington, Fredericktown, Park Hills and Potosi.

The contest is sponsored by Mineral Area Council on the Arts.

The ART Blooms Banner Contest has grown spectacularly in recent years, said MACOA Executive Director Scottye Adkins. The MACOA volunteers enjoy the process of sorting from over 1,500 entries. It gives us a chance to see all of the talented artists represented!

Farmington City Administrator Greg Beavers was part of kicking off the first banner art contest.

We are glad to see the banner contest expand into the other towns in the region, he said. It is always a joy to see the artwork up and down the streets in Farmington.

The ART Blooms Banner Contest is open to local K-12 students in public, private and homeschools in the Parkland. Students are asked to submit an original drawing, painting or illustration depicting the theme using the official entry form. Artwork submitted by homeschools and private schools will be represented on light poles in the town nearest their location from March to October. Students may submit multiple entries, but only one entry per person is eligible to win.

Artwork must be submitted to the Farmington Library at 101 North A Street or to MACOA at the Mineral Area College Fine Arts Building in room 134. Entries can also be mailed to MACOA at PO Box 1000, Park Hills, MO 63601. If entries are mailed, the artwork must not be folded and should be sent flat in a protective envelope.

All entries must be received by Friday. Official guidelines and entry form are available at the Farmington Library, online at www.MineralAreaArts.org or on MACOAs Facebook page.

Questions regarding the banner contest should be directed to Adkins at 573-518-2125 or email sadkins@MineralArea.edu.

Pam Clifton is a contributing writer for the Daily Journal

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(BPT) - So, youve decided this is the year youll add the deck of your dreams to your home. Now that youre ready to put all hands on deck, its time to consider all of your options. The experts at Decks.com offer these tips to get started:
Former Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee boss Brian Lewis believes newly elected president Diane Henderson has the credentials to serve in that capacity.

Lewis says Henderson has the experience since she has been an athlete and also in-charge of sporting bodies.
A plane of the Canadian Armed Forces, C-177 Globemaster, carrying non-lethal military equipment departed for Ukraine, Ukrinform reports, referring to the Department of National Defense of Canada.

This equipment includes personal protective and load carriage equipment, as well as surveillance and detection equipment, reads the press release.

The department also added that a team of CAF personnel are accompanying the equipment to assist with its integration, and to ensure Ukrainian security forces are properly trained on its function and maintenance.

These CAF personnel will then remain in Ukraine to provide additional mentoring to the Ukrainian security forces, the department said.

As a reminder, since 2015, Canada has provided over $23 million in non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine. That equipment included items such as: communications systems used for field operations, a mobile field hospital, and explosive disposal equipment.

Last week Canada announced a three-year extension and significant expansion of the UNIFIER military training mission in Ukraine. Ottawa also promised increasing funding for development programs in Ukraine, strengthening intelligence cooperation and sending non-lethal equipment. However, Justin Trudeau's government has so far refrained from transferring arms to Ukraine.

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In connection with the partnership between Jefferson College and the St. Louis Astronomical Society (SLAS) to develop an observatory site on the Hillsboro campus, the college will host several informational Aim for the Stars observation nights throughout 2022 for those who want to learn more about astronomy.

There is no cost to participate in any of the monthly educational programs, led by Jefferson College faculty and SLAS members.

As the first phase of site development is complete, the observatory location is being used by the college as a teaching and learning opportunity for students enrolled in undergraduate science and astronomy classes in connection with lab assignments and in-class discussions.

The observatory is located near the Jefferson College Softball Field, north of the Hillsboro campus on Farm Road. It is the first public observatory in Jefferson County affiliated with SLAS. At present, the closest observatory to the site at Jefferson College is located in St. Charles.

Designed to appeal to community members of all ages, Aim for the Stars events provide an overview of plans for the Jefferson College Observatory, help viewers learn how to navigate the night sky, include discussions about items that can be seen at that time, and preview upcoming astronomy events of interest. Each observation night will be held either virtually or in-person at the observatory site depending on weather and campus COVID-19 restrictions.

All Aim for the Stars events will be held on the first Sunday evening of each month beginning at sunset as follows:

Feb. 6, March 6, April 3, May 1, June 5, July 3, Aug. 7, Sept. 4, Oct. 2, Nov. 6, Dec. 4.

A special event will be held for the May 15 lunar eclipse. It starts at sunset, 8:07 p.m., with the eclipse starting at 8:30 p.m. and the eclipse reaching maximum effect at 11:11 p.m.

For programs to occur, skies must be clear or only partly cloudy. Those who attend may bring their own astronomy equipment or use a limited number of telescopes provided. In case of inclement weather or pandemic restrictions, an alternate program will be presented.

For questions or additional information about the Aim for the Stars programs or the Jefferson College Observatory, contact Maryanne Angliongto, Jefferson College Associate Dean  School of Math, Physics and Technology, at 636-481-3318 or email manglion@jeffco.edu.

Observatory Location and Facts

The convenient location of the observatory site at Jefferson College is expected to draw visitors from Jefferson County and the surrounding St. Louis metropolitan region. The site will be especially attractive due to its location outside the immediate St. Louis area and the associated light band.

From St. Louis, travel South on Highway 21 to the Jefferson College/Hayden Road exit. Turn right onto Hayden Road and then left onto Jefferson College Drive. Farm Road will be approximately one-quarter mile on the right.

Phase I of the project included the excavation, power, and concrete slab for the observatory dome, purchased and installed by volunteers from Jefferson College and the St. Louis Astronomical Society.

The observatorys purpose is to engage the community to learn more about the science of astronomy and physics. Regular stargazing and solar viewing events for the public are being hosted by Jefferson College and SLAS. A variety of events such as eclipses, transits, comets, and meteor showers are expected to draw large audiences. Educators and students of K-12 schools will be encouraged to make use of the observatory for educational projects.

The observatory is being developed in phases over several years as funding is secured. Project funds are being sought from public donations, grants, and corporate sponsors. Project rollout will be determined by available funding for each phase.

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The Odesa Separate Aviation Squadron has received three modern helicopters manufactured by the French company AIRBUS H125, delivered under an agreement between the governments of Ukraine and the French Republic, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

"The Odesa Squadron has the entire necessary infrastructure for helicopters. In particular, a new helicopter landing area with appropriate lighting equipment and a hangar have been built," the report says.

The State Border Guard Service noted that 15 servicepersons of the squadron had completed relevant advanced trainings in France.

Airbus H125 helicopters are equipped with an optoelectronic surveillance system that allows monitoring the state border, including in infrared light. The equipment allows not only recording video in high quality, but also transmitting it with the help of satellite equipment. Helicopters are also equipped with a warning system with loudspeakers and special searchlights, which can be used synchronously with the system of optoelectronic surveillance.

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President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili expressed solidarity with Ukraine and welcomed the actions aimed at maintaining peace and strengthening security in Europe, Ukrinform reports, referring to the information portal Novosti-Georgia.

"It is very important that we have the opportunity today to exchange information about the very difficult situation around Ukraine," Salome Zourabichvili said at a briefing following a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

She noted that Georgia supports efforts to move towards de-escalation. We support all the talks for peace that are taking place now, and I know that all sides are trying to get out of this tense situation, because aggression has no future, no result. These military actions, this use of force, belong to the past and are anachronistic today. Today, we have no path but peaceful ways in face of global challenges, Zourabichvili said.

As Ukrinform reported, this week the Parliament of Georgia passed a resolution in support of Ukraine, a draft submitted by the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Representatives of the United National Movement and Droa opposition parties said they would travel to Ukraine to express support.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kyiv on February 14, according to the Ukrainian Presidents Office.

On February 14, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz, who will arrive in Ukraine on his first official visit, will hold talks, reads the report.

The Presidents Offices notes that Germany is one of Ukraine's key partners and allies and plays an important mediating role within the Normandy format.

The visit of the German Chancellor to our country demonstrates Euro-Atlantic unity and support for Ukraine in times of security challenges for the whole of Europe, the report says.

Olaf Scholz will visit Kyiv before traveling to Moscow on February 15.

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Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees arrive at a temporary site in Tsore, Ethiopia, after fleeing clashes in other parts of the country's Benishangul Gumuz region.  UNHCR/UNHCR/Adelina Gomez Monteagudo

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are rushing life-saving aid to more than 20,000 refugees after they fled clashes in Ethiopias Benishangul Gumuz region, bordering Sudan and South Sudan.

Fighting broke out on 18 January in the town of Tongo  reportedly between unidentified armed groups and federal forces  and the nearby camp hosting 10,300 refugees was looted and burned. This followed the looting of another camp in the area in late December. A total of 22,000 people in both camps were then cut off from access and assistance.

All humanitarian staff had to evacuate, and access to the area including the two camps  Tongo and Gure-Shembola  remains impossible.

Since December last year the situation has been very tense in the Benishangul Gumuz region, which hosts more than 70,000 Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees and over 500,000 internally displaced Ethiopians.

After the violence erupted, over 20,000 refugees made their way over long distances to three different sites closer to Assosa, the regional capital, arriving exhausted and in need of assistance.

UNHCR is working with the Ethiopian Governments Refugee and Returnees Service (RRS) and partners to provide the most urgent assistance to displaced refugees, including hot meals, clean water, and medical care.

Benishangul Gumuz regional authorities have shown solidarity with refugees and identified a new temporary site with capacity to accommodate 20,000 people. UNHCR is working to install basic services including shelter, water points, and latrines and to begin relocating refugees to the site as soon as possible.

UNHCR has also recorded the arrival of 70 Sudanese refugees, mostly women and children, who fled the camps and returned to Sudans Blue Nile State. UNHCR teams in Sudan, together with the Sudanese authorities and partners, are providing assistance to these returnees, and contingencies are being put in place in case of more arrivals.

Three other refugee camps in the Benishangul Gumuz region  Bambasi, Sherkole and Tsore  remain fully accessible and all services there are functioning. In addition to supporting the refugees, the Government, UNHCR and partners have been providing assistance to those internally displaced in the region, reaching over 100,000 people throughout last year  particularly women and children  with clothing, shelter, psychosocial support and emergency items.

With the fighting continuing, a cessation of conflict is essential to avoid further threats to civilian lives in the region. UNHCR urges the protection of civilians, including refugees and those forcibly displaced.

Tragically, refugees who had sought and enjoyed safety and were rebuilding their lives have now lost everything all over again.

UNHCRs Ethiopia operation has to date only received 9 per cent of the countrywide requirements of USD 335 million for the year and is in urgent need of resources to respond to this and other emergency needs.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
Have a great photo taken in Walla Walla Valley? We'd love to see it! One photo will be featured each Sunday. At the end of the month, there will be a vote for the best reader photo from that month.

Go to the entry form
Laura Swofford plays a game with her children, one way the family passes the time at home in St. Louis. There was a period in spring 2021 when Swofford felt OK taking her 4-year-old and 6-year-old to indoor places like Target or the library. But with the delta and omicron waves, lax public masking where she lives and one child too young to be vaccinated, Swofford avoids taking her kids to public indoor settings. (Laura Swofford/TNS)
This months Womens Connection Brunch will be held from 9:15-11 a.m. Tuesday in the Farmington Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, located at Columbia and Cayce Streets.

Jim Caudle, a country boy at heart, will be the special feature. A retired electronic engineer with McDonnell Douglas who now lives in Terre Du Lac, Caudle was born in St. Louis but moved to the Brazil Creek area of Washington County in 1945. There he began fifth grade in a one-room grade school, and later attended Bourbon High School for a year. Eventually, Caudle's family moved to Ste. Genevieve County where he graduated high school.

After enlisting in the Air Force, Caudle attended Radar Maintenance School in Mississippi and was then stationed at the 680th AC and W Squadron at Yaak, Montana, adjoining the state of Idaho and Canada. He was stationed there for three years, spending his spare time hunting and fishing, along with writing to his future wife, Mary. The couple married and have been blessed with five wonderful children, 10 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

He began his career at McDonnell Douglas Corporation working on the Gemini Space Simulator. He then went into engineering support of test aircraft and communications systems at Air Force bases, all over the United States and overseas. Caudle said he was privileged to work on the preflighting of the F-15, F-4, and F-18. In 1983, he trained at Hewett Packer to maintain and install its computers that are used on many of these planes and ships at U.S. bases.

Since retiring and moving to Terre Du Lac in 1994, Caudle took up the hobby of making and playing old-time instruments.

For many years, he  along with many of his Olde Tyme Music loving friends  has volunteered at the Potosi Senior Center and Handicap Center, as well as other locations in Washington, St. Francois, and Ste. Genevieve counties. He will bring some instruments he has made, tell a little of their history, and pick them as well.

Februarys special speaker, Carol Paris of St. Peters is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where she majored in dental hygiene. She and her dentist husband, Wayne, owned a dental practice for 20 years. She says she was the cleaning lady in more ways than one.

Paris has been a member of the Stonecroft Planning Team for many years. She is a Lay Stephen Minister and is also certified in grief and death studies through Colorado State University and the Center for Loss in Fort Collins, Colorado. Having been a grief and share facilitator for the past seven years, Paris continues to work individually with those struggling with grief and loss in their lives. She will be speaking on the subject, Where are you, God, when I need you?

To make your reservation or cancellation, for the $10 event, call Barb at 573-747-3854 or Mary at 573-358-1274.

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Royce E Josey, 91, of Milledgeville,went to meet Jesus on Sunday, April 24. He was born on Sept. 13, 1930, to Lee Roy and Alva Josey in Milledgeville, one of four children. Royce was a veteran of the Korean War, where he served honorably in the Army as a lineman from 1951-1953. He told the t
Mano Amiga representatives CJ Cetina and Elle Cross advocate for the decriminalization of marjuana, Sunday, Jan.16, 2022, at the San Marcos flea market
The new year has brought a surge of COVID-19 cases to St. Francois and surrounding counties.

According to numbers provided by the St. Francois County Health Center, the county recorded 2,671 new cases in January. Of those, 2,120 were confirmed cases and 551 were probable.

In December, the county recorded 485 new cases through Dec. 18. The health center did not provide numbers for Dec. 18 through the end of the month. For the week of Dec. 12-18, the positivity rate was 15.8%.

The latest numbers show 735 new cases for the week of Jan. 22-28 and a testing positivity rate of 29.3%. Those numbers are down slightly from the week before where there were 852 new cases and a positivity rate of 31.8%.

For January, the county recorded 13 COVID-related deaths, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Eleven of those deaths were confirmed and two were probable. That brings the total number of deaths in the county to 257 (221 confirmed, 36 probable) since the start of the pandemic.

The latest DHSS data shows that 43.1% of the county population has completed vaccination and 47.5% have initiated it. Thats up from 35.3% fully vaccinated in mid-September.

Last week on Facebook, the health center announced that it would be putting all of its efforts and resources into case investigations only because of the increase in cases.

We are doing our best at contacting every positive case, the update said.

The health center also reminded residents of the following:

TalentBoost & CDCF is assisting the health center with case investigations, if you have tested positive, you will receive a phone call from TalentBoost 573-361-5444 (Massachusetts number)

The caller will not ask for social security numbers or any bank/credit card information.

The caller will ask for name, date of birth, and demographic information.

The health center asks that you notify any contacts you may have been around 48 hours prior to symptom onset or positive test date (if asymptomatic).

Please do not wait for a call to begin five days of isolation if you have COVID-19.

Area counties

Cases of COVID also rose around the area. In Madison County, the health department reported 719 cases in January compared to 195 in December.

The Washington County Health Department has recorded 1,145 cases and seven deaths so far this year. In December, the county had 458 cases and five deaths.

In Iron County, the health department reported 349 cases through Jan. 28. From the last week of November through December, that number was 194.

For Ste. Genevieve County, the DHSS has reported 119 cases over the past week. The positivity rate is 28%.

School districts

According to DHSS data for Jan. 12-25, the area school districts reported the following number of cases:

Arcadia Valley 17

Bismarck 14

Central 43

Farmington 100

Fredericktown 83

North County 65

Potosi 31+

Ste. Genevieve 27+

West County 18

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Ottawa, Feb 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Feb, 2022 ) :Protesters again poured into Canada's capital early Saturday to join a convoy of truckers whose occupation of Ottawa to denounce Covid vaccine mandates is now in its second week.

Individuals and families huddled around campfires in bone-chilling weather and erected bouncy castles for children outside Parliament, while waving Canadian flags and anti-government placards.

Police, who were out in force and erected barriers overnight to limit vehicle access to the city center, said they were expecting up to 2,000 protesters -- as well as 1,000 counterprotesters -- to join hundreds of truckers already clogging Ottawa streets.

But organizers of the so-called "Freedom Convoy" told AFP they expected their numbers to swell into the tens of thousands.

Similar protests were planned for Toronto, Quebec City and Winnipeg.

The atmosphere early Saturday appeared more festive than a week earlier, when some protesters waved Confederate flags and Nazi symbols -- which were condemned by government officials -- and clashed with locals.

Police have vowed to end the "unlawful" occupation as soon as possible.

But on Saturday, there were signs the protesters were digging in. They had erected a wooden shed and tents to house food supplies for demonstrators and fuel for the big rigs.

One woman offered passersby hand-warmers as temperatures were forecast to plunge to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit).

Kimberly Ball and her husband had driven five hours from a small town west of Toronto to join the demonstration.

"It's not about whether you get the vaccine or not," she insisted. "It's about our freedom." Holding back tears, she added: "It's really, really tough. A couple of people we know, friends, also lost their jobs because of these mandates." Ball has had Covid-19 and said she is not convinced the vaccines are safe and effective.

She is, however, in the minority in Canada, where 90 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.

The Freedom Convoy started on Canada's Pacific coast in late January and picked up supporters along the trek to the capital. The protest has drawn more than 10 million Canadian Dollars ($8 million) in online donations.

The number of protesters in Ottawa had peaked at several thousand last Saturday, according to officials, before dwindling to a few hundred by midweek.

This weekend Ottawa police worked to contain the protests to the parliamentary precinct, after widespread complaints of harassment, threats and sleeplessness caused by incessant honking.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2022) President Joe Biden on Friday issued a statement in which he praises the passing of a new US legislation to enable the United States to compete with China in the area of semiconductors manufacturing and research.

"The House took a critical vote today for stronger supply chains and lower prices, for more manufacturing - and good manufacturing jobs - right here in America, and for outcompeting China and the rest of the world in the 21st century," the statement said.

Biden called upon the Republicans in the House of Representatives to support the bill if they are serious about their commitment to compete with China. The US president added that he is looking forward to seeing the bill on his desk for signature after it will be passed in the Senate.

Earlier on Friday, the House of Representatives passed the measure with a 222-210 vote, sending it to the Senate for consideration.

The House legislation, named the America COMPETES Act of 2022, would seek to ease supply chain bottlenecks on items like semiconductors and bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States.

The bill would also create a $52 billion semiconductor chip fund to incentivize private-sector investments that help address supply chain disruptions and produce more semiconductors domestically.

The legislation would similarly authorize $45 billion to improve US supply chains and prevent shortages of critical goods by ensuring more critical goods are made in the country.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2022) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will embark on a Pacific tour on February 7, during which he will hold meetings with the members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and other regional partners, the State Department said on Friday.

The Quad brings together the US, India, Japan and Australia.

"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii February 7-13 to engage with Indo-Pacific allies and partners to advance peace, resilience, and prosperity across the region and demonstrate that these partnerships deliver," the statement said.

On February 9-12 in Australia, Blinken will attend the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting. It will be hosted by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

"With our Quad partners, we are delivering results for our populations and the region, including by advancing cooperation on COVID-19 vaccination delivery, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, maritime security, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, countering disinformation, climate change, and critical and emerging technologies," the State Department said.

Blinken is expected to meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Payne, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, among others.

The secretary will arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 12, where he will host Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong for a US-Japan-South Korea trilateral ministerial meeting

"(The meeting) to deepen our cooperation in addressing threats from the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs and confronting 21st century challenges together across the globe. Secretary Blinken also will meet with Foreign Minister Chung and, separately, with USINDOPACOM Commander Admiral John Aquilino," it added.

North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile with a range of 4,500 kilometers (2,796 miles) on Sunday, making it the longest-range missile tested by Pyongyang since 2017. The launch became North Korea's seventh this year.
(@FahadShabbir)

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2022) Former President Donald Trump is wrong to suggest the vice president had the right to single-handedly overturn the results of the 2020 election, former second-in-command Mike Pence said during a Federalist Society event.

"I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election, but President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone," Pence said on Friday.

As Vice President and President of the Senate at the time, Pence was responsible for certifying the vote of presidential electors on January 6, 2021 - the day on which demonstrators breached the US Capitol and halted the certification of the election.

Pence on January 6 said in a letter to Congress that he lacks the unilateral authority to decide which Electoral College votes should be counted, contrary to Trump's calls at the time for him to reject some results.

"It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not," Pence said in the letter.

After leaving the White House, Pence started an advocacy organization, Advancing American Freedom, that is designed to promote conservative policies and values. The organization's advisory board includes former White House aides Kellyanne Conway and Larry Kudlow, as well as prominent figures dating back to the Reagan administration such as former Attorney General Ed Meese.
(@FahadShabbir)

A former staffer at Australia's embassy in Bangkok has been charged after spy cameras were found in women's bathrooms at the mission, a Canberra official said Saturday

Bangkok, Feb 5 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Feb, 2022 ) :A former staffer at Australia's embassy in Bangkok has been charged after spy cameras were found in women's bathrooms at the mission, a Canberra official said Saturday.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Royal Thai Police had arrested a local former employee last month.

"The welfare and privacy of all staff remains a priority for the department and we continue to provide appropriate support," a department spokesman said in a statement to AFP.

The spokesman declined to comment further on the ongoing legal matter.

Khemmarin Hassiri, commander of the foreign affairs division of the Royal Thai Police, said the Australian embassy filed a complaint against a man on January 6.

Thai police said the investigation was ongoing.

It is unclear how long the cameras had been in the bathrooms, with the matter only coming to light after a camera SD card was found on a bathroom floor last year, according to a report by ABC Australia.

The suspect has been released on bail.

The incident represented a serious security breach, an Australian defence and foreign policy expert told AFP.

"If security was lax enough to allow devices like cameras to be installed anywhere within a secure area, it suggests it's not tight enough to keep the embassy secure," said Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Finnish police detained 55 protesters outside the country's parliament building in Helsinki demonstrating against COVID-19 restrictions and high fuel prices, the capital's police department said on Saturday

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2022) Finnish police detained 55 protesters outside the country's parliament building in Helsinki demonstrating against COVID-19 restrictions and high fuel prices, the capital's police department said on Saturday.

Inspired by the Canadian trucker protests that have brought Ottawa to a standstill, the Convoy Finland protesters practiced civil disobedience and public disruption.

"Police towed dozens of vehicles from the Mannerheimintie street and arrested 55 people. Two arrested are suspected of violent opposition to a police officer," the police said in a statement.

Traffic in Helsinki was fully restored in the early hours of Saturday, according to the police.

In mid-January, the Finnish government announced an extension of COVID-19 restrictions by two weeks beyond their deadline at the end of January given elevated occupancy rates in hospitals.
JEFFERSON CITY  Does the next director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services need to be a Christian?

That is the question after Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement Tuesday that he would only choose someone for the job who shared the same Christian values as him.

Parson, a Republican, was blasting conservative hard-liners in the Missouri Senate who had just jettisoned his pick for state health director, Donald Kauerauf, a pro-vaccine and -mask public health professional with 35 years of experience.

But in defending his pick, Parsons statement, which his office also shared on social media, prompted a whole new round of criticism.

Im curious Governor, is this a standard you traditionally use? state Rep. Adam Schwadron, a St. Charles Republican, asked on Twitter. Article VI of the US Constitution strictly prohibits a religious test as a qualification to any office or public trust. Considering that, I then must ask the question. Would someone who is Jewish, such as myself, be considered for nomination?

In his statement, Parson said, Don is a public health expert that is on record opposing masking requirements and COVID-19 vaccine mandates. He is outspokenly pro-life and morally opposed to abortion. Missourians know that I share these beliefs and would not have nominated someone who does not share the same Christian values.

Brian Kaylor, the editor of Word&Way, a Jefferson City-based publication founded in 1896 and focused on the Baptist faith and other topics, said in an interview he found Parsons statement inappropriate but also not surprising.

Its a little shocking just to see the governor make such an explicitly sectarian claim about who he would pick for this type of position, said Kaylor, who is a board member of the St. Louis chapter of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, according to his online biography.

Kaylor also referenced a news release Parson had sent earlier defending Kauerauf, saying he is guided by our Missouri principles: Christian values, family values, and love for this nation.

He was already kind of framing this as a you all should just vote for my guy because Im a Christian, hes a Christian, were all Christians, Kaylor said.

The only religious reference in the United States Constitution is that there be no religious test for office, Article VI, Kaylor said. This is a public office. So it is unconstitutional to suggest that someone should be a Christian to be the director of the states DHSS.

This is a state where this director is going to be serving people of many faiths and no faith, Kaylor said, and so I think thats very concerning that a governor would send a message that only Christians need to apply to this type of position, which not only impacts any applicants, or people who might be chosen, but also sends a message to the rest of the state that maybe youre a second-class citizen.

Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City attorney who has worked in state government, said Parsons use of Christian values instead of plainly saying he would only hire a Christian could be the states saving grace if and when jilted job applicants start filing employment discrimination lawsuits because of the statement.

Religious discrimination in employment is illegal under both federal and state law.

He pulled up just short of saying, Im not going to hire someone ... whos not a Christian, Hatfield said. But by saying Im only going to hire people who share my Christian values, as opposed to my values, I think he does open the state up (to lawsuits) if there are folks out there who, you know, do not share the Christian religion whove not been hired for jobs.

Theyve got a plausible claim that perhaps Missouri discriminates against folks who arent Christians, Hatfield said.

Asked if saying he would hire someone with Christian values instead of saying he would only hire a Christian would save the state from legal liability, Kaylor said he wasnt a lawyer but thought the message was pretty clear.

Who shares Christian values thats not a Christian? Kaylor asked. If hes talking about some generic nonsectarian values, those arent Christian values, right? If hes talking about being pro-life, well, there are non-Christians who are pro-life and there are some Christians who are not pro-life.

As a minister, I would suggest that you really cant hold Christian values and not be a Christian, Kaylor said. The chief of all Christian values from the early church, and for 2,000 years, is that declaration, the foundational declaration, that Jesus is Lord.

Kelli Jones, a spokeswoman for Parson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday regarding the governors remarks.

The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which says it works as an umbrella for those who are free from religion and are committed to the cherished principle of separation of state and church, on Wednesday called on Parson to delete his tweet.

The ban on religious tests in the United States Constitution is one of the truly great and original bulwarks for freedom of thought and expression, Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker, co-presidents of the foundation, wrote in a letter to Parson dated Wednesday. Our Constitution is godless, omitting any mention of god or Jesus  a unique contribution of our founders.

The group also linked to a Pew Research Center article that said according to telephone surveys in 2018 and 2019, the number of American adults who said they were Christians had dropped 12% over the past decade, to 65%.

A March 2021 Pew survey found most U.S. adults support the separation between church and state but that many Americans supported more Christian influence within public institutions.

The survey found 19% of respondents wanted the federal government to stop enforcing separation of church and state, for example.

Kaylor said the episode is the same type of Christian nationalism that we saw helping storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 (2021).

Its dangerous, Kaylor said. As a Christian myself, I speak up against (it) because its dangerous politically. I also think its a heresy of the Christian faith.

Originally posted at 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3.(tncms-asset)68b1f87e-8447-11ec-81ce-00163ec2aa77[4](/tncms-asset)

Jack Suntrup  573-556-6186 @JackSuntrup on Twitter jsuntrup@post-dispatch.com

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Father Giuse Tran Ngoc Thanh, O.P., was killed in a knife attack on 29 January while hearing confessions, and local authorities have arrested a suspect linked to his murder.

By Vatican News staff writer

A Vietnamese priest of the Dominican order, Fr. Giuse Tran Ngoc Thanh, was killed in a knife attack on Saturday.

Fr. Tran was attacked while hearing confessions shortly before the celebration of the Vespers Mass on Saturday evening at a mission of Dak Mot, about 40 miles northwest of Kon Tum.

The priest was in the confessional when he was attacked with a knife by a man. Another Dominican religious who rushed to the scene was wounded with a knife when he tried to stop the attacker.

Fr. Tran, who was injured in the attack, received initial treatment, but later died around 11:30 pm on 29 January.

Shock and sorrow of the faithful

The unexpected murder of Fr. Tran has shocked the local community which was preparing to celebrate the Lunar New Year on 1 February.

Messages of mourning and grief have poured in from the parish community of Dak Mot where the priest lived and worked, as well as from the Dominican Province of Vietnam.

Local authorities have arrested the attacker, who is considered a person "mentally ill," according to the Vatican's Fides news agency.

Dying 'in persona Christi'

Bishop Aloisio Nguyen Hung Vi of Kon Tum Diocese celebrated a funeral Mass on Sunday, and expressed his condolences to the parish community of Dak Mot and the Dominican Province of Vietnam.

Speaking at Mass, the Bishop said: "We know that the will of God is mysterious; we cannot fully understand the ways of the Lord. We can only place our brother in the hands of the Lord. Father Joseph travels in eternity and, no matter what happened, no one can separate him, or us, from the love of God. When he was hit, Father Joseph stood in the place of Christ, dispensing his forgiveness. Dying at that moment, 'in persona Christi', must be a grace. In this pain, we also see the beauty and the nobility of the priest."

Burial arrangements

Fr. Tran's interment was held on Monday at St. Martin Chapel in Bien Hoa, Dong Nai. His body was laid to rest among other Dominican friars in the Cemetary of the Province located in Bien Hoa.



Fr. Tran was born on 10 August 1981 in Saigon, and he took his religious vows in August 2010. He was ordained a priest in 2018.

Please unite to pray so that Father Guise's soul may soon enjoy the glory of God, the Diocese of Kon Tum said in a statement on 30 January.
In an online conference organized by Aid to the Church in Need, religious leaders in Ukraine reflect on Church's role amid eight years of conflict in the country. The Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine advocate dialogue and efforts towards peace in the face of threats of an escalation of violence.

By Fr. Benedict Mayaki SJ

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began after pro-European Union protesters toppled the government of Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych in 2014. The overthrow led to a rapid escalation of a crisis that led to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the declaration of independence from Ukraine by pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the country.

The ensuing violence in the conflict in eastern Ukraine between separatist forces and the Ukrainian military has since killed more than 14,000 people and forced an estimated 1.5 million to become internally displaced.

More recently, in October 2021, Russia began moving troops and military equipment near its border with Ukraine, sparking concerns of a potential invasion. Diplomatic efforts are ongoing in a bid to defuse the possible crisis.

The Church amid the Ukrainian experience of conflict

Interwoven with the experience of Ukrainians amid these years of conflict is the experience of the Church in Ukraine.

On Friday, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a Pontifical Foundation dedicated to providing pastoral and humanitarian assistance to the persecuted Church around the world, organized an online conference to reflect on the Churchs presence and role amid the conflict.

Themed Ukraine: The Churchs experience through eight years of armed conflict, the conference provided a space for religious leaders, including the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, and the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldos Kulbokas, to share their perspectives.

At the start of the conference, Dr. Thomas Heine-Geldern, the executive president of ACN International welcomed the speakers and the participants.

He noted that ACN has been at work in Ukraine for years, providing support for the Church through projects amid the 8-year conflict, which has been further exacerbated with the Covid-19 health crisis which broke out 2 years ago. The ACN President hoped that the conference might be informative to help to illustrate what ACN and the media can do to further give a public voice to the situation of suffering in Ukraine.

Situation on ground

Major Archbishop Shevchuk expressed gratitude for the opportunity presented by the conference to share the experience of Ukrainians at this delicate and dramatic time of the countrys history.

He structured his discourse around explaining the situation from a Ukrainian perspective, how the Church and religious organizations understand their role amid the conflict, and how the Ukranian-Greek Catholic Church is responding to the situation.

He expressed the concern of many Ukrainians that the country is at the edge of a dangerous escalation of military aggression that is not just a continuation of the 8-year conflict with Russia, but a full-scale escalation that involves not only Ukraine but all Europe and NATO member countries. In his opinion, the threat has four dimensions: military, the war of misinformation, political escalation and the effect on the economy.

The Major Archbishop explained that the military presence at the border has sparked concern among Ukrainian citizens and authorities. Meanwhile, from an economic viewpoint, the increase in gas and fuel prices puts further strain on citizens as many struggle to pay the high prices. In addition, investors are afraid to invest in the economy and many people are at risk of losing their jobs.

Role of the Church

Notwithstanding the situation, Major Archbishop Shevchuk notes that people still look to the Church for inspiration. In fact, a recent sociological survey carried out indicated that 63% of Ukrainians consider the Church to be a reliable institution even in the face of the conflict.

The Church is playing her part in making her presence felt on many fronts. The Major Archbishop highlighted that the Ukrainian-Greek Church is actively working to develop a networking cooperation of Church communities in other to better channel efforts. He further pointed out that a recent meeting of Ukrainian bishops highlighted four important responses to the situation: prayer, solidarity with those in need, preaching hope, and the consolidation of Ukrainian society.

He went on to highlight the role of the parishes in the Churchs response to the situation, noting that the parish community is an important point of reference as many have been transformed to help with social services for people in need. Many parishes, he explained, supply food, warm clothes and offer psychological assistance services to people.

The Major Archbishop hopes that, through these actions, the Church can contribute to say no to violence and military action as the solution of problems and rather promote dialogue, solidarity and cooperation.

Pope Francis closeness to Ukraine

For his part, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldos Kulbokas, highlighted Pope Francis concern for Ukraine, and reminded everyone of the 26 January day of prayer for peace for the country called by the Holy Father.

For that occasion, Pope Francis had invited the faithful and people of goodwill to pray to the Lord to grant that the country may grow in the spirit of brotherhood and that all hurts, fears and divisions will be overcome.

Archbishop Kulbokas noted that the crisis is a mixture of a military-political tension, with both sides protecting their interest.

In light of this, the Church has the role of praying for peace and also for the conversion of the military and political leaders, so that they do not resort to using military force. He recalled Jesus words to the one who cut off the high priests servants ear, asking him to "put his sword back into its sheath."

The rest of the online conference, attended by 77 participants at its peak, was dedicated to a question-and-answer session that saw the speakers exploring different aspects of the situation and the efforts of the Ukranian/Greek Catholic Church.
MARISSA HARVEY is a News and Features Reporter for The Vidette. Harvey can be contacted at mcharv1@ilstu.edu. Follow Harvey on Twitter at @marissaharvey16

IF YOU SUPPORT THE VIDETTE MISSION of providing a training laboratory for Illinois State University student journalists to learn and sharpen viable, valuable and marketable skills in all phases of digital media, please contribute to this most important cause. Thank you.
Maxwell highlights songs that energize popular teams and fans during the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations. VOA guest and host of Sonny Side of Sports, Sonny Young, and Muhamed Kawtal of Mediafrique Radio 99.9 fm (Douala, Cameroon); joins her with up-to-the minute information on the games.
Nine U.N. Security Council members condemned North Korea's January 30 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile Friday, saying it was "a significant escalation" in Pyongyang's recent violations of council resolutions and was intended to further destabilize the region.

"We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms," U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after a 90-minute closed-door meeting of the 15-nation council. She spoke on behalf of and flanked by her council counterparts from Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

The launch, which took place on Sunday local time, was North Korea's longest-range missile test in more than four years.

"It also marks a new and troubling record  the nine ballistic missiles launched in January is the largest number of launches the DPRK has conducted in a single month in the history of its WMD and ballistic missile programs," Thomas-Greenfield said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

North Korea is forbidden to conduct such launches under the provisions of several Security Council resolutions.

The council last met on January 20 to discuss the launch activity without a united public stance.

"The cost of the council's ongoing silence is too high," the U.S. envoy said on behalf of the group of nine council members. "It will embolden the DPRK to further defy the international community, to normalize its violations of Security Council resolutions, to further destabilize the region, and to continue to threaten international peace and security. This is an outcome that we should not accept."

China's U.N. ambassador told reporters on his way into Friday's meeting that the solution "lies in dialogue" among the direct parties to the issue.

He appeared to put the responsibility on Washington to coax North Korea to the negotiating table, saying it has the key to solving the situation in its hands.

"They should come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions, and in accommodating the concerns of DPRK," Ambassador Zhang Jun said of the United States. "We have all seen what happened in Singapore. We have all seen what happened in Hanoi. And we have seen suspension of the nuclear test, and we have seen suspension of the launch of ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles]."

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held two summits, one in Singapore in 2018 and another in Vietnam the following year. They did not lead to denuclearization, but tensions cooled between the two nations, with Kim pausing his country's nuclear and long-range missile tests.

The Biden administration has urged Pyongyang to meet without preconditions.

"We stand ready to engage in dialogue, and we will not waver in our pursuit of regional peace and stability and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula consistent with relevant Security Council resolutions," Thomas-Greenfield reiterated Friday.

China's envoy urged the parties and the council to be prudent in both their actions and their words to avoid a full escalation.

"We have seen a vicious circle: confrontation, condemnation, sanctions, and then coming back to confrontation, condemnation and sanctions again," Zhang said. "So what will be the end?"

He said China's "freeze for freeze" proposal remains on the table. That would have Pyongyang freeze its nuclear activity in exchange for partial sanctions relief.

Thomas-Greenfield said that would reward North Korea for bad behavior.

Earlier this week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Sunday's ICBM launch.

"This is a breaking of the DPRK's announced moratorium in 2018 on launches of this nature and a clear violation of Security Council resolutions," Guterres' spokesman said.

He urged Pyongyang to cease any "further counterproductive actions" and seek a diplomatic solution.
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 passed the 900,000-mark Friday, a tally President Joe Biden described in a statement as a tragic milestone fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Biden said the victims were beloved mothers and fathers, grandparents, children, brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends, and urged vaccinations for all Americans.

We now have more tools than ever before to save lives and fight this virus  with vaccines remaining our most important tool, said Biden.

The U.S. death toll reached 900,000 less than two months after eclipsing 800,000, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Russia reported a record high 177,282 daily infections Saturday as the omicron variant spreads throughout the country. Despite the surge, Russias consumer health watchdog said Friday the government would loosen some of its containment measures beginning Sunday, saying the requirements have lost their reasoning because of omicron.

The watchdog said as of Sunday, people will no longer need to self-isolate after contacting those infected with COVID-19.

The watchdog also said schools and nurseries in Moscow may halt isolation requirements for students beginning next week.

Austrias compulsory vaccine program went into effect Saturday for everyone 18 and older. People not vaccinated face a heavy fine. Exemptions are limited to pregnant women, people who have contracted the virus in the past 180 days and people with medical conditions.

A mask mandate remains in place for seven Virginia school districts with an enrollment of over 350,000 students, following a judges ruling on Friday that blocked the mask- optional mandate signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin.

A spokesman for the governor said Youngkin will appeal the decision.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he and his wife have tested positive for the omicron variant of the coronavirus. He said they were tested after showing mild symptoms. He said he would continue his work from home during their recovery.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Saturday that it has recorded nearly 392 million global COVID-19 infections and almost 6 million deaths. The center said over 10 billion shots have been administered.
Authorities in North Korea arrested a dance instructor and several of her students after she used foreign media to teach them capitalist dance moves, sources in the country told RFA.

In late 2020, North Korea passed the draconian Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, which punishes citizens for a wide variety of offenses, mostly related to watching, keeping or distributing media from capitalist countries, particularly from South Korea and the U.S. The law carries a maximum penalty of death for serious offenders.

The law has also been used to punish drivers for tinting their car windows, students for using South Korean-style speech and slang, and now, dance instructors, for teaching youth to emulate the moves of foreign pop stars.

The Anti-Socialism Inspection Group caught a dance instructor in her 30s who was teaching foreign-style disco dances to teenage students in Yangji-dong, Pyongsong City, a resident of the northwestern city of Pyongsong, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFAs Korean Service January 31.

The Anti-Socialism Inspection Group, a joint operation of the State Security Department and the police, has been intensively cracking down on people for watching South Korean movies and distributing foreign media, the resident said.

The source said that North Korea authorities tend to be a bit more lenient in enforcing the rules around Seollal, the Lunar New Year holiday that was celebrated Tuesday, the source said. Consequently, residents feel a bit freer to enjoy South Korean movies or listen to foreign songs during this time.

This year, however, the Anti-Socialism Inspection group has been more vigilant in enforcing the thought and culture law, she said.

At the scene of the crackdown on the dance instructor that day, a USB flash drive containing foreign songs and dance videos had been plugged in, next to the flat screen TV, the source said.

Teenage students were learning how to dance by imitating the choreography on screen. The Anti-Socialism Inspection Group seized the flash drive and took the instructor and all of the students to their headquarters, she said.

News of the arrests quickly traveled beyond the city and the province. A resident of Sinuiju, about 210 kilometers to the northwest, near the border with China, told RFA that someone told him the story two days before Seollal.

From what I heard over the phone, this woman had majored in choreography at the Pyongsong University of the Arts. A few years back, she was assigned to teach at Okchon high school in Pyongsong, said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

But it was difficult to live on just the monthly teachers salary of only 3,000 won [60 cents], so she made her actual living by running a private dance academy out of her home, he said.

Students in middle and high school would attend private lessons twice per week, for one- or two-hour sessions at a cost of about $10 per hour, according to the second source.

They preferred to learn to dance like they do in South Korea, China and America, rather than in the North Korean style. So, she taught them how, he said.

Another resident of Pyongsong told RFA that the Anti-Socialism Inspection Group began to be more active in December.

The granddaughter of a provincial party official was caught with an SD card installed on her smartphone, and it contained South Korean movies. In the investigation, she revealed how and where she bought the SD card, the third source said on condition of anonymity.

The rich class usually buy USB flash drives smuggled in by sea from China. In the end, those who have been illegally selling or lending these flash drives and SD cards to teenagers get caught, one after another, including a relative of an official at the prosecutors office, she said.

The relative later confessed whom he had sold the movies and dance videos to, which led the authorities to the dance instructor, the source said.

Members of the Anti-Socialism Inspection Group hid in plain clothes around the dance instructors house for two days.  They saw many students go in and then they raided the house, the third source said.

Most of the students are children from wealthy families that typically are not subjected to severe punishment for infractions because of their money and power, according to the third source.

However, since the Central Committee has ordered that those who violate the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act be severely punished regardless of their rank or class, the foreign dance instructor and students caught this time will not be spared from hard labor. Their parents are also likely to be punished by being forced to leave the party, the source said.
Gov. Mike Parsons push to raise state worker pay to a minimum of $15 per hour could be in jeopardy for some employees of Missouris sprawling state government.

Budget documents filed Friday show only front-line workers at a select number of agencies serving Missourians would see the base hourly rate jump to $15, with others being capped at $12 an hour.

The proposal comes as numerous private businesses, hungry for workers, are offering hourly wages starting at $18 an hour and up, far higher than the current state minimum wage of $11.15 per hour.

A decision by the House on raising salaries for one of the nations lowest paid state workforces could come as soon as Monday when members of the House Budget Committee convene to take up debate on a $5.2 billion supplemental spending package proposed by Parson in his State of the State address last month.

An outline of the revamped proposal shows that frontline workers employed at prisons, child welfare programs and the struggling Missouri Veterans Commission would still see the $15 boost. But an untold number of other low-paid workers would be limited to a $12 an hour starting wage.

The architect of the change, House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, did not return a request for comment Friday.

One member of the budget panel called the decision shameful.

Im thankful that Governor Parson has realized its time to address the pay situation. This is an issue that should be bipartisan, said Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis. This is why were losing great talent at the state of Missouri.

Parson began laying the groundwork to improve state employee pay last year as numerous state agencies began having to limit their services because of high turnover among employees.

The Department of Mental Health, for example, has a backlog of more than 200 people waiting in county jails for slots to open up in psychiatric treatment centers because of staffing and space limitations.

The Department of Transportation has a high turnover rate that is affecting hiring for snowplow drivers and engineers who design roads and bridges.

The Department of Social Services is in dire need of workers to assist with child welfare cases.

And, the Missouri Department of Corrections has closed some housing units because of a shortage of workers in key positions.

Parson has requested enough money to boost all state workers by 5.5%, with starting pay starting at no less than $15 per hour.

Yet, despite the problems facing an economy still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, some of Parsons fellow Republicans have balked at the increases.

It's just the latest setback in the governor's agenda. The Senate earlier this week failed to back Parson's pick to head the Department of Health and Senior Services.

In arguing for the higher pay, Parsons budget chief Dan Haug said the state is competing against places like a Dollar General warehouse operation in Fulton, where there is a concentration of state facilities like a major state mental hospital.

The Post-Dispatch also found that hundreds of Missouri residents are crossing into Illinois every day where state worker pay is significantly higher for the same jobs in state facilities in the Land of Lincoln.

The effect of the changes being presented by Smith represent a nearly $7.9 million reduction in what Parson had sought to improve worker pay, according to spreadsheet of the reworked funding plan expected to be voted on by the budget panel Monday.

Haug earlier said raising the hourly rate to $15 would affect about 8,800 of the states 51,000-member workforce.

When the governor outlined his plan, Parson described the situation as critical and asked lawmakers to approve it by Feb. 1. Lawmakers blew past that deadline amid COVID-19-related delays and the recent winter snowstorm that shut down the General Assembly this week.

It remained unclear whether the Senate will take up the measure if it gets through the House.

Worker turnover in the past year has stood at 26%, resulting in the need for temporary workers to be brought in to process unemployment claims, serve the needs of developmentally disabled residents and perform other tasks essential to state government.

In some of the lower paid positions, the turnover rate is 50%, which then requires additional money to hire and train new workers.

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Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they arrested a prominent journalist on accusations of publishing anti-national content, in a widening crackdown against media in the disputed region.

Fahad Shah, the editor of news portal Kashmir Walla, was summoned for questioning in southern Pulwama town on Friday and later arrested.

Police said he was identified among Facebook users and portals that had published anti-national content, without specifying what it is. It said the content was posted with criminal intention" to create fear and could provoke the public to disturb law and order. It said such content was tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities.

The case relates to a gunfight between rebels trapped inside a civilian home and Indian troops in Pulwama on Jan. 30. Police had said a Kashmiri rebel commander was killed in the fighting along with a Pakistani and another local militant. They described the fourth slain teenage boy, the house owners son, as a hybrid militant, a term authorities began using last year for alleged militants with no police record and who operate as civilians.

Kashmir Walla carried a series of reports on the fighting presenting both sides of the story. One video report quoted family members of the slain boy refuting the police.

Another video quoted the boys sister contradicting an earlier statement from the family.

Shah, 34, was arrested under India's harsh anti-terror and sedition laws, which include punishment of up to seven years.

Shah and few other reporters associated with Kashmir Walla have been questioned for their reporting several times in the last few years.

On Saturday, police tweeted that Shah was wanted in three cases for "glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news & inciting general public for creating L&O (law and order) situations.

The award-winning journalist has also reported for several foreign publications.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim it in full. Since 1989, a full-blown armed rebellion has raged in the Indian-controlled part seeking a united Kashmir, either under Pakistani rule or independent of both.

The region is one of the most heavily militarized in the world. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the raging conflict.

Journalists have long contended with threats in Indian-controlled Kashmir. But their predicament became worse after India revoked the regions semi-autonomy in 2019, throwing Kashmir under a severe security and communication lockdown. A year later, the governments new media policy sought to control the press to censure independent reporting.

Dozens have been arrested, interrogated and investigated. Fearing reprisals, local press has largely wilted under pressure.

Last month, police arrested journalist Sajad Gul after his tweet linked a video clip of a protest against Indian rule following a rebels killing.

Also in January, a few journalists supportive of the Indian government, with assistance from armed police, took control of the Kashmir Valleys only independent press club.

Authorities shut it down the following day, drawing sharp criticism from media watchdogs.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists asked Indian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Shah and drop any investigation into his work and cease detaining members of the press.

Steven Butler, CPJs Asia program coordinator, said in a statement the arrest shows Jammu and Kashmir authorities utter disregard for press freedom and the fundamental right of journalists to report freely and safely.

Authorities must immediately release Shah, and all other journalists behind bars, and cease detaining and harassing journalists for simply doing their jobs, he said.
Increasing violence and insecurity in Burkina Faso are spurring refugees to flee into neighboring countries, adding to political and humanitarian crises in the Sahel region.

The United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, says some 19,200 Burkinabe fled last year to neighboring Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, and Benin. This was a 50% increase from the previous year.

The agency says the number of Burkinabe living in exile across the region has nearly doubled to more than 34,000. Among them are 7,000 refugees who have arrived in northwestern Ivory Coast, or Cote dIvoire, since May.

UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov says vicious attacks by armed groups, mainly in the region bordering Ivory Coast, are driving more people to flee across the border.

The influx has accelerated in the past six weeksthough it is not linked to the recent military coup in the countrywith an average of 100 people daily recently crossing the border, according to local authorities," Cheshirkov said. "We have registered and have been providing assistance to over 4,000 of them already.

The increasing refugee movement is putting enormous strain on the fragile Sahel region. The Central Sahel, which includes Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, is plagued by political instability, widespread violence, food shortages, and a climate crisis.

Cheshirkov says this region of 20 million people cannot manage and support rapidly growing populations. He warns intercommunal conflicts over scarce resources are worsening.

The plight of Burkinabe refugees is becoming increasingly precarious as more people arrive in Cote dIvoire without personal belongings or food," Cheshirkov said. "They told UNHCR staff that civilians had been killed and their homes burnt down by extremists. They are being hosted by Ivorian villagers in crowded conditions.

On top of the burgeoning refugee crisis, the UNHCR reports Burkina Faso also is facing a crisis of internal displacement. It says increasing violence by armed groups has forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes.
The African Union has begun a summit in Addis Ababa, and the theme this year is Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on African Continent; Strengthening Agro-food systems, health and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic capital development.' Leaders from across the continent gathered Saturday to discuss issues affecting the continent; mainly the pandemic and insecurity.

The 35th African Union session began Saturday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Though its theme implies building resilience in nutrition and self-reliance in food, COVID-19 and security also top the agenda as coups and political instability continue to affect residents across Africa.

While addressing leaders of the continent, Musa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union, said Africa is among the continents hit hard by COVID19. He also raised concern about unavailability of vaccine for most Africans. He asked the African leaders to support the African Centers for Disease Control.



Chairperson Faki also shared his concern about deteriorating security in Africa. He says the AU has faced institutional failure because of coups and insurgencies. He called on regional blocks to closely work with the African Union and its member nations to abandon using their sovereignty as pretext.



Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is also among the leaders who addressed the summit. In his remarks, Abiy emphasized the will of his administration to end the 16-month conflict with Tigrayan rebels.

As a gesture of goodwill, we have released high-profile suspects, with a view of creating [a] conducive environment for talk," said Abiy. "Consistent to our peaceful resolution of conflict, we have recently launched an inclusive national dialogue with formal legislation. Our commitment to pursue lasting and durable peace in our country shall remain steady fast.

Abiy asked leaders to echo his request for Africa to get permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council.



Additionally, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the session via videoconference. Guterres said Africa is being affected by climate change while contributing less than 3 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

To address this tragic reality, we need a radical boost in funding and adaptation and mitigation in the continent," said Guterres. "The Glasgow commitment to double adaptation finance from $20 billion must be implemented.

Guterres noted he is working with the international community to meet Africas climate change ambitions. He also called on African leaders to include youth in their administration and let citizens exercise their political and democratic rights.



Participants of the 35th extra ordinary summit of the African Union have named Senegalese leader Macky Sall as the new president of the AU.
Four people were hurt when a bomb exploded at a busy market Saturday in the city of Beni in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, police said, days after the U.S. embassy in the capital Kinshasa warned of a possible attack.

Local police said they were looking for the suspected bomber after the blast in Beni, which is in a region where Congolese and Ugandan forces have launched a campaign against suspected Islamists.

"We call on the population to be calm and especially vigilant," said Beni city police spokesperson Nasson Murara.

Police tended to casualties at the market before taking them to a local police hospital, a Reuters journalist on the scene said.

Frank Kasisa, the attending physician at Beni's police hospital, said four people were in stable condition after being injured in the blast. He confirmed no one had been killed.

Staphanie Kahambu, who has a shop inside the market, said the market had been crowded before the explosion.

"We heard a bomb explode, and everyone fled in different directions," Kahambu said. "It's really sad because I saw four people who were seriously injured."

The U.S. embassy in Kinshasa said Tuesday it believed "terrorist attacks" were planned in Beni "in the near future," and warned citizens against traveling there.

Beni has seen several recent bombings that authorities have blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militant group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

A suicide bomber struck a Beni restaurant on Christmas Day last year, killing at least six people as well as himself, officials said.

Beni also was hit by two explosions in June last year at a Catholic church and at a busy intersection. The only death in the two incidents was in the second bombing, in which the suspected bomber was killed.
A Ukrainian flag wrapped around her shoulders, pensioner Iryna Gayeva had a simple message as she demonstrated in Ukraines second largest city, Kharkiv, on Saturday, 40 kilometers from the Russian border.

"We do not want Russia," she told AFP, as she joined several thousand people for a "Unity March" called by nationalist groups.

"I was born in Crimea. That's enough, they've already taken a homeland from me. I grew up here, I live here, my parents are from Russia, but I don't want to see any occupiers," she said.

"This is my home, these are my rules."

Russia seized the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and began fueling a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin has now massed more than 100,000 troops across the frontier, sparking fears from the West that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a major incursion.

Moscow denies it will invade and blames NATO for threatening its security by expanding into eastern Europe.

Kharkiv, an industrial and university center with 1.5 million inhabitants, many Russian-speaking, is more than 400 kilometers east of the capital, Kyiv, and right next to the Russian border.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that, given the population's strong links to Russia, the city could be a prime target for occupation if the situation escalates.

2014 unrest

There appear to be grounds for concern.

In 2014, as Russian-backed separatists took over two other eastern cities of Donetsk and Lugansk, fears swirled that Kharkiv could be the next domino to fall.

Pro-Moscow protesters attacked the regional administration with Molotov cocktails, as violence broke out with pro-Ukrainian activists.

Eventually Ukrainian forces managed to stop Kharkiv from slipping from Kyiv's grasp, saving it from being engulfed in a conflict that has cost 13,000 lives in the past eight years.

And now, those demonstrating insisted that Russian forces would not be welcome in Kharkiv as pro-Ukrainian patriotism has rocketed.

"In 2014, it was panic," Gayeva recalled. "This time there is no panic but anger."

At her side, Nadia Rynguina is even more categorical.

"The situation has changed, we have an army worthy of the name, we have citizens ready to defend the country," she explained.

In the event of an intervention, Yury Shmylyov, 79, warned that "it will not be a walk in the park" for the Russian army.

"In 2014, we were afraid to display a blue and yellow flag here, but now look," he said, pointing at the gathered crowd.

'Constant threat'

Behind a large banner reading "Kharkiv is Ukraine," the demonstrators marched between the city's two main squares in subzero temperatures.

They chanted patriotic slogans, sang the national anthem and carried signs thanking Britain and the United States for ramping up arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Galyna Kuts, a political scientist in Kharkiv and a member of the regional legislature, said Zelenskiy's warning of potential occupation set nerves jangling.

"Everyone was calling each other to ask what to do, where to flee," she said as she attended the rally.

But after years "living under constant threat of invasion," she insists residents in Kharkiv have steeled themselves for anything.

"People have changed, they know how to survive," she said.

Oleksandr Gerasimov has filled up his tank and is ready to evacuate his family if necessary.

But the 39-year-old demonstrator insists he is calm as he does not believe Moscow will risk an attack against Ukraine's bolstered armed forces.

"Russia would suffer intolerable losses," he said.
TORONTO/OTTAWACanadian cities, including the financial hub Toronto, faced disruptions on Saturday as protests against vaccine mandates spread from the capital of Ottawa, raising fears of clashes with counter protesters.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" began as a movement against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

We're all sick and tired of the mandates, of the intimidation, of living in one big prison, said Robert, a Toronto protester who did not give his last name. We just want to go back to normal without having to take into our veins the poison which they call vaccines.

Protesters have shut down downtown Ottawa for the past eight days, with some participants waving Confederate or Nazi flags and some saying they wanted to dissolve Canada's government.

The well-organized blockade, which police say has relied partly on funding from sympathizers in the United States, saw protesters bring in portable saunas on Saturday to combat frigid temperatures. One man rode through the area on horseback, carrying a Trump flag, social media videos showed. The former U.S. president has spoken out in support of the truckers against "the harsh policies of far-left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates."

GoFundMe took down the Freedom Convoy's donation page on Friday, saying it violated the platform's terms of service due to unlawful activity. The group had raised about C$10.1 million.

In a confusingly worded statement, the website said it would give refunds to those who request it by February 19 and work with organizers to distribute the rest to verified charities.

On Saturday, GoFundMe said it would refund all donations automatically but not before Tesla CEO Elon Musk called the company "professional thieves." Florida Governor Rick DeSantis and other Republican state lawmakers vowed to investigate the California-based company over the move.

Toronto police ramped-up their presence in the city and closed a major downtown avenue, which is home to several hospitals, fearing protesters would otherwise impede access. Entry was limited to hospital staff, patients and family.

About 500 healthcare workers and supporters rallied in downtown Toronto, near the site of the planned trucker convoy demonstrations, according to a Reuters eyewitness.

Several Toronto healthcare workers said they received advice from their hospitals to not wear hospital scrubs in public in light of the protest. Police said this was not their advice.

"The notion that we have to somehow skulk around or be afraid of who we are and what were doing, I think, is offensive and regrettable and, I think, a sad commentary on our society," emergency room doctor Raghu Venugopal told Reuters.

Some protest vehicles arrived in Quebec City for a planned Saturday protest, coinciding with the city's annual winter carnival. Meanwhile, trucks blocked traffic near Manitoba's provincial legislature in Winnipeg on Friday and demonstrations were expected in Montreal, Calgary and Regina. Some cities erected barricades to keep protesters away from legislature buildings or banned traffic around them.

Some Ottawa residents, subjected to near-incessant honking, smashed windows and harassment for wearing masks, criticized Ottawa Police earlier this week for not doing more to end the blockade. An Ottawa resident filed a class action lawsuit against convoy organizers, seeking up to $10 million in damages.

Ottawa police warned on Friday of a crackdown on the protest and dedicated 150 officers to "patrolling and addressing unlawful and threatening conduct in the most-impacted neighborhoods."

"This remains ... an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration," Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said on Friday, adding protesters in the Canadian capital "remain highly organized, well-funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstration safely."
Immigration judges have long urged Congress to pass legislation to make the immigration court system an independent entity sheltered from the policy agendas of any given administration.

For the first time, a concrete effort is underway on Capitol Hill to make that happen and that could also address a record-high backlog of immigration cases.

Democratic legislators introduced the Real Courts, Rule of Law Act of 2022, which would take the courts out of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and restructure them into an independent immigration court system set up by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. House Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California who leads the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, unveiled the legislation Thursday.

"Our immigration court system will never be effective as long as it is housed under the Department of Justice," Lofgren said in a statement. "This structural overhaul will strengthen due process and restore faith in the system by taking politics out of the immigration courts for good."

Judge Mimi Tsankov, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said in a statement emailed to VOA that moving the immigration courts out of the DOJ is a step toward making the courts more efficient and reflects a broad and bipartisan consensus that the U.S. immigration court system is broken.

"With the case backlog now standing at 1.6 million cases, an Article 1 immigration court will ensure greater judicial independence, cut a bloated bureaucratic structure, allow for more-effective case management, and reduce reliance on outdated technologies," Tsankov wrote.

The U.S. immigration courts, unlike other courts, fall under the Department of Justice, the law enforcement agency charged with prosecuting criminal immigration cases in federal courts, under an office known as the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Lofgren, who also chairs the House Judiciary Committee's immigration panel, said the current immigration court system lacks procedural and structural safeguards to protect it against political influence.

Immigration judges, for example, are attorneys appointed by the attorney general, which makes them employees of the Department of Justice. As a result, they face pressure to decide cases based on the policies and priorities of the governing administration, whether it is Democratic or Republican.

The bill would establish a revamped immigration court system with its own rules and its own budget.

Immigration court backlog

The proposed legislation also aims to relieve the current 1.6 million immigration case backlog that experts say slows the entire immigration system.

If passed by Congress and signed into law, the bill would give judges significant power over their dockets and allow them to decide which cases can be withheld or delayed, decisions that are currently subject to DOJ guidance.

Judges would be able to put aside cases in which applicants are waiting on the government to process a legal permanent resident card or any other immigration relief within the law that allows immigrants to stay in the country. That alone would help alleviate the mushrooming court backlog.

The backlog has been growing for more than a decade, but according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research institution at Syracuse University, a deluge of new cases added between October and December 2021 significantly worsened wait times.

TRAC analysis shows how the shutdown of immigration courts during the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the backlog, along with a surge in new cases filed by the Department of Homeland Security.

"If every person with a pending immigration case were gathered together it would be larger than the population of Philadelphia, the sixth largest city in the United States. Previous administrations  all the way back through at least the George W. Bush administration  have failed when they tried to tackle the seemingly intractable problem of the Immigration Court 'backlog,'" according to TRAC's latest analysis.

The American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association support Lofgren's initiative and worked with her staff in writing the proposed legislation.

Not so fast

Reforming immigration courts has little chance of becoming law without bipartisan backing. During a January 20 House Judiciary subcommittee hearing, Republicans offered a preview of their position on Lofgren's bill, saying rather than set up an independent immigration court, Congress should pay attention to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"An Article I court is not the topic we should be focused on. This subcommittee should be focused on securing our border and enforcing our immigration laws.  Congress should retain its role, our rightful role, in making sure that we along with the executive branch oversee the immigration courts," said Representative Tom Tiffany, a Republican from Wisconsin, at January's hearing.


One person was killed and four others were injured in an avalanche in western Austria on Saturday, police said, a day after two other avalanches killed seven skiers as heavy snowfall followed by warmer weather made for unusually dangerous conditions.

Austrian broadcaster ORF said the person killed in Saturday's avalanche in the municipality of Schmirn, in the state of Tyrol, was a 58-year-old local man.

In the same province, a 42-year-old Austrian mountain- and ski-guide and four Swedish skiers, all men in their 40s, were killed on Friday when an avalanche near the town of Spiss on the border with Switzerland buried them completely, police said.

Another member of the group, a 43-year-old Swede, was able to phone for help and was rescued, police said.

Two Austrian skiers were killed in a third incident.

Emergency services found the bodies of the two Austrian skiers, a woman, age 61, and a 60-year-old man, early Saturday local time (2340 GMT on Friday) after their relatives said they could no longer contact them, police said.
The first American troops arrived in Poland Saturday to reinforce NATO allies in Eastern Europe, Polands Defense Ministry said, amid fears Russia may invade neighboring Ukraine.

"As announced, the first elements of the brigade battle group from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army have arrived in Poland," a Polish military spokesman said.

The U.S. troops arrived at Rzeszow military base in southeastern Poland, near its border with Ukraine, after U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers there. About 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland on a rotational basis since 2017.

Biden also ordered troops to Romania and Germany, raising the total number of additional troops to nearly 3,000.

U.S. Army sources have previously said that about 1,700 U.S. service members, primarily from the 82nd Airborne Division, would deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland "over the next days."

The first contingent of additional U.S. troops arrived in Germany on Friday.

U.S. troops from the 18th Airborne Corps arrived Frday in Wiesbaden, Germany, according to the U.S. military's European Command, which added they would establish a headquarters in Germany to support 1,700 paratroopers who have been ordered to deploy to Poland.

The U.S. placed 8,500 other U.S. troops on high alert in January to deploy to Europe if necessary. They remain on high alert and NATO defense ministers are expected to discuss adding more reinforcements at their next meeting on February 16-17.

Two prominent European leaders are scheduled to travel to the capitals of Russia and Ukraine in the coming days for talks with their counterparts about diplomatic measures to ease the growing tensions surrounding Moscows potential invasion of Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron is due in Moscow on Monday and Kyiv on Tuesday. The following week, Germanys Olaf Scholz is set to visit Kyiv on February 14 and Moscow on Feb. 15.

According to a New York Times report, while Russias troops along the border are not ready to launch a total invasion of Ukraine, sections of its army appear to be in the final stages of readiness for military action should the Kremlin order it.

Moscow has dispatched an additional 10, 000 troops to the region, The Times said, in addition to the thousands of troops already deployed to the area.

Meanwhile, the White House dismissed a Friday meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the leaders unveiled a strategic alliance geared against the U.S.

"What we have control over is our own relationships and the protection of our own values and also looking for ways to work with countries even where we disagree," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during her briefing.

In the meeting, Xi endorsed Putin's demands to end NATO expansion and get security guarantees from the West, issues that have led to Russia's standoff with the United States and its allies over Ukraine. Meanwhile Moscow voiced its support for Beijing's stance that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.

The two leaders met at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse Friday afternoon, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV, hours before the beginning of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which diplomats from the U.S., Britain and other countries are boycotting over human rights abuses.

The broadcaster did not provide details of the meeting, but Xi and Putin, both of whom have been criticized by the U.S. for their foreign and domestic policies, issued a joint statement underscoring their displeasure with "interference in the internal affairs" of other countries.

The joint statement proclaimed a new China-Russia strategic "friendship" that "has no limits" and no "forbidden areas of cooperation."

Escalating conflict

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone Friday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss Russia's military buildup along Ukraine's border and the threat of armed conflict.

He affirmed "the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty" and made clear the United States is willing to "impose swift and severe consequences on Russia if it chooses to escalate" the situation, according to a State Department statement.

On Thursday, a senior Biden administration official said the U.S. has information indicating that Russia has developed a plan to stage a false Ukrainian military attack on Russian territory and leverage it as a pretext for an attack against Ukraine.

Fabricating a video of such an attack is one of several options the Kremlin is formulating to give it an excuse to invade Ukraine, the official said.

"The video will be released to underscore a threat to Russia's security and to underpin military operations," said the official, who requested anonymity.

"This video, if released, could provide Putin the spark he needs to initiate and justify military operations against Ukraine," the official added.

The official said the Biden administration is disclosing specifics about Russia's alleged plans to dissuade Russia from carrying out such plans.

In an interview Thursday with MSNBC, U.S. deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer said, "We don't know definitively that this is the route they are going to take, but we know that this is an option under consideration."
In the war raging between drug cartels in western Mexico, gangs have begun using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on roads to disable army vehicles.

The self-defense movement in the town of Tepalcatepec, in western Michoacan state, said improvised land mines severely damaged an army armored car late last week.

A spokesperson for the movement, which is battling the Jalisco cartel, supplied photos showing a disabled army light armored vehicle on a road with damage he said was caused by such a mine.

The spokesperson, who refused to reveal his name for fear of reprisals, said the explosion happened last Saturday in the town of Taixtan, near Tepalcatepec, where locals have been battling Jalisco gunmen for months.

The warring gangs frequently use homemade armored cars and drones modified to drop small bombs. But it would be the first time IEDs have been successfully used by cartels in Mexico.

The Mexican army did not respond to a request for specific comment on the IEDs. But the Defense Department did say army patrols were attacked four times in the area Saturday with explosives, homemade armored cars and gunfire that wounded 10 soldiers. The department did not specify what type of explosives were involved.

The Milenio television station described the IEDs as PVC pipe bombs buried with a round metal base below and a conical metal cap to direct or concentrate the blast.

Security analyst Juan Ibarrola, who specializes in the military, said "the worrisome thing is the improvisation that they (criminal groups) are doing with engineering, to create weapons, boobytraps, explosives and so on."

Rather than trying to fight an outright war with the army  which they know they would lose  Ibarrola said that with the IEDs and other devices "more than anything else, what they are trying to do is threaten and take on rival groups."

It is not clear if the improvised land mines are only being used by one side in the battle for control of Michoacan state, which drug traffickers value for its seaport and smuggling routes, as well as the opportunity to extort money from the state's growers of avocados and limes.

In November, residents of the Jalisco-dominated village of Loma Blanca showed Associated Press journalists a small crater, with a round metal plate, where they said the Tepalcatepec forces had detonated a land mine.

While cartel gunmen across Mexico have used hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades against police and soldiers before, IEDs have been practically unknown in the country's drug wars.

In 2010, a car bomb targeting federal police officers exploded in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, killing three people and wounding nine. A drug cartel suspect used a cellphone to set off the explosives-laden car, which killed a federal police officer and two civilians, and wounded nine people.

In 2015, Jalisco cartel gunmen brought down a Eurocopter transport helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing eight soldiers and a police officer. While the choppers Jalisco faces now are Blackhawks, there is little doubt the cartel can come up with something punchier.

The Mexican government is rapidly running out of tools to control the expansion of the Jalisco cartel, Mexico's most militarily powerful drug gang. The army has already pulled out some of its most lethal weapons in its fight against the cartel: Helicopter gunships equipped with electric mini-guns, rotating barrel machine guns capable of firing thousands of rounds per minute.

But the inhabitants of Michoacan are also fed up with the army's strategy of simply separating the Jalisco and the Michoacan-based Viagras gang. The army policy effectively allows the Viagras  best known for kidnapping and extorting money  to set up roadblocks and checkpoints on many of the state's roads. Limes, avocados and cattle heading out, or supplies heading in, must pay a war tax to the Viagras.

The do-nothing strategy appears to be part of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's "hugs, not bullets" policy of avoiding confrontation.

Meanwhile, the cartels have developed bomb-carrying drones, and the most feared warriors are the "droneros," or drone operators. While initially crude and dangerous to load and operate  and still worrisomely indiscriminate  drone warfare has improved, and it's not unusual to see metal barn or shed roofs opened like tin cans from the impact of drone explosions.
Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will present a team trivia fundraiser, Literary Love Trivia Night, at 7 p.m. Thursday on Zoom. Sign up as an individual or as a member of a four-person team to compete for prizes. All proceeds will help the Friends support library programming and services.

Sign up by Tuesday; the event is limited to 40 participants. To register, go to https://jmrlfriends.org.

The Steve Keene Art Book is available for pre-orders. The book, produced by Daniel Efram and due to arrive June 14, is the first art book to document Keene, who is called the most prolific artist of all time.

In addition to 277 examples of Keenes art, the book contains essays by Hilarie Bratset, Elle Chang, Sam Brumbaugh and others and quotes by Will Oldham, Talia Logan, Leo Fitzgerald and others.

The 264-page hardcover book, published by Hat & Beard and Tractor Beam, is $95.

New Dominion Bookshop is presenting a reading by poets Nathaniel Perry and John Casteen at 7 p.m. Friday.

Perry is the author of two books of poetry, Long Rules and Nine Acres. He serves as editor of Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review and is a professor of English at Hampden-Sydney College.

Casteen, an assistant professor in the University of Virginia Writing and Rhetoric Program and the director of studies at Brown College at UVa, is the author of Free Union and For the Mountain Laurel. His third collection, Rhythm and Blues, was a finalist for the National Poetry Series.

The event is free, and the staff recommends arriving early for the best seating. Learn more at ndbookshop.com or dial (434) 295-2552.
Americans are witnessing  and have been increasingly victimized by  violent crime that has risen in much of the country since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a worrisome trend that has continued this year in New Orleans, Louisiana, and other U.S. cities.

Soji Iledare was born and raised in Nigeria but now calls New Orleans home. He was out of town on Jan. 13 when a series of panicked text messages from neighbors alerted him that a shooter had unleashed a torrent of bullets on his block.

"I came home, and I found eight bullets had made it into our home," Iledare told VOA on Wednesday. "During the pandemic, I spent most days in the downstairs room, studying and working. My dog would sit beside me on the couch, and that's exactly where a bullet hit. I would have been right there, too."

All occupants of Iledare's home, including his dog, escaped harm. But many other Americans who have encountered violent crime haven't been so lucky.

In 2020, homicides across the U.S. increased nearly 30% over 2019, the largest one-year jump since the FBI began keeping records. In 2021, according to the Washington-based Council on Criminal Justice, the national homicide rate increased 5% over 2020.

The situation seems even more severe in New Orleans, where data shows homicides and carjackings have far exceeded the national average.

"After the incident, I'm having a hard time even staying here," Iledare said. "I have so much anxiety when I'm at home, feeling like I got so lucky the first time and might not again. When I have to be at home, I usually stay upstairs now. I just feel like I always have to be alert  like I can never relax."

2022 off to a violent start

"I think most of our residents understand this is part of a national problem," said New Orleans Councilmember Joe Giarrusso, speaking with VOA. "But I also understand that when people are affected by something at home, they don't care about what's going on in New York or Chicago or Miami. They want us to fix what's happening right here, and they want us to do it now."

New Orleans has struggled mightily to control violent crime. In 2021, homicides rose 80% and shootings doubled compared with 2019 figures. Carjackings have been a particular concern, rising 160% during that same period.

And carjackings appear to have gotten worse in the first month of 2022, with incidents up 60% compared with the same period last year.

"I know I need to continue to go about living my life," said Mariana Rodrigues, who moved to New Orleans in March 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic lockdown began. "But it's hard when you read and hear all of these violent stories and you see they're only happening a few blocks from where you live."

A recent incident took place at a Costco gasoline station. A local woman was filling her tank in the afternoon when her vehicle was carjacked. She was dragged about 35 feet through the parking lot and was left with wounds to her head, abrasions down one side of her body, and fractures in her neck and hand.

"I'm nervous to go on walks at night," Rodrigues said. "I feel like I'm looking over my shoulder every time I get in or out of my car. I'm scared to sit in my parking spot on my phone, or to be at a stoplight. It's stressful."

The city's response

On Wednesday, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell held a press conference with Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, outlining the police department's plan to combat violent crime. The unveiling came one day after a city council member called for a change of leadership in the department.

"Now is not the time to demonstrate a lack of support for our police officers," Cantrell said at the news conference. "Now is the time to lend the support needed so that they can again protect and serve and make those arrests."

Superintendent Ferguson announced several strategies being considered to fight the city's growing crime wave, such as designating a citywide unit to investigate violent crime or considering 12-hour patrol shifts to shorten 911 response times.

But Iledare said he wasn't impressed.

"A press conference feels like empty calories," he said. "Actions speak louder than words, so I'm waiting for action."

On Tuesday, the mayor highlighted on social media the police's successful arrest of three individuals suspected in an armed carjacking.

But Rodrigues wants to see more than a high-profile bust.

"This problem isn't going to be solved overnight," Rodrigues said, "so before there's celebration, we're going to need to see sustained evidence of arrests in quantities closer to the number of violent crimes being committed."

Seeking solutions

Like many city governments across the country, the New Orleans City Council is hard at work implementing solutions to make the city safer, Councilmember Giarrusso said.

But he acknowledges the challenges are many.

"We have a budget here for 1,300 to 1,400 police officers in New Orleans," he said. "But we currently have about 1,100 on the force. We're starting at a disadvantage."

At her press conference, however, Mayor Cantrell said that once the arrests are made, she'd like to see the criminal justice system crack down harder on those responsible for violent crime.

That's something Iledare said he'd also like to see.

"There are all these crimes being reported, but you don't see nearly as many stories about people being brought to justice," he said. "But I think more appropriate sentencing could act as a real deterrent to criminals and maybe make people think twice in a way they're not doing now."

Officials such as Giarrusso say that in addition to finding short-term fixes, longer-term solutions are needed as well.

In the meantime, city residents continue to worry about their safety.

New Orleans bakery owner Carla Briggs often makes evening deliveries. Born and raised in this city, she said surging crime has put her "on high alert."

"I'm definitely having to be a lot more aware than I've had to be in the past," Briggs said, "and it's stressful to have to live like that. Imagine being a child growing up in a neighborhood where you're always dealing with that kind of stress."

One recent crime shook her especially deeply. Three children  the youngest 11  carjacked a vehicle. While trying to avoid the police, they crashed into a business.

The incident made Briggs think of her nephews, who are both about the same age.

"Maybe you'd wonder why those kids weren't in school," she told VOA. "Well, there are a lot of kids who are missing school right now because of coronavirus. Truancy has been a huge problem the last two years. Or maybe you'd wonder why their parents aren't doing something about their kids. Well, maybe those parents are working multiple jobs to try to keep the family afloat. Or maybe some of the family's income-earners lost their jobs or passed away during the pandemic."

Briggs sees a multitude of systemic failures happening simultaneously.

"It's not just a crime issue. It's an education issue. It's an economic issue. It's a health care issue. And then, yeah, it's a crime and policing and criminal justice issue, too. I think we're just seeing these things that have always been here, and they're all just colliding into each other during this unique, difficult time we're living in."


The oceans got even warmer last year than the year before, supercharging already extreme weather patterns worldwide, according to a recent report published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.

Twenty-three international scientists analyzed thousands of ocean temperature measurements. Since 2018, when the group first began publishing their findings, they have found that ocean temperatures are rising each year.

But the warming isn't consistent around the planet.

In 2021, the researchers discovered that because of wind patterns and currents, some parts of the Atlantic, Indian and northern Pacific oceans warmed more quickly.

"The motion of water in the world's oceans distributes the heat in a nonuniform way, so some areas get more heat and others less, meaning certain parts of the oceans warm faster than others," said John Abraham, a co-author of the study and climate scientist at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases from human activities are making the oceans too hot, Abraham told VOA.

"Last year, the oceans absorbed heat the equivalent of seven Hiroshima bombs being detonated in the ocean every second of every day, 365 days each year," he said.

But even a slight rise in the temperature of the oceans can be devastating.

"The overall warming now is more than 1 degree Celsius," said Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University and a contributor to the report. "And while that might sound like a small amount of warming, even modest changes in temperature can have a huge impact on the climate system," which can cause fish populations to decline and ice sheets to collapse in Antarctica.

Only a small amount of heat from greenhouse gases actually gets trapped in the atmosphere. Most of it gets absorbed by the oceans.

"The oceans store 90% of global warming heat and are a robust indicator of climate change. Now, our oceans are warming at an exceptional rate that has serious consequences," said Lijing Cheng, lead author of the study and an associate professor with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Sea level rise makes coastal communities more susceptible to storm surges that threaten coastal infrastructure," Cheng told VOA.

Warming oceans are creating havoc on the Earth's weather systems.

"The oceans drive the weather," Abraham said. "Warmer oceans are making our weather wilder  going from one extreme to another more rapidly," he said. "The oceans are heating and moistening the atmosphere, which is creating more intense storms."

Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and even snowstorms "are all connected to warming oceans," said Alexey Mishonov, another co-author and an associate research scientist at the University of Maryland's Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center.

Mann said greenhouse gases need to be significantly curbed soon or the environmental consequences will become even worse.

"We've got to bring carbon emissions down by 50% within this decade," he said. "We need governments to provide incentives to move the energy and transportation industries away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy."
Ottawa police vowed on Friday to crack down on an "increasingly dangerous" protest by hundreds of truckers who have shut down the center of the Canadian capital for eight days to demand an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The well-organized blockade, which police say has relied partly on funding from sympathizers in the United States, is unprecedented by Canadian standards. Hundreds more truckers planned to enter the city this weekend, Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said.

"This remains ... an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration," he told reporters.

Protesters in the downtown core "remain highly organized, well-funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstration safely," he added.

Some want an end to a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers while others insist Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau be deposed on the the ground that he exceeded his authority by imposing restrictions to tackle the pandemic.

GoFundMe took down the Freedom Convoy's donation page on Friday, saying it was in violation of its terms of service.

"We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity," the website said in a statement.

It said donors had until February 19 to request a full refund, then it will "work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities verified by GoFundMe."

Alberta protest

In the western province of Alberta, where truckers have been blocking a major border crossing with the United States in a similar protest, Premier Jason Kenney said ministers would meet early next week to start lifting restrictions.

"We can, and must, get on with our lives, restore our freedoms, and live with joy, not fear," he wrote on Twitter.

Sloly, who said he and other top officials had received death threats, likened the protest to the January 6, 2021, riot in Washington when thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a bid to overturn Joe Biden's election victory.

Trump said the truckers were "peacefully protesting the harsh policies of far left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates."

To the increasing fury of residents, Ottawa police have so far largely stood by and watched as some protesters smashed windows, threatened reporters and health care workers and abused racial minorities.

Sloly said police would put in place a "surge and contain" strategy, including reinforcements of 150 officers deployed downtown, to restore order.

"The hatred, the violence, the illegal acts that Ottawa residences and businesses have endured over the last week are unacceptable," he said.

Blockades are also planned in Quebec City and Toronto, where authorities closed off access to the city centers.

"We all want to do everything we can to avoid the situation we are seeing in Ottawa," Toronto Mayor John Tory said.

The protest is dividing the official opposition Conservative Party, which this week ousted its leader amid complaints he had not sufficiently backed the truckers.
The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan last August and the humanitarian crisis that followed have confronted the Biden administration with a dilemma: How to keep the flow of international assistance into a country facing mass hunger while ensuring the aid money does not enrich Taliban and Haqqani Network leaders?



The answer has wide implications, not just for easing the suffering of more than 35 million Afghans but also for international efforts to get the militant group to moderate policies seen by many as harsh, even brutal.



"It is an almost impossible needle to thread," said Jordan Strauss, a managing director at risk consulting firm Kroll, who worked as a Justice Department official in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2015.



When the Taliban seized Kabul, wide-ranging sanctions dating back to their first rule followed them. To deny them access to funds, the Biden administration then froze more than $7 billion in Afghan government reserves held in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.



The asset freeze exacerbated a simmering economic crisis.



The absence of a functioning banking sector and risk of economic collapse continue to pose obstacles to mounting the scale of response needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis, Bernice G. Romero, executive director of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), told VOA.



Under pressure from aid groups, the Biden administration issued sanctions exemptions in September and December.



This has allowed nonprofit organizations to deliver food and other assistance into Afghanistan. But many aid groups, NGOs and banks remain wary of violating U.S. sanctions, according to NGO officials.

To reassure them they won't be penalized for doing humanitarian work, Treasury officials have met with representatives of non-profit organizations in recent months.



Last week, Under Secretary of Treasury Brian Nelson spoke with NGO leaders to highlight a new list of Frequently Asked Questions "designed to provide clarity and further facilitate humanitarian aid and commercial activity in Afghanistan"

Here is a look at current U.S. sanctions and exemptions:



What sanctions are currently in place against the Taliban?



U.S. economic sanctions against the Taliban date back to their first time in power in the 1990s. The curbs were tightened after the attacks of September 11, 2001, which prompted the U.S. to invade Afghanistan.



Under an executive order issued just days after the attack by then-President George W. Bush, both the Taliban and the Haqqani Network were labeled Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).

The designations allowed U.S. authorities to block and seize the assets of the two militant groups, while making it a crime to do business with them.



With the Taliban now the de facto government of Afghanistan, it remains unclear whether the 20-year-old restrictions apply to their current regime or only to individual officials previously named under U.S. sanctions.



"It needs to be clarified," Strauss said.



Asked whether the sanctions apply to the Taliban government or individual Taliban officials, a Treasury Department spokesperson noted that both the Taliban and the Haqqani Network are Specially Designated Global Terrorists, adding that the Haqqani Group also is designated ad a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

She did not elaborate.

What exemptions have been issued by the Treasury Department?

Concerned the sanctions were impeding the flow of aid into Afghanistan, the Treasury Department has carved out broad exemptions for NGOs and other organizations working in Afghanistan.



Since September, the Treasury Department has issued six "general licenses"  essentially permits to carry out activities otherwise prohibited under U.S. sanctions.



These licenses allow international organizations to deliver food and agricultural produce, support public hospitals and pay the salaries of teachers and healthcare workers. They also authorize banks to process transactions related to these activities without being punished.



For example, a U.S. company can ship food to Afghanistan, and a U.S.-based bank can carry out financial transactions to facilitate the shipment. Neither would face any penalties, according to the Treasury Department website.



The latest Treasury Department license, issued on December 19, goes further, allowing NGOs to conduct a broad range of activities that fall outside traditional humanitarian work, such as supporting human rights, access to information and government transparency.



Even as some Taliban and Haqqani Network officials remain subject to U.S. sanctions, NGOs and other organizations are now allowed to work with them, an inevitable consequence of the change in government in Kabul.



For example, a nonprofit may enter into a memorandum of understanding with Taliban officials to coordinate the delivery of aid, provide descriptions of their projects and share office space, according to the Treasury website.



NGOs are also permitted to pay taxes, dues and import duties to the Taliban, the Haqqani Network and entities they control, as long as the payments are related to the authorized activities.



What the licenses don't allow



While allowing NGOs and others to work with the Taliban and Haqqani Network, the Treasury Department licenses prohibit the transfer of funds to officials who remain under U.S. sanctions.



Despite Treasury's assurances, some commercial players are not taking their chances.



Crowdfunding giant GoFundMe recently reportedly suspended an Afghan journalist's campaign to raise funds for his struggling news site.



The Treasury Department spokesperson said crowdfunding platforms can allow individual fundraisers "so long as transactions or activities do not involve sanctioned individuals, entities, or property in which sanctioned individuals and entities have an interest."



GoFundMe did not respond to a request for comment.

Akmal Dawi contributed to this report.
The Biden administration on Friday restored some sanctions relief to Iran's civil nuclear program as talks aimed at salvaging the languishing 2015 nuclear deal enter a critical phase.

As U.S. negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to Iran's civilian nuclear activities. The move reverses the Trump administration's decision to rescind them.

The waivers are intended to entice Iran to return to compliance with the 2015 deal that it has been violating since former President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed U.S. sanctions. Iran says it is not respecting the terms of the deal because the U.S. pulled out of it first. Iran has demanded the restoration of all sanctions relief it was promised under the deal to return to compliance.

Friday's move lifts the sanctions threat against foreign countries and companies from Russia, China and Europe that had been cooperating with nonmilitary parts of Iran's nuclear program under the terms of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

The Trump administration had ended the "civ-nuke" waivers in May 2020 as part of its "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran that began when Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, complaining that it was the worst diplomatic agreement ever negotiated and gave Iran a pathway to developing a bomb.

Little progress

As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden made a U.S. return to the nuclear deal a priority and his administration has pursued that goal, but there has been little progress toward that end since he took office a year ago. Administration officials said the waivers were being restored to help push the Vienna negotiations forward.

"The waiver with respect to these activities is designed to facilitate discussions that would help to close a deal on a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA and lay the groundwork for Iran's return to performance of its JCPOA commitments," the State Department said in a notice to Congress that announced the move.

"It is also designed to serve U.S. nonproliferation and nuclear safety interests and constrain Iran's nuclear activities," the department said. "It is being issued as a matter of policy discretion with these objectives in mind, and not pursuant to a commitment or as part of a quid pro quo. We are focused on working with partners and allies to counter the full range of threats that Iran poses."

A copy of the State Department notice and the actual waivers signed by Blinken were obtained by The Associated Press.

The waivers permit foreign countries and companies to work on civilian projects at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station, its Arak heavy water plant and the Tehran Research Reactor. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had revoked the waivers in May 2020, accusing Iran of "nuclear extortion" for continuing and expanding work at the sites.

Not a 'concession'

Critics of the nuclear deal who lobbied Trump to withdraw from it protested, arguing that even if the Biden administration wants to return to the 2015 deal it should at least demand some concessions from Iran before up front granting it sanctions relief.

"From a negotiating perspective, they look desperate: we'll waive sanctions before we even have a deal, just say yes to anything!" said Rich Goldberg, a vocal deal opponent who is a senior adviser to the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

One senior State Department official familiar with the waivers maintained that the move is not a "concession" to Iran and was being taken "in our vital national interest as well as the interest of the region and the world." The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
South African pharmaceutical company Afrigen is the first on the continent to make an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine using Moderna's publicly available data. The company hopes to start clinical trials of the vaccine in November.

Afrigen is one of the companies taking part in a World Health Organization-backed hub to develop vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. Afrigen Managing Director Petro Terblanche said the mRNA vaccine was made with the company's own knowledge base, processes and people. She said there were no technology transfers from any third party.

"The latest development at the mRNA hub at Afrigen in Cape Town is that our scientists have used the sequence of the Moderna vaccine 1273 published by Stanford University in an open-source manner and formulated a drug product at laboratory scale. They are currently doing more batches and analytical tests to make sure that they have the quality in place. So this is the first lab scale full end-to-end vaccine candidate that has been developed," she said.

Terblanche said the company did not need permission from Moderna because its vaccine is still in the research and development stage.

"The sequence is published in the first place, secondly we are operating in the R&D space," she said. "We have full freedom to operate, an exemption under the Bolar Exemption in IP law. So up to phase 3 clinical trials we are completely legal, and we don't need any permission. Once that product is commercialized and there are IP constraints, we need to get a voluntary license for that."

Terblanche said they would be asking Moderna to voluntarily license the vaccine to them, as it will be mutually beneficial to the companies and to low- and middle-income countries that will use this technology.

She added that they were using the new vaccine as a test case for a second-generation vaccine that is in the design phase.

Moderna has not commented on Afrigen's announcement, but it was widely reported late last year that the company had paused a patent dispute with the U.S. government over its coronavirus vaccine.

Moderna had been disputing claims that three U.S. government scientists were co-inventors. However, the company said it would not pursue the fight for now, as it did not want to take attention away from battling the pandemic.

Terblanche acknowledged support from scientists in other countries for Afrigen's work.

"This is our learning case and we're pleasantly surprised with the results, but the design of the new formulation is already happening with the scientists and with technical partners globally," she said. "It's not only us, it's a fantastic partnership with scientists in the U.S. and in Europe."

South Africa's acting director general of the National Health Department, Dr. Nicholas Crisp, welcomed news of the mRNA vaccine development.

"We're very pleased to note that they've been picking up speed very fast in their capabilities," he said. "It's very exciting, it's very important for the country. It's one of a number of facilities that we are busy working on as a country between the department of health and science and innovation and other partners. So very encouraging."

The World Health Organization's regional director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said 11% of the African population is fully vaccinated, and 85% have not received a single dose. She added that 239,000 people in Africa have died due to the pandemic.


Following public outrage, Botswanas government has revised a controversial spy bill which would have allowed investigators to intercept private communications without a court order.

Under the revised bill, tapping private conversations now becomes an offense.

Botswanas government removed controversial clauses in the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Bill, presented to parliament last month. The initial bill allowed investigators to bug communication devices and gave state agents immunity from prosecution.

In that version of the bill, there was no oversight body and investigating officers were also allowed to assume fake identities.

But on Friday, the government introduced a revised bill to parliament that will now make it an offense to tap conversations. An oversight body will be established under the control of the minister.

Opposition member of parliament Dithapelo Keorapetse welcomes the changes but still has concerns about the proposed law.

What the state sought to do through this law, in its original form as it was gazette, tabled, read for the first time and second time, was to legitimize state terrorism," said Keorapetse. "That is what we opposed.

He says pressure from civic society groups led to the government removing what he calls the offending clauses of the bill.

We are not ashamed to say that we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the civic society, including the Law Society of Botswana, the media, trade unions, opposition, influencers and Batswana in general for their strong voice and campaigns against the bill," said Keorapetse.

Cindy Kelemi, the director of the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS, says there is still need for more debate on the bill.

Our expectation is that a bill of this nature, which has the potential to infringe on peoples liberties, should have extensive engagements and consultation," said Kelemi.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa wrote to President Mokgweetsi Masisi this week, urging him to halt debate on the bill pending public consultations.

MISA-Zimbabwe chapters Nqaba Matshazi says they welcome the new changes to the bill and will continue to engage with Botswanas government.

While there are still issues that we are concerned about, I think in everything that the government does and everything that parliament does, there should be a balance between the rights of citizens, particularly the right to privacy in this case and the states obligation in terms of national security," said Matshazi.

When debate is finished, the revised bill is expected to pass into law with few changes.
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With tensions between Russian and Ukraine intensifying steadily, European countries are concerned the flow of gas from Russia will be affected. Oksana Bedratenko looks at how Russias actions against Ukraine may affect Europes energy sector. Anna Rice narrates her story.
South African filmmaker Phumi Morares short film LAKUTSHON ILANGA (WHEN THE SUN SETS) focuses on a woman who desperately tries to save her brother from a horrific fate. We spoke to the director about the film, which touches on South Africa's violence against freedom fighters during apartheid.
The Albemarle County School Board wants an Albemarle County Circuit Court judge to throw out the lawsuit from five families alleging discrimination.

In a response filed Monday, the School Boards attorneys argued the parents lack standing to sue and failed to show how they were discriminated against and that they were harmed.

The complaint establishes no more than plaintiffs general objections to a policy by which they have not been personally affected, the boards counsel wrote.

Filed in December, the lawsuit alleges that the boards anti-racism policy discriminates against students and creates a culture of hostility in schools. The families, whose children attend schools in the western feeder pattern, are represented by Alliance for Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based nonprofit.

The parents suing the Albemarle County district are Carlos and Tatiana Ibanez, Matthew and Marie Mierzejewski, Kemal and Margaret Gokturk, Erin and Trent D. Taliaferro and Melissa Riley. Their children were identified only by initials.

The anti-racism policy at the center of the Albemarle lawsuit was adopted in 2019 as a way to improve academic outcomes for students who have historically lagged behind their more affluent white peers.

In the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that by implementing the policy, the school division has violated their civil rights such as freedom of speech and freedom from religious and viewpoint discrimination. They cite anti-racism lessons piloted at a county middle school, book purchases and training for teachers, among other examples.

The suit is one of several filed across the country that challenge lessons about racism and efforts to advance racial equity in public schools. Legal and education scholars have said the lawsuit is part of a broader national movement that has similarities to the state-sanctioned effort to block integration, known as Massive Resistance.

Addressing racism is uncontrovertibly a legitimate pedagogical interest, the boards counsel wrote, citing the recent dismissal of a similar lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board.

In a 16-page demurrer, the Richmond-based attorneys from Harman, Claytor, Corrigan and Wellman argued that the plaintiffs didnt state sufficient facts to support their six claims and challenged the underlying assumptions driving the initial complaint.

A demurrer is similar to a motion to dismiss in federal court.

Parents have no fundamental constitutional right to dictate the content of the curriculum offered by a public school, the boards counsel wrote.

Attorneys David Corrigan, Jeremy Capps, Melissa York and Blaire OBrien were listed on the filing.

The provisions of the Constitution of Virginia that the plaintiffs allege the School Board has violated are not self-executing, meaning they cant be enforced without an underlying statute.

Additionally, the state code saying parents have a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parents child does not create a private right of action, according to the demurrer.

A private right of action means that an individual has the right to sue.

Although the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution gives parents a fundamental right to control decisions regarding the school in which a child is educated, it does not give parents a fundamental right to dictate the content of the education a child receives once that choice is made, the attorneys wrote in the filing.

They also pointed to the initial complaint in which one of the plaintiffs said they were able to withdraw their child from the pilot program, which shows they retained control over their childrens education.

The complaint does not allege that any plaintiff has sustained an actual injury as a result of the policy, its implementation or any threatened enforcement, the attorneys wrote in one of the filings.

They argued that the complaint does not include an example of a plaintiff being treated differently from another student, receiving different grades or being deprived of an opportunity, according to the filing.

Instead, plaintiffs point to two incidents in which two plaintiffs felt confused and upset and uncomfortable, and a third in which a plaintiff was confronted by two other students allegedly as a result of his Catholic faith, the legal team wrote. These examples, however, are insufficient to establish disparate treatment from similarly circumstanced students.

In addition to the demurrer, the attorneys filed a plea in bar and a motion to include more exhibits as evidence. They also filed a motion to dismiss based on misjoinder, arguing the 17 plaintiffs have separate and distinct claims that preclude them from joining together in one lawsuit.

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Copper Trail Brewing Company cans a number of their beers, but are unable to sell them in their own brewery. Companion bills in the Minnesota House and Senate have been authored to present this session.
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After a compilation video went viral online of the Spotify podcast host saying a racial slur about two dozen times, Joe Rogan has issued an apology via Instagram. Grammy-winning musician India Arie posted the video as reasoning as to why she is removing her music from the service, following in the footsteps of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Aries compilation video featured several clips of The Joe Rogan Experience in which Rogan said the N-word on the podcast. He shouldnt even be uttering the word, Arie said on Instagram. Dont even say it, under any context. Dont say it. Thats where I stand. I have always stood there.

In the five-minute apology video, Rogan called the compilation the most regretful and shameful thing hes had to address publicly. He described the video as clips taken out of context over the 12 years of The Joe Rogan Experience. It looks fucking horrible, even to me, admitted Rogan, I thought that as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing. He described the complexities of the word and its use in the English language and explains that he now understands, its not [his] word to use. However, with the understanding of the complexities of a racial slur, it should come with an understanding of not repeating it. Whenever youre in a situation where you have to say Im not racist, you fucked up, stated Rogan.

He also apologized for another story he told on the podcast that went viral, where he was in an all-Black neighborhood in Philadelphia on his way to see the movie Planet of the Apes. He joked that it felt like he was in Africa, in his words to make the story entertaining by describing the neighborhood, its like were in Planet of the Apes. He again admitted to how bad the story made him sound and restated that it was not a racist story to him. However, at the end of the day, its not up to him to decide how other people feel about the language he uses. It looks terrible even in context, repeated Rogan, but even if he adds context to the larger conversation that was had, it doesnt take away from the impact racist language like this perpetuates.

Rogan has recently come under fire from musicians and medical officials for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Spotify stood by Joe Rogan but added content-warning labels to podcasts with sensitive topics like a two-year-long global pandemic. According to Deadline, roughly 70 episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience have been removed from Spotify, some of the removed episodes included controversial guests like Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos. In a letter sent to staff obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said Rogan was the one who chose to remove the eps. He was all for Rogan removing the episodes, but he believes canceling voices is a slippery slope. A complete list of JRE episodes that are no longer on Spotify can be found at the website JRE Missing. Vulture has reached out to Spotify for comment on the situation.

This post has been updated throughout.
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You cant win a civil lawsuit where no one got hurt. That truth likely will determine the outcome of a legal action bent on killing an anti-racism program in the Albemarle County schools.

Eight students and nine of their parents have sued the school system. They say a month-long middle school anti-racism pilot program that ended last May subjected the children to unconstitutional discrimination. They say the program forced the children to view things through the lens of race.

The school system responded last week with a simple defense: The discontinued pilot program hurt no one.

The program conveyed information. It forced no one to pledge allegiance to principles which violated their religious beliefs or other life philosophies taught to them by their parents. All students were asked to attend. One child whose parents sued chose not to attend the pilot because his or her parents did not want him or her to do so. The school system did not punish that child.

The pilot program is over. Its not coming back. Still, the school system remains committed to an anti-racism policy designed to correct disparities by race in student access to learning opportunities, that responds to racial harassment and bullying and that closes long-standing opportunity and achievement gaps among students.

So where is the injury to those who sued? According to the lawsuit, one child felt confused and upset by the pilot program. A second child felt uncomfortable. A third child was confronted by two other students about being Catholic.

As UVa law professor Joy Milligan told The Daily Progress, civil suits require specific proof of injury, be it physical or psychological. In legal terms this is called a cause of action. Milligan said the suit in its present form struggles to show any cause of action. No one got punished for not agreeing. No one was told they could not express their viewpoint. Nobody got graded down. At this point, no evidence shows that the anti-racism pilot program or any other effort by Albemarle schools to educate about racism has hurt anyone.

As the school systems response pointed out, courts have already decided that schools addressing racism is a legitimate teaching interest. They have also ruled that while parents can pick where their children go to school, they dont get to individually dictate the content of their childs education.

Heres why: Roughly 13,500 students attend Albemarle schools. In this case, nine parents of eight students want to dictate a critical piece of the curriculum for the other 13,492 children.

The suit is one of several filed across the country by conservatives who want to ban teaching that institutional racism may have created structural inequality between Whites and Blacks in American society. The subtext is that such a discussion is itself racist because it will cause African Americans to feel different and will cause them to hate Caucasians as a race. The Arizona-based group Americans Defending Freedom (ADF) that bankrolls the Albemarle suit bills itself as defending religious freedom. It has also been involved in legal fights against homosexual and transgender rights initiatives in public schools.

Most major historical associations and many educational groups support school discussions about past race relations. Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, made his first priority after taking office Jan. 15 an executive order that banned school discussions of inherently divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory.

For the record, Albemarle does not teach Critical Race Theory. Yet the county is being forced to shell out thousands of county residents tax dollars to defend itself from the ADF suit. While the governor and ADF try to censor talk about racisms legacy, what remains missing from the Albemarle case are victims.

The school systems response got to the heart of this with a reminder: General distress over a general policy does not alone allege injury sufficient for standing in this lawsuit.

Heres an example of something that does: You are legally forbidden to attend schools with students with a different skin color. Some Virginians, Black and White, remember when the state forced that on us. Todays students should, too.
Decatur, IL (62521)

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Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to occasional showers during the afternoon. High 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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If Russia invades Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin will face an immediate and difficult choice: how far to go. Most analysts believe he will probably move forward with an invasion, but is likely to have his military stop within the pro-Russian enclaves of southeastern Ukraine. This would allow him to declare independence for the Donbas region and secure a land bridge from Russia proper to its annexed territory in Crimea.

But what if he decides to drive to Kyiv, and overturn the democratically elected government of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy? Putin has positioned enough firepower on the border  troops, tanks, missiles  as well as naval and cyberwarfare assets to conduct a shock-and-awe campaign similar to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

This is something the U.S. and Western allies are thinking about seriously. In the aftermath of such a total invasion, would there be a strong Ukrainian resistance movement? And what would the West do to support it?

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In my visits to Ukraine as the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations military commander, I found its troops and government officials to be fiercely proud of their language, heritage and national sovereignty. Ukrainian troops deployed to Afghanistan under my command, and also participated in several other NATO missions. What they may have lacked in training and equipment they made up through determination and toughness.

The Ukrainian collective memory stretches back through many involvements with Russian troops in the interwar years of the 20th century, during the famines and fighting of World War II, and during the Cold War years of the Soviet Union. As Timothy Snyder points out in his book Bloodlands, the Ukrainians suffered greatly and at the hands of Russians over the past century. They can and will fight. And the Western democracies can help.

The U.S. has been on both sides of insurgencies, of course. It fought a long war in Vietnam that it ultimately lost to the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. More recently, the Taliban simply outlasted U.S. patience in Afghanistan.

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On the other hand, Washington supported a successful insurgency, ironically, against the Soviets during their occupation of Afghanistan  American Stinger missiles may have been the key technology that helped turn the tide. Allied support to the French resistance in World War II was a crucial element in undermining German control over the population in the months leading up to D-Day.

This kind of support can be done clandestinely, led by the Central Intelligence Agency. But in the situation of a democracy overrun by an authoritarian neighbor, there seems little value in hiding the ball. If the U.S. makes the decision that it will support a potential Ukrainian resistance movement, it should be laying the groundwork immediately, while Russian tanks are still parked on the other side of the border.

This means getting supplies into the hands of Ukrainian special forces, who would be a central part of such a resistance force. They would need the ability to move out of the population centers, organize and live off the land, communicate collectively, and above all inflict damage on the occupiers.

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This implies a need for transportable explosives, light but lethal handheld missiles to use against Russian tanks and close-air support, and plenty of conventional ammunition and hardware including sniper rifles, high-end optical sights and night vision devices. Cyberwarfare support would be a must. And trainers in-country  both military and CIA.

One key would be for the Zelenskiy government to get out of Kyiv before the Russians consolidated control. The government-in-exile should be welcomed in a NATO capital, and provided full support from the alliance administratively and diplomatically. It should continue to function via its system of ambassadors worldwide, and communicate effectively with the resistance leadership within the country. The model of Charles de Gaulles Free French government  despite occasionally being a challenge to the World War II allies  would be suitable.

And much as the mujahideen of the 1980s gradually turned Afghanistan in a killing field for Russian troops, so could a well-armed and supported resistance force make Ukraine a very deadly experience. This would entail cutting Russian supply lines, targeting senior officers, destroying Russian heavy equipment, using cybertools to damage Russian command and control, and rallying the populace for civil resistance (strikes, shop closures and transportation shutdowns).

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No one wants to see an invasion of Ukraine, and we should all hope diplomacy and common sense will prevail. And if Putin chooses to unleash his forces, its likely they will be limited to the southeast of the country.

But combat has a way of getting out of control, of climbing the ladder of escalation. If Russian tanks roll across the Dnieper River to the capital, Ukrainians will fight  and a powerful resistance movement may be the best hope. The West should preparing now to help.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 What If Ukraine Is Better Off Outside NATO and the EU?: Clive Crook

 Putin Isnt the Only Reason Bidens Pivot to Asia Is Doomed: Hal Brands

 Unity Is the Wests Most Potent Weapon: The Editors

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

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James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is also chair of the board of the Rockefeller Foundation and vice chairman of Global Affairs at the Carlyle Group. His latest book is 2034: A Novel of the Next World War.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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The level of performance I was expecting of myself early in my career required a real dedication  mind, body and spirit. No social life, Votto said. (Getty Images)

For so long, Joey Votto has focused on the lonely process of being at his baseball best. This season, though, he has emerged as a social media superstar in a sport not known for its outsize online personalities.
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LONDON  In a statement marking the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne, Queen Elizabeth II said she wants Camilla to be known as queen consort when Charles becomes king. The 95-year-old Elizabeth suggested she doesnt plan to go anywhere soon. She renewed her pledge, first made in 1947, that my life will always be devoted to your service. She also just added a new dog to her retinue.

But Elizabeth is clearly looking beyond her reign. Her husband, Philip, died this past year, and her own health has kept her away from most public engagements for several months. In a November statement, she acknowledged none of us will live forever.

Her Saturday statement clears up a question that had lingered since Charles, heir to the throne, married Camilla in 2005. Before the monarchs intervention, it was possible that Camilla could have been the first British queen not to be called queen.

Elizabeth wrote: And when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that times comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.

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Prince Charles on Sunday thanked his mother for her blessing, saying he was deeply conscious of the honour for his darling wife.

Until now, the official position of Clarence House, the couples office, had been that Camilla would be called princess consort when Charles became monarch. That is what Charless office set out in 2005, ahead of the couples wedding, when the publics feelings toward Camilla were frosty.

But in a 2010 interview with NBC, when Charles was asked if Camilla would become Queen of England, he responded, Thats well  well see wont we? That could be. (Queen of the United Kingdom would have been more accurate.)

Writing in the Spectator on Saturday, royal commentator Peter Hunt said Queen Elizabeth II was future proofing an institution shes been at the head of for seventy years.

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Camilla has come in from the cold, he added.

Princess Diana  and some Britons  blamed Camilla for the breakdown of her seemingly fairy-tale marriage to Prince Charles. In a 1995 interview, Diana famously said: There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.

When Charles married Camilla  eight years after his divorce from Diana and seven years after her death  just 7 percent of Britons thought Camilla should be queen.

But since she became a royal, she has worked hard to improve her image. She is the patron to some 100 charities and organizations. Shes a keen advocate of literacy and a campaigner against domestic violence, among other causes. Those whove met her describe her as warm and funny and a calming influence on Charles. When she winked behind President Donald Trumps back during a 2019 meeting, the video went viral.

Over time, slowly, public perception of Camilla has changed  even if she doesnt have the same kind of star power that Princess Diana had.

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Robert Hardman, a royal biographer, said Camilla is: pretty down to earth and perfectly happy to be called whatever. But it would have been an anomaly if she didnt use the queen consort title.

Traditionally, the wives of British kings are crowned as queen consort, although the reverse is not true with a male consort, which is why Queen Elizabeth IIs husband, Prince Philip, was not known as King Philip or king consort.

Vernon Bogdanor, author of The Monarchy and the Constitution, said the only time a queen wasnt crowned with a king at a coronation was in 1820 during King George IVs ceremony. He was trying to divorce his wife, Queen Caroline, and the doors of Westminster Abbey were locked to keep her out, not a very savory precedent really, he said.

In a separate case, Queen Mary II wasnt dubbed queen consort but rather queen  she co-reigned with her husband King William III from 1689 to 1694.

The next question: What would Charles be called. After Queen Elizabeth II dies, he would immediately become king. But monarchs can choose a new name when they ascend the throne, and there have been suggestions hell use King George VII.

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Washington, IN (47501)

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A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 74F. Winds light and variable..

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Periods of rain. Low 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
These reforms cater for a very small minority. Recording accurately a persons gender on their birth certificate is of paramount importance and must be held in its integrity, their submission reads. Years before Mulheran tried to have college students recognise only biological sex, not gender identity, he was insistent that birth certificates were sacrosanct. ... the current wording of the Bill gives license to individuals who elect to have sexual reassignment operations due to preference. Potentially disastrous repercussions could occur from this situation. For example an individual of one gender who, without knowledge, marries another person who has changed their gender via a sexual reassignment operation and the altering of their birth certificate could feel totally defrauded. As ludicrous as this sounds, why would legislation not also be instigated for people to opt for a change of parent, or place of birth, or date of birth, because of preference, if proposed change for gender is granted?

Citipointe Christian Outreach Centres submission on the Discrimination Law Amendment Bill in 2002. The Queensland government recently moved to allow further changes to birth certificates, in support of transgender people, and has made similar changes to other legal documents. In 1996, Mulheran told a discrimination inquiry that while every single one of us has sinned in one form or another, homosexuality was one sin that is outlawed. Adultery is another sin that was also, and bestiality  all of these kinds of things, he said. It is not just the churches, but it is the people in the church, the businesses in the church, the people out there in the community, people who run childcare centres. Do they have to employ homosexuals? It is not just a legislation against the church: it is about the moral behaviour of people.

Citipointe Christian College, the Brisbane school at the centre of a national storm over gender discrimination. Credit:Internet Mulheran did not respond to a request from Brisbane Times for an interview. In his statement on Friday night, he said he was grateful to those who had supported the college and students, but was devastated talking to our students who have suffered hurtful and hate-filled verbal assaults simply because of their beliefs or for attending the college. He linked his decision to stand aside to the need to protect students. Our college community needs time to heal after the events of this week, Mulheran wrote. Just as importantly, Citipointe needs to be ready to welcome students on Monday with a positive outlook to start the new school year.

While Citipointe Christian College is a recent high-profile example of friction when religious and LGBTIQ+ communities intersect, it might not be the last. The proposed religious discrimination bill, if passed, could override state anti-discrimination laws, meaning church schools could have the right to discriminate against gay and transgender students. However, following national condemnation towards the colleges case, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Friday there would be an amendment to the religious discrimination bill package to protect LGBTIQ students from discrimination. Timing might be an issue. When asked on Friday whether LGBTIQ students would be protected before the election, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General, Amanda Stoker  a Queensland Christian conservative  said,we are trying to make it happen and I expect we will make it happen but Im not going to sign it in blood for you. LNP MP Angie Bell earlier this week said: Discriminating on the basis of gender identity, sexuality, relationship status or pregnancy only serves to make the most vulnerable in our society feel more small and more excluded - particularly when this is done by a school. Credit:SMH

Liam Elphick, an associate lecturer of law at Monash University, said the only way to protect students and teachers was to remove both the outdated Sex Discrimination Act exemptions and the harmful provisions in the Religious Discrimination Bill that hand religious schools a right to discriminate. Fixing one and not the other is like spotting two holes in a sinking boat and only plugging one, he said. Whether the amendment will do much to rectify the issue at the heart of many religious schools remains to be seen. Former Citipointe student Felicity Myers, who graduated in 2020, said while she did not have to sign a contract as far-reaching as the one Mulheran put forward last week, the culture within the school was damaging, particularly to younger students being exposed to religious preaching in assemblies. The school and its governing body, the International Network of Churches, have repeatedly declined to be interviewed, but the college has since withdrawn its contract and Mulheran apologised. They claimed the college did not discriminate.

Families that changed schools a week before term 1 resumed reported disruption and even loss of funding to certificate courses they were completing. Loading Jane Hopkins, of support group PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), said the federal bill wasnt needed, adding it was far-reaching and dangerous. Never needed it [the bill] before ... but there are a bunch of people there that are hell-bent on pushing it through so that theyve got the right to hurt and discriminate against people. We dont need to be fighting to protect our children. Its just a given they go to school, and its safe and people cant treat them this way.

Independent Education Union Queensland secretary Terry Burke said the passing of the bill would be concerning, adding the provision was quite obnoxious that you actually give people the right to discriminate. But Citipointes case would be under close watch. They spoke about [how] the college will enter into a respectful dialogue with the college community regarding any further amendments to the enrolment contract pertaining to our Christian ethos, so they havent let go, they clearly are still of a mind they want to go down a particular pathway, he said. They then went on to say the college will take appropriate steps to ensure that we remain compliant without discrimination obligations. The school has a responsibility that goes beyond discrimination obligations ... to ensure student welfare and student wellbeing.
I know exactly what its like to attend a school where homosexuality is frowned upon, and in which petrified, vulnerable, secretly gay students  as I was  are viewed as shameful and sinful. And I know the lifelong effects of indoctrinating such prejudice into childrens minds.

When society convinces you that youre wrong at that formative age, the shame lives within you like asbestos.

Parents are challenging Citipointe Christian Colleges contract demanding families reject homosexuality and transgender rights. Credit:Citipointe Christian College

The cancer that comes later is the behaviour born from that shame. All the ways you try to escape it: disco, drink, drugs, promiscuity. All the ways you try to convince yourself that youre not, in fact, unloveable.

What I hadnt expected, in the twists and turns of life, is Id be sitting across the world in Australia, a quarter of a century later, in a supposedly modern country, watching in horror at the disturbing arrival of the conditions for this to happen all over again. This week we learned that Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane had demanded parents denounce homosexuality and that students subscribe to traditional gender roles.
The text message sent by Barnaby Joyce in March, 2021. Credit:Fairfax Media Mr Joyce said as soon as he became aware the text message could become public, he called the Prime Minister. He tried to douse any suggestion there would be awkwardness between him and Mr Morrison, but it is now an open question as to how the pair can work together given the Deputy Prime Ministers scathing assessment of the Prime Ministers character. Mr Joyces decision to pull out of the Insiders appearance, in which he would have faced a forensic grilling from host David Speers, also underscores just how damaging his free ranging assessment of the Prime Minister is. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews will instead appear on the show.

The texts were sent on to Brittany Higgins a month after the former staffers rape claims exploded into the public arena. The message to Ms Higgins was sent by Mr Joyce, who was then on the backbench, on March 22, 2021, at 8.30pm (which was 9.30pm in NSW, Victoria and the ACT) through a third party, because the MP did not have her phone number. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Prime Minister Scott Morrison during Question Time at Parliament House on October 27 last year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Since the texts, Mr Joyce has returned to the deputy prime ministership. The third party is known to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, but the person will not be identified at the request of Ms Higgins.

Ms Higgins shared the message from Mr Joyce with the Herald and The Age after he called on Wednesday for an anonymous minister who made derogatory comments about Mr Morrison in a text message conversation with former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to identify themselves. The message to Ms Higgins from Mr Joyce stated: Tell BH [Brittany Higgins] I and Scott, he is Scott to me until I have to recognise his office, dont get along. He is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time. I have never trusted him and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie.

Loading In a statement on Friday night, Mr Joyce said he unreservedly apologised and that in the last 24 hours I have become aware that a screenshot of a text message has been circulating among third parties that contains comments I made in March 2021 when I was a backbencher. While the text message was supposed to be private, what I said in that message was wrong; and I have unreservedly apologised to the Prime Minister for my comments, he said. It is common knowledge that in the past the Prime Minister and I had not always seen eye to eye. But I have worked extremely closely with the Prime Minister over the last seven months since I returned to the role of Deputy Prime Minister; and the Prime Minister is a person of high integrity and honesty in what is possibly the most difficult job in the nation. In a separate statement on Friday night, Mr Morrison said that Barnaby approached me this week to inform me of these text messages. He sincerely apologised, and I immediately accepted his apology in good faith.

I understand Barnaby was in a different headspace last year, both professionally and personally, and so I know he genuinely no longer feels this way. Relationships change over time. Politicians are human beings too. We all have our frailties and none of us are perfect, the Prime Minister said. Since coming to the role of DPM [Deputy Prime Minister], it is fair to say that we both positively surprised each other. We were never close before this and never pretended to be. But in these roles we have really found our rhythm, as we have concluded AUKUS, settled our climate change policy and continued to fight the pandemic. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said it was untenable for Mr Joyce to continue as Deputy Prime Minister and that the government was a shambles. He also argued that Mr Joyces claim that he had become better acquainted with Mr Morrison since becoming Deputy Prime Minister made no sense, given the pair had served in cabinet together for more than half a decade.

The idea that this was just a flippant remark is simply untenable, he said. If Barnaby Joyce does not trust Scott Morrison, Australia should not trust Scott Morrison. He has shown himself time and time again to be interested in the marketing and the spin and the photo ops, not interested in telling the truth and not interested in transparency. Mr Joyce has since returned to the deputy prime ministership and the leak will stoke tensions between the two highest political offices in the land. Credit:Simon Schluter The revelation of the explosive text message to Ms Higgins comes just days after Network 10 political editor Peter van Onselen claimed to have a copy of a text message exchange between Ms Berejiklian and an unnamed federal cabinet member. In those text messages, the former premier called the Prime Minister a horrible, horrible man and the unnamed minister said he was a complete psycho.

Loading Earlier on Friday, Mr Joyce criticised the motivations of the Liberal cabinet minister alleged to have leaked the text message criticising Mr Morrison. You are doing this for the purpose of malice, for the purpose of vindictiveness and for your own personal grudge and therefore, it is to be disregarded, he told the ABC. The message to Ms Higgins was sent by Mr Joyce on the same evening the ABCs Four Corners program went to air with new details, provided by Parliament House security guard Nikola Anderson, about the night Ms Higgins was allegedly raped in Parliament House. It is not clear if the program prompted Mr Joyce to send the message but in the preceding weeks, Mr Morrison had been heavily criticised for his initial response to Ms Higgins claims.

At the time, then-Defence Minster Linda Reynolds was also under fire for calling Ms Higgins a lying cow. Ms Higgins is due to appear at the National Press Club next Wednesday, alongside former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, to discuss the Jenkins review of Parliament Houses workplace culture. Ms Higgins rape allegations, which are due to return to court in June, eventually triggered a series of reviews into the culture of Parliament House and a national conversation about the treatment of women in Australia. Bruce Lehrmann, the accused, has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent at Parliament House in March 2019.
Dubai-based lowcost carrier flydubai today (February 5) announced the start of flights to AlUla in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first UAE carrier to operate on this route from Dubai.

The carrier will also resume its operations to Yanbu with three flights a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays), thus growing its network in the kingdom to six points including Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah and Riyadh.

Flights to Yanbu's Abdul Mohsin bin Abdulaziz International Airport will begin on February 24, while flights to Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Airport (ULH) will start on March 2.

On this Al Ula route, flydubai will operate twice a week (Wednesdays and Saturdays), from Terminal 2, Dubai International (DXB).

Chief Commercial Officer Hamad Obaidalla said: "We are pleased to be able to offer passengers from the UAE and our network the opportunity to visit and explore one of the worlds most beautiful and untouched destinations."

"We are also looking forward to the resumption of our operations to Yanbu in Al Madinah Province. flydubai is dedicated to further strengthening the cultural, trade and tourism ties between our two countries by making travel more accessible," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Salisbury, MD (21801)

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Morning clouds will give way to afternoon sunshine. High 81F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

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Lawmakers introduce bill that could change the way history is taught in Kentucky schools
Weatherford, TX (76086)

Today

Cloudy this morning then windy with a few isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. High near 85F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Mostly clear this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low around 60F. S winds shifting to NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
WESTPORT  The owner of an office park has withdrawn the site as an option for a possible cell town on Greens Farms Road, town officials announced Friday.

The move leaves 92 Greens Farms Road, a house in a residential neighborhood, as the top option for the project. No formal application has been submitted to the Connecticut Siting Council yet, which has the sole jurisdiction over these decisions.

An attorney representing the applicant did not immediately return requests for comment Friday.

Tarpon Towers and AT&T first told the town they were considering a cell tower at 92 Greens Farms last year and added 55 Greens Farms Road, an office park, as another option after discussions with town officials about concerns over the residential site and the possibility of other places in town.

Both sites came before the conservation commission this week where concerns were raised about the potential impact the project would have on the wetlands at 55 Greens Farms Road. While the tower itself would generally be the same at both locations  a monopole structure that stands about 130 feet tall  the work needed to get to the tower would differ, as does the type of site.

During the meeting, officials said they couldnt support the project at that site as presented due to the wetlands concerns and encouraged the companies to look at a different spot on the property. The applicants said the property owner had said this was the only place the tower could go on the site and rejected the other possibilities they proposed there.

On Friday, the town announced the owner of the commercial office property at 55 Greens Farms Road has withdrawn that site as an option.

The previously scheduled information session about the project, which will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, will now only discuss the 92 Greens Farms Road location, the town announced.

I urge neighbors of Greens Farms Road, and 92 Greens Farms Road in particular, to attend the ZOOM Public Information Session on Feb. 8, when there will be a full discussion of this cell tower proposal by representatives of Tarpon Towers, First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker said in a statement.

This isnt the first time a tower has been proposed for 92 Greens Farms Road.

In 2014, North Atlantic Towers proposed a tower facility at the same location. The proposal was met with resistance by many neighbors, who held a protest at the site, claiming the project wasnt necessary. Among the opponents was former First Selectman Jim Marpe. North Atlantic Towers eventually stopped pursuing the project.

I continue to have concerns about locating a public utility on residential lots such as 92 Greens Farms Road, Tooker said Friday. Tuesdays statutory public meeting will provide an opportunity for neighbors and the entire Westport community to communicate their opinions and gain insight on this important public issue.
Mickey Mouse has turned Leftist Lousedue to circumstances beyond his control, and the long love affair that Disney has enjoyed with almost every American family appears headed for the rocks. The company has chosen to go woke, and that decision could conceivably leave the entertainment gia
Allentown, PA (18103)

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Mostly cloudy with a lingering shower very early or a pop-up shower later in the afternoon; some afternoon sun developing. .

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Reading, PA (19601)

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Mostly cloudy with a lingering shower very early or a pop-up shower later in the afternoon; some afternoon sun developing. .

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Quincy, IL (62301)

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Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. High 63F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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Rain early...then remaining cloudy with thundershowers developing overnight. Low around 55F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Junior Programme Analyst, Brussels, Belgium

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

Country: Belgium

City: Brussels

Office: UNDP Brussels

Closing date: Thursday, 17 February 2022

Junior Programme Analyst - IPSA 8 - Office based

Location : Brussels, BELGIUM

Application Deadline : 17-Feb-22

(Midnight New York, USA)

Type of Contract : IPSA (Regular)

Post Level : IPSA-8

Languages Required : English French

Expected Duration of Assignment : 12 months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the

Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in

one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Office Description

UNDPs Brussels Representation Office supports and promotes the partnership between the European Union (EU), Belgium, and UNDP built on shared values and objectives for advancing peace and security, human rights and development. This partnership is based on a joint commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to supporting countries progress and investing in their efforts to end poverty, protect the planet and build prosperity for all.

This position of Junior Programme Analyst is placed within the Contract Management Unit (CMU) which focuses primarily on supporting UNDP-led implementation of EU-funded operations taking place in some 140 countries. CMU is mandated to review and clear all contribution agreements with the European Commission and support offices in the negotiation, implementation, reporting and verification of said agreements.

The Junior Programme Analyst provides support to the work of the CMU in the areas of (1) compliance with the established regulatory framework of the EU and UNDP (2) administrative support, data collection and processing.

The Analyst must be self-motivated, with the capacity to take initiative and be results- and solutions- oriented. S/he must be self-organized and flexible. With excellent communications, attention to detail and analytical skills, s/he should be able to meet tight deadlines whilst working effectively in a fast-paced environment.

Institutional Arrangement

The incumbent will perform their duties under the direct supervision of the EU Contribution Management Specialist leading the CMU.

Travel: a) UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in the duty station and excludes working from home arrangements.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Assist in the formulation of programme/project proposals and the preparation of EU-UNDP contribution agreements (for development and humanitarian actions) and provide support in reviewing and assessing the reports submitted through the Representation Office in line with the applicable contractual framework and facilitate the submission process with the donor;

Review and where necessary, update the existing guidance relating to (1) the formulation of EU-funded programme/project proposals in light of the latest EU-UN contractual framework; (2) the reporting requirements stemming from the EUs contracts templates, including verification;

Based on existing database, assist in the preparation of inputs for offices internal and external publication materials such as data for presentations and briefings, official correspondence, quarterly reports; update of the EU-UN(DP) partnerships information package;

Assist in the organisation of meetings, trainings, and other EU-UN(DP) events, as required;

Review and update the early-warning functions (Outlook and Excel functionalities) used with regards to EU projects main contractual milestones;

Update the offices depository of "best practices" (ie. identification of cases) related to the ECs development operations; c6ZdGwd Dh7qKS

Respond to ad-hoc requests for additional support in the above-indicated areas.

Competencies

Required skills

Knowledge of the EUs external funding streams (development and humanitarian assistance) and of EU institutions;

Experience in working with the UN or other international organizations with strong understanding of EU/UN mission, objectives, regulations and working partnerships;

Good understanding of UNDP programming and project management arrangements;

Experience in administrative and organizational tasks, with ability to plan, analyse, organize, implement and report on accomplished tasks;

Ability to review a variety of data (numbers, infographics), identify patterns and problems, solution-orientation.

Desired additional skills

Proficiency in the usage of software packages (MSWord, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and handling of web-based management systems;

Knowledge of UN processes relating to operational activities for development and humanitarian is an asset.

Required Language(s) (at working level)

Fluency in English and French (written and spoken) are required.

Knowledge of Spanish is an asset.

Professional Certificates

n/a

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Academic Education

Masters degree (or equivalent) in Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, International relations, or related field.

A first-level university degree with additional two years of qualifying experience in relevant field of development and/or humanitarian cooperation may also be considered.

Min. years of relevant Work experience

Professional experience providing advisory support and/or analysis within the EU institutions and/or within the UN System is required with Masters degree.

Two additional years of similar professional experience with Bachelors degree will also be considered.

Link zum Stellenangebot der Organisation: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1643918646589
OTTAWA - Canada's chief public health officer says provinces are going to have to find a balance between containing the virus with public health measures and returning to a sense of normalcy as the Omicron wave continues to crest.

An ambulance is parked at the emergency department at the Lakeridge Health hospital in Bowmanville, Ont. on Wednesday January 12, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives

OTTAWA - Canada's chief public health officer says provinces are going to have to find a balance between containing the virus with public health measures and returning to a sense of normalcy as the Omicron wave continues to crest.

Several provinces have signalled their intention to do away with some, if not all, remaining COVID-19 health restrictions.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says his government will announce next week a date to end the province's COVID-19 vaccine passport, as well as a phased approach to ending almost all COVID-19 health restrictions by the end of the month, provided the pressure on hospitals continues to decline.

Meanwhile Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he's committed to ending all COVID-19 restrictions soon, even while COVID-19-related hospitalizations are at their highest level since the pandemic began.

While health experts say vaccines greatly prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said two doses offer little protection against infection from Omicron, and boosters work against transmission only for a period of time.

Two doses of an mRNA vaccine are 75 to 80 per cent effective against severe illness from Omicron, according to Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization. A third dose is at least 90 per cent effective at preventing hospitalization, including for the variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has reported.

Tam said vaccine mandates should be re-evaluated over time, but they must be weighed against the potential effect on fragile health systems and how many serious cases they can handle.

"I do think that prior to vaccinations, prior to getting some more treatments, and of course some immunity afforded by Omicron, that balance was very, very difficult to achieve," Tam said at a virtual briefing Friday.

"I am optimistic that it will become easier to achieve better balance."

Even though the number of new infections is trending down, there are still a daily average of about 10,000 new reported cases across Canada, Tam said.It is difficult to get a full picture of how many cases there are in Canada, as many jurisdictions have limited access to molecular tests for essential and at-risk people only.

More than 10,000 people are also being treated in hospital for COVID-19 each day as of Wednesday, she said.

Even as measures are dropped, provinces need to find ways to optimize vaccination levels, she said.

More than 88 per cent of Canadians over the age of five have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows.

There is no Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine for young children under five years old.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued new guidance Friday about how long people who have been infected with the virus should wait to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The advice varies based on how old the person is, whether or not they are immunocompromised and how many vaccine doses they received before they were infected.

Moe said in a video posted to social media that COVID-19 is not going away, but people are done with having to follow public health orders, so "normalizing" the virus and learning to live with it is the achievable option.

The Saskatchewan Medical Association, however, is warning that loosening health measures would strain the province's health-care system.

In Alberta, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi urged the provincial government to "reconsider lifting restrictions too soon and too fast."

"We must look out for our most vulnerable. We must protect our children under the age of five who still don't have the opportunity to get vaccinated," Sohi wrote in a statement.

Sohi, a former federal Liberal cabinet minister, asked city administration to look into what options Edmonton has to institute its own restrictions if the provincial measures are lifted.

Kenney said a patchwork of COVID restrictions across the province would be confusing for people and, besides, it's not the city's job.

"Provinces are in clearly the best position to make difficult decisions about how to manage COVID-19, and I really don't think that is something municipal governments are responsible for or necessarily equipped to do," Kenney said, speaking after a meeting with his fellow Canadian premiers.

Ontario and Quebec, which have seen a slight decline in COVID-19-related hospitalizations this week, have both eased some restrictions. However, scientists and health officials in the two provinces have warned that cases will likely rise again as partial reopenings progress.

Newfoundland and Labrador is set loosen restrictions on businesses and group sizes on Monday, though Premier Andrew Furey, who is also an orthopedic surgeon, said that any changes must be done with caution.

Vaccine mandates are not meant to be a punishment, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Friday at the briefing. Rather they are meant to protect people and incentivize them to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The federal government has imposed mandates at international borders, on planes, passengers trains, cruise ships and within the public service. Duclos said discussions about vaccine mandates would be ongoing at the federal level.

Premiers who met today as part of the Council of the Federation did not specifically discuss international travel restrictions. Chair of the federation, British Columbia Premier John Horgan, said federal and provincial governments need to protect people while ensuring their liberties are intact.

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"We need to reimagine the tools at our disposal as citizens and as provinces and as a federal government," Horgan said.

Kenney was more emphatic. He said the travel restrictions are not effective given the prevalence of Omicron within Canada.

"The notion that we can interrupt or reduce community transmission through very rigid travel protocols, I think, is unrealistic," he said.

Any changes to the testing and vaccine requirements for international travel would depend on the epidemiological situation in Canada and abroad, as well as health-care capacity, Tam said.

High-level discussions about health mandates are happening against the backdrop of several anti-mandate protests cropping up across Canada, including a demonstration in Ottawa that local politicians have taken to calling an "occupation."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2022.
What the ETF? is a clever phrase uttered in a bank television ad that speaks to these investment vehicles growing popularity while at the same time still being unknown quantities to many people.

What the ETF? is a clever phrase uttered in a bank television ad that speaks to these investment vehicles growing popularity while at the same time still being unknown quantities to many people.

If youre thinking, Just what is an ETF? it stands for exchange-traded fund.

Canadians are turning onto them at a record-breaking pace with $53 billion flowing into them in 2021. Despite their rise, were not dropping mutual funds, which have higher fees among other differences.

"We keep using superlatives to talk about the success of ETFs with new records set, but a lot of those records are not coming at the expense of the mutual fund industry, which has had itself a record year in 2021," says Michael Cooke, head of Exchange Traded Funds at Mackenzie Investments.

Cooke is referring to Mackenzie Investments Year-End ETF Report, which also revealed the number of ETFs in Canada now listing on exchanges like the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is 1,177 up from 1,010 in 2020.

Cookes assessment is spot on. ETFs account for a significant amount of investor dough  about $347 billion last year in assets under management (AUM), Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) figures show.

The mutual fund market  which has been around much longer and is generally easier to access, offered widely via banks and credit unions  is much bigger. Its growing too. Last year, dollars invested in Canada in mutual funds exceeded $2 trillion for the first time, up from $1.7 trillion in 2020.

If youre an investor  as opposed to a saver  chances are youre investing in mutual funds.

Good for you: any kind of investment strategy done consistently over many years is likely to help you achieve your financial goals, like retirement.

Yet if youre still thinking whats an ETF? and have money to invest, its worth learning about mutual funds promising little sister, especially with the RRSP contribution deadline approaching on March 1.

Indeed theyre part of the same family.

Both use fund structures to hold diversified portfolios of stocks, bonds, commodities or sometimes even other mutual funds or ETFs.

But mutual funds are often purchased through your financial institution, with transactions settled at the end of the trading day. ETFs are bought and sold like stocks on exchanges during trading hours through an online brokerage or an advisor.

Another key difference is management expense ratios  MERs. ETFs have significantly less costly MERs. For example RBCs U.S. Equity Fund (sold through an advisor) has an MER of 1.89 per cent  not bad for a stock-based mutual fund  and a 10-year annualized return of almost 15 per cent (ending Dec. 31)  again, pretty good.

But its comparable benchmark  the S&P 500 index listing the largest 500 publicly traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange  has an annualized return of almost 16.55 per cent over the same span.

Heres where ETFs show their worth because of their origins, developed in Canada in the 1990s, as tools to capture the performance of indices like the S&P 500.

Rather than paying a manager about two per cent of your assets every year to outperform that index  which is hard to do consistently  you could pay less than a tenth of that MER and largely receive the same return as the index.

For example, the U.S.-listed iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has a 10-year average, annual return of 16.5 per cent. The difference between its return and the S&P 500 and the RBC fund is its MER, which is 0.03 per cent per year. Dollar-wise, if you invested $10,000 over the decade your money would have grown to $44,000 with the ETF versus about $39,000 with the mutual fund.

This illustrates a case long made for ETFs. They often provide superior growth because the additional fee of a mutual fund for expert managers to pick investments is often a drag on investment returns.

More broadly, ETFs low cost and instant diversification across entire markets have made them handy building blocks for all investors, including pension fund managers, says Mark Raes, head of ETF and mutual funds at BMO Global Asset Management.

"The ETF market has matured to a point now where you can really feel comfortable building out core allocations in a portfolio."

Do you want to invest in the biggest stocks in Canada? Just buy an ETF that owns the top 60 largest companies traded on the TSX.

While ETFs make up only about 12 per cent of all investment funds, Raes says their growth rate exceeds mutual funds.

"A lot of conversation is around ETFs catching mutual funds, and the growth rate is certainly  if you look at the longer term trends  higher," he says.

Then again, he adds, ETFs are growing from a much smaller size over the last decade.

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In 2012, ETFs had $56 billion AUM versus $850 billion for mutual funds. Given their growth over 10 years  more than 600 per cent for ETFs, and nearly 250 per cent for mutual funds  demand is strong for both.

Besides offering low-cost diversification and exposure to a total market, ETFs are also a cauldron of innovation. There are ETFs providing exposure to gold, space companies, cryptocurrencies and even ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategies. Canada is again a leader bringing, for example, the first Bitcoin ETFs to market last year.

Another world-first is a pair of carbon-neutral ETFs: Evolves CleanBeta ETFs for the TSX 60 and S&P 500.

"We had this lightbulb moment about a year ago," says Evolves chief executive officer Raj Lala. "We said, What if we could take traditional indices and apply carbon offsets against the companies within the index, and deliver to investors a carbon-neutral version of the index that theyre already owning?"

Launched in May, Evolves ETFs has had a "slow start," Lala says, struggling to gain attention in a crowded marketplace.

But like ETFs in general, Evolves funds are worth closer examination if you seek low-cost, innovative  in this case carbon neutral  strategies to build wealth for your future.
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - Two of Canada's largest pulp and paper unions say Canfor employees have ratified a new collective agreement it hopes will set the pattern for 18 contracts in British Columbia and Alberta.

A stack of lumber and sawdust piles are seen at Teal-Jones Group sawmill in Surrey, B.C., on Sunday, May 30, 2021. Two of Canada's largest pulp and paper unions say Canfor employees have ratified a new collective agreement it hopes will set the pattern for 18 contracts in British Columbia and Alberta. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - Two of Canada's largest pulp and paper unions say Canfor employees have ratified a new collective agreement it hopes will set the pattern for 18 contracts in British Columbia and Alberta.

Unifor and the Public and Private Workers of Canada say the four-year deal for 900 workers at Canfor will provide a $5,000 signing bonus plus wage increases of 2.5 per cent, 2.5 per cent, and three per cent in the following three years.

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They say the deal also includes improvements to the temporary and indefinite curtailment language, and an improved benefits package, including an increase in the annual clinical psychologist benefit.

The agreement covers unionized employees at Unifor Locals 603 and 1133, and PPWC Local 9 in Prince George, B.C.

Scott Doherty, Unifor executive assistant to the president and lead forestry negotiator, says the agreement sets the standard for other forestry agreements at companies employing 5,500 workers across the western region.

The collective agreement comes as Canadian forestry companies are benefiting from high lumber prices.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CFP)
Dave (Sabe) Courchene remembers first hearing in his early teens the story of how his grandfather met the Queen during her 10-day tour of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories in 1970.

Saddle Lake First Nation Chief Eric Large checks his video camera as the Queen attends a traditional and cultural demonstration in Yellowknife on Aug. 21, 1994. The Queen, accompanied by territorial leader Nellie Cournoyea, left, and Prince Philip, is on the final leg of a 10-day Canadian visit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Dave (Sabe) Courchene remembers first hearing in his early teens the story of how his grandfather met the Queen during her 10-day tour of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories in 1970.

It was his father and uncles who would explain how the meeting came to be and the risk his grandfather, David Courchene Sr., took when it came time to address her.

Courchene Sr. was there on behalf of the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood he co-founded in the 1960s. The younger Courchene said his grandfather presented his written speech to the event's organizers, but was told he couldn't read it.

"There were some things in there that, I guess, they didn't want the Queen to hear," said Courchene. "It upset him. There was no way they were going to change what he had to say, so he went ahead and presented what he had written."

Courchene spoke about how he felt treaties were not being honoured in the way they were meant to be when the first one was signed in 1871, his grandson said.

He added that his grandfather spoke out, not to protest the Queen's visit, but to engage in respectful dialogue about past and present mistreatment Indigenous Peoples faced.

Courchene said hearing the story instilled a sense of pride in him. "He was standing up for something that was an injustice, the way the Indigenous people were being treated. He stood up (and) he gave that voice."

A CBC article published in 2020 about that 1970 visit said the Queen told Courchene she appreciated his words and recognized the destructive role colonization played and continues to play.

This year marks the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The 95-year-old has been on the throne for 70 years and is the world's longest-serving monarch.

Nearly 25 years after Courchene gave his speech, the Queen would hear a similar one.

Bill Erasmus, a former Dene national chief, voiced his frustrations during her visit to Yellowknife in 1994. He said the federal government hadn't honoured treaties signed by previous monarchs and that had "tarnished" the Indigenous relationship with the Crown.

"Our treaties are directly with the First Nations and the British Crown, and so it was very important for us to reconnect and to remind the Crown of the original provisions, the obligations, the promises and the spirit and intent behind the original treaties," Erasmus said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

He suggested the meeting was significant because it helped educate Canadians.

Eric J. Large, former chief of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, was at the 1994 visit to represent the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations.

"We were seeking the Queen's reaffirmation of and commitment to the continuation of Treaty 6 into the future of our descendants," he said by phone from his home in Saddle Lake, Alta.

Large said the community received confirmation the following year of a letter he had presented to the Queen. Her office said further discussions would have to be between the First Nation and Canada's ministers.

The relationship between First Nations and the Crown shifted to Canada when the country patriated its Constitution in 1982, but many agree there is still a strong connection between First Peoples and the Queen.

"First Nations people ... still maintain that direct relationship to her and whom she represents through that initial treaty relationship," said Loretta Ross, treaty commissioner for Manitoba.

That relationship was tested last year when a statue of the Queen and another of Queen Victoria were toppled on Canada Day in Winnipeg. It was shortly after the discovery of possible child graves at former residential school sites.

Ross said it's all part of reconciliation.

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"Part of that is frustration, wanting to see things change, and statues of people that represent what it was supposed to be are easy targets to take your frustrations out on."

Part of reconciliation includes understanding the original spirit and intent of the treaties, said Erasmus, as well as both sides coming to the table.

"There is a long way to go, but the only way you can get there is by dialogue."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2022.

___

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship
An alarming hike in emergency responses at bus shelters highlights the plight of vulnerable residents, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the head of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

An "alarming" hike in emergency responses at bus shelters highlights the plight of vulnerable residents, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the head of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

WFPS responded to 1,770 calls at Winnipeg Transit shelters last year  up from 1,222 in 2020, and 902 in 2015, Chief Christian Schmidt told councils protection committee Friday.

"The data that we have to share with you is somewhat alarming and further indicates that many Winnipeggers are struggling with a number of issues," said Schmidt.

The homeless population has increasingly used the shelters to warm up, with some resorting to basically living in them. Schmidt said that use spiked in October 2020, around the second wave of COVID-19.

About 60 per cent of calls for service report a person is "down" in a shelter, with little information about the specific concern. Schmidt said that type of report typically comes from someone who drove by a bus shelter and spotted an issue without stopping to get more information.

Reports can also relate to individuals who are unconscious, suffering an overdose, or have been assaulted. They can also relate to fires, falls, chest pain, seizures and other illness.

Since 2015, Schmidt said WFPS responded to 2,016 incidents at just 15 city bus shelters, hot spots that account for one-quarter of the incidents.

"This is (a significant portion) when you consider there are 1,766 Transit shelters across the city," he said.

Most, but not all, of those 15 shelters are downtown. Since 2015, the bus shelter at Portage Avenue and Donald Street triggered the most calls for service, with 221 overall, followed by 209 incidents at 393 Portage Ave. (Portage Place) and 144 at Regent Avenue West and Stapon Road.

Schmidt noted vulnerable residents who stay in the shelters are more likely to have frequent contact with 911.

Those with little access to shelter may see bus shacks as well-lit spaces that are somewhat sheltered, yet visible enough to offer some security, said Kris Clemens of End Homelessness Winnipeg.

Clemens said the pandemic heightened this trend as health orders removed some shelter options.

"We have evidence that, prior to the pandemic, a majority of those experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg were experiencing hidden homelessness, not sleeping in a bus shelter, not accessing an emergency shelter, but couch-surfing with family, friends (and) acquaintances," she said.

"A lot of these arrangements, especially those that relied on being a guest in another persons home, became basically banned under public health regulations."

Clemens said emergency responses to the sites declined in the final months of 2021, offering hope the situation will continue to improve.

However, she reiterated the city has a severe lack of affordable housing.

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"We cant keep moving people from the bus shelter to the safe space to the emergency shelter to someones couch. We need to offer people meaningful options for housing and the supports they need to thrive in it," said Clemens.

Coun. Sherri Rollins attended Fridays committee meeting remotely from Vancouver, where she is checking out facilities to explore options Winnipeg could follow to address homelessness and addiction. She said Winnipeg lacks safe consumption sites and other outreach services that are available in the B.C. city.

"Its really imperative to get more work done and have a serious conversation with the province on primary health care, on the one hand, and housing on the next, including mental health supports," Rollins, who leads the protection committee, told the Free Press.

The councillor said the WFPS numbers are concerning, but highlight just one part of the demand at Transit shelters. She said police and social service agencies also respond to bus shelter concerns, so the actual level of need is higher.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
OTTAWA  The federal Liberals have sent only half of Manitobas January shipment of rapid tests while giving more kits to provinces with far fewer COVID-19 cases.

OTTAWA  The federal Liberals have sent only half of Manitobas January shipment of rapid tests while giving more kits to provinces with far fewer COVID-19 cases.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Ottawa will soon rectify the disparity, which he chalked up to logistics.

"Were obviously extremely mindful of the importance of treating all provinces and territories equitably," Duclos said Friday in response to questions from the Free Press.

At the start of the month, as provinces faced a a public clamouring for rapid tests, the Liberals promised to send provinces 140 million kits.

The Manitoba government said that by Jan. 31, it had received only 2.4 million of the 5 million kits it was alotted on a monthly basis. The remaining shipments are scheduled to arrive later this month.

The Toronto Star queried multiple provinces recently and found the Maritimes fared significantly better.

Nova Scotia reportedly got 3.1 million of a promised 3.6 million tests, amounting to 86 per cent, while New Brunswick received 2.88 million of their promised 2.94 million.

Ontario and Alberta reported getting only one-third of the tests Ottawa promised despite public-health officials suggesting the virus is far more active than on the East Coast, where the spread is believed to have already crested.

Duclos said the type of test kits requested by each province influences how quickly those supplies leave the federal stockpile.

"To give you an example, these rapid tests come in different packages, different types, different providers," he said. "Some of those rapid tests are delivered more quickly, because of the size of the boxes and so on."

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This year, Duclos shifted rapid-test distribution to a per capita model. Previously, Ottawa sent out tests based on provincial requests.

The Free Press revealed last month that Ottawa sent Saskatchewan more than double the number of rapid tests Manitoba received last year because the less-populated province had asked for more as part of its wide-distribution plan.

The knock-on effect of Manitobas smaller requests was that symptomatic Winnipeggers had to wait in lines in vehicles and on foot for hours to pick tests while people with no symptoms in Saskatchewan could grab them on a whim at local libraries.

"We are obviously not perfect. We want to meet those demands and expectations of different provinces and territories," Duclos said Friday.

"All Canadians, regardless of where they live, should have access to the same availability of rapid tests wherever they may live."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
OTTAWA  Provencher MP Ted Falk is accused of trumpeting COVID-19 vaccine misinformation just as his Manitoba colleagues in the House of Commons urge the anti-mandate truckers convoy to roll away from Parliament Hill.

OTTAWA  Provencher MP Ted Falk is accused of trumpeting COVID-19 vaccine misinformation just as his Manitoba colleagues in the House of Commons urge the anti-mandate truckers convoy to roll away from Parliament Hill.

Falk, who has represented southeastern Manitoba for the Conservatives since 2013, drew scorn from fellow MPs Friday when he read a letter from an unvaccinated constituent whose trucking business had taken a hit from the U.S. requirement to get immunized.

FRED CHARTRAND / CANADIAN PRESS FILES Provencher MP Ted Falk spoke virtually Friday, appearing on a screen in the House of Commons, outside of which a truckers convoy had been parked for seven days.

The constituents letter, which Falk read into Hansard, inaccurately stated that vaccines have been shown to prevent nothing that we were promised (vaccines) would prevent.

The letter claimed that because fully vaccinated and boosted people have caught COVID-19, vaccines dont work. Evidence shows vaccinated people experience significantly less severe outcomes than unvaccinated people, and virologists say vaccines also prevent the transmission of the coronavirus.

We are listening to falsehoods and medical misinformation and medical lies.  NDP MP Charlie Angus

NDP MP Charlie Angus briefly cut off Falk.

We are listening to falsehoods and medical misinformation and medical lies, the northern Ontario MP said in the Commons.

Angus characterized Falks comments as anti-vax falsehoods and disinformation, but did not convince the Speaker that Falk had breached House rules.

Falk is the only one of 338 MPs who refuses to say whether he has been vaccinated. He condemned the illogical spotlight of condemnation of the unvaccinated.

Last September, Falk apologized for spreading misinformation that COVID-19 vaccines increased the chance of death from infection, which is the opposite conclusion of reams of credible research.

Falk spoke virtually Friday, appearing on a screen in the House of Commons, outside of which a truckers convoy had been parked for seven days.

Some Manitoba MPs argued it was time for the noisy protest to be cleared out.

Believing in peaceful law-abiding protests, the convoy should be dispersed, wrote Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux.

Liberals Terry Duguid and Dan Vandal said its up to Ottawa police to decide how to handle the convoy, and not for politicians to decide.

Conservative MP Marty Morantz said hed like the convoy to head home.

At this point, it would be preferable for the participants in the occupation of downtown Ottawa leave on their own accord.

Fellow Manitoba Tories weighed in.

We also believe no protest should be permitted to block critical infrastructure, reads a statement from provincial caucus chair Dan Mazier.

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The disruption caused to the livelihoods of Canadians by this ongoing demonstration must be minimized.

They echoed comments by Tory interim leader Candice Bergen, who represents Portage-Lisgar, who has urged the Liberals to broker a solution.

In leaked emails, Bergen advocated against having the Conservatives push the protesters to go home, proposing they instead turn this into (Trudeaus) problem.

Manitobas three NDP MPs were more concrete in their views.

It is time for this protest and siege of the city of Ottawa be brought to a close, reads a statement by MPs Niki Ashton, Daniel Blaikie and Leah Gazan.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
A Headingley man is facing charges after several protesters were struck with a vehicle late Friday at an ongoing demonstration against COVID-19 pandemic restrictions near the Manitoba legislature.

A Headingley man is facing charges after several protesters were struck with a vehicle late Friday at an ongoing demonstration against COVID-19 pandemic restrictions near the Manitoba legislature.

During a rare weekend news conference Saturday, the Winnipeg Police Service announced four men  one of whom was wearing a high-visibility vest at the time were struck in the hit-and-run. One was taken to hospital and has since been released. The other three victims suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.

"Its pretty miraculous that nobody sustained any serious injuries," Const. Rob Carver told reporters.

Carver said the crash, which is believed to have been intentional, happened on westbound Broadway at Memorial Boulevard at about 9:50 p.m. on the first day of the "Standing 4 Freedom" protest.

The constable said the driver was not participating in the protest when he struck the protesters with a Jeep Patriot.

An image of the incident posted on Twitter shows how close one protester was to becoming seriously injured by a vehicle that matches the police description of the suspects vehicle.

An image of the incident posted by multiple Twitter accounts. (Twitter)

The accused then headed west on Portage Avenue, police said, adding numerous witnesses reported the man fled at high speeds and passed through red lights.

WPS officers, with the help of the RCMP, stopped the vehicle in the 4800 block of Portage at about 10:30 p.m. Friday. The lone male driver was arrested after a brief struggle, authorities said.

Carver said the 42-year-old man "blurted out" statements about the incident after his arrest.

"Some comments he made after his arrest suggested that his motivation was not specifically about the underlying causes of the protest or the mandates," he said.

"I think its important here to give some context that he wasnt really for or against either of the general views that are sort of floating around this country."

The suspect is facing four counts of assault with a weapon, four counts related to leaving the scene of a collision, two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and one count of dangerous driving. He was detained in custody.

The WPS did not release the mans name, citing the fact charges had not yet been formally laid in court. Carver said the man was not previously known to police.

Rick Wall, a protest organizer, referred a reporter to a statement on Facebook when asked to comment on the incident.

"Organizers continue to work closely with Winnipeg police to ensure protests are peaceful, respectful and safe. We will keep the injured individual in our thoughts and prayers," it states.

Co-organizers Zoey Jebb and Caleb Brown issued a statement calling on elected officials at all levels of government to denounce the violent act and "engage in conversation and action to begin to heal the division in our country."

"Mandates and political rhetoric that intentionally divide families and communities have no place in Canada and it is time for us to work together in transitioning towards a return to an appropriate balance of freedom," they wrote.

The Standing 4 Freedom group has released a code of conduct that states participants have agreed to denounce any racist or hateful speech and will obey all on-site police personnel, among other rules.

Upwards of 200 protesters on foot  many of them carrying Canadian flags and signs bearing phrases such as "mandate freedom," "my body, my choice," and "small vocal minority"  gathered outside the legislative building on Saturday afternoon. Approximately 20 semi-trucks were parked along Memorial, while traffic, including vehicles participating in the protest, drove by.

Honking and cheering was constant among the dozens of drivers doing loops in the area. Full fuel containers lined the sidewalks to allow truckers to idle indefinitely.

Abraham Penner, a 25-year-old from Winkler, was among those in attendance. Penner, who is sleeping in his parked big rig this weekend, said he plans to protest for "as long as it takes" until restrictions are lifted on the unvaccinated.

"The last couple of years have been really hard. Somebodys got to do something," he said, adding he is resitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine because he has had a negative reaction to a different vaccine in the past.

Carver said there is a potential to increase police presence but both authorities and organizers feel the current set-up is suffice for everyones safety.

"Police everywhere, specifically in Winnipeg, view these situations as potentially volatile. There are strong opinions being expressed, and there are a broad range  theres polarization here. Anytime you have a situation (like this), theres a potential for tempers to flare and possibly, some violence," he said.

"We have done everything we can or are prepared to do at this point to ensure the safety of people in the area."

Video of the hit-and-run was posted on social media after the collision. An image posted online showed an ambulance, a fire truck and at least two WPS vehicles on Broadway.

No other incidents have occurred since the protest began, per WPS.

Premier Heather Stefanson took to Twitter on Saturday to address the incident and thank officers for their duty.

"We may all hold different views, but the right to peacefully protest without harm is integral to our society," she wrote.

Mayor Brian Bowman echoed similar comments: "I remind all Winnipeggers of the need for calm," he tweeted.

Unvaccinated city Coun. Vivian Santos posted a video online Saturday urging all council members to work on "bringing the temperature down."

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"Fanning the flames for division are making a tense situation far worse than it needs to be," she said.

As of Saturday, more than 80 per cent of Manitobans aged five and up have received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Traffic on Broadway was limited to one lane in either direction Saturday, while authorities continued to warn about traffic delays and encourage commuters to avoid the area if possible.

 with files from Adam Treusch

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
OTTAWA  Federally supplied rapid tests are finally headed to Manitoba reserves, months after southern chiefs say Ottawa lost the supplies theyd requested at the onset of the Omicron variant.

OTTAWA  Federally supplied rapid tests are finally headed to Manitoba reserves, months after southern chiefs say Ottawa lost the supplies theyd requested at the onset of the Omicron variant.

It is absolutely unacceptable, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels told the Free Press.

In no other instances do these sorts of thing happen  but within a First Nations instance, it does happen.

The Southern Chiefs Organization said it made a request in late September 2021 for both rapid tests and high-quality masks from Ottawa, for the 34 reserves it represents.

That was at the start of the fourth wave, which intensified in late November as the highly contagious Omicron variant took hold. The chiefs asked Ottawa about the status of the request, and claim they were told the shipment had been misplaced.

The departments of Health Canada and Indigenous Services Canada have a joint role in helping First Nations purchase COVID-19 supplies, and had difficulty verifying those claims, with questions ricocheting between the two since Tuesday.

They asked for more specifics Friday, which the organization did not provide.

Last month, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said her department was working to clear red tape, after Manitoba chiefs told her Jan. 10 about bureaucratic hurdles to requesting federal aid.

Theyre asking that we reduce as much as we can any cumbersome request processes. My officials heard the calls for this efficiency and were working on ways we can streamlines processes every further, Hajdu said Jan. 13.

In any case, the southern chiefs were able to find masks on the private market, and expect rapid tests from Ottawa to arrive later this month.

Daniels said it was scary to have First Nations reserves run out of supplies, which are only arriving as Omicron appears to be in decline.

It took a very, very long time for us to get access to every essential supplies for our community, and we just really want to make sure thats not going to be happening in future, said Daniels.

He expected some sort of disruption as the world competed for gear to deal with a new variant. But he said a months-long delay makes no sense when gear is available on the private market.

Theres a reason for that, and I dont think its simply a logistics error. We have hugely advanced tracking systems, Daniels said.

He had no concrete evidence of Ottawa prioritizing other groups.

However, Daniels said a legacy of the federal government providing inadequate services and health care to Indigenous people makes him wonder if racism is at play.

I dont think the shipment fell off the truck because of the convoy, or anything like that.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Friday he would have his officials prioritize looking into what happened.

Thats obviously not acceptable, he said.

I understand my officials have already started to (look into it) but Ill make sure that greater effort and focus is provided to that.

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First Nations in Manitoba have generally had a positive reception to the Trudeau governments handling of COVID-19 on reserves. Theyve occasionally asked for faster responses and more action to tackle the underlying issues that drive transmission such as cramped housing.

However, Ottawa has bungled parts of it response, such as by deploying a team to build isolation tents at Pukatawagan the band had never requested. Ottawa first refused to explain its rationale, citing national security rules in May 2020, before eventually saying visiting nurses at the local clinic had made the request.

Daniels argues the situation bolsters the case for having Indigenous people take control over health-care services in their communities, through a process that is still in the early phases in Manitoba.

Were not seeing an improvement in the quality of life, Daniels said of a system that remains largely controlled by federal and provincial bureaucrats.

Just before the pandemic took root in Canada, the Southern Chiefs Organization signed an agreement with Cuban officials that would have the communist country supply First Nations with doctors, though the Trudeau government was cool to requests for granting visas, ahead of the first pandemic lockdown.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
They want to have a deterrence system that is like a scorpions tail, said Prof. Kim Dong Yup, a former South Korean naval commander. North Koreas main purpose is not to attack, but to defend themselves. They want a diversified deterrent capability, and who could blame them?

Opinion

They want to have a deterrence system that is like a scorpions tail, said Prof. Kim Dong Yup, a former South Korean naval commander. North Koreas main purpose is not to attack, but to defend themselves. They want a diversified deterrent capability, and who could blame them?

Its a welcome distraction from the daily warnings of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, and even less likely to end in an actual war. North Korea test-fired seven different missiles in a month, U.S. President Joe Biden retaliated with more sanctions against Kim Jong-uns hermit state, and everybody got their war-horses out for a brisk trot around the track.

The reality, however, is that nobody in a position of authority is in the least excited by this little back-and-forth between Pyongyang and Washington.

The media speculate about whether North Koreas tests are meant to influence the upcoming South Korean elections or to lure Biden into a Trump-style summit, but the likeliest motive is just what Prof. Kim said it was: a desire to demonstrate the efficiency of North Koreas missiles. You know, the ones that carry North Koreas nuclear weapons.

Pyongyang hasnt tested any nuclear weapons since 2017, but it is believed to have 50-60 warheads by now. Neither has it test-launched its intercontinental ballistic missiles (the ones that can reach anywhere in the United States) since then. The January tests were of hypersonic missiles, intermediate-range missiles, cruise missiles and similar hardware.

Most of those missiles can probably carry nuclear warheads, too, but only as far as South Korea or Japan, Americas local allies. Its a formidable investment for a small, quite poor country (same population as Australia, but one-60th the size)  but its not that extravagant when you consider that all these nukes are intended to deter the United States.

No American diplomat or military officer will admit publicly that North Koreas fear of an American nuclear attack is justified, but the more intelligent ones realize that the rules of nuclear deterrence are exactly the same for democratic superpowers and dwarf tyrannies. If your enemy has nuclear weapons, then to be safe you must have them, too.

Both Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi learned this lesson the hard way, and Kim Jong-un has no intention of following in their footsteps. The Peoples Democratic Republic of Korea, as his fiefdom is formally known, has a military confrontation with South Korea that will never go away, as they are both part of the same divided nation.

North Koreas army is twice as big as South Koreas, although the latter has twice the population and 10 times the wealth. South Korea keeps its military small because it can ultimately rely on its American ally to protect it  and that American ally has nuclear weapons and a proven willingness to use them.

From the perspective of Pyongyang, American nuclear weapons are a mortal threat, and nobody can persuade the North Korean regime that they would never be used against it unless it attacked first. Americans wouldnt forego nuclear weapons if China and Russia made such promises, nor would they take Americas word for it. Too much is at stake to take a chance.

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This is the universal dilemma of nuclear weapons. North Korea has just as much right to worry about it as the United States, and it will never give its own nukes up so long as the current confrontation in the Korean peninsula persists. (71 years and counting.)

Any meetings or summits between U.S. and North Korean diplomats or leaders will be driven by North Koreas perpetual desire to end UN and U.S. trade sanctions and/or Americas futile quest to get Kim to agree to unilateral nuclear disarmament. Neither is going to happen, but there is no crisis, either.

The North Korean regime is vicious, but it is not crazy. A reasonably stable cold peace has prevailed in the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953, guaranteed since the first North Korean nuclear test in 2006 by mutual nuclear deterrence between the U.S. and North Korea. Theres no urgent need to fix it or shore it up now.

The United States cannot bring itself to publicly acknowledge this fact, but the Pentagon and the State Department privately accept that by now it is the long established reality of the U.S.-N.K. relationship.

They very much understand the significance of moving up the ladder on range, a senior Biden administration official said last Sunday, implicitly recognizing that the North Koreans had not tested any new missiles capable of striking the American homeland. There really is a mutual understanding. They just cant talk about it.

Gwynne Dyers new book is The Shortest History of War.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. [Xinhua/Shen Hong]

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Beijing, calling for joint efforts to build the China-Egypt community with a shared future in the new era.

Xi said that China and Egypt have further consolidated political mutual trust and achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation with highlights in joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership has become a model of solidarity, cooperation and mutual benefit between China and Arab, African and developing countries, Xi said.

Xi stressed that the two sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and continue to dovetail the Belt and Road Initiative with Egypt's Vision 2030, as well as advance projects such as the development of the Suez Canal Corridor.

Noting that China and Egypt built the first joint COVID-19 vaccine production line on the African continent last year, Xi said that the two sides should continue to fight the pandemic in solidarity.

China is willing to continue to provide vaccine support to Egypt, expand cooperation on joint vaccine production, help Egypt become a vaccine production center in Africa, and jointly make contributions to promoting accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries, Xi said.

Xi said that China and Egypt should also join hands to take the lead in China-Arab and China-Africa cooperation, accelerate the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era, and promote African development and prosperity.

Sisi expressed thanks to Xi for inviting him to attend the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony.

Noting that Egypt-China relations have a long history and are strong, Sisi said the Belt and Road Initiative has strongly promoted Egypt's economic development, and that Egypt is willing to continue to actively participate in the initiative and accelerate its own development through expanding bilateral cooperation in various fields.

The Egyptian people look forward to President Xi's visit to Egypt after the pandemic, Sisi said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. [Xinhua/Li Xiang]

(Source: Xinhua)
Woodward, OK (73801)

Today

Clearing. Gusty winds developing this afternoon. A stray thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds WSW at 25 to 35 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Gusty winds during the evening. Low 38F. Winds N at 25 to 35 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
While continuing to withhold from the public fuller employment histories of Colorado's police officers, the Colorado Attorney Generals Office unveiled on Monday a searchable database that allows the public to track instances where the state revoked the certification police officers must hold to work for police agencies.
Reporter

Cassandra is the morning reporter for 13 News Today. She joined the WREX team in July of 2019 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee with a major, minor and a certificate. You can contact Cassandra at cbretl@wrex.com
Commemorative woodland planned for Erddig to remember those who died during the pandemic

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Feb 5th, 2022

A commemorative woodland to remember all those who have died during the pandemic will be created in at the Erddig Estate in Wrexham.

The National Trust land is amongst two of the planned locations announced by First Minister Mark Drakeford, with a second site identified by Natural Resources Wales at Brownhill in the Tywi Valley in Carmarthenshire.

The memorial woodlands will be a symbol of Wales resilience during the pandemic and one of regeneration and renewal as the new woodlands grow.

It is hoped they will be places of commemoration where families and friends can remember lost loved ones.

They will also be locations where the public will be able to reflect on the pandemic and the impact it has had on all our lives.

A third memorial woodland will be created in South East Wales  a site is currently being identified.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: It has been almost two years since the coronavirus pandemic hit Wales.

Too many people have been taken too soon by this awful virus. We will remember all of them and keep them in our hearts and our minds.

These woodlands will be a permanent and living memorial to all those who have died. They will also be a symbol of the strength the people of Wales have shown over the past two years.

The woodlands will be planted with a range of tree species, making them resilient to our changing environment.

Planting is expected to begin this year.

Natural Resources Wales and National Trust Cymru will work with local communities and families to plan and design the woodlands.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive of Natural Resources Wales said: Our forests and woodlands are powerful, poignant symbols of life, helping to enhance our environment and biodiversity and providing space for recreation and reflection.

Our ambition for this commemorative woodland is for it to become a living, growing area for all the community to enjoy, as well as a quiet space for contemplation as we continue to navigate this most challenging of times.

As part of the journey, we want to engage with local communities and our partners to plan and design the woodland, shaping with them safe and accessible spaces, where people of all ages can come to remember and reflect for years to come.

We expect the sites to become part of the National Forest for Wales in the future, with opportunities for local communities to help shape the management of the woodland.

Justin Albert, Director, National Trust Cymru said: For over 125 years, the National Trust has provided places for people to connect with nature, beauty and fresh air.

This has felt as relevant over the last two years as it has in any time in our history: knowing that nature has been hugely comforting to many during the pandemic, bringing both pleasure and reassurance as all other aspects of our lives changed.

National Trust Cymru are proud to support the Welsh Government in creating one of the commemorative woodlands for Wales at Erddig. We look forward to collaborating with communities and partners to create a special place in memory of those lost to coronavirus.

The woodland will be for remembrance and reflection, but also to provide a future green space for everyone to continue that much needed, beneficial connection with the natural world for ever.
Sidewalk snow not removed on Chicagos South Side (photo submitted by parent)

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) remained open Wednesday and Thursday in spite of a snowstorm which had prompted Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to declare a state of emergency. That buildings would remain open was announced by the district at the very last minute Wednesday morning.

In neighborhoods across the city, streets were treacherous and had not been cleared of snow. School lots and drop-off paths were also not accessible. Many families kept their children home and reported receiving robocalls from the district reminding them that attendance is important.

The refusal to close schools comes after the citys Democratic administration under Mayor Lori Lightfoot forced through the reopening of in-person learning in spite of mass coronavirus infections. CPS teachers carried out a remote work action after more than 70 percent voted to stop in-person instruction, a move that was viciously attacked by Lightfoot and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) subverted the teachers commitment to safe learning conditions, ramming through a widely hated agreement with no meaningful safety guarantees, allowing the schools to reopen.

Pre-kindergarten teacher Sarah McCarthy works with a student at Dawes Elementary in Chicago.(Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool, File)

A parent of students at Inter-American Elementary Magnet School told the WSWS, There was no way we were going in there yesterday or today. But I dont understand why they still wont do online learning. It was working well last year. I am very disappointed this is still going on. CPS doesnt listen to us.

A district representative told the local CBS affiliate station that there is not currently any e-learning plan being developed, but it is being explored.

A southside parent told the WSWS, Plows passed [by] twice yesterday and twice today. My daughters school Gwendolyn Brooks didnt have enough teachers, so they stuck all the kids in the auditorium. Luckily, I didnt send my children to school yesterday or today. Ridiculous that CPS would rather put children in danger commuting to school instead of [offering] e-learning like all the surrounding municipalities did. Our kids are pawns now.

She commented on the differences between working class neighborhoods and the more affluent areas. If you really wanna see the difference, go through downtown and compare those sidewalks to the sidewalks in Englewood, a very impoverished neighborhood, from 55th to 79th and Halsted. People in Englewood have to walk in the streets.

She shared a photo of the conditions, adding, On top of that photo, there are multiple people that have to walk in the streets due to abandoned properties whose sidewalks arent shoveled.

One teacher said that the districts decision was political, retaliation for the teachers fight against the reopening of school buildings which create centers of community spread of COVID-19. They are punishing us for the work stoppage. We had 30 percent student attendance yesterday, but teachers were there. AND our parking lot was plowed by what must have been a four-foot clown in a car full of rabid squirrels. We are up to 67 percent student attendance today.

Sidewalk snow not removed by Juarez High School in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago (Photo: sent by parent)

She also took note of the shambolic COVID-19 testing at her school. So the people that are supposed to come and test us weekly have been to our school once in the month of January. We were promised weekly tests, and they continue to not come to our school so. ... They randomly came one day when there were no children in the building and with no warning for a random hour when we all had meetings.

I havent received PPE since the first and it was barely enough to keep afloat until the third quarter. Nothing for the students until the work stoppage. Now we have a ton of cloth masks for the little ones. We are told cloth masks arent effective, so they just sit there. I have received at most 100 masks total for myself and my students for about 70 days of school.

Asked if teachers, staff and students were given high-quality N95 masks, she replied, No, they have not. I mean, there have been a few thrown our way and our kids way, if needed, but they are too big for the little ones. In regard to N95s, maybe 25?

She added, The promise of testing is also ridiculous. And do you know that they are asking volunteers within the school to do contact tracing as a non-paid tireless job? That is the only way contact tracing will now happen.

Besides saving lives during the surge, what the hell was the work stoppage actually for? A lot of really poor and really passionate people lost a lot of good pay because of it, and the union, who did not lose pay, did nothing.

On January 26, school officials alerted families on Facebook that Corkery Elementary in the Little Village neighborhood would open despite having no heat, electricity or phone service after a transformer failed in the neighborhood. The temperatures that day were in the single digits Fahrenheit with negative wind chill. School staff were outside speaking with families during drop-off about the situation. CPS reportedly served breakfast and had students in class by 8:00 a.m. Power was not restored until 9:35 a.m.

Parents were outraged that there was even a question about opening the school buildings. What I dont understand is why in the world this building is open to anyone? Its not even safe for staff, let alone children. No one should even have to make this choice, one mom wrote.
On my way to the airport at four oclock in the morning, I was considering my choice of flight departure time. I did this to myself last weekend when I flew to Dallas. I scheduled myself on super early flights. I was getting up at three oclock in the morning. For me, thats a bedtime, not a
Three men involved in a neo-Nazi demonstration near Orlando, Florida last weekend have been arrested and charged with hate crimes for physically assaulting Jewish student David Newstat when he stopped his car and told the fascists that they were not welcome in the area.

Police stand in front of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

The Orange County Sheriffs Office charged Burt Colucci and Joshua Terrell of Kissimmee with battery evidencing prejudice for the attack on Newstat, who is a University of Central Florida college student. The battery charge, normally a first-degree misdemeanor, is being upgraded to a third-degree felony under Floridas hate crime law.

The charges against the two are based on a review by Sheriff John Mina of social media videos and those taken by the defendant Colucci and other neo-Nazis as evidence for the arrests. A video taken by Newstat showed Colucci approaching his car and spitting at him while shouting anti-Semitic slurs.

Other videos showed Newstat being punched repeatedly by Terrell and pepper-sprayed by Colucci. The third man arrested, Jason Brown of Cape Canaveral, was arrested and charged with grand theft for stealing Newstats phone which was later recovered and deemed damaged beyond repair.

Colucci, 45, is the leader of a fascist group called the National Socialist Movement (NSM) that organized the demonstration in Orlando. At the time of his arrest, he was facing different charges for pointing a loaded handgun at a Black man and threatening to kill him and his friends outside of a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona last April.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NSM was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1994 and was at one time among the most active neo-Nazi groups in the US. It is known for organizing demonstrations with members clad in black uniforms and swastika arm-bands and shouting racial and anti-Semitic epithets at bystanders and challenging them to fight.

The events in Orlando, Florida are part of the surge in anti-Semitic threats and acts of violence which have been on the rise throughout the US during the two years of the coronavirus pandemic. The increase in the instances of anti-Semitic attacks is directly related to the growth of fascist political tendencies inside of the Republican Party and the neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups that operate in and around the periphery of the GOP.

This relationship was dramatically deepened during the presidency of Donald Trump and emerged visibly during the January 6 mob attack on the US Capitol that was aimed at overturning the 2020 elections and overthrowing the US Constitution. Among the far-right and neo-Nazi groups espousing anti-Semitism that participated in the January 6 assault were QAnon supporters, Proud Boys, 3 Percenters, Boogaloo Boys, The Oath Keepers and the NSC-131.

The most recent Audit of anti-Semitic Incidents by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) showed that there were more than 2,100 acts of assault, vandalism and harassment, an increase of 12 percent over the previous year. This was the highest level of such incidents since the ADL tracking began in 1979. The report documented five fatalities directly linked to antisemitic violence and another 91 individuals targeted in physical assaults.

A report entitled, The State of Antisemitism in America published by the American Jewish Committee last October showed deep anxiety among American Jews and divergent views among the general public about the severity of antisemitism in the United States. Among the key findings of the report are: one in four American Jews say they have been targets of antisemitism in the last 12 months; four in ten American Jews have changed their behavior out of fear; four out of ten of all Americans have personally witnessed antisemitic incidents; and 82 percent of American Jews say anti-Semitism has risen over the last five years while only 44 percent of the general public believes that to be the case.

Fears among Jews grew significantly following the armed hostage-taking incident at a synagogue in the Fort Worth suburb of Colleyville, Texas on January 15. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has characterized the ten-hour standoffin which the hostages escaped, and the hostage taker Briton Malik Faisal Akram was killedas an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community.

In Florida, the ADLs data shows that anti-Semitic incidents rose by 40 percent in 2020 with 127 occurrences of harassment and vandalism reported in the state. Among the incidents reported were a Jewish elementary school student in Broward County who was threatened by a peer who told him that he had a gun and that Hitler should have finished the job. In another case, a Jewish man in Miami-Dade County and his 12-year-old son were verbally harassed by a passerby who shouted antisemitic slurs and threats telling the two Im going to fucking kill you, fucking Jews. He followed the father and son into an ice cream shop where he shouted, Fuck the Jews, your time has come.

In another incident in Broward County, a flier was distributed which read, Our patience has its limits one day we will shut their dirty lying Jewish mouths.

During the weekend of January 22, anti-Semitic fliers were distributed to hundreds of homes in Miami Beach and Surfside, Florida with large Jewish populations. The flyer listed the names of approximately one dozen Washington DC public health officials leading the government response to COVID-19 and said that every single one is Jewish.

As reported Wednesday by the World Socialist Web Site, when Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis was questioned about the fascist attack on David Newstat in Orlando, he refused to condemn the neo-Nazis. Instead, he falsely accused Democrat and practicing Muslim Ilhan Omar of Minnesota of anti-Semitism, without mentioning her by name, saying, Im not going to have people try to smear me who belong to a political party that has elevated anti-Semites to the halls of Congress.

This is the same kind of tactic used by Donald Trump, who refused repeatedly to denounce the rampage of white-supremacists and neo-Nazis through Charlottesville, Virginia on August 1112, 2017, which ended in the murder of counter-protester Heather Heyer. Instead, Trump referred to the Unite the Right demonstratorsincluding numerous armed and right-wing militia groups who marched through Charlottesville with torches, carrying Confederate flags, wearing Nazi symbols and chanting Jews Will Not Replace Usas very fine people.
In a remarkable exchange on Thursday, State Department spokesman Ned Price was challenged by Matt Lee from the Associated Press for selling baseless allegations about an impending attack by Russia on Ukraine to the public as facts based on declassified information.

Ned Price (Credit: C-SPAN)

Ned Pricea former CIA operativeappeared before the press on Thursday, declaring, The United States has information that Russia is preparing fabricated attacks by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces as a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine.

This would involve, Price continued, the production of a propaganda video with graphic scenes of false explosions, depicting corpses, crisis actors pretending to be mourners, and images depicting destroyed locations and military equipmententirely fabricated by Russian intelligence. To be clear, the development of such a propaganda video is one of many options that the Russian government is developing as a fake pretext to initiate and potentially justify military aggression against Ukraine.  Russia has indicated its willing to continue to diplomatic talks, but actions such as this suggest otherwise.

Turning to the press for questioning, Price clearly expected everything to go as usual. In the past three decades, the US government and intelligence agencies have fabricated one lie after another to justify the illegal invasion and destruction of entire countries in Yugoslavia, the Middle East and North Africa, with little to no questioning from the media. On the contrary, these lies were gladly picked up and recycled by the New York Times and other outlets that then either cheered on the bombing of innocent civilians or covered up these war crimes.

Julian Assange, who has exposed some of the most horrendous war crimes of US imperialism, has been persecuted, surveilled and tortured at the behest of Washington for over a decade and now faces extradition to the US. The vast majority of American media outlets and journalists have dropped any pretense of defending Assange and, along with that, the freedom to publish and free speech.

Yet, in a rare moment of lucidity and sign of critical thinking among journalists, Matt Lee from the Associated Press challenged Price after the conclusion of his presentation.

State Department spokesman Ned Price questioned by AP reporter Matt Lee starting at 2:00 (C-Span)

The exchange is worth quoting at some length.

Matt Lee: What actions [suggesting that Russia is not interested in diplomatic talks] are you talking about? Ned Price: The action that I just pointed out, the fact that Russia continues to engage in disinformation. Matt Lee: You made an allegation that they might do that, have they actually done it? Ned Price: What we know Matt is what I have just said is that they have engaged in that activity. Matt Lee: What activity? What activity? Ned Price:.We told you a few weeks ago that we have information that Russia has also already prepositioned a group of operatives conditioned to conduct a false flag [operation] in Eastern Ukraine. So that, Matt, to your question, is an action that Russia has already undertaken. Matt Lee: It is an action that you say that they have taken, but you have shown no evidence to confirm that and Im going to get to the next question here which is: What is the evidence that they planned [this action]? What is this? Crisis actors? Really? I mean this is Alex Jones territory youre getting into now. What evidence do you have to support the idea that there is some propaganda film in the making? Ned Price: This is derived from information known to the US government, intelligence information that we have declassified. Matt Lee: OK well where is it? Where is this information? Ned Price: It is intelligence information that we have declassified. Matt Lee: But where is it? Where is the declassified information? Ned Price: I just delivered it. Matt Lee: No, you made a series of allegations.  Ned Price: What would you like Matt? Matt Lee: I would like to see some proof that you can show that shows that the Russians have been doing this. Ned Price: You have been doing this for Matt Lee: Thats right, I have been doing this for a long time.  I remember WMDs [weapons of mass destruction] in Iraq, and I remember that Kabul was not gonna fall.I remember a lot of things. So where is the declassified information other than you coming out saying it?

With just one simple questionwhat evidence do you have?Lee threw Price completely off and exposed a simple fact: The current press campaign over an allegedly impending Russian invasion of Ukraine and false flag attacks has no more credibility than Colin Powells lies of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

This campaign is aimed at creating both a pretext for conflict, and conditions where Russia can be blamed for such a war. In fact, the allegations of a false flag operation being prepared by Russia are a clear indicator that a real false flag operation is being concocted by the CIA and the White House. Its likely helpers and executors are US proxy forces in Ukraine, chief among them neo-Nazi paramilitaries like the Azov Battalion, which have been heavily armed and funded by Washington and NATO over the past several years.

But the exchange didnt end here. Clearly irritated by Lee falling out of line, Price said, Im sorry you dont like the content, Im sorry youre doubting the information that is in the possession of the US government.  If you doubt credibility of the US government, of the British government and of other governments and want to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do.

This implicit questioning of Matt Lees national loyaltyif you want to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to dohas a sinister and threatening undertone. It is a clear indicator that preparations for both war and dictatorship are well underway. Everyone is supposed to fall in line for the sake of national unity and defense of the fatherland. Those who question the US government, the intelligence agencies and the military will be portrayed as friends of Putin, and, by extension, traitors to the fatherland.

The first victim of war is the truth. This is why the role of the mediaor, rather, the transformation of the media into a tool of government propagandais critical for every war effort. The very fact that Price was taken aback by a long-time journalist daring to doubt the credibility of the US government, of the British government and of other governmentsthe most basic professional obligation of any journalist worth the nameshows that the integration of the media into the state and security apparatus is already very far advanced.

But the exchange also shows something else: the extreme nervousness of the ruling class. The most basic of all journalistic questions clearly threw Price off and exposed the fabrications of the latest propaganda effort of the US state machine as a house of cards, ready to collapse at the slightest pressure.

Neither this nervousness nor the war hysteria and preparations can be understood outside their class context. The United States is a powder keg. Over 900,000 people have died from COVID-19 in a preventable pandemic. The lives of millions of workers have been upended by social misery and the deaths of their loves ones, while the billionaires and pandemic profiteers have grown their wealth to staggering proportions. These conditions are mirrored internationally.

To divert tensions outward and preempt a social explosion, the bourgeoisie sees only one way out: war. But the same objective tendencies drive the international working class onto the opposite road, the road of social revolution. It is this development that must form the basis for the building of a socialist anti-war movement.
The New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) this week called for a vote on whether to hold a statewide strike on February 15.

In a live Facebook video on Wednesday, Brett Holmes, general secretary of the union, said, while the union doesnt recommend industrial action lightly, the NSW Liberal-National government has given us no other choice.

Nurses and midwives demonstrate last year at Tweed Heads Hospital [Source: NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Facebook]

In reality, it is the mounting anger and frustration among health workers over the catastrophic state of the health system amid the surging COVID-19 pandemic that has forced the NSWNMA to call the vote.

In an indication of the high level of support for industrial action among health workers, Reddit user Gorfob reported yesterday that 95.9 percent of their NSWNMA branch had voted in favour of the strike.

Around the country, 4,261 people are hospitalised for COVID-19, with 302 in intensive care. In NSW alone, 2,337 people are hospitalised, with 152 in intensive care. Across Australia 523 people have died from COVID-19 in the past week, including 81 reported today.

While Holmes noted in the Facebook video, nurses and midwives are now expected to cope with the unprepared consequences of a let it rip strategy, the union issued no demand for a reversal of the murderous policy.

Instead, the proposed strike is deliberately designed to constrain the anger of nurses within the narrow confines of appeals for unspecified improvements to nurse-patient ratios and pay.

Emphasising the narrow focus of the union and its intent to contain the dispute within state borders, the only government mentioned by Holmes was that of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

The reality is, the hospital system in every state faces a crisis. The criminal reopening drive that has led to mass infection, hospitalisation and death is the policy of the entire Australian political establishment, in line with the demands of big business. This includes Labor, with which the unions collaborate closely, and of which many of their top bureaucrats are party members.

The proposed strike will centre around a protest outside the state parliament, and Holmes said the aim was to make them listen and urgently address this crisis.

In fact, the purpose of the strike is to let off steam and prevent a broader mobilisation against the increasingly impossible conditions confronting health workers and the entire working class.

The vote is only open to NSWNMA members working in public hospitals with local branches of the union. This excludes whole sections of nurses, including those working in the aged care sector, in which there are currently 525 COVID-19 outbreaks in New South Wales. Across the state, 2,847 aged care residents and 3,720 staff are currently infected. Australia-wide, at least 533 aged care residents have died from the virus since the beginning of the year.

The strike would also exclude doctors, paramedics, orderlies, cleaners, and other hospital workers, who likewise confront the daily threat of infection, illness and death from COVID-19, and who face similar pressure to work long hours with minimal breaks.

Shaye Candish, the assistant general secretary, said the ballot call was prompted by an overwhelming response from nurses to a union survey issued the previous week, which clearly indicated that you supported immediate action being taken now.

This survey can only be seen as an attempt to head off, or at least delay, the NSWNMAs reluctant call for statewide industrial action. It means they are effectively being balloted twice, under conditions in which it was certainly not necessary to gauge the sentiment of nurses, the anger is obvious.

On January 19, around 60 intensive care nurses rallied outside Sydneys Westmead Hospital. On that occasion, Candish admitted there was broad discussion of strikes among health workers, but made clear that the union was working to keep its members on the job.

Candish said right now our members are mostly concerned about getting through this pandemic.

Ahead of the statewide strike, nurses at the Port Macquarie Base Hospital in the Mid-North Coast region of NSW will hold a rally tomorrow over the COVID-19 staffing crisis. President of the hospitals NSWNMA branch, Mark Brennan, made clear that the demonstration was merely to raise awareness. He said: It isnt a strike, so nursing staff that are working won't be attending the rally.

As Australia confronted a massive surge in infections, hospitalisations and deaths when the arrival of Omicron was met with the removal of virtually all public health measures to limit the spread of the virus, social media and the corporate press were full of accounts of health workers exposing the immense crisis in the hospital system.

Many were driven to the point of resigning. On Wednesday, Reddit user Pockets7777 wrote: My last shift working for NSW health is the 13th of Feb. I cant take another year of being treated like a piece of garbage by executives and by politicians who have zero clue what our job entails.

In late December, when the NSW government changed COVID-19 isolation rules for health workers, forcing potentially infectious nurses to return to work, the NSWNMA tacitly endorsed the move. Holmes said: In the best possible world this change should not have been needed but we have a situation where COVID-19 is compromising our health staff such that the system cannot continue to operate.

Holmes said on Wednesday: Over the past two years your association has been advocating for your rights relating to personal protective equipment and, since October, a COVID allowance.

Throughout the pandemic, NSWNMA has repeatedly shut down strikes over pay and staffing, and limited industrial action to brief stoppages at individual facilities.

The call for a statewide strike is a reflection of the growing anger among health workers. But the exclusion of whole sections of health workers and the orientation of the action to making appeals of the very government that caused the crisis makes clear that the unions aim is to control and suppress opposition to the bipartisan let it rip policy.

Nurses must take warning from the attempts of the NSWNMA to limit that action as much as possible and its record of collaboration with government throughout the pandemic. Lessons must be drawn from the experience of two previous strikes in June/July 2021, which the union isolated and divided up, while sowing such confusion that many nurses did not know who was striking or when. At a protest last December over conditions, the union only mentioned the pandemic once.

The conclusion that must be drawn is that for even a one-day strike to occur, and for it to be broadened, nurses must begin organising independently of the union, including through the establishment of their own rank-and-file committees. But 24 hours will not resolve the hospital crisis, nor will Perrottet or any other big business politician change course based on plaintive appeals.

What is required is a political movement of healthcare workers and the working class as a whole fighting for a massive expansion of the public hospital system, including pay increases for nurses and all other workers, and a vast increase of staffing to address patient ratios. This must be connected to a struggle for the repudiation of the ruling elites let it rip pandemic policies, and for the elimination of the virus.

Ultimately, the pandemic has demonstrated that the most basic social needs, including to health and life itself, are incompatible with capitalism, a society where everything is subordinated to the profit interests of the corporate elite. The alternative is the fight for a society based on social equality, that is a fight for workers governments and socialism.
Edgar Ruiz (Credit Facebook, Building America USA)

On January 18, Edgar Ruiz died on the job from in an industrial accident at the Port of Los Angeless Maersk Terminal. Ruiz was in the process of setting up a crane at the port when a 4,500 lbs. piece of metal, that had slipped from a forklift, fell on him. Ruiz was 37 years old.

In the two weeks since this tragic death, not much information has been made available on the details of the incident. Ruiz worked for BHC Crane LLC as a crane oiler, a job that he was new at. A crane oiler is responsible for assembly and disassembly of cranes, maintenance and lubrication and some repairs.

The day of his death, Ruiz was in the process of assembling a crane that had been delivered that morning. This task is, normally and contractually, carried out in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, by longshore workers, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). Ruiz was a member of Operating Engineers Union, Local 12.

On that day, Ruizs normal partner, a crane operator, who operated a forklift while the crane was being assembled, was absent. Instead, Ruiz was ordered to begin the assembly process, while the forklift was operated by one of his bosses, a co-owner of BHC Crane.

Whether the replacement for the regular crane operator, who was operating the forklift that day, was qualified under the terms of the 104 page master agreement (see page 37 paragraph number 3) between Local 12 and the Contractors Association, is not clear. According to one observer, however, the forklift was lifting the heavy piece of metal from below, instead of hoisting it from above. Everything indicates that time was a factor and the workers were speeding up an already risky process.

Very little information was made available at the time of the incident. Sixteen days later, crucial details were published by the LA Countys Random Length News magazine, indicating that it took more than an hour for emergency personnel to arrive at the scene of the accident. The APM Maersk terminal, the largest container port terminal in the Western Hemisphere, has no medical facility for its thousands of workers. Initially, the call for help was placed to the Port of LA administrative building, and not to 911.

Three days before Ruizs accident, another incident happened that exposed the role of the ILWU. On January 15, a Sunday, Chulaih Ang, a 64-year-old ILWU dockworker was struck and killed by a transtainer (a crane that handles containers at the terminal) at a container terminal in the Port of Long Beach. Ang was taken to a hospital, where he died. As with the death of Ruiz, it took more than two weeks before more complete information was released.

Until recently Ruiz had been an iron worker, a member of Ironworkers Local 433. This week, Local 433 posted an in-memoriam page for Ruiz on its Facebook page.

The World Socialist Web Site was first informed about this tragedy by a person who knew Ruiz well and who was perplexed why this fatal accident was being ignored by the media and the unions. Of course, I have an opinion, that the people in charge are rushing workers and cutting corners to make more money, said Ruizs friend.

Although it is dangerous work, shipping is very profitable, and the pandemic has been good for business. The Port of LA and Maersk made record profits last year. Kind of reminds me of that Viet Nam era poster: WAR is good for the economy. Enlist your son. Im amazed that the people in charge NEVER enlist their sons to fight the wars or unload the cargo, but somehow manage to take off with all the profits! his friend continued.

The available evidence supports and confirms the above statement. Ruizs comrade also confirmed that at BHC workers and dock workers face workdays of up to 20 hours. Some days Ruiz would come home and be called back to work another shift.

Container terminals have much higher fatality and injury rates than all other workplaces. According to a report by NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), between 2011 and 2017 fatal injuries at container terminals occurred at a rate of 15.9 per 100,000 workers, five times the rate for all workers (including longshore workers). The rate for all injuries was 4,916 per 100,000 workers, almost double the average for the total US workforce.

Fatigue, part-time work, and lack of experience compound the dangers, factors that have become more and more common during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 1,700 dockworkers tested positive for COVID in January at LA and Long Beach terminals, topping the number of infections in all of 2021 (1,624). One in ten ILWU members were sidelined last month. The day of Ruizs fatal accident, 150 dockworkers had tested positive. The previous week, Los Angeles County, where most dockworkers live, had logged 200,000 new cases of COVID-19.

With COVID spreading widely, both ports continue operating and have imposed extended hours on their workers, effectively placing the profits of the shipping oligopolies over workers lives. In this, they counted on the collaboration of the ILWU and Operating Engineers.

The ILWU would have not publicized the death of Ang, except that workers at the scene took cellphone photos, prompting the ILWU to issue a statement warning workers over sharing the photos.

For its part, the Operating Engineers union has totally ignored Edgar Ruizs death.

Ruizs death took place at the Maersk APM Terminal, the largest terminal in the port of Los Angeles. Its owner, Maersk, is the second largest of the handful of container oligopolies, with 738 ships and 17 percent market share. The profits of the Denmark-based company tripled in in 2021, as the price of container shipping exploded.

These oligopolies, which act as an international cartel (described as a money printing machine by industry insiders) taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to raise daily shipping prices per forty-foot container, from $1,400 in 2019 to $4,000 in 2020 to over $10,000 this month. The shipping cartel, its individual member firms, and their stockholders are predicted to do even better this year.

The cover-up of deaths and injuries, the product of unsafe conditions, serves definite social interests. The indifference of the media and the collaboration by the unions with the employers in enforcing unsafe conditions are carried out in order to facilitate the uninterrupted flow of profits to the giant shipping concerns.

This tragedy points to the need for longshore workers to take matters into their own hands. They must form rank-and-file committees, independent of the pro-management unions, to follow up and investigate every injury and death. Workers must have the absolute right to refuse work under unsafe conditions without reprisal. In this fight, longshore workers should link up with dock workers across the world in a common fight against a capitalist system that puts profits ahead of lives.

Edgar was married and expecting a child. His family has set up a GoFundMe page to cover expenses.
The top of a police car (Pixabay)

A federal lawsuit in Northern Virginia alleges Fairfax County police officers protected a sex trafficking ring in exchange for freely sexually assaulting the victims. The lawsuit was filed late in 2021 by civil rights attorney Victor Glasberg and also names former Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler as a defendant.

In December, Glasberg revealed the names of two officers: Michael O. Barbazette and Jason J. Mardocco, after the attorney obtained a court order requiring the police to identify the officers allegedly involved. Barbazette and Mardocco are no longer on the force.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of an anonymous 43-year-old Costa Rican woman who was one of the alleged victims of the sex trafficking, states that the officers would alert the trafficking ring in advance of police sting operations.

According to the lawsuit, the Costa Rican Jane Doe was recruited to work as an escort in the United States. However, when she arrived in late 2010, the leader of the trafficking ring, Hazel Sanchez Cerdas, stole her passport and forced her to have sex with up to 17 customers a day, according to NBC Washington. This included particularly humiliating or dangerous sex acts. Sanchez served five years in prison for her part in the crimes.

I begged the county to resolve this without litigation. I said, Lets get some accountability here, Glasberg disclosed to NBC. In the end, they told me to go pound sand.

Roessler, the police chief, allegedly covered up for the officers when another detective threatened to expose their misconduct. William Woolf, an anti-sex trafficking detective, alleged he was threatened by high-ranking officers in the Fairfax police. According to the lawsuit, Woolf received menacing phone calls from Roessler suggesting he play ball, or cooperate with the police.

Fairfax County is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States with a median household income of about $124,000. The county, located in Virginias suburbs near Washington D.C., is also the states most populous, with a total of 1,150,000 residents according to the 2020 census. The Fairfax County police force is the largest in the state, with 1,400 officers.

When Woolf complained to his supervisor Captain James Baumstark about the departments thuggery, Baumstark allegedly declined to help him and instead ordered him to forget what he had learned about the trafficking. Woolf was the only officer working on the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force, an underfunded part of the countys law enforcement bureau.

This is not the first time the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) has been accused of abuses of power. A study published last June by the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Cincinnati revealed that Fairfax police use higher levels of force against civilians than police violence researchers had previously believed.

Based on a three-year study of 1,360 incidents in which force was used, the study determined force was used County-wide more often than expected against White and Black civilians when resistance, race and other factors were taken into consideration.

The Fairfax County Police Department is only one of many police departments in the region that have engaged in malicious behavior, which is primarily directed against the working class.

Earlier this month, Democratic Attorney General of Virginia Mark R. Herring disclosed that Virginia Beach police had repeatedly used forged documents purporting to be from the state Department of Forensic Science during interrogations, falsely allowing suspects to believe DNA or other forensic evidence had tied them to a crime.

According to the Washington Post, Herring, who has since been replaced by Republican Attorney General Jason S. Miyares, declared [t]his was an extremely troubling and potentially unconstitutional tactic that abused the name of the Commonwealth to try to coerce confessions.

The Virginia Beach Police Department declared the method was legal but that it was not in the spirit of what the community expects.

In October 2021, US District Judge Claude Hilton dismissed all criminal charges against the two officers involved in the 2017 killing of motorist Bijan Ghaisar. The 25-year-old was killed in a fusillade of bullets after leading two US Park Police on a short chase in a residential area. The Fairfax County Commonwealths Attorney and Virginia Attorney Generals Office are appealing the ruling.

Miyares, Virginias new Republican Attorney General and the son of Cuban anticommunist expatriates, has very different visions for the office. According to the Post, Miyares began his tenure as the states top law enforcement official by firing about 30 of the roughly 450 members of [his] staff. They included attorneys who worked on civil rights, opioids, human trafficking and election issues.
In this video interview, Australian respiratory physician and environmental epidemiologist Professor Guy Marks speaks with the World Socialist Web Site about a recent statement issued by himself and two other leading Australian epidemiologistsBrendan Crabb and Raina MacIntyre. Entitled Backed by Science: Heres How We Can Eliminate COVID-19 their appeal was published on January 23 in Health Policy Watch and reported on the WSWS.

Marks is president of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, current head of the Respiratory and Environmental Epidemiology group at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and professor of respiratory medicine at University of New South Wales. In 2016, he began working with the World Health Organisation to develop a global strategy to combat chronic lung disease. In 2020, he was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in recognition of his outstanding contributions to health and medical research.

We encourage readers to share this interview widely on social media and watch other videos at the Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic page on the WSWS.
In what would seem to be an item straight out of a satirical journal, Artnet News announced this week that An Artist Placed a Cube Made From $11.7 Million Worth of Gold in Central ParkProtected By Its Own Security Detail. Instead, however, of skewering the absurdities and charlatanry of the art world, the Artnet News item treats the story and the art with utter seriousness.

The gold cube [Credit: @putinnty/Twitter]

We learn that The Castello Cube by German artist Niclas Castello (born 1978), a hollow, foot-and-a-half cube with quarter-inch walls made of 24 carat gold and weighing 410 pounds, was installed as a piece of public art in New York Citys Central Park for one day only, February 2.

The cube was cast in a special kiln in Aarau, Switzerland, able to withstand the 1,100 degrees Celsius required to melt such a quantity of the valuable metal, now going for $1,800 an ounce. The work was then transported to Central Park, where it was displayed under armed guard to passersby, unlikely to encounter another item of such value in their lifetimes. According to Artnet News, the cube was subsequently scheduled to make its way to a private dinner on Wall Street, where numerous celebrities are said to be attending.

Niclas Castello's official website

With the pretentiousness typical of such figures, who combine banal artistic literalness with extravagant claims, Castello has termed his cube a conceptual socle du monde [base of the world] sculpture for our time. The reference is to Italian artist Piero Manzonis Socle du Monde, an iron and bronze plinth installed upside down in Herning, Denmark in 1961 which announces that the whole world is a work of art, rendering the artist obsolete.

In any event, Castellos cube is more than just a cube. Its debut in the park was accompanied by the launch of a cryptocurrency called The Castello Coin, traded as $CAST. This is apparently available for purchase online at an initial price of 0.39 ($0.44) each, with an accompanying NFT [non-fungible token] auction scheduled for February 21. So the precious cube is also a potential rain of gold for the artist and its owners as long as the market holds up.

Viennese gallerist Lisa Kandlhofer, who was in New York for the artworks launch, kept up the blather. The cube can be seen as a sort of communique between an emerging 21st-century cultural ecosystem based on crypto and the ancient world where gold reigned supreme, she told the media. Gold and its equivalents still do reign supreme among the citys multi-millionaires and billionaires, engorged by the ever rising stock market during a pandemic that has claimed more than 5.7 million lives worldwide. According to a recent report from Realm Global real estate, New York is still home to the richest people on the planet. As of December 2020, the city had nearly 25,000 individual homeowners with an ultra-high net worth, defined as $30 million or above. With all that excess cash, what could be better than studying your reflection in a golden cube?

Various commentators pointed to the obscenity of a hollow square worth $12 million being plunked down in a city park where many homeless people sleep, even in mid-winter. One critic noted on Twitter that she had a friend who lived with his dog  in the rock formations at Central Park. When the animal got sick, there was only one vet whod treat her for free, so every day he walked 100+ blocks to the Bronx because he couldnt afford subway fare. But sure, lets add a gold cube. Another put in, They put a gold cube with security detail in the park where homeless people regularly freeze to death.

Castellos piece has been compared to other art works purporting to critique the indebtedness of artists to the desire of the super-rich to show off their wealth, which it is argued has long played a role in patronage and art commissions. During those centuries when art retained a court character, its social and even personal dependence was not concealed but was openly declared. However, even the art of the court of absolute monarchies was based on idealization but not on falsification (Trotsky). Such relationships, for example, resulted in the commissions of Pope Julius II for the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo and Titians poesies murals for Spains Philip II.

That kind of art work, the result of talent, skill and insight into the myriad contradictions of human existence, which continues to resonate with viewers centuries later, is a far cry from a cube of gold. If one were to take at face value the claims of the apologists for Castellos art that his block of metal is meant as some sort of social analysis, the artist has still entirely abdicated his responsibility. The task of the artist is not to wallow in the foulness of contemporary society, much less to profit from it but to make sense of it. Bearing in mind that Castello, born in Stalinist East Germany and having grown up under the bombardment of rubbish about the fall of communism and the end of history, is a victim of historical processes himself, doesnt make his response to his time any less deplorable.

Parallels abound to the ancien regime on the eve of the French Revolution of 1789 and Queen Marie Antoinettes possibly apocryphal response to the starving masses, Let them eat cake, or in this case, Let them see gold. This outlook epitomizes the callousness and shortsightedness of a ruling class that has lost its head.

At the same time, as much as anything else, the golden cube in Central Park speaks to the bankruptcy, emptiness and, frankly, irrelevance of much of the contemporary art world.
At least 21 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) received bomb threats over the course of two days earlier this week, triggering a wave of fear and anxiety among students and staff, and forcing many of the colleges to lock down their campuses or cancel classes as law enforcement investigated the threats.

Howard University (Wikimedia Commons)

At least six colleges reported bomb threats on Monday, January 31. This includes Howard University in Washington, D.C.; Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida; Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware; Albany State University in Georgia and Bowie State University in Maryland. The following day, which was also the first day of Black History Month, saw more than a dozen additional colleges targeted.

NBC News reported on Wednesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had identified six persons of interest. The FBI described the offenders as tech-savvy juveniles that utilized sophisticated methods to try to disguise the source of the threats, which appear to have a racist motivation.

The Associated Press reported details provided by Daytona Beach police chief Jakari Young on the threats made against Bethune-Cookman University. Young described a 20-minute phone call, during which the caller who claimed to be part of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi terrorist group, outlined a convoluted plot involving multiple bombs and a threatened mass shooting.

In most cases, the bombing threats were delivered over phone calls made in the early morning hours. Many of the colleges issued lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders while FBI and other law enforcement agencies searched their campuses. At Xavier University of Louisiana, for example, the college administration evacuated the threatened area and issued a campus lockdown until it was determined to be safe.

For Howard University, the threats made on February 1 marked the third time in a month that the college had been menaced with violence. On January 5, Howard was among at least 8 HBCUs that reported bomb threats.

No sign of explosives was found at any of the targeted colleges. But the threats caused significant disruption, while provoking fear, anger and apprehension among students and faculty.

The Washington Post quoted Jamera Forbes, a senior at Morgan State University in Baltimore and president of the colleges student body as saying, [m]y main concern is my students mental health. As college students, we already have so much mentally to deal with Weve tried to push through and overcome so much with covid over the years, and were just trying to get back to a norm.

Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College in Atlanta, denounced the threats in an email to staff and students, The threats are despicable. They are designed to make us feel fearful and vulnerable.

The threats have been made under conditions in which schools and universities are becoming focal points of political radicalization. The reopening of schools for in-person learning in the midst of the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19, which has had predictably catastrophic results, has encountered significant opposition among students and educators, expressed most recently in the wave of protests and walkouts by high school students all over the United States.

The response of the Democratic Party, which has been leading the charge to reopen schools, has been first to center the discussion on race and second, to call for a heavier police presence on campuses. Typical was a perspective article in the Post by columnist Theresa Vargas, which declared: For many students, HBCUs are more than learning institutions. They are havens. They are second families. And the recent bomb threats have taken away the security that comes with having that space.

Howard University was itself the site of significant student protests last fall, with protesters occupying the student center and camping out in tents for over a month in protest of abysmal living conditions. The students were met with a heavy-handed response by the university administration, including attempts by the police to forcibly remove them.

The widespread existence of black mold in ventilation systems, vermin and rats living in student dormitories exposed the falsehoods spread by advocates of identity politics that HBCUs were havens and safe spaces for African American students.

While there can be no doubt that racism played a major role in the deliberate targeting of historically black colleges by white supremacists, the growth of far-right and fascistic forces in the United States and internationally has deep-going roots in the crisis of capitalism and of American democracy.

On the other hand, Democratic Party officials are utilizing the threats being made against HBCUs to promote the police and the FBI. The tone was set by Florida Democratic Representative and former police chief of Orlando Val Demings, who tweeted on January 31, [t]he threats against HBCUs today demand a response. As a former law enforcement officer I'll keep working to make sure our institutions and law enforcement have the resources they need to keep all of our students and communities safe.

Demings was on Democratic President Joseph Bidens shortlist for Vice President during the 2020 election before he selected then-California Senator Kamala Harris for the position. In April last year, Demings appeared on CBSs Face the Nation to defend the police killing of 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. Bryant was shot several times by an officer during a domestic disturbance.

Demings defended this action, saying at the time it appears that the officer responded as he was trained to do when he shot the teenager.

Demings comments on the bomb threats were reinforced by Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who told TheGrio that the administration takes these threats incredibly seriously. Psaki informed the news publication that the Department of Homeland Security is in close touch with law enforcement authorities at a federal and local level and was planning a response.

The Democratic Partys invocation of law-and-order echoes similar remarks made by the far-right Trump administration. I will always support the incredible men and women of law enforcement as much as you have always supported me, said Trump in 2017, shortly after taking office. 'Our country is suffering from a far-left radical movement ... that is trying to defame, demoralize, defund, dismantle and dissolve our great police departments,' he declared in August, 2020, amid mass anti-police brutality protests.

The Democratic Partys dual-promotion of law enforcement and racialist politics has been a constant theme following the mass protests against police brutality that swept the globe following the brutal murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Those protests, which were multiracial and multiethnic, were met with fierce repression by both the Democratic Party and by the Trump administration.

This promotion of the police and identity politics found a culmination in the election of former police officer Eric Adams as New York City mayor in November. Adams and the New York Democratic Party have been feverishly promoting law and order following the killing of two New York City police officers last week. On Thursday, President Biden joined Adams alongside leading New York City police officials to hail the resumption of anti-gang neighborhood safety patrols and call for more funding for police agencies across the country.
Asia

India: Power distribution workers protest nationally against privatisation

Thousands of workers from state-run power utilities across India demonstrated on Tuesday against the Modi governments privatisation plans and for other demands. Workers and engineers have called for withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021 which would allow private companies to enter the sector and compete with state-owned power companies.

Workers fear for their jobs and that there will be a concentration of private, profit-focussed utility players in the lucrative urban-industrial segments while poor and rural consumers would be supplied by the run-down public sector.

Other demands are for integration of all unbundled power utilities, restoration of a previous pension scheme for all power employees recruited after the unbundling of State Electricity Boards and for all outsourced power employees to be made permanent.

The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) and National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE) threatened to call a nationwide two-day strike of 1.5 million power workers on February 23.

Puducherry power utility workers on indefinite strike

On Tuesday around 2,000 workers from the Puducherry Electricity Department (PED) began an indefinite strike against the Modi government electricity privatisation bill. Police blocked strikers from marching to the PED head office but they protested nearby.

The workers were joined by union members from power companies in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Strikers have said they will not attend to any fault and not participate in bill collection and payment duties.

BEML workers in Karnataka protest against privatisation

Workers from the government-owned Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) demonstrated outside their factory in Mysuru, Karnataka on Tuesday in opposition to the Modi governments moves to privatise the company. BEML is an Indian Public Sector Undertaking headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

BEML, which employs nearly 8,000 workers, manufactures heavy equipment, such as that used for earth moving, transport and mining. Since 1964 it has been manufacturing equipment for defence, mining, railway and metro sectors. Workers said they will continue protests outside the plants main entrance until February 5.

Delhi medical staff demand payment of overdue salaries

Doctors, nurses and paramedics at the Delhi-East Corporation-run Swami Dayanand hospital protested at the hospital campus in Delhi on Tuesday over four months outstanding salaries. They said they will maintain the protest until salaries are paid.

Childcare workers in Delhi protest for job security

Childcare (anganwadi) workers from childcare centres in Delhi protested near the chief ministers residence on January 31 to demand government employee status. Protesters raised slogans and displayed placards demanding roll back of the National Education Policy (NEP).

While presently anganwadi workers teach children from 3-6 years of age, there are plans to absorb children in the 4-6-year age group into the preparatory classes under the NEP. The Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union said workers fear that unless they are employed as teachers in the education system, under the NEP their anganwadi professional existence will end.

Terminated telecommunications manufacturing workers in Karnataka protest

Terminated workers from the government-owned telecommunications equipment manufacturer Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) Limited, have been protesting for over two months outside the companys facility in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Workers began a hunger strike protest on January 31.

ITI laid off more than 80 workers after they formed a union. The workers were notified that they had been terminated when they arrived for work on December 1 and have since been refused entry.

Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government workers demand pay rise

Workers from various Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government departments demonstrated in the provinces capital Peshawar on January 26 demanding an immediate 25 percent pay increase. The large protest march and demonstration outside the provincial parliament blocked many key roads in the city.

Workers accused the government of not honouring a February 2021 agreement for a pay and pension increase. The government also failed to consolidate various allowances to the base pay also agreed at the time.

Thousands of teachers from Islamabad government schools demonstrated on Tuesday over the same issues. They protested outside the governments finance division and marched to parliament.

The All Government Employees Grand Alliance, an umbrella union, called the protests. It told the Peshawar workers that it would organise a protest march to Islamabad on February 10 if the government failed to meet their demands by February 5.

The union alliance has played a key role in bailing out the government as it continues implementing a severe austerity program. The union lied to the Peshawar workers that the federal government increased pay for Islamabad workers, falsely presenting the issue as limited to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, even as it was organising another limited protest to placate the growing anger among the teachers in Islamabad for not receiving a pay increase.

Karachi vaccination workers end eleven-day strike

Over 200 health workers and support staff at the Karachi Expo Centre, which serves as the largest COVID-19 vaccination hub in the Sindh province, called off their vaccinations boycott on Wednesday after the government agreed to pay wages withheld for the last nine months. Vaccination staff at Dow University Ojha campus and Khaliq Dina Hall were also not paid.

While holding limited protests, the workers continued to provide services in the last several months. But the continued refusal of the government, despite its increased demand for expanded vaccination services, prompted the workers to declare a complete boycott at the Expo Centre. The government has frequently made such false promises to workers.

Bangladeshi police use firearms against protesting garment workers

Police in Gazipur fired 30 shotgun rounds, 10 stun grenades and 6 tear gas shells against protesting garment workers on Tuesday. At least 13 workers were injured. Workers from the Tivoli Apparels factory at Tongi, in Gazipur were protesting against the closure of their factory.

The workers struck on January 29 over 13 demands, including the removal of a production manager who had harassed a female worker. They attempted to return to work after two days only to discover a closure notice at the factory gate.

The Tivoli Apparels workers began calling on fellow workers at nearby plants to join them. Fearful that the protest would spread, authorities at the nearby Sumi Apparels, RBSR Fashions and Radisson Apparels declared their factories closed. Police were deployed to the area.

Filipino power distribution workers vote to strike

Workers from the power distribution company Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) on January 29 voted for strike action. They are alleging that Ceneco failed to comply with the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) approved by management in September last year. Of the 322 who participated in the ballot, which included linemen, collectors, meter readers and tellers, 291 voted for strike action.

According to the Ceneco Union of Rational Employees (CURE), the company failed to pay an agreed 5 percent salary increase and instead demanded that workers should increase efficiency. Workers said the management demand was not mentioned in CBA negotiations. CURE also called on Ceneco to implement the 500-peso monthly allowance, which the company has not paid since July 2019, and release the 15,000-peso ($US295) sign-in bonuses for workers.

CURE must submit the ballot result to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and then wait for a seven-day cooling off period before taking industrial action.

Ceneco serves the cities of Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, Bago, and the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto. More than 200,000 residential, industrial and commercial consumers could be affected by the impending strike.

Australia

South Australian power utility workers strike

Members of four unions from South Australian Power Networks (SAPN) and Enerven, subsidiaries of Utilities Management Pty Ltd (UMPL), stopped work for several hours across South Australia on Wednesday morning in their long running dispute for an improved enterprise agreement. About 100 workers protested outside the SA Power/Enerven offices in Adelaide holding placards stating, Same job, less pay, no way and Shame SAPN.

The Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union, Australian Services Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Professionals Australia formed a single bargaining unit (SBU) June 2020 and has been in negotiations with UMPL since then. Workers have three times rejected the companys proposed agreement.

UMPL wants to establish a two-tier wage structure which will pay new recruits 20 percent less. It also wants the removal of limitations on the use of third-party contractorsincreasing job insecurity for permanent employees. The union has called for pay increases above 3.5 percent in a three-year agreement, no two-tier wage structure and further negotiations to resolve issues pending from the 2018 agreement.

SAPN and Enerven workers are covered under the same enterprise agreement with UMPL. UMPL wants two separate agreements which the unions rejected. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ruled in favour of UMPLs demand for two agreements. This is being appealed by the unions.

The unions have allowed the dispute to drag on by holding limited ad-hoc industrial action that commenced in April last year. Responding to members demand for more concrete action the unions called a day of action on February 1 urging all members to strike for 4 or 8 hours across the state. Further daily actions will be ad-hoc and uncoordinated.

New South Wales commuter rail workers resume limited industrial action

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union, representing workers at the government owned Sydney Trains and NSW Trains, has announced industrial action from February 6 to February 21. Action will consist of bans on working overtime, foreign depot work and working with contractors. The bans are part of four months of limited industrial action in negotiations for an improved enterprise agreement offer from Transport for NSW (TfNSW).

The union wants 3.5 percent annual pay increases, on par with the current official CPI of 3.5 percent, but far short of what is needed to keep up with the rapidly increasing cost of living. TfNSW is only offering a 2.5 percent annual pay rise that includes a 0.5 percent superannuation bump, meaning the actual wage increase would be just 2.04 percent  a pay cut.

Rail is the last mode of public transport to remain state-owned following the sell-off of the states bus and ferry networks, spearheaded by the Labor Party and enforced by the unions.

In preparation for possible privatisation, TfNSW has rejected demands that the new enterprise agreement retains base working conditions if employees are transferred to a private company, permanent job conversion for contractors after three months service and that any employee affected by a restructure or workplace change be given job priority in the new structure. TfNSW also wants to slash redundancy payments from a maximum of 64 weeks pay to 12 weeks.
Mack Trucks workers can contact the Mack Workers Rank-and-File Committee by texting 717-739-9517 or emailing MackWRFC@gmail.com.

According to workers at the Mack Trucks facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania, the company is currently using nonunion scab labor in violation of their contract.

A worker at Mack Trucks reached out to the World Socialist Web Site to express his exasperation at the company. According to the worker, the float, a section of the Macungie complex housing the trucks that still require the department to make corrections necessary for a final product, had reached a point of near-overflow in November. There were 2,000 unfinished vehicles in float at that time, he explained.

According to the worker, the company has been employing scabs, nonunion workers, to relieve the backlog. On the repair sheets, where a bargaining unit member would write their badge number, they have been seeing names, another worker explained. The worker added that instead of badge numbers, names are written, indicating they are employed from other sources.

According to the worker, the backlog had reached around 200 after the holidays, and Lehigh Valley Operations (LVO), where the float is located, had promised that the workers would be leaving within weeks.

Workers at Macungie have faced rolling temporary layoffs associated with part shortages. We worked on Christmas, when the float was down to 360. We were told that the scabs wouldnt be leaving until Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the worker added.

This policy of hiring contract labor to ease backlogs is an open violation of the Mack Trucks-United Auto Workers 2019 contract. A worker provided excerpts of the clause that the company was violating.

According to Article 27, Section 70: Outsourcing will be limited only to the extent of production online work and off-line sub-assembly work.

The contract, which the UAW declared achieved significant gains toward fair pay, benefits and job security protections at the time it was adopted in 2019, explicitly states: The company will not make sourcing decisions that have the potential to impact headcount without first describing the reasons for the contemplated decisions with the Union.

The UAW [Local 677] was totally unaware of the scabbing, the worker stated. According to him, the local had filed grievances on the grounds that it violated the contract, but the UAW International office was preventing them from being addressed.

When reached by phone, neither Mack Trucks, Local 677 nor the UAW national office would confirm if they knew about this ongoing violation of the contract. An official at the local UAW office told this reporter that the WSWS was anti-union and therefore refused to answer any questions.

The filing of grievances is a fundamental aspect of traditional trade union activity. By refusing to do so the UAW is helping to scab on its own members.

A look at other clauses in the current contract will demonstrate this fact:

The holidays scheduled in the Master Agreement between Mack Trucks and the UAW clearly lists 15 holidays to be paid in the 2020-2021 schedule and 15 holidays to be paid in the 2021-2022 schedule.

Three of the paid holidays during 2021 were conceded by the UAW when Mack decided to cancel payment for holidays scheduled for July 5, November 12 and December 24. The company scheduled a series of down weeks due to parts shortages on three separate holidays. This allowed it to make the claim that workers had not complied with Point 2 of Section 46, which requires them to work their full shift on the scheduled working day immediately before and after each holiday to receive holiday pay.

The UAW allowed management to get away with this, despite the obvious fact that workers had no possibility of working during the shutdowns. The union could have at least demanded a rescheduling of the paid holidays but neglected to do so because of its complete subservience to management.

Another article, Article 20, Strikes and Lockouts, declares the Union agrees that there shall be no authorized strikes during the term of this Agreement. The UAW agrees not to ratify any unauthorized strike and commits to take appropriate action to end the strike, including, but not limited to, public renunciation of the strike and instructions to employees to return to work.

While the UAW fails to address Mack Trucks violations, one can rest assured that this is a clause which it will not fail to uphold faithfully.

Under Article 21, Health and Safety, Mack Trucks goes so far as to recognize that it has an obligation to provide a safe and healthy environment for its employees. However, no sooner does it allow this than it snatches it back, declaring: However, the Company retains the final decision-making authority

Cynically, the document then adds that [t]his does not eliminate the Union from following the grievance procedure as outlined in Article 5 of the Master Agreement.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, autoworkers have seen their right to a safe environment disappear as corporations, with the crucial support of their so-called bargaining representatives, have enforced ruthless work schedules as workers fell sick and died. At Mack Trucks in Macungie, this has already led to significant numbers of infections and even deaths .

The Mack Workers Rank-and-File Committee, which was formed shortly after the UAWs criminal sellout of the 3,000-strong Volvo Trucks strike in Virginias New River Valley last year, has released a number of statements demanding protections from COVID-19, as well as calling for the mobilization of workers in support of rank-and-file struggles of workers in the United States and internationally.

The committees mission statement declares: The UAW we have now is not the UAW everyone fondly remembers from the days of old. Mack Trucks used to be a desirable place to work. All of the factors that made it desirable were conceded contract after contract by the UAW through concessions and erosions of workers rights. This was done quietly without a fight.

The committee calls on workers to [de]evelop lines of communication through independent worker-controlled rank-and-file committees and prepare to fight back against the Mack-Volvo and the UAWs joint attacks on us.

Mack Trucks workers can contact the Mack Workers Rank-and-File Committee by texting 717-739-9517 or emailing MackWRFC@gmail.com.
Nebraskas most populous city, Omaha, hit the grim milestone of 1,000 official deaths from COVID-19 this month, while the state as a whole has now lost 3,755 people to COVID-19. As in many other areas of the country, health care systems and their staff are strained to the maximum, with occupancy levels reaching 98 percent in many hospitals.

In some areas of Nebraska, COVID-19 patients have taken up 30 to 40 percent of hospital capacity during the Omicron surge, forcing one hospital to open a trailer on its grounds for respiratory therapy and two trailers for COVID-19 treatment infusions. The situation in rural areas is exacerbated by incredibly low vaccination rates, with some of Nebraskas counties hovering near 30 percent.

Students in an Omaha classroom [Credit: Omaha Public Schools Facebook]

In the midst of this nightmare scenario, Nebraskas political establishment is pursuing the homicidal herd immunity strategy pioneered by Trump and now adopted by the Biden administration. When Douglas County (Omaha) Health Director Dr. Lindsay Huse ordered an emergency mask mandate in January, Republican Governor Pete Ricketts threw his support behind Nebraska Attorney General (AG) Doug Peterson, who tried and failed to end the unlawful mandate via the Nebraska court system.

Despite the surge of the Omicron variant, schools continue to be in-person across Nebraska. In Omaha, the local children's hospital has seen pediatric hospitalizations rise to 18, with more children experiencing multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a potentially lethal condition linked to COVID-19. The local teachers union has taken no actions, and when teachers and parents have voiced their concerns to the board of Omaha Public Schools, they have gone unheard.

Amanda, a 2nd-grade teacher in Nebraska, and LaTrisha, a parent with a child in Omaha Public Schools (OPS), shared their views and concerns with the World Socialist Web Site.

Amanda expressed her anger with the current situation, stating, I think the most frustrating part is the fact that its almost that the union leadership is so afraid of parent backlash that they dont listen to our voices, the experts in our field. District leadership is never in our building. They dont come in. They dont see what we go through. They dont ask. Thats what makes it so frustrating right now, just not having our voices heard.

Right now, its all of the duties we have on top of COVID. You would think they would put a pause on professional development. The duties are just increasing and increasing. What is asked from us is increasing. Were in the middle of a surge. This is the most cases weve ever had and theyre bringing us all together to do professional development. Something that we could have logged in at home and covered. Trainings that we have to do right now when were trying to play catch up with kids that are a couple grade levels behind. I just feel like what theyre asking from us is overwhelming.

Theres not enough time in the day. We have students that are literally two grade levels behind. I have three students who were home-schooled. They came in as non-readers. They werent even learning. And so trying to catch them up when you have all of these expectations, MAP [standardized] testing, all of these things that we have to hit. Its hard. Its daunting.

Amanda also noted the safety of her family being of huge concern. She said, I have a toddler at home I have to protect. Shes not vaccinated yet. She cant be vaccinated. Its scary. I just feel like all theyre all saying we have to get back to normal. Now my administrator says our conferences are in February and they are on Zoom. However if parents request, they can do in-person. What? No? Why would they do that? Its not safe. Theyre just really trying to get back to this norm and were not anywhere close to that yet.

They dont provide us the proper PPE. Our district has never offered to give us N95 masks. That is something that weve asked our union president. Our district is not doing testing for students and staff. Its mindblowing how theyre trying to get back to normal so quickly. Its frustrating and thats why I hope I am able to resign at the end of the year. I cant take the stress anymore. Its too much.

She added, I think what I wish people knew is how difficult it is to teach in a pandemic. Its so much stress. Youre just constantly worried about kids getting sick, about bringing it to your family. Its just nonstop worry all the time.

Its a toxic atmosphere especially when nobody listens to you. I hope I can resign because I cant take it mentally any more. You feel like teachers are the bottom. Were supposed to be educating our kids and we cant even do that because were so stressed. Theres so much on our plates that we cant even help with the education that they need.

LaTrisha, who like many parents is concerned about the safety of her children and teachers, expressed sympathy with the plight of teachers, saying, What Ive heard about safety precautions and PPE in school is that they are continuing to make sure students have masks, are wearing them properly, distancing them while theyre having lunch. So, they split the classroom, so half in the cafeteria and half in the classroom to eat lunch, six feet apart.

Ive been in the school before the pandemic. Its a beautiful school and its very clean, but I dont know what each child has going on with them and it is difficult for one parent to deal with one child on the proper measures as far as protecting yourself when youre out in public. I do trust that teachers and staff are doing everything in their power. But I dont have the expectation that they have it under control, because thats not possible.

You know, when youre dealing with so many children, trying to make sure theyre learning on top of distancing and masking, etc., its difficult! I dont want to have to expect that of teachers and schools at this time. I think that what would be best is lowering the amount of students within the class. I love my sons teachers. I think they do a wonderful job. They communicate with me. Its not easy. It cant be easy for them.

Unfortunately, LaTrishas son was exposed to and contracted COVID-19 at his school. She said, My sons home now because he tested positive for COVID on Monday. We received an email notification on Thursday last week that he was exposed, and four days later he tested positive. Weve kept him home, had him isolating, wearing a mask.

We want to be sure that he can deal with the virus and be free of it before he resumes normal activity. I am very hesitant to send him back to school. Its not something I want to do. Im at the point where if [the board] cant come up with a solution for an option to have remote learning, I am needing to pull him from the school system and start home schooling. It isnt something that seems feasible for our family to continually, you know, to isolate him when I know the exposure is going to continue to happen. It hasnt slowed down. I got two more emails since the email about his exposure. Its just something I dont anticipate slowing down at this point.

LaTrisha also expressed concerns over the safety of all children during this pandemic and spoke on what shes heard from other parents during this time, saying, It makes me really sad because there was a woman recently that made a comment on a [social media] post that I made about pushing for remote learning. She had been stressed out because an older child of hers got COVID, she got the email notification from the school and didnt see it, and she has a four-month-old premature baby who got COVID. They could have avoided that exposure. Its not right that we have to pick and choose between health and education.

I just expect the environment in schools is really harsh for teachers. No matter how hard they try, kids are kids. Theyre out there, theyve got allergies, they sneeze, COVID is there. Theres only so much you can do with multiple rooms of little people. It isnt possible to avoid an airborne illness. I think theyre being burnt out. I think its unfair. I dont think its necessary. Every single teacher, every single staff member, youre appreciated, your job is important.

LaTrisha tried reaching out to the OPS school board ahead of their meeting. In line with how school boards across the nation have responded, they were not particularly receptive to her concerns. The board meeting was a little odd to me. The teachers that stood at the podium and spoke were very emotional. It was a big deal. Theyre stressed out. They were pleading for help.

Commenting on the lack of support for remote learning from most board members, she said, Im pretty disappointed the board members didnt have more to say. It seems like they are leaning toward in-school full time.

It was like a medieval courtroom. It seems strange. It was not right. It felt like they had a time limit, they had to state their name, spell name, give home address. They were timed, told 1 minute remaining. And then nothing. No feedback. No we see you. It was just, Next person. The teachers had so much to say and so many emotions. It was shocking.
On Monday, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell presented the latest devastating attack on public schools in the district, threatening a wide range of cuts in response to a $50 million budget shortfall.

The austerity package includes eight school closures and the merger of eight schools over the coming two years, eliminating vacant positions and firing teachers and administrators. In a clear attempt to rush past opposition, the public was given one days notice of the board meeting at which these cuts would be detailed and only eight days to respond before the resolution would be decided on February 8.

Teachers protest for stronger COVID-19 safety protocols outside Oakland Unified School District headquarters on Jan. 7, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. [Credit: AP Photo/Noah Berger]

Mondays virtual school board meeting drew over 1,800 attendees overwhelmingly opposed to school closures. The board held tight control of the meeting, shutting off the chat and preventing participants from even seeing who was attending. Nevertheless, the huge number of speakers protesting the budget cuts caused the meeting to last from 6 p.m. Monday evening until 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.

OUSD is specifically targeting smaller schools with enrollment of 400 students or less, with most closures clustered in deeply impoverished East Oakland. Educators, parents and students are furious about the cuts, and have carried out a series of protests each day this week. Students and teachers from Westlake Middle School, MetWest High School, and La Escuelita marched to the district offices on Tuesday, with two staff members at Westlake beginning a hunger strike against school closures.

The Westlake community school manager Moses Omolade told local news site Oaklandside, We will not eat until you end all school closures. You all dont want death on your hands. We will not eat until you all end your attacks on our schools.

Not only are schools being closed, but COVID-19 is being allowed to spread through the return to fully in-person schooling. The closures will increase overcrowding in classrooms, spreading COVID-19 more rapidly. Throughout January, educators and students across Oakland engaged in a series of powerful wildcat strikes and walkouts to protest the deadly reopening of schools.

OUSD has been living on money borrowed from maintenance projects since 2013. While the districts infrastructure is in decay, with $3.2 billion required to repair school facilities, Johnson-Trammell proposes slashing desperately needed maintenance funding. The dilapidated state of the schools ventilation systems, which are an essential element in reducing COVID-19 transmission, is being totally ignored.

Cassidy, a high school student at a charter school in Oakland, highlighted the continued unsafe conditions in her school, which has implemented similar measures to those agreed to by OUSD to reopen schools as COVID-19 spreads.

She told the World Socialist Web Site, Were pretty much in the same place that we were before. Nothing much has changed. There were a number of students out today, Im assuming because of COVID. I think everyones still feeling like we shouldnt be here but we dont know how to stop it. Generally, people are still uneasy about being there, having to be in the classrooms all day.

Expressing her opposition to planned school closures in OUSD, Cassidy noted, Ive heard some people making points about how all these schools are in areas where these students wont have access to transportation as easily because its farther away and they live in low-income areas.

Regarding Mondays school board meeting, Cassidy stated, I saw that the OUSD people were also trying to frame it in their way as, This is good for diversity for all of our schools. Were going to shut down the less funded schools. What, rather than making the students have to travel farther to school and making the classrooms more crowded, particularly during COVID. Also, people will not get as good an education because they're in a larger classroom.

While demanding further austerity, Johnson-Trammell continues to receive a bloated salary, with her total pay and benefits amounting to roughly $450,000. She is slated to receive a $19,600 salary increase in fiscal year 2022-23. To top it off, the school board approved a paid three-month sabbatical for Johnson-Trammell from April to June 2022, in the middle of the school year! While Johnson-Trammell earns an executive salary, nearly 74 percent of Oakland students are living in poverty.

The Oakland Education Association (OEA) has refused to mobilize teachers in response to the proposed budget cuts. Their only action has been to voice support for the two teachers who have begun a hunger strike, a symbolic measure that will do nothing to stop the wave of austerity.

In 2019, the OEA betrayed a powerful strike by Oakland teachers after reaching a quid pro quo with OUSD, in which teachers meager pay raises were predicated on $22 million in budget cuts. This sellout by the OEA prompted hundreds of students to demonstrate the following day, when OUSD implemented the cuts.

Since Bidens inauguration, the OEA has gone along with the Democratic Party demand to reopen schools despite rising COVID-19 infection rates. The OEA has refused to support the recent walkouts by educators and students. Last week, 464 students and 49 staff members were officially infected in OUSD schools as a result of these betrayals by the union.

OEA accepted a tentative agreement two weeks ago on COVID-19 protocols, just as the nearby United Teachers of Richmond did last week with West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD). On Friday, it was announced that OUSD will postpone a key part of the agreement for half a year, proof of vaccination, and WCCUSD will also postpone proof of vaccination without providing a new deadline, meaning that the agreements were fraudulent, and students, teachers and their families will face rising infection rates.

The growth of opposition among students and rank-and-file educators in Oakland and throughout the Bay Area is part of an international surge of working class opposition to government policies to live with the pandemic. In the last month, teachers from both OUSD and WCCUSD organized sickouts without the union support, while teachers in nearby San Francisco also held wildcat sickouts in early January.

Teachers have called in sick or walked out to protest COVID-19 policies in Birmingham and East Baton Rouge, Alabama; Detroit, Michigan; West Ada, Idaho; Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; Ontario and Quebec, Canada; and New South Wales, Australia. Students have shown growing solidarity with their teachers in Oakland, Seattle, New York City, Portland, Chicago, Boston, and other cities across the US.

There is massive opposition to the COVID-19 policies and the attack on public education demanded by the ruling elites. But union leaders, often in a cabal with right-wing organizations, have done everything to suppress this movement. Most of the educator actions have been unsanctioned. In the San Francisco Bay Area, unions have threatened strikes only to reach sellout agreements at the last minute. They have made it clear that they will not fight for the health or the jobs of their members.

The only way to defend schools and the safety of workers is through organizing independently of the trade unions. Educators, students and parents should join and help build the West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees, which will meet next at 12 p.m. PST on Saturday, February 12. Register today and invite your coworkers, family and friends!
With the support and encouragement of a significant faction of the ruling class, far-right thugs have besieged Canadas parliament and downtown Ottawa for the past week and vow, menacingly, to remain until all COVID-19 public health measures are abolished.

A truck part of the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. The flag of the far-right militia group, Three Percenters, is draped over the trucks hood. (Credit: Twitter, Marc-Andre Cossette @MarcCossette)

These extraordinary events underscore the urgent necessity of the independent political mobilization of the working class. Armed with a socialist and internationalist program, the working class is the only social force capable of implementing a science-based Zero COVID policy to end the pandemic once and for all, stop the reckless drive to imperialist war, and halt the danger of authoritarianism and fascistic political violence.

The so-called Freedom Convoy is a far-right rabble whose views are anathema to the vast majority of the Canadian population. It is spearheaded by fascist activists who have assaulted homeless people and workers trying to enforce anti-COVID measures and brought guns and other weaponry into downtown Ottawa. Canada Unity, which initiated the Convoy and whose leader co-heads its GoFundMe campaign, publicly calls for a putsch that would replace the democratically elected government with a junta.

If these far-right, virulently anti-worker forces have suddenly assumed an outsized role in official political life completely at odds with their true popular support, it is because a powerful section of the ruling elite, led by the Conservative Party and right-wing media outlets like the National Post and Toronto Sun, built up the protest Convoy and fashioned it into a far-right extra-parliamentary movement.

They did so with the aim of using the Convoy as a battering ram against the widespread popular support for strict public health measures, including lockdowns, to prevent COVID infections and save lives. But their ambitions go far beyond this. They are determined to push politics far to the rightto intensify the assault on the working class at home, through a quick pivot to post-pandemic austerity, and to give Canada an even more prominent and frontline role in the incendiary US military-strategic offensives against Russia and China.

Such a sharp lurch right, it must be warned, is already well under away. The most conspicuous Convoy supporters among the cabal of right-wing premiers, Saskatchewans Scott Moe and Albertas Jason Kenney, have pledged to lift all remaining public health measures forthwith, even as the Omicron wave has pushed deaths to levels seen only in the darkest days of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the federal Conservatives ditched Erin OToole as party leader, because he was deemed insufficiently supportive of the Convoy. His interim replacement, Candice Bergen, has publicly touted the far-right elements occupying downtown Ottawa as patriotic, peace-loving Canadians, and called on Prime Minister Trudeau to extend them an olive branch. Privately, in emails to top party leaders leaked to the Globe and Mail, she argued the Conservatives should support the continued occupation of Ottawa so as to make it Trudeaus problem.

Bergen, the Conservatives, and right-wing corporate media voices are demanding Trudeau meet with the Convoy leaders as part of a so-called political solution to the crisis. This is all a subterfuge. If and when a violent clash erupts between their fascist allies and security forces, they and the sections of the capitalist elite for which they speak will blame it on Trudeaus intransigence, and seek to use the ensuing crisis as a lever to extort right-wing concessions, or better yet engineer the governments downfall.

The readiness of a substantial faction of the ruling class to instrumentalize the far right and employ fascist violence to achieve their political objectives marks an inflection point in the breakdown of Canadas bourgeois democratic order. For decades Canadas ruling elite postured as leaders of a gentler, kinder capitalism than that of the rapacious dollar republic to the south. But the pandemic has laid bare the true state of Canadian society, after decades of deepening social inequality, capitalist austerity, and Canadas participation in one US-led war of aggression after another. The more than 34,000 pandemic dead are victims of social murder perpetrated by Canadas capitalist elite and their political hirelings. Not only was the health care system on life-support even before the pandemic struck due to decades of cuts; governments whether nominally left or avowedly right have systematically prioritized profits over lives.

Now, faced with the inevitable growth of social opposition, the ruling class is turning towards authoritarian forms of ruleas manifested in the battery of anti-strike lawsand cultivating the far right as shock troops against the working class.

Watching these events unfold, millions of workers must be asking themselves: How is it possible that despised right-wing figures within the ruling elite have been able to take the offensive by mobilizing a small, rag-tag mob of fascistic thugs to aggressively push for unpopular policies? The answer lies in the foul role of the social-democratic New Democratic Party (NDP) and the trade unions. For decades they have systematically suppressed the class struggle, enabling the ruling class to impose wave after wave of austerity and concessions.

The unions and NDPs response to the pandemic, the greatest crisis of global capitalism since the Great Depression and the Second World War, has been to deepen their alliance with the Trudeau Liberal government and their corporatist integration with big business and the state. They supported the Liberal government and Bank of Canada in funneling more than $650 billion in bailout funds to the banks and big business and have enforced the ruling classs back-to-work/back-to-school policy that has led to five successive waves of mass infection and death. When workers have sought to take action to defend their health and very lives, the unions have quickly intervened to suppress any strikes or walkouts and misdirect workers into the bankrupt pro-employer provincial labour relations systems.

The response of the unions and NDP to the Freedom Convoys occupation of Ottawa is a continuation of this criminal course. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and various union officials have bleated about hate speech and racism and even the possibility of a terrorist attack akin to the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol. What they do not and will not say is that powerful sections of the ruling elite and political establishment have conjured up a far-right extra-parliamentary movement to violently enforce the abolition of pandemic public health measures and push politics far to the right. Nor do they offer any strategy for the working class to fight the danger of authoritarianism and the far right.

To the contrary, they have doubled down on their support for the Trudeau government, even as it has shifted further right. Several days after the Ottawa occupation began, the Liberal government signaled it will bow to a months-long campaign fronted by the Conservatives and supported by the entire capitalist media for Ottawa to deploy lethal weaponry and additional troops to the Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

A statement from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the countrys largest trade union federation, appealed for everyone to respect the outcome of the federal election and let elected MPs get down to work. In practice, this means allowing the NDP to keep propping up the minority Liberal government, which it has done since 2019, as it implements the dictates of the financial oligarchy at home and abroad.

This leaves the most right-wing sections of ruling class a free hand to continue to use the far-right extra-parliamentary movement they have sponsored to foment political violence and spearhead a deepening of the onslaught on the working class.

The same basic tendencies are present internationally. Ruling elites are cultivating far-right and outright fascist forces to ruthlessly enforce their class war agenda, while the unions and social-democratic parties keep the working class in a political straitjacket.

This is underscored by the enthusiastic support given to the Freedom Convoy by fascist-minded ex-US President Donald Trump, and the participation of many far-right American activists in the Ottawa occupation. Over a year after Trumps failed fascist coup of January 6, 2021, which aimed to overturn the presidential election, he remains free to address audiences of thousands thanks to the union-backed Biden administrations determination to cover up the Republican Partys involvement in the coup plot.

The turn of capitalist elites in all of the major imperialist democracies to the promotion of far-right forces is a sign of their weakness, not strength. They recognize that they sit atop a social powder keg with an already lit fuse. Moreover, there is no popular support for the militarist policies and imperialist intrigues needed if they are to prevail over their great power rivals in the ever-intensifying struggle for markets, profits and strategic advantage. In Canada, as elsewhere, there is increasing ruling class support for using authoritarian measures and far-right political violence in a pre-emptive strike against the eruption of mass working class struggles.

These conspiracies can and will be defeated. Provided, that is, the growing global counter-offensive of the working classnow in its initial stagesagainst the ruling classs murderous pandemic policy and its decades-long assault on workers social and democratic rights is armed with a socialist-internationalist political program. In Canada, recent months have witnessed a series of militant workers struggles that were characterized above all by growing rank-and-file opposition to the trade unions efforts to suppress them. Workers in the United States, Germany, Britain, Turkey, Australia, and elsewhere have created independent rank-and-file committees to coordinate their struggles outside of and in opposition to the pro-capitalist unions. These are the initial indications of the mass support in the working class for a genuine fight to put an end to the domination of social and political life by a tiny super-rich oligarchy. No such support is present for the mad ravings of the fascistic Freedom Convoy and the policies of more social inequality, COVID-19 deaths, and war pursued by its enablers in the ruling class.

The fight for a socialist and internationalist program in Canada necessitates an unrelenting struggle for the political and organizational independence of the working class from the pro-austerity, pro-war NDP and the pro-capitalist trade unions. The claim that workers must support the progressive parties, i.e., the Liberals or NDP, to stop the hard-right Conservatives has been used for decades to prevent workers taking the road of independent political struggle. The events of the past week have demonstrated that if the Liberal/NDP/union alliance remains unchallenged and therefore able to smother working class opposition, this will only further embolden reaction and pave the way for the far-right to exploit the deepening social crisis to mobilize support among backward sections of the middle class.

A crucial step in mobilizing the social power of the working class in opposition to the deepening crisis of Canadian bourgeois rule is the formation of independent rank-and-file committees in every workplace to fight for a Zero COVID strategy, the overturning of all wage cuts and other concessions, and safe and secure jobs for all. These committees must be oriented to the struggles of working people in the United States, Europe, and around the world, and wage a political struggle for workers power and socialist policies. None of the burning issues that confront working peoplefrom stamping out the pandemic to overcoming social inequality or preventing a catastrophic warcan be confronted on a national basis or within the confines of the capitalist profit system.

The success of such struggles depends above all on the construction of a socialist political leadership in the working class. A mass socialist party must be built to raise workers political consciousness and unify their struggles into a conscious struggle for socialism, the reorganization of socio-economic life under workers power to make fulfilling human needs and not profit its animating principle. We urge all workers and young people who wish to participate in this struggle to join the Socialist Equality Party (Canada) and help build it as the Canadian section of the International Committee of the Fourth Internationalthe World Party of Socialist Revolution.
In an election closely monitored by the US Biden administration and the American and Canadian trade unions, workers at the giant General Motors assembly plant in Silao, Mexico voted by a wide margin for representation by the SINTTIA union. SINTTIA received 78 percent of the vote, finishing well ahead of three other unions, including the current union, CTM, which garnered just 5 percent.

SINTTIA poster

There are over 6,000 workers at the plant, which builds the Chevrolet Silverado and G.M.C. Sierra pickup trucks. The CTM, aligned with the former ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has been at the plant since 1995 and is widely hated for its naked collaboration with management. Workers at the plant start out making less than $9 per day, barely above the minimum wage in Mexico, and top pay amounts to about $23 per day.

While workers enthusiasm to throw off the CTM is understandable, SINTTIA does not represent a genuine alternative. The fact that it is being actively promoted by the US government and pro-company AFL-CIO and UAW as well as the Canadian Unifor union should be a warning.

The promotion of SINTTIA at the Silao GM plant is part of a broader campaign supported by both the US and Canadian governments and the administration of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to push aside the hated CTM in favor of independent unions no less under the firm control of the corporations and the state. In this way, the ruling class seeks to divert the anger and militancy of workers into harmless channels.

The victory of the so-called independent union SINTTIA is being hailed in glowing terms by the American trade union bureaucracy. In a press release just hours after the vote, the United Auto Workers declared, The UAW congratulates the workers of GM Silao on forming a free, fair and independent SINTTIA union. We commend the Biden Administration and USTR for ensuring a fair election process and we look forward to a new era of free, fair, independent unions in Mexico.

AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler issued a statement declaring, Workers will advocate for higher wages and improved health and safety standards ... helping to set new standards in the automobile industry. This vote represents a rejection of the past.

The Silao plant has been a center of militant opposition to the low wage economy forced onto the backs of Mexican workers by the American transnationals with the support of the corrupt CTM and Mexicos capitalist political parties. A group of workers in the independent Generating Movement at the plant has been campaigning against the corrupt CTM for years. The group organized support for striking US GM workers in 2019 by refusing speed-up and overtime. Leaders of the movement have faced vicious reprisals from management.

Three of the "Silao seven" workers victimized by GM

However, GM workers in Silao will sooner rather than later be pitched into conflict with SINTTIA. The pro-company character of this union is indicated by the fact that one of its major promoters, labor lawyer Susana Prieto, was elected last year as a federal representative for the ruling Morena party. In promoting SINTTIA, Prieto has praised the intervention of the US government, the same government that is carrying out the mass detention and deportation of tens of thousands of immigrant workers at the border.

The promotion of SINTTIA by the Biden administration and AFL-CIO and UAW gangsters has nothing to do with concerns over the oppression of Mexican workers. Quite the opposite. The representatives of American big business have been increasingly skeptical of the ability of the CTM to suppress the struggles of the Mexican workers, whose labor is the source of immense profits for Wall Street.

These concerns escalated in the wake of the rebellion in the winter of 2019 by maquiladora workers in Matamoros, Mexico, who organized independent workers committees and launched a wave of powerful strikes that shook auto parts suppliers and other transnational corporations. Striking Matamoros workers carried banners declaring, The union and companies kill the working class. Significantly, the Matamoros workers reached out to their brothers in the United States, undermining the decades long attempt by the US unions to pit American workers against workers to the south. For her part, Prieto worked with US-aligned independent unions to sideline the democratic strike committees and mass assemblies set up by the workers themselves.

Matamoros workers stage protest with banner The employers and the unions kill workers

The US government effort to promote independent unions in Mexico goes hand-in-hand with the Biden administrations efforts to shore up the official unions in the United States, including the backing of the unionization drive of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) at Amazons Bessemer, Alabama fulfillment center.

The character of the so-called labor reform in Mexico is also exposed by the fact that it formed part of the negotiations for the reactionary U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade (USMCA), the revised NAFTA.

The kind of democracy the American unions are promoting in Silao is shown by the record of both the UAW and the AFL-CIO, as well as Unifor in Canada. For decades, the US unions have functioned as little more than extensions of corporate management, overseeing the destruction of wages, working conditions and jobs.

A federal corruption investigation has resulted in the conviction of two former presidents of the UAW, who pleaded guilty to stealing member dues money to fund lavish lifestyles. Other UAW officials were convicted of accepting bribes from Fiat Chrysler aimed at securing management-friendly contracts that robbed workers of hundreds of millions in wages and benefits.

Last year, strikes erupted at Volvo Trucks and farm equipment maker John Deere after workers voted down a series of pro-company sellouts negotiated by the UAW. Rank-and-file committees initiated by workers with the support of the World Socialist Web Site played major roles in both struggles.

For its part, Unifor is notorious for spouting noxious anti-Mexican demagogy, even sponsoring a campaign to boycott vehicles built in Mexico, while doing nothing to defend the jobs of Canadian autoworkers.

The AFL-CIO has been intimately connected with US government subversion plots directed against militant workers globally. This has involved the setting up of pro-capitalist stooge unions and purges of militant and socialist-minded sections of workers. Working through its CIA-linked front, the American Institute for Free Labor Development, the AFL-CIO and its local union stooges in Latin America participated in bloody CIA-orchestrated coups, such as Guatemala (1954), Brazil (1964) and Chile (1973).

The Washington-based American Center for International Labor Solidarity, or Solidarity Center, continues this dark tradition. Heavily funded by the US government, it is part of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which has served historically as a conduit for CIA money. In recent years, the Solidarity Center has been involved in ongoing efforts by the United States to destabilize the government of Venezuela.

In 2020, the NED gave $858,000 to the Solidarity Center to build independent, representative organizations including a national coalition, for improved labor rights compliance. In a meeting with AMLO in June 2021, US Vice President Kamala Harris pledged $130 million to support state-sponsored labor reform in Mexico.

The intervention of the UAW and AFL-CIO in Silao is motivated by a determination to prevent the unification of Mexican and American autoworkers and to keep workers on both sides of the border divided. The union bureaucracy is particularly concerned about the role of the World Socialist Web Site, which has fought to unite workers in Mexico and across the Americas based on a socialist and internationalist perspective.

The WSWS broke the media blackout of the Matamoros strikes and brought word of their heroic struggles to workers in the US and Canada. It campaigned in support of the struggle by Silao workers, who faced victimization by the CTM and management for their courageous support of the GM strike in the US.

Workers need organizations, but these must be genuinely democratic organizations controlled by the workers themselves, not the bureaucratic structures of the pro-capitalist trade unions, wedded to the corporations and the state.

The International Committee of the Fourth International calls on workers to build the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees to mount a global counteroffensive to the mad profit drive of the capitalist class. Workers who agree with this perspective should contact the WSWS.
This week, millions of students and teachers began returning to classrooms across Australia amid escalating infection and death rates from the highly-contagious Omicron variant.

According to most recent figures 2,417 students and 617 educators in New South Wales were infected, along with 2,900 children and 410 staff in Victoria. In South Australia, where classes only resumed on Wednesday, 200 teachers and 150 education support staff tested positive. No figures on student infections have been released.

In Melbourne, the Victorian state capital, International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) members spoke with Joel and Andy, two Year 12 students, outside Princes Hill Secondary College in the citys inner north.

Joel and Andy outside Princes Hill Secondary College in Melbourne [Image: WSWS Media]

Andy said, Its a lot more motivating to actually go to school but on the other hand, I do think that the school should be a lot more open about the cases. Joel agreed and said that the school needed to be transparent about close contacts and other issues.

They havent been very precise with any of that information. Itd be better if Year 10s, 11s and 12s could come to school and were given rapid antigen tests with it enforced twice a weekwhich they havent. They tell us to do it [a RAT] twice a week but they havent checked. If they actually introduced that it would be a better alternative, Joel said.

Obviously, its hard learning from home but thats partially because of the way that they handled it. The engagement with a lot of the students, including myself, was lacking and so it was really hard to learn, he added.

Both students said that masks were meant to be worn but this was not enforced and there was no social-distancing. They were unsure if the school even checked whether students were vaccinated. Its different to a cafe where you have to check in and show your double-vaxxed certificate. Theres none of that, Andy said.

Andy told IYSSE campaigners that the school needs to be more open, and not just about COVID cases. Students were also in the dark about how the pandemic was going to affect their grades and assessments.

Asked why they thought schools were being reopened, Andy said, You can never tell with the government because theyre so deceptive. With the COVID disaster payments, they gave out millions [of dollars] to all the big companies and now theyre asking for it back. But the government knows its harder to go after the big companies, so theyre asking for money back from individuals and small businesses. This is wrong. We needed this COVID money just to stay afloat.

Andy and Joel agreed with IYSSE campaigners when they explained the necessity for eliminating the virus through lockdowns and public health measures. I dont want to get COVID because I dont want to be missing out on school and I dont want to spread it to others. We should minimise that at all costs and obviously shutting schools down would be the best way of doing that but were also worried about passing Year 12, Joel said.

I see both perspectives [on lockdowns]. I have an elderly grandma, so if I were to get sick that would be really bad but I also feel like I need to be in person to get good marks, Andy said.

At the end of the day, its the governments fault that were in this situation in the first place. Theyre the ones that are responsible for it and should clean up their mess, Joel said.

An IYSSE member speaks to students at University High School in Melbourne [Image: WSWS Media]

Lubna Aziz, an aged care worker, spoke with WSWS reporters after dropping her son at Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta, a major centre of Western Sydney.

Its not right that the prime minister said to send the kids to school. Under five-year-old kids have no vaccination so it is totally risky to send them back, she said.

A job is not important because if a job is gone you can apply for a second one. If you lose your kids life they dont come back, so think about it for the childrens lives. First save the childrens lives, then its business or jobs. I can understand the situation [for business] but kids are more important because this is the Australian future, Aziz said.

I dont agree with the prime minister on close contacts and that you dont have to call the health department. This is making it worse because people are infected and are still going to shopping centres and giving it to other people. If you have COVID you should stay isolated for seven days if vaccinated, and if not vaccinated you should stay 14 days at home. If you go about then you should be fined. People will then understand, and then you can control the virus. If the government doesnt take strict action people do not care. Some people are sick but are still going to work, she added.

I saw on the news that the government are giving $500 to primary school kids. Why? They are the same as high school kids. This is to force the parents to send the kids to school, possibly without vaccination.

My son is going to school but has a medical condition. He has a kidney transfer so imagine if he caught COVID. Ive already sacrificedI donated my kidney to himso why would I put his life at risk? If kids are fully vaccinated then you could send them to school. If kids are not fully vaccinated they should stay home and take online classes, she said.

Aziz spoke about the difficult situation facing aged care workers and their low wages. Imagine how you would feel if there was an outbreak in aged care and you are working 12 hours per day for a full shift from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You could endanger your family and yourself through your work and the $400 bonus [just promised by the Australian government] is not enough for the aged care workers.

All the staff are working very hard as a team. Imagine youre wearing gloves, gown, shield and mask. How would you feel? I have only one kidney and I need water but when Im at work I cant drink enough water because I cant take off the mask all the time and then go back to my shift. I can only drink a bit of water when I have a break.

Its not enough to give $400 this month or $400 next month and they should give it to all the staff members. Last time they gave a bonus it was just to a few people, like the personal carers, but all staff should get it. It doesnt matter if theyre catering, cleaning or the care staff, theyre all doing hard work, Aziz added.
The Southern Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee will be meeting on Sunday, February 6 at 2:00p.m. Central Standard Time. Workers, students and parents alike are encouraged to register and invite coworkers, family and friends.

On Monday, Texas surpassed 80,000 deaths from COVID-19 according to Worldometer, the second highest number in the US after California. The state of 29 million accounts for almost 9 percent of the 900,000 people who have perished from COVID-19 in the country. Soon, more Americans will have died in Texas from the pandemic than were killed in the Korean and Vietnam wars combined.

Elementary school students on the first day of classes in Richardson, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

This is a direct result of keeping businesses open and profits flowing to Wall Street no matter what the cost. Schools, which have been forced to remain in-person so children can be warehoused while their parents work, have become a leading source of viral transmission. Five months into the school year, one in every eight teachers in Texas has gotten COVID-19, with 539,000 total students and staff being infected, according to the Department of State Health Services.

As a consequence, public schools are in a state of acute crisis. A teacher in a North Texas school district spoke recently to a fellow educator and member of the Southern Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee about the conditions. She asked to remain anonymous, so as not to face retribution from administrators for speaking out.

TJ: So, let me start off with this. At my school, we didnt really get anything in the form of PPE. A lot of teachers have asked for more supplies and support, but for the most part teachers have had to come out of pocket for anything beyond a couple of surgical masks. Is that an experience that youre familiar with?

B: What was supposed to be PPE was just a bag of wipeshand wipesand one package of those cheap blue masks that dont do anything. And that was our total PPE package for the semester. We got that in August and there hasnt been another round since. No supplement, no stipend, no nothing.

TJ: One thing Ive been trying to bring attention to is how low the quality of education is in-person right now. For my high school history students at all levels, theres just no learning going on. What is the situation like at your school? Have you or other teachers been forced to make adjustments on the fly?

B: Oh my god, you have no clue. We have so many teachers out. And its hard to get subs, because they all know that theyre going into a situation where the virus is just everywhere. There is no masking or social distancing enforcement and there never really has been.

This week teachers are having to double up classes and take them to the auditorium while there are multiple other teachers with combined classes teaching in different ends or corners of the auditorium. So you have three, four, five combined classes at a time sitting in seats where they can hear bits and pieces of lectures from all the other classes or try to get their friends attention across the way.

It is ridiculous. I will never see how that would be better than virtual. Weve had kids with COVID, and weve had staff with COVID. Nonstop. It is not getting better. I dont know what their standard is.

Ill say this. I dont think theyll close no matter what. Ive heard some schools, if they get below a certain amount of people out then theyll go virtual regardless of what happens with everything else. I dont know how bad it would have to get.

TJ: Do you have a virtual curriculum for the kids who are out with COVID? Is there any way for them to interact with you?

B: We have no virtual curriculum, but I do put all my things in Google Classroom. The kids under quarantine or sick have been home, so they can only listen in when Im doing the in-person kids at the same time. And they go to the Google Classroom to listen in, saying Hello? Hello? in the classroom expecting for a teacher to respond.

They dont want to make it easy for kids to be virtual, even though its mostly the kids who have COVID-19 or are quarantined. They want us to put the notes and assignments up online while also expecting feedback at the same level as what they are in the classroom. But at the same time, you have more kids signing into the Zoom for remote every day with an administration that doesnt want them online at all. Its a total mess.

TJ: What has been your school administrations approach to reporting positive cases amongst faculty and staff? Is it different from how they report or address positive cases for studentsif they do at all?

B: My friend in admin says they are under strict orders: Dont tell us [the teachers] anything like that. You have to find out about it from the students once you ask about a kid whos been out, or from noticing one of the teachers hasnt been there for a while, or because the parents of the students tell you or you see it on social media. Last year they used to send out emails. But now we dont know. We just dont know. Unless you hear it, you have no idea.

The way I hear that kids are out with COVID is through the kids. Straight up. Thats how I know. Ill ask, Has anyone heard from so-and-so? And theyll tell me, Oh so-and-so is out with COVID. Theyve been out with COVID for an extended time, and the kids all pretty much know, but there is nothing from admin. They dont want to find out. If they did any digging then they would obviously have to close the schools.

TJ: I know you mentioned a teacher in your school who has been placed on a ventilator. How did you find out about that? From admin? Or from other teachers?

B: The teacher thats out now, we just found out on Friday that she was in the ICU. She had been out of school for almost two weeks. The only reason they told us was because she had asked her father to tell all the teachers what was going on with her. They only held the meeting once it was obvious that we all knew already.

The teachers were all shocked because they had no idea. We have no information. You would like to know if teachers around you have COVID or if youve been exposed. Its almost like they think as long as they dont talk about it then it doesnt exist. Thats the feeling that I get.
A building destroyed by the tsunami on Eueiki Island (Source: Tonganow Facebook page)

The Pacific island nation of Tonga, which has not even begun to recover from the disastrous January 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami, now faces its first potential COVID-19 outbreak.

The impoverished country, with a population of 105,000 spread across dozens of islands, has until now been one of a tiny number of countries that has remained isolated from the devastating pandemic. A single case, which arrived from New Zealand last October, triggered a lockdown and the virus did not spread.

Now, however, the Tongan government was forced to impose a lockdown on Wednesday, which has been extended until Sunday, after five people tested positive for COVID. These cases included two workers who were helping unload aid shipments from the Queen Salote Wharf near the capital Nukualofa. The other three cases are the wife and children of one of the workers. More than 700 contacts have since tested negative.

While the source of the cases is reportedly being investigated, the virus appears to have spread from one or more aid shipments sent to Tonga following last months disaster.

Agence France-Presse reports that Australia, New Zealand, the United States, China, France, Fiji and Britain have all sent ships carrying relief supplies including drinking water, medical kits and engineering equipment.

The highly infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in all these countries, except China, which maintains a strict zero COVID policy. Everywhere else, governments have chosen to abandon lockdowns and other public health restrictions, resulting in millions of deaths internationally, all for the sake of keeping big businesses open and making profits.

The Tongan cases particularly underline the tremendous dangers facing the Pacific region, particularly as the major regional powersAustralia and New Zealandadopted policies late last year, to allow the Delta and Omicron variants to spread out of control.

Tonga risks a repeat of its experience during the 19181919 pandemic, when a ship from New Zealand brought the deadly influenza virus, which eventually killed between 1,000 and 2,000 Tongans. The same ship also infected Samoa, then a NZ colony, killing over 8,500 people (a quarter of the population).

The lack of preparations, including rundown and poorly-equipped hospitals, and low rates of vaccination throughout the Pacific, are also an indictment of the imperialist powers, which have dominated the region for more than a century.

Australia and NZ continue to exercise considerable neo-colonial control over Tonga, Samoa and other parts of the Pacific. Their military-led aid effort in Tonga is not motivated by altruism, but is aimed at strengthening their influence in the region and pushing back against competition from China.

The Australian Defence Force has declared it is unlikely to be the source of the COVID cases, even though its ship, the HMAS Adelaide, reported 23 of its crew had the virus when it arrived in Nukualofa on January 26. The ship was reportedly docked at Vuna Wharf, which was not worked by the Tongans who became infected. Despite planning to leave Tonga immediately after making a contactless delivery of supplies, as of February 3 the Adelaide and its 600 crew remained stuck due to a major electrical failure on board.

A member of Japans Air Self-Defense Force who was involved in aid flights to Tonga tested positive for COVID on January 25, prompting the flights to be temporarily suspended.

The Tongan population is particularly vulnerable to the deadly virus. Only 61 percent are double-vaccinated (83 percent of people over the age of 12) and almost no one has received a third dose, which is necessary to provide meaningful protection against Omicron. Australia is reportedly sending 10,000 booster shots to Tonga, i.e., enough for less than 10 percent of the population.

Tongans also suffer from widespread health problems linked to poverty. According to 2016 statistics, nearly half the population is obese and 40 percent suffers from type 2 diabetes. These are major risk factors for developing severe illness from COVID-19.

The risk of disease spreading is compounded by the tsunami, which wiped out entire villages in some areas, leaving hundreds homeless. Almost all structures on the island of Atata, home to 100 people, have been destroyed, as have those on Mango island, where 50 people lived. Buildings on Fonoi and Nomuka islands were also destroyed, including a health clinic on Nomuka.

Drinking water supplies were contaminated by volcanic ash, which also destroyed food crops and livestock that most Tongans rely on to survive. Scientists believe the marine environment and sea life have also been affected.

Internet communications are severely disrupted due to damage to an undersea cable.

Despite the immense risks to health and human life, Tongas Health Minister Saia Piukala told a press conference on Thursday that COVID-19 was here to stay and people would have to learn to live with the virus. This is a warning that the government, controlled by a monarchy and hereditary nobles, has no intention of keeping COVID out of the country.

The pandemic has spread to several Pacific island countries that were until recently isolated from it. The Tongan cases follow recent outbreaks in Kiribati, Palau, Solomon Islands and Samoa.

The Solomon Islands has recorded more than 780 cases and five deaths following an outbreak that began on January 9, after spreading from neighbouring Papua New Guinea, one of the worst-affected countries in the region.

In Kiribati, with just over a third of the population double-vaccinated, there were 767 known cases as of Wednesday. The outbreak originated with the arrival of the first passenger flight in 10 months, on January 14. Out of 54 passengers, 36 tested positive on arrival.

Rimon Rimon, a freelance journalist in Kiribati, told Time magazine on January 31 that people were angry with the decision to open the border to Fiji, where COVID has infected more than 63,000 people and killed 809. We had two years to prepare for this, he said, People are saying the government is not doing a good job, what has it been doing for the past few years? Flights to Kiribati have again been suspended following the outbreak.

The ruling elites across the Pacific, however, continue to push to reopen the borders, even as global infections and deaths from Omicron reach record levels. Governments are seeking to revive the tourism industry and global supply chains, regardless of the immense danger posed to peoples lives and health.
Despite attempts by every media pundit and world leader to characterize the Omicron variant as mild, this has proven to be a patently false assertion.

The United States--the global epicenter of the pandemic--recorded 3,895 deaths yesterday pushing the seven day average to 2,656, according to tally kept by Newsnodes.

The New York Times and other media outlets reported that the US had officially surpassed 900,000 total deaths. According to the Worldometers COVID-19 dashboard, that figure is at 925,000. By all accounts, the US is expected to surpass one million cases before the end of March if the current pace in fatalities continues. In January alone, more than 60,000 Americans perished.

Team of doctors and nurses caring for a critically ill patient in an ICU in Brazil. (Source: Wikipedia)

The persistent warnings by principled scientists and world health experts against dismissing this very infectious variant of COVID-19 have gone essentially unheeded. The price for this hubris has been the astounding rates of infection with concomitant rates of hospitalizations and deaths that have been seen during the current wave.

For more than two weeks, the daily average of new infections has remained over three million. For January 2022, there were nearly 90 million cases globally, accounting for almost one-quarter of all infections since the pandemic began in 2020. The week beginning January 24 saw the highest rates with more than 23.2 million cases. There were also more than 63,600 deaths or close to 9,100 deaths per day.

In total, nearly a quarter-million people perished in January. At present, the seven-day moving average of deaths has surpassed 10,000 per day. Officially, more than 12,000 people died yesterday, exceeding the Delta wave high recorded in late August. The current rising trend in deaths continues its upward trajectory 30 percent shy of the winter peak on January 27, 2021, when 17,541 deaths were recorded.

There is nothing mild about Omicron.

A quick survey of yesterdays reported COVID-19 deaths by country underscores the global scale of the current surge. Everywhere Omicron has taken hold, the death toll has climbed irrespective of the level of vaccinations and previous infections.

India noted 1,100 deaths; Brazil registered 923; Russia saw 667 killed; Mexico acknowledged 573 died. Even Japan, one of the countries that had seemingly contained infections, saw 93,388 new infections, a one-day high, and 78 people died yesterday with fatalities rising exponentially.

In Israel, two-thirds of the population have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Eighty percent of the eligible population have received two doses plus a booster jab, including 90 percent of people over 60 years of age. Despite being highly vaccinated, infections peaked in the last week of January, with more than 83,000 new infections on January 23, 2022. According to statistics reported by the Ministry of Health, the daily death toll has now approached last winters peak.

Placing the scale of death into context, according to the Economist s excess death tracker, the estimated day-to-day excess deaths have reached 82,700, a pandemic high. The total excess deaths for the first month of 2022 was around 2.2 million people, meaning that 10.6 percent of all excess deaths during the pandemic occurred in the last month of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all due to Omicron.

As the BA.1 variant of Omicron is riding roughshod from one country to another; the more contagious BA.2 subvariant is rapidly following in its footsteps. According to the website covariants.org, which tracks the frequency of sequenced variants (and not the number of cases), BA.2 was present in 81 percent of sequenced cases in the Philippines at the beginning of January. In Qatar, 32 percent of sequenced cases were BA.2. Most recently, India has seen 79 percent of sequenced BA.2 subvariant, and South Africa is at 24 percent. It is dominant in Denmark and growing in Europe and the US.

This week, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), warned, Its premature for any country either to surrender, or declare victory. The virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes. Though not designated on their website yet, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs COVID-19 technical lead, said on Monday, since BA.2 is Omicron, it is a variant of concern.

The original variant, BA.1, was designated a variant of concern by the WHO on November 26, 2021, very soon after it was detected in South Africa. Three other subvariants are now being followedBA.1.1, BA.2, and BA.3, with BA.2 being the most concerning. In their February 1, 2022, weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19, the WHO reported that BA.2 designated sequences have been submitted [infection tracking site] GISAID from 57 countries to date, with the weekly proportion of BA.2 relative to other Omicron sequences rising to over 50 percent during the last six weeks in several countries.

In a report published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the authors challenged the subjective assertions that Omicron was milder than previous SARS-CoV-2 variants, an unscientific conception based on initial and limited observations to which the media and world leaders rapidly gravitated to support their criminally malign policy to let everyone rapidly become infected with the virus.

After acknowledging Omicrons growth advantage over Delta and that hospitalization rates have been lower and deaths not commensurate with the number of infections, they wrote, Even more than for previous variants, however, caution is warranted when it comes to making inferences about Omicrons intrinsic traits, particularly its severity, on the basis of population-level observations.

They added, One important factor that should guide the interpretation of Omicrons population-level severity is the level of immunity in affected populations. Compared to previous waves, a higher proportion of people have been previously infected or vaccinated. Therefore, there is a higher level of preexisting population immunity, which complicates comparisons to earlier variants.

According to the NEJM review, two studiesan Imperial College London study and another out of the University of Cape Town that corrected for these assortments of biases that have plagued observational studies estimated that Omicron was about 75 percent as likely as Delta to cause hospitalization in an unvaccinated person with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The difference is essentially negligible, making the Omicron variant comparable to earlier strains in severity.

Recent data out of Israel have also found that some patients previously infected with Omicron have been reinfected with the BA.2 subvariant in a relatively short time. Though these numbers remain modestly small, they have considerable implications as infection or vaccination will see immunity wane considerably over a few months.

In an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, Blake Murdoch, a health law academic and privacy officer, wrote, Many of us have now survived a COVID-19 infection, some with little effort and others with lasting debilitating effects. Sadly, not everyone made itrest in peace, Grandfather. For some, there is a sense of calm that the worst must be over, that we will be able to heal and that the society we knew might return. But can our bodies handle, say, ten more COVID-19 infections over the next three years? Thats not fear pornit is a possible scenario based on how we are handling Omicron.

He added, The idea that herd immunity from widespread Omicron infection will last longer than a few months is a mass delusion propagating in all forms of media. Its the type of delusion sure to gain traction in a world where we are all absolutely sick and tired of the pandemic. It even ignores reality from three months ago, when Omicron didnt exist and the idea of us benefitting from infecting everyone was a widely condemned idea.

Yet, this is precisely what is being ordered by governments around the world with the added caveat that all attempts to track the critical statistics accuratelycases, hospitalizations and deathsare being discontinued and the current state of affairs being presented as the new normal.

Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe who has been pushing for declaring the pandemic over, speaking to reporters this week, said, This period of higher protection should be seen as a cease-fire that could bring us enduring peace. This context that we have not experienced so far in this pandemic leaves us with the possibility for a long period of tranquility.

Indeed, it has been this short-sighted, delusional optimism that has seen the repeated deadly waves cut through the population over and over again. Policies that allow the virus to run rampant across communities have functioned as an effective global gain of function experiment which spawned more virulent and infectious strains. The world cannot suffer to encounter the further variants spawned through these tactics and must immediately adopt an elimination strategy to bring the pandemic to an end. However, this is political question to which the working class holds the key.
Southwest Airlines is bringing back booze on planes. Southwest suspended alcohol sales on its planes in March 2020.
Baltimore County health department employees are being harassed regularly as they try to perform their duties, according to the countys top health official, who on Friday urged state lawmakers to pass legislation that would criminalize threats against public health employees.

Were being threatened, were being harassed and were being intimidated, Baltimore Countys public health officer Dr. Gregory Branch told county representatives during a House delegation meeting Friday.

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The legislation  sponsored by Del. Karen Lewis Young of Frederick County and several Democratic House and Senate lawmakers from Baltimore, Frederick, Montgomery and Prince Georges counties  would make it a misdemeanor to threaten public health employees and hospital staff members with the intent to intimidate or interfere with their ability to work.

Del. Susan McComas of Harford County  where the County Council in October ousted its top doctor with little explanation  is the legislations lone Republican sponsor.

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Public health officials across the U.S.  including in Maryland  have faced hostility and threats throughout the pandemic as theyve sought to enforce restrictions meant to curb the coronavirus spread.

In Baltimore County, Branch said that his role as public health officer and the head of social services and animal services basically puts a target on my back.

I remove peoples children and I remove peoples animals, he said. Thats invited harassment targeted at Branch and other public health officials.

For half a year, Branch said, a man whose child had been removed from his care stood outside the Drumcastle Government Center nearly every day, berating social workers and other employees coming to and leaving work and inviting others to participate in their harassment. He hung signs declaring Branch and other health officials were liars, scumbags, and a slew of expletives, naming individual social workers and declaring there was a government conspiracy afoot.

They were outside of our building doing this on a constant basis to the point where my staff would not even exit or enter from that particular front door, Branch said. The harassment stopped only after the man was found dead in his apartment, Branch said.

Branch also showed pictures of weapons  switchblades, scissors and a gun  that security at the Drumcastle building, which houses the countys social services department, had confiscated in six months. Other weapons have been found hidden in areas outside the building, Branch said, showing a picture of a trench knife (a knife with brass knuckles for a handle) hidden in a drain on the buildings exterior.

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This can be very, very, very, dangerous to our workers and our children, he said. These are the things that are happening to us.

He also showed photos of the front and rear of his home, which had been vandalized with ketchup, mustard and eggs.

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If the proposal is passed, those who threaten (either orally or written) health officials and hospital workers will be subject to up to 90 days imprisonment or liable to pay up to $500 in fines.

Maryland is one of 15 states that dont have such protections for health officials, even as rates of assaults on and harassment of healthcare workers have shot up during the pandemic, Young, the Frederick County delegate, said during a virtual judiciary committee hearing on the legislation last week.

We had a real issue with threats on healthcare workers even before the pandemic and the pandemic certainly exasperated it, Young said. During a time when healthcare workers are in short supply  including in Baltimore County  strengthening their protections may help retain them, she added.

There are more than 3,900 nursing vacancies in the state; a 50% increase since August, according to the Maryland Hospital Association.

At a time when were facing such a critical shortage in healthcare workers, we need to boost our attraction and our retention efforts, Young said. And one way to do it is to give them some kind of protection.
Election day is almost here but voters across the state are already filling out their absentee ballots.

There are common mistakes to avoid as voters open up their ballots and prepare to cast their vote.

Don't wait to send your absentee ballot back

Voters should plan to send their ballots back immediately after filling them out. Ballots take about seven days to get back to the clerk's office but could take longer.

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Don't fill out your ballot with a permanent marker or a pencil

A black ballpoint pen is the best writing utensil to use to fill out your ballot. A blue pen can be used but is not recommended. Red, green or yellow shouldn't be used at all, and neither should permanent markers or highlighters because they bleed through the paper of the ballot.

If there is an issue with the machine reading a ballot because a voter used something other than a black pen, two poll workers would have to remark a new ballot, which takes time when the ballots are being processed on election day.

VOTER GUIDE: How to vote and what to know about the ballot

Don't forget to have someone witness your ballot and sign the envelope

In order for your ballot to be accepted and counted, it has to have both your signature on the envelope and the signature of a witness. The witness must also provide their full address on the return envelope.

The witness who signs the ballot must be a U.S. citizen 18 years of age or older and can be a friend, a spouse, a family member, a neighbor or anyone else that fits the guidelines. A candidate on the ballot cannot serve as a witness. The witness must see you filling out the ballot and putting it in the envelope, but should not see who you are casting a vote for.

Don't take a photo of your ballot; it's illegal

Wisconsin law bans voters from showing others their marked ballots. That means they are not allowed to share photos of their completed ballots, said Meagan Wolfe, director of the state Elections Commission.

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The law long predates social media platforms and is aimed at preventing pay-for-vote schemes, where someone gives money to those who show their ballot to prove they voted for a particular candidate, Wolfe said.

Its up to local officials to decide whether to prosecute such cases and Wolfe said she did not know of that happening in Wisconsin. Bans on photographing ballots in some other states have been found unconstitutional.

Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also contributed to this report.

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@gannett.com and twitter.com/SchulteLaura. Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Voting by absentee ballot in Wisconsin election: mistakes to avoid
A look at depressed North FloridaThe tidal wave of prosperity that washed over much of Florida after World War II somehow failed to seep into the Panhandle.

The northwest section of the state, nestling against the borders of Georgia and Alabama, is an area described in bureaucratic language as economically depressed and culturally disadvantaged.

The people who live here have a less obscure term for the condition detailed by lists of employment statistics, per capita income and educational levels.

They call it poor.  Jackson County Floridan, Friday, Jan. 26, 1973

Shades makes it official; new industry has a homeShades Inc. yesterday signed on the dotted line, shook hands all around and made official what many local leaders were heralding as a turnaround in Jackson Countys industrial recruitment fortunes.

The signing ceremony wrapped up months of negotiations between Shades, a manufacturer of woven wood fabric, and the city of Marianna.

The new company, which eventually will employ 80 persons in a new building at Mariannas Airport Industrial Park, is expected to be in production within six months.

Shades is the first new industrial citizen in Marianna in seven years.  Jackson County Floridan, Friday, Jan. 26, 1973

Law academy plot thickens as Cabinet changes rulesWhile Jackson and Gadsden County  top rivals in torrid competition to obtain Floridas proposed law enforcement academy  were working feverishly to consolidate their respective bids, state officials were apparently amending the rules of the game.

In Gadsden County, the board of commissioners consummated their land deal with St. Joe Paper Co. in order to obtain title to a site which is reportedly the original first choice of the academy site selection committee.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports House Speaker Terrell Sessums says he will ask the Florida Cabinet to put off selecting a site for the police academy until after the April legislative session.  Jackson County Floridan, Friday, Jan. 26, 1973
FILE PHOTO: Air France presents its new A220 in Roissy near Paris

By Allison Lampert

MONTREAL (Reuters) -Europe's Airbus and Quebec on Friday said they have agreed to a $1.2 billion investment deal that would allow the Canadian province to remain in the loss-making A220 jet program until the venture is likely to turn profitable.

Airbus would invest $900 mln, while Quebec would put $300 million into the program, according to a statement from the province's government.

The investment would help the A220 program globally to support an increase in production, Benoit Schultz, chief executive of Airbus' Canadian unit, told a press briefing. The A220 is built both at an Airbus plant in the Montreal area and at the Mobile facility in Alabama.

The A220, previously known as the CSeries, is a 110- to 130-seater aircraft, a little smaller than Airbuss mainstay A320 jet. Reuters reported on the deal earlier, citing sources.

The province has faced criticism for repeated investments in the program.

Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said the program should be profitable by the middle of the decade.

Faury told reporters that COVID-19 weighed on cost-cutting efforts because it impeded production increases.

"We need volume to have these savings," he said.

Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said the A220 program has promise to turn the corner and generates key jobs for the province, Canada's aerospace hub.

The deal would help maintain the equivalent of 2,500 jobs.

The deal would defer by four years the period when Airbus buys out Quebec's 25% stake in the small jetliner from 2026 to 2030, and Fitzgibbon said that could be advantageous.

"At that time we're going to have a fair market value assessment and I'm very hopeful we're going to make money and recuperate the original investment," he said.

While the A220 has benefited from airlines' preference for relatively small jets during the pandemic, Airbus has yet to secure low enough prices for many of the plane's components to push the A220 project into the black.

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Airbus was expected to use its global marketing network and higher purchasing power from suppliers to move the project into the black, but while sales have soared, industry sources say it has struggled to win the concessions it wants from suppliers.

In 2020, Canada's Bombardier exited the program, the first all-new narrow-body jet in 30 years, after it was beset with delays and cost overruns.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal and Tim Hepher in Paris; additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by David Ljunggren, Elaine Hardcastle, Kirsten Donovan and Mark Porter)
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Here's hoping your 2022 is off to a great start.

You can count on Delaware Online again this year to serve as your community watchdog. We take that role seriously and will continue to push state and local leaders for answers to Delaware's biggest issues.

This week we published our investigation into the increase in pedestrian deaths in the state and what  if anything  is being done to solve the issue.

You can read those stories here:

PEDESTRIAN DEATHS: Pedestrian, bicyclist fatalities have doubled over the past decade. What is Delaware doing about it?

WHO IS REALLY TO BLAME?: Get hit by a car as a pedestrian? In Delaware, you're likely to blame.

We are committed to providing in-depth investigative reporting you won't find anywhere else in Delaware.

But we'll also tell you fun and fascinating stories throughout the state and in your communities.

We have reporters stationed up and down the state to bring you news from Wilmington to the beaches and beyond. And our regional and national reach within the USA Today Network will provide you with some of the best journalism from around the country.

We can't do it without your support. Our growing digital subscriber base helps pay for our journalism. We thank you for that support.

Here are a few other stories your subscription helped support this week:

COVID IN PRISON: As COVID-19 cases surge, Delaware's prison staff have higher infection rate than prisoners

WHERE ARE THE TESTS?: Demand for COVID-19 tests is outpacing supply. The best ways to get a free test in Delaware

MOVED TO PAINT: Capitol riot made Delaware artist cry. She fought back with art inspired by spilled beer

HARD CHOICES: COVID issues, staff shortages (not snow) prompt some Delaware schools to go virtual

DEVELOPMENT: Wegmans, Amazon, Christiana Mall: Changes to expect in Delaware this year and beyond

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Online will continue its focus on in-depth, investigative reporting in 2022
In a display of new books for the children's section of the Ridgeland Library, a number of the books had to do with LGBTQ themes. Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee has said he will withhold $110,000 in funding from the Madison County Library System because of the library displaying books with LGBTQ themes in its children's area.

The furry community has taken charge of leading fundraising efforts for the Madison County Library System and raised thousands of dollars as funding for the libraries hangs in limbo.

The system entered the spotlight after Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee said he would withhold $110,000 in annual funding after books with LGBTQ+ themes and authors were put on display.

Related: Mississippi mayor threatens to withhold thousands in funding for libraries over LGBTQ books

More: New contract needed for Ridgeland to release funds to Madison libraries, officials say

Furries are a diverse community of writers, artists and role players who take an interest in anthropomorphized animals like wolves and cats. Furries are often part of the LGBTQ+ community.

McGee said he received complaints about books with LGBTQ themes or authors which had been part of a new book display in Ridgeland in September. He said he doesn't believe any sexually explicit material should be available in the library where children may be exposed to it.

"In my capacity as mayor, I simply believe the books are inappropriate for children," McGee said in a statement.

Soatok, a Florida tech industry worker and furry community member who prefers to go by his online handle, saw a Tweet about the situation and took action to raise awareness.

"I have friends in Mississippi and I know that this act of bigotry doesn't speak for all Mississippi residents," he said. "So instead of dismissing the entire state because of the actions of one bad politician, I decided to explore the possibility of donating to offset the withheld amount."

His search led him to Friends of the Ridgeland Library, a local nonprofit, which had a fundraiser launched by EveryLibrary, a national nonprofit political action committee for libraries, days after the decision gained national attention.

When Soatok made his initial donation of $500 on a $2,500 goal on Jan. 27, there weren't any other backers other than him. Less than 24 hours after posting a screenshot of his donation, the fundraiser had 189 backers and had raised more than $9,000.

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Soatok Dreamseeker, a Florida tech worker and member of the furry community, helped start a wave of donations to the Madison County Library System from furries across the United States and internationally after Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee threatened to withhold funding from its libraries for LGBTQ+ books that were put on display.

Furries are known to swarm charitable causes that resonate with the community, Soatok said, and have raised upwards of $80,000 in a single weekend during conventions.

"As a result of the furry community's penchant for charity, I started this believing that reaching the $110,000 that the mayor is withholding was possible. There was no doubt that we could pull this off," he said. "I didn't expect to make so much progress so quickly, however."

As of Friday, the campaign has nearly 1,800 people who have pledged $78,200 and counting. It continues until Feb. 14.

Hundreds of people across the nation and abroad give thousands

Some of the books residents have submitted complaints about include "What Are Your Words?" by Katherine Locke, which explores how children can ask about and use preferred pronouns among peers.

In a conversation with library system Executive Director Tonja Johnson, McGee reportedly also mentioned "The Queer Bible," a collection of essays from LGBTQ+ celebrities including Sir Elton John and "Queer Eye" star Tan France, as a questionable title.

Many of the comments left by those who support the campaign indicate they're also members of the furry community and encourage the library to stand up against hatred and discrimination.

Other members of the public have also contributed and offered support since the wave began, including a $100 donation from former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus.

"Don't give into bigots," Mabus wrote.

Heres the link to contribute to the library thats been threatened with loss of funds by the Mayor if they dont remove LGBTQ books. Help them stand up to bigots. Friends of the Ridgeland Library - Madison County MS - Fund Libraries https://t.co/AN7qiqAAGA  Ray Mabus (@SECNAV75) January 28, 2022

Soatok said McGee's actions go against many American rights and freedoms, which he believes is why the cause has resonated with so many.

"The freedom of speech, and of expression, and of the pursuit of happiness is so deeply intertwined with the American spirit that anyone who loves this country will resist the demands set out by Mayor McGee," Soatok said. "This isn't just a furry sentiment, or an LGBTQ+ sentiment, but an American sentiment."

'Amazed and humbled'

Teresa Gerald, president of Friends of the Ridgeland Library, said she's been flooded with messages from residents since the decision was announced late last month.

"The people that I'm hearing from are stunned that the mayor has taken this position," she said. "The emotions range from stunned to angry and I'm kind of amazed and still having trouble believing that he's done this."

Gerald said she hasn't heard of anything like this happening in the three decades she's lived in Ridgeland. She also never expected the fundraiser to get the kind of attention it has after EveryLibrary reached out to support the system.

"We're amazed and humbled by all these people who have never been to Ridgeland, Mississippi, or never even heard of Ridgeland, Mississippi, that are supporting this library," she said.

Gerald said she's reached out to representatives of the Ridgeland Board of Aldermen about the issue, but has only been thanked for her feedback so far. The board hosted a regular meeting Tuesday, but the funding matter was not on the agenda.

Have an education-related news tip? Contact Keisha Rowe at nrowe@gannett.com, on Twitter or at (601) 760-2483.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: LGBTQ+ books: Furries help raise money for Mississippi library system
More protests are expected in Toronto and Ottowa. Arthur Mola/AP

GoFundMe has blocked $10 million donations destined for the so-called "Freedom Convoy" in Canada.

The Freedom Convoy is protesting COVID-19 vaccine rules and has occupied the center of Ottawa.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk had earlier praised the Freedom Convoy.

GoFundMe has blocked $10 million in donations destined for a Canadian trucker vaccine protest that was praised by Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

The funds, which were donated to the so-called "Freedom Convoy," will now be automatically returned to donors, GoFundMe said Saturday.

Last weekend, thousands of truckers and protesters gathered in Ottawa to protest Canada's cross-border COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The protesters have since occupied the center of Canada's capital and Ottawa police have launched "several criminal investigations" into incidents connected to the protest.

Trump said last weekend: "We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way." He also criticized US President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for truckers and added that the Canadian protesters were "doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders by far."

On Friday, GoFundMe said that it "supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created." It added: "We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity."

This meant the fundraiser was in violation of its terms of service, the company said, adding that "no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers."

GoFundMe did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Insider's Bethany Dawson reported Trump calling Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau a "far-left lunatic" and added the group could be coming to the US to protest Joe Biden's COVID-19 rules.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford told the Associated Press: "It's not a protest anymore. It's become an occupation. It's time for this to come to an end."

Canada senator Dennis Patterson said: "Let me be clear: If you wrap yourself in or go about waving a Nazi or Confederate flag, you are declaring yourself a person who embraces hate, bigotry, and racism."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, left, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois listen as the House January 6 committee meets to hold Steve Bannon in contempt, on October 19, 2021. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The Republican National Committee voted Friday to censure Rep. Adam Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney.

The RNC denounced their involvement with the House select committee investigating the Capitol Riot.

Several members of the GOP spoke out in disapproval of the censure.

Some Republican lawmakers slammed the Republican National Committee's decision to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for participating in the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack.

The RNC said their participation in the January 6 investigation is "destructive to the institution of the US House of Representatives, the Republican Party, and our republic." The RNC described the select committee as a "Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."

But some of members of the party disagreed with the RNC's vote.

"The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on January 6th - HUH?" Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Sen. Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate, echoed the idea the Wyoming and Illinois representatives were only looking for answers.

"Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol," Romney posted on Twitter.

"Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost," the Utah senator added.

Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, said that censure of Kinzinger and Cheney marks "a sad day for my party  and the country."

"The GOP I believe in is the party of freedom and truth," Hogan said in a tweet, adding that the newly censured Republicans were "standing on principle, and refusing to tell blatant lies."

Michael Steele, the former chairman of the RNC, said he "stands" with Cheney and Kinzinger.

"As the former chairman of the Republican party, I cannot express enough my condemnation of this pathetic act of cowardice taken by its current leadership to censure @Liz_Cheney and @RepKinzinger," Steele wrote in a tweet. "You are wrong. I stand with Liz and Adam."

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Cheney and Kinzinger are the only two Republicans serving on the January 6 committee, alongside seven Democratic lawmakers. They were also two of ten GOP members of the House to vote in favor of impeaching former President Donald Trump.

"If the price of being willing to tell the truth and get to the bottom of what happened on January 6, and make sure that those who are responsible are held accountable is a censure, then I am absolutely going to continue to stand up for what I knew was right," Cheney told CNN following the RNC vote on Friday. "And I think that it is a sad day for the party of Lincoln that that's where we are."

In a tweet ahead of the Friday vote, Kinzinger said he will continue to "focus my efforts on standing for truth and working to fight the political matrix that's led us to where we find ourselves today."

Read the original article on Business Insider
File photo The Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra is seen performing at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts.

PETOSKEY  Northern Michigan young musicians have the opportunity to perform in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestras annual Charles F. Davis Young Artist Competition, applications for which are now being accepted.

The competition, which began in 2007, is available in two categories  a senior division for high school students and a junior division for pre-high school students for students of piano, winds, brass, percussion, strings and voice, residing in Northern Michigan between the 45th Parallel and the Straits of Mackinac, or students affiliated with a member of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.

Charlevoix flutist Helen Hanchin won top honors in the senior division in 2019. Junior Division winners that year included Eeva Rintala and Collin Brantley.

The pandemic forced the contests cancellation in 2020. But, in 2021 the orchestra revived the event, this time in a safe, virtual format. Last years senior division winners include Alex Sweeney, Maxwell Ondras, and Eeva Rintala. junior division winners included Collin Brantley, Blaise Sytsma-Reed, and Lena Sytsma-Reed.

This years competition will take places at the Petoskey United Methodist Church at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 24. Winners in each division will receive monetary scholarships and the chance to perform with the orchestra.

Application forms are available from instrumental and vocal teachers in the area, the orchestra office or online at www.glcorchestra.org. Students are encouraged to speak with their teachers or to contact the orchestra for additional information at (231) 487-0010.

Contestants must submit a completed application form, along with a $15 non-refundable application fee made payable to the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra. Applications must reach the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra office, 219 E. Lake Street, Petoskey, 49770 by Friday, April 15, at 5 p.m.

Requirements

Work(s) to be performed: Instrumentalists: a complete movement or composition for which an orchestral arrangement is available. Vocalists: two compositions, at least one in a foreign language  one of which must have an orchestral arrangement. Each contestant is to provide an accompanist, when necessary, at the contestants expense. Three copies of the piece(s) performed must be supplied for the judges with measures numbered. Photocopies are acceptable. All copies will be returned to the performers. Target performance time between 5 and 10 minutes. Music memorization is encouraged.

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Music scholarships are awarded to the top two contestants in each division. Winners may be invited to perform with the orchestra.

Masks are required for this event.

Contestants will be notified of their individual performance times within a week following the deadline date. Audition times will be randomly selected and may be negotiated. A warm-up room will be provided prior to the audition time. The competition will be held before a live audience.

For additional information, contact the office of Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra at (231) 487-0010.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Chamber orchestra accepting young artist competition applications
MOORESVILLE  After a more-than decade long hiatus, the self-proclaimed bringer of "finger-lickin' good" chicken is returning to the town of Mooresville.

Commuters who take South Indiana Street may have noticed the frame of a 2,600 square foot building rising up in the Village shopping center, between McDonald's and Autozone.

Live weather updates: Martinsville, Mooresville weather updates Friday as Morgan County cleans up from snowfall.

Alternative education: Learning opportunities for all walks of life in Morgan County.

They may not know that it is the future location of a KFC restaurant.

The Mooresville Plan Commission approved the developer's site plan for the project at its Aug. 12 meeting.

A future KFC restaurant is under construction in the Village shopping center in Mooresville.

The town hasn't had a KFC since the old location  at 360 S. Indiana St, where Sal's Pizza now sits  closed more than a decade ago. The franchise still operates a restaurant on Burton Lane in the city of Martinsville.

A big welcome: RD Productions announces 2022 concert lineup in Morgan County.

It's unclear when the Mooresville location will open. The company's public relations team did not return a request for comment.

KFC has 111 locations in Indiana and more than 24,000 restaurants worldwide.

Contact reporter Peter Blanchard at 765-346-2942 or pblanchard@reporter-times.com. Follow him on Twitter @peterlblanchard.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Mooresville restaurants: KFC coming to Village Shopping Center
A man was found dead in a tent in a homeless camp just south of Euclid Avenue near a bike trail along the Des Moines River on Thursday.

Des Moines Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Paul Parizek said another person at the camp called police at 4:37 p.m. regarding the 55-year-old man.

The low temperature on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service, was minus 3 degrees with a high of 11. Wednesdays low was 2 degrees and the high was 15. According to a statement from the Des Moines City Manager's Office, a propane heater was also found in the tent.

More: Need somewhere warm to go? Here are shelters and warming centers in Des Moines

Residents of the campsite where the mans body was discovered told investigators that the victim was experiencing health issues yesterday and was encouraged to seek medical attention, the statement said.

According to the citys statement, Central Iowa Shelter & Services said it previously worked with the man and was in contact with him. The statement said a CISS spokesperson said the man was offered shelter at CISS or a hotel but declined the offers.

"Our staff, along with several community partners, have worked to serve and make shelter available for everyone," Melissa O'Neil, CISS CEO, said in an email to the Register Friday.

The city does not suspect foul play and is awaiting autopsy results.

It is not uncommon in Des Moines for people to decline shelter. According to CISS website, the shelter started in the 1990s shortly after five men died outdoors after declining shelter.

According to the website of the Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit advocacy group based in New York, The right to shelter was a very important step toward ensuring the safety of homeless people, but municipal shelters can be very difficult places to live for those people who have languished on the streets for years.

More: City of Des Moines OKs weather amnesty for encroachment camps, does not create warming facility

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They are tight quarters with many rules and regulations, which can be confusing," the website says. "Nearly all municipal shelters for homeless single adults have barracks-style dormitories with as many as 100 beds in a single room, and these arrangements often do not suit the needs of homeless people living with serious mental illnesses like PTSD or mood disorders.

Des Moines Ward 1 council member Indira Sheumaker attempted to direct the city to create a 24-hour warming center to supplement other facilities during a special meeting on Jan.14.

During the special meeting, Sheumaker wanted to address the city's response to cold weather and to help people who are homeless during a current weather amnesty in the city, when no one can be turned away if seeking shelter. Organizations like CISS place residents in hotel rooms across the metro when they run out of beds.

Sheumaker did not immediately respond to the Register for comment.

Sheumaker said on Twitter, "This is a horrible tragedy and exactly what I feared would happen again this year, referencing another man who was found dead in the early hours of Feb. 8, 2021, in a portable toilet parked outside a Des Moines library. Every concern I expressed regarding why people refuse shelter offered by CISS came directly from housless folks in Des Moines."

According to Parizek, the DMPD has not "had any additional reports of deceased persons under similar circumstances."

JavaScript is not available.

Last month the citys Neighborhood Services Department told the Register an average of 170 people frequented CISS daily while other shelters maintained waitlists.

According to Des Moines Ward 3 council member Josh Mandelbaum, CISS's ability to house homeless residents in hotel rooms extends the shelter's capacity limitations.

"Their high, with beds plus hotel rooms, I think in the last week was 213," Mandelbaum said. "So it fluctuates, and it fluctuates from day to day in terms of how many people are choosing to be in shelter versus not."

Mandelbaum said that after the Des Moines City Council's special meeting in January, the city's homeless coordinating council set up a sub-working group to determine gaps in the city's outreach to homeless residents.

"We know even when there are options, even when people are aware of those options, there are still folks who don't come into shelter for whatever reason," Mandelbaum said.

"We need to work to address those barriers and try and understand what they are and think about how we overcome them. So we're going to take a comprehensive look at this so that we focus on the solutions that are actually going to meet the need and get to the root causes."

Hannah Rodriguez covers retail for the Register. Reach her at herodriguez@registermedia.com or on Twitter @byherodriguez.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Man found dead in tent in a homeless camp near the Des Moines River
The TechCrunch Global Affairs Project examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the tech sector and global politics.

On November 15, 2021 Russia launched an anti-satellite missile into low-earth orbit without warning, successfully destroying a Russian satellite. Projectile debris from this event not only endangered the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, but also could cause severe damage to satellites that support critical infrastructure here on Earth, such as GPS and power grids, for many years to come.

Just one month prior, China launched a hypersonic missile that circled the Earth and would be impossible to defend against with current technology.

Read more from the TechCrunch Global Affairs Project

These events are a wake-up call: The United States technological leadership is not assured, and the global standards we developed and maintained with our partners and allies are being rewritten, as new technological advancements give rise to new threats to our nations security.

But these new threats are not insurmountable. In fact, these events should serve as a clarion call for entrepreneurs and investors at the forefront of emerging technology domains, including artificial intelligence, space, cybersecurity and autonomous systems.

To meet the rising challenges posed by asymmetric and cyber warfare, we need to work together  Pentagon, academia, and industry  as we did more than 60 years ago to build Silicon Valley and our nations technological leadership of today. Government investments helped to create the internet and semiconductors, as well as map the human genome.

I came to the Department of Defense after 30 years in the commercial technology sector to help rebuild the ties that underwrote much of our countrys economic strength and global leadership over the past half century.

Why rekindle the DoD-Silicon Valley connection?

The DoD is actively pursuing a technology modernization agenda that not only reflects the changing nature of warfare but also engenders a series of necessary business process reforms. For example, in commercial space, companies are already deploying small satellites to provide more ubiquitous internet access and pioneer rapid launch capability to deliver payloads to various geospatial layers; self-driving cars are providing transportation options; swarming drones are surveilling oil pipelines and inspecting commercial buildings and infrastructure.

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These innovations are all dual-use technologies, meaning they have military applications as well. Networking these solutions together is supported by global cloud options that are cost-effective, secure and scalable. Just like companies do, the military needs to harness the insights contained in voluminous data to generate predictive capabilities through AI and machine learning that yield faster and better decision-making.

Business process reforms are equally important to improving our defense posture. Most of the DoDs business processes were established in the 1960s and focused on building large weapons platforms such as tanks, ships and planes. Rapid advancements in the commercial sector, which promise to enhance our militarys technological edge, mean that the Pentagon now needs to buy many more technologies that complement the large weapons platforms we continue to buy.

Its clear the coming decade will be one characterized by intense competition among nations for preeminence in technology. For an increasing number of commercial vendors, this will represent an unprecedented opportunity to tackle complex problems together with the Defense Department.

For instance, with assets in air, space, undersea, on land and in cyberspace, the national security apparatus is effectively the largest collection of sensors in the world. To date, however, these sensors are not designed to seamlessly integrate; rather, they are typically built and operated in silos, making it challenging to implement updates and develop a common operating picture. Building an Internet of Things in spacea global sensor network  would provide real-time situational awareness, a resilient communications infrastructure as a backbone for operational decisions and the basis for an autonomous force of sea, land, air and space systems that are small, numerous and agile.

These systems will generate immense amounts of data requiring increased storage, management and analytics, and technology modernization means building better tools to collect information, analyze it, understand it, and make better decisions in the interest of national security. It will also involve more sophisticated protection from cyber vulnerabilities.The physical manifestation of these new capabilities will require greener energy use.

Commercial companies are developing these technologies today, and the DoD must increase its capacity to quickly assess and efficiently procure these solutions  enhancing our national security and driving commercial prosperity. Executing this vision means more companies than ever before can participate in a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity that likewise enhances national security in the 21st Century.

Defense Innovation Unit: DoDs startup

To deliver the best technology to our military, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter recognized the need to break down institutional barriers and inject fresh ideas, technologies, and methodologies from the commercial sector. In 2015, he announced the opening of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to rebuild this connection. DIU was designed to bring innovative and faster contracting mechanisms to bear, making it easier, more desirable and more profitable to do business with the DoD.

At DIU weve already seen how powerful this collaboration can be, from providing ongoing investment at key points of hardware and software lifecycles, uninterrupted access to testing facilities, and showing commercial companies a path to linear growth in the defense sector. This collaboration can accelerate a products development or stimulate a company's growth, showing investors access to new markets.

But maintaining U.S. leadership in key technologies requires changing the 60-year-old acquisition system. DoD is no longer the first mover, the primary investor, or market maker for many technologies today. DoD needs to become a fast follower, adapting and integrating commercial technology not developed by the DoD, to solve defense problems. To do this, DIU is advocating action in three areas:

Solving problems directly with available commercial solutions instead of being bound by defense-specified requirements for custom military solutions Streamlining acquisitions, moving at commercial speed, and scaling opportunities Building flexibility into the budgeting process, which today takes up to three years to program and spend a dollar for defense needs

These three areas may seem obvious but overcoming long-established processes in defense planning and Congressional approval is not easy. And ensuring we can make the sound business case to technology firms of supporting work in national security is essential since there are large markets to serve outside of defense

Accelerating the pace of change and removing barriers cannot be done solely inside the DoD or with a select few commercial companies participating. We need all sides of the triangle of business, academia and government actively engaged, providing different ideas and approaches to accelerate our pace of modernization. Rebuilding the connection between DoD and commercial industry  from exchanging talent, acquiring products, having open communications on key issues  is critical.

DoD leadership recognizes that we are living through a technological moment unlike any other in our nations history. DIU has a unique and important role to play in bringing commercial technology and methodologies to modernize both critical parts of the militarys infrastructure. Together, like we have done in the past with the birth of Silicon Valley, we can ensure a secure and prosperous future for our nation.
In Excess Will Save Us  named this week joint winner of Rotterdam Film Festivals Special Jury Award  Morgane Dziurla-Petit returns to Villereau, a village in the north of France where nothing ever happens. Or, according to some of the locals, everything does  from freak accidents to terrorist scares and the curious case of disappearing pigeons.

Laughter is what brought me to making this film. Its the way we communicate with each other in my family and in the village. Whatever we do, there is always this humor, the Sweden-based director tells Variety after the online awards ceremony.

More from Variety

I started with all the stories that intrigued me and yes, made me laugh, but I wasnt trying to make a funny film. I liked the idea of a comedy that makes you sad or a drama that makes you laugh.

Expanding her 2019 short of the same name, and once again asking her family to participate, she decided to reference it in the hybrid film, with the protagonists celebrating its premiere at Clermont-Ferrand.

This short really brought us together. For my father, it was also his way out. Despite his age, he would feel like a teenager sometimes, just stuck in this place. Thanks to the film, he understood there was hope for him too, in a way. It made him happy, she says. But as her own circumstances changed over the years, she created an alter ego to represent her old self, played by Kim Truong.

I just didnt feel like that kid who tries to escape anymore. I was a director, choosing to be there. That was a huge difference, she adds.

After my parents split, I would still visit the village. I didnt know what to do there, I just wanted out. Now, I started to see it in a new way and I have developed a huge love for it. I really believe that if you are feeling stuck somewhere, you have to leave in order to appreciate it all over again.

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Morgane Dziurla-Petit - Credit: Courtesy of Filip Lyman

Courtesy of Filip Lyman

Following her shorts international success, Dziurla-Petit originally intended to follow it with a series. But while she is currently focusing on other projects  including Twilight of the Gods, announced at Haugesunds Nordic Co-Production Market, and Pitchoune, produced by Ninon Chapuis, Lucas Le Postec and Thibault De Gantes for LHeure dete, granted CNCs development support  she might still consider another trip to Villereau further down the road.

Yesterday I called my grandfather and he went: Come back, I am ready for our next film!,  she laughs, admitting that working with your own family can be trying at times.

I would give them directions and they would interpret them in the most bizarre ways  especially my dad. Luckily, I love surprises. My family, they are very loud people. I was always the quiet one, so it was hard to make them respect me sometimes. They all wanted to be directors; they had their own ideas and wanted to make them happen.

Dziurla-Petit has always been interested in exploring the line between reality and fiction, she says. In her short Grab Them, made using deepfake technology, a womans search for happiness is hindered by the fact that she looks a lot like a certain former American president. Now, in Excess Will Save Us, Donald Trump  and his theories about bleach  are getting a mention once again.

I was thinking a lot about fear and about how people exploit it in the media. Trump took it to a whole new level, using the concept of fake news and its something thats directly related to this story. My characters end up creating their own fake news because it brings them together, in a way, as they unite against [another threat], she says.

Now, after the first screenings, many people tell me that after a while, they dont care about whats real and whats not, whether its a documentary or pure fiction. Just like the people in that village. At the end of the day, we all just want a good story.

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The Greenwood Supermarket is expected to open by the end of this month, says Loretta Shaw, a family member who will manage the store when owners Bill and Christine Smith open the doors.

The original market was destroyed by fire on Nov. 13, 2018, just weeks after it had escaped any major damage from Hurricane Michael.

The new store is located just next door to the old, at 4185 Bryan Street, the new location owned by the Smith family.

It is expected to have bigger deli and bigger meat department, Shaw said, with roughly 7,500 sq. ft. under roof as compared to the old 5,000 sq. ft. store.

We were waiting on the septic tank permit, and that came through last week, so things are really on the ball this week, and we think it will open by the end of February, Shaw said. Its going to be so nice. Its new, so clean. Were starting fresh and its going to be awesome.

There were about 20 people on the payroll as either part-time or full-time when the store burned and Shaw anticipates that the store might need a few more than that with the bigger footprint and with an eager community practically perched on the doorstep awaiting its opening.

Everywhere we go, we get asked, When are you opening?, Shaw said. Thats been happening all along. We have a lot of support from the community and it means so much to all of us. Were looking forward to getting back in business, back to serving the people that have been our support, never giving up on us and always letting us know that were wanted.

She expects a big grand-opening ceremony soon, with a big reveal of the stores interior at that time. For now, its inside look is being kept under wraps to ensure what shes hoping will be a wow moment for customers.
The Shawnee County Commission on Thursday took the first step toward creating a walking and biking trail atop the north-side levee to the right of the Kansas River in this photo.

Shawnee County commissioners took the first step Thursday toward creating a walking and biking trail atop the levee that runs on the north side of the Kansas River in Topeka.

Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Aaron Mays and Kevin Cook voted 3-0 to approve a proposed contract with the city of Topeka to coordinate and support the development of that multiuse trail.

The contract will now be considered by Topeka's city government, Shawnee County Counselor Jim Crowl told commissioners.

The proposed trail would run atop the levee for its roughly two miles from S.W. Topeka Boulevard west to the site of the low-water weir located just north of the city of Topeka's water treatment plant at 3245 N.W. Waterworks Drive, Riphahn said.

"The city owns the levee," Crowl said. "We would just be using the top."

More: Hikers, runners, cyclists team to improve state park trails in hopes of getting official status

The proposed contract doesn't commit to any project timeline, or to spending any certain amounts of money, he said.

"It just outlines who would be responsible for what" in terms of creating the trail and maintaining it, Crowl said.

The proposed contract calls for the city and county to work cooperatively to "design, plan, develop and operate" the trail.

It also calls for the city and county to team up to "prepare a cooperative management plan for the operation of the trail to include conditions of public access, public safety, and to address adjacent landowner concerns."

More: 'We're done screwing around': Mayor, city council vote to demolish dilapidated North Topeka building

The proposed contract would give Topeka's city government the authority to close the trail during times of high water or other unsafe conditions.

Riphahn suggested grant funding would likely be available to help cover the costs of creating the trail, meaning the county's costs to do that would probably be reasonable.

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County officials hope to develop other trails in the area involved after creating the trail discussed Thursday.

Riphahn said the county's next step after developing that trail would be to extend it further west along the levee, which would require approval from the state of Kansas.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: First step taken to develop trail atop Kansas River levee in Topeka
A family of Bigg's killer whales spent a significant time in Hood Canal at the end of 2021. Here, one of the members, T68C, is spotted by a camera.

The number of people who saw Bigg's killer whales in the area jumped last year, with over a thousand unique sightings during 2021.

According to Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), Biggs killer whales were most frequently documented in the region last year, followed by humpback whales, gray whales and minke whales.

Endangered Southern Resident orcas were encountered least often. Their declining presence in the Salish Sea has been correlated to a decrease in Fraser River Chinook, according to PWWA naturalists.

Monika Wieland Shields, director of Orca Behavior Institute on San Juan Island, said there was a record-breaking presence of Biggs killer whales in 2021. Based on reports from professional whale watchers, regional sightings groups and shore-based observers, Biggs killer whales were documented in the Salish Sea during 1,067 unique sightings across 329 days. The previous record, set in 2019, was 747 unique sightings. On the other hand, salmon-eating Southern Resident killer whales were documented on just 103 days, or 28% of the year.

The Biggs killer whale population, which feeds on marine mammals like seals and sea lions, is growing at more than 4% per year, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

It has been incredible to witness the continued rise of Biggs killer whales in the Salish Sea, Shields said. In 2021, there were days when we documented 10 different groups of Biggs throughout the region totaling more than 50 whales.

Spending time in Hood Canal

Bigg's killer whales have been spending some time in Hood Canal, breaching and swimming for those taking pictures and watching from the shores.

Some transient orcas spent almost five weeks there from late November to late December, Gless said. They went through the Hood Canal bridge to nearly the end of the canal near Belfair. The family that visited was the T68Cs  a family of five. The mother, T68C, was born in 1992. Her four children were with her, with the youngest born in 2020. This group is more typically found in Southeast Alaska, Gless said.

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Its not a common group of transients that come here but I think they found a haven of food and just stayed, said Sarah Hanke of Puget Sound Express.

The T68Cs visit Hood Canal. A mother and four of her babies feasted on seals throughout December.

Its not extremely common for the whales to stay in the Hood Canal area so long, Gless said, but there have been periods where different groups have visited for a while. Its not uncommon for them to visit a day or two, but in 2005 a group spent 172 days in the area. In 2003, a few whales stayed in Hood Canal for 59 days, Gless said. In 2020 they stated about 10 days, and in 2021 it was estimated they stayed about 30 days. Its likely the number of seals attracting the orcas and keeping them around, Gless said.

Hanke said there have been a lot of changes in the whale population over the 37 years the company has been doing whale watching. Theres been a higher population of harbor seals and porpoise, Hanke said, so more groups of whales have been visiting Hood Canal to feast.

Theres so much food for them, Hanke said. Its a seal haven in Hood Canal.

She said during one tour they witnessed a National Geographic moment when an orca killed a bald eagle that simultaneously swooped down to catch a fish.

What the wildlife does is completely different every day, she said.

'Encouraging year for whales'

December 2021 sightings of orcas in the Salish Sea area.

Humpback whale calves also came in record numbers last year. Twenty-one calves accompanied their mothers on their journey through the Salish Sea. Humpbacks were documented 301 days in 2021, but by now, most have returned south to their breeding grounds.

Technology has brought people together in reporting whales, Hanke said. Everyone is a little more aware and observant, often posting photos on Facebook and in different groups, she said.

The overall population of both orcas and humpbacks is increasing, Hanke said. Every time a humpback brings a baby with them to the Salish Sea, it means that baby will return to those feeding grounds that their mother has shown them.

"Big picture, 2021 was an exciting and encouraging year for whales in the Salish Sea. We look forward to what 2022 may bring," Gless said.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Orcas, whales spotted in Hood Canal and Salish Seas more often
When President Joe Biden lifted a ban barring U.S. entry from people from primarily Muslim countries on his first day in office, immigrant and refugee advocates rejoiced.

The move promised long-awaited relief and hope of reconnection to thousands denied the chance to be with loved ones under the Trump administration. But advocates, initially grateful and optimistic, now say little has changed, and most applicants have yet to be reunited with their families or even notified of their status.

We were trying our best to be patient, but this is unacceptable, said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice  Asian Law Caucus (AAAJ-ALC). Weve seen very little progress, and people have suffered in the meantime.

Last month, Kohlis San Francisco-based organization was among more than 100 immigrant and refugee support groups from around the country that co-signed a letter pleading with Biden to follow through. The effort was led by the No Muslim Ban Ever Campaign and National Iranian American Council.

Where the rescission should have been a beacon of hope for those denied under the ban, many have instead given up on their dreams of coming to the United States, Donna Farvard, the Iranian councils national organizing director, said in a statement. The Biden administration must take immediate action to right these wrongs.

Sarvin Hahghighi with her parents in Melbourne, Australia, shortly after son Kian's birth in March 2019. Hahghighi's parents, both Iranian citizens, have been unable to visit her family in the U.S. because of former President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from certain primarily Muslim countries. President Joe Biden lifted the ban on his first day in office.

Advocates cite examples such as Marziyeh Ehtesab, an Iranian woman who wished to join her lonely sister in the United States, or Mohammed Mushin Abulla, a Yemeni man who mortgaged land and sold off valuables to pay the costs of traveling to Malaysia for his application interviews. After much time and expense, both ultimately won visas through the U.S. diversity visa lottery program  but found them revoked under the ban instituted by former President Donald Trump because of their countries of origin.

Trumps executive order, issued in 2017, prohibited U.S. entry by people from certain countries despite little evidence of any systematic review of relevant national security concerns.

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The order disrupted the plans and hopes of many ready or forced to leave their countries to be with loved ones in the United States. More than 41,000 people were explicitly denied visas as a result, advocates say, and the number doesnt include people who subsequently became discouraged from applying.

Federal judges denied two initial versions of the ban as discriminatory on religious grounds, but the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 approved a third iteration prohibiting travelers from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and North Korea. Two years later, just before Trump left office, a similar ban added multiple African and Asian nations to the list, including Nigeria, Sudan and Myanmar.

Elation and hope led to confusion and disappointment

In his proclamation reversing the bans, Biden mandated the State Department to submit within 45 days a plan to expedite applications denied or delayed under the policies.

"We were thrilled by his day-one priority and thought it would lead to a major uptick" in visa processing, said Ryan Costello, the Iranian council's policy director. "But that hasnt been the case. The relief has not been felt on the ground."

Instead, said Hammad Alam, AAAJ-ALCs program manager for national security and civil rights, the departments instructions only further muddled the process, arbitrarily cutting off those who had applied for visas before a particular date for no apparent reason and offering little to no guidance as to when applicants should contact officials or vice versa.

The State Department also did not extend eligibility reconsideration to those such as Iran's Ehtesab and Yemen's Abulla who were awarded visas through the diversity visa program.

Additionally, Alam said, while the department said it would waive re-application fees for those denied visas under the ban, the online system for doing so has still not been updated to reflect that, meaning applicants are stuck with paying the fees or not reapplying at all. Such fees can run from $200 to nearly $800, not including fees for waivers and other services, required medical tests and associated travel costs.

Once they do apply, individuals, get caught up in an immigration logjam aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates say, and many have no idea what their status is. Some have simply given up on moving to the United States, forced to resettle in other nations where they had no family.

What it comes down to is administrative delay, Alam said. Theres a lack of consistency across the board on what families should do. Even immigration lawyers are confused.

Joe Biden signed a series of orders and proclamations in the Oval Office after being sworn in as U.S. president on Jan. 20, 2021, including a decision to reverse bans on U.S. entry and resettlement for people from certain African, Asian and primarily Muslim-majority countries. A year later, advocates say little has changed despite the rescission of the bans.

The letter sent to Biden is signed by 108 nationwide organizations such as the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Oxfam America, Georgia Muslim Voter Project, South Dakota Voices for Peace and Human Rights Initiative of North Texas. It outlines 13 policy proposals that advocates said would alleviate the situation, which affects those hoping to join loved ones in the United States or seeking job opportunities or medical care.

In addition to revisiting and expediting applications from those denied under the ban, the letter urges Biden to provide clarity to affected communities, to restore consular services to pre-ban levels and to address federal anti-terrorism policies that enabled the bans to be created in the first place.

It is unacceptable that families separated under these draconian Trump policies remain apart and in limbo, Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement. We urge the Biden administration to fully follow through on his campaign promises, provide meaningful relief and restore due process for those impacted.

Alam, of the AAAJ-ALC, said its unclear how many people have been able to obtain visas after being denied under the ban, but that in many cases, families are having to take it upon themselves to reach out to U.S. embassies.

We dont have enough lawyers to represent them all, he said. And if theres no clear guidance, if even immigration lawyers are confused, how are the families supposed to navigate that? The government owes these people some remedy and respect.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Muslim ban: After Biden repealed Trump policy, many still in limbo
Sat., Jan. 8, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; A protester holds a sign against vaccine mandates during the "Maximum Freedom" Rally at the Ohio Statehouse. Several groups rallied at the Statehouse against vaccine mandates as a response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Opposition to vaccine mandates grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, several U.S. Senate candidates are self-funding and Ohio just got 1,800 pages on criminal justice reform.

We break down what it all means on this week's episode of Ohio Politics Explained.

A podcast from the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau where we catch you up on the state's political news in 15 minutes or less. This week host Anna Staver was joined by reporter Titus Wu.

1) The rise of the "medical freedom" movement

Anti-vaccine mandate activists have diluted Ohio's immunization requirements over the last two decades, but it wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic hit that their ideas went mainstream.

"With COVID-19, if it did nothing else, it's mainstreamed medical freedom. There's no doubt about that," said Stephanie Stock, head of Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, a group lobbying against vaccine requirements.

2) Campaign cash

Campaign finance reports were due this week, and the data gave a window in the races for U.S. Senate and governor.

Many of the Republicans in the race to replace Sen. Rob Portman are self-funding their primary campaigns, including Mike Gibbons who has loaned himself $11.4 million.

And when it comes to the Democratic primary for governor, the two candidates are about even when it came to cash on hand. Nan Whaley had $1.77 million and John Cranley reported $1.9 million.

3) Who is in it to win it

Even though the lines for Ohio's House and Senate seats are still up in the air, that didn't stop folks from filing.

Michele Reynolds, who worked for Gov. Mike DeWine up until last week, announced she would be challenging Sen. Tina Maharath, D-Canal Winchester, for her suburban Columbus seat.

The new lines for Senate District 3 could favor Maharath, but Reynolds sounded confident as she kicked off her campaign.

Republican state Rep. Diane Grendell, however, came to a different conclusion.

Her safe district looks like it will be Democratic-leaning, so she's running for Geauga County auditor.

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4) The kitchen sink of criminal justice reform bills

The Ohio Senate introduced a massive, 1,800-page criminal justice reform bill this week.

The legislation would make it easier to expunge certain criminal convictions and reduce sentences for people who completely rehab.

"This is a bill that is five years in the making, and I want to try to get it done by the end of this General Assembly," Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said.

Listen to "Ohio Politics Explained" on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and TuneIn Radio. The episode is also available by clicking the link at the top of the article.

The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau serves The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

Get more political analysis by listening to the Ohio Politics Explained podcast

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Vaccine opposition, campaign cash, election 2022: Ohio Politics podcast
The world's largest cruise ship has joined Royal Caribbean's fleet see inside the Wonder of the Seas

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean has welcomed the world's largest cruise ship, the new Wonder of the Seas.

The 1,188-foot long cruise ship set sail for the first time on Friday.

Take a look around the ship, which can accommodate almost 6,990 guests and 2,300 crew.

Cruising just got a bit bigger: Royal Caribbean's newest and largest ship, the Wonder of the Seas, officially set sail last Friday.

The Wonder of the Seas. Siigrun Sauerzapfe aka SIGGI

Source: Royal Caribbean, Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean began constructing the Wonder of the Seas, now the world's largest cruise ship, in France in 2019. And after three years of waiting, the mammoth vessel has finally hit the seas.

The Wonder of the Seas under construction. Bernard Biger/Chantiers de lAtlantique

Source: Royal Caribbean

The 210-foot wide behemoth is the cruise line's newest "Oasis" class ship, Royal Caribbean's segment of the "world's largest cruise ships," according to the cruise line.

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Source: Royal Caribbean

All of this space can accommodate nearly 6,990 guests and 2,300 crew across its 18 decks.

The Vue bar aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

If you've been waiting three years to sail on the giant ship, your patience has finally paid off. On Friday, the Wonder of the Seas officially embarked on its inaugural voyage.

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

It's now operating five-to-seven-night cruises from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean. These itineraries will continue through April until the behemoth vessel heads to Europe in May for summer Mediterranean itineraries.

The Wonder of the Seas under construction. Royal Caribbean

And in November, it'll return to the US for more Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral, Florida.

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Curious what it'll be like sailing aboard the world's largest cruise ship? Let's take a closer look at some of the new 1,188-foot long cruise ship's amenities and neighborhoods.

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Think of the Wonder of the Seas as a floating community with eight distinct "neighborhoods" that all have their own flairs, amenities, and entertainment options.

The Wonder of the Seas under construction in September 2020. Royal Caribbean

This isn't a new concept for the cruise line, but the ship will debut Royal Caribbean's newest neighborhood: the Suite neighborhood. This spot has a sun deck with a plunge pool, a bar, lounges, and a private restaurant.

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The Suite neighborhood aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

But don't go running to the Suite if you're staying in a stateroom. The neighborhood is reserved for guests staying in, well, suites.

The Suite neighborhood aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

The cruise ship also has two nods to New York with its Central Park neighborhood full of live plants, shopping, and restaurants 

The Wonder of the Seas under construction. Royal Caribbean

 and the Coney Island-inspired Boardwalk neighborhood with a carousel and outdoor theater.

The AquaTheater in the Boardwalk neighborhood aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Source: Royal Caribbean

Like other Royal Caribbean ships, the Wonder is full of entertainment for young guests, like the Youth Zone neighborhood designed for infants, children, and teenagers.

The kids play area aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Source: Insider

This younger demographic can also hang out at the Wonder Playscape, an outdoor space with a rock climbing wall and other interactive activities.

The pool deck aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

For a boost of adrenaline at sea, there's the Pool and Sports Zone with activities like a surf simulator, what the cruise line calls "the tallest slide at sea," zip lining, and mini golf.

The pool deck aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

But it's not all fun and games for children only. The ship also has pockets of rest and relaxation for adults, like the spa and fitness center.

The Wonder of the Seas under construction. Royal Caribbean

And if you're in the mood for a drink, the Wonder of the Seas has plenty of bar and lounge options. This includes the Vue, an open-air bar on the pool deck with views of the ocean 

The Vue bar aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

 and Playmakers Bar and Arcade, an adults-only arcade and sports bar.

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Source: Royal Caribbean

Head to the Royal Promenade if you're in the mood for some coffee, shopping, and entertainment 

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Source: Insider

 or the Entertainment Palace neighborhood for live entertainment like ice skating shows.

The Wonder of the Seas under construction. Royal Caribbean

And it wouldn't be a proper cruise without plenty of onboard dining options.

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

There's the Mason Jar Southern Restaurant and Bar where you can get your fix of southern fried chicken, shrimp and grits, live country music, and spiked milkshakes.

The Wonder of the Seas' Mason Jar restaurant and bar. Royal Caribbean

But if you have a hankering for tacos, visit El Loco Fresh and Cantina Fresca, a bar and restaurant with items like tacos, margaritas, burritos, and agua frescas.

The Wonder of the Seas' Mason Jar restaurant and bar. Royal Caribbean

And if you'd rather stick to your on-land American classics, there's an option for you too, like the Starbucks and Johnny Rockets.

The Wonder of the Seas under construction. Royal Caribbean

Source: Royal Caribbean

If you're interested in cruising on the 2,867-stateroom ship, be ready to pay anywhere between a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

The Suite neighborhood aboard the Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Caribbean cruises aboard the new colossal vessel start at about $640 for an April five-night sailing in an interior stateroom.

The Wonder of the Seas under construction. Royal Caribbean

Source: Royal Caribbean

This price then jumps to about $3,100 for a suite aboard the seven-night mid-March sailing.

The Wonder of the Seas. Royal Caribbean

Source: Royal Caribbean

Read the original article on Business Insider
A photo of Donald Trump at a rally in Arizona next to a photo of the Freedom Convoy protests. Mario Tama/Getty Images, Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty, Insider

Donald Trump has praised the freedom convoy, a group of Canadian truckers protesting US-Canada vaccine mandates.

The former President called Trudeau a "far-left lunatic" for his COVID-19 rules and restrictions.

The Canadian police have confirmed they are working to shutdown the protests, which have lasted over a week.

Nine days into the "Freedom Convoy" protests in Canada, an anti-vaccine group protesting new border regulations, Donald Trump has praised it and called Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a "far-left lunatic."

The protests started on January 29, led by campaigners opposed to the mandate that truckers crossing the US-Canada border must be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The protests, which are being investigated by police for criminal activity and have brought parts of the capital Ottawa to a standstill, have been praised by Donald Trump whilst he simultaneously criticizes Trudeau.

"The Freedom Convoy is peacefully protesting the harsh policies of far-left lunatic Justin Trudeau, who has destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates," said Trump in a statement. He did not comment on reports that Freedom Convoy members had been arrested for causing mischief to property, carrying a weapon to a public meeting, and issuing threats on social media while in Ottawa.

"Our goal is to end the demonstration," Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said Friday morning according to Global News Canada, noting that the protests have led to "a lot of unacceptable and unlawful activities."

Up to 400 additional trucks are expected to try to enter the city this weekend, to join the 50-60 that have been camped in Canada's capital for days, along with another 1000 to 2000 people on foot, say reports.

There were also reports of hundreds of trucks blocking the border in Alberta, earlier this week.

Supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the Freedom Truck Convoy to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in Ottawa, Canada, on January 29, 2022. Lars Hagberg/AFP/Getty Images

Trump added that "the Freedom Convoy could be coming to DC with American Truckers who want to protest Biden's ridiculous COVID policies."

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Canada has some of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world, with 82% of citizens over the age of five vaccinated, according to the Canadian government.

The Freedom Convoy has raised C$10m ($7.9m) on GoFundMe. But the fundraising site is now withholding funds due to reports of the group committing violence across Canada.

Trump added that his social media site, Truth Social, announced in October 2021 but has still not launched, will welcome Freedom Convoy posts.

"Facebook is canceling the accounts of Freedom Convoy USA, and GoFundMe is denying access to funds that belong to the Freedom Convoy. This is unacceptable and extremely dangerous in any country that values free expression. TruthSocial is announcing today that we are welcoming the Freedom Convoy with open arms to communicate freely on TruthSocial when we launch  coming very soon!" Trump said in his statement on the Trump Media and Technology Group site.

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MADISON  Prosecutors in Waushara County have filed the first criminal charge to result from the attorney general's statewide investigation into clergy and faith leaders accused of sexual abuse.

Remington Jon Nystrom, 33, was charged with one count of first-degree sexual contact with a child under 13 in connection with an incident that occurred in 2009, according to information from the Department of Justice.

Nystrom was a counselor at a Mount Morris camp in Waushara County when, police say, he inappropriately touched a sleeping 10-year-old, waking the child.

Mount Morris is affiliated with the Moravian Church of America.

More: 'This is criminal evidence': Advocates deliver boxes of documents regarding clergy abuse to attorney general

The victim had not previously reported the assault to either church or legal authorities, prior to reporting the abuse to the Attorney General's Office, according to the Department of Justice.

This case is possible because of the report made by a brave survivor and the diligent work of investigators, victim service professionals, and prosecutors, Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement. We continue to ask anyone with information about clergy and faith leader abuse to make a report to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Nystrom, who is listed with a Wisconsin Rapids address in an online court database, was ordered held on a $5,000 cash bond on Friday. A judge also barred him from having contact with minors without another adult present and prohibited any contact with Mount Morris.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 14.

Kaul launched the clergy and faith leaders investigation in April after years of urging from survivors of abuse. By October, the Department of Justice had received more than 180 reports of abuse that were being investigated, including two that were forwarded to the Brown County District Attorney's office in Green Bay for further investigation.

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Reports have involved clergy and faith leaders from multiple religious organizations, as well as some reports of abuse not related to any religious organization, according to the Department of Justice. Some reports include claims against multiple abusers.

More: Wisconsin's attorney general is investigating the handling of clergy abuse claims. Here is what we know.

Of the reports received, 80% were reports of abuse, while 20% were related to how an institution handled a claim of abuse, according to the department. The ages of those reporting abuse range from under 18 to over 75. About 40% of the people who have reported to the clergy hotline have not reported to a law enforcement agency or a religious entity before.

Some reports can't be sent on to local investigators, though, because they fall outside of the state's statute of limitations. For criminal cases, victims of child sexual assault older than 45 can't bring charges forward, and for civil cases, the ability to sue ends at age 35.

How to file a report

To file a report, call 877-222-2620 or use the online reporting tool at supportsurvivors.widoj.gov. Both options provide the ability to file an anonymous tip.

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Christian counselor charged in sexual abuse investigation
Geoffrey Paschel on "90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days" season 4 episode 4 TLC

"90 Day Fiance" star Geoffrey Paschel was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday.

He was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and domestic assault charges last October.

TLC and Varya Malina, who appeared with Paschel on the show, didn't respond to requests for comment.

"90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days" star Geoffrey Paschel was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday, four months after his October 2021 conviction on aggravated kidnapping and domestic assault charges. He was also charged with interference with emergency calls.

Paschel, who appeared on season four of the "90 Day" spinoff, was charged after a June 9, 2019 domestic violence incident involving Paschel and his ex-fiancee, Kristen Wilson Chapman, according to E! News. Chapman did not appear on the reality show. Paschel's charges stem from an incident that took place prior to Paschel participating in the show.

"Paschel grabbed the victim by the neck and slammed her head against the wall several times. She was also thrown to the ground and dragged. Paschel took the victim's cell phone and did not allow her to leave the residence," the Knox County, Tennessee District Attorney's office wrote in its October 2021 press release announcing Paschel's conviction.

Paschel's mugshot. KNOX COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

Chapman was able to leave the house and seek safety at a neighbor's house when Paschel fell asleep, according to the press release, but sustained a concussion, a bruise on her forehead, and bruises and abrasions on her arms, back, and the inside of her lip after the altercation.

At his October 2021 trial, which lasted two days, Paschel testified that Chapman's bruising was self-inflicted, but a jury found him guilty and he was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault, and interference with emergency calls. Paschel has consistently denied the allegations and maintained his innocence, publicly said he'd rejected a plea deal.

On Thursday, Judge Kyle Hixson ordered Paschel to serve 18 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

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"With the sentence in this case, no other victims will be abused by this offender for a long time," Allen said in Thursday's press release.

The former reality star appeared on season four of TLC's "90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days," which aired in 2020. The show followed Paschel's relationship with and eventual engagement to Varya Malina, though fans of the show had called for him to be removed from the series in March 2020, due to past allegations and criminal charges against him, in an online petition to TLC.

(In an Instagram post responding to the petition at the time, Paschel defended his decision to appear on the show and referred to the past allegations and criminal charges against him as his "checkered past.")

Malina reacted to Paschel's sentencing in an Instagram post on Thursday.

"To be honest we didn't expect much from this sentencing. 18 years?" she captioned a reel. "Alright, we passed the bottom, that means there's only one way up! The grounds for the appeal became even stronger."

Malina's post was also a birthday tribute to Paschel's late son, Kazhem, from a previous marriage. Kazhem was about a year old when he died from a seizure in 2018, Paschel told "Before the 90 Days" producers on the season four premiere.

Previously, Malina has publicly supported Paschel, even sharing fundraising links for him on Instagram after his October 2021 sentencing alongside a caption saying she and Paschel's family were giving him "an opportunity to clear his name."

A representative for TLC didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. Malina also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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A North Carolina man has made the FBI's Most Wanted list after being charged with killing his former sister-in-law at his brother's request.

Darrin Christopher Starr, 53, is wanted by the FBI for his alleged part in the November 2017 murder of Sara Starr, 36, who was his former sister-in-law at the time of the murder. He was charged by federal authorities in December with the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire.

His brother and Sara Starr's ex-husband at the time of her murder, Jason Starr, 48, was arrested at his Daleville, Alabama home  about 95 miles south of Montgomery  on Dec. 7 and faces the same federal charge, according to the Southeast Sun. Jason Starr was released from federal custody in early January with an ankle monitor, the paper reported.

Sara Starr, a mother of four, was a fourth grade teacher at Harrand Creek Elementary School in Enterprise, Alabama  just west of Daleville  when she was shot to death in her own driveway in Chancellor sometime after 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2017, the Sun reported at the time. Her body was found by two coworkers around 8:30 a.m. after she didn't arrive for work, according to Dothan, Alabama CBS affiliate WTVY

Her husband was apparently considered a person of interest in the case nearly immediately, but had an alibi: he was eating breakfast at a cafe at the time of her murder, the station reported.

Jason Starr had filed for divorce from Sara Starr in 2015, according to WTVY, and Birmingham CBS affiliate WIAT reported that the divorce had only been finalized in July 2017. The Southesast Sun reported that, shortly before the murder, Jason Starr had been ordered to pay $2,500 a month in support to his then-ex-wife.

On May 23, 2018, Jason Starr was indicted by a grand jury for the sexual abuse of a child under age 12, Montgomery NBC affiliate WFSA reported. He was arrested outside of the Shell Army Air Field the following day and pleaded not guilty, the Enterprise Ledger reported. (Starr is an Army veteran with experience as a flight instructor, according to the Army Flier.) Starr pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.

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In July 2018, his lawyer requested a change of venue in the case, the paper reported, due to local news publicity around his ex-wife's death  in which he had not been officially named as a suspect, though WIAT reported he had initially been detained for questioning  and the abuse charges.

Alabama Twelfth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Anderson said at the time of Starr's arrest in his wife's murder that they would continue to pursue the sexual abuse charges, the Southeast Sun reported, and did not rule out pursuing state charges in the murder case. Jason Starr was still out on bond in the abuse case at the time of his arrest for his wife's murder.

Federal and state authorities allege that Jason Starr gave his brother, Darrin, a 2016 Triumph motorcycle as payment for murdering Sara Starr in 2017, WTVY reported. Triumph motorcycles currently retail for between $8,000 and $25,000.

The FBI is offering $10,000 for information leading to Darrin Starr's arrest, and the Alabama governor's office is offering another $10,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. He's said to have ties to both Lakehills and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Glendale, Arizona, and Colebrook, Connecticut.

According to the FBI, of the 526 people who have appeared on its Most Wanted List since its inception in 1950, 491 have been located and/or arrested.
Jan. 10Kirk Edwards composed his "Martin Luther King Jr. March" in the mid-1990s in support of the holiday commemorating King's life and legacy, at a time when the holiday hadn't yet been made an official state government holiday in all 50 states.

The U.S. Coast Guard Band, of which Edwards was a member, played the "Martin Luther King Jr. March" twice back when he composed it.

On this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 17, the piece will be performed again in New London, this time by the New London Community Orchestra. It will be part of the orchestra's "Concert for Healing" at the Garde Arts Center, and the show will feature an array of music, from orchestral works by Black composers to civil rights anthems.

Edwards has a long history in music, particularly in southeastern Connecticut. He was a saxophonist and clarinetist with the Coast Guard Band from 1981 to 2000 and then became Cadet Band Director at the Coast Guard Academy before retiring in 2011 after more than three decades of service.

He performs in the Madry Temple Church Band, the Coalition Jazz Band, and many chamber music groups.

And he has been a member of the New London Community Orchestra (NLCO) for about five years and is the group's principal clarinet player, as well as being a board member.

When he told NLCO President Tom Clark about the "Martin Luther King Jr. March," the idea percolated for the orchestra to play it during a concert. Edwards created an orchestral arrangement of the piece for the group.

In composing a work in honor of King, Edwards says he thought it was proper to create a march, since King famously held and participated in civil rights marches.

He did a fair amount of research about King. During his travels with the Coast Guard Band, Edwards was in Memphis and was able to visit the Lorraine Hotel, where King was assassinated in 1968. The band also performed for a music conference in Atlanta that was around the corner from the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Center for Nonviolent Social Change  the Martin Luther King District where his home was.

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Edwards tried to capture the majestic aspect of King's marches in the first strain of his composition, followed by a second strain that imitated the call-and-response of a Baptist preacher, which King was.

He calls the end result kind of a collage; within the march, he uses segments from other compositions. He references "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" because King, just before he was shot, reportedly asked a saxophonist who was outside his Memphis hotel balcony to play that piece.

And Edwards superimposes a bit of "America the Beautiful" partially as a reminder that King was American and, at the end, he weaves in "We Shall Overcome."

"I thought it would be nice to end it on an optimistic, forward-looking note," Edwards says.

Edwards says having the composition performed now is "surreal  I didn't know that I would ever hear it again."

Incredible people, incredible works

Edwards' "Martin Luther King Jr. March" is part of the first half of the concert, along with four other works by Black composers.

"All of these are incredible people and incredible works," says Hilarie Clark Moore, the NLCO's music director.

They include the updated "Suite of Dances" by Florence Price, who, Clark Moore says, is "very hot" right now and can be heard on the radio.

Then there is the "In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy" by William Grant Still, which he wrote for WWII soldiers. He said he hopes "that our tribute to those who died will make the democracy for which they fought greater and broader than it has ever been before."

"That is so notable," Moore says, mentioning that Black American soldiers fought for democracy abroad but didn't have it at home.

They will also perform "Lyric for Strings" by George Walker, who was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Moore says it's a mournful tune that is often played at funerals and "wonderful services for horrible things in our country."

On the program, too, is a movement from Mary Watkins' larger piece "Five Movements in Color for Orchestra," about the African-American experience. The NLCO will play the second movement, which Moore says reflects "the profound grief felt by newly arrived Africans (in) a strange land, leaving their life behind, and in spite of their trauma  being enslaved, dehumanized, degraded, oppressed  they carried essential wisdom and spiritual knowledge. It's supposed to be actually of their despair but also hope, that they have that inner strength from many generations before."

"It's a very powerful piece," she adds. "It is supposed to be a song of sorrow and a song of hope together."

The second half of the concert consists of civil rights anthems performed by vocalists and the orchestra, including "Lift Every Voice and Sing," often called the "Black national anthem," which will feature soloist Katim Brown. The segment of civil rights anthems in the NLCO concert will conclude with "We Shall Overcome" and "Amazing Grace," with audience participation on both.

These anthems tend to be performed with perhaps a guitar or piano, but Edwards has written full orchestral scores for them for the NLCO.

Clark says the only reason the NLCO can play the anthems "is because Kirk has done the arrangements for an orchestra for these anthems. He's involved in all these different slices of the operation here. We wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be performing it the way we're performing it, if it weren't for Kirk."

Bringing people together

Clark says the hope with the concert is to expose people to contemporary Black composers they might not know as well as to historic Black composers.

And, he says, "Every time you can get people together ... people from all communities coming together and having an emotional experience together, ... that is one of the things we can do to help push the story forward about social justice. It's not everything, of course, but these kinds of efforts do help push the social justice issue forward."

Moore adds, "It's what we can do as an orchestra."

Edwards says, "It's amazing the impact music has, the messages and themes. It sort of just sticks in your mind for a long time."

Clark notes that King wanted to have music as part of everything he did; he thought music was very important and provided an emotional connection to the civil rights struggle.

"We're here to honor Dr. King and his work, so it's an excellent way to do that," he says.
A man wanted for his role in the 2017 killing of an Alabama mother and teacher turned himself over to law enforcement in Hondo, Texas, early Saturday.

Members of the Coffee County Sheriffs Office are traveling to Texas to take Darin Christopher Starr, 54, into custody and transport him back to Alabama.

Starr was wanted for his alleged role in the murder of his former sister-in-law who was shot and killed outside of her home in Coffee County on Nov. 27, 2017.

Sara Starr was a fourth-grade teacher at Harrand Creek Elementary School in Enterprise and the mother of two sets of twins.

Sara Elizabeths children were the loves of her life. She loved them more than anything else. She loved her parents, grandparents, siblings and other family members, her obituary read. Teaching was always her dream. She excelled in the classroom and was loved by her students. Photography was one of her many interests.

Information made public this week claims ex-husband Jason Starr, who was indicted late last year on use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire, allegedly gave his brother a motorcycle and cash to kill her.

That information was in court records unsealed Thursday.

Jason Starr was arrested in December but Darin Starr had evaded authorities.

Sara Starr was killed just four months after her divorce from Jason Starr was finalized.

Court records show they were to share custody of their four children, and that Jason Starr was ordered to pay his ex-wife $1,050 a month in child support and $1,500 in alimony. She also was awarded a portion of his military benefits.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Darin Starr in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama in Montgomery on Dec. 2, 2021, after he was charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire.
Harshaw Creek runs through the Patagonia Mountains, where conservation advocates say they're concerned about the potential effects of proposed mining projects.

PATAGONIA  Carolyn Shafer walked along a winding creek bed in the Patagonia Mountains, where oak trees and junipers dotted the grassy slopes of the canyon.

The creek was mostly dry, except for a puddle in the rocky stream bed.

Shafer said shes deeply concerned about what would happen to this creek, and surrounding water sources, if the Australian mining company South32 is allowed to conduct an exploratory operation nearby called the Hermosa Project.

South32, acting through its U.S. subsidiary Arizona Minerals, aims to extract silver, lead, zinc and manganese. The company says these minerals will feed the United States' growing demand for base metals as the country moves toward producing more electric vehicles.

Zinc, silver and lead can be used for renewable energy infrastructure, including electric vehicles and solar-powered batteries. Manganese, considered a critical mineral by the U.S. government, is important for electric vehicle batteries.

Because mining from the mid-1800s to 1960s depleted minerals closest to the surface, the company plans to drill 1,300 to 4,000 feet underground. At that depth, miners will tap into an aquifer, which will flood the shafts.

The company wants to pump water from the aquifer  part of the Santa Cruz watershed  away from the mineral deposit, a process called "dewatering." The operation would redirect some of that water, as much as 6.5 million gallons a day, to Harshaw Creek. Company officials say the water would re-enter the aquifer before reaching the town of Patagonia.

Shafer said she worries about the effects of dewatering the aquifer.

If youre moving that much water, what is happening to the area that you are removing all that water from? Shafer said. If you remove that much water from one area  what happens to all of this plant life and to the wildlife? And how does it disrupt peoples wells?

Shafer is the board chair of a local conservation nonprofit called Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, or PARA. The group has raised several concerns about the Hermosa Project, including the drawdown of the aquifer and the treated wastewater that could flow into Harshaw Creek.

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The Patagonia Mountains have a highly fractured geology," Shafer said. "It's not like you just drill down and down there, there's a lake. You need to bring the water out of it. It means the water flows continuously at every level.

The Patagonia Mountains are recognized as a hotspot of biodiversity in the Sky Islands region straddling the Arizona-Mexico border. The mountains rise to more than 7,000 feet in elevation, providing habitats where more than 300 species of birds are found, and where animals from jaguars to black bears roam through the rugged landscape.

The pumping and discharge of water into the creek would occur in the same watershed as the town of Patagonia, where Shafer lives and where residents rely on groundwater pumped from wells.

Shafer has helped lead local opposition to these and other mining projects using slogans that warn of the consequences for water supplies. She wore a T-shirt with the words Water Matters More. Shes also begun using another slogan  Water is Life. Don't Mine It Away.  which she sometimes uses as a sign-off in emails.

There are hundreds of old mine sites scattered across the Patagonia Mountains from the 1800s and early 1900s. And in recent years, companies have sought to once again carry out large mining projects.

Shafer and other members of PARA, which was founded in 2011, say they aim to preserve and protect the Patagonias from the risks of large-scale mining.

The existing federal and state laws are written to allow mining to happen. What we can do is hold them to the highest level of accountability under those laws and regulations, Shafer said.

State officials see benefits in the Hermosa Project, said Laura Malone, the waste programs division director for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, which is in charge of environmental regulation.

When ASARCO, one of the companies that used to mine on the Hermosa Project site, declared bankruptcy, it left waste material for the state to clean up. The state wasn't given enough money to clean up the old mine, and was looking for a buyer to help.

It really was a win, because the state would have not had the amount of money needed to take care of this issue," Malone said. "So it was a really sophisticated solution to taking this site that we knew we had some environmental issues, working with a responsible company that wanted to come in, and utilize that property for mining."

A sign marks the edge of the watershed that supplies the town of Patagonia in southern Arizona.

Company wants to revise two permits

In August 2020, South32 applied to ADEQ to revise two of its state permits.

One revision, concerning pollutant discharges, would designate Harshaw Creek a discharge site, allowing South32 to release groundwater and treated mine drainage into the creek.

Another revision, concerning South32's "aquifer protection" permit, stipulates discharge volume. Treated water would be released continuously into the creek, ADEQ said, with a flow of up to 4,500 gallons per minute, or about 6.5 million gallons per day.

The revision would also authorize a new water treatment plant, where the treated water would be discharged into Harshaw Creek.

South32 has to pump groundwater away from the mineral deposit, but that water doesn't meet Arizona's surface water quality standards. The company says the new treatment plant will rid the water of metal constituents natural to groundwater, like zinc and selenium, as well as sediment.

Representatives of South32 say the company hasn't yet determined its processing approach to separate the desired minerals from ore.

"We are neither actively nor imminently mining  the dewatering is for underground exploration of the orebody," Jenny Fiore-Magana, communications director for the Hermosa Project, wrote in an email.

She added that mineral processing methods for a potential mine are still being tested and refined.

The proposed new water treatment plant would be South32's second plant for the project and would discharge the extracted groundwater as well as mine drainage water and seepage.

The highest flow rate is expected to occur in the first years of exploration activities, with flows declining over time, ADEQ said in the document.

Pat Risner, president of the Hermosa Project, said South32 has conducted an extensive amount of monitoring and modeling, which shows that groundwater from the Santa Cruz basin would re-enter the aquifer it came from.

"We're not consuming or utilizing this water," Risner said. "We're basically shifting it away from the resource for safety reasons and then it re-enters the aquifer where it came from further downstream before Harshaw Creek gets into the town of Patagonia.

Copper mine: Tucson stands firm in a dispute over a water storage project

A sign marks the entrance to the South32 Hermosa mining project in the Patagonia Mountains.

Questions about permit

PARA is in the process of appealing the aquifer protection permit. They have asked for additional data collection and increased transparency, specifically demanding that before South32 dewaters the aquifer, the company builds the locations where ADEQ will monitor contamination. PARA has also asked for baseline data of the streambed before any large discharge, minimum monthly monitoring and public release of compliance monitoring and background data, in addition to other requests.

In its November newsletter, PARA called these demands "legally defensible and scientifically supported."

A formal hearing on the aquifer protection permit was held last month.

ADEQ declined to provide any further information "due to the ongoing appeal."

The Patagonia Area Resource Alliance and other conservation groups, together with the town of Patagonia, submitted a letter with comments in May on South32's pollutant discharge permit change application.

The groups said the proposed revisions in the permit are inadequate to protect the existing water uses, human health, and the biologically diverse environment of the Patagonia region. They raised objections on a list of points, saying quarterly water-sampling wouldnt be nearly often enough, that the limits for metals in the water should be handled differently, and that no study has been done to examine the potential effects on aquifers downstream that are sources of drinking water.

The groups also said South32's application fails to comply with state law or serve the regulatory purpose of protecting drinking-water aquifers.

The Arizona Department of Environment Quality released a response to the public comments in July. Answering some of the concerns raised, the department said its permit program protects human health and the environment by setting pollutant limits, and that the limits in the permit were written to be protective of the designated uses of Harshaw Creek.

The department also said that for a facility such as a water treatment plant, quarterly monitoring will provide adequate data.

Responding to a comment by resident John Nordstrom, who said he has grave concerns about how the drawdown of the aquifer could affect the well on his property, ADEQ said the permit program as designed by state and federal law, regulates the discharge of pollutants into regulated waters but does not regulate dewatering.

Risner said South32 is offering a voluntary well-monitoring program, which would allow residents within 3 miles of the site to have samples from their private wells collected by the company and submitted to a lab for analysis.

He also said South32 is looking to add additional monitoring locations downstream of Harshaw Creek.

"We're just trying to figure out where we can site those wells based on land ownership and where we can actually place them," he said. "Obviously, we don't own all the land. A lot of it's Forest Service, some of it private.

Influence: Mining industry, home-builders pushed for changes in water bill

Carolyn Shafer, board chair of the conservation group Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, stands in her home in Patagonia, Arizona. Shafer says she is concerned about how proposed mining projects would affect water sources in the Patagonia Mountains.

Group sees itself as a 'watchdog'

The Hermosa Project is one of dozens of active mines and planned projects in Arizona where companies are either extracting or targeting deposits of copper, gold, silver and other metals.

Shafer has voiced concerns that the mining industry identifies Arizona as one the friendliest jurisdictions in the world, and that state regulators appear to prioritize facilitating more mining projects.

She pointed to a series of 2017 emails between state officials, which her group obtained through a public records request.

In the first of the emails on April 20, 2017, Greg Lucero, a vice president of the Hermosa Project, wrote Juan Ciscomani, a senior adviser to Gov. Doug Ducey. He said he was following up on a visit Ciscomani had made to the site.

As you may recall our ask was to streamline the permitting process by congregating all state agencies we would be dealing with to move our project forward, Lucero wrote. We are ready to embark on this permitting process now and would like your assistance in bringing the following agencies together to discuss our project.

Hunter Moore, a policy adviser for the governor, forwarded that email to the directors of ADEQ and the state Department of Water Resources, saying Ducey would soon be in southern Arizona and would meet with representatives of the Hermosa mine project.

My recollection is that we have met with them every time that they have requested a meeting, Moore wrote. The meetings have all gone well, but I would like to ask for any updates from your agencies.

ADEQ Director Misael Cabrera emailed three officials in the agency to ask for background on the project and permit status.

Trevor Baggiore, director of ADEQs water quality division, replied that the company had provided comments on a first draft of the permit and state officials had scheduled a follow-up meeting. He said the draft permit will be revised based on the discussion to prepare for launching the process through a public notice.

Shafer said she thinks her group plays an important watchdog role in the process.

The mining companies are now talking about, they will mine in modern ways, she said. But it always come back to, no matter how well you mine, this is an area that needs to be protected for species survival.

She pointed out that the late biologist Edward O. Wilson, who in his book Half-Earth suggested setting aside half the planets land and sea for nature, cited the Sky Islands mountains of Arizona as one important area to protect and preserve.

We are the ground zero for the changes that need to happen on this planet in order to survive as human beings. We are in climate crisis, we are in megadrought, Shafer said. We cannot continue to extract minerals from the Earth and think it will go on forever and ever.

She noted that Barksdale Resources Corp., which is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, is also pursuing exploratory projects to assess deposits of copper, silver and other metals in the Patagonia Mountains.

Last year, Shafer took an Arizona Republic reporter on a tour of the area while Robert Gay, her partner, drove the truck on unpaved roads through the mountains.

At a dry stretch of the creek, Shafer got out and stood under the trees, where birds were singing.

This feeds my soul every time we're out here, she said. Thats part of what makes this area so special for me. I have seen so much wildlife out here, including mountain lion and bear and coatimundi.

They stopped at the ruins of Harshaw, a town that bustled during its mining heyday in the late 1800s.

Fast forward now to the reality we live in. We can't keep behaving like we can just continually pull, extract materials out of the planet, she said after walking through the ruins of an adobe house. There is a finite limit to this, and all the warning signals are blaring that it is time to think in different ways, human beings.

Beside the road, the hills gave way to terraces of disturbed ground. Above a fence topped with barbed wire, the top of a drilling rig was visible. A sign announced the main entrance of South32s Hermosa Project. Stopping the truck, Gay and Shafer got out and looked up the road toward the mining area.

I believe up there is where theyre going to put in a second water treatment plant, and then discharge the water, Shafer said, motioning to the creek bed. I believe this is where they intend to dump it in. And then itd go down the Harshaw.

A woman approached holding a clipboard, and Shafer called out to greet her. The woman explained that she and several other people were walking along Harshaw Creek to survey the stretches that had some water.

It is an active community that wants to protect the environment, Shafer said. Fortunately, this area has a lot of very active citizens who are already organized and talking about water and how to protect it.

Follow Ian James on Twitter at @ByIanJames.

Zayna Syed is an environmental reporter for The Arizona Republic/azcentral. Follow her reporting on Twitter at @zaynasyed_ and send tips or other information about stories to zayna.syed@arizonarepublic.com.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Conservation activists oppose mine in Arizona's Sky Islands
Madison Gordon and Genesis Morris, Claflin students, walk to class on campus in Orangeburg, SC, Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

Each week in February, in observance of Black History Month, The Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald Journal and Anderson Independent Mail will profile South Carolina's Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This is part of a project that will conclude in March with a look at the state of HBCUs in South Carolina.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to correct the name of Claflin University alumnus Cecil Williams.

Opening its doors 153 years ago, Claflin University was the first university in South Carolina to provide education to all, regardless of race. Claflin is a private liberal arts university in Orangeburg affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

The university was founded in 1869 by Methodist missionaries who prepared freed slaves for the responsibilities of citizenship. It was named in honor of Lee Claflin, a prominent Boston philanthropist, and his son William Claflin, former governor of Massachusetts.

In 1870, the university merged with the Baker Theological Institute. Two years later the South Carolina General Assembly instituted South Carolina State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute as a part of Claflin University.

In 1896, Claflin was separated from the agricultural and mechanical school which would eventually become South Carolina State University.

Camryn Singleton, a Claflin student, poses for a portrait at the Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC, Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

Camryn Singleton, a senior studying mass communications attended Claflin University to continue the traditions of historically Black colleges and universities in her family. Although her parents earned their education from across the street at South Carolina State University, Singleton is proud of her school.

My favorite thing about being at Claflin is the pride that they instill in you, said Singleton.

It's a sense of pride that is instilled in you, especially me coming from a predominantly white elementary and middle school. I had to know my worth at home. So coming to school, and it being here at my school, it was definitely something that I don't think I'll find anything anywhere else other than an HBCU.

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Singleton also emphasized the university's commitment to helping its students achieve.

Claflins slogan is the world needs visionaries, said Singleton.

If you have a vision, if you have a dream, there are resources. The staff will help you make it into a reality.

Bibek Itani, of Nepal, poses for a portrait at the Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC, Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

Bibek Itani, a computer science major from Nepal came to Claflin not only for the limitless opportunities but the intimacy of the small campus.

He noted that during his first year there were several students from Nepal who helped him to adjust to life on campus and in a different country.

Itani also said that his favorite thing about Claflin is how tight-knit the campus community is.

That's what I mostly love. It's a beautiful campus and I get to walk around, and it's very safe. And people are always asking me if I'm doing well and my professors have been very helpful.

Fast facts about Claflin University

Claflin has several clubs and organizations that range from Greek sororities and fraternities to shared interests, religious and cultural arts.

The university offers over 25 different undergraduate programs, 4 graduate programs and 4 professional studies programs in-person. It offers seven programs online.

Undergraduate enrollment for the 2021-22 fall semester was 1,885. The number for the spring semester is still growing as students are still enrolling due to Claflin delaying their initial start date.

Resident tuition fees for the 2021-22 spring semester are $13,282, whereas non-boarding tuition fees are $8,482.

These costs do not include books and other personal expenses. Private colleges and universities do not differentiate between in-state and out-of-state students. Therefore, all students pay the same tuition rate.

For part-time students or students with less than 12 credit hours, the tuition rate is $687 per credit hour.

Claflin University was ranked number 10 on U.S. News Ranking of the nations top HBCUs.

Most recently, it was one of four colleges awarded a $500,000 grant to digitize their archival photographic libraries. The initiative is aimed at preserving the visual history of HBCUs.

Notable Claflin University alumni include Joseph H. Jefferson, Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives representing the 102nd district, Ernest A. Finney Jr., the first African-American Supreme Court Justice appointed to the South Carolina Supreme Court since the Reconstruction Era, and photographer Cecil Williams best known for his photography documenting the civil rights movement in South Carolina.

Alexis Hamilton is a Beaufort, SC native covering higher education in the Upstate. Reach her at 727-514-5734 or ahamilton@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: SC's oldest HBCU, Claflin University was founded 153 years ago
A Kalispell man who admitted to taking sexually explicit photographs of a child while boating in Flathead County was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.

MISSOULA  A Kalispell man who admitted to taking sexually explicit photographs of a child while boating in Flathead County was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Edward Timothy Cockerham, 43, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to sexual exploitation of a child.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.

Cockerham victimized a child for his own sexual gratification. Todays sentence holds him accountable for his reprehensible conduct and puts other offenders on notice that they face serious consequences for harming children," U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson said. "Crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children will be fully investigated and prosecuted."

In court documents filed in the case, the government alleged that in June 2021, Cockerham went to Ashley Lake in Flathead County with two children. Cockerham took the victim, who was under the age of 18 and was identified as Jane Doe 1, boating.

While out on the water, Cockerham touched and took sexually explicit pictures of Jane Doe 1. Jane Doe 1 reported Cockerhams actions. The Flathead County Sheriffs Office seized Cockerhams cellphone and searched it after obtaining a warrant.

An initial review determined Cockerham had deleted all of the images. A subsequent search of the cellphone by a forensic examiner with the Montana Department of Justices Division of Criminal Investigation located sexually explicit images of Jane Doe 1, along with sexually explicit images of two other child victims.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Flathead County Sheriffs Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

This case was initiated under the Department of Justices Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation.

It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology-facilitated crimes against children.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Kalispell man who sexually exploited child sentenced to 18 years
A major winter storm that has already wreaked havoc across the United States with snow and ice was set to make its final push through the Northeast on Friday, bringing more dangerous conditions and cold weather.

"Heavy snow and treacherous ice accumulations" are expected around the Northeast, the National Weather Service said, after the storm left more than a foot of snow in many areas in the Midwest on Wednesday and Thursday. From New England to west of Tennessee, ice accumulation stretched more than 1,000 miles, downing power lines and making roads slippery.

Nearly 110,000 customers in Tennessee were without power as of Friday night, plus about 150,000 customers from Ohio through the Northeast, according to online tracker Poweroutage.us. More than 5,100 flights in the U.S. had been canceled as of 7:45 p.m. EST Friday after thousands were scrapped earlier this week, according to Flightaware.com.

Flights were disrupted at major hubs in the U.S. on Friday, including airports in New York City, Boston and Dallas.

In its wake, the storm is expected to bring frigid weekend temperatures, and the Weather Service had already issued wind chill and hard freeze advisories in Texas. "Take steps now to protect not only plumbing, but people and pets from the bitterly cold temperatures expected," the Weather Service in Dallas said.

In Oklahoma, police were investigating the hit-and-run death of a 12-year-old boy who was sledding when he was hit by a vehicle.

The storm also spawned a deadly tornado in Alabama, where at least one person in Hale County was killed and three others injured.

Adam Douty, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said the snow, ice and even the tornado aren't out of the ordinary for this time of year. While there was a large amount of icing in Tennessee and Arkansas, 8 to 12 inches of snow for much of the Midwest isn't uncommon, Douty said.

"It's a good snow storm ... but it's nothing unusual," he said.

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GROUNDHOG DAY 2022: Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, meaning we're in for 6 more weeks of winter

Ice, snow to blanket New England; wintry mix affects I-95 commute

After the storm dropped heavy snow around the region Thursday, several more inches of snow were expected Friday evening in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, bringing totals up to 18 inches in some areas.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned residents to stay home if possible to avoid ice-coated roadways and the threat of falling tree limbs in the Hudson Valley and Capital regions.

Were not out of the danger zone yet, Hochul said. The weather is wildly unpredictable.

In a roughly 24-hour span, 7.1 inches of snow fell at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport as of 1 a.m. Friday. A spotter reported 7.6 inches of snow in Fairport, New York, as of 3 a.m., and 10.5 inches of snow near Rochester.

Burlington, Vermont, saw 6.5 inches of snow Thursday, AccuWeather reported. An additional 1 to 4 inches in the area was forecast Friday, the local Weather Service office said.

Meanwhile, an icy wintry mix could bring dangerous travel conditions to the mid-Atlantic and around the I-95 corridor from New York City to Boston, the Weather Service said.

Massachusetts State Police responded to more than 200 crashes with property damage or injuries, including one fatal crash, starting Thursday evening, officials said. New Hampshire State Police reported at least 70 crashes Friday morning.

'IF IT IS TOO COLD FOR YOU, IT'S TOO COLD FOR YOUR PET': How to keep your dog safe during winter weather

Snow emergencies, closures and power outages in Midwest, South

The heavy snow prompted a slew of local snow emergency warnings and school closures around Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee.

Tennessee was the hardest-hit state for power outages, specifically in Memphis and surrounding Shelby County.

"It is not going to be restored quickly," said Gale Jones Carson, a spokeswoman for Memphis, Light, Gas and Water. "We're hoping by Sunday that things will be better."

Memphis resident Michael LaRosa described cracking and banging as the tree limbs fell, and the dull hum and pop of transformers blowing out in his tree-lined Midtown neighborhood. A fire started at the end of his street, caused by a live wire on Thursday.

It was pretty surreal for a little while, LaRosa, a professor at Rhodes College and a book editor, said Friday. There were people walking in the streets, and I was worried that limbs were going to fall on them. The neighborhood sort of collapsed pretty quickly and pretty spectacularly.

Ice and snow were still falling in Ohio, including in Cincinnati and Columbus.

SAFETY TIPS: How to stay warm in your car during extreme winter weather

Light snow is expected to continue to fall for an additional accumulation of 1 inch, according the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio. Temperatures in the low to mid-20s were expected Friday with wind chills in the single-digits in the morning and evening.

Meanwhile, with the storm's precipitation mostly complete in Indiana, cold temperatures were expected Friday through the weekend. Saturday morning will see the coldest conditions of the weekend, meteorologists said, with the temperature hovering around 0 degrees and a wind chill value of minus 10 degrees.

WHAT IS WIND CHILL? Understanding the wind chill index and how it's calculated

'Frigid' temperatures in the heartland; hard freeze in Texas

The National Weather Service said "frigid temperatures" could also be expected in the Rockies and throughout the heartland on Friday.

In Dallas, the Weather Service issued a "hard freeze warning," telling residents that unprotected pipes were at risk. Temperatures in the area were in the high 20s and low 30s, but wind chills between minus 5 and 5 degrees were expected overnight. Northwest Oklahoma could see wind chills as low as negative 15 degrees.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 17 counties on Thursday, describing the ice storm as "an imminent threat of severe property damage, injury, or loss of life."

Contributing: Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; Samuel Hardiman, Memphis Commercial Appeal; Sarah Nelson, Indianapolis Star; Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal; Cheryl Vari, Emily DeLetter and Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winter storm updates: Ice, cold temperatures likely into weekend
CLEVELAND, Miss. (AP)  An elementary school principal in Mississippi has been charged with attempted child exploitation following an investigation by the Bolivar County Sheriffs Office.

Authorities said Tuesday that Norman Keith Aycock was arrested following an investigation of inappropriate behavior.

He faces charges of attempted child exploitation and is being held at the Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility, news outlets reported. It was unknown if he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Police: Man charged in motel homicides 'should have been taken off the street'

Coroners: Hinds County coroners are 'strung out, overworked and tired,' handling 200 deaths a month

Aycock served as the elementary principal at Bayou Academy, which is located in Cleveland. School officials have not released details on his current employment status.

The announcement comes the same day the school said a camera had been placed in a varsity girls locker room.

From our internal investigation, we concluded that the camera was placed in that locker room on Thursday afternoon while the campus was empty and removed on Friday. All devices belonging to the suspect have been confiscated by the proper authorities, Head of School Curt McCain said in a statement.

The school said it conducted a thorough sweeping of the campus and found there are no other foreign cameras or streaming devices on campus.

We are trying to find the words to help our students and staff feel safe and resilient in a world that sometimes feels unpredictable and scary. Our top priority is the well-being of our students, faculty, and staff, the letter reads. We have resources available for our students to assist with mental and emotional health.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Norman Aycock child exploitation charge: Mississippi school principal
Rhode Island Fire Marshal Tim McLaughlin knows people have a million things on their to-do lists. But the five minutes it takes to check on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors is worth it  it could later save your life.

"We can't drill that enough," said McLaughlin.

Nationwide, about 60% of fatal fires occur in homes without working smoke detectors.

In the aftermath of devastating fatal fires last month in Philadelphia and the Bronx, as well as many in New England, winter fire safety, and fire safety in general, has recaptured a piece of the national conversation.

Firefighters battle a two-alarm fire at a home in the Elmwood neighborhood of Providence, RI.

It's a familiar one, fire officials say, a dialogue that occurs often after a string of fire deaths. Even amid immense tragedy, those officials have to drive their message home  smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and sprinkler systems save lives.

"That heightened interest may in fact be a silver lining," said Jim Pauley, National Fire Prevention Association CEO and president, at his organization's January leadership conference.

Firefighters injured: Fall River firefighters injured battling 4-alarm fire in blizzard conditions

What happened in the Philadelphia and Bronx fatal fires?

On Jan. 5, 12 people, including nine children, died when a fire ravaged apartments in Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood. Two weeks later, on Jan. 22, 17 people perished in a high-rise fire in the Bronx, including eight children.

Bystanders watch as the Philadelphia fire department works at the scene of a deadly row house fire in Philadelphia on Jan. 5, 2022. Firefighters responded to the fatal fire at a three-story rowhouse in the city's Fairmount neighborhood around 6:40 a.m. and found flames coming from the second-floor windows, fire officials said.

The Philadelphia fire began when a young boy ignited a Christmas tree with a lighter, officials have said, and the investigation later found that four smoke alarms were discovered in drawers, and two with batteries removed. A seventh alarm was activated, but the alerts came too late, they said.

Following the Bronx fire, caused by a malfunctioning space heater, investigators have said, some tenants filed a lawsuit against the building's owners and managers, claiming they failed to maintain safety features, such as self-closing steel doors, fire escapes and smoke detectors.

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Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal fire at an apartment building in the Bronx on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, in New York. The majority of victims were suffering from severe smoke inhalation, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.

"I hope that we can help catalyze a conversation about the broader fire safety and life safety system in all of our communities," Adam Thiel, fire commissioner for the city of Philadelphia, said last week. Fire fatalities, he said, are often issues of equity and unsafe housing.

Black people are more likely to be victims of a fatal fire, national data shows, a systemic issue caused by a variety of factors including historic racism, housing policies and poverty.

More: Bronx, Philadelphia fires mirror toll of deaths among Black, poor Americans

Preaching about working smoke detectors and sprinkler systems is critically important, fire safety officials say, but it's one piece of a larger picture.

"If we try to hone it down to, 'this fire happened, let's message more on smoke alarms and sprinklers,' and we miss the boat on trying to do something about the overall equity in our impoverished areas and making sure people have a safer place to live, I think we are missing our mission," said U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell.

String of winter fires in New England

Last month, more than 100 firefighters from 30 departments fought a nine-alarm fire that consumed multiple buildings overnight on Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts. More than 30 people were displaced, the Red Cross said.

While the fire's cause is still under investigation, Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey was quick to urge, "Whatever else you do today, check your smoke alarms."

Firefighters from the region battle a nine-alarm fire in Salisbury, Massachusetts that destroyed several buildings including a motel in the early morning of Jan. 17, 2022.

"What we do know is that this fire started, grew, and spread in the middle of the night when most people were sleeping," he said. "This is why we urge everyone to be sure their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms are present and working on every floor of every home. The cost of installing fresh batteries or replacing alarms that are more than 10 years old is a small price to pay compared to the damage we saw at this scene."

'All hell broke loose': Fire captain caps career battling Salisbury Beach fire

The Salisbury Beach fire is among many structure fires New England has seen in just the past month or so.

An elderly woman died in a three alarm fire at 49 Webster Ave. in Cambridge, Dec. 29, 2021.

A fire at a multi-family building in Cambridge in December took the life of an elderly landlord and displaced six residents. There were no smoke alarms in the apartments, fire officials later said. In Worcester, city firefighters last month battled a three-alarm house fire in sub-zero temperatures that displaced five residents.

A New Year's Eve fire in Providence, Rhode Island displaced 19 people, while eastern Connecticut recently saw its own string of deadly fires.

One person died in a fire at 113 Sachem Drive in Plainfield, Connecticut in January.

Eastern CT fires: Series of deadly winter fires hits Eastern CT, including blaze that killed Plainfield man

During the weekend of Jan. 29, when Winter Storm Kenan's blizzard conditions consumed much of New England, structure fires broke out in Massachusetts. In Fall River, a multi-family home collapsed during a four-alarm blaze, displacing 11 residents and injuring two firefighters. The wind and heavy snow made it difficult for firefighters to reach the home.

Firefighters in Boylston also faced storm-related challenges putting out a three-alarm fire at a vacant 1700s home said to be filled with antiques.

Fall River firefighters battle a four-alarm fire at a multi-family home at 140 Irving St. recently.

Home heating is second-leading cause of fatal fires

Structure fires can start during the winter as people tinker with space heaters, fireplaces and generators. Storm-related power outages can also lead to fires.

"We see it here in the Northeast more when we hit the deep winter," said Rhode Island's McLaughlin.

The National Fire Prevention Association says home heating equipment is the second-leading cause of home fires in the U.S. An average of 45,800 home heating fires occurred between 2015 and 2019, data shows, resulting in an estimated 480 civilian deaths and 1,350 civilian injuries.

Bronx fire: Renewed call for national safety legislation

Worcester firefighters remove their masks after exiting 13 Merriwether Road, after a fire there went to a second alarm Jan. 16, 2022.

McLaughlin said people often put space heaters on carpets and next to chairs and curtains, even though general guidance says there should be 3 feet of space all the way around from any combustible items.

NFPA offers the following guidance, as well:

Heating equipment and chimneys should be cleaned and inspected every year by a professional.

Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from all heating equipment, including furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves and space heaters.

Turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.

Fireplaces should have a sturdy screen to prevent sparks from flying into a room.

Always use the right kind of fuel, as specified by the manufacturer.

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors save lives

If a fire does start, there are safeguards that can prevent injuries and fatalities.

It's easy to let smoke detectors fall by the wayside, fire officials acknowledge. Many people are guilty of simply taking out batteries to stop chirping sounds. Some worry about confronting a landlord who doesn't keep up with safety maintenance.

Ultimately, those decisions can end up with deadly results.

"When we talk to people across a very broad (swath), most people simply believe they will never have a fire," said Pauley.

Firefighters in East Providence fight a multi-alarm building fire on Valley St. on May 10, 2021. [The Providence Journal / Kris Craig]

Best practice says smoke detectors should be installed and working in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area  and on every level of the home. Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years, the NFPA says.

McLaughlin said fire safety officials use the twice-a-year Daylight Saving Time as reminders for the public to check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and change batteries.

For people who are renters, "make sure your landlord is keeping up with it," he said. "You're paying rent, you're paying to be safe, or you hope you are."

If speaking with a landlord isn't an option, or the landlord isn't being responsive, McLaughlin urged people to contact their local fire department, because many will install smoke detectors for residents.

Taking precautions against fire? Here's what you need to know to stay safe

The Red Cross also has a free smoke detector installation and home visit program. In Massachusetts, the Red Cross and its partners have installed more than 31,000 smoke alarms and 12,000 carbon monoxide detectors. In Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, the organization has helped create more than 9,000 home fire escape plans.

At last week's NFPA conference, Moore-Merrell emphasized the critical importance of having an "informed public."

"We have to continue our messaging, and I think we have to understand that we can more tailor the messages to people," she said. "One size does not fit all. We've also got to understand that often communication is two ways. If the communication has not been received and heeded, then the communication has not taken place."

Ten-year lithium battery-operated smoke alarms

McLaughlin touted 10-year lithium battery-operated smoke alarms available for purchase, which are "a little more expensive, but in the long run it's probably cheaper because you don't have to worry about it."

Those smoke alarms don't require battery changes, and some states, like California and New York, have begun to require them. First Alert, a fire safety equipment manufacturer, frames the 10-year alarms as "late-night battery chirps eliminated for a decade."

According to the FEMA website, the risk of being seriously harmed in a home fire is cut in half in homes that have working smoke detectors.

While people won't have to worry about battery replacements, they will still have to do regular checks to ensure the smoke detectors are working, fire officials say.

The Massachusetts State Fire Marshal's Office is currently targeting elders with a smoke alarm PSA. People 65 and older make up about 17% of the state's population, but a disproportionate 50% of fatal fire victims last year, according to the office.

Last month, they debuted a PSA in both English and Spanish called "Dear Grandma/Querida Abuela," featuring a granddaughter writing a letter to her grandmother about the activities she looks forward to doing together. Throughout the PSA, there's messaging about the importance of working smoke alarms.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Winter fire safety in New England: Smoke alarms, home heating guidance
7Brew Coffee will offer patrons a quick and easy way to get their morning drink fix after opening the business now under construction at 1115 S.W. Wanamaker Road.

Morning commutes in southwest Topeka are about to get a little easier with the addition of a 7Brew Coffee at 1115 S.W. Wanamaker Road.

The drive-through coffee concept will be the first of its franchise in Kansas.

Franchisees John Kollhoff and his cousin, John Platten, hope to open the doors for business next month. Platten, who has a history with Sonic franchises, was aware of the 7Brew Coffee concept through his connections.

We decided to do it when we saw the energy and the excitement surrounding it, said Kollhoff. I think the public will like the experience and the speed.

7Brew prides itself on fast line service

Construction on a 7Brew Coffee, a drive-through coffee shop, has began at 1115 S.W. Wanamaker Road and is expected to be completed later this month.

Originating in Rogers, Ark., the first 7Brew Coffee opened in February 2017. Kollhoff said the business operates with iPad-style ordering while the customer is still in line, so drinks can be ordered, paid for, crafted and delivered in under three minutes.

We have three espresso machines with two people on each machine," he said. "The team is trained to work together and communicate well, so its tremendously fast service.

During the traffic study for the location on Wanamaker, Kollhoff said the traffic engineer in charge of the study initially didnt believe their projected service time of three minutes per customer. It wasnt until aerial surveillance of another 7Brew location was shown, with customers averaging just a minute and a half in line, that the engineer conceded.

Kollhoff said the Topeka store is being designed so that customers cant be trapped in line. Once a customer has his or her order, theyll be on their way, making 7Brew an ideal stop for grabbing a coffee or drink on the way to work without running the risk of being late.

Were meant for high volume and high quality, said Kollhoff. We serve fresh ground espresso from high-quality machines.

In addition to coffee drinks, the 7Brew menu features hot and cold teas, infused energy drinks, Italian soda, smoothies in flavors like blueberry pomegranate and pina colada, shakes and more. The company also offers monthly drink specials.

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Kollhoff said other menu items are currently being tested as well.

7Brew Coffee could have 3 locations in Topeka

A rendering of a 7Brew Coffee drive-through location gives an idea of what the new business will look like.

The Wanamaker store will be the first franchise in Kansas and one of only a handful of franchised units in the country, including one in Springfield, Mo. Kollhoff said there are plans for as many as three 7Brew Coffee locations in Topeka, with more than 1,000 additional franchises planned across the country over the next four to five years.

Topeka customers wont have to wait much longer to try out 7Brew.

Were hoping to be open by Valentines Day, said Kollhoff. Well open for at least a week to train employees, and then have a grand opening event.

7Brew Grand Opening events are referred to as Swag Day, with 7Brew Coffee merchandise available to customers who stop by. Kollhoff is looking for future employees and encourages interested applicants to visit 7brew.com to apply.

He said that even the lowest paid employees in the company make around $18 per hour, including tips, and he hopes to replicate that at the Topeka location.

Its a great job for high school and college-aged kids to work a few hours before or after class, Kollhoff said.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 7Brew Coffee franchise announces plans for Topeka location
Charles Ryan, the guy who oversaw Arizonas prisons, likely heard from a gazillion inmates that they were innocent or treated unfairly.

And now he completely escapes justice for himself?

Just released video evidence of his police standoff suggests he may not be so innocent.

Ryan pointed a gun at Tempe officers during a Jan. 6 standoff, which for the rest of us would have meant getting arrested  or, worse, shot dead before charges could be filed.

And yet he is at home.

Forget the irony of all that. Ryan is alive and possibly getting away with pointing a gun at police  because hes white.

Did officers know who Ryan was?

Then Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan on the job in 2018. Will he face justice now after pointing a gun at Tempe police?

Watch the video and judge for yourself.

Cops were called to Ryans house after he accidentally discharged a firearm in the bathroom. Ryans wife reportedly told police he had been drinking. Police clearly believe Ryan was holding a gun when he came out of the house.

The officers are heard saying, thats a gun, then command him to drop the gun!

There is absolutely no doubt cops believed he pointed a gun at them. Yet in the video they arent as frantic or terrified as youd expect under such circumstances  which weve seen in other police encounters.

Did they know exactly who Ryan was when they headed over to his house?

Possibly.

Otherwise, how could they explain not shooting him dead on the spot when he pointed a deadly weapon at them? Cops are typically quick to shoot people who point a firearm at them.

Can you imagine, say, a Black or a Hispanic man doing the same? Actually, we dont have to imagine anything. Weve seen it many times over across the nation.

Cops are known for making split second decisions in such situations, and almost always the person holding a firearm or other objects dont live to tell their story.

Why hasn't the county attorney acted?

Tempe cops and their boss have a lot of explaining to do here. Why didnt they shoot him if they feared for their lives or those of Ryans neighbors?

What happens next is equally outrageous.

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Tempe police reportedly have submitted several recommended charges to the Maricopa County Attorneys Office, including two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer and one count of unlawful discharge of a firearm.

And guess what?

No word yet from the Maricopa County Attorneys Office about whether prosecutors will pursue charges against Ryan.

Is this because County Attorney Allister Adel is dropping the ball as she works from home and works on her sobriety and other issues?

Is it because county prosecutors have dropped Tempes recommended charges to the bottom of their priorities or simply dropped them in the dustbin already?

Why isnt anyone bothering to hold Ryan accountable?

We are a nation of laws, not justice

The simplest explanation is because hes a white man. He oversaw Arizonas prisons and surely knows a lot of folks in the criminal justice system.

No doubt in this country some people can get away with almost anything as long as they have influence and connections.

Even if Ryan was to be prosecuted and sent to one of the prisons he oversaw, which isnt likely, would they really treat him the same way as any other prisoner?

Of course not.

This incident shows us once again we are a nation of laws  not justice. Laws that are arbitrarily applied and where the pursuit of justice hangs on who the offenders are.

Tempe police must explain the officers behavior and the rationale in handling Ryan. And the county Attorneys Office mustnt let Ryan get it away with it.

But then again, we already know Ryan may not be so innocent. The white guy pointed a gun at cops, yet hes alive and free at home.

Where is the justice here?

Elvia Diaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Will Charles Ryan escape justice after pointing a gun at police?
A South Side man was ordered held on $2 million Friday after being accused of shooting an 8-month pregnant woman on Route 83 in Willowbrook, officials said in a news release.

Lawrence Grant, 38, of the 7900 block of South Damen Avenue was charged with attempt first-degree murder, attempt intentional homicide of an unborn child, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated battery to a pregnant woman.

The felony charges stem from a Jan. 28 shooting on Route 83 where a pregnant woman crashed after suffering a gunshot wound to her back, according to a release from DuPage County prosecutors.

Prior to the crash, prosecutors said Grant and another person were involved in an argument at a grocery store that turned physical. After the fight, all three people, including the pregnant victim, left the store in three separate vehicles traveling southbound Route 83, the release said.

Allegedly, Grant followed the victim in his vehicle and opened fire, striking the victim in her back, causing her to crash. Grant was found about 10 p.m. at the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was being treated for an unrelated manner, the release said.

Grants vehicle was found on fire about one block from the hospital, officials said.

Grant was taken into custody after he was released from the hospital.

The allegations that, following a physical altercation with the victims boyfriend, Mr. Grant decided to follow the victim, who was thirty-six-weeks pregnant, and open fire on a major roadway are unconscionable, said DuPage County States Attorney Robert B. Berlin. Thankfully, no innocent motorists were injured and, while still hospitalized, Mr. Grants alleged target and her baby are expected to survive. This defendants alleged violent behavior put the motoring public at risk and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The baby was delivered at a local hospital, officials said.

Grants next court appearance was scheduled Feb. 28. If found guilty, he faces between 31 years to life in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Liz Beavers

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column was originally run on our opinion page in August 2020, but the message continues to be very appropriate.

Picture it: Keyser, West Virginia. August 2020.

I walk into a local pizza shop ready for a nice lunch. I am hungry and I NEED pizza.

The friendly employee greets me with smiling eyes (he is, as required, wearing a mask): How may I help you? he asks.

I am here for my pizza, I say, smiling back like my Momma taught me, although it may be hard for him to see because I, too, am wearing my mask.

I have it right here for you, the employee says, pulling it out of the warming cabinet and setting it on the counter in front of me.

Thanks! I say, taking in the great aroma emanating from the box. I really appreciate it!

As I turn to leave with the box in hand, however, the employee, seeming a bit confused, stops me.

That will be $10.62, he says.

What? Why? I ask.

Thats the cost of the pizza, with tax, is his reply.

But I thought it was free! I counter. Shouldnt pizza be free?

The employee is now truly confused. Free? What would make you think it was free?

Well, I wanted pizza. And youre here to provide that pizza, I say.

Nobody ever said anything about PAYING for it.

But maam, how do you think we pay for the ingredients that go into that pizza? Or pay the employees, like me, who make the pizza? Or pay the electric company to keep the ovens running and the lights on?

I  uh  subsidies? I stammer, adding, You mean providing pizza is not a public service to the community?

Imagine that! I was actually being asked to pay for something I was wanting to consume!

Now I have a question for you: What is the difference between a pizza restaurant charging for their product and a news service charging for our product?

Both of us have employees to pay, lights and equipment to keep running, and a product for you to consume.

Ever since the first newspapers were printed back in the 1600s, consumers of news have paid people so they could continue to feed heir desire to find out whats going on around them.

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When ads began showing up in the papers, the revenue helped pay for the cost of producing the newspapers, but in truth, advertising sales are only one source of revenue that keeps the news coming.

That is especially true today. While the ads in your community newspaper are absolutely vital in keeping us afloat, that revenue is supplemented by subscriptions, single copy sales, and additional advertising revenues such as our website designs and, of course, digital sales.

And more and more, the demand for more news at a quicker pace has caused our product to be made available online in a more timely manner as opposed to later in the print edition.

So why do so many people think the news they consume online should be free?

Question: How do you think the news, photos and videos got on that news website for you to consume?

Just like the paid employees who put my pizza together, popped it into the oven and boxed it up, paid employees here at the newspaper - reporters, photographers, editors, web designers, and a whole bunch of other people who work both locally and for our parent company - are paid to produce the news.

Im sure youve heard the old saying, Theres no such thing as a free lunch. Everything we consume must be paid for in some manner.

Yes, your hometown newspaper does provide a service to the community, and some (like me) would argue that producing good quality pizza is also a service to the community.

But that service must be paid for in order for us to enjoy it.

Oh, and by the way, if you screenshot that story and share it so others dont have to pay, thats not cool either. You may have paid for your pizza, but you helped others get theirs without paying.

We are, after all, a small business, just like that small pizza shop, or the local real estate office, the second-hand store, the dog groomer, and your local insurance agent. if we give our product away for free, we all cease to exist.

So if you want to continue to get the LOCAL news from a reputable, trustworthy source, support your local newspaper! Subscribe to the paper and get free access to the website, or subscribe to just the website. Or, if you dont want to try an online subscription right now, pay that tiny fee to read that single story so you can be informed and talk intelligently about it with your friends.

Stay informed, and support your local people working hard to bring you the news!

Liz Beavers is a veteran writer and managing editor of the Mineral Daily News Tribune. To reach out to her with a story idea, email lbeavers@newstribune.info.

This article originally appeared on Mineral Daily News-Tribune: From the Editor's Desk: You actually want me to pay for this??
MONTGOMERY  A new, modernized driver license system will soon replace the old system used in Alabama for nearly two decades, Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Friday.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Driver License System, simply known as LEADS, will completely revitalize the current system, providing significant improvements to both residents and personnel across the state.

This new system will consolidate multiple legacy systems into one integrated, modern system to further protect our citizens data and enhance customer service, Ivey said. I am proud of ALEAs dedication to complete this crucial and extensive task to positively impact all citizens.

In order to install the new system and new hardware, driver license offices statewide must close beginning Monday, April 18, with plans to reopen Tuesday, April 26. In addition to the new hardware, tremendous amounts of data received since 1970 will be converted into LEADS.

Once LEADS goes live, Alabama residents will have access to a variety of new options and such enhanced services as allowing individuals to pre-apply for the Alabama Driver License and enter all necessary information prior to visiting a local office, reducing wait times exponentially. Once LEADS goes live, ALEA will offer expanded online services to give users many abilities, including but not limited to:

Update addresses

Pay for and reinstate licenses

Upload U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) medical cards

View Transportation Security Administrations (TSA) Hazmat background checks

Issue duplicate licenses to eligible foreign nationals

Pre-apply for individuals who are requesting an Alabama License for the first time

LEADS is a tangible example of ALEAs continued focus on improving customer service, communication and technology to effectively achieve the agencys mission of providing quality service for all, ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor said. We are excited to join Gov. Ivey in this announcement, and we would like to thank her and all members of the Legislature for continuously supporting our agency and providing us with the necessary resources to complete such a monumental and historic project for the state of Alabama.

While offices will be closed temporarily to the public and online services will not be available during the transition period, ALEA examiners will continue to administer Class D and CDL Road Skills Tests.

County offices will remain open but strictly for revenue and probate services.

We want everyone to recognize that when LEADS makes its debut in spring of 2022, it will not only bring about changes to the division, but all county offices that issue driver licenses will be affected as well, Director of ALEAs Department of Public Safety Colonel Jimmy Helms said.

Jonathan Archer, chief of ALEAs Driver License Division, said the division has been preparing the launch for several years.

The agency and my team are absolutely devoted to ensuring all of our local and state partners are fully informed on the new system, as well as on the significant impacts the office closures will have on citizens statewide during the modernization and transition process, Archer said. Beyond upgrading the capabilities of our infrastructure with state-of-the-art technology, LEADS allows us to more efficiently serve and interact with our customers.

For further information on LEADS and project updates, please visit LEADS  Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (alea.gov).

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Welcome back!

Don't know if you heard but apparently we're looking at six more weeks of cold and winter. Brrrrrrrr. I'm not a big fan of the cold and neither is Belinda, my bumbly old car and partner in crime who is in desperate need of an oil change.

Either way, Belinda and I are happy to report that the Upstate Capitol Report has completed a month of cross-county zipping and are encouraged and blessed by responses from so many readers who have given important suggestions and story ideas. (I thank you all and apologize for the emails I haven't responded to yet!)

Now for business: Unlike the fireworks of the week before, last week was dominated by an incredibly drawn-out marijuana debate. So let's dive into what happened:

Medical Marijuana

The debate on medical marijuana continues. Last week, I wrote the story of a military veteran who has PTSD, suffers chronic clusters of headaches and uses cannabis for relief. That story was an exploration of a drug that many see as a misunderstood and weaponized measure against people of color.

For subscribers: He tried cannabis when nothing else worked. Now SC is debating its medical use

On the other hand, several groups are concerned about its potency and its ability to negatively affect public safety. Most of the opposition stems from the federal law that still deems marijuana illegal and several lawmakers and law enforcement groups do not want to act when the federal government won't.

Sen. Greg Hembree gave his own section by section rebuttal to the drug, much of which marijuana candidates believe, aren't exactly true. For instance, research has shown that alcohol might be a bigger "gateway drug" that increases the likelihood of abusing other drugs, than marijuana.

Read more: What you need to know about the medical marijuana bill in the South Carolina State House

Sen. Shane Massey said that the chamber is looking at incredibly long nights this week. By Thursday, everyone hopes that there will be a vote to see whether South Carolina has moved one step closer to legalizing medical marijuana.

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Hate crimes legislation

House Democrats led a press conference this week to push the Senate into passing the hate crime law, which would add penalties when crimes were motivated by the victim's sex, age, race, etc. Rep. Wendell Gilliard, who spoke with me after the State of the State, was visibly agitated back then. He had said that he was disappointed that Gov. Henry McMaster has done nothing to encourage senators to pass the hate crime law.

Last Tuesday, Gilliard and Rep. Beth Bernstein, who introduced the watered-down version of Gilliard's hate crime bill, said that the House has done its part and passed the law. Now, the next step was for the Senate to act.

But the Senate is split on partisan lines.

Last year, the law managed to come out of the Senate judiciary committee but has yet to get floor time. No floor time means no vote.

Read more: South Carolina business leaders hopeful for hate crimes bill in 2022

Since this is the second year of a two-year session, this bill will essentially die if the bill isn't passed and the process would have to be started all over again.

My colleague Nick Reynolds at the Post and Courier made a fascinating point about the lack of hate crime laws in South Carolina and Wyoming, the only states in the U.S. that don't have a hate crime law.

The federal hate crimes law is named after Matthew Shephard, a gay university student from the University of Wyoming, who was tortured and killed in 1998 because of his sexual orientation.

Meanwhile, South Carolina's hate crimes law is named after Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who was a victim of the shooting at Charleston's Mother Emmanuel Church that was racially motivated.

Income Tax

Lawmakers and Gov. Henry McMaster want to reduce the personal income tax from 7% to 6%. Business communities have been lobbying for this and have said that SC has the highest income tax rate in the Southeast.

I had made the point earlier that tax experts tend to be wary of messaging around tax cuts, especially now when states are experiencing an "artificial high" due to all the COVID-19 federal funding they've received.

In South Carolina, which has the 39th most unequal tax policy in the country, lower-income families pay the largest share of sales and property taxes. So even if they're paying lower income taxes, they are paying more dollars either way.

Frank Rainwater, who oversees research at the SC Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, pretty much said the same last week:

Considering the tax exemptions on both federal and state level and deductions like child tax credits, an individual only pays taxes on 53% of their complete income.

Basically, what Rainwater is saying is that we're already paying lower taxes in SC and the problem is that it's unequal because not everyone is being taxed on just half of their income. Some, mostly folks who don't get exemptions and deductions, are paying dramatically more.

It gets even trickier. Rainwater said that 44% of approximately SC's $2.6 million taxpayers don't pay income tax. "Well over about a million or so don't pay any income tax at all," Rainwater said. At the same time, 9% of taxpayers who pay taxes worth $5,000 or more, pay 60% of the total income tax in the state. That's a little "skewed", as per Rainwater's calculations.

And perhaps, the most revealing thing of this whole presentation was this: all things considered, South Carolina has a tax rate that's lower than North Carolina and Georgia's! Stay tuned for a story this week.

So here's what you need to know for the upcoming week:



Tuesday, Feb. 8, 10 a.m.: The Senate Family and Veteran's Affairs Committee will hear two bills that would make Juneteenth and the General Election a state holiday. This hearing was marked was last week but was rescheduled.

Medical Marijuana is expected to dominate much of the senate floor once the chamber convenes at 2 p.m.

At 11 a.m.: A House Ways and Means subcommittee will meet to discuss two important bills, H.4879, which is an identical bill to the senate's Education Savings Account bill, and H. 3346, is geared to grow South Carolina's "rainy day fund" to fight a financial downturn.

Wednesday, Feb. 9, immediately after the House adjourns: Lawmakers will be meeting to discuss a bill that would expand early and absentee voting during elections. This is an interesting bill introduced by House Speaker Jay Lucas and is stepping away from far-right activists who incorrectly claim that the election was stolen due to these very measures.

Thursday, Feb. 10, 9:30 a.m.: The Senate Medical Affairs Committee will discuss the bill "Medical Ethics and Diversity Act" bill, which would allow physicians to deny services to patients whose identity violated their "conscience". This bill has been flagged as being anti-LGBTQ.

That's all from me this week!



I'll be back next week with more updates on how everything goes. In the meantime:

If theres something Im missing, dont hesitate to reach out. I welcome any feedback, news tips and ideas you have. Contact me at dchhetri@gannett.com via email, @ChhetriDevyani on Twitter or call me at 864-549-8465.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Here's what happened this week in South Carolina
An artists rendering of an asteroid passing near Earth. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Nasa is tracking an asteroid larger than the worlds tallest skyscraper thats expected to pass close to Earth on 4 March.

But though the space agency categorizes the asteroid as potentially hazardous, the closest the space rock will pass near Earth is around 4.9 million kilometers  well outside the average orbit of the Moon at 385,000 kilometers.

Asteroid 138971 (2001 CB21) is just one of more than 25 objects that will pass near the Earth between 3 February and 4 March, according to tracking data from the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at Nasas Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), many of which will pass much closer to Earth.

But asteroid 138971 (2001 CB21) is by far the largest of the near Earth objects passing near Earth in the coming weeks. With a diameter of between 560 and 1,300 meters, the asteroid would stand a head above the 830-meter Tall Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai.

The most recent close approach of another asteroid of this size was the 18 January flyby of asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1), a 1,000-meter diameter space rock that passed a little less than 2 million kilometers of Earth.

JPL considers any asteroid of at least 150 meters diameter passing within 7.5 kilometers of Earth  19.5 times the distance to the Moon  to be potentially hazardous. An asteroid of 100 meters diameter impacting the Earth would generate an explosive force 10 times that of the 14 January, 2022 volcanic eruption in Tonga.

The close approach of asteroid 138971 (2001 CB21) comes days after 31 January announcement by Nasa of a significant upgrade to the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, an array of four telescopes used by the space agencys Planetary Defense Coordination Office to track potentially hazardous asteroids.

ATLAS began operations in 2017 using two telescopes in Hawaii, but the addition of two additional telescopes  one in South Africa and the other in Chile  now allow ATLAS to image the entire night sky every 24 hours. ATLAS can provide several days warning for close approaches by asteroids as small as 20 meters, and weeks of warning for asteroids around 100 meters. The program has detected more than 700 near Earth asteroids.

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Asteroid 138971 (2001 CB21) is not a recent ATLAS find, however but was discovered by MITs Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program in 2001, and so its passage through the Solar System is well characterized. Its closest expected approach to Earth will bring it within around 3.6 million kilometers of our planet  but not until 6 March, 2148.

For the curious, Nasa JPL maintains an asteroid watch webpage that is regularly updated to show the next five near-Earth asteroid approaches, giving the date each space rock will pass near our planet, how close it will pass by, and its size along with a terrestrial comparison.

Asteroid 2022 AA, for instance, will pass around 2.5 million kilometers from Earth on 4 February, and at around 40 meters diameter, is roughly airplane size.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is convinced the arrival of Julian Alvarez will freshen up his squad in the summer because the striker is starving for goals.

The Premier League champions signed the Argentina international for a reported 14million from River Plate before Mondays transfer deadline but loaned him back to the Buenos Aires club for the remainder of the season.

It is not yet clear exactly when the 22-year-old will arrive in Manchester and there have been suggestions he could stay on in Argentina beyond the summer.

Guardiola is looking forward to working with Alvarez (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Yet Guardiola is clearly planning to bring him on board for his pre-season preparations and so end the clubs long search for a natural replacement for Sergio Aguero.

The City manager said: For the age and the price, for many reasons, for the future, it is a really, really good deal.

He is a guy who has a sense of goal, all the quality (needed), movement behind. Hes a street player, he is a guy who is so dynamic and the goal is there in his mind  the way he finishes, the way he makes the movement over four or five metres.

Guardiola feels Alvarez (centre) has a keen eye for goal (Esteban Felix/AP)

He has the desire, the passion and the strength without the ball. At the age he has, so young, you see he is hungry. He is starving! At that age it is so nice to have it.

It refreshes many things in one team when you have a few players like that.

The signing of Alvarez this week was followed by an announcement that full-back Joao Cancelo had signed a new contract at the Etihad Stadium.

The Portugal international, who has excelled at both left-back and right-back this season, is now committed to the club until 2027.

The 27-year-old has risen to prominence over the past year having initially struggled to make an impact following his 60m move from Juventus in 2019.

Let's take a look at Cancelo's best bits so far #ManCity pic.twitter.com/KBmaA9znwk  Manchester City (@ManCity) February 1, 2022

Guardiola admits he is partly to blame for Cancelos slow start but is now pleased to see the player thriving.

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He said: Everyone knows how important Joao is with us and what we have done in the last two seasons, especially this season.

We struggled together in the first part when he arrived. We did not agree on many things but, in part, for my mistakes. Some players have to be treated differently from others and I needed time to understand him.

Now hes incredible and Im so delighted hes fully happy here and can play in this club for the next years.

Citys Zinchenko is a key player for Ukraine (Nick Potts/PA)

Guardiola, meanwhile, has offered his support to utility player Oleksandr Zinchenko amid the political crisis in his homeland of Ukraine.

The City boss recognises the 25-year-old could be affected by the situation but has confirmed the player, who has recently recovered from Covid-19, is currently training and available for Saturdays FA Cup tie against Fulham.

Guardiola said: For every human being, when something happens in their country we are concerned. Around the world, these kind of things happening in the 21st century is so depressing.

Unfortunately what has happened has happened. I will speak with Oleks and he will know the situation better than myself, but he is in the squad for tomorrow.
The Queen is marking 70 years on the throne, but there's a good reason she won't celebrate the anniversary

The Queen. CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday will be the first British monarch to serve 70 years on the throne.

She became Queen of England on February 6, 1952, at the age of 21 while on tour in Kenya.

But she's not expected to celebrate it publicly; it's also the date her father died.

Sunday marks Queen Elizabeth II's 70th anniversary on the throne, but unlike the celebrations and revelry planned to honor her Platinum Jubilee in June, she is set to spend the day paying homage to her father and predecessor, King George VI.

The royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Insider the Queen was expected to spend the anniversary privately at her home in Sandringham, England.

According to the royal website, a new sovereign succeeds to the throne "as soon as his or her predecessor dies." In the case of the Queen, she ascended the throne in 1952 after her father never recovered from lung surgery and died in his sleep. She was on tour in Kenya at the time with her husband, Prince Philip.

The Queen left the UK a princess and returned a queen in 1952. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

"It is the date of her accession, but it is also the date George VI  her father  died," Fitzwilliams said. "Essentially it's not a period where you would expect celebrations. Sunday is historic, of course, because that's when the Queen will be the first monarch to reach 70 years."

For the Queen, Fitzwilliams said, it has always been a twin anniversary  the day she became a monarch and the day she lost her dad. "It was completely unexpected," he said of the death of King George VI.

"When usually she spends Christmas at Sandringham, this year she hasn't managed to do that because of the coronavirus restrictions, but she is believed to be there and this is where she will obviously spend the day privately," he added.

India Hicks, Prince Charles' second cousin whose mother, Lady Pamela, served as one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, told Insider's Mikhaila Friel it would most likely be a complicated day for Queen Elizabeth II emotionally.

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"It may be the day that she became Queen, but it was also the day that her father died. She was very, very close to him," Hicks said. "You're probably dealing with the mixed emotions there."

The Queen's father, King George, was her inspiration. Studio Lisa/Getty Images, PA Images via Getty Images

Remembering her father on Sunday may be an opportunity for the Queen to reflect on how his reign influenced hers. "It's a day where you'd reflect, your memories of the past, you think of loved ones no longer there," Fitzwilliams said.

"He was her inspiration because of his dedication to duty," Fitzwilliams said. King George VI succeeded to the throne unexpectedly, after his older brother, Edward, abdicated in 1936, just three years before Great Britain went to war.

"This was a huge burden for him to bear," he added. "The Queen's sense of duty has been inspired by the example of her father."

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
Warning: A still from the video released on Monday (Reuters)

A Russia-linked cybercrime gang was allegedly responsible for ransomware attacks that took down a swath of Germanys fuel-distribution system this week and hindered payments at some filling stations (Bloomberg).

Hackers using a strain of ransomware known as Black Cat infected computers at Mabanaft and Oiltanking Group, according to two people familiar with an investigation into the breaches.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts files on victims computers, rendering them inaccessible until a ransom is paid.

Its not known how much money the Black Cat gang has demanded from the firms.

The hackers behind Black Cat appear to be related to the DarkSide ransomware gang, according to Brett Callow, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft.

DarkSide was accused of the attack on Colonial Pipeline in Houston last year, shutting down the largest gasoline pipeline in the US for several days in May.

Other energy-storage companies, including Evos Group, have also suffered IT problems in recent days, at facilities spanning Malta, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The precise cause of the disruption at Evos is currently unclear. On Thursday, the firm said the source was still being investigated.

The attacks come amid heightened tensions in the region as Russian troops are massed on the Ukrainian border, raising fears of an imminent ground attack.

Such an attack could imperil Russian fuel supplies to Germany and other parts of Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied he plans to invade.

Mabanaft, which distributes large amounts of fuel across Germany, said on Tuesday that its computer systems had been breached and its operations disrupted.

Oiltanking Group, which operates terminals internationally, confirmed that its systems were also affected by the cyberattack.

Both companies are owned by the Hamburg-based fuel group Marquard & Bahls.

The companies declined to comment on the ransomware.

The companies discovered they had been the victim of a cyber incident on January 29 and were working with specialists to investigate, the spokesperson said.

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They were hoping to resume normal operations by early next week, according to the people.

The prosecutors office in Hamburg said it had opened an investigation into the breach but hadnt yet identified a suspect.

At the moment no information concerning the perpetrator behind the attack can be provided, said Liddy Oechtering, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors office. So far the investigations are directed against unknown.

The German newspaper Handelsblatt previously reported that the hackers used the Black Cat ransomware, citing a report from Germanys Federal Office for Information Security.

Black Cats ransomware code is written in Russian and is known for its sophistication and innovation, according to a report published in January by researchers at Unit 42, a cybersecurity team at Palo Alto Networks.

The gang, which has been active since November 2021, has recruited affiliates on cybercrime forums who effectively rent out the ransomware to hack companies and organizations, according to the report.

Doel Santos, a threat intelligence analyst for Unit 42, said that hackers using Black Cats ransomware, which is also known as ALPHV, had been very active since December.

They were targeting a wide range of industries, including construction and engineering, retail, transportation, commercial services, insurance, machinery, professional services, telecommunication, auto components and pharmaceuticals, he said.

The gang has focused its extortion efforts on companies and organizations in countries including the US, Germany, France, Spain, Philippines, and the Netherlands, the Unit 42 report found.

Whats unusual is that for a new group they are very skilled, said Allan Liska, a senior threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

The methodology is the same across all of these ransomware groups. But Black Cat moves

around networks quickly. They get the data quickly, and they are not afraid to go after big targets. Liska added that people involved in the gang appeared to be native Russian speakers, as indicated by their posts on Russian-language cybercrime forums.

Liska called the timing of the attacks suspicious but said it wasnt yet clear whether there was any link to the tensions in Ukraine.

Callow, from Emsisoft, said he believed Black Cat was likely the latest incarnation of the prolific ransomware groups BlackMatter and DarkSide.

After the Colonial Pipeline attack drew widespread condemnation and pressure from law enforcement, DarkSide rebranded under a different name, BlackMatter, a common tactic by ransomware gangs when they come under intense scrutiny.

But BlackMatter didnt last long either, Callow said, in part because Emsisoft discovered a vulnerability in its ransomware that helped victims recover their files without paying any ransom.

The organizers of the group hired new developers and rebranded again, under the name Black Cat, Callow said.

Callow said that the new Black Cat ransomware was more sophisticated and didnt include the same errors in its code as ransomware strains deployed by previous incarnations of the gang.

Authorities in Germany have described the hacks this week as serious, but played down the level of disruption to the countrys fuel supplies.

A spokesman for the countrys Federal Office for Information Security said that 233 gasoline filling stations, largely in northern Germany, had been affected, only 1.7% of the countrys total.

At some of those stations it wasnt possible to pay by credit card, the spokesman said.
When COVID shut down normal life in March 2020, few people imagined theyd find themselves still in the throes of a pandemic in a couple of weeks, let alone after two years. But once again, the US has reached a grim milestone this month, with 900,000 COVID-related deaths as of Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Daily COVID deaths averaged over 2,400 this week, according to the CDC, with some days seeing around 3,000 deaths reported. On Feb. 3, 2021, the seven-day average was 3,022 deaths, before vaccines were widely available and before there were booster shots.

With every new season of pandemic uncertainty comes the promise of loss, despite all attempts to be prepared for future outcomes.

Twitter accounts and websites have memorialized the unfathomable number of people lost to the virus over the past two years.

Alex Goldstein, 37, founded a Twitter account called FacesOfCOVID, which shares stories of people who have died of COVID-19. He started the initiative in March 2020 as a way to process the human story behind the numbers, he told BuzzFeed News on Friday.

TOMMY KEITH "T.K." COURTNEY, 45, of Crystal Springs, Mississippi, died of COVID on Feb. 1, 2022. "One could most often find him in the shop he built behind his house working on cars with his son and his friends, elbows deep in grease."https://t.co/fZ6I0dbHWg 10:00 PM - 04 Feb 2022

Going into year three of its existence, the account now has over 150,000 followers and has received over 7,000 stories, some directly from family members and friends through a submission form.

Nice words from complete strangers are a solace because people cannot say goodbye to loved ones in traditional ways, Goldstein said, so they engage with one another and find consolation through storytelling.

Goldstein, who lives in Waltham, Massachusetts, said he never believed he would have to manage the account for over two years, but the work now feels like a daily meditation he does before or after his full-time job in public relations.

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The stories that hit me the hardest are people who dont have a chance to say goodbye, he said, adding that its especially difficult to see people survive difficulties in their lives only to die from a virus that we fail to control.

Every single one of them is a gut punch, he added. This country normalizes mass deaths in this pandemic.  This country has failed to even begin to process what it means to lose 900,000 of our neighbors.

Goldstein said he felt that stories like the ones he receives are not spoken of enough, especially as they grow in number so rapidly.

The death toll in the US from the Omicron variant, which struck this fall, is currently worse than the deadliest period of the less contagious and more severe Delta variant of last summer.

Top health officials have suggested that Omicron is milder; this means that while the total number of cases is ballooning, the proportion of people getting extremely sick may be smaller. Hospitals are still overwhelmed with the unvaccinated and people with underlying conditions, those who are at the greatest risk of severe illness. Immunologists have pointed out that even the milder Omicron variant is likely just as deadly as the original strain of the coronavirus that started the pandemic in early 2020.

High rates of vaccination with booster shoots, coupled with widespread post-Omicron immunity, could likely prevent another surge soon, according to Jeffrey Duchin, who heads the Communicable Disease Epidemiology & Immunization Section for Public Health - Seattle and King County. However, its not yet clear how long that protection will last or whether it will adequately protect against future variants, which are not guaranteed to be mild.

Amid rapidly changing guidance in response to the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, this phase of the pandemic may feel like a roller coaster, swerving between new restrictions and promises that the country will return back to life as it was pre-2020.

And these new numbers pose staggering questions of what the months to come will look like: Is this roller coaster just life in the US now? Should we just adapt to always having the virus around and watching the infection rates to determine when its safe to go out or stay home?

To help answer these questions, scientists in the US and UK are studying a patchwork of global strategies and infection rates to try to determine what could happen in the coming months and years. The Omicron variant spread rapidly in the US after the holiday travel season, even among vaccinated people, but observation of Omicron cases in South Africa  which was likely hit first with the variant  showed that sharp increases in case numbers were often followed by equally rapid declines. But it is not yet clear whether future variants will continue to grow less severe for people without weakened immunities, or what an endemic era of COVID might look like.

We are still in the early days, Duchin told BuzzFeed News on Friday. Over time, we will move from a new, emerging, and unfamiliar, highly unpredictable pandemic, to an endemic state that is more predictable with respect to the virus's virulence and its occurrence.

The US has far more COVID-related deaths than other countries with similar wealth and infrastructure, largely due to the struggle to vaccinate most adults. (As of Friday, about 64% of the US population and 71% of the UK population is fully vaccinated.)

This gap is likely due to the politicization of the pandemic as well as rampant misinformation about the vaccines. This Biden administration is straining to push for mass vaccination; the Supreme Court recently concluded that the administration overreached its authority by imposing a vaccine-or-test rule on US businesses with 100 employees or more.

Duchin, the health officer in Washington state, said it is now most important that governments work to ensure equitable vaccine access, widely available testing, and social support systems to manage the potential double or triple whammy of the flu or other respiratory diseases in addition to COVID. Improving indoor air quality standards and ensuring the availability of high-quality face masks like KN95 masks will help fight future surges as well, he said.

The next phase of the pandemic may look like steps toward COVID resilience, or long-term preparedness of managing the virus as a routine part of life, Duchin said.

Goldstein said that it was important to stop and grieve for the people who died. Even if the pandemic becomes predictable, he said, he fears for the mental health effects of a generation struck by trauma they never processed.

We need to stop and actually take stock of what we've lost here, he said. I think there's consequences to not doing that."

Feb. 05, 2022, at 03:12 AM

More on this
US troops set to land in Poland to reinforce NATO's eastern flank amid the standoff with Russia over Ukraine, reports say

U.S. Army soldiers from the 18th Airborne Division prepare to board a C-17 aircraft as they deploy to Europe from Fort Bragg, N.C., on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. AP Photo/Chris Seward

US troops are due to arrive in Poland on February 5 as tensions between Russia and NATO grow, Reuters reported.

US military equipment has already been sent to Poland.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced the deployment of nearly 3,000 US troops to Eastern Europe.

US troops are expected to land in Poland on February 5, as tensions between Ukraine and Russia mount, Reuters reports.

The information was given to the news site from anonymous sources, who said that the plans may change, but that US soldiers were due to arrive in Poland  which borders Ukraine and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad  on February 5.

On February 4, US military equipment started arriving in Poland in an effort to reinforce NATO's eastern flank as the Russian military presence at the Ukrainian border grows stronger.

Poland's Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak took to Twitter to say "this is a clear signal of allied solidarity."

Blaszczak and the Pentagon said on Wednesday that 1,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are earmarked to be stationed in Poland, but only on a temporary basis, Reuters reported.

This news of more troops comes soon after the Biden administration announced the deployment of nearly 3,000 American troops to Eastern Europe, including 2,000 being sent from Fort Bragg to Germany and Poland, with an additional 1,000 being moved from Germany to Romania, which borders Ukraine.

Insider's John Haltiwanger reported that these movements were to occur separately from the 8,500 US troops recently placed on high alert for a potential deployment to Eastern Europe.

In making this announcement, John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary said "These are not permanent moves. They are moves designed to respond to the current security environment. Moreover, these forces are not going to fight in Ukraine."

Some US troops are already stationed in Poland, with the US Department of State saying that, in April 2021, around 4,500 troops were in rotation in the Eastern European country.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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For a lifelong fan of printed newspapers, it's difficult to see them stop printing daily or cease printing altogether.

But the business is so brutal nowadays, especially in smaller cities and rural areas, it will happen more often in the next few years.

What's not changing is the need for local journalism to continue informing citizens, holding officials accountable and binding communities.

That will require experimentation, bold and sometimes painful changes, and finding new ways to fund this essential work.

That's happening in Yakima, where the Yakima Herald-Republic announced Feb. 1 that it's ending daily print editions. It's shifting to printed papers only on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays starting April 1.

This is the most visible of several transformations at the Yakima paper, which I've written about recently.

Simultaneously, the paper is increasing the size of remaining print editions and expanding its newsroom.

Readers are being encouraged to shift their daily newspaper habit to an electronic replica of the print version, an e-edition, that will be delivered daily to computers, tablets and phones.

Numerous dailies cut print frequency over the last decade as advertising revenue fell and no longer subsidized the cost of deliveries. Fewer subscribers also made delivery more costly, especially in lower-density areas.

More recently, labor shortages are straining papers' ability to find and retain carriers.

Dailies in Spokane, Tacoma, Olympia, Bellingham and Tri-Cities cut Saturday editions. The Oregonian cut delivery to three days a week plus a "bonus" Saturday edition in 2013, following similar changes elsewhere by its parent company, Advance Publications.

Rick Edmonds, media business analyst at the Poynter Institute, believes this is newspapers' future.

"I'm surprised it hasn't arrived in a bigger way sooner," he said.

There can be negative effects, because "you would like your subscribers to want it every day," he said.

That can be offset if savings from print cutbacks are used to preserve coverage.

"If something's got to go, better that than reducing the numbers in the newsroom and the ambition of the report," he said.

Edmonds' paper, the Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times, last year outsourced printing and now prints only Wednesdays and Sundays. It combined that with marketing to educate readers about digital alternatives.

In Yakima, about 60 readers, out of 15,000 print subscribers, contacted the paper by phone or email after the change was announced.

Some are supportive and some don't like it. "Mostly what we're hearing is 'I'm going to wait and see how this all pans out,' " said Charles Horton, senior director of affiliates for The Seattle Times.

The Times acquired the Yakima daily in 1991 and is looking for ways to preserve what's become a money-losing business.

Advertising revenue declined 30% during the pandemic and 60% since 2015. Commercial printing revenue fell 40%, partly because it stopped printing the Tri-City Herald, which had outsourced its printing to Yakima since 2012.

That led to annual losses of more than $1 million. From another perspective, the Blethen family that owns The Times is spending millions to preserve local coverage, which it can't do indefinitely.

Instead of closing shop or selling to a chain that would slash spending on journalism, The Times is embarking on an experiment to save the paper.

That involves radically changing the business model and finding new ways to sustain the newsroom.

Last year the Yakima printing operation closed. Production was consolidated at The Times-owned Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. That led to the reduction of about 50 non-newsroom jobs.

Then The Times worked with Microsoft, the Yakima Valley Community Foundation and a group of community leaders to launch a fundraising campaign to expand coverage and access to critical news topics.

Now its shifting to three days a week of printed papers, including a new Explore Yakima section, as it upgrades its website and e-edition.

It started as, 'If we want people to subscribe to us digitally, weve got to give them a better experience,' " Horton told me.

That led to adding a team of four, including digital designers in the Yakima and Walla Walla newsrooms plus a developer and digital-audience growth manager. That investment was made possible by reducing costs, including the press consolidation and creation of a combined copy desk in Yakima for the affiliates, Horton said.

Yakimas newsroom remains funded for 24 positions, with four more reporters coming soon, supported by donations.

If we didnt reduce print frequency, wed be forced to cut our newsroom by half, Executive Editor Greg Halling wrote in a Feb. 1 column.

I wondered if cutting print editions will hurt the recently announced fundraising campaign, but that appears unlikely, according to Sharon Miracle, president and CEO of the foundation.

"I know folks who are really going to miss receiving those daily newspapers  the reality is print subscriptions are in decline nationwide," she said. "The other piece is, how great it is that the newspaper in whatever form is loved enough that people think they might miss it."

Some donors appreciate the changes, she added. A frequent question was why people should support a failing business. Now it's clear they would be helping it transform and pursue sustainability.

Frank Blethen, publisher of The Times (and my boss), said his hope is that the newsroom stabilizes and the new model is proven to work in Yakima and other communities.

"We're losing millions of dollars over the next five years to try to save a newspaper in Yakima," he told me, "and at the same time increase the service to the community and make it bilingual and available to the Hispanic community."

These interviews quieted my lament about losing print editions. They also clarified the difficult choices and effort required to save what's left of America's free-press system.
To the editor -- It would be a great mistake for the United States to use military action or threats regarding the Ukraine.

The Baltic countries and Ukraine are in the Russian sphere of influence. From 1945 until 1989 Russia ruled these countries. We never lifted a finger to oppose Russia. When Hungary asked for our help in 1956, we did nothing.

This is a great time to do nothing.

Why does the U.S. need another war? Are we Americans afraid we might miss out on a European war?

BILL FROMHERZ

Yakima
Pointed conversations around building up Dothans police force, downtown revitalization, and neighborhood redevelopment dominated the city governments strategic planning conversations on Friday.

Department heads spoke in depth about the potential of establishing a police academy at the Wiregrass Public Safety Center, the next steps in creating a thriving downtown, and potential partnerships with builders to provide more affordable housing opportunities.

Police Chief Will Benny said a police training academy has been a long-term goal of the department, but first the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission must approve the site.

Initially, the police academy will train potential Dothan officers, but eventually it could be used to train officers across the region.

The WPSC was designed with that idea in mind and an academy established there could save the department the cost of sending its trainees elsewhere  Montgomery, Selma, and Jacksonville  and provides the opportunity to tailor the curriculum to Dothans police force.

We already have an extensive cadre of instructors that are certified at the state level, Benny said. We supply instructors to the other academies. So were ready to take that step.

The Dothan Police Department currently has 36 unfilled sworn officer positions out of 171 funded positions. However, Benny said hed like to have a fully-staffed department in the next few years with 211 officers. A police academy, and more competitive pay, could be keys to recruit and retain more officers to keep Dothan neighborhoods safer.

Conversations about moving forward with Dothans vision for downtown remained broad, but included a focus on cultural arts, retail, food, a boutique hotel, and a potential parking deck.

Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba said that many organizations, like the Wiregrass Foundation, are willing to invest in transforming the city block, but the initiative requires significant public and private investment as well.

As a commission, we have the beauty of just looking at the vision, we dont have to bite the whole thing off at once, Saliba said.

Revitalizing Dothans historic downtown has been a longstanding goal of the city government and some commissioners said they were eager to take the next steps to make it happen, which include appointing a chief engineer to oversee the ambitious project.

Planning and Development Todd McDonald and City Manager Kevin Cowper talked about building up older neighborhoods around downtown  another piece of revitalization effort. A part of that goal would be to introduce new ordinances and create more affordable housing opportunities in those areas.

While the department has been making more headway in demolishing old, abandoned, and blighted structures, Cowper said housing demand necessitates replacing them with more living spaces. Saliba said partnering with smaller builders, or developers, could help the city meet that demand.

At the conclusion of Fridays meeting that will continue on Saturday, Saliba said the best part of the planning session was getting a lot of information that commissioners requested to know more about.

Its not a scripted meeting, Saliba said. These are the things that we want to know about, they brought us the information today and that will help us to have some conversations and make some decisions moving forward.

During the meeting, city leaders also discussed public education, road infrastructure, and other future capital projects.

Sable Riley is a Dothan Eagle staff writer and can be reached at sriley@dothaneagle.com or 334.712.7915. Support her work and that of other Eagle journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at dothaneagle.com .

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Yankton, SD (57078)

Today

Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High 47F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy. Periods of rain early. Low near 35F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Southeast Healths designation as a public hospital is somewhat tenuous upon inspection. The hospital draws a relatively small amount of money from a 2.5-mill ad valorem tax collected in Houston County when compared to its annual budget. However, that monetary thread thats been in place since Houston County voters authorized up to four mills of property tax in 1949 to fund what would open as Southeast Alabama General Hospital eight years later.

Along with the public funds comes public oversight, currently in the form of the Houston County Healthcare Authority, a 13-member governing board comprised of the hospitals medical director and a dozen members appointed by Houston Countys four elected commissioners, creating a chain of public oversight.

Or does it?

Houston County Commissioner Ricky Herring raised that question last fall when it appeared he could not appoint the person he wanted to serve on the Authority board. The process has been that, after some discussion with individual county commissioners, the Authority would forward a slate of three names from which the commissioner could choose.

Herring made it known whom he planned to appoint, but when he received the slate, the name of the candidate he wanted to appoint wasnt there. From Herrings perspective, choosing from three names pre-selected by the board is no choice at all.

Hes right. But when he raised an objection, his concerns fell on deaf ears. Any changes would require legislative action and an amendment to the Alabama constitution  a convoluted idiosyncrasy of Alabamas restrictive 120-year-old constitution. Herrings colleagues seemed content to let sleeping dogs lie, and would not move forward to request action from the local legislative delegation.

To their credit, local legislative members moved on the question anyway, introducing legislation that would allow a county commissioner to appoint the candidate of their choice.

That change is necessary to ensure the chain of accountability from the public to the boardroom of the publicly funded hospital. We applaud Commissioner Herring and members of the local legislative delegation for demanding the change rather than accepting the status quo.
New Delhi: Digital payments and financial services firm One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, on Friday reported widening of consolidated loss to Rs 778.5 crore in the December 2021 quarter.

The company had registered a loss of Rs 535.5 crore in the same period a year ago, according to financial results of the company filed at the BSE.

The consolidated revenue from operations of Paytm, however, increased by about 88 per cent to Rs 1,456.1 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 772 crore it posted in the December 2020 quarter. Also Read: People earning lakhs of rupees by selling this 2 rupee note, got one?

Since its listing in November, the stock has more than halved to Rs 953.30 as of Fridays close, after hitting a record low of Rs 875 last week, according to a report by Reuters. Also Read: Noida's Supertech twin towers case: SC asks builder to refund payments to home buyers by Feb 28

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New Delhi: The month of February is here and so with bated breath, lovers wait for Valentine Week to begin every year. Valentine Week begins from February 7 to 14th every year, and that's when you see bright red roses almost everywhere.

Yes, it is that time of the year already when red becomes a dominant colour and suddenly mushy romantic tracks rule your mind. Starting from Rose Day, Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy day to Promise day, Hug day, Kiss day and finally the much-awaited Valentine's Day. So, start planning your entire week according to Valentine's calendar.

The day honours Saint Valentine and has over the years become synonymous with love. Not many are aware that it originally was marked as a Christian feast day honouring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. However, it turned into a celebration of love globally.

There are numerous ways to celebrate the special day and ample ideas to make your loved one cherish the moments. Critics might say you don't need any day to shower your love, but when it comes to celebration and festive vibe - many do believe in making a day special by saying those three magical words to their loved ones - and immersing in the goodness of romance.

Happy Valentine Week everyone!
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday asked India Inc to invest in the economy so that the virtuous cycle kicks in. Referring to the government's decision to cut corporate tax rate, she said, the government has also opened up many sectors including atomic energy and space.

The government in September 2019 slashed corporate tax rate for companies that do not avail of any tax incentive, to 22 per cent. New manufacturing companies have to pay at an even lower corporate tax rate of 15 per cent.

The Budget 2022-23 presented on February 1 proposed that the concessional 15 per cent corporate tax rate would be available for one more year till March 2024 for newly incorporated manufacturing units. Also Read: SBI Q3FY22 YoY net profit up 62% at over Rs 8000 crore

Addressing members of CII, she said industry should quickly join in the government to help virtuous cycle gain traction and push growth. Also Read: Aadhaar Card Update: Check how to update your old photo on Aadhaar

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As per the latest reports, the Indian government has turned down Elon Musk's electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla's request for tax discounts to import electric automobiles, claiming that rules already enable bringing in partially-built vehicles and assembling them locally at a cheaper fee.

"We looked at whether the duties need to be re-jigged, but some domestic production is happening, and some investments have come in with the current tariff structure," Vivek Johri, Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), was quoted as saying in an interview with Bloomberg. "So, it is clear that this is not a hindrance," Johri added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s administration has encouraged Tesla to produce locally. At the same time, Musk wants India to lower taxes, as high as 100 per cent on imported EVs, to enable the company first to sell vehicles built elsewhere at competitive prices. However, it levies import duties of between 15 and 30 per cent on parts shipped for assembly in the nation.

Also read: Upcoming Apple electric car to have a unique and futuristic sunroof, heres how

Recently, a report said that Musk, who has been trying to launch Tesla in India for the past couple of years, is still haunted by the "key challenges" at the government`s end that have grounded his electric cars from running on domestic roads.

Despite the government luring him with various schemes and promises and repeated "come and manufacture/assemble your cars here" calls from the top ministers, Musk is "still working through a lot of challenges with the government," the report had said. According to industry experts, the main challenge for Tesla to enter the Indian market is import duty.

With a $39,990 global price tag, Tesla Model 3 may remain an affordable model in the US. Still, with import duties, it would become unaffordable in the Indian market with an expected price tag of around Rs 60 lakh, as per the report.

With inputs from IANS

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As a part of the alliance, Tata Power and Apollo Tyres have announced plans to deploy public charging stations throughout the country. There are a wide variety of EV chargers that Tata Power can deploy throughout the EV charging ecosystem, which covers the entire industry. Various DC fast chargers for buses, AC 50kwh and 240kwh, Type 2, DC 001, DC 001, 240kwh and 50kwh.

Tata Power's CEO and MD Praveer Sinha said that the company is pleased to partner with Apollo Tyres for the installation of charging stations in their commercial and passenger vehicle zones. It demonstrates our commitment to developing and expanding the electric vehicle ecosystem in the country.

Depending on their location, these chargers will support two-wheeler and four-wheeler EV charging, respectively. Tata Power and Apollo Tyres have reached an agreement wherein the latter will install charging stations initially at 150 branded retail outlets, CV and PV Zones.

Raed also: India again rejects Tesla's call for tax benefits to sell Electric Vehicles

A further benefit of these charging stations will be that they will be open throughout the year to both the general public as well as customers of these tyre retail outlets. Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Apollo Tyres Ltd said in the statement "The infrastructure being set up at our Business Partner's premises strengthens our resolve to promote green mobility in India. Thanks to Tata Powers' large network of service locations, we are confident that there will be an uninterrupted charging infrastructure everywhere."

EZ Charge is a brand owned by Tata Power that provides EV charging points in over 200 different cities, along with a digital platform that facilitates a smooth and easy customer experience. Public EV charging stations enable the use of clean mobility and freedom from range anxiety across a network of offices, malls, hotels, retail outlets, and places of public access.

Tata Power EZ Chargers' ecosystem provides a complete value chain of public charging stations, captive charging stations, bus/fleet charging stations, and home charging stations. To provide its customers with a simple and easy charging experience, Tata Power has developed a mobile-based application (Tata Power EZ Charge) and a robust software platform (Tata Power EV Charge).

With the app, EV drivers can locate EV charging stations, charge their vehicles, and make online bill payments, making it the first of its kind.

With inputs from PTI

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a 216-foot tall statue of 11th-century social reformer and saint, Ramanujacharya in Hyderabad on Saturday (February 5, 2022). As per a statement issued by Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji`s ashram, the statue billed as the world`s second-largest statue in a sitting position is situated at a 45-acre complex area on the outskirts of the city.

The Rs 1,000-crore project was funded by donations from devotees globally. The inner sanctorum deity of Sri Ramanujacharya is made of 120 kilos of gold to commemorate the 120 years the saint spent on earth.

President Ram Nath Kovind will unveil the inner chamber`s golden statue of Ramanuja, weighing 120 kg, on February 13.

In his comments, Chinna Jeeyar Swami, said, "We heartily welcome everyone including chief guests, dignitaries, devotees, and people from all walks of life for the grand opening of Statue of Equality. Bhagavad Ramanujacharya has remained a true icon of equality for 1,000 years and this project will ensure his teachings are practiced for at least another 1,000 years."

All you need to know about the Statue of Equality:

- The outdoor 216-ft Statue of Equality will be the world`s second tallest statue featuring a sitting posture. The Buddha statue in Thailand is said to be world`s tallest statue in a sitting pose.

- It is composed of `panchaloha`, a combination of five metals comprising gold, silver, copper, brass, and zinc.

- The inner sanctorum deity of Sri Ramanujacharya is made of 120 kilos of gold to commemorate the 120 years the saint spent on earth.

- The Rs 1,000-crore project was funded by donations from devotees globally.

- The complex has identical recreations of 108 Divya Desams, the 108 ornately carved Vishnu temples mentioned in the works of the Alvars, mystic Tamil saints.

(Credits: statueofequality.in)

(Credits: Twitter)

"Our mission is to make Statue of Equality a culturally paramount destination for people across the globe and inspire everyone to make the world a more equal place to live. Today, as the world is fraught with divisiveness and populism, the need of the hour is Sri Ramanujacharya`s ideology. A torch bearer of Vaishnavism, Bhagavad Ramanuja distilled the essence of Vedas and ancient wisdom to promote the timeless message of equality. Inherently, non-discrimination and equality are the cornerstones of life," the Chinna Jeeyar Swami explained. The foundation stone for the project was laid in 2014.

1,000th birth anniversary of Sri Ramanujacharya:

To celebrate the 1,000th birth anniversary of the saint, several events including a 1035 yajna (fire ritual), and spiritual activities such as mass mantra chanting are to be conducted as part of Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi `Samaroham`. Events will begin from February 2, and Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao will be co-hosting the event with Chinna Jeeyar Swami. Several other chief ministers, politicians, celebrities, and actors are also expected to attend the function.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a 216-foot tall statue of 11th-century social reformer and saint, Ramanujacharya on the outskirts of Hyderabad today (February 5, 2022).

President Ram Nath Kovind will unveil the inner chamber`s golden statue of Ramanuja, weighing 120 kg on February 13.

Who was Sri Ramanujacharya?

Born in 1017 in Sri Perumbudur, Tamil Nadu, Sri Ramanujacharya liberated millions from social, cultural, gender, educational and economic discrimination with the foundational conviction that every human is equal regardless of nationality, gender, race, caste, or creed. According to his followers, Ramanujacharya was one of the first who fought against social, cultural, gender, educational and economic discrimination.

He opened the doors of temples to all people, including those subjected to extreme discrimination. For many sections of society, he is a timeless icon of equality for social reformists around the world.

He made education accessible to those who were the most deprived in those days and came up with the concept of Vasudhaiva kutumbakam, which means that all universe is one family.

1,000th birth anniversary of Sri Ramanujacharya:

To celebrate the 1,000th birth anniversary of the saint, several events including a 1035 yajna (fire ritual), and spiritual activities such as mass mantra chanting are to be conducted as part of Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi `Samaroham`. Events will begin from February 2, and Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao will be co-hosting the event with Chinna Jeeyar Swami. Several other chief ministers, politicians, celebrities, and actors are also expected to attend the function.

As per the statement issued by Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji`s ashram, the statue billed as the world`s second-largest statue in a sitting position is situated at a 45-acre complex area on the outskirts of the city.

"Our mission is to make Statue of Equality a culturally paramount destination for people across the globe and inspire everyone to make the world a more equal place to live. Today, as the world is fraught with divisiveness and populism, the need of the hour is Sri Ramanujacharya`s ideology. A torch bearer of Vaishnavism, Bhagavad Ramanuja distilled the essence of Vedas and ancient wisdom to promote the timeless message of equality. Inherently, non-discrimination and equality are the cornerstones of life," the Chinna Jeeyar Swami explained. The foundation stone for the project was laid in 2014.

Interesting facts about the Statue of Equality:

- The outdoor 216-ft Statue of Equality will be the world`s second tallest statue featuring a sitting posture. The Buddha statue in Thailand is said to be world`s tallest statue in a sitting pose.

- It is composed of `panchaloha`, a combination of five metals comprising gold, silver, copper, brass, and zinc.

- The inner sanctorum deity of Sri Ramanujacharya is made of 120 kilos of gold to commemorate the 120 years the saint spent on earth.

- The Rs 1,000-crore project was funded by donations from devotees globally.

- The complex has identical recreations of 108 Divya Desams, the 108 ornately carved Vishnu temples mentioned in the works of the Alvars, mystic Tamil saints.

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New Delhi: With Uttar Pradesh elections just around the corner, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday (February 5) said that his alliance will bag 400 seats in the upcoming polls.

Given the anger of the people, the alliance (SP-RLD) is going to get 400 seats; the opposition will get the remaining 3 seats, ANI quoted Yadav as saying.

Given the anger of the people, the alliance (SP-RLD) is going to get 400 seats; opposition will get the remaining 3 seats: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, in Aligarh#UttarPradeshElections2022 pic.twitter.com/e0ywwLvZpi  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) February 5, 2022

Yadav who was in Aligarh on his campaign trail also condemned the firing incident on AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisis car. "SP condemned the incident as soon as we got to know. BJP should answer if mafia opened fire when they saw a political leader. It's the biggest failure of law & order system. We've seen their law and order many times, the former UP CM said. AIMIM is also contesting UP polls on 100 seats.

Attacking the ruling BJP government in the state, the SP supremo said had the Hathras rape victim received the proper treatment she might have been alive. Family of the daughter from Hathras wanted justice, they wanted to cremate her respectfully. But what did people of this Govt do? They didn't let it happen. Had she received proper treatment at hospital, she would perhaps have been alive today, Yadav added.

SP is fighting the UP polls in alliance with Jayant Chaudharys Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

Elections to 403 Assembly seats in UP will be held in seven phases. The poll dates in the state are February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

(With agency inputs)

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Kota: The mortal remains of a tribal man from Rajasthan, who died in Moscow last year, will be reach his native place in Udaipur on Sunday (February 6) for last rites, officials said.

Hitendra Garasia (46), who hailed from Godwa village, was found dead in Moscow on July 17, 2021. Earlier, the Russian government had agreed to exhume and hand over his body.

Preparations to receive the body and hand it over to the family have been made at New Delhi's 'Bikaner House' that would carry out the proceeding on behalf of the Rajasthan government, an official said on Saturday.

We have received confirmation from Russian authorities on the arrival of Garasia's mortal remains on Sunday morning. We are prepared with an ambulance and other essential formalities, Vimal Sharma, Additional Commissioner of Bikaner House, the sprawling Rajasthan government complex in the national capital, told PTI over phone on Saturday.

The flight is scheduled to land at the airport in New Delhi at 9.15 am on Sunday, Vimal Sharma said, adding that the body would be handed over to Garasia's family after the completion of formalities.

Citing information from Russian authorities, Charmesh Sharma, a Congress leader from Bundi, said the body of Garasia was exhumed on Friday and would be loaded on to a cargo flight late Saturday night.

Charmesh Sharma had in October last year initiated efforts with deceased Garasia's family to bring back the body, stuck in Russia since after Hitendra's death on July 17, 2021.

Garasia had gone to Russia in April 2021 on a one-year work visa but was reportedly found dead in a park in Moscow. The Moscow Police closed the case as an accidental death. Later, the body was buried in Moscow.

Garasia's family was informed about his death by the local police on August 28, 2021. Since then, his family membrs, including wife Asha Devi, daughter Urvashi (19), son Piyush (17), have been trying to get his mortal remains back to India.

The family moved the Rajasthan High Court in December last year. The family had even threatened to immolate themselves during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi in December last year.

The family had also met AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra last month following which she wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 27 urging him to help bring back Garasia's body.

However, the family has refused to thank the central government and instead, accused it of being indifferent as Garasia was a tribal.

The body was stuck there for so long because my father was a tribal, Piyush told PTI over phone from New Delhi.

Had the Indian government and the PMO been a little more sensitive to our repeated pleas to bring back my father's body, the Russian authorities would never have held back the body and could not have buried him, he said.

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UB chosen to lead Space University Research Initiative project

We tend to think of space as this vast, limitless area, but the reality is that its becoming increasingly small, especially near Earth. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  The University at Buffalo has been chosen to lead a new five-year, $5 million research program that aims to improve the nations ability in tracking and monitoring spacecraft and other objects such as debris and meteoroids.

The award  one of two issued nationwide from a pool of 40 applications  was announced in December by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and its basic research office, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Its part of a newly established Space University Research Initiative (SURI) program that was created to spur university research into new technologies for the Air Force and U.S. Space Force (USSF).

National defense depends on space superiority, and AFRL has a long history of research and development in support of this domain. With the recent standup of the USSF, along with the emergence of U.S. Space Command and new energy in the commercial space sector, we have exciting opportunities to modernize the way we lead and manage [science and technology], Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of AFRL, said in a news release announcing the funding.

The grants principal investigator is John Crassidis, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Chair Professor in the UB Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Moises Sudit, executive director of UBs Center for Multisource Information Fusion and a professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is co-principal investigator.

Sudit says there is data that can help improve space domain awareness, but first researchers must develop tools to better process and analyze that data. We are drowning in data yet starved for useful information, he says. This project will allow us to find that actionable information for space decision-making that is otherwise buried among unusable noise.

Partner institutions on the grant include Pennsylvania State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Purdue University.

Space domain awareness



Space domain awareness involves the detection, identification, tracking and cataloging of objects in space. It is of growing importance because certain areas of space, such as low-Earth orbit, are becoming increasingly crowded with satellites, debris, meteoroids and other objects that threaten existing and future space missions.

The Space Force is responsible for tracking objects in space, providing information to all satellite operators on potential collisions and maintaining awareness of threatening situations.



This responsibility becomes more complex as the U.S. returns to the moon alongside numerous other nations and commercial interests. These new activities not only increase the number of objects in space, but also the volume that must be monitored.



Because of the large distances involved  most Space Force satellites are 36,000 kilometers above the Earth, and the moon is 10 times further than that  a detailed understanding of the thousands of objects on orbit requires increasingly sophisticated methods to detect them in the first place, confidently identify them, predict their trajectories, and understand their characteristics and activities.



The focus of the grant will be to develop cutting-edge techniques pertaining to sensors and measurement strategies, data fusion and autonomy, as well as improving algorithms to better predict the movements of objects in space.

We tend to think of space as this vast, limitless area, but the reality is that its becoming increasingly small, especially near Earth, Crassidis says. Were tracking more than 27,000 pieces of debris orbiting Earth. These objects can threaten human and robotic space missions, satellites and other spacecraft.

WNY growing as hub for aerospace/defense work

The AFRL award comes as Western New York  which has rich heritage of research and manufacturing in aviation and aerospace  continues to cement its reputation as a leader in the modern aerospace and defense sectors.

UB and partners such as CUBRC and Moog continue to push boundaries in research, design and education, while the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station employs approximately 3,000 individuals and cites an annual economic impact of $300 million.

The new grant also builds upon previous and existing aerospace grants UB has received in recent years.

Both AFRL and NASA awarded UB funding to build nanosatellites that track space debris. Additionally, UB was awarded an $8.5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to study hybrid rockets, which could provide a safer and less expensive way to explore space compared to conventional rockets.

In 2020, three students working in UBs Nanosatellite Laboratory, which is led by Crassidis, won U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.
Former Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao are on trial for violating George Floyds civil rights. Thaos attorney, Robert Paule, directly asked Dr. Andrew Baker, Hennipin Countys chief medical examiner, if he was pressured into listing neck compression as a factor in his autopsy report? However, Paule indirectly questioned Bakers integrity.

Former officer and convicted murderer Derek Chauvin channeled his body weight through his knee, and throttled Floyds neck for over nine minutes. Floyd gasped: Please, please, I cant breathe. Chauvin asked: What do you want? Floyd: I cant breathe, your knees in my neck. An officer said: Get in the car. Bystanders: How long are you going to hold him? Hes human.

Federal prosecutors say Kueng, Lane, and Tou violated their training -- they refused to render medical care to Floyd who was shackled and distressed. During last years Chauvin trial, Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arrendondo testimony was explicit -- he denounced his four officers brazen rule violations. Kueng knelt his body weight on a non-resistive Floyds back, Lane grabbed Floyds leg as though Floyd could summon enough strength to escape, and Tou patrolled the perimeter, his service weapon, handcuffs, and his pugnacious persona screamed, intervene and Ill beat you down, cowing bystanders.

Christopher Douglas, the lead safety trainer for the countys Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation, testified that officers are trained to employ arm bars, not body weight, and should place restrained suspects in a sitting position or on their side.

If Kueng, Lane, and Tou encountered a man choking a dog whos eyes bulged and he gasped and made guttural sounds, would they have saved the dog, or would they have brutalized him?

Marc D. Greenwood

Opelika
New Delhi: Ahead of the assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reached Goa Friday for the campaign and ruled out the possibility of competition with other parties than the BJP. Gandhi asked voters not to waste their votes and divide the mandate as the fight is only between BJP and Congress.

"The fight is between Congress and BJP and not with other parties so don`t waste your votes," while addressing a virtual public rally in Sankhali (Sanquelim), which is the constituency of BJP Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

Targeting the BJP, Gandhi said that the saffron party, which rules the state presently, has remained a complete failure in the areas of Covid-19 management, livelihood, tourism.

Gandhi also claimed that his party will form the government this time.

"With a full majority, Congress will form government in Goa. We want that the Congress party form government with full majority in Goa with the help of voters."

"I appeal to you to vote for the government that listens to you," he added.

Gandhi further stated, "This time Congress has taken a firm stance not to give tickets to the defectors who backstabbed us. We have given tickets to new people. With the full majority, Congress will form a government in Goa.

"Earlier today, all the 40 candidates of Congress and Goa Forward Party on Friday pledged to be united and to be loyal to Congress in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, said a press release.

Goa will go to the Assembly polls on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Friday (February 5, 2022) upheld The Assam Repealing Act, 2020, under which all provincialised (government-funded) madrassas are to be converted into general schools in Assam. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Soumitra Saikia said the changes brought about by the legislative and executive action of the state are for the provincialised madrassas alone, which are government schools, and not for private or community ones.

It also dismissed a writ petition challenging the validity of the Act. The writ petition was filed by 13 individuals in the HC in 2021 against the state governments decision to transform the state-funded madrassas to general schools.

The Court had concluded the hearing on January 27 and had reserved its judgement, which was passed on Friday. The madrassas which are wholly maintained by the state cannot impart religious instructions in terms of the mandate of Article 28(1) of the Constitution of India, the Court said in its judgement.

It also pointed that the services of the teachers of the provincialised madrassas have not been dispensed away with and they will be trained for teaching other subjects, if required. The division bench of the honourable High Court has upheld The Assam Repealing Act of 2020, which had repealed the Madrassa provincialisation acts of 1995, 2011 and 2018, Assam Advocate General Devojit Saikia told PTI.

In the same judgement, the HC also upheld all subsequent notifications issued by the government of Assam to convert madrassa institutions into general educational institutions.

The court upheld the Act on the basis of Article 28(1) of the Constitution, which mandates that any educational institution cannot impart any religious instruction if such institution is wholly funded from state budget or public funds, Saikia said.

The Assam Repealing Act does not affect the privately or community run madrassas and will only impact 397 madrassas and four Arabic colleges run by the government, he added.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had pushed the Assam Repeal Bill as the state education minister in 2020, tweeted Division Bench of Honble Gauhati High Court in a landmark judgment delivered today upheld the Act of 2020 to repeal Madrassa Education Procincialisation Acts and also upheld all other notifications to convert 397 provincialised madrrassas to general educational institutions.

The Bill was passed by the state Assembly on December 30, 2020, under which all the provincialised, government-funded madrassas were to be transformed into general schools. It sought to abolish The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995, and The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018.

Following the passage of the Bill another act relating to provincialisation of madrassas, which was passed by the state government in 2011 stood repealed. The state government has assured that there will be no change of status, pay, allowances and service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the madrassas under the Assam Repealing Act, which was passed during the tenure of the first BJP-led government in the state.

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New Delhi: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday (February 5) said that his rival leader Rahul Gandhi, who recently made claims about the Indo-China border scuffle in the parliament, believes anything he reads said by China instead of looking for the fact and

Singh was addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Baldev for the upcoming assembly polls.

Referring to Gandhis recent statements in the Parliament where he said only 2-3 Chinese soldiers were killed during the Galwan clash, Singh said," Rahul Gandhi talked about China-India clash in Galwan Valley; believed anything he read and said only 3 Chinese jawans were killed.

Clarifying the claim, Singh added, I'd like to clarify, as per an Australia-based newspaper, 38-50 Chinese jawans were killed, not 2-4 adding that Indian borders are safe.

About the Indian Armys actions against the rivals in case of border conflicts and terrorism, Singh said that the whole world, which at one point didnt take India seriously, now listen to us carefully.

World didn't take our inputs seriously earlier, but today India is not weak; if we say something, the whole world listens. You saw how our Army eliminated terrorists on Pakistani land, after Uri &Pulwama attacks. We gave a strong message, said Singh.

In his recent parliament speech, Rahul Gandhi said he doesnt feel the same as he believes the country is bordered surrounded by adversaries on both inside and outsides. He also said the country is isolated on the international front.

The Congress leader also accused the current BJP government of bringing Pakistan and China together.

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By Siddharth Sharma

New Delhi: A decade ago while analyzing the development scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, the Planning Commission lamented the slow growth in the region and attributed it to various factors. It said the climate of armed militancy in Kashmir and low productivity in agriculture and allied sectors has impeded employment and income generation. Poor industrial infrastructure along with the poor investment climate has left the industrial sector in its infant stage.

It mentioned that there has not been a suitable strategy for the potential sectors to achieve higher economic growth. It further mentioned that the lack of good governance and sound fiscal management has also been responsible for the poor economic growth of the state.

During the past two years, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been marching on the path of development as a result of the governments initiatives, which included various developmental schemes executed under the Prime Minister Development Package focusing on individual beneficiaries and reviving long-pending projects lying dormant for several decades by removing the obstacles, through ensuring effective and transparent administration.

Both the Union and the UT governments have been leveraging technology to provide several benefits to the local population of the UT. In the field of IT, several procedures have been framed such as providing, building two large sizes IT parks (spread over half a million square feet)  one each in Jammu and Srinagar.

Among some other initiatives, the UT administration also released a real estate policy equipped with a transparent bidding process to disburse government-created land banks to private developers. The all-around developmental approach adopted by the J&K government has a special focus on developing a network of roads and highways only.

To ensure growth in the valley and enable the UT to come at par with the other states of the country, almost all the projects across various sectors that were ignored, have been infused with new life.

In 2015, a huge package of Rs. 800 billion was allocated by the Modi government to the state government for initiating various development projects to convert J&K into a modern, prosperous and progressive place.

The benefits of abrogation of article 370 have started to trickle down to the people. After Aug. 5, 2019, the J&K government received investment proposals worth Rs.150 billion from around 40 companies from sectors like Information Technology, Defense, Renewable Energy, Tourism, Skill, Education, Hospitality, and infrastructure.

During the past two years, the J&K government has achieved 100 per cent household electrification with 247 power for all. Household water connections have reached 43 per cent of rural households which is double the national average of 21 per cent, and a road map has been prepared to ensure 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply to all 10816 million rural households by December 2021.

The Indian government in February 2020 approved Rs60 billion for a multi-purpose irrigation cum power project in J&Ks Kathua district. National Hydroelectric Power Corporation has been in charge of power projects to overcome the acute shortage of electricity in J&K. In 2019, 15 power projects were inagurates and foundation stone for 20 others laid with worth Rs.100 billion. The formation of Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) and Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited (JPDCL) has been helping J&K to become self-reliant in the power sector. With a holistic approach for all-around human development in the UT covering crucial sectors like education, healthcare, employment generation, tourism, industrial growth among others. To provide quality education to Kashmiri children and youth, government has established hundreds of schools and 50 new educational institutions offering 25,000 seats to students, launched scholarship schemes benefitting more than half a million students so far. New Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) are coming up in the UT. 02 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 07 new medical colleges, 05 new nursing colleges and a state cancer institute are being constructed for better healthcare services to the J&K people.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir especially from Valley consciously exercised their political preference for democracy and idea of India, that encompasses, peace, pluralism, equality, terror free right to ,life and liberty, as against death and destruction inflicted by terrorists on the people of Kashmir.

The idea of India in Kashmir and Plural Kashmirs ethos is meaningless for Kashmiri society and rest of the world unless the Exiled Kashmiri Pandits are physically repatriated back to homeland with dignity and political-economic empowerment.

The enactment of the law regarding Zila Parishads under the Panchayati Raj system and its extension to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of Article 370/35A was a great step aimed at introducing grass-root level democracy and administration. In other words, it means taking the governance to the doorstep of the people living in the remotest corner of the UT.

Though it is being done for the first time in J&K that the three-tier Panchayati Raj stands implemented, yet the people in the UT have responded like mature and responsible citizens and voters in the whole process of elections. The near normal and peaceful election process has added to the happy and satisfactory situation for all concerned.

An overall percentage of 50% voting in the UT despite severe cold, Covid19 situation and the background of the boycott politics in the valley, in particular, is not a mean achievement. Kashmiris are sick of ongoing terror violence for more than three decades and are longing for peace and peaceful right to life and liberty. They see India as a promising land of opportunities. people of Kashmir Valley have chosen democracy, the mainstream political narrative and liberal Sufi Islamic way of life and have once again rejected the separatist rhetoric and religious extremism. New Delhi is doing its best to win the hearts and minds of people. Kashmiris on their part have to make extra efforts to defeat terrorism and separatism and create an atmosphere for peace and a new beginning for regaining their lands lost glory.

(Siddharth Sharma is a freelance journalist and a media facilitator based in Delhi. He has written for many platforms regarding various geopolitical issues with a special focus on the Kashmir Conundrum. His escapades into the remote locations along the Line Of Control to understand the actual ground situation is soon going to be published as a well-documented book.)

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New Delhi: Hours after an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 on the Richter scale hit Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (February 5, 2022) spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to enquire about the situation in the Union Territory.

PM Narendra Modi called J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to inquire about the situation in the UT due to the earthquake: Sources (File photo) pic.twitter.com/oKBjE2SJAC  ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2022

An earthquake of 5.7 magnitude hit Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday but there were no reports of any loss of life or damage to property, officials said.

The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 9.45 am, was at the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border. Strong tremors were felt in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.

According to the government sources, PM Modi called up Sinha to assess the situation in the union territory after the tremors.

The officials said the quake hit at latitude 36.34 degrees north and longitude 71.05 degrees east at a depth of 181 km.

The tremors caused panic among people who rushed out of their homes.

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New Delhi: In what can be hailed a huge success for Indian security forces, at least 13 encounters were carried out in 36 days that killed at least 24 terrorists. Apart from that, 10 active militants and 17 of their associates were arrested alive.

However, 7 security personnel also got injured in those operations.

Besides that huge cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered in those operations including American made assault rifles M4 4, AK56 - 4, AK 47 -5.

In a predawn encounter, two TRF terrorists were killed among them one was involved in the recent killing of a police officer in south Kashmir. Police

IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said "Two TRF terrorist offshoot of LeT were killed in a Predawn Gunfight in Zakura area of Srinagar district central Kashmir.

"On a specific input about the presence of terrorists in outskirts of Srinagar on the border of Srinagar- Ganderbal districts cordoned and search operation was launched," said Kumar adding that the searching party cordoned the suspected spot where the hiding terrorists fired from.

Police have recovered the dead bodies of slain terrorists and recovered Incriminating materials including 02 pistols. Both slain were identified and are said to be residents of south Kashmir Kulgam and Pulwama districts.

Police identified them as Ikhlaaq Ahmad Hajam R/o Kulgam south Kashmir. And Adil Nisar R/o Pulwama"

Kumar further said "One of the killed terrorists Ikhlaaq Hajam was involved in the recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at Hassanpora Anantnag.

It is pertinent to mention that on January 29, a head constable Ali Mohammad Ganie was shot at by a terrorist near his residential house in the Hasanpora Tabala area of Bijbehara Anantnag.

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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the country is robbing the future of daughters by letting the hijab come in the way of girl education. Coming out in support of hijab-wearing Muslim girl students not allowed entry in educational institutes in Karnataka, he said the goddess Saraswati does not differentiate and gives knowledge to all.

"By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn't differentiate. #SaraswatiPuja," Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Saturday (February 5), on the occasion of Vasant Panchami.

By letting students hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesnt differentiate. #SaraswatiPuja  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 5, 2022

Not just Rahul Gandhi, other leaders have also reacted to the incident. After female students wearing hijab were denied entry into Bhandarkas' College in Karnataka's Kundapura, Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka Assembly and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had alleged that the aim of this is to deprive Muslim girls of education. "This is the plan of depriving female students of education. The aim is to deprive female children of education," Siddaramaiah told the mediapersons in Bengaluru.

On being asked about Hindu students wearing saffron shawls in protest against the use of hijab in the college, he said, "Wearing a Saffron shawl has been in practice for a few days, but wearing a Hijab has been in practice for several years. The issue is sub judice in the court of law. The hijab has been around for a long time," he said. "Such things are brought to the forefront when elections are around," he added. Siddaramaiah said Congress would raise the matter in the Assembly after the decision of the court.

(With Agency inputs)

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Jammu and Kashmir police on Friday arrested Fahad Shah, a Kashmiri journalist for allegedly uploading "anti-national content" on social media. In a statement, police said, "it was reliably learnt by Pulwama Police that some Facebook users and portals have been uploading anti-national content including photographs, videos and posts with criminal intention to create fear among public and the content so uploaded can provoke the public to disturb law & order."

It was also learnt that these Facebook users are uploading such that are tantamount to glorifying the militant activities and causing dent to the image of law enforcing agencies besides causing ill-will & disaffection against the country, the statement read further

A case has been registered against Shah at Safakdal Police Station and Pulwama Police Station, police said. "For the last three-four years, Shah has been frequently glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news and inciting people for creating law and order problems, for which three FIRs have been lodged against him - one in Srinagar, one in Pulwama and other in Shopian," a senior police official said.

"He has been arrested in the case FIR lodged in Pulwama. Action will follow in other FIRs also," Kashmir Inspector General of Police, Vijay Kumar, said.

Kumar made an appeal to journalists to not spread fake news and verify information from police before circulating.

It glorifies terrorists because it leads to recruitment, our youth get radicalised and takes the wrong path. Do not instigate the public, he said. Shah is the founder editor of weekly online magazine "thekashmirwalla".

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Bhopal: After reviewing the prevailing Covid situation in the state, the Madhya Pradesh government on Friday (February 4, 2022) removed the cap on the number of guests attending wedding ceremonies.

The review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took note of the declining trend in the number of daily Covid cases in the state.

Following the meeting, the state home department on Friday evening issued a fresh notification lifting restrictions at marriage functions. Earlier, a total of 250 guests were allowed to attend weddings. The fresh guidelines will come into effect from February 5.

"Considering the present situation of Covid-19 in Madhya Pradesh, the government has decided to lift its earlier decision to allow only 250 guests for marriages," the notification read.

The new rule is applicable only on marriage functions. All other gatherings -- political, social or religious -- will continue to follow the 250 attendees cap.

The night curfew will continue to be in place from 11 pm to 5 am. Similarly, only 50 people can gather at funerals, while rallies and protest demonstrations continue to be prohibited till further orders.

The state reported 6,516 new Covid-19 cases and 8,451 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

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Baramulla: The Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday (February 5) busted a narco-terror module by arresting two people along with contraband worth Rs 18 crore in the Baramulla district of North Kashmir.

A police officer said "Today on 5th Feb, police party of Police Station Uri and Police Post Kamalkote headed by SHO Police station Uri were patrolling the area from Dachi towards Basgran. During the patrolling, two vehicles Celero-X bearing registration No. JK09C-1584 and Alto bearing registration No. JK05G-0247 was found on a link road towards Dachi in a suspicious condition. Police patrolling party moved towards the vehicles, but the drivers of both the vehicles saw the Police patrolling party and tried to flee away from the spot however due to the timely action of Police party, both the persons were apprehended tactfully.

According to the J&K police spokesman, both the vehicles mentioned above were searched accordingly. During the search, three packets of contraband apparently heroin was recovered from Celerio vehicle and five packets of heroin was seized from the Alto. A total of 8 packets of contraband weighing approximately about 9 Kgs were recovered. The cost of this contraband in the black market is above Rs 18 Crore.

Both the persons were questioned on the spot. During questioning the driver of the Alto car revealed his name as Mohd Sabir Barwal and is a resident of Jabda Kamalkote Tehsil Uri, while the driver of the Celerio car was identified as Parvaiz Ahmad Tantray resident of Reban Rafiabad Sopore.

During search, mobile phones, one cheque to the tune of Rs 5 lakh and one Adhaar Card were recovered from the possession of Mohd Sabir Barwal. While seven cheques amounting to Rs 9,79,500, two blank cheques, one cheque book containing 22 leaves, were recovered from the possession of Parvaiz Ahmad Tantary.

The police has registered a case and an investigation is underway. The police officer said that it seems the consignment reached from across the border and the duo was taking it to sell. He added that more details will be known after the investigation ends.

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ELKO  The Elko County Sheriffs Office is reporting higher call volume as they deal with a new bail reform law.

Undersheriff Justin Ames presented the 2021 annual report to Elko County Commissioners on Wednesday, showing an increase in calls for service and sparking a conversation on the publics growing frustration with the rise of catch and release criminals and a new form of meth on the streets.

Ames said the root of the cause is in the 2019 Valdez-Jimenez decision from the Nevada Supreme Court that now requires bail hearings for offenders, usually resulting in their release within 48 hours of an arrest.

Thats not a local judges decision. Thats a Nevada Supreme Court decision, Ames explained to commissioners, asking the public to send a message to lawmakers regarding these changes.

However, the situation has not reduced the motivation of the deputies, despite the frustrations.

It doesnt matter if we arrest them one time or one hundred times, they will continue to do that, Ames said. Im not seeing any frustration throughout our rank and file, which is exceptional, I think. They understand they have a job to do, and we work within the parameters set forth for us, and theyre doing a great job.

In one weekend, Elko Countys inmate population jumped from 111 to 146, which Ames said resulted from the new laws as offenders realize they will be released soon after an arrest.

If theres no consequence for your actions, that just emboldens that behavior, so that becomes an issue, he said. I think were starting to see that show up in our communities.

Ames said he and Sheriff Aitor Narvaiza are frequently asked about the release of repeat offenders, showing the communitys frustration with the law. That frustration is shared by Elko Countys judges and District Attorney Tyler Ingram, he said.

Ames said the sheriffs office is closely watching repeat offender statistics, which can be presented to legislators in the future.

Were going to have to band together as law enforcement and with [the Elko County Commissioners]. We may be a small community, but if we band together, we have a big voice, he said. Our voice needs to be heard in this and say, Enough is enough.

Annual report

Ames said calls for service increased on an average of four calls per day compared with 2020 numbers.

In 2020, the department responded to 19,300 calls, but in 2021 the office logged 20,738.

According to the annual report, civil paper services had the biggest increase with 649 calls, followed by public agency assists, traffic accidents, animal control and medical calls.

Categories that showed decreases in calls between 2020 and 2021 were crimes against people, violent offenses and property crimes.

Foot traffic at the Sheriffs office also went up, with staff logging about 7,000 visitors to the front desk. Also, the office handled about 2,000 fingerprint checks, which were primarily for concealed carry permits.

A disturbing trend

Ames said, a disturbing trend in the past several months is the increase in psychotic behaviors in detainees using a new type of methamphetamine.

People coming in were now becoming very combative with our deputies, and these are people that didnt normally exhibit that type of behavior, he said.

Medication is the only way to calm down individuals under the influence of the narcotic, which takes a long time before theyre finally acting normal.

Although this type of meth is new to Elko County, it has been seen by law enforcement agencies elsewhere in Nevada, Ames reported. It trickles into Elko a little slower than it does everywhere else.

It is unclear what chemical components are in the narcotic to spark the behaviors. Still, Ames said the recent arrest of a local dealer might provide answers through analysis of meth found in his vehicle.

The sheriffs office is looking at implementing processes for forced medication by adopting policies from case law.

When people are psychotic, its really hard to get them to take that medication, Ames explained.

Ames added that the sheriffs office is also looking to partner with the Elko Police Department to create a small task force to specifically target the new variation of meth.

We dont need this in our community, Ames said. Were doing everything we can to run it out.

Staffing

Ames said the department has two vacancies and that Jackpot and Wells are now fully staffed.

He credited Lt. Doug Fischer for recruiting and drawing candidates from outside the area with out-of-the-box thinking, which could bring the sheriffs office a new distinction.

Were going to be the only law enforcement Im aware of that will be staffed or close to fully staffed, which is really something in my opinion in 2021, Ames said.

Sheriffs Office app

Residents may now access the Elko County Jail through a new app, keeping the community updated on missing persons, inmate statuses and more.

Aware that most everyone now communicates through smartphones, Ames said it made sense to put up-to-date information in peoples hands.

If theres not an app for it, theyre not interested in it, he said. Its a great way to communicate.

The app includes searches for inmates booked in jail and a map of registered sex offenders, including their charges and photo.

Thats a big piece of the app, Ames said. We want to make sure that those people amongst us are being held accountable and that theyre aware that the sheriffs office and the community as a whole are watching them.

The community can also receive notifications on missing persons, most wanted individuals and other immediate information.

A user can set an alert for certain inmates to be notified by email, text or phone call of their release or booking status.

Ames said this feature helps people track somebody that youre concerned about.

People can also send tips, apply for concealed carry permits, and send other information directly to the office.

Ames said keeping two-way communication between the public and the sheriffs office is vital, adding that the community can send in messages about deputies on duty through the app.

Youll be able to commend or bring up concerns about one of our deputies, he said. We can see if theres an issue with one of the employees that we can address, and on the good side, you can send pictures if you see them helping change a tire.

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Punjab Congres chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, when asked the typical question on who is likely to be party's Chief Minister candidate tomorrow, came out with a cryptic reply - "CM will be made only when party gets 60 MLAs".

The state Congress chief said, "no one is talking about how to get these 60 seats, only question that is being asked is - who will be CM face". "People are the ones who decide a state's Chief Minister," he added.

Sidhu also stressed that a person who has a roadmap for Punjab and who enjoys the people's trust can only ensure 60 contestants get elected as legislators.

However, Sidhu added that a chief ministerial face will decide whether 60 candidates are elected as MLAs or not, referring to the number 60, one more than 59 lawmakers needed to form government in Punjab with 117-member assembly.

Notably, a party needs 59 seats out of a total of 117 assembly segments for forming the government in Punjab.

For the last several weeks, both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have, directly or indirectly, made a case for themselves to be declared as the party's nominee for the top post.

Addressing the media in Amritsar on Saturday, Sidhu who is contesting from Amritsar East seat, said he was never a "worshipper of power."

"But today Punjab has to decide a big thing. A person will become CM if there are 60 MLAs. Nobody is talking about 60 MLAs. Nobody talks about on which roadmap the government will be formed," he said.

Sidhu again batted for his Punjab Model for bringing the state back on its feet.

It is not Sidhu's model but state's model and if anyone has a better model he will accept that too.
United Nations: India has underlined the need to distinguish between political ideologies that are part of a pluralistic democratic polity and the radical ideologies that subscribe to terrorism, emphasisng that any attempt to paint both of them with the same brush is "inaccurate" and "counterproductive".

Speaking at the Ambassador-level Annual Briefing to Member States organised by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti said India has always maintained that nations should not go back to pre-9/11 era when terrorists were being divided into 'your terrorist' and 'my terrorist'. He said the categorising them weakens the collective resolve to combat terrorism.

"We see a renewal of this attempt by trying to divide terror again into categories and label them. For example, under the label of xenophobia, racism, and other forms of intolerance or in the name of religion or belief, efforts have been made to bring into this discussion categories such as right-wing extremism, far-right and far-left extremism, violent nationalism, racially ethnically motivated violent nationalism," he said.

Tirumurti said there is a need to understand is that in democracies right-wing and left-wing are part of the polity and come to power through elections reflecting the majority will of the people. "Democracy by definition contains a broad spectrum of ideologies and beliefs. We need to distinguish between the political ideologies which are part of a pluralistic democratic polity, as against radical ideologies which subscribe to terrorism. Our fight is against such radical ideologies and not against democracy. To paint them with the same brush is inaccurate and counterproductive," he said.

Amid efforts to prepare a report of the Secretary-General mandated by the General Assembly to assess the threat posed by the terrorist acts on the basis of xenophobia, racism, and other forms of Intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief, Tirumurti underlined that "we should not be selective in our approach but in fact seek to implement a zero-tolerance against terror."

Tirumurti, currently the Chair of the 1988 Sanctions Committee as well as of the Counter-terrorism Committee of the Security Council, said the overall threat of terrorism has only increased. "The threat posed by al-Qaeda, ISIL and their affiliates in Asia as well as in Africa, and their links with those designated under 1267 need to be recognised and addressed," Tirumurti said.

He said the recent report of 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee highlighted how the close link between the Taliban, especially through the Haqqani network, and al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups still continues. "We need to ensure that radical groups in one region do not draw sustenance from another," he said.

Tirumurti said he looked forward to enhancing synergies between the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), both of which play complementary roles. "One of the aspects, which has not been fully explored is the role victims of terrorism and their networks can play in countering terrorism. We know that the UNOCT has put a spotlight on this issue. We are also reaching out to civil society to support our efforts on counter-terrorism," he said.

Tirumurti also referred to the adoption of 7th review resolution of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) in June last year, when it was reaffirmed that there cannot be any excuse or justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of motivations of the terrorist actors as underlined in relevant UN Security Council resolution.

The review also, more importantly, rejected the divisive efforts of a few member states, looking for labeling terrorism based on motivations, especially based on political and other ideologies. It is important that the UN response to terrorism remains united, unambiguous, and unequivocal, he said.

Tirumurti noted that it is equally important that the integrity of the GCTS is preserved and attempts to undermine this hard-earned consensus are stopped. He also voiced concern over the "real emerging threat" posed by the terrorist use of information and communications technologies, emerging technologies such as social media, new payment methods, video games, encrypted messaging services, cryptocurrencies and drones for which most of the member states do not have adequate response capabilities.

"We have been witnessing cross-border terrorist attacks through drones. Global expert bodies such as Financial Action Task Force or FATF have been raising red flags about terrorist financing, and laxity of certain member states in bringing their practices at par with international Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) standards," he said, calling for the need to strengthen efforts of FATF. "Countering terrorist narratives, particularly through internet and other online means, have remained a challenge. Enhanced online presence of young people during pandemic has exposed them to exploitation by a terrorist group through hate speech and recruitment. Let us not forget that the greatest violators of human rights are the terrorists," he said.
North Goa: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader CT Ravi said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is a "tourist politician" who comes to Goa only before the elections.

"Rahul Gandhi is a tourist politician, he comes to Goa only before the elections," said Ravi during door-to-door campaign in Calangute for upcoming assembly elections in Goa.

"Unlike Congress, BJP does not sign agreements with China. Congress needs to be loyal to the country," he added.

On Trinamool Congress Party and Aam Aadmi Party campaigning in Goa, he said, "I ask Arvind Kejriwal to implement Goa`s drainage system in New Delhi, while, Mamata Banerjee should adopt the Goa model in West Bengal."

I request her not to bring West Bengal to Goa as it is all about murder, atrocities and rape. Goa has a good law and order system. She should implement the law order system of Goa in West Bengal. Goa`s beautiful roads should be constructed in West Bengal by her," he added.

Goa will go to the Assembly polls on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will announce his partys Chief Ministerial face for the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls on February 6 in Ludhiana, said party state in-charge, Harish Chaudhary on Friday.

Addressing the media at party headquarters here, Chaudhary said, "Rahul Gandhi will address a virtual rally in Ludhiana on February 6 and during the event, he will announce the CM face.

Chaudhary said that the decision will be taken respecting the sentiments of the Congress workers and the people of Punjab.

Respecting the guidelines of the election commission, the candidates of the party from all 117 constituencies will attend the virtual rally by maintaining the gathering at their respective venues as per the permissible limit, said Chaudhary.

Who are the key contenders?

The key contenders for the CM race in Punjab from Congress are emerging to be CM Charanjit Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu, who last year had been in news for trying to take over from former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh which led to his exit from the Congress party.

Sidhu also targeted his colleague Channi publicly on Friday after the incumbent CMs nephew was arrested by ED in a land mining scam and said Punjab should elect someone with moral authority.

Charanjit Channis nephews arrest

Chaudhary also issued a clarification on incumbent CM Charanjit Singh Channi`s nephew Bhupinder Singh Honeys arrest by the ED in a sand mining scam and said that the Congress leader or his family has nothing to with the charge adding that the BJP "always has always misused" the Central agencies before the elections.

"In the past also, this central government had adopted such tactics to put pressure on the opposition parties ahead of elections.

He added that CM Channi had supported the farmers during the farmers` movement. Apart from this, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state in January where he was stuck on a flyover, CM Channi had said that he will not charge lathi on farmers.

He alleged that the Central government is taking revenge and targeting the Chief Minister.

Chaudhary said that the Congress party, its workers, and the people of Punjab are standing with Chief Minister Channi and will give a befitting reply to the people who are adopting "cheap tactics", in the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.

Punjab will go to the polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: At least 2 terrorists belonging to terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and The Resistance Front (TRF) have been neutralized in an encounter by Srinagar Police in the Zakura area of Srinagar City, informed Kashmir Zone Police via a Tweet.

As per the Kashmir Zone Police, Ikhlaq Hajam, who was involved in the recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at Hassanpora Anantnag was one of the terrorists killed in the encounter today.

Incriminating material including 2 pistols have been found on the terrorists.

#SrinagarEncounterUpdate: 02 #terrorists of terror outfit LeT/TRF #neutralised by Srinagar Police. One of the killed terrorists Ikhlaq Hajam was involved in recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at Hassanpora Anantnag. Incriminating materials including 02 pistols recovered: IGP Kashmir https://t.co/9vktIRpcJM  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) February 5, 2022

Terrorists of terror outfit LeT/TRF neutralised by Srinagar Police. One of the killed terrorists Ikhlaq Hajam was involved in the recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at Hassanpora Anantnag. Incriminating materials including 02 pistols recovered: IGP Kashmir, read the tweet.

The said encounter started early morning on Saturday (February 5) in the Zakura area of Srinagar City.

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New Delhi: Delhi University has invited applications from eligible individuals for Faculty posts. DU is looking to fill p 635 posts of Professor and Associate Professor in the organization through this recruitment drive.

The interested and eligible candidates can apply online through the official site of Delhi University on du.ac.in. The last date to apply for the posts is till February 7, 2022.

DU Faculty Recruitment 2022: Important Dates

Online application starting date- January 18, 2022

Last date to apply online- February 7, 2022

DU Faculty Recruitment 2022: Vacancy Details

Professor: 186 Posts

Associate Professor: 449 Posts

DU Faculty Recruitment 2022: Eligibility Criteria

The interested candidates can check the educational qualification, age limit and other details here:

Detailed notification for Professor posts

Detailed notification for Associate Professor posts

DU Faculty Recruitment 2022: Application Fees

The candidates belonging to UR/EWS/OBC category will need to pay Rs 2000 as application fees. No application fee will be charged from applicants from SC, ST, PwBD category and Women applicants.

The candidates are advised to check the official site of Delhi University for more details.

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New Delhi: The Indian Army has issued a notification for unmarried male and unmarried female Law graduates for grant of Short Service Commission in the Army for Judge Advocate General Branch. As per the official website, the notification states that the selected officer will be on probation for a period of six months from the date he/she receives his/her commission.

"If he/she is reported on within the probationary period as unsuitable to retain his/her commission, his/her services may be terminated any time whether before or after the expiry of the probationary period," the notification read.

The interested and eligible candidates can apply online through the official site of the Indian Army- joinindianarmy.nic.in.

Indian Army Recruitment 2022: Number of vacancies

Men - 06

Women - 03

Indian Army Recruitment 2022: Educational qualification

Candidates should have a minimum of 55% aggregate marks in LLB Degree (three years professional after graduation or five years after 10+2 examination). They should also be eligible for registration as an advocate with the Bar Council of India/State. The candidate should be from a College/University recognized by the Bar Council of India.

Indian Army Recruitment 2022: Age limit

Candidates should be between 21 to 27 years as on July 1, 2022.

Indian Army Recruitment 2022: How to apply

Interested candidates need to apply ONLINE at www.joinindianarmy.nic.in.

Indian Army Recruitment 2022: Last date

Candidates need to apply by February 17 (3 PM).

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Bengaluru: Amid continuing protests by a section of students seeking permission from authorities to wear Hijab in classrooms in some colleges in Karnataka, the BJP state chief Nalin Kumar Kateel on Saturday said the state government will not allow 'Talibanisation' of the education system.

Kateel's remarks come as Burqa-clad women in some parts of the state continued to protest against the decision to bar female students from wearing 'hijab' (headscarf) inside classes.

"There is no scope for such things (wearing Hijab in classrooms). Our government will take stringent action. People have to follow the rules and regulations of the school. We will not allow Talibanisation (of the education system)," he told reporters here.

Asserting that bringing religion to educational institutions was not right, Kateel said what children require is education.

"There is no scope for Hijab or any such thing in the schools. Schools are the temples of 'Sarasvati' (Goddess of knowledge). It is the duty of the students to learn and abide by the regulations of the school," the BJP leader said.

ALSO READ: Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all, she doesn't differentiate, says Rahul Gandhi on Hijab row

Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said some people were intentionally demanding permission for wearing Hijab in classrooms.

"Once that demand is fulfilled, they will seek permission to wear Burqa and then to construct mosque inside the school," he alleged. "The demands will go on. Those who are supporting them are the real traitors."

Yatnal said those behind such movements should be exposed. The MLA suspected the involvement of some anti-national forces in 'disturbing' the peace in the state.

To a query on Lord Ganesha being worshipped in educational institutions and people entering schools and colleges sporting vermillion on their forehead, Yatnal said, "This is India and our country is founded on the Indian culture. We have already given them Pakistan on the basis of religion for them to wear Hijab."

In Kalaburagi, Muslim students and others holding placards and banners staged a demonstration led by Congress MLA Kaneez Fathima. They raised slogans like 'We want justice' and 'Gundagardi Nahi Chalegi' (Hooliganism will not be tolerated).

The MLA said she would raise the matter in the Karnataka assembly demanding permission for Hijab in the classrooms.

In Udupi too, a similar demonstration took place where students came to the campus wearing Burqa and sought permission for Hijab.

Protesting against wearing Hijabs inside the classroom, Hindu boys and girls started coming to some schools and colleges wearing saffron scarves.

The Karnataka government had on Friday asked educational institutions to follow existing uniform related rules, until the High Court comes out with an order in this connection.

With the issue snowballing into a major controversy, spreading to other educational institutions, and the matter coming up before the High Court, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had held a meeting with Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh and top government officials.

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New Delhi: Actress Alia Bhatt was smitten by her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor after he showed his support for her upcoming film 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'. In a pap interaction, Ranbir Kapoor was asked what he thought about the Gangubai Kathiawadi trailer which released on Friday (Feb 4).

In response, Ranbir recreated Alia's iconic pose from the film by making a namaste sign over his head and showing his back. Many fans shared posts in which both Ranbir and Alia performed the gesture and their pictures were side-by-side for comparison.

Take a look at them:

Later, Alia shared one of the posts on her Instagram story and called Ranbir Kapoor the 'best boyfriend ever'.

Maverick filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much-awaited venture Gangubai Kathiawadi trailer released on Feb 4 and lead actress Alia Bhatt is simply outstanding in it. The film is adapted from Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens of Mumbai about Ganga Harjivandas, a simple girl of Kathiawad.

Gangubai Kathiawadi trailer takes us into the life of Gangubai played by Alia Bhatt. SLB's grand saga is set in the early 60s and shows the leading lady as the brothel owner and matriarch.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is slated to release on February 25, 2022, in cinema halls. It is produced by Bhansali Productions and Jayantilal Gadas Pen India Limited.
New Delhi: Post Office offers a slew of safe schemes that offer impressive returns to investors. Investors put their money in the various schemes offered by the Post Office to secure their future, especially their retirement.

In one such scheme called Post Office Public Provident Fund (Post Office PPF), investors can save Rs 150 daily to get Rs 20 lakh at the time of maturity without the risk of losing money due to stock market movements.

The maturity period in the Post Office Public Provident Fund is 15 years. However, the limit can be extended twice for each term of five years if you want to receive Rs 20 lakh at the time of maturity.

You will also avail of tax benefits in the Post Office Public Provident Fund. Currently, Post Office is offering a 7.1 per cent interest annually in the scheme and with your investment increasing each year, your money will also rise.

How to get Rs 20 lakh?

Suppose, you are 25 years old and earn about Rs 35,000 per month. You can save about Rs 150 per day to invest about Rs 4500 per month in the Post Office Public Provident Fund. This means that you will invest Rs 54,000 in a year.

In 20 years, your investment will be Rs 10.80 lakh. Including the compounded interest, you will get about Rs 20 lakh at the time of maturity. Moreover, you can also avail yourself of tax benefits under section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Also Read: Oppo Reno 7 5G with MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC launched in India: Price, features, pics

You can get a rebate of up to Rs 2.5 lakh in the scheme. Also, the interest earned and maturity amount in PPF is also tax-free, as an investment in PPF comes under the 'EEE' category. Also Read: Meta adds personal boundary after women alleged sexual harassment in virtual world

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ELKO  Elko County ended the week with fewer active cases of COVID-19 and fewer hospitalizations than reported last Friday.

No deaths have been reported since Jan. 11.

Nationwide, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.

The deaths have been propelled in part by the highly contagious omicron variant, which arrived in Elko County just before Christmas and has resulted in high case numbers over the past month.

Elko County had 282 active cases as of Friday, compared with 448 a week earlier. Hospitalizations decreased from 14 to nine.

Coronavirus cases have been declining statewide but all 17 counties in Nevada remain flagged for at least one factor of elevated transmission. High test positivity and case rates continue in all counties except Eureka. The only factor Eureka is flagged for is conducting fewer tests than recommended.

Elko County has confirmed 11,614 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic reached northeastern Nevada nearly two years ago. The death toll stands at 127.

A total of 631,309 cases have been confirmed statewide along with 9,144 deaths. The Associated Press reported that deaths are still on the rise in 35 states, although cases numbers and hospitalizations are declining.

As of Friday, a total of 19,391 Elko County residents had been vaccinated, or roughly 36% of the population. That compares with a nationwide rate of 64%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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New Delhi: Flipkart is running the Flipkart Big Bachat Dhamaal sale, offering discounts and cashback offers on a slew of products such as smartphones televisions, consumer electronics, gadgets, accessories, cosmetics, fashion and more.

Customers can get free delivery and easy returns on most products during the sale days. Moreover, customers can avail of up to Rs 50 cashback in their Paytm wallet by paying via Paytm during the Flipkart Big Bachat Dhamaal sale.

Flipkart Big Bachat Dhamaal sale: Smartphone Offers:

Smartphone on sale

Realme C11 2021: Rs 7,499

Poco C31: Rs 8,499

Reame C21Y: Rs 9,499

Pixel 4a: Rs 28,999

Oppo F19S: Rs 19,990

Samsung Galaxy F42 5G: Rs 20,999

Smartphones from brands such as Infinix, Redmi, and Apple are also selling at a discounted price during the Flipkart Big Bachat Dhamaal sale. Meanwhile, customers can also get discounts on gadgets such as smartwatches, Bluetooth headphones, speakers and more during the sale. Flipkart is offering up to an 80% discount on gadgets and smart accessories.

Flipkart Big Bachat Dhamaal sale: Television Offers

During the Flipkart Big Bachat Dhamaal sale, televisions from brands such as Mi, LG, Realme and Samsung, among others, are selling at a discounted price. On the sale, its mentioned that the company is offering up to a 70% discount on television purchases.

Here are the top televisions on discount during the three-day sale:

- Mi 5X 108 cm (43 inch) Ultra HD (4K) LED Smart Android TV is selling at a discounted price of Rs 31,999.

- SAMSUNG 80 cm (32 inch) HD Ready LED Smart TV is available at a discounted price of Rs 16,999. Also Read: Post Office Scheme: Save Rs 150 daily to get Rs 20 lakh on maturity, check how

- realme 80 cm (32 inch) HD Ready LED Smart Android TV is also retailing at Rs 16,999. Also Read: Apple Music cuts free trial period after 3 years from 3 months to 1 month

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Washington: The military investigation into the deadly attack during the Afghanistan evacuation has concluded that a suicide bomber, carrying 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings, acted alone and that the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. Service members were not preventable.

The blast at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport on Aug. 26 killed 11 U.S. Marines, a sailor and a soldier, who were screening the thousands of Afghans frantically trying to get onto one of the crowded flights leaving the country after the Taliban takeover. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

At the Pentagon on Friday, military officials laid out a detailed and graphic minute-by-minute account of the bombing. The bottom line, they said, was that those who died had wounds that were "so catastrophic" that they couldn't be overcome. And they said that earlier thoughts that it was a complex attack involving gunfire turned out to be unfounded.

A single, explosive device killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. Servicemembers by explosively directing ball bearings through a packed crowd and into our men and women at Abbey gate, said Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command.

The disturbing lethality of this device was confirmed by the 58 U.S. Servicemembers who were killed and wounded despite the universal wear of body armour and helmets that did stop ball bearings that impacted them, but could not prevent catastrophic injuries to areas not covered.?

Investigators said the bomber likely got near the gate by bypassing Taliban and other security checkpoints. They said it appears the Taliban didn't know of the attack, that security precautions were being taken and that intelligence about potential threats that were circulating that day was not specific.

Based on our investigation, at the tactical level, this was not preventable, said Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis, who led the investigation. He added that military leaders on the ground in Kabul followed proper security measures, at times closing the gate or pausing the processing of evacuees.

Military officials said that gunfire after the blast was found to be warning shots fired by U.S. And British troops and that no one was killed or wounded by gunshots.

McKenzie said the investigation revealed that the ball bearings caused wounds that looked like gunshots. He said some troops in the area fired a number of warning shots, and that led others to believe that the attack also included gunmen.

U.S. Military officials have said all along that the U.S. Forces at the gates were doing a dangerous job. Overall the U.S.-led coalition evacuated about 126,000 people in about three weeks, and the U.S. Left Afghanistan for the last time at about midnight on Aug. 30.

Early on, McKenzie said troops at the gates had to get close to the people they were screening.

This is close up work. The breath of the person you are searching for is upon you, McKenzie said in August soon after the attack.

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ELKO  In its latest guidance, updated Feb. 2, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services reduced contact tracing protocols for masked settings in Elko County School District.

According to the new guidance, In an effort to reduce the overall burden of contact tracing on K-12 schools while ensuring high-risk exposures are prioritized, the DHHS will no longer consider masked contact in a K-12 setting as an exposure regardless of distancing. (Directive 048 Full Guidance 2021-22 COVID-19 Guidelines for Prevention and Outbreak Control in School Settings, pg. 2, section Mask Use)

Pursuant to Directive 048, use of face coverings is not required for ECSD schools unless a school-wide outbreak of COVID-19 is identified by the applicable local health authority in any school.

In addition to exposure changes in masked settings, the guidance reflects updates in the section Who Does/ Does Not Need to Quarantine. Specifically, it states students 12-17 years old who have completed their primary vaccine series but have not yet received all eligible boosters DO NOT need to quarantine if they came into close contact with someone with COVID-19. Previously, ages 12 and older needed to have all recommended vaccine doses including the booster to avoid quarantine.

Excerpts from the guidance document reflecting the most recent updates are provided below.

QUARANTINE (pg.5)

Masked contact in a K-12 setting is no longer considered an exposure regardless of distancing. The focus should be on identifying high-risk, indoor, unmasked exposures most likely to result in transmission. Schools that have implemented universal masking among staff and students will continue to perform contact tracing for exposures that occur during indoor unmasked exposures like snack or lunch breaks, unmasked indoor extracurricular encounters, and sports. Schools should consider the development of stable lunch cohorts (table groups, lunch bunches and other group situations). If a case occurs within an indoor unmasked cohort, the entire cohort group may be considered exposed (ex: an assigned lunch or extracurricular group may all be considered exposed if a positive case occurs within the group). Stable cohorts significantly reduce the burden of contact tracing.

Schools that have implemented universal masking only among staff, will need to assess each exposure based upon masked status. For example, if a COVID-19 positive staff member that was appropriately wearing a mask was in contact with another masked staff member, that would no longer be considered an exposure. However, if that positive staff member was appropriately masked and had indoor contact with an unmasked student, that is considered an exposure and contact tracing and quarantine procedures must be followed.

WHO NEEDS TO QURANTINE/ WHO DOES NOT NEED TO QUARATINE (pg. 6)

WHO NEEDS TO QUARANTINE: People who have come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 and are in one of the following groups need to quarantine:

People who are ages 18 and older and completed the primary series of recommended vaccine, but have not received a recommended booster shot when eligible.

People who are 18 years and older who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine (completing the primary series) over 2 months ago and have not received a recommended booster shot. People who are not vaccinated or have not completed a primary vaccine series. Quarantine starts the day of last known contact to a positive individual (day 0) and lasts for five days. For example, if the last known exposure was Friday (day 0), the student or staff could return to school after five days, or on Thursday (day 6) if no symptoms have developed. Upon return the student or staff must wear a well-fitting mask for a minimum of five additional days within schools that have not implemented universal masking. Schools that require universal masking will already have continued mask use established. More information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-contact-tracing/about-quarantine.html

WHO DOES NOT NEED TO QUARANTINE: People who have come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 and are in one of the following groups do not need to quarantine: Age 18 or older and have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters and additional primary shots for some immunocompromised people. Students 12-17 years old who have completed their primary vaccine series but have not yet received all eligible boosters. This is to allow time for students to catch up with the latest recommendations and to minimize disruption to in-person learning. Age 5-11 years and completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines. Anyone who has had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (who tested positive using a viral test, meaning a positive PCR or an antigen test. Antibody tests do not count). Students or staff who are participating in a school-sponsored Test to Stay Program.

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As the founder and leader of Oath Keepers, an organization allegedly organized to defend the US Constitution, Stewart Rhodes seems like the last guy one might expect to conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof (18 U.S. Code  2384  Seditious Conspiracy).

Nonetheless, Stewart finds himself charged with doing exactly that in actions related to the 2021 Capitol Riot. And while he entered a not guilty plea in federal court on January 25, it seems pretty clear that the intent of the rioters in general and of the organized Oath Keepers presence among them was, in fact, to forcibly prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of Congresss constitutionally mandated counting of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election.

The devil, of course, is in the details. What did Rhodes actually do? Who did he do it with or for? What was his intent? The obvious counter-argument, from those who believe the election was stolen, is that Congress itself comprised the seditious conspiracy and that Rhodes and company were attempting to put down an insurrection against the legitimate government. That argument seems unlikely to take flight in the courts, but its going to be an interesting show.

My interest in the affair is more by way of noticing a massive contradiction between the US Constitution in general, and the seditious conspiracy statute in particular, on one hand, and the founding principles of the United States on the other.

Governments, the Declaration of Independence declares, deriv[e] their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, and absent such consent for a particular government, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it. Which, as you may recall, Americas British colonists proceeded to do. By force.

But then came the Constitution: Oh, we didnt mean THIS government!

The ink wasnt dry on that document when George Washington led an army into Pennsylvania to suppress, among other things, the setting [of] seditious poles  liberty poles, the symbols of the very revolution which brought Washington to power.

The Constitution was, to put it bluntly, the American counter-revolution. Its purpose was to put the pre-revolution planter/merchant aristocracy back in charge, albeit without the King of England over them, to put the serfs back in their place, and to lay all that Right of the People to alter or to abolish guff to rest once and for all.

The dust-up between Congress and the Oath Keepers wasnt about your rights or your freedom. It was about which tyrants hand would wield the scepter of power for another four years in service to a machine which assumes itself permanently entitled to rule you.

Fortunately, such assumptions of permanency are always wrong.

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Cargo trucks are cleared at the temporary pontoon bridge opening, km 3+4 Hai Yen-Mong Cai International Border Gate. (Photo: VNA)

On the morning of February 3, a total of 70 trucks, including 62 lobster trucks, 5 sea crabs trucks, and 3 snails trucks, with a total of 140 tonnes of seafood products from 10 businesses and border residents were exported to China.

To solve the congestion of goods at border gates and openings in the area, Mong Cai City (Vietnam) and Dong Hung City (China) held talks to adjust the Lunar New Year 2022 holiday schedule and customs clearance activities at border gates.

Accordingly, import and export activities at border gates and openings in Mong Cai City have extended their operating time until the end of January 31. As expected, import and export activities at Bac Luan Border Gate 2 will resume customs clearance on February 5./.
The programme targets those at risk of being left behind, including women and girls. (Photo: UNFPA)

The programme targets those at risk of being left behind, including women and girls, adolescents and youth, older persons, ethnic minorities, migrant workers, people with disabilities, and survivors of gender-based violence.

Under the programme, UNFPA commits to supporting the implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Vietnams Sustainable Goals for the Decade of Action and the new Socio-Economic Development Plan (2021-2026) under the Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2021-2030) framework, both of which place focused attention to population dynamics and population issues.

The 10th Country Programme was developed, following extensive consultations with the Vietnamese Government and other national and international stakeholders. It is in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Vietnam to fulfil the transformative promise of Leaving no one behind by directly contributing to two areas: inclusive social development, and governance and access to justice, thus reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities.

Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representative for Vietnam, highlighted the significance of the 10th cycle of UNFPAs work in Vietnam.

Building on the successes of the previous country programmes, UNFPAs interventions and initiatives in the next five years will aim at achieving the transformative results of the UNFPAs corporate strategic plan, towards Vietnam with zero preventable maternal death, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence and other harmful practices against women and girls. Rights-based, gender-sensitive, and people-centred approaches will be used, and interventions in relation to humanitarian preparedness and response in light of climate change will be mainstreamed across all programmatic intervention areas, she said.

The new UNFPA Country Programme has been designed to achieve specific results.

For adolescents and youth, the enabling environment is created to support comprehensive youth development and participation, including in disaster management policies and programmes and to advance the ICPD Programme of Action.

Regarding population aging and social protection, a coherent and inclusive social protection system is enhanced, applying life-cycle and gender-transformative approach for ageing and meeting the individual needs of the most vulnerable groups.

For equitable access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, vulnerable groups including ethnic minorities, adolescents and youth, PWDs, and migrant workers have increased equitable access to comprehensive and gender-transformative SRHR information and services, including in the humanitarian-development nexus.

For data and evidence for policy and programme making, evidence-based and rights-based policy and programme making, budgeting and monitoring are strengthened based on data production, analysis and use.

In terms of gender-based violence and harmful practices, harmful attitudes that accept violence and perpetuate gender inequality especially those of young people are transformed to reduce GBV and other harmful practices including in the humanitarian-development nexus.

To achieve these results, UNFPA will partner with the Government, national institutions and CSOs fully in line with the principles of national ownership and mutual accountability.

UNFPA and the Government of Vietnam, through the Ministry of Planning and Investment as the Government coordinating agency, will be jointly accountable for the management of the programme, and will plan, monitor and evaluate programme implementation using the results-based management approach.

In terms of UNFPAs humanitarian support to Vietnam, UNFPA will focus on the provision of integrated sexual and reproductive health care, the prevention and response to gender-based violence, and support for the elderly population groups. The rights and choices of women and girls, young people and older persons affected by humanitarian crises will be prioritised, leaving no one behind./.
Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

The provincial Department of Tourism said Khanh Hoa earned some 233 billion VND (10.28 million USD) from tourists during the period.

Apart from cultural and art activities held by local authorities, travel firms have offered various programmes and products to attract holidaymakers.

Competent agencies have regularly asked the businesses to seriously observe COVID-19 prevention and control regulations and limit mass gatherings.

During the period, Cam Ranh International Airport welcomed about 29 domestic flights each day and one international flight.

Khanh Hoa on November 25, 2021 welcomed the first international tourists with vaccine passports after a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is among localities selected to roll out the pilot vaccine passport programme, which is divided into three phases, starting from last November.

In the first phase, designated places and tourism facilities in the selected localities could receive foreign tourists within package tourism programmes arriving via either charter flights or international commercial flights.

In the second phase that took effect from January 2022, the scale of the pilot plan will be expanded by connecting destinations through regular charter and international commercial flights.

Vietnams tourism market will fully open to international tourists in the last phase, the starting time of which will be based on the contemporary pandemic situation on the evaluation of the two previous phases./.
Laos reduces quarantine period for visitors to 7 days. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

According to Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office Thipphakone Chanthavongsa, ambassadors or embassy staff, representatives or employees of international organisations, and their family members that arrive in or return to Laos must take an RT-PCR COVID-19 test and undertake quarantine at their own residence for seven days.

The Lao government's representatives at every level who work or attend seminars abroad, and Lao nationals who return from abroad, must take an RT-PCR COVID-19 test and await the result within 48 hours at an approved quarantine centre. Those who receive a negative result may then continue quarantine for seven days at their own residence.

Investors and business people must take an RT-PCR COVID-19 test and await the result within 48 hours at an approved location. Those who receive a negative result may conduct their business but will be required to wear a wrist monitor for seven days.

Foreign nationals who arrive in or return to Laos from abroad must take an RT-PCR COVID-19 test and await the result at an approved quarantine location. Those who receive a negative result may then continue quarantine for seven days at their own residence and will be required to wear a wrist monitor.

All foreign nationals that reside in Laos are required to download and use the Lao KYC mobile phone application (Lao SU SU service) for the purpose of creating a vaccine ID to be used as digital confirmation of vaccine status. The app is to be used to determine one's health status upon entry into government offices, restaurants, shops and other public areas.

As of February 4, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Laos reached 135,660 with 562 deaths./.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is in China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met with Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

Wang extended welcome to Princess Sirindhorn for coming to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, saying that China highly appreciates the Thai royal family's consistent adherence to a friendly policy, and is willing to work with Thailand to enhance and deepen China-Thailand relations.

Princess Sirindhorn expressed gratitude for China's strong support for Thailand's fight against COVID-19, and spoke highly of the exchanges and cooperation between Thailand and China in various fields.

Sirindhorn said she had visited China nearly 50 times and told Wang about her plan to publish books in Thailand on the history and achievements of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and to visit more places across China.

"In the face of the pandemic, China and Thailand have stood together to overcome difficulties," Wang said, noting that China was the first country to provide vaccines to Thailand and is also the largest source of vaccines for Thailand.

He said that China is committed to making vaccines a global public good and has already provided over 2.1 billion doses to other countries, especially developing countries. "One out of every two doses of the vaccines currently used worldwide comes from China," he added.

China will continue to provide support to Thailand in line with its needs until the pandemic is defeated, Wang said.

Wang appreciated the princess' intention to compile and publish books on the CPC and China's new development achievements.

The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen practical cooperation on education and culture, youth exchanges, traditional medicine, scientific and technological innovation, and other fields, continuously injecting impetus into bilateral relations.

Editor: Zhang Zhou
Today

Partly cloudy. Gusty winds during the afternoon. High 57F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 38F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph.

Tomorrow

Windy early with showers becoming likely later in the day. High 58F. SSE winds shifting to NNW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible.
Aerial photo shows people enjoying plum blossoms in Zunyi, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2022. People around China attended various events to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by He Chunyu/Xinhua)

People visit Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot in Dunhuang City, northwest China's Gansu Province, Feb. 3, 2022. People around China attended various events to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Zhang Xiaoliang/Xinhua)

People perform a dragon dance in Zunhua City, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 3, 2022. People around China attended various events to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Liu Mancang/Xinhua)

People play with ribbons in Huaibei, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 3, 2022. People around China attended various events to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Li Xin/Xinhua)

Editor: Zhang Zhou
By Zhang Andi

On the morning of February 2, Beijing Press Center invited 47 Chinese and foreign journalists from 27 media outlets to the Zhengyangmen Pavilion of China Railway Museum located on the southeast side of Tian'anmen Square. The Zhengyangmen Exhibition Hall of China Railway Museum was remodeled from the original Zhengyangmen East Station of Peking-Mukden Railway, which has behind it more than 100 years of vicissitudes.

As the journalists walked into the spacious circular hall of the museum, the first thing they saw was the Dragon locomotive, China's earliest steam train. It was built at the end of the Qing Dynasty and used to transport coal on the previous Kaiping Colliery Tramway between Tangshan and Xugezhuang in early China.

Five exhibition areas on the first floor review the history of Chinese railways. In 1876, when the total length of railways in the world reached 200,000 kilometers, China started out relying on foreign forces. Today, though China began to build high-speed railways more than 40 years later than developed countries, with the hard work of generations of railway workers, it has achieved a historic stride from a late-comer to industry leader.

In the special exhibition area of sand table models, journalists visited models of high-speed railway bridges, stations, Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railways, and Qinghai-Tibet railway.

In the interactive area on the third floor, journalists experienced the simulated cockpit of the Fuxing bullet train in batches.

By the end of 2021, China's total high-speed rail mileage accounted for more than two-thirds of the world's, with operating length exceeding 40,000 kilometers, according to Zuo Wu, a senior engineer with the Development and Reform Department of China National Railway Corp. In China, high-speed railways cover 92 percent of cities with a population exceeding 500,000. According to a 2019 World Bank study, China's high-speed rail passenger density is about twice that of Europe. In addition, China is the only country in the world that has realized commercial operation of high-speed trains running at 350 kilometers per hour, showing "China speed" in the most intuitive way.

Editor: Zhang Zhou
The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded the outlook on Ukraine's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) from "positive" to "stable" and affirmed the IDR at "B" level.

"Expectations for a longer period of escalation in tensions with Russia, heightened risk of conflict, tight financing terms, moderate capital outflows and weakening international reserves have heightened external financing risks since our previous review in August," the agency explained its decision in a release on Saturday night.

According to it, the "stable" forecast partly reflects the agencys baseline scenario, according to which a full-scale military conflict with Russia will be avoided, and Ukraines somewhat greater access to microfinancial organisations and bilateral funding, together with macro-stability, strengthening fiscal and foreign exchange reserves, will allow in 2022 to mitigate the consequences of the current situation.

"There is a high degree of uncertainty about President Putin's immediate strategic goals, and the heightened risk of invasion reflects a long period of troop buildup along the Ukrainian border, weak prospects for agreement on key Russian demands, and an intensified U.S. preparatory response," Fitch said.

It justifies in part its base case of no full-scale military intervention on the likely economic, military, and geopolitical costs and risks to Russia, the lack of strong domestic support for such action, and, to a lesser extent, the potential for some limited political concessions as opposed to uncertain strategic gains.

"However, we expect an extended period of heightened tension and risk, and see a slightly higher likelihood of more limited military operations, such as in Donbas," the agency said.
At least 70% of adult Ukrainians must be COVID-19 vaccinated by end of 2022  updated national vaccination plan

At least 70% of adult Ukrainians and at least 80% of people over 60 years of age have to be vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19) by the end of 2022, according to the updated National COVID-19 Vaccination Plan approved by Cabinet of Ministers resolution No.123 of February 2.

According to the document released on Friday, the regional state administrations and Kyiv City State Administration should ensure that minors aged 12 to 18 years old are vaccinated, as well as ensure the operation of vaccination centers, permanent and temporary vaccination points based on health facilities, including using mobile vaccination sessions in organized groups and at the place of residence or location.

In addition, local authorities should create interdepartmental regional coordination commissions for the implementation of the National Plan, chaired by officials at the level not lower than the deputy head of the Regional State Administration and Kyiv City State Administration, as well as approve regional vaccination plans for the period until December 31, 2022.
Canada has sent a plane to Ukraine with a cargo of non-lethal weapons and instructors who will teach Ukrainian servicemen to work with them, the press service of the Canadian Ministry of Defense reported.

"Among the sent equipment: personal protective and load carriage equipment, as well as surveillance and detection equipment," the Canadian Ministry of Defense said in a release on its website.

The ministry added that the C-177 Globemaster aircraft, which took off from the Trenton base, will also arrive in Ukraine with Canadian servicemen who will "assist with its integration" and teach the Ukrainian security forces how to work with it.

"These CAF personnel will then remain in Ukraine to provide additional mentoring to the Ukrainian security forces," the message says.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock will make a second visit to Ukraine on February 7-8 at the invitation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

"The ministers will hold talks, the key topics of which will be the coordination of efforts within the Normandy format, the implementation of a comprehensive containment package for Russia, the development of trade relations, the strengthening of energy security, and the intensification of dialogue on Germany's historical responsibility to Ukraine," the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

During the visit, the German Foreign Minister also plans to visit the disengagement line in Donbas.

On February 7, at 17:10, Kuleba and Berbock will hold a joint online press conference.

Earlier it was reported that Berbock would make this trip to Ukraine together with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

And on February 8, French President Emmanuel Macron intends to visit Ukraine. Also, on February 14, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz intends to visit Kyiv.
Head of the inter-factional association "Reasonable Politics", MP Dmytro Razumkov, initiates an appeal to the Constitutional Court on compliance with the Basic Law of President Volodymyr Zelensky's decree on the appointment of Oleksiy Sukhachov as director of the State Bureau of Investigation.

"On New Year's Eve, as a gift... a presidential decree was signed appointing Sukhachov to the position of director of the State Bureau of Investigation. This means ... that the Constitution was violated within the powers of the president. Therefore, I think that we will appeal, and I am sure that our colleagues will join this, to the Constitutional Court regarding the appeal of this decree," Razumkov said in the Savik Shuster's Freedom of Speech program on the Ukraine TV channel on Friday.

According to the MP, the president could not have been unaware that he was breaking the law.

"The president is always given a certificate on the table, which informs, what corresponds to the law, what does not. But when the desire to get one's own head of the State Bureau of Investigation is greater than the desire for the Constitution and the law to work in this state, then we get such a result," Razumkov said.
Head of European Council discusses situation in region with Zelensky

European Council President Charles Michel had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the situation in the region.

"Touched base with President Zelensky again this morning to review the latest developments in the regional situation. I reaffirmed the EU's strong solidarity with Ukraine," Michel wrote on Twitter.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron Russia's military buildup in and around Ukraine.

"Good to speak to President Emmanuel Macron on Russia's military build-up in and around Ukraine. I commend his personal commitment to NATOs dual-track approach of deterrence/defence and dialogue. NATO unity is key at this critical moment," Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had a conversation with head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen regarding the situation around Ukraine, he noted the importance of coordinating NATO and the EU on the next steps.

"Briefed European Commission President von der Leyen on Russia's continued military build-up and destabilizing actions in and around Ukraine. Important to maintain close coordination between NATO and the EU on the next steps, including possible sanctions," he tweeted on Saturday.

Earlier Saturday, he also had a conversation on the same subject with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Environmental Protection Agency has no confidence that a plan to mitigate sediment pollution overflowing from behind the Conowingo Dam in northeastern Maryland will be completed, the federal agency said in a letter issued last week.

EPA came to the conclusion due to a continued lack of dedicated funding supporting the plan, the letter stated.

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The Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan was finalized over the summer, and lays out a series of methods to reduce pollution flowing down the Susquehanna River and out from behind the hydroelectric dam and into the Chesapeake Bay, including by planting forest buffers in key areas to reduce runoff.

The plan was crafted by a 15-member steering committee, including representatives from Marylands Department of the Environment and those of other nearby states. The committee crafted a strategy that calls for the establishment of a financing authority capable of collecting funds from the private and public sectors. But how exactly the funds will be obtained remains an open question.

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Completing the Conowingo plan would mean offsetting the roughly 6 million pounds of nitrogen and 0.26 million pounds of phosphorous expected to flow from behind the dam, which werent accounted for in the EPAs Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan established in 2010.

In his letter, dated Jan. 24, EPA Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz wrote that if the Conowingo funding issue is not addressed within 60 days, those nutrient totals will need to be added to the requirements placed on states via the larger cleanup plan, which has a 2025 deadline.

The Conowingo Dam is located along the Susquehanna River, near where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun)

In a statement, Matthew Rowe, chair of the Conowingo plan steering committee, said he welcomed the EPAs letter.

The upfront funding challenge has always been one of the biggest issues, said Rowe, assistant director of the Maryland Department of the Environments Water and Science Administration.

When the multistate Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan  known as the Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL  was established in 2010, setting pollutant limits for the bay, officials expected the Conowingo dam to continue to trap a considerable amount of sediment flowing down the Susquehanna through at least 2025.

But studies have shown that the dam no longer trapping sediment as effectively because the area behind it is virtually full, and when significant storms take place, sediment stuck behind the dam is churned up and flows downstream. That sediment brings with it damaging nutrients, which overstimulate the growth of algae that hogs oxygen and sunlight, stealing from underwater life.

To compensate, the EPA has determined additional nutrient pollution reductions might be necessary for states in the bays watershed, including Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

That is, unless those states can come to an agreement to fund the new Conowingo watershed plan, which targets efforts at specific areas within the Susquehanna River basin that will have the greatest impact on reducing pollution flowing downstream. The Susquehanna watershed, which drains much of central Pennsylvania and parts of New York, accounts for about half of the fresh water flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.

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Because it is targeted, and therefore may be more cost effective, the Conowingo plan is the preferred route, said Beth McGee, director of science and agricultural policy at Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Not to mention that for states like Pennsylvania, which is already behind the pace needed to achieve its 2025 goals, tacking on extra requirements may not be fruitful, she said.

The notion of telling Pennsylvania, which is already really far behind in getting their pollution reductions, that they now need to do more on their own dime is not a winning strategy, McGee said.

Shortly before the EPA letter was issued, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that $25 million in his proposed state budget would go toward Conowingo restoration projects, in addition to $6 million for an experimental dredging project for the dams reservoir.

EPA and other federal agencies should lead as well and match or exceed state efforts on this longstanding problem, wrote Jay Apperson, spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment, in a statement.

But environmental groups have long hoped that the dams operator  then Exelon  would shoulder more of the burden associated with the dams lost trapping capacity. Environmentalists say Exelon profits from using the waterway to create energy, and doing so has fundamentally altered the rivers flow  impacting migrating wildlife such as shad and eel, and changing the way sediment flows downstream. Now, the dam is managed by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, which split from Exelon this week.

A set of requirements issued by Maryland in 2018 brought hope for environmental groups. It stated that Exelon would need to cough up $172 million annually to account for the nutrients overflowing from the dam. But after Exelon challenged Marylands requirements in court, the two parties came to a new agreement. Instead, Exelon would pay about $200 million total for wildlife restoration and pollution reduction efforts.

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Many environmental groups hoped that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission would reconsider requirements for Exelon as it reviewed a new 50-year license for dam operations, but the commission okayed Marylands decision, and the groups are now challenging that decision in court.

Constellation agrees that solving the upstream pollution problem affecting the Chesapeake Bay requires each state to fulfill the commitments agreed to in the multistate Watershed Implementation Plan, Constellation spokesman Paul Adams said in a statement. While, unfortunately, those commitments remain unmet, we are already doing our part by providing up to $700 million in funding for environmental programs, projects and payments that directly benefit water quality, aquatic life and citizens living near the bay.

Included in those funds are the settlement agreement with Maryland; up to $300 million for measures to improve fish passage through the dam from a settlement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and $175 million for recreational facilities and wildlife based on a recommendation from FERC, Adams said.

In the current state legislative session, theres talk of introducing a bill that, if passed, would charge hydroelectric dam operators annually for how much riverbed theyre using to store sediment, said Betsy Nicholas, executive director of the nonprofit Waterkeepers Chesapeake.

At a possible cost of ten cents per square foot, the proposal could cost Constellation millions each year, she said. And the funds would go toward projects meant to mitigate the dams impact. Such a bill has not been filed yet.

Meanwhile, dredging sediment from the dams reservoir is a complex path, partially because doing so may not actually remove pollutants from the water, and partially because it could disturb pollutants long ago buried by silt, Nicholas said. A study conducted recently found that granular bits of coal are buried in the sediment, alongside chemicals and nutrients. A dredging feasibility study from Maryland is due out later this year.

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If your bathtub is overflowing and you scoop a few buckets of water out of it, youve got a little while before it overflows again, but thats it, Nicholas said.

In order to fully solve the problem, you have to turn off the tap, she said. And that means reducing the flow of nutrients down the river, as called for in the Conowingo watershed plan.
A day after a Baltimore judge vacated a plea deal and sentence for man accused of arson, citing concerns that the victims did not get to express in court how they were affected, federal prosecutors announced charges against the same defendant.

Luther Moody Trent, 21, is charged of malicious destruction of property used in and affecting interstate commerce by fire, in connection with an arson at the rented home of his former girlfriend. He faces up to 20 years in prison, the Maryland U.S. Attorneys Office announced Friday.

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Trent, of Baltimore, had been released from custody in December after he had received a controversial sentence of time served when he pleaded guilty to setting fire to his ex-girlfriends home while she and two other people were still inside.

On Thursday, however, he was taken back into state custody after Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn vacated the plea and sentence and reinstated the indictment.

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The new federal affidavit accuses Trent in a May 21 fire in the 1900 block of Linden Ave. in West Baltimore. The affidavit said a person matching Trents description appeared to be captured on surveillance video near the home shortly before and after the fire. Other footage showed a black two-door Honda circling the area after the fire. One of the victims told police that Trent drove the same type of vehicle.

The affidavit also cites the previous plea deal and the suspended sentence to 10 years, with all but nine years, six months, and 27 days suspended. In effect, that resulted in the defendant being released from jail immediately after serving less than six months.

The affidavit also cited a report by the TV station Fox 45 in which Trent was interviewed after the initial plea and sentencing.

Trent noted that he, should not be out right now, and that the sentence he received sent the wrong message to would-be criminals bent on doing harm to others that they can do anything they want, the affidavit said.

Trents attorney, Allan Rombro, said Friday that his client has become a sacrificial lamb for Mosbys political opponents. Mosby, who faces federal charges of her own, is up for reelection, and one of her opponents, Roya Hanna, first noticed the arson case and called attention to it.

Rombro said he believed the federal case shows the feds have no faith in this states attorney.

Marcy Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Maryland U.S. Attorneys Office said Friday that city prosecutors were notified of the charges Friday, after the federal criminal complaint was filed late Thursday.

Our investigation was separate, Murphy said.

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Zy Richardson, a spokeswoman for Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosbys office, said in a statement on Saturday that the U.S. Attorneys Office notified city prosecutors of their intent to pursue a charge against Trent, but she declined to comment on either case because of the offices policy not to comment on pending cases.

At the December hearing in state court, Trents attorney and the prosecutor agreed on the terms of a plea deal, and the judge accepted the plea and handed down the sentence.

Thiru Vignarajah, an attorney for the victims, later filed the motion arguing Phinn erred in accepting the plea with an agreed-upon sentence before hearing from the two victims in attendance and without the third victim having a fair opportunity to give a victim impact statement.

Rombro had argued in December that two of the victims gave impassioned impact statements before Phinn issued the sentence.

But Phinn said Thursday that had she not been bound by the original plea presented in December, she would not have agreed to a suspended sentence, which she called not appropriate.

At Thursdays hearing, Assistant States Attorney Michele Lambert appeared alongside Vignarajah, and had indicated the office intended to prepare a new plea deal.

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We supported the motion to vacate the sentence because the judge violated the victims rights, Richardson, the spokeswoman said. Trent indicated on Thursday that he wished to plead guilty, and the new plea would be three counts of attempted murder and one count of arson, Richardson said.

Phinn scheduled another hearing for Feb. 18 in state court.

Vignarajah, who ran against Mosby in the 2017 Democratic primary for Baltimore states attorney, said after Thursdays hearing that the judges ruling sets an important precedent in the city.

This makes clear that victims have to give their input before the ink of a plea deal dries, he said Thursday. That plainly has not been happening. I dont know how many cases there are where victims were not given a chance to give a statement.

Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. >

Rombro said this case will have far-reaching implications for the criminal justice system, potentially grinding it to a standstill. He said the majority of cases are resolved through pleas, but now hes heard from attorneys who are concerned about their clients accepting deals only to have them vacated.

The case had blown up the plea bargain system, Rombro said.

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At Thursdays hearing, three people who had been inside the house spoke over Zoom, giving their victim impact statements.

I was traumatized by this man and I will never feel safe, said Trents ex-girlfriend, Alexis, who described the terror of waking to find her home on fire. The Sun is withholding her last name because she said she fears for her safety.

It will take years to recover from this, she told the court.

Vignarajah spoke on behalf of the victims Friday. He said they are pleased that Phinn and city prosecutors will revisit their original judgements, and that federal authorities are pursuing charges.

They are so grateful that at last the justice system seems to be working, he said. This was an extremely dangerous crime, not just for the victims but for neighbors and first responders too.
Egypt has slammed Israeli authorities demolition of a Palestinian home in East Jerusalems Sheikh Jarrah on Wednesday as Israeli police successfully evicted a Palestinian family from the occupied neighbourhood for the first time in years.

In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry also reiterated Egypts unwavering stance rejecting building new settlements or expanding existing ones on Palestinian land and evicting Palestinians.

Israeli police violently expelled the members of the Salhiya family in the early morning, carried out the demolition order and arrested more than a dozen people, according to media reports.

Attempted Israeli evictions of Palestinian families in the sensitive district last year helped trigger 11 days of violence between the Israeli forces and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.

More than 250 Palestinian people, including dozens of women and children, were reportedly killed as a result of the Israeli strikes on the Gaza enclave in May before Egypt brokered a tentative ceasefire between the two sides.

US Envoy to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield voiced concerns over Wednesdays eviction, urging both sides to refrain from unilateral steps that boosts tensions and undermines a negotiated two-state solution.

In its Thursday statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry affirmed that eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah also violates international resolutions and aggravates the situation in the occupied Palestinian lands.

Continuing these unilateral measures undermines the chances of reaching a two-state solution and directly contributes to disturbing any desired climate that we all aspire to in order to establish just and comprehensive peace in the region, the ministry said.

In May last year, Egypt allocated $500 million for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the Israeli aggression and has since then highlighted the necessity for the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

In December, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, where he highlighted Egypts continued efforts to prevent tensions between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine held trilateral ministerial meeting in Cairo in December to discuss proposals to break the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

This followed a summit in Cairo for El-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in September, where they emphasised the importance of unifying all partners' efforts to revive the long-frozen peace process between Palestine and Israel.

In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh in September, El-Sisi also underscored the importance of international support for Egyptian reconstruction efforts in the Palestinian territories.

This was the first visit by Bennett to Egypt as prime minister, as well as the first visit by any Israeli prime minister to Egypt since 2011.

El-Sisi also affirmed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken the urgent need to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks when the latter visited Egypt late in May.

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The first batch of AstraZenecas Evusheld  a monoclonal antibody drug that resists the coronavirus  comprising 15,000 doses arrived in Egypt, the company announced on Monday.

The shipment arrived at the Cairo International Airport on Saturday, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca added.

The company stated that further deliveries are expected in the coming weeks as part of a total supply of 50,000 doses in 2022.

Egypt is the first African country and the fourth globally to receive Evusheld, AstraZeneca said.

On 16 January, the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) granted AstraZenecas Evusheld an emergency use authorisation. Evusheld also obtained an emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration in December.

Evusheld is taken for pre-exposure Prophylaxis of COVID-19, especially to those whose immunity system may not mount a defence despite taking the required COVID-19 vaccine shots.

The drug can reduce the risk of severe illness or death from the coronavirus by 88 percent when administered to patients suffering from mild to moderate COVID-19 within three days of the onset of symptoms, AstraZeneca said, citing the results of its phase-three clinical trials on the drug.

AstraZeneca says Evusheld neutralises all coronavirus variants based on clinical trials. The company also cited studies from Oxford and Washington universities that found that Evusheld retains neutralising activity against the Omicron variant.

Egypt has become one of the first countries in the world to receive Evusheld, a breakthrough medication to protect the most vulnerable groups, said Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, the spokesperson of Egypts Ministry of Health and Population.

He added that collaboration between the health ministry and AstraZeneca played a key role in efforts to respond to the pandemic through the provision of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

With Evusheld, we now have better capabilities to protect immunocompromised patients in Egypt.

Hatem Werdany, AstraZenecas country president for Egypt, noted that AstraZeneca remains committed to supporting the ministrys efforts in fighting COVID-19 by bringing innovative medicines and breakthrough solutions to the Egyptian people.

About two percent of the global population is considered at increased risk of an inadequate response to a COVID-19 vaccine, according to AstraZeneca.

This includes people with blood cancers or other cancers being treated with chemotherapy, patients on dialysis, those taking medications after an organ transplant or who are taking immunosuppressive drugs for conditions including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, the company explained.

Last week, the EDA issued an emergency use authorisation for Mercks COVID-19 drug Molnupiravir and has allowed five national companies to manufacture the oral antiviral as a first stage.

Earlier in January, Abdel-Ghaffar said that Egypt is also expected to receive Pfizers new drug Paxlovid by the end of the month. The shipment is expected to have enough packages to treat 20,000 coronavirus patients.

No announcement has been made by the ministry as to whether the shipment has been received yet.

Paxlovid and Molnupiravir pills are both used to treat cases with mild-to-moderate symptoms during the early days of infection.

Some studies have found that when taken in the early days of infection, Paxlovid can reduce the risk of hospitalisation or death by up to 89 percent, while Molnupiravir can cut the risk by 30 percent.

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The African Union appears set for an internal clash over its relationship with Israel at a summit this weekend, a rare point of contention for a bloc that values consensus.

The dispute was set in motion last July when Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, accepted Israel's accreditation to the 55-member body headquartered in Addis Ababa -- handing Israeli diplomats a victory they had been chasing for nearly two decades.

Powerful AU member states, notably South Africa, quickly spoke out in protest, saying they had not been properly consulted and that the move contradicted numerous AU statements -- including from Faki himself -- supporting the Palestinian Territories.

Foreign ministers failed to resolve the issue at a meeting last October, and South Africa and Algeria have placed it on the agenda of a summit for heads of state that kicks off Saturday, according to AU documents seen by AFP.

Despite a long list of pressing issues including the coronavirus pandemic and a spate of recent coups, analysts expect the Israel question to get a lengthy hearing at the summit, which is marking the 20th anniversary of the AU's founding.

There could also be a vote on whether to back or reject Faki's decision.

"Twenty years after the formation of the African Union, the first issue has come up that's going to seriously split" the bloc, said Na'eem Jeenah, executive director of the Afro-Middle East Centre in Johannesburg.

"No matter how the decision goes at the heads of state summit in February, the AU is going to be split in a way that it hasn't been in the past."

Seventy-two countries, regional blocs and organisations are already accredited, including North Korea, the European Union and UNAIDS, according to the AU's website.

Broken ties

Israel was previously accredited at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), but lost that status when the body was disbanded and replaced by the AU in 2002.

The Israeli government attributed the snub to the Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, who held major sway at the AU until his death in 2011.

When Faki announced Israel's accreditation last July, Israel's foreign ministry issued a statement describing its previous exclusion as an "anomaly" and noted that Israel has ties to 46 African countries.

The ministry also said Israel's new status would help it aid the AU in fights against the pandemic and terrorism.

"Working on a bilateral level with many African countries is wonderful and is great, and that is the very basic tenet for the relationship with Africa," Iddo Moed, deputy head of African affairs at the ministry, told AFP last week.

"But I think for Israel it is important also to establish formal relations with Africa as a continent," he added.

'Inexplicable' shift

But Jeenah, from the Afro-Middle East Centre, said the environment that gave birth to the AU made it different from the OAU, founded nearly 40 years earlier.

"We were firmly in a postcolonial period. Apartheid in South Africa was over. It was time for a new organisation that oriented itself differently," he said.

Just because Israel was accredited before, he added, doesn't mean it should be now.

South Africa was among the first African countries to speak out against Israel's new accreditation.

It has kept up the criticism, with Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor in December denouncing Faki's decision as "inexplicable".

"This came as a shock, given that the decision was made at a time when the oppressed people of Palestine were hounded by destructive bombardments and continued illegal settlements of their land," she said.

Just two months before accepting Israel's accreditation, Faki himself condemned Israeli "bombardments" in the Gaza Strip as well as "violent attacks" by Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, saying the Israeli army was acting "in stark violation of international law".

Polarisation

Analysts and diplomats say it is unclear how a vote on Israel's status might go.

Israel's biggest supporters include Rwanda and Morocco, while many countries have not expressed a position.

Any decision on Israel would need the backing of two thirds of member states.

Supra Mahumapelo, chairman of a South African parliamentary committee on international relations, told AFP it was important for the AU to take up the issue.

"It is incomprehensible for the AU to recognise and give some status to the state of Israel," he said.

"We hope that the AU summit that is taking place will look at this matter."

Some observers, though, lamented the tensions the debate seems destined to stoke.

"Every effort should have been done to avoid this issue from becoming a source of polarisation. Now it will be such a bad distraction at a time when you don't need that," said Solomon Dersso, founder of the Amani Africa think tank, which focuses on the AU.

"It's going to attract much of the headlines, instead of issues of major consequence to the lives of people on the continent."

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Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, attended on Friday the opening ceremony of the 24th edition of the Winter Olympics held in Beijing.

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, and a number of leaders of states also attended the ceremony, Egypts Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said.

El-Sisi arrived in the Chinese capital on Thursday to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter games.

The 2022 Olympics  the first-ever Winter Olympics to be held in China and its second Olympics in total after hosting the 2008 games  is scheduled to last until 20 February under strict coronavirus measures.

On 24 January, Egypt celebrated the Beijing Winter Olympics by lighting up the historic Cairo Tower with the slogans Beijing 2022 and See you in Beijing in Arabic, English and Chinese, in the attendance of Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang.

The Cairo Tower also played the official song of the Beijing Winter Olympics 'Together for a shared future'.

Last year, Egypt and China marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of Egyptian-Chinese diplomatic ties. Egypt was the first African and Arab state to establish diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry will be representing Egypt in the 35th session of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa that will kick off on Saturday, the Egyptian foreign ministry announced in a statement.

Shoukry headed to Ethiopia on Friday to take part in the two-day summit meetings that will deal with a range of issues.

According to the ministry, the summit will discuss peace and security in the continent as well as facing the consequences of the coronavirus, climate change, and economic integration, among other issues.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU will be held under the theme Building Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthen Agriculture, Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development.

Shoukry is also expected to hold a series of meetings with his African counterparts on the side-lines of the meetings to discuss bilateral relations and exchange views about issues of common interest, the ministry added.

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China, Russia reaffirm support on core interest, oppose interference in internal affairs: joint statement

Xinhua) 09:15, February 05, 2022

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia reaffirmed strong support for each other's core interest, state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and voiced opposition to external interference in their domestic affairs, according to a joint statement issued Friday after a meeting between the two countries' presidents.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin is paying a visit to China. The two heads of state held talks in Beijing, and attended the opening ceremony of the 24th Olympic Winter Games.

The two countries oppose further enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and urged NATO to abandon its Cold-War mentality, respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries, and hold a fair and objective attitude towards the peaceful development of other countries.

China and Russia stand against any attempts to forge exclusive blocs and to stoke confrontation between blocs in the Asia-Pacific region, and they are highly vigilant about the negative impact of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy on peace and stability in the region, said the statement.

The two sides are committed to building an equitable, open and inclusive security system in the Asia-Pacific region that is not directed against any third country, and have made consistent efforts in promoting peace, stability and prosperity, it added.

According to the statement, the two countries are seriously concerned about AUKUS, the trilateral security partnership between the United States, Britain, and Australia, in particular their cooperation in the field of nuclear-powered submarines that involves strategic stability.

The deal runs contrary to the security and sustainable development objectives of the Asia-Pacific region, increase the risk of an arms race in the region, and pose serious risks of nuclear proliferation.

China and Russia strongly condemn such moves and call on AUKUS participants to strictly fulfil their nuclear and missile non-proliferation commitments and to safeguard regional peace, stability and development.

The two sides reaffirmed that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is the cornerstone of the international disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation system, and also an important part of the post-war international security system, which plays an indispensable role in global peace and development.

The international community should promote the the treaty's three pillars in a balanced way, and work together to protect the credibility, effectiveness and the universal nature of the treaty, the statement added.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Bianji)
McDaniel College in Westminster has planned its inaugural Black History Month Convocation this month, and according to college President Julia Jasken, it will be the first of many.

Human rights activist the Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu will be the events featured speaker. Tutu will discuss her experiences as a human rights activist as well as the challenges of growing up as a Black woman in apartheid South Africa. Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.

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The convocation will be a signature event annually at McDaniel in recognition of Black History Month, according to a news release. It is scheduled for 6 p.m., Feb. 16, in WMC Alumni Hall, 2 College Hill, Westminster. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu is the featured speaker at McDaniel's inaugural Black History Month Convocation on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in WMC Alumni Hall. The event is free and open to the public. (Kevin Dayhoff)

Tutu will also discuss growing up as the third child of the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, one of South Africas most well-known human rights activists.

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In 1984, Desmond Tutu was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end apartheid in South Africa. He died at the age of 90 on Dec. 26, 2021.

Nontombi Naomi Tutu , who has divided her adult life between South Africa and the United States, started her public speaking career as a college student at Berea College in Kentucky in the 1970s, according to the news release.

She has held positions as a gender-based violence prevention educator at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town and a development consultant in West Africa to coordinate programs on race and gender.

Tutu is also a consultant for the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence and the Foundation for Hospices in sub-Saharan Africa, the news release states.

A livestream for this event will be available on Zoom through advance online registration. To learn more about this event, visit https://www.mcdaniel.edu/news.
Moroccan rescuers worked through the night into Saturday, the fifth day of an increasingly urgent and nerve-wracking effort to rescue Rayan, a five-year-old boy trapped underground in a well.

The complex, slow and risky earth-moving operation has gripped residents of the North African kingdom and even sparked sympathy in neighbouring Algeria, a regional rival.

Rayan accidentally fell about 32 metres (35 yards) down the tight, empty shaft near his home in the remote village of Ighrane in Chefchaouen province on Tuesday afternoon.

Rescue crews, using bulldozers and front-end loaders, have dug almost all the way down but the final two metres are the most difficult because of the risk of landslides.

There has been no information about the fate of the boy, but the more time that passes, the more fears arise over whether he will be recovered alive.

Overnight, crews manoeuvred a heavy pipe into position in the area.

"We're almost there," said one of the operation's leaders, Abdesalam Makoudi, adding "tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on."

Working Through Darkness

A glacial cold has gripped this mountainous and impoverished region of the Rif, which is at an elevation of about 700 metres.

On Thursday Moroccan media reported that rescuers managed to deliver oxygen and water to the bottom of the well.

Thousands of people gathered around the site, surrounded by olive trees, where AFP reporters said the tension was palpable. Some applauded to encourage the rescuers.

The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky -- so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.

The operation has made the landscape resemble a construction site. It involves engineers and topographers and was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils.

Red-helmeted Civil Defence personnel have at times been suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face.

Working non-stop through the darkness, under powerful floodlights that gave a gloomy air to the scene, they are also digging a horizontal tunnel to reach the pocket where Rayan is, local authorities say.

'Moving A Mountain'

"I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive," Rayan's father told public television 2M on Friday evening. "I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere."

The boy's mother told Moroccan media that Rayan had been playing nearby when he disappeared on Tuesday afternoon.

"The whole family went out to look for him then we realised that he'd fallen down the well," she said with tears in her eyes.

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan trending across North Africa.

"Rescuers are literally in the process of moving a mountain to save little #Rayan. I hope that their efforts will not be in vain and that those who prayed for him will see their prayers answered," one internet user wrote.

The boy's fate has attracted crowds of people to the site, where parked cars lined the roads around the village and supporters are camping.

Police reinforcements have been sent, and the swarm of onlookers has sometimes impeded the rescuers' efforts.

Authorities have called on the public to "let the rescuers do their job and save this child."

But one volunteer said he was there to help. "We've been here for three days. Rayan is a child of our region. We won't leave until he's out of the well," he said.

The accident echoes a tragedy in Spain in early 2019 when a two-year-old child died after falling into an abandoned well 25 centimetres wide and more than 70 metres deep.

Julen Rosello's body was recovered after a search and rescue operation that lasted 13 days.

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Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Saturday urged the African Union to withdraw Israel's accreditation, bringing simmering tensions to a head as the 55-member bloc opened a two-day summit in Addis Ababa.

Even as the continent reels from a spate of military takeovers and the coronavirus pandemic, the relationship with Israel is expected to figure prominently during the summit this weekend.

The dispute was set in motion last July when Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, accepted Israel's accreditation to the bloc, triggering a rare dispute within a body that values consensus.

As heads of state gathered in Ethiopia's capital on Saturday, Shtayyeh called on the body to reject Faki's move.

"Israel should never be rewarded for its violation and for the apartheid regime it does impose on the Palestinian people," he said.

"Your excellencies, I'm sorry to report to you that the situation of the Palestinian people has only grown more precarious."

The summit may see a vote on whether to back or reject Faki's decision, which could yield an unprecedented split in the bloc.

Israel's accreditation last year drew quick protest from powerful members, including South Africa and Algeria which argued that it flew in the face of AU statements supporting the Palestinian Territories.

Earlier Saturday Faki said the AU's commitment to the Palestinian push for independence was "unchanging and can only continue to go stronger".

He defended Israel's accreditation, however, saying it could be "an instrument in the service of peace" while calling for "a serene debate" on the issue.

'Resurgence Of Military Coups'

This year's summit comes as the continent grapples with a string of military coups and the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Four member states have been suspended by the AU's Peace and Security Council since mid-2021 because of unconstitutional changes of government -- most recently Burkina Faso, where soldiers ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore last month.

Addressing African foreign ministers this week, AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat denounced a "worrying resurgence of military coups".

But the AU has been accused of an inconsistent response to the putsches, notably by not suspending Chad after a military council took over following the death of longtime President Idriss Deby Itno on the battlefield last April.

The summit should discuss how to be more proactive in addressing factors that spark coups, including terrorism-related instability and frustration over constitutional revisions that extend leaders' time in power, said Solomon Dersso, founder of the AU-focused Amani Africa think tank.

"It is only when the crisis hits that we say, 'Gosh, how come this country is falling apart like this so quickly?'" Solomon said.

Disease And Diplomacy

On Saturday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is attending the summit virtually, is expected to provide an update on Africa's response to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly two years after the continent's first case was detected in Egypt.

As of January 26, only 11 percent of Africa's more than one billion people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The African Union is also facing pressure to push for a ceasefire in Ethiopia, where a 15-month war has killed thousands of people and, the UN says, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.

It is unclear whether and how leaders will address the conflict, which pits Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government against fighters from the northern Tigray region.

The fact that Ethiopia hosts the AU makes any intervention by the bloc especially delicate, and Faki waited until last August -- nine months after fighting began -- to appoint Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo as a special envoy tasked with trying to broker a ceasefire.

Ethiopia has also held a seat on the Peace and Security Council, though it failed in a bid to stay on the 15-member body this week, diplomats said.

"AU member states should not ignore the serious crimes committed by all warring parties, including federal government forces, in Ethiopia's conflict," Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Friday.

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US steps on lifting sanctions are "good but not enough", Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday, hours after Washington announced it was waiving some sanctions on Iran's civilian nuclear programme.

"The lifting of some sanctions can, in the true sense of the word, translate into their goodwill. Americans talk about it, but it should be known that what happens on paper is good but not enough," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

The US State Department on Friday said it was waiving sanctions on Iran's civilian nuclear programme in a technical step necessary to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The waiver allows other countries and companies to participate in Iran's civilian nuclear programme without triggering US sanctions on them, in the name of promoting safety and non-proliferation.

Iran's civilian programme includes increasing stockpiles of enriched uranium.

The step came as talks to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, were at an advanced stage.

Amir-Abdollahian reiterated that one of the "main issues" in the talks is obtaining guarantees that the US will not withdraw from the 2015 deal again.

"We seek and demand guarantees in the political, legal and economic sectors," he said, adding that "agreements have been reached in some areas".

The Vienna talks, which include Iran, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, are at a stage where the parties have to make important "political decisions", different parties to the negotiations said last week.

"Our negotiating team in the Vienna talks is seriously pursuing obtaining tangible guarantees from the West to fulfil their commitments," Amir-Abdollahian said.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said: "Naturally, Tehran is carefully considering any action that is in the right direction of fulfilling the obligations of the JCPOA", local media reported.

Talks on reviving the nuclear deal were halted last week and the negotiators returned to their capitals for consultations.

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Egypts prosecutor-general referred renowned businessman and media tycoon Mohamed El-Amin to criminal court for human trafficking over sexually abusing and threatening seven underage girls.

According to the prosecutor-generals office, El-Amin has been referred to criminal court based on the testimonies of 13 eyewitnesses, the confessions of the victims, the examination of the defendants mobile phone, the Forensic Authoritys reports, the National Council of Childhood and Motherhood and the physiological and social research department at the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

The statement issued by the prosecutor-generals office on the case said that the investigation concluded that the defendant hosted the victims in an orphanage he owned  Upper Egypt's Safe Hands Home for Girls  for the purpose of sexual abuse. The statement added that he exploited their weakness, threatening to expel them from the orphanage if they reported him.

The statement revealed that the testimonies of the eyewitnesses included the girls in the orphanage, officials at the social solidarity ministry and the admin of Missing Children Facebook page.

Rami El-Gebali, the admin of the popular Facebook page specialising in spreading awareness about missing children online, reported El-Amin to the authorities following complaints from the victims he received in December.

According to the prosecutor-generals office, El-Gebali provided an audio recording of a phone call between him and the victims, where they made the allegations.

The mobile phone of Mohamed El-Amin included a number of photos of the victims, which also proved that he was at the orphanage during the days the girl reported, the prosecution added.

The prosecution has not revealed the ages of the victims. However, the orphanage had 11 girls whose ages ranged from six to 18 when it was inaugurated in March last year, according to a statement by the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

The Safe Hands Home for Girls Orphanage is located in Beni Suef. It was the first in Upper Egypt to house homeless girls and it serves many governorates, the ministry said when Minister Nevine El-Qabbaj attended the orphanages inauguration.

In December, the prosecution received a notification from the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood over posts on social media about the alleged assaults that were published on the Missing Children Facebook page.

In early January, Mohamed El-Amin was arrested and detained pending the investigation in the case by the prosecution.

The orphanage was shut down afterwards, according to the Ministry of Social solidarity, and the girls were transferred to another home following El-Amins arrest.

El-Amin maintains that he is innocent and was framed by officials at the social solidarity ministry, according to his lawyer Tarek Gamil Said.

A renowned businessman who made his wealth in Kuwait, Mohamed El-Amin became a media mogul following 2011 when he founded and owned a host of private satellite channels, including the CBC group and Modern network.

El-Amin sold his network to the United Media Services several years ago.

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Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed on Saturday with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing economic and industrial cooperation, especially in the production of coronavirus vaccines and electric vehicles, the Egyptian presidency said.

Xi said El-Sisi's visit contributes to cementing the distinguished ties between the two countries, the Egyptian presidency added.

Related Sisi and Xi attend opening ceremony of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

The Chinese president expressed his appreciation for the development of bilateral strategic relations in various fields, particularly in the economic and trade fields. He lauded the boost in political communication and consultations between the two countries on regional and international issues.

During his meeting with El-Sisi, Xi said China holds Egypt in high regard for the pivotal role it plays in the Middle East, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean.

El-Sisi, meanwhile, said Egypt is keen to build on the accelerating momentum, resulting from the regular meetings between senior officials from Egypt and China, to bolster cooperation on multiple fronts, especially in the economic and trade fields, and to attract more Chinese investments to Egypt.

El-Sisi was invited to Beijing to attend on Friday the opening ceremony of the 24th edition of the Winter Olympics. He is the first Egyptian president to receive this invitation.

El-Sisi and Xi's meeting took place at the Great Hall of the People, where they discussed boosting cooperation in scientific research and transferring technologies in pharmaceutical industries, the manufacture of coronavirus vaccines, and Chinas expertise in combating the pandemic, the Egyptian presidency stated.

Egypt has been locally producing Chinas coronavirus vaccine Sinovac since summer 2021 to inoculate the public and to export to African markets.

Chinas Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are also used in Egypts mass vaccination campaign.

El-Sisi and Xi also tackled boosting cooperation in industrial and information technologies as well as the manufacturing of electric vehicles.

Egypt will soon start manufacturing electric vehicles, El-Sisi announced at the World Youth Forum, held in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in January.

In addition, the two presidents discussed the means to boost trade and joint projects. They also talked about the important role the Suez Canal Economic Zone plays in boosting Chinas Belt and Road Initiative through the Egyptian-Chinese economic and commercial zone.

The two leaders discussed ways to cooperate on the development of Africa and means of coordination between African countries and China to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Egyptian presidency noted that the meeting tackled regional issues, such as the recent developments in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute, the Palestinian cause, and the crises in Libya, Syria, and Yemen.

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Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed on Saturday Egypts support for the Palestinian cause and the necessity of paving the ground to revive Middle East peace negotiations in order to establish an independent Palestinian state.

The meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh, held on the sidelines of the African Union Summit, addressed the latest Palestinian developments, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez stated.

Egypt, a regional linchpin, has been in talks with several regional and international players to revive the long-frozen Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

Cairo supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital in line with international resolutions.

On 20 January, Egypt criticised Israeli authorities demolition of a Palestinian home in East Jerusalems Sheikh Jarrah as Israeli police evicted a Palestinian family from the occupied neighbourhood for the first time in years.

Egypt has repeatedly expressed its rejection of new Israeli settlements or expansion of existing ones on Palestinian land as well as evictions of Palestinians.

Shoukry is participating in the 35th session of the African Union Summit that is being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, set to last until Sunday.

The summit will discuss peace and security in the continent as well as means of facing the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and economic integration, among other issues.

The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU is being held under the theme Building Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthen Agriculture, Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development.

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The head of the World Health Organization met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday for talks on Covid-19, including on the stalled investigation into the pandemic's origins.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visiting Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, posted a picture on Twitter of the pair sitting with officials in a meeting room.

"Pleased to meet with Premier Li Keqiang. We discussed Covid-19 and the need for an aggressive effort on vaccine equity this year to vaccinate 70 percent of all populations," Tedros said.

"We also discussed the need for stronger collaboration on Covid-19 virus origins, rooted in science and evidence.

"I welcomed his support to strengthen WHO and discussion about a pandemic accord to advance global preparedness," he added.

A Chinese government statement on the meeting said Li called for solidarity, cooperation and more understanding among nations to defeat the pandemic.

On tracing the origins of the virus, it said Tedros adhered to scientific principles and opposed politicising the process.

Lab-leak theory

Tedros is paying his first visit to China since January 2020, in the weeks after the first cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Wuhan.

More than 370 million cases and 5.6 million deaths have since been reported to the WHO -- figures it says are an underestimate.

Understanding where the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid came from is seen as key to preventing future pandemics.

After much delay, a WHO team of international experts went to Wuhan in January 2021 to look into the origins of the virus in cooperation with their Chinese counterparts.

Their March 2021 joint report concluded that the most likely hypothesis was that the virus jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate animal.

They deemed a theory that it may have escaped from Wuhan's virology laboratories "extremely unlikely".

However, that investigation faced harsh criticism for lacking transparency and access, and for not evaluating the lab-leak theory seriously.

WHO 'won't stop' searching

Beijing has baulked at calls for further investigation on the ground, and has not provided access to raw data from the Wuhan laboratories that could potentially help confirm or rule out a connection.

The Geneva-based WHO has created a new team of scientists in a bid to revive the stalled probe, and to investigate other pathogens that could potentially spur future pandemics.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, said the team were examining the framework needed to study any emerging pathogen; the current understanding of Covid-19's origins; and fresh evidence from studies conducted since the March 2021 report.

"What they are looking at are the early epidemiologic studies. What do we know about those earliest suspected and known cases that were reported in China?" she told a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

"Many more studies are necessary to really understand the emergence of this virus.

"We, as WHO, won't stop until we exhaust all avenues to better understand this."

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Visitors to the Giza Plateau can now finally enjoy an unobstructed view of the entire southern angle of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, after the Khufu Boat Museum that had blocked the view for decades was removed.

The museum was built and inaugurated at the site in 1982 on the location where the first Khufu boat was discovered in 1954 at the southern side of the Great Pyramid.

The museum had distorted the aesthetic view of the Great Pyramid for decades, the only surviving example of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquites (SCA), explained that the museum was demolished, not only because it distorted the panoramic view of the pyramid, but because it had become redundant after the boat that was exhibited inside had been moved to a new, state-of-the-art display inside the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) last year.

In August 2021, the work team from SCA and GEM carried out a complex three-day operation to move the boat to its new resting location after nearly a year of preparation.

Waziri described the boat as one of the largest, oldest and most important wooden antiquities in human history, and that its new location would display it in a manner commensurate with its historical and archaeological importance.

The previous museum was not equipped to house the boat, whose organic structure soon began to decay after being unearthed.

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U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia's actions pose ``a clear threat to international peace and security and the U.N. Charter.'' Council members ``must squarely examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe, and for the core obligations and principles of the international order should Russia further invade Ukraine,'' she said Thursday in announcing the meeting.

Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky responded angrily, tweeting: ``I can't recall another occasion when a SC (Security Council) member proposed to discuss its own baseless allegations and assumptions as a threat to intl (international) order from someone else. Hopefully fellow UNSC members will not support this clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN Security Council.''

Polyansky's reaction indicated that Russia may start the meeting asking for a procedural vote on whether it should go ahead. To block the meeting, Russia would need support from nine of the 15 members.

A senior official in the Biden administration said the United States is in regular contact with council members and is ``confident'' that there is ``more than sufficient support'' to hold the meeting.

``It goes right to the heart of the role of the Security Council itself,'' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. ``This preventive diplomacy is exactly what the council is supposed to be doing, and I think member states understand that.''

Russia's massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade. Russia is demanding that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. NATO and the U.S. call those demands impossible.

Assuming the meeting goes ahead, the council will first hear a briefing by a senior U.N. official followed by statements from its 15 members including Russia, the United States and European members France, Ireland, United Kingdom and Albania. Under council rules, Ukraine will also speak.

China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun, whose country has close ties to Russia, indicated Beijing supports Moscow in opposing a council meeting.

``Both sides have shown willingness to continue their negotiations,'' he told several reporters on Friday. ``Let them settle the differences through dialogue, through negotiations.''

``Russia has said clearly they have no intention to have a war'' and the Security Council should ``help to deescalate the situation instead of adding fuel to the fire,'' Zhang said.

The head of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Sunday rejected Western warnings about an invasion.

``At this time, they're saying that Russia threatens Ukraine _ that's completely ridiculous,'' he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass. ``We don't want war and we don't need it at all.''

Thomas-Greenfield said of the U.S. and the other council members on ABC's ``This Week'' on Sunday: ''We're going into the room prepared to listen to them, but we're not going to be distracted by their propaganda.''

``This is a period when we want to see calm,`` said Ireland's U.N. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, whose country is serving a two-year term on the council. ``We want to see deescalation, diplomacy and dialogue. That's what we favor in relation to the current set of circumstances.``
Charlotte Bellis, 35, is expecting her first child with her partner, freelance photographer Jim Huylebroek, a Belgium native who has lived in Afghanistan for two years. Bellis, who is 25 weeks pregnant with a daughter, told The Associated Press on Sunday that each day is a battle.

She said she has been vaccinated three times and is ready to isolate herself upon her return to New Zealand. ``This is ridiculous. It is my legal right to go to New Zealand, where I have health care, where I have family. All my support is there,`` she said.

Bellis first wrote about her difficulties in a column published in The New Zealand Herald on Saturday. She had tried without success to enter New Zealand via a lottery-style system and then applied for an emergency return, but was rejected.

Thousands of New Zealand citizens wanting to return home have faced delays due to a bottleneck of people in the country's border quarantine system.

On Monday, New Zealand's COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said officials had suggested Bellis amend her application or try again under different criteria.

``I want to be clear, there is a place in Managed Isolation and Quarantine for people with special circumstances like Ms Bellis. No one's saying there is not,`` Hipkins said. He said while officials had needed to make some difficult choices, the quarantine system had worked well overall by saving lives and preventing the health system from getting swamped.

Bellis had worked as an Afghanistan correspondent for Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news network. In November, she resigned, because it is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried in Qatar. Al Jazeera did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bellis then flew to Belgium, trying to get residency there, but said the length of the process would have left her in the country with an expired visa. She said she could have hopped from country to country on tourist visas while she waited to have her baby. She said this would have meant spending money on hotels without support or health care, while she fought to return to New Zealand.

In the end, she and her partner returned to Afghanistan because they had a visa, felt welcome and from there could wage her battle to return to her home. They have a house in Afghanistan and after ``evaluating all of our options,'' returned to Kabul, she said.

Bellis said she has set herself a deadline for leaving Afghanistan once she is 30 weeks pregnant, to protect the health of herself and her baby. ``I am giving myself to the end of February,'' she said. At that time, she will still have more than a month left on her Belgium visa so that she can re-enter the country, if she fails to get back to New Zealand by that time.

She said she tries to stay calm as she wages a paper war with New Zealand's quarantine system, but that she worries about how the stress she has been under will impact her baby.

``I am very concerned about a premature birth and ... also the implication of stress,'' she said.

Bellis has found an Afghan gynecologist, who promised she could call her if she wakes up in the night with a problem. Bellis toured the doctor's clinic which has basic facilities, including one incubator. The doctor told her the incubator is often occupied.

Bellis has found a lawyer who is handling her case pro bono and has submitted over 60 documents to the New Zealand government, answered countless questions, only to be rejected twice for entry to her home country.

On Sunday, she received another email from the New Zealand government, this one telling her to apply as a person in danger and that this will get her home, she said. Bellis said she was rejected earlier because her pregnancy didn't meet the criteria of ``threshold of critical time threat.''

``If I don't meet the threshold as a pregnant woman then who does?`` she asked.

Bellis said that prior to returning to Afghanistan, she sought permission from the Taliban. She said she had feared arriving ``with a little bump and not married'' could be problematic.

Instead, the Taliban response was immediate and positive.

``I appreciate this isn't official Taliban policy, but they were very generous and kind. They said `you are safe here, congratulations, we welcome you',`` said Bellis.

The Taliban have come under international criticism for repressive rules they imposed on women since sweeping to power in mid-August, including denying girls education beyond sixth grade. However, they have said that all girls and women will be allowed to attend school after the Afghan New Year at the end of March. While women have returned to work in the health and education ministries, thousands of female civil servants have not been allowed to return to their jobs.

As she ponders her next move, Bellis said she is contemplating whether to take the latest option offered by New Zealand _ applying as a person in danger _ because it would exonerate the government of responsibility for her earlier rejections.

``It gives them an opportunity to deny any responsibility and frankly that is not true,'' she said. The government's current COVID-19 policy has left ``how many stranded around the world with no pathways to get home.''

Hipkins, the New Zealand minister, said officials had offered Bellis several options.

``I encourage her to take these offers seriously,'' he said.
SANA cited a military source as saying the missiles came from the skies over eastern Lebanon, and targeted outposts in the vicinity of Damascus, resulting in material losses.

No other details were immediately available, and there was no comment from Israel on the attack which occurred shortly after 3 a.m. in Damascus. Israel carries out raids on Syria mostly overnight.

An opposition war-monitoring group said the strikes targeted arms depots of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group in the eastern part of the Qalamoun mountains, northeast of Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes ignited fires but had no immediate word on any casualties.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria over the past decade of the civil war in the Arab country, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it is targeting bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Hezbollah. It says it is going after positions and arms shipments believed to be bound for the groups. Hezbollah is fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in the country's civil war.

Israel says Iranian presence on its northern frontier is a red line, justifying its strikes on facilities and weapons inside Syria.

Monday's attack comes amid wider tensions in the Middle East affecting the Persian Gulf, which has seen a series of attacks as Iran's nuclear deal with world powers collapsed and Yemen's civil war raged on.

The United Arab Emirates intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels early Monday in the third such attack in recent weeks.
Young Koreans have predominantly liberal views about marriage now, a study suggests, with more than half saying it is OK for unmarried couples to cohabit. Seven out of 10 are in favor of cross-cultural marriages.

The study of 5,800 people aged 13 to 24 by Statistics Korea in May last year, which was published Tuesday, shows that 56.8 percent of people aged 13 to 24 feel premarital cohabitation is fine, while 26.4 percent said a couple can have children without tying the knot, up slightly from 25.9 percent in 2012.

Also, 74.2 percent are supportive of interracial marriages, up from 73.4 percent in the previous survey.

Asked who should take care of aging parents, 45.4 percent said not only their family but also the government and society must share responsibility, while only 38 percent said the family should shoulder the burden alone. Some 13.5 percent said senior citizens should take care of themselves, up from 11 percent last time.

Asked which of the children should care for aging parents, 80.1 percent said all children should take on the burden equally, while 12.5 percent said the one who made the most money.
"The latest development at the mRNA hub at Afrigen in Cape Town is that our scientists have used the sequence of the Moderna vaccine 1273 published by Stanford University in an open-source manner and formulated a drug product at laboratory scale. They are currently doing more batches and analytical tests to make sure that they have the quality in place. So this is the first lab scale full end-to-end vaccine candidate that has been developed," she said.

Afrigen is one of the companies taking part in a World Health Organization-backed hub to develop vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. Afrigen Managing Director Petro Terblanche said the mRNA vaccine was made with the company's own knowledge base, processes and people. She said there were no technology transfers from any third party.

South African pharmaceutical company Afrigen is the first on the continent to make an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine using Moderna's publicly available data. The company hopes to start clinical trials of the vaccine in November.

Terblanche said the company did not need permission from Moderna because its vaccine is still in the research and development stage. "The sequence is published in the first place, secondly we are operating in the R&D space," she said. "We have full freedom to operate, an exemption under the Bolar Exemption in IP law. So up to phase 3 clinical trials we are completely legal, and we don't need any permission. Once that product is commercialized and there are IP constraints, we need to get a voluntary license for that."

Terblanche said they would be asking Moderna to voluntarily license the vaccine to them, as it will be mutually beneficial to the companies and to low- and middle-income countries that will use this technology. She added that they were using the new vaccine as a test case for a second-generation vaccine that is in the design phase.

Moderna has not commented on Afrigen's announcement, but it was widely reported late last year that the company had paused a patent dispute with the U.S. government over its coronavirus vaccine.

Moderna had been disputing claims that three U.S. government scientists were co-inventors. However, the company said it would not pursue the fight for now, as it did not want to take attention away from battling the pandemic.

Terblanche acknowledged support from scientists in other countries for Afrigen's work. "This is our learning case and we're pleasantly surprised with the results, but the design of the new formulation is already happening with the scientists and with technical partners globally," she said. "It's not only us, it's a fantastic partnership with scientists in the U.S. and in Europe."

South Africa's acting director general of the National Health Department, Dr. Nicholas Crisp, welcomed news of the mRNA vaccine development. "We're very pleased to note that they've been picking up speed very fast in their capabilities," he said. "It's very exciting, it's very important for the country. It's one of a number of facilities that we are busy working on as a country between the department of health and science and innovation and other partners. So very encouraging."

The World Health Organization's regional director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said 11 percent of the African population is fully vaccinated, and 85 percent have not received a single dose. She added that 239,000 people in Africa have died due to the pandemic.
KYODO NEWS - Feb 5, 2022 - 19:31 | All, World, Japan

The United States has urged Japan to consider imposing economic sanctions on Moscow if Russian troops invade Ukraine, diplomatic sources said Saturday.

Japan, however, has deferred its response to the U.S. request, fearing the possible ramifications on relations with Russia and bilateral issues, including a long-standing territorial dispute that Tokyo is seeking a breakthrough on, the sources said.

As tensions run high over a possible invasion amid a massive Russian military presence on the border of neighboring Ukraine, Washington hopes to rally Japan and other countries that uphold the rule of law in pressuring Moscow not to move in on Ukraine.

The United States and its European allies have warned that Russia would face "severe consequences," including economic and financial sanctions, if its troops were to invade Ukraine.

According to Japanese and U.S. diplomatic sources, Washington conveyed to Japan via diplomatic channels that it could not tolerate the movement of Russian troops and urged Tokyo to step up its criticism of Russia.

During a virtual summit with U.S President Joe Biden late last month, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to take "strong action in response to any attack" on Ukraine by Russia and continue close cooperation with the United States and other partners.

But Japan faces a balancing act of being in sync with the United States and other Western nations and trying not to ruffle Moscow's feathers to resolve the row over the sovereignty of a group of islands lying off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, the sources said.

The decades-old dispute over the Russian-held islands called the Northern Territories in Japan, and the Southern Kurils in Russia has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a postwar peace treaty.

Japan "would be compelled to take an appropriate measure in case of an invasion," a Japanese government source said. But there are calls within the government that it would be best not to announce the imposition of sanctions before an invasion takes place, unlike the United States and the European Union.

Kishida told parliament last month Japan is watching with "grave concern" Russia's military build-up near Ukraine's border and related developments, and that it will deal with the issue appropriately using the framework of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.

Following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Japan imposed sanctions on Russia, in line with moves by the United States and European nations.

But not wanting to aggravate relations with Russia in light of their territorial dispute, Japan's punitive measures, which included limiting imports of Crimea-made products, proved ineffective.

In Tokyo, Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin warned at a recent press conference that Japan's plans to adopt sanctions against Russia, in line with those imposed on Moscow by some Western nations in the event of military aggression in Ukraine, would be "counterproductive."
KYODO NEWS - Feb 5, 2022 - 21:29 | Sports, Olympics, All

Japan team captain Miho Takagi hit the ice Saturday in the first of her five speed skating events at the Beijing Winter Games, finishing sixth in the women's 3,000 meters won by Irene Schouten of the Netherlands in Olympic record time.

Racing against Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida in the 10th and final pair, the 29-year-old Schouten streaked around the National Speed Skating Oval in 3 minutes, 56.93 seconds to claim gold.

Lollobrigida took silver in 3:58.06, while Canada's Isabelle Weidemann finished 1.71 seconds off the pace for bronze.

Takagi clocked 4:01.77, which kept her on top of the leaderboard for much of the competition at the gleaming new stadium dubbed the "Ice Ribbon."

Skating in the third pair alongside 2018 Olympic 3,000 champion Carlijn Achtereekte of the Netherlands, the 27-year-old Takagi said her first lap was not quick enough to establish a medal-winning pace at the new arena.

She nevertheless managed the fastest provisional time and remained in first place until Czech world record-holder Martina Sablikova, racing in the third-last pair, moved to the front of the pack with a time of 4:00.34, which was eventually good enough for fourth.

"This was my first time skating this rink and there were points where I struggled with my timing," Takagi said. "The first lap wasn't any better than usual (and) that regrettable start did me in."

Japan's other representative, Ayano Sato, finished ninth in 4:03.40.

"More than my overall time and placing, I was happy that I was able to move well," Sato said. "I dropped off on the last lap, but I had solid lap times up until then."

Both Takagi and Sato will contest the women's 1,500 on Monday. Takagi is the world record holder over the distance and will go into the race as favorite.
By Miya Tanaka and Daisuke Nakai, KYODO NEWS - Feb 5, 2022 - 11:50 | Feature, All, World

Erika Moritsugu, 49, is among the many Asian Americans in the United States who have experienced hate crimes since the coronavirus pandemic began two years ago.

She was waiting at a bus stop with her son after school when a man screamed threatening racist abuse and spat at her. Since the incident in March 2020, she has avoided using public transport, fearful of exposing her children to such incidents again.

But she appears to have emerged from the horrifying experience stronger for it, determined more than ever to fulfill her role at the White House as senior liaison to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, a new post she was assigned by President Joe Biden last April.

"It really does give some power to the voices that have not been heard before," said California-born Moritsugu, who is of Japanese and Chinese descent and has spent her career in government and politics fighting for social justice and the empowerment of marginalized communities.

While Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the most rapidly growing racial group in the United States, they have been viewed as underrepresented in U.S. politics. They have also often been the target of hate crimes, particularly since the spread of the coronavirus, which was first detected in China.

Under the Biden administration, Moritsugu's tasks include reaching out to communities to hear about their needs, reporting back to decision-makers in the U.S. capital, and making sure the community benefits of government policies are communicated and made accessible.

The administration has already made "accomplishments" during its first year, the deputy assistant to the president said, touching on Biden's signing into law in May last year a bill aimed at beefing up law enforcement's response to hate crimes.

Moritsugu was also involved in the launch of a White House initiative in December that will help expand opportunities for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders -- groups that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic as many hold frontline jobs in the health crisis as essential workers or are small-business owners.

The initiative, among other aims, will work to make government services more accessible by improving language assistance and address data collection practices that fail to reflect the diversity of the communities. Critics say inadequate knowledge contributes to the "model minority" myth that Asian Americans are generally successful and are in less need of government support than other people of color.

Expectations are high that Moritsugu's experience, which includes serving as aides to Asian American and Pacific Island senators, and relationship-building skills will benefit the administration, in which Kamala Harris serves as the first female, first black and first Asian American vice president.

But having mostly grown up in Hawaii, which is a richly diverse community involving Asians, whites, and Pacific Islanders, Moritsugu, who now lives in Washington, said racism "was not part of our dinnertime conversation" during her childhood.

As she moved to the East Coast, she noticed that she was "often the only Asian, or the only woman, sometimes the only woman of color in my classes during college or meetings when I began my career" and said she experienced racism, sexism and anti-Asian and anti-woman bigotry "throughout" her life.

"But I kind of took it in stride," she said, adding, "I'm a little embarrassed to say, because it was a part of my own family's long history here in America."

Moritsugu's relatives were among around 120,000 residents of Japanese descent -- a majority of them U.S. citizens -- sent to internment camps soon after Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor and drew the United States into World War II, under the rationale they might spy for Japan or sabotage the war effort.

Despite having many family members stripped of their freedom, second-generation Japanese Americans, born to immigrant parents, fought in the war not just to defeat the enemy but in the hope that strong combat performance would help tackle the prejudice in their own country.

"Our country has a longstanding history of prejudice and violence against the Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. It's a history that includes harmful policies and actions," said Moritsugu, whose relatives also fought in World War II.

But despite the difficulties of tackling challenges deep-rooted in history, Moritsugu struck a positive note about the future.

"It may have been out of the tragedy that opportunities and powers are born, but I think that more and more Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are responding to the call to service, who are maybe not in government, but working to fight the systemic racism that we've seen for so long, that has been not understood, not measured, not appreciated."

She also called for the importance of cooperating internationally to root out an issue that knows no borders.

"We know that addressing the poison of racism and hate crimes can't be done by any one group or leader or governance or country," she said.

As a message to Japan, where hate crimes against ethnic Korean communities persist, the official said what is essential to achieve a "real change" is "to acknowledge and confront racism head-on."

"Sometimes, the first step can be the hardest," she added.

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape via video link, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called on China and Papua New Guinea to enhance political mutual trust and expand mutually beneficial cooperation.

Li made the remarks in Beijing when meeting with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape via video link.

Noting that Papua New Guinea is an important cooperative partner of China in the South Pacific region, Li said China is willing to work with Papua New Guinea to enhance political mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and promote new development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

He said China is willing to expand cooperation with Papua New Guinea in such fields as infrastructure, energy resources, agriculture, forestry and fishery, and welcomes more high-quality fishery products from Papua New Guinea to enter the Chinese market.

It is hoped that the two sides will speed up the joint feasibility study of a free trade agreement, Li added.

He said China will continue to support Papua New Guinea's fight against the pandemic, and stands ready to enhance communication and coordination with Papua New Guinea in international and regional affairs to safeguard the common interests of developing countries.

Marape said that the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games fully demonstrated the spirit of solidarity, and expressed thanks for China's help in its fight against the pandemic.

Papua New Guinea adheres to the one-China principle, firmly supports China in safeguarding the national sovereignty, and is willing to strengthen political exchanges with China and deepen cooperation on fishery, agriculture, forestry, oil and gas, Marape said. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape via video link, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)




BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) --The Horn of Africa now is seen by many observers as one of "the most volatile regions in the world."

From the armed conflict that tipped Ethiopia into crisis and the growing political tensions in Somalia all the way to the looming uncertainties elsewhere, the region is facing a number of challenges.

Security threats such as terrorism are evolving, exacerbated by natural disasters and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, to find fresh approaches to conflict resolution has become a matter of urgency to ensure the region's stability and peaceful development.

In a bid to help the region deal with these tough challenges, China stands ready to propose the "Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa."

The core of the initiative is to support countries in the region to stay out of any geopolitical competition between major countries while keeping their fate in their own hands.

China has put forward three proposals. First, the Horn of Africa should strengthen intra-regional dialogue to overcome security challenges; secondly, the region should accelerate regional revitalization to overcome development challenges; third, the region should explore effective ways to overcome governance challenges.

The "Initiative," upon being put forward, has received positive responses from Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and other countries in the region, which believe that it meets the urgent needs of countries in the region, and China's appointment of a special envoy for the Horn of Africa indicates that the Chinese side will play a more active and constructive role there.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Madagascar government, the United Nations and partners are preparing for the potentially devastating consequences of a landfall of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday.

Batsirai is approaching Madagascar and is expected to make landfall on Saturday in the area between Mahanoro and Mananjary. The landfall will have potentially devastating consequences for some of the most populated areas of the island nation, due to the combination of strong winds and extremely heavy rains, said OCHA.

Batsirai passed Mauritius on its path, leaving 1,600 households without electricity and one person dead, it said.

Preparedness efforts are intensifying in Madagascar and the government has begun preemptive evacuations in Mahanoro and Nosy Varika. Schools have been closed and flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday have been canceled. Some 85 districts are on yellow alert while seven are on green alert, said the office.

Messages developed by the UN Children's Fund and the government's disaster management agency are being disseminated to communities likely to be affected by the storm on how to stay safe and avoid danger. The UN Satellite Centre is monitoring the situation. Aircraft, including those of the UN Humanitarian Air Service, have been placed on standby for immediate aerial assessments and response, said OCHA.

Humanitarian partners are urgently processing local purchases to increase their relief stocks, and humanitarian teams in eastern Madagascar are on standby to support the response, it said.

Relief efforts are continuing in response to the damage caused by the earlier Tropical Storm Ana that affected several countries in the region, said OCHA. 
The opening ceremony of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has wowed the global audience.





Our correspondent Ali Jaswal in Pakistan has visited a local family to see how they enjoyed the gala.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service




Hundreds of students at Chicago Public Schools and at scores of districts across the state may be freed from wearing a mask in the classroom, with an Illinois judge ruling Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzkers COVID-19 mandate was authorized illegally.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a request from downstate attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt the governors executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools, finding that the measures are beyond the governors authority and deprive students of due process.

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This court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken, not only on this State, but throughout the nation and globe, Grischow wrote in the decision. Nonetheless, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the boundaries of the authority granted under the Constitution.

Pritzker issued a statement late Friday saying he asked the attorney generals office for an immediate appeal of the decision.

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The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities  and this may force schools to go remote, Pritzker said.

Students from Barrington High School leave school for the day on Jan. 31, 2022. District 220 is one of 146 Illinois school districts named in a lawsuit targeting Gov J.B. Pritzker's mask mandates at schools. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

In her ruling, the judge sided with parents who allege that students who object to wearing masks or being excluded from school for being a COVID-19 close contact are entitled to due process, and that such measures are a form of modified quarantine that can only be required by the local health department.

The (Illinois Department of Public Health) is limited by law to delegating its authority only to certified local health departments and has not been authorized by the Legislature to delegate any of its authority to any other body of government, including school districts, she wrote.

The restraining order prevents the state from ordering school districts to require students involved in the lawsuit to wear masks if they object, except during the terms of lawful order of quarantine issued from their respective health department. The order also prevents the state from requiring school districts to force school employees who sued to get vaccinated or test weekly if they object, without first providing them due process of law.

Grischow denied DeVores request that the lawsuits be given class certification, which if granted, would have extended the ruling to all students at the nearly 170 school districts named in the two lawsuits  one filed by parents against 146 school districts, and a second filed by school employees against 21 school districts.

Although she denied class certification, Judge Grischow pointed out in a footnote to the decision that she had declared the emergency rules at issue from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education void. Thus, non-named Plaintiffs and School Districts throughout this State may govern themselves accordingly, she wrote.

The judges ruling means that any school district that attempts to enforce the mask requirement against any student whose parents joined the lawsuit would be held in contempt of court, according to DeVore, who said parents who want the ruling to apply to their children can join the lawsuit.

DeVore, an outspoken critic of Pritzkers handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, has long argued that the school mask mandate and other mitigation strategies the governor has declared by executive order could not be enforced unless they were formally approved by the General Assembly.

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I dont pretend to understand the political complexities at Chicago Public Schools, but I do know the law cant be disregarded, and youve got a judge who upheld the law as its written, DeVore said shortly after Judge Grischow issued the ruling.

CPS issued a statement Saturday saying the ruling would not prevent the district from continuing to require masks.

The courts current ruling does not prohibit CPS from exercising its authority to continue its COVID-19 mitigation policies and procedures, including universal masking by students and staff and vaccination and testing requirements for staff members, the statement said.

We are confident that masking and vaccination have been key parts of keeping the virus transmission low in our classrooms this school year and successfully allowed our faculty and students to safely teach and learn in person, the statement said. Our caseload is declining and the number of vaccinated students and staff continues to increase. We will stay the course.

The Chicago Teachers Union noted in a statement Friday that the judges ruling states that collective bargaining agreements are still enforceable.

Our January 2022 agreement with Chicago Public Schools, which guarantees masking, will keep schools open and safe, the union said.

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Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez speaks during a news conference about vaccination requirements at City Hall on Dec. 21, 2021, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

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At Arlington Heights School District 25, which was named in the school employees lawsuit, officials said late Friday that the district is reviewing the judges ruling and will reach out to our staff and our community when we have further information.

Many Illinois school districts have said that regardless of the outcome, they will continue to strongly encourage students and staff to follow the states masking guidelines and other COVID-19 protocols.

The judges decision brought relief to parents like Shannon Adcock, a Naperville mother of three, and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Indian Prairie School District 204.

We had a victory for liberty today, and the kids will finally be able to go to school mask-free, said Adcock, the president of the parents group Awake Illinois.

This is a legitimate due process ruling, and youre going to see a lot of families pushing back now, Adcock said.

Steve Lucie, a farmer and former longtime school board member with Warsaw Community Unit School District 316, said his involvement in upending the governors school mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigations started at his kitchen table with a few farmers and neighbors.

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This ruling is euphoric for all of these parents, and mostly for the kids, Lucie said.

Some people arent ready for this, which I understand, but its been our stance all along that parents need to make that choice on their own, he said.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the states school board were not immediately available for comment on Friday.

kcullotta@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kcullotta

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KAMPALA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The president of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) Donald Rukare on Friday said that China will host a successful 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

"We all know China's potential to host very successful world competitions. I am optimistic that the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games will be very organized and successful," Rukare told Xinhua in an interview.

He said it is great to see China hosting the Winter Games after having successfully hosted the 2008 Summer Games.

"We look forward to a great and spectacular Olympic Winter Games in China," he said.

He said UOC supported athlete Brolin Mawejje, but it was unfortunate he failed to qualify after coming close.

"As the UOC we would have loved to qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics," Rukare said.

Not many countries from Africa participate in the Winter Olympics. Out of the continent, only Eritrea, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, and Nigeria athletes are taking part in the Beijing 2022. 
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- An attack on a security forces' check post in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Friday left at least six people injured, including two security personnel, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of police in Balochistan told media.

According to the CTD, a couple of terrorists, riding on a motorbike, attacked at night time the check post in Chaman area of the province with hand grenade, which caused a blast.

The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital, the reports said, adding that all the victims are out of danger.

The security forces have cordoned off the area and started a search operation. 
RIGA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The prime ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia met in Riga, capital of Latvia, on Friday to discuss regional security, joint infrastructure projects and environmental matters.

The talks, hosted by Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins and joined by Estonia's Kaja Kallas and Lithuania's Ingrida Simonyte, focused on security in the Baltic region, implementation of regional infrastructure projects, including the Rail Baltica railroad project, as well as plans for a transition to an environment-friendly economy, said the Latvian governmental press office.

Much attention during the talks was devoted to energy policies, considering rapidly rising prices of energy sources, as well as the problem's geopolitical aspects.

During the meeting, the Baltic prime ministers signed a statement on the European Union's (EU) climate change package. The statement says as EU member states and regions vary significantly, EU should look for solutions that recognize national and regional differences.

Karins said that the transition to renewable energy should not become a burden for consumers. "All three of us just signed a joint Baltic position on the Green Deal and the key thing is that this transition to renewable energy should not become a major burden on our consumers," Karins told a news conference following the talks.

Kallas said that Estonia and Latvia are considering building a joint wind farm in the Baltic Sea.

"We spoke about the need to develop a joint wind farm with Latvia in the Baltic Sea as that would allow avoiding sudden price fluctuations. The project should be implemented at the EU level and electricity produced in this farm could be supplied to all Baltic states," Kallas told reporters. 
New Delhi:

With citizens coming out on streets to protest against the Citizenship Law, the Narendra Modi government is looking at fresh approach to allay the fears of the agitators. Now, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said that there has been no announcement made by the government to conduct nationwide NRC exercise anytime soon. The statement differs from what Union Home minister Amit Shah had said in Parliament. On November 20, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said in Parliament that the Nation Register of Citizens (NRC) would be prepared for every state in the country.

The government is keeping the timeframe of the pan-India NRC as vague as possible. The minister also stressed on the fact of immediate announcement rather than the eventual plan. As far as NRC is concerned, it is limited to Assam. There is no plan of NRC in any other part of the country. You are talking about an unborn baby., Naqvi was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Naqvis remark mirrors the fact sheet released by the government sources that also spoke about the status of NRC. The question number 5 of the fact sheet was  By conducting NRC, will we be asked to present proofs of us being Indian?. The answer of this question also highlighted on the NRC announcement.

First of all, it is important to know that at the national level, no announcement has been made to begin NRC process. If it is implemented, it does not mean that anyone will be asked for proof of being Indian. NRC is merely a normal process to register your name in the Citizens Register. Just like we present our identity cards or any other document for registering our names in the voter list or getting Aadhaar card made, similar documents shall need to be provided for NRC, as and when it is carried out, the answer said.

More than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam were left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published on August 31st to conclude a Supreme Court-monitored exercise. It took five years and a1,220 crore to conduct the mammoth exercise.

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New Delhi:

India, Interrupted: 17 Dead, Internet Snapped in Various Cities

From Delhi to Varanasi to Mangaluru to Mumbai, cities across India are witnessing massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Friday saw violent clashes with Uttar Pradesh reporting maximum deaths. So far, 17 people have died in protests, which include five in Assam also. To tackle the situation, state governments have imposed Section 144 in various cities. Mobile internet services remain suspended in as many as 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh and parts of Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka. Read here

Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad Taken Into Police Custody From Delhias Jama Masjid

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad was taken into police custody from outside the Jama Masjid in the early hours on Saturday morning. He was inside the mosque in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. We have to make sacrifice so that the legislation is taken back. We do not support violence. We were sitting inside the mosque since Friday morning and our people were not involved in violence, he said. Read here

Citizenship Act: 'Outsiders' Involved In Violence At Delhi Gate, Say PoliceA

The protests against Citizenship Act turned violent in Delhi's Daryaganj area on Friday evening. Protesters torched a car outside the DCP office at Delhi Gate. Earlier, police had used water cannons in an attempt to disperse the protesters. Delhi Police said "outsiders" were involved in the violence near Delhi Gate. Read here

Priyanka Gandhi Joins Students Protesting Against Citizenship Act, NRC At India Gate

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday slammed the "anti-poor" Narendra Modi government as she joined the students protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and a proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens at the India Gate. Priyanka, who is coming out to protest at India Gate for the second time in last week, said the government wants every Indian to stand in line to prove one's citizenship in the same manner they did after note ban. Read here

No Indian Citizen Will Be Unduly Harassed By Asking To Prove Citizenship: MHA

Among the uncertainty and misinformation among certain sections over the amendment Citizenship Act and nationwide NRC, Ministry of Home Affairs has clarified that no Indian citizen will be unduly harassed or put to inconvenience by asking to prove citizenship. Read here

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Kolkata:

West Bengal minister and state president of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Sunday threatened to disallow Union Home Minister Amit Shah to step out of the airport whenever he visits the city, if the Citizenship Amendment Act is not immediately withdrawn. Chowdhury said the contentious law is against humanity and the citizens of the country "living here for ages".

"We may not allow him (Shah) to step out of the city airport if necessary. We may gather one lakh people there to stop him," he said at a Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind rally against the CAA.

Reacting to his remarks, BJP's West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh told PTI that Chowdhury has made such "provocative comments" in the past, too, with the "tacit support of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee." "How can a state minister issue such a threat? If they (Shah, PM Narendra Modi) are stopped from moving around in the city, then imagine the situation of others who don't share its (Trinamool Congress) views? Stop playing with fire," Ghosh said.

The state's library service minister claimed that Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind's movement would be democratic and peaceful. "We don't believe in violent protests, but we will certainly oppose CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) tooth and nail," he said.

The minister said the BJP has already been rejected by the people. "Just look at the ongoing protests all over the country, including in Kolkata," he said.

Chowdhury, who addressed the rally at Rani Rasmoni Avenue, said the "56-inch chest" of PM Narendra Modi has let down the people of the country, as he is "pursuing the politics of hatred and division". "What they (Modi and Shah) are doing is thrusting one agenda after another on the people. They don't believe in discussion, they don't believe in dialogue. We won't let them pursue this," he asserted.

The speakers at the rally also thanked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for hitting the streets to register her protest against CAA and NRC. "Please don't resort to violence, demonstrate peacefully. Muslims, Hindus and members of other communities in Bengal are fighting the CAA and NRC battle together. We must maintain that amity," one of the speakers said in his address.

Ghosh further accused Chowdhury and Banerjee of allowing violence to continue unabated for three days since December 13 during the anti-CAA protests. "If people like Chowdhury use inflammatory language, they will be given befitting reply by the people of West Bengal," he added.

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New Delhi:

From Delhi to Varanasi to Mangaluru to Mumbai, cities across India are witnessing massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Friday saw violent clashes with Uttar Pradesh reporting maximum deaths. So far, 17 people have died in protests, which include five in Assam also. To tackle the situation, state governments have imposed Section 144 in various cities. Mobile internet services remain suspended in as many as 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh and parts of Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka. According to latest reports, thousands of people have been detained in connection with the violent protests. Meanwhile, it seems that the Narendra Modi government is trying to allay the fears of the minorities. Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reportedly said that there was no plan of pan-India NRC by the government. NRC, if it happensno government is bringing it surreptitiously, Naqvi was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Uttar Pradesh was the worst-hit state in terms of violence over the citizenship law. Three people died in Meerut, two in Bijnor, one each in Varanasi, Ferozabad, Sambhal and Kanpur. A day earlier on Thursday, three people died in Lucknow and Karnatakas Mangaluru. If the number of casualties in Assam protests is also included, the national tally of protesters dying in the citizenship stir stands at 17 as of Saturday. Section 144 continues to be in force in parts of Delhi, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

The national capital on Friday witnessed a wave of fresh protests with a car being set on fire during one of the several demonstrations by people in their thousands who took to the streets shouting anti-government slogans over the contentious citizenship law. The epicentre of the protest was the locality around the Jama Masjid where large number of people held a massive protest after the Friday prayers at the mosque defying prohibitory orders and police clampdown.

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, holding up a copy of the Constitution, was leading the protesters in a march from Jama Masjid area to Jantar Mantar but they were stopped at the Delhi Gate locality where large number of barricades were erected. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, accompanied by her daughter Miraya, joined protesters at the India gate lawns in the evening. This is the second time the Congress leader protested at the India Gate this week against the new law.

Violence broke out in the Delhi Gate area when a group of demonstrators resorted to stone-pelting after police tried to forcefully evict them. In the melee, one car was set on fire and several others were damaged.

The agitation erupted after the Narendra Modi government passed the contentious legislation in Parliament on December 11. Two days later, President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent and making it a law on December 13. The Citizenship Act grants Indian nationality to Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Parsis and Sikhs who fled Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan in half the time of other groups if they can argue they suffered religious discrimination in their country of origin.

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New Delhi:

On late Sunday night, suspected terrorists attacked a police post in Jammu and Kashmirs Kishtwar. According to the latest reports, two police personnel, Mohd Salim and Ajay Kumar (J&K Police SPOs), have sustained injuries. Cordon and search operation launched by security forces in the area.

Earlier today, the Pakistan army violated ceasefire by resorting to shelling and firing on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesperson said. The firing from across the border started in Rajouris Nowshera sector on Sunday morning and that in Mendhar, Krishna Ghati and Poonch sectors went on overnight, he said.

The Indian Army retaliated befittingly in all sectors and there was no report of any casualty in Pakistani firing, the spokesperson said, adding that casualties suffered by the other side were not known immediately.

At about 10.15 am (on Sunday), Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing of small arms and shelling with mortars in Nowshera sector (Rajouri). The Indian Army is retaliating befittingly, he said.

There was also ceasefire violation by Pakistan at many places in Mendhar, Krishna Ghati and Poonch sectors during the intervening night of December 21 and 22, he added.

According to the spokesperson, the cross-border firing stopped in Poonch district early in the morning but it is still going on in Rajouri.

A police official said a number of villages in Nowshera sector were hit by Pakistani shelling.
New Delhi:

India has conveyed a strong protest to Malaysia over Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's comments claiming that India was taking action to deprive some Muslims of their citizenship. Malaysia told that the remarks are neither in keeping with accepted diplomatic practice nor in sync with state of bilateral ties, sources said.

The Charge d'Affairs of Malaysian embassy was summoned to the External Affairs Ministry and he was conveyed India's anguish over Mohamad's comments, official sources said. It was also conveyed that such remarks are both ill-informed and insensitive, the sources said, adding Malaysia was asked to take a long-term and strategic view of the relations between the two countries. Mohamad made some adverse comments against the citizenship law at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

On Friday, the External Affairs Ministry termed as "factually incorrect" remarks reportedly made by Mohamad's that India is taking action to deprive some Muslims of their citizenship.

The ministry also said Malaysia should refrain from commenting on the internal developments of India, especially without a right understanding of the facts.

After visiting the media centre at the Kuala Lumpur Summit on Friday, Mohamad had reportedly said: "I am sorry to see that India, which claims to be a secular state, is now taking action to deprive some Muslims of their citizenship."

"If we do that here, you know what will happen. There will be chaos, there will be instability and everyone will suffer," he said.

Responding to Mohamad's reported remarks, the ministry in a statement said: "According to media reports, the Prime Minister of Malaysia has yet again remarked on a matter that is entirely internal to India."

"The Citizenship (Amendment) Act provides for citizenship through naturalisation to be fast-tracked for non-citizens who are persecuted minorities from three countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan)," it said.

The ministry said the Act does not impact in any manner on the status of any citizen of India, or deprive any Indian of any faith of her or his citizenship.

"Therefore, the Prime Minister of Malaysia's comment is factually inaccurate. We call upon Malaysia to refrain from commenting on internal developments in India, especially without a right understanding of the facts," it said.

On September 29, Mohamad had raised the Kashmir issue at the UN, alleging that India has "invaded and occupied" Jammu and Kashmir and asking New Delhi to work with Pakistan to resolve the issue.

(With PTI inputs)

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Workers at Illinois nursing homes and other long-term care facilities will be required to get a coronavirus vaccine booster dose by March 15, if theyre eligible for the shot, under an executive order Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued Friday.

The new requirement came as the Democratic governor extended his pandemic-era executive orders through March 5, just four days shy of the second anniversary of his initial COVID-19 disaster proclamation.

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Pritzker issued an order in August for all health care workers, education employees and college students to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing, and he later added a requirement for day care workers.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Jan. 31, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Fridays order is the first time the governor is requiring an additional dose beyond the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna regimens or the single shot from Johnson & Johnson.

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A Pritzker spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the new directive applies only to workers in long-term care settings. But those facilities were hit the hardest during the initial waves of the pandemic, before vaccines were available.

While nearly 87% of nursing home workers in Illinois had completed their initial set of vaccinations as of Jan. 30, less than 36% had received an additional dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pritzkers new order comes as the states fifth coronavirus wave, driven by the omicron variant, continues its rapid decline.

State health officials reported 10,070 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Friday, but the average number of cases over the past week fell to 8,627 per day, down from a peak of 32,501 per day during the week ending Jan. 12.

While case counts have become a less reliable indicator of the viruss spread due to the prevalence of home testing and other factors, the strain on hospitals has eased in recent weeks as well.

As of Thursday night, there were 3,135 COVID-19 patients in Illinois hospitals, down from a record high of 7,380 on Jan. 12.

The average number of COVID-19 deaths per day has fallen below 100 for the first time since mid-January. With health officials on Friday reporting 62 additional fatalities, the statewide death toll stood at 31,296 since the pandemic began.

Speaking at an unrelated event in Chicago, Pritzker on Friday said he is encouraged by the improving numbers.

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The COVID metrics are going the right direction, Pritzker said. Im very pleased about that. One of the reasons for that is because weve had the right kinds of mitigations. Illinois has done better than every other state in the Midwest (with) many of the mitigations, most especially getting people vaccinated.

Illinois remains the only Midwestern state where people are required to wear masks indoors while in public, a mandate Pritzker said he would like to drop as soon as we possibly can.

I am constantly listening to the doctors and scientists and encouraging them, When can we do this? Whats the right time? Whats the right way to do it? he said in response to a question about when the requirement might end. And so very hopeful well be able to meet announcements about that.

Chicago Tribunes Joe Mahr contributed.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
New Delhi:

Democratic presidential aspirants Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and two other US lawmakers have come out in support of Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who claims External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar cancelled his meeting with a Congressional committee as she was invited to be a part of that group. Senators Sanders, Warren and other lawmakers tweeted on Friday to express their support for Jayapal, accusing Jaishankar and India of trying to silence the voice of a US lawmaker.

"Shutting out US lawmakers who are standing up for human rights is what we expect from authoritarian regimes - not the government of India. Jayapal is right. She must not be excluded for being outspoken about the unacceptable crackdown on Kashmiris and Muslims," said Sanders

On Friday, S Jaishankar said he has no interest in meeting Pramila Jayapal. He said her report on Kashmir is not a fair understanding of situation in Jammu and Kashmir or fair characterization of what the Govt of India is doing.

Earlier, top Democratic Senator Kamala Harris came out in support of Jayapal Harris, who dropped out of the Democratic presidential race early this month in a tweet said, Its wrong for any foreign government to tell Congress what members are allowed in meetings on Capitol Hill.

Im glad her colleagues in the House did too, she said responding to a news report in The Washington Post which said that Jaishankar refused to attend a meeting of House Foreign Affairs Committee, because Jayapal was also scheduled to be present in that meeting along with other lawmakers.

Jaishankar, who is on visit to US for two-plus-two ministerial level talks, said he has no interest in meeting lawmakers who are neither objective nor open to discussion and have already made up their mind. I am aware of that (Congressional) resolution. I dont think its a fair understanding of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, or a fair characterisation of what the government of India is doing. And I have no interest in meeting (Jayapal), Jaishankar told reporters.

On cancellation of her meeting with Jaishankar, Jayapal was quoted by Washington Post as saying, This only furthers the idea that the Indian government isnt willing to listen to any dissent at all. The seriousness of this moment shouldve been a reason for a conversation, not dictating whos in the meeting, which seems very petty.

Earlier, Pramila Jayapal brought a resolution urging India to lift all restrictions on communications in Jammu and Kashmir which were imposed following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.

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New Delhi :

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has demanded a probe after a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the States finances for 2017-2018 indicated that the then Devendra Fadnavis government failed to submit utilisation certificates (UC) for funds amounting to Rs 65,921.35 crore. The report indicated the lack of proper monitoring by the department of the use of grants.

Pawar also slammed the NDA government on Saturday, saying the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens were ploys to divert attention from serious issues plaguing the country.

CAA and NRC are ploys to divert peoples attention from serious issues that the country is facing, he told reporters here.

Not just minorities, but those who care for the countrys unity and progress are opposing CAA and NRC. The new citizenship law will disturb and hurt religious and social unity and harmony of the country, he said.

He questioned why only migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan will be given citizenship under the amended law and not the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Eight states, including Bihar, ruled by an NDA ally, have refused to implement the law and Maharashtra should also take a similar stand, Pawar said in response to a query.

The CAA may be a central act, but the implementation will be done by the state agencies. But do the states have resources and machinery to do so, he asked.

The former Union minister also sought an SIT probe, headed by a retired judge, into Pune polices action against activists in the Elgar Parishad case.

With PTI Inputs

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New Delhi:

Indian-American Sundar Pichai who took over the reins as chief executive of Google parent Alphabet will receive US Dollar 240 million in stock awards over the next three years. These earnings are in addition to US Dollar 2 million, Pichais annual salary beginning in 2020. Pichai took over the charge after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced that they are stepping down from the leadership role of the parent company Alphabet.

Bestowing performance-based stock awards for the first time, the company will grant Pichai additional US Dollar 90 million in stock grants. This depends if Alphabet shares outperform the S&P 100 Index.

With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and 'Other Bets' operating effectively as independent companies, it's the natural time to simplify our management structure, wrote the two Google co-founders.

"We've never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there's a better way to run the company," they said.

"And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet's investment in our portfolio of Other Bets," said Page and Brin.

"We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders. In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we're passionate about!" they wrote.

In his statement, Pichai made it clear that the transition will not affect the Alphabet structure or the work they do day to day.

"I will continue to be very focused on Google and the deep work we're doing to push the boundaries of computing and build a more helpful Google for everyone," he wrote.

"At the same time, I'm excited about Alphabet and its long-term focus on tackling big challenges through technology," he said in his email.

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New Delhi:

The police has arrested five persons when they were trying to recreate a scene of attack wearing skullcaps and lungis in an empty train in West Bengals Murshidabad district, where railway stations and trains were torched in protest against the amended citizenship law.

The accused pelted stones on a train on trial run near Lalbagh railway station and videorecorded the purported attack, a senior police officer said on Saturday. Local people caught the accused and handed them over to us. Subsequently, they have been arrested, he said.

The accused were locally known as activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of RSS. A case has been initiated against the accused for allegedly being involved in damaging railway property. They were produced before a court on Friday. Two of them were remanded to police custody, while the other three were sent to judicial custody, the police officer said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Thursday claimed that she had received inputs that the BJP is allegedly buying skullcaps for its cadres, who are wearing them while vandalising public properties to malign a particular community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told a poll rally in Jharkhand that, People who are setting fire (to property) can be seen on TV... They can be identified by the clothes they are wearing.

The state had witnessed violence and arson from December 13 to 17 during protests against the new citizenship law. Agitators attacked Railway properties in many districts and vandalised them during the protests against the amended Citizenship Act in the state.

The Beldanga railway station complex in Murshidabad district was set on fire and RPF personnel who were deputed there were thrashed by protesters, while a number of compartments of an empty train were set on fire at Krishnapur in the district. A portion of the Sankrail railway station complex in Howrah district was set ablaze during protests against the amended citizenship law.
New Delhi:

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, arrested in connection with Daryaganj violence after protests at the Jama Masjid, was sent to judicial custody for 14 days on Saturday. Azad was taken to Tihar jail after the Tis Hazari Court denied his bail plea. Aazad, who was arrested earlier in the day, sought bail from the court on the ground that there is no evidence that he instigated the Jama Masjid crowd to go to Delhi Gate where the protesters had turned violent. The police opposed his bail plea on the ground that he may threaten witnesses and his judicial remand is necessary for the sake of law and order.

The court dismissed his bail plea and sent him to judicial custody.

Earlier, a lawyer had requested the court to direct the investigating officer to give details of Azad's whereabouts. The court also sent 15 people arrested in connection with the violence in Daryaganj to two days' judicial custody.

Azad's outfit had organised a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar on Friday against the new citizenship law, despite not having permission from police. The protesters marching towards Jantar Mantar from Jama Masjid were stopped by police and paramilitary personnel near Delhi Gate, after which they turned violent and set a car on fire and damaged a few other vehicles. Police resorted to lathi-charge and used a water cannon to control the situation.

(With PTI and ANI Inputs)
Washington:

President Donald Trump on Friday signed off on US sanctions against companies building a Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany that Congress fears will give the Kremlin dangerous leverage over European allies. The sanctions, which are opposed by the European Union, were included in a sprawling defense spending bill Trump signed at a ceremony on Joint Base Andrews, an air force installation outside Washington, DC.

They target companies building the nearly USD 11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea with the aim of doubling deliveries of Russian natural gas to Europe's leading economy, Germany. US lawmakers have warned the pipeline would enrich a hostile Russian government and vastly increase President Vladimir Putin's influence in Europe at a time of heightened tension across the continent.

Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly approved the sanctions, with the Senate voting Tuesday to send the measure to Trump's desk. Trump, who has been accused by Democratic opponents of being soft on Putin, had little choice but to give his approval.

The sanctions were inserted into a much wider USD 738 billion annual Pentagon funding bill and, given the level of congressional support, a veto would likely have been overturned. The US measures have angered Moscow and the European Union, which says it should be able to decide its own energy policies.

Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Maas, discussed the issue during a phone call Friday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. Pompeo expressed "strong opposition" to the project, Ortagus said in a statement. The German-Russian Chamber of Commerce insisted last week that the pipeline was important for energy security and urged retaliatory sanctions against the United States if the bill passes.

The US sanctions target pipe-laying vessels for Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream, a Russia-Turkey pipeline, and include asset freezes and revocation of US visas for the contractors. One major contractor that could be hit is Swiss-based Allseas, which has been hired by Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom to build the offshore section.

The power of Gazprom, which is closely integrated with the Russian state, is at the center of concerns about the pipeline in the United States, and also in eastern and central European countries. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican ally of Trump, said that halting Nord Stream 2 should be a major security priority for the United States and Europe alike.

Also Read: 'Reverse Course In Kashmir': US Congressional Bill Urges India

"It's far better for Europe to be relying on energy from the United States than to be fueling Putin and Russia and dependent on Russia and subject to economic blackmail," he told the Senate last week. However, Senator Rand Paul, another Republican, voted against the bill, objecting to its bid to "sanction NATO allies and potentially American energy companies."

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Mumbai:

A 43-year-old man was arrested on Saturday in Parel in the metropolis for allegedly killing his wife after she refused to have dinner due to his coming home in an inebriated state, police said.

Ajay Adsul picked up a fight with his wife Sujata on Friday night after she admonished him for drinking and her refusal to have dinner further angered him, an official said.

He assaulted her and then banged her head against a wall of their flat in Mahalaxmi building in Parel. She collapsed and Adsul rushed her to hospital telling doctors there she had fallen in the bathroom, he said.

Sujata was declared dead on arrival and the post mortem revealed injuries after which Adsul was questioned and then arrested for murder, the Bhoiwada police station official said.

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New Delhi:

Amid nationwide agitations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the Congress, led by party chief Sonia Gandhi, will stage a silent protest at Rajghat on Monday. Top leaders of the party including its former president Rahul Gandhi and its General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are likely to participate in the 'satyagraha dharna'. Earlier, the protest was scheduled to be held on Sunday but it was postponed for a day after Delhi police denied permission to hold the dharna.

"Congress Party senior leaders will undertake a satyagrah at Mahatma Gandhis Samadhi at Raj Ghat, day after tomorrow, December 23, 2019, from 3 PM to 8PM," said a statement by AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal.

"In line with the path of non violent, yet consistent and unequivocal opposition shown by the Father of the Nation, the Party's satyagrah will fight against this dictatorial Government and to protect Baba Sahebs sacred Constitution," it said.

"There have been widespread resentment against the recent actions of the BJP Government, amongst people across the country- especially amongst youth demanding the restoration and maintaining the sanctity of rights guaranteed by our Constitution."

"The dictatorial and stubborn BJP Government at the Centre and in different States has used indiscriminate police force against ordinary citizen in the name of maintaining law and order. This has led to further worsening and spiralling of the situation and the Congress Party is committed to upholding the principles enshrined in the Constitution and fight for the continuation, maintainance and safeguard of the rights of all, as enshrined and guaranteed by our founding fathers," the statement added.

The decision to hold the silent protest was taken at a meeting of top party leaders at Sonia Gandhi's residence on Saturday evening.

The Congress is up against the government for using "brute" force against "silent and peaceful" protesters across the country and for "stopping" people from holding demonstrations against the new citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), proposed to be imposed across the country.

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reviewed the progress made by various ministries in the last six months after the BJP returned to power for the second consecutive term. In the meeting that is likely to continue till the evening, brief presentations are being made by ministries on various decisions taken by them, sources in the government said.

The sources said the focus would be on agriculture, rural development and the social sector.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of protests in various cities against the amended citizenship law and the proposed nation-wide National Register of Citizens exercise. But it is not known whether the issue came up in the meeting.

Usually, the Council of Ministers meets after the Cabinet meeting every month. But this time, the meeting is being held independently. The regular weekly Cabinet meeting will be held on December 24, the sources said.

In the past few weeks, the prime minister has reviewed progress made by various ministries in implementing the governments policies during Cabinet meetings.

The BJP-led NDA returned to power with a greater mandate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. It completed six months in power in November.

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New Delhi:

Auto major Hyundai Motor India plans to drive in affordable SUV models, based on its existing range, as it looks to plug in gaps in the current lineup and expand customer base. The auto maker, which sells popular models like Creta, Venue and Tuscon, expects SUV models to contribute more than 50 per cent of its total volume sales over the next few years.

"We can see some gaps in the SUV segment so there can be extended versions of body types which would be more affordable to customers," Hyundai Motor India Ltd MD and CEO S S Kim told PTI. The company plans to have multiple body styles based on current SUV models to cater to the increasing demand, Kim added.

He said that even in slowdown the demand for SUVs remained strong. "In many global markets SUVs contribute over 50 per cent of the total sales...In India from less then 30 per cent right now, I expect it to increase to 50 per cent" Kim said while referring to the entire domestic passenger vehicle segment.

When asked to comment specifically on Hyundai, he added: "If we had more SUV products, our contribution or SUV mix of the total volume will be higher. I would say in the coming few years our SUV volume will exceed 50 per cent." Currently, the company's SUV sales contribute around 27 per cent to the total sales volume which stood at around 7.10 lakh last year.

When asked about expected recovery in the passenger vehicle segment, Kim said the industry would see sales momentum revive only in the next fiscal. "Probably after the BSVI implementation, for few months the customer will need time to understand new norms and new situations.

So, I would say demand will grow gradually from the second half of the the next year" Kim said. The market situation would improve with BSVI emission norms kicking in from April next year as confusion regarding the transition would get over, he added. "I believe that with BS VI norms kicking in from April 1 next year, the industry would start moving towards normalcy.

Besides the new product launches would also help in improving the situation," Kim noted. Domestic passenger vehicle wholesales slipped into negative territory once again in November after registering a slight recovery in the preceding month, as muted demand conditions forced companies to reduce their dispatches to dealers.

Passenger vehicle sales declined 0.84 per cent to 2,63,773 units in November from 2,66,000 units in the year-ago period. The sales figure would have been much lower during the period under consideration, had it not been aided by the utility vehicle segment, which saw despatches grow by 32.7 per cent to 92,739 units in November as compared with 69,884 units a year-ago.

PV sales had risen marginally in October aided by positive festive season sentiment and introduction of new models in utility vehicle space, just about managing to snap 11 continuous months of decline in sales. However, vehicle sales across categories have remained in the negative territory for over a year now.

Apart from this, Hyundai also initiated a feasibility study to bring in fuel cell electric vehicles in the country. Progress for humanity with zero emission mobility is our responsibility and vision to make a long-term positive transformation for our future generations, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Managing Director and CEO SS Kim said in a statement.

The company has initiated a feasibility study for fuel cell electric vehicles in the country and promises to being a solution with zero emissions, he added. Fuel cell electric vehicles are free from all kind of greenhouse gas emissions.

Earlier this year, Hyundai had launched fully-electric SUV Kona in the country. The company claims that the Kona EV delivers a range of 452 km in one single charge under standard testing conditions.

(With inputs from PTI)
For a long, long time, there was reason to assume every major pop star with a sizable audience and willingness to play live would tour indefinitely. One tour ended; the next began. The road stretched on, and on. Bob Dylan once christened his schedule The Never Ending Tour. That was back in 1988. Because as long as a musician was able and willing, regardless of whether we even cared, true mortality was always tomorrow. Way back in 1974, Dylan was already singing, with characteristic snark, It still aint me, babe. His current tour, or so says his website, will conclude in 2024. He will be 83 then.

I mention that by way of saying, I went to see Elton John at the United Center on Friday night. He was lovely, warm, rollicking at times, the set list a wise selection of mostly the smartest classics, Take Me to the Pilot, Levon, Burn Down the Mission, largely culled from the 1970s. No Lion King, no Island Girl. A fun, soulful show. Sorry you werent there, but it was the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, and you had notice. This farewell began back in 2018, was postponed by the pandemic, and now, according to his website, will wrap the second half of 2023. For the record, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour already played the United Center in 2018; then Rosemont and Milwaukee in 2019; there were the two shows this weekend; and though you might assume that was the absolute last time Elton John played Chicago, hell playing Soldier Field in August.

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Its a Midwest kind of goodbye.

It takes a while.

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After all, John will be a youthful 76 when the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour farewells, leaving (at least in Bob Dylan years) room for a Final Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.

Before I sat down I met Forrest and Martha McDuffie of Oswego. They like farewell tours. Theyve attended farewell tours by Kenny Rogers, Bob Seger and Neil Diamond. When I mentioned to Forrest that Elton is returning to Chicago once more, this summer, he said, Oh! Is he? OK, good ... well, look, you need to take the farewell thing as a big Well see. Across the crowded preshow hallway, a guy in a denim jacket was saying to a mother and her daughter, No, I do not think this is the last tour. I mean, do you?

I do, the mother said.

Unless Elton runs out of money, the man said, then pulled out his phone, Hey Siri, is Elton John broke?

The daughter, Emily Klasky, was a teenager, she wore a terrific sequined-replica of Elton Johns glitter-crusted Los Angeles Dodgers costume; she wore it for Halloween; she said she just started listening to Elton John after the 2019 biopic Rocketman. She didnt seem concerned if he retires. The guy is 74. Cash in that 401(k), Captain Fantastic. Of the people I spoke with, those saddened by Elton retiring were nearing retirement age, and younger fans (of which there was a sizable number) merely shrugged. One 20-something from Logan Square wearing peach-colored, bedazzled eyeglass frames told me, Im more scared that Elton will get mad at Joe Rogan and quit Spotify.

Then he waded into the crush of people and sang the chorus of Levon loudly, to whoops from passersby, singing it the way Elton sings it, the way he sang it soon after: Soaring, throaty drama that seemed to catch a tide of strings  He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas Day! When the New York Times said God is dead! And the wars begun! Its the sound of my mother singing to herself in the car when I was seven and no doubt, she sounded great in her own head. At its best, Eltons farewell recaptures that release, and does surprisingly often, and its nothing to take lightly. Its the heart of what you will miss when hes gone, coupled with that exuberant pound of the low keys of the piano. It never ages. A tinkly Candle in the Wind was too far this side of kitsch to sound more than routine on Friday, but Border Song, its alchemy of bombast and sincerity, still grabs. On an epic Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, he took those qualities and tacked on a headlong rush. You could watch Elton chasing down old times.

Elton John in concert at the United Center in Chicago on Feb. 4, 2022, as part of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. (Doug George / Chicago Tribune)

You could also see an older musician, one gone pear-shaped, who waddles slowly whereas he once leapt across stages. He does his old mugs and scowls and tongue wags at the audience, but now it resembles a grandpa playing with children. Which sounds probably crass, but, truly, it was kind of oddly touching. Then again, self-parody is baked into Elton John. He wore black tails, he wore a dragon-green robe, which he pulled off to reveal ... a track suit, as if, after the show, he was making a Trader Joes run. It was laugh-out-loud charming, an aging star delivering a glimpse of retirement.

He paused at times to remind us of his electrifying American breakthrough in 1970; he noted the November date of his first Chicago show and that Fridays was exactly his 50th concert in the city. Back then, in the old mythology of rock mortality  when the performers of what we now call classic rock were naive and young  retirement sounded improbable. The idea was to drop dead on stage.

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Metaphorically, at least.

Five decades on, those tropes are calcified, mostly retired. Madonna canceled shows for health problems. Members of Metallica took time off to address health issues. Mick Jagger had heart surgery. Nobody really wants to die on stage. We knew this would happen, right? We just never thought about it, OK? It sounded cool. Except Tom Petty and Prince died taking drugs intended to relieve some of the pain of endless touring. Those deaths hurt. The CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame told USA Today that hes tired of lowering their flag to half-staff all the time. And so retirement beckons louder than ever these days. Except, once again, of course, entertainers have mixed success with retirement.

Cher has had multiple farewell tours. Judas Priest once bid adieu, then decided later, nah. The Who made a big deal about its retirement in the early 1980s, but that didnt stick. Kiss has been saying goodbye for years. The Band famously played The Last Waltz, and Robbie Robertson warned in Martin Scorseses classic film of the show that the road kills. But then the Band continued touring (minus Robertson). Ozzy Osbourne launched the No More Tours tour in the 1990s; as well as the Retirement Sucks Tour; and the No More Tours 2 farewell tour. The Grateful Dead played its last show at Soldier Field in 2015; soon after, many of the remaining members continued as the Dead & Company.

Its not always marketing.

I will go out on a limb and believe Paul Simon retired when he finished his farewell tour a few years ago. Same with Bob Seger and Anita Baker. I also believe, when Elton Johns tour has finished, he really will be finished. Im even OK with him dragging it out.

The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, full of self-aggrandizement and nostalgia, but played with heart, takes the shape of actual closure. I could have done with fewer distracting videos blown up King Kong-size behind Elton  but then am I really complaining about bad taste at an Elton John concert? You get the Americana-inflected, Band-influenced earthiness that juiced his first splash (the shows best moments are when the band roams a bit, recalling the loosey-goosey energy of those early albums); you get the gradual 80s mediocrity (Im Still Standing); you get Cold Heart, his duet with Dua Lipa (and first Top 10 hit in decades), a reminder he was contemporary once, too; which he pairs with Your Song, segueing from his latest hit to his first, spanning 52 years. Then, after two and a half hours, he stands on a platform which ascends upward, through a screen at the back of the stage, as if Elton John were being placed in storage.

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Maybe he is.

As Randy Newman once put it, Theres nobody applauding at home.

cborrelli@chicagotribune.com

Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
New Delhi :

The All Indian Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) has formed a team of three forensic doctors to conduct the second autopsy of four persons accused of gangrape and murder of a veterinarian doctor near Hyderabad, who were killed in an alleged police encounter on December 6.

The team will be led by Dr Sudhir Gupta, head of forensic at AIIMS. The other two doctors in the team are Dr Adarsh Kumar and Dr Abhishek Yadav. Dr Varun Chandra will assist the team in the post-mortem examination.

The second autopsy will be conducted by the team in the mortuary of the state-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad on December 23 at 9 am, an AIIMS communique to Telangana special chief secretary stated.

The medical board will depart for Telangana on Dec 22 and 5.15 pm and will be coming back on Dec 23, a source said. The team has been formed after the Telangana High Court on Saturday directed re-postmortem of the bodies of four accused.

The bodies of the accused were preserved after pleas were filed alleging extra-judicial killing of the men and claiming it was a fake encounter.

A division bench directed that the autopsy be conducted before Dec 23 and the report be submitted to the Registrar General of the high court.

After the postmortem, the bodies can be handed over to the families of the four men. The doctors were advised to express an independent view on the basis of the evidence collected by them.

The four accused were arrested on Nov 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman veterinarian and burning her body. The case triggered widespread protests across the country.

On Dec 6, they were gunned down by police at Chattanpalli when they were taken to the site of the offence for reconstruction of the crime scene for investigation. The encounter has come under legal scrutiny. The charred remains of the 25-year-old veterinarian were found on Nov 28.

The first post mortem was conducted on Dec 6, the day the four men were killed, in a state-run hospital in Mahabubnagar from where the bodies were subsequently shifted to Gandhi Hospital.

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New Delhi :

The Jawaharlal Nehru Teachers' Association (JNUTA) on Friday held a demonstration outside the HRD Ministry to draw its attention to the 'alternative' model of exams in the varsity.

A delegation of the JNUTA met Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare and Joint Secretary G C Hosur.

"The mockery of academic standards being enacted by the VC (vice chancellor) by trying to manufacture an artificial closure to the semester by compelling teachers to conduct examinations in 'alternative' modes like e-mail and WhatsApp was highlighted, " the JNUTA said.

The delegation also pointed out that the real stumbling block to any resolution is the VC and his "autocratic style" of governance, in violation of the framework set out by the JNU Act, statutes and ordinances, the teachers' body alleged.

The JNUTA said it was assured that the HRD ministry will be willing to make efforts to find a resolution in the next few days.

The ministry was also informed about the JNUTA's appeal to the president of India, visitor to the varsity, to remove M Jagadesh Kumar from his position of vice-chancellor.

"The JNUTA agreed to provide a detailed report on all violations for the consideration of the MHRD," it said.

Many students received question papers of all subjects through e-mail on Friday with the deadline being December 23 to submit their papers.

The JNU Students' Union has condemned the varsity's move to conduct alternative model of exams. Students have been on a strike for over one-and-a-half months over the issue of hostel fee hike.
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Actor and comedian D.L. Hughley said society should hold judicial leaders to a higher standard. So when Hughley discovered juvenile court judge Donna Scott Davenport created Rutherford County's system which illegally arrested and jailed thousands of children for decades, he shared a fitting punishment.

"She was a conduit to that system," Hughley said Thursday night to a standing-room only audience at Middle Tennessee State University. "It can't just be an apology and you resigning.

"She should go to jail."

Many in the crowd applauded in agreement.

Hughley, one of the stars of "The Original Kings of Comedy," was in Murfreesboro on Thursday to deliver a keynote address, part of MTSUs celebration of Black History Month. As expected, his social commentary included condemnation of Davenport  he's talked about her before on his nationally-syndicated radio show.

Davenport, 69, is one of the last elected officials still in office after being tied to the countys notorious juvenile justice policies. She's also an MTSU alumni and former adjunct professor at the university. In 2015, she delivered MTSUs commencement speech.

On Jan. 18  nearly six years after her complicity became public with the arrests of students at Hobgood Elementary and other locations  Davenport announced she would not seek re-election. Her announcement also occurred one day after Democratic Party lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly said they were seeking legislation to oust her.

Davenport announced she will retire after completing her eight-year term by Aug. 31.

MORE COVERAGE: Plaintiffs' attorney responds to Davenport's retirement announcement: 'Good riddance'

MORE COVERAGE: These mothers watched police arrests their kids

MORE COVERAGE: Timeline of Rutherford County's history of illegally arresting and jailing minors

"After prayerful thought and talking with my family, I have decided not to run for re-election after serving more than twenty-two years on the bench," Davenport said in her announcement.

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"I will always look back at my time as Judge as one of the greatest honors of my life, and I am so proud of what this Court has accomplished in the last two decades and how it has positively affected the lives of young people and families in Rutherford County. I wish my successor the best and hope that this job provides them the same fulfillment it has provided me over the years."

A nearly full house listens as comedian and radio talk show host D.L. Hughley speaks about the state of America and answers questions from the audience during a Black History Month appearance at MTSU on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.

Hughley wasnt moved by Davenports decision. He believes she and others should face criminal charges for ruining lives.

"I think it shouldnt even be a question as to (if) thats even a viable option, he said. "I think that if youve wrecked lives, if youve miscarried justice, then it shouldnt be just 'Jesus told me to retire.'"

Last fall, during his nationally-syndicated radio show, Hughley compared the arrests of Blacks for crimes that didnt exist during the Jim Crow era to Rutherford Countys actions in recent decades.

Davenport is Rutherford Countys first and only juvenile court judge, dating back to 2000. That year, she won her seat as an independent. Davenport ran for re-election in 2006 as a Democrat in an uncontested election, and again in 2014 as a Republican.

In March 2003, Davenport established the 'de facto policy,' later referred to as the 'filter system,' according to court records. This policy was designed to incarcerate children pretrial whenever there was probable cause that the child committed a delinquent offense and jail staff deemed incarceration to be in the childs "best interests."

"Best interests" was never defined  leaving it to the discretion of administrators at the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center.

As a result, thousands of minors were arrested and jailed for charges as minor as truancy or made-up such as being rumored to be at the scene of a fight.

Some children as young as nine.

In April 2016, police officers arrested children at Hobgood Elementary and other locations whose voices were believed to be in a YouTube video during a fight, charging them with failing to break up the off-campus incident. Some of the children were not involved; others were never at the scene.

Some were handcuffed.

Problem was, "Tennessee law strictly prohibits the pretrial incarceration of children" unless the youth are "being charged with a violent felony, a weapons offense, or a probation violation," according to a class-action lawsuit filed against the county.

MORE COVERAGE: This 10-year-old was arrested in 2016, accused of encouraging a fight. But he wasn't there. Now he's suing the juvenile court judge

MORE COVERAGE: 'Such a lack of humanity': Pastor, NAACP condemn Rutherford County's decades of illegal youth arrests, jailing

Litigation led to U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr.'s 2017 court order to stop the illegal incarcerations.

"The juveniles that are arrested in Rutherford County are being deprived of their procedural due process rights, which is unquestionably irreparable harm." Crenshaw said in his ruling.

In June, Rutherford County agreed to pay as much as $11 million to settle a class action lawsuit that accused officials of ignoring state law and the U.S. Constitution by illegally arresting and incarcerating more than 1,000 children. The settlement was the result of 20 months of court-ordered negotiation.

By December, the final settlement shrunk to an estimated $6 million and closer to 500 filed claims, paying $4,800 per illegal incarceration and $1,000 per illegal arrest. The original plaintiffs received more.

OPINION: Rev. Vincent L. Windrow looking for 'real justice' for arrested children

Thousands of others were ineligible to join the lawsuit because of the statue of limitations.

"No one can do a thing like that in a vacuum," Hughley said of the county's policies.

"There have to be accomplices, there have to be people that look the other way, there have to be judges and jailers and lawyers and prosecutors all sending people to jail, ruining their lives."

MTSU President Sidney McPhee listens to comedian and radio talk show host D.L. Hughley speak about the state of America and answers questions from the audience during a Black History Month appearance at MTSU on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Actor and comedian D.L. Hughley discusses Judge Donna Scott Davenport
Former boxer Floyd Mayweather will join a growing list of big-time names in the world of NASCAR this season.

Mayweather announced earlier this week his plans to start his own team  The Money Team Racing  which will make its debut at Daytona Speedweeks later this month.

Kaz Grala, a 23-year-old racer who won a NASCAR Trucks Series race at Daytona in 2017, will drive the No. 50 Chevy and attempt to qualify for the Feb. 20 Daytona 500.

Mayweather, the 44-year-old former prize fighter, will team up with co-owner William Auchmoody, who will also serve as TMT Racings general manager.

The team indicated that it intends to compete in select races during the rest of the Cup Series season.

Money Mayweather: Floyd Mayweather starts NASCAR team, will enter car in Daytona 500 with Kaz Grala

Rolex winners: A look at all 5 class winners from the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway

Michael Jordan waved the green flag to start the 2010 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

I love fast cars and I love to compete. I know NASCAR will not be easy, but anything easy isnt worth doing to me, Mayweather said.

Michael Jordan, Pitbull start NASCAR teams

Mayweather is just the latest worldwide name to jump into the NASCAR world.

Last season, Mr. Worldwide himself  Pitbull  started Trackhouse Racing with co-owner Justin Marks. Last summer, just a few months into its inaugural season, that team then acquired Chip Ganassi's racing operation  Chip Ganassi Racing.

This season, Trackhouse will now field two cars with Daniel Suarez returning for his second season and Florida native Ross Chastain joining the operation.

Pitbull, the Grammy-winning artist, will also perform at this weekend's Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum.

"Its an honor to integrate culture, music and NASCAR racing as the universal language to unite new audiences around the world," he said.

While Pitbull and Mayweather are big names, it doesn't get much bigger than Michael Jordan, who started up 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin last season.

"Growing up in North Carolina, my parents would take my brothers, sisters and me to races, and I've been a NASCAR fan my whole life," Jordan said at the time. "The opportunity to own my own racing team in partnership with my friend, Denny Hamlin, and to have Bubba Wallace driving for us, is very exciting for me.

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The 23XI team, with driver Bubba Wallace, won its first race last fall at Talladega and, like Trackhouse, has also expanded this season with the addition of a second car.

Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup Series champion, will drive the No. 45 Toyota alongside Wallace's No. 23 machine.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Michael Jordan, Pitbull and now Floyd Mayweather enter NASCAR world
Over dinner, my wife Connie asked me what I would do if I were the newly elected mayor of Gadsden.

First and foremost, let me make this clear: I have no interest in being mayor of Gadsden. I do have great interest in what the new mayor-elect has in store for the city. He or she must be a fountain of new ideas while dealing with a myriad of problems that presently exist.

The new mayor must be a visionary, a person who sees things as they should be and not as they are. But, to answer Connies question, there are some things I would like to see made primary on the new mayors agenda.

My answers are heavily business oriented, because business has been my life.

In the very first days of the new mayors term, and because of the present caustic business environment that presently exists in Gadsden, he or she should appoint a business roundtable of well-qualified individuals. These people would help the mayor in the decision-making process.

Gadsden is blessed with multi-talented business men and women who can bring to the table new insights.

There should be no political cronyism associated with the appointments to this roundtable. The first requisite for inclusion on this council should be the love of Gadsden.

Because of my interest in the Northeast Alabama Regional Airport and the present rendering plant saga, the next subject for change would be the airport and the Gadsden Airport Authority. I would immediately dismiss the GAA board, with thanks, and initiate a job search for a professional airport and aviation manager.

Because of the airports importance as the business gateway to Gadsden, the airport managers salary should be commensurate with his or her responsibilities.

Speaking of responsibilities, the airport manager would report directly to the mayor and, as Ive previously advocated, the airport should have its own line item in the Gadsden city budget. That would eliminate the cloud of non-clarity that presently exists with airport operations. I believe the Gadsden airport is a key to industrial development here.

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The Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority presently reports to no one and operates in the shadows of city government. It is financed by Gadsden taxpayers, yet keeps operations behind closed doors. Taxpayers dont even know how many people are employed by the IDA, the salaries of those who are employed or the authoritys operating budget.

Here again, I would assign a line item in the Gadsden city budget to the IDA. Those numbers, if ever made public, might excite some people, but I believe that to operate an active and effective industrial development authority, the executive directors salary should be much higher than that of any other city official. That person is the face and moving force behind industrial development in Gadsden and Etowah County.

I also believe there should be only one industrial development authority in Gadsden and Etowah County. I would talk with county officials about bringing their economic development organization into one dynamic entity with the goal of capitalizing on the opportunities the countys Little Canoe Creek Mega-Site and the Gadsden airport present.

I then would immediately push for the appointment of a delegation made up of a member of the business roundtable, the executive director of the re-constituted industrial development authority and one official each from city and county government, to be charged with the following:

1. Visit United Parcel Service Air Operations and tell them about the 6,800-foot main runway and the 4,806-foot alternate runway that exist at the Gadsden airport;

2. Inform UPS of the existence of the Little Canoe Creek Mega-Site, more than 1,000 acres of industrial development property;

3. Inform UPS of the proximity of Interstate 59.

4. Talk about the river and the mountains that grace our city.

5. Demonstrate the intellectual power of Gadsden State Community College, in particular its technical training component.

I would repeat these presentations to Federal Express, U.S. Postal Service Air Operations and Apple (which has links to Alabama because CEO Tim Cook is an Auburn graduate).

If the aviation business community doesnt know that the above possibilities exist, how else are they to learn about Gadsden airports significant capabilities.

There would be more, but that is the beginning of what I would do if I were mayor of Gadsden.

John F. Floyd is a Gadsden native who graduated from Gadsden High School in 1954. He formerly was director of United Kingdom manufacturing, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., vice president of manufacturing and international operations, General Tire & Rubber Co., and director of manufacturing, Chrysler Corp. He can be reached at johnfloyd538@gmail.com. The opinions reflected are his own.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: John Floyd ponders what he'd do as mayor
Last month, a Tennessee school board voted unanimously to remove the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel Maus from the districts eighth grade curriculum on the Holocaust.

In the book, American cartoonist Art Spiegelman details his parents experience in the lead-up to the Holocaust and their imprisonment at Auschwitz, as well as his own generational trauma.

Maus isnt the first book to get caught in the cross hairs of Americas latest culture wars: The American Library Association has seen an unprecedented number of book bans in the last year.

The books that received the most challenges in libraries and schools back in 2020 were ones dealing with racism, Black American history and diversity in the United States, as well as those that center the experiences of LGBTQ+ characters, said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the groups Office for Intellectual Freedom.

And Maus isnt the first book about the Holocaust to be called into question: In October, a Texas school district administrator advised teachers that if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, they should strive to offer students access to a book from an opposing perspective.

Anne Franks The Diary of a Young Girl and books like Lois Lowrys Number the Stars, a Newbery Medal winner about a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis to avoid being taken to a concentration camp, have been flagged in the past as inappropriate due to sexual content and language.

Thats primarily what caused the McMinn County board of education in Tennessee to nix Maus from its middle school curriculum, though Its worth noting that the nudity is of cartoon mice.

Still, when reading the minutes of the school board meeting, Spiegelman told the New York Times he got the impression that the board members were essentially asking, Why cant they teach a nicer Holocaust?

A museum worker is seen preparing an exhibition at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam in 2008. The exhibition, entitled

Theres a reason educators often assign Maus: Its a teaching tool like no other.

The ban came much to the dismay of the U.S. Holocaust Museum and also to educators, parents and students who see the book as a powerful teaching tool: Maus is basically a long-form comic book, so its not hard to see why preteens and teens gravitate toward it.

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As one parent on Twitter put it: When my son was 12, he was not academic, rarely read a book unless forced by a teacher, but loved Maus books and spoke to me so intelligently and compassionately about the Holocaust and the impact it must have had on his Jewish friends families.

As a learning disabled student, Kristen Vogt Veggeberg said the horrors of the Holocaust did not truly sink in until she read Maus at age 13. Vogt Veggeberg told HuffPost that she was and still is a visual learner; where traditional text accounts of the Holocaust and World War II failed, Maus succeeded.

The images that Spiegelman drew  of the gas chambers, the beatings of small children in the ghetto, the wealthy father-in-law screaming as he realized his privilege was not going to save him from Auschwitz  stayed within my head as I went to my theatre rehearsals and academic decathlons, Vogt Veggeberg, whos now a writer and nonprofit director, wrote in an email.

Going through all of the illustrated pictures of the authors family and finding out all of their fates was haunting and moving even for a self-interested teen, she said: I was shaken at the idea that my entire family  from my beloved grandma to my many, many cousins  could be wiped off the earth.

Educators shared their experience teaching Maus as well. Eli Savit, the prosecuting attorney for Washtenaw County in Michigan, wrote on Twitter that he relied heavily on the text when he was an eighth grade teacher in New York City Public Schools.

My students  learning about the Holocaust for the first time  latched onto it, Savit said. [They] deeply understood the Holocausts horrors. We took a field trip to the Holocaust museum at the end of the unit [and] every single 8th grader was solemn and well-behaved. (To emphasize: that NEVER happens).

Theres profanity, nudity and suicide in the book, but we cant whitewash the horrors of the Holocaust, Savit said. Six million European Jews were systematically and ruthlessly starved, worked or gassed to death, and some were even killed in medical experiments.

Maus quite literally illustrates the ugliness of the Holocaust in a way that is both accessible and unavoidable, Savit told HuffPost in an email interview.

Adolescents in particular want to learn the truth, he said. They want to be treated as the emerging adults that they are, capable of making moral judgments; capable of understanding complexities; capable of being told the truth. The minute they suspect youre shielding them from something, you lose them.

Author and former middle school and high school teacher Karuna Riazi said shes appalled that even something like the Holocaust is getting the both-side-ism treatment.

She told HuffPost that she worries that bans on books like Maus will mean some kids will never get the opportunity to read them.

For many kids in America, their school libraries are the safest place for them to explore new ideas, read widely and freely, and without repercussions, said Riazi, who is also the author of the middle-grade novel The Gauntlet. These bans hit right where they will cause the most damage.

Many teachers have shared author Gwen C. Katzs viral tweets on the pajamafication of history. In the thread, Katz compares Maus to John Boynes concentration camp fable, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, since the latter is increasingly taught in middle school classrooms.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas [has none] of any of the parent-objectionable material you might find in Maus, Night, or any of the other first-person accounts of the Holocaust. Its also a terrible way to teach the Holocaust, Katz wrote, before listing out some of its major flaws:

First, obviously, the context shift. Maus, Night, et al are narrated by actual Jews who were in concentration camps. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is narrated by a German boy. The Jewish perspective is completely eliminated.  Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) January 29, 2022

Second, the emphasis on historical innocence. Bruno isn't antisemitic. He has no idea that anything bad is happening. He happily befriends a Jewish boy with absolutely no prejudice.  Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) January 29, 2022

Third, nonspecificity. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas turns a specific historical atrocity into a parable about all forms of bigotry and injustice. I'm sure Boyne thinks he's being very profound. But the actual effect is to blunt and erase the atrocity.  Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) January 29, 2022

Katz argued that the current Maus debate is part of a broad trend of replacing the literature used to teach history with more kid-friendly, appropriate alternatives.

It might mean replacing Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave or Solomon Northups Twelve Years a Slave with modern historical fiction, for example, she said. Wars, the Civil Rights movement, Apartheid: any icky part of history can be a target.

Indeed, the targets seem to be increasing by the day. As NBC News reported this week in the midst of this Maus controversy, hundreds of books have been pulled from Texas libraries for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians.

In one alarming anecdote from the story, a parent in a Houston suburb asked the district to remove a childrens biography of former first lady Michelle Obama, claiming that it promoted reverse racism. (Reverse racism does not exist.) At another district just outside Austin, Texas, a parent proposed replacing four books on racism with copies of the Bible.

School librarians are pushing back

In school districts throughout the country, school librarians are spearheading grassroots efforts to fight back against book challenges.

Sometimes its as simple as putting out displays of what some might consider touchy subjects, which can include Black History Month and Pride Month.

Ira Creasman, a high school librarian in Colorado, said he was recently told that his school district had to disable comments on their Facebook post celebrating Black History Month because of a deluge of negative comments.

That a display a school library put up for something like Black History Month might be considered a touchy subject is stunning to me, he told HuffPost.

Creasman is a big fan of Maus and believes it is appropriate for eighth graders, but he doesnt discount the need for age-appropriate material for younger readers.

For example, he thinks Disneys Zootopia does an excellent job of illustrating the difference between explicit and implicit bias, but with the distance of the characters being anthropomorphic animals.

Easier entrances to difficult subjects are also helpful, he explained. We need both.

In the wake of the Maus ban, Julie Goldberg, a high school librarian in New Allendale, New Jersey, put up a display encouraging students to pick up the graphic novel. (Some students in the U.S. arent allowed to read Maus in their school anymore, the sign reads. You are.)

Like Katz, Goldberg said shes troubled by the pajamafication of history.

Teenagers know when theyre being lied to, but younger children might not, she said. When we sanitize history, we create cynicism about everything we teach once students find out the truth.

The librarian knows firsthand that her students are smart enough to grapple with the horrors of the Holocaust, and certainly so under the guidance of a teacher.

Goldberg grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, a town that had many Holocaust survivors and children and grandchildren of survivors. Her father had friends and co-workers who were survivors, with numbers tattooed on their arms. Every year, the local public library had displays of photographs from the camps.

I literally could not believe it the first time I heard that there were Holocaust deniers, she told HuffPost. It was so far outside my experience! It was like denying the Revolutionary War. I thought it must be a weird, sick joke.

Nobody ever suggested that the children in Goldbergs town were too young to know about the Holocaust.

I feel like we were born knowing, she said. Its the same for members of any marginalized group. When do Black children get to be protected from the knowledge of racism? Never.

The idea that children from non-marginalized groups need to be protected from the knowledge of slavery, racism and anti-Semitism is confounding to the librarian.

It creates a magic bubble of ignorance around white Christian kids that is unimaginable for any other group of children, she said. It elevates their innocence and comfort over everyone elses reality.

Of course, as Goldberg and other librarians across the country know, soft censorship like this isnt anything new. In response to past censorship efforts, the American Library Association developed guidelines for schools to prevent the sudden and arbitrary removal of books.

Penguin Young Readers School and Library created a book challenge resources page for teachers, librarians and parents to consult if a book is challenged in their school district or library.

One positive to come of the current Maus controversy? People of all ages seem eager to read it. The decades-old graphic novel soared to No. 1 on the Amazon bestseller list in the last week.

As high school librarian and podcast host Amy Hermon told HuffPost: Nothing compels students to read a book more than to tell them that the book is banned.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Members of Beau Korsons family and the Chippewa County Sunrise Rotary Club join Lake State President Dr. Rodney S. Hanley (front row, left) and Sunrise Rotary Club President Tracey Holt (front row, right) at the signing of the paperwork for the Martin (Beau) Korson Chippewa County Sunrise Rotary Club Award.

SAULT STE. MARIE  Lake Superior State University has announced two new memorial scholarships that benefit distinct undergraduates and that honor alumni community members.

The pair of scholarships will be bestowed to recipients effective the 2022-23 academic year, with dollar amount to be determined.

The Martin (Beau) Korson Chippewa County Sunrise Rotary Club Award will be given to an incoming freshman who is pursuing any course of study at Lake Superior State University and who graduated from a Chippewa County high school. The scholarship commemorates Korson, who grew up in Suttons Bay, graduated from Lake Superior State University in 1998 with a degree in mechanical engineering, and spent most of his career in drafting. A transplant to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and a devotee of the outdoors, photography, music, and the Chippewa Theater Guild, he died in 2019 at age 43, surrounded by family, after fighting cancer.

Beau's devotion to his family and community was an example for all of us, and Sunrise Rotary is so pleased to see his name live on with this important scholarship, said Tracey Holt, president of Chippewa County Sunrise Rotary Club. This scholarship will help foster a community-minded next generation.

Lake Superior State University nursing faculty, Chippewa County Health Department staff, and three of Heidi Baileys children join Lake State President Dr. Rodney S. Hanley (front row, center) at the signing of the paperwork for the Heidi Bailey Memorial Nursing Scholarship.

The Heidi Bailey Memorial Nursing Scholarship will be given to a junior or senior Lake Superior State University nursing student interested in home health and hospice care. The award is an homage to Bailey, who graduated from Newberry High School in 1984 and Lake Superior State University in 1988 with a BSN and who worked first at War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and then for 27 years at the Chippewa County Health Department, dedicating herself to hospice and community home health care. The Sault resident passed away in 2021 at age 55 in her home, surrounded by family.

The School of Nursing is grateful to Heidi Bailey's family, friends, and co-workers for the creation and support of the Heidi Bailey Memorial Scholarship to honor Heidi, who had such a positive influence on our nursing students education at the Chippewa County Health Department, which is one of our main clinical sites, said Dr. Kathy Berchem, dean of the College of Health & Behavior at Lake Superior State University. Her legacy will continue on as our nursing students and graduates improve patient care and health outcomes around the globe.

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Scott Smith, vice president of advancement at Lake Superior State University, added that We appreciate the generosity of all the intimates and other donors who wanted not only to recognize two adored members of the Soo community but also to help LSSU students."

These scholarships pay tribute to and give back to both the inner circle of the deceased and the next generation of Lakers in the workforce," he said.

College president Dr. Rodney S. Hanley also said, We at Lake State are touched by these two new scholarships and excited to begin to award them next academic year."

Through largesse, observance, and mindfulness, they speak to community partnerships, fiscal resilience, student learning, and other key aspects of our strategic plan while reinforcing our mission to enhance the quality of life of the LSSU campus and the Great Lakes Region," he said. "They represent good deeds for good people.

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Lake Superior State University to award two new scholarships that honor alumni community members
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday directly rebutted Donald Trumps false claims that Pence somehow could have overturned the results of the 2020 election, saying that the former president was simply wrong.

In a speech to a gathering of the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence addressed Trumps intensifying efforts this week to advance the false narrative that, as vice president, he had the unilateral power to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.

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President Trump is wrong, Pence said. I had no right to overturn the election.

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, Nov. 30, 2021. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

While Pence has previously defended his actions on Jan. 6 and said that he and Trump will likely never see eye to eye on what happened that day, the remarks Friday marked his most forceful rebuttal of Trump to date. And they come as Pence has been laying the groundwork for a potential run for president in 2024, which could put him in direct competition with his former boss, who has also been teasing a comeback run.

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Trump this week had escalated his attacks against Pence. In a statement Tuesday, Trump had said the committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol should instead probe why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval. And on Sunday, he blasted Pence, falsely declaring that he could have overturned the Election!

Vice presidents play only a ceremonial role in the the counting of Electoral College votes, and any attempt to interfere in the count would have represented an extraordinary violation of the law and an assault on the democratic process.

Pence, in his remarks Friday to the group of lawyers in Lake Buena Vista, described Jan. 6, 2021 as a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol and framed his actions that day as in line with his duty as a constitutional conservative.

The American people must know that we will always keep our oath to the Constitution, even when it would be politically expedient to do otherwise, he told the group Friday. He noted that, under Article II Section One of the Constitution, elections are conducted at the state level, not by the Congress and that the only role of Congress with respect to the Electoral College is to open and count votes submitted and certified by the states. No more, no less.

He went on to call out those who have insisted that isnt the case.

Frankly there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president, he added. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election. And Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024.

The audience applauded Pences line about beating the Democrats in the upcoming presidential election, but remained silent when Pence said earlier that Trump is wrong.

Pence was inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, presiding over the joint session of Congress to certify the presidential election, when a mob of Trumps supporters violently smashed inside, assaulting police officers and hunting down lawmakers. Pence, who released a letter moments before the session got underway that made clear he had no authority to overturn the will of the voters, was rushed to safety as some rioters chanted Hang Mike Pence!

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The former vice president, in his remarks Friday, acknowledged the lingering anger among many in Trumps base, even as he said it was time to focus on the future.

The truth is, theres more at stake than our party or political fortunes, he said. Men and women, if we lose faith in the Constitution, we wont just lose elections  well lose our country.

Trump aides did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the speech. But Trump released a statement shortly after that slammed the Jan. 6 committee but notably made no mention of Pence.

Trumps escalating rhetoric comes as he has been under growing scrutiny from the committee, which has now interviewed hundreds of witnesses, issued dozens of subpoenas and obtained reams of government documents that Trump tried to keep hidden.

It also comes as a bipartisan group of lawmakers has been pushing to update the Electoral Count Act to eliminate any ambiguity about the vice presidents role.

Pence has so far tried to thread a needle on his actions Jan. 6, which continue to enrage large portions of Trumps base, posing a potential complication if he runs for president in 2024.

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In recent months, he has generally refrained from voluntarily raising the events of that day but has defended his actions when pressed, saying he was abiding by his constitutional role. Last year, he said in a speech that he will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

He has also accused Democrats and the media of continuing to focus on the insurrection to score political points against Republicans and divert attention from Bidens agenda.

While a basic declaration of fact, Pences decision to describe Trump as wrong was especially significant given Pences posture in the White House. As Trumps vice president, Pence was exceptionally deferential to him, never publicly voicing disagreement and defending even his most controversial actions.

After spending several months laying low after leaving the White House, Pence has returned to the public spotlight. He launched his own political advocacy group and has been traveling the country, visiting early voting states, delivering speeches and hosting fundraisers for midterm candidates. Pence, unlike some possible 2024 presidential contenders, has notably declined to rule out running against Trump. He is also working on a book.

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the chair of the Jan. 6 committee, and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California have both said they plan to call Pence to testify as part of their investigation. It is so far unclear what Pence will do.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday delivered his fourth State of the State address and presented budget and legislative priorities to a joint session of the General Assembly.

Tennessee stands as a beacon to the rest of the country for how we can change lives when we control the size of government, prioritize efficiency, and make smart and responsible investments, Lee said. I am proud to propose a budget and America at Its Best policies that reinforce freedom, innovation, exceptionalism and optimism.

The proposed $52.6 billion budget includes strategic investments in education, transportation infrastructure, law enforcement, rural communities, and more.

K-12 Education

Committing to crafting an updated K-12 education funding formula

$750M recurring increase for new K-12 education funding formula

Since new formula will not commence until FY24, these funds will be utilized in FY23 for: CTE improvements in all high schools and middle schools($500M), moving all 14 public schools out of flood plains ($200M) and GIVE and SPARC grants ($50M).

Proposing a new law that will ensure parents know what materials are available to students in their libraries

Proposing new legislation to make computer science and coding available to every high school student in Tennessee.

$2.5M to expand the Future Workforce Initiative

Formalizing a partnership with Hillsdale College to expand their approach to civics education and K-12 education in Tennessee

$124.7M to provide a well-deserved increase into the teacher salary pool

$25.5M in recurring funding to continue successful summer learning camps

$16M recurring and $16M nonrecurring to the Charter Schools Facility Fund to increase the number of high-quality Charter Schools

Higher Education

$90M to fully-fund the outcomes-based formula, enabling a zero percent tuition increase for public universities

$200M for TCAT infrastructure investments to help double the skilled workforce by 2026

$72M to complete the Oak Ridge Innovation Institute, a partnership with the University of Tennessee to invest in data science and technology, advanced materials, and outcomes-based applications

$6M to establish the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee

$50M to a Carnegie R1 research fund at the University of Memphis, matched by private donors, to sustain the Universitys R1 designation

$250M in infrastructure improvements at Tennessee State University to mitigate life-safety issues and help improve academic and student campus buildings

$170M to invest in a statewide Enterprise Resource System for the University of Tennessee and the Locally Governed Institutions, permitting more streamlined access to information aimed at better serving students in 21st century educational settings

$75.2M to increase the 4-year HOPE Award to $5,100 per student, per year, and the 2-year HOPE Award to $3,200 per student, per year

Four percent salary pool increase for higher education employees to ensure they attract and retain the best employee base possible

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Safe and Secure Tennessee

Adding 100 Highway Patrol Troopers, 20 Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agents, and 25 Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Forensic Science Personnel

Directing the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to create a plan so every house of worship in Tennessee can receive high-quality safety training

$355.6M in a Multi-Agency Law Enforcement Training Academy

$28.4M to fully fund the Correctional Officer salary changes

$66M for the TN Law Enforcement Hiring, Training, and Recruitment program

$179M to complete full construction of Tennessee Advanced Communications Network coverage, ensuring full mobile connectivity across all Tennessee for emergency communications and law enforcement

$150 million to create the Violent Crime Intervention Grant Fund

Rural Tennessee

$82M to reimburse public hospitals for uncompensated care, primarily in rural communities

$26M for Rural Opportunity Grants, helping to get communities ready for corporate investment

$55M to increase access to services across each of the Medicaid Pathways to Independence programs

Healthy Tennessee

$25.5M to provide adult dental benefits for 610,000 Tennesseans eligible for TennCare

$11.8M toward a multiyear commitment to recruit and retain dental providers, as well as provide much-needed dental care for prosthodontic services

$18.6M to attract over 150 new primary care residents

$7M for substance abuse clinical treatment and addiction recovery programs

Supporting Families

Expanding TennCares Health Starts Initiative to put an even greater emphasis on maternal health and holistic care for mothers and children

Expanding funding for relative caregiver placements for children in foster care

Establishing a childcare support program for all foster families, regardless of their DHS eligibility

Infrastructure Modernization

$619M to accelerate projects listed in the IMPROVE Act and invest in transportation projects to ensure economic opportunity

$3.5M to support the Transportation Equity Fund

$4M to enhance litter cleanup on Tennessee highways

Growing Tennessee

$103M for the FastTrack program, ensuring the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has the tools to recruit and retain top companies to call Tennessee home

Formalizing a long-term strategy to develop the Clinch River Nuclear Site

Beautiful Tennessee

$40M to invest in environmental cleanup, including National Priority List sites

$28M to eliminate the deferred maintenance backlog at State Parks

$25M for West TN River Basin projects

This is a proposed budget and will have to be approved by the legislators through the legislative process.

Tennessee is among the states with the lowest debt in the country, and is ranked number one in the nation for long-term fiscal responsibility by U.S. News and World Report.

Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald.

State Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald (District 28)

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Legislative Update: Governor proposes billions in education initiatives
The Livingston County Health Department will be moving from its old building, at the right, into its new building on Feb. 22. The LCHD will be closed Feb. 14-18 as staff moves everything from one building to the other.

After 100 years, Livingston Countys Health and Education Building will finally be retired as the Livingston County Health Department opens the doors to its new building on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

Built in 1922 as Livingston Countys Sanatorium, the site initially was dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, holding 38 beds for Livingston County residents suffering from the illness.

The LCHD was established in 1966 by resolution of the Livingston County County Board and later approved by popular vote through a referendum in 1976, finally consolidating Tuberculosis and Public Health in 1980 and achieving status as a certified public health department by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).

The LCHD has greatly expanded its public health services since 1966, changing from a public health nursing agency to a full-service health department in 1976. More comprehensive health services have been established over the years, such as maternal and child care, school health, food and water safety, environmental health, family planning and STD testing/treatment, emergency preparedness, health screenings and immunizations.

Serving on Livingston Countys Board of Health since 1976 and as board president since 1983, James Day, D.D.S., has been an integral part of the health departments growth.

As a result of continued investments made by the Livingston County Board, the essential public health services our county has grown to depend on over the years will now be offered in a building better-suited to meet the needs of our community members, said Day. We are grateful to the board for their sustained efforts in supporting our countys health.

While times have changed, the public health needs of Livingston County remain. Beginning in 1968, maternal and child health services have since transformed to meet the needs of the whole family with programs like Family Case Management; Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Healthy Families Illinois; Better Birth Outcomes; and Family Planning and STD testing/treatment.

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In 1971, LCHD nurses were busy facilitating a county-wide oral polio immunization program in cooperation with Livingston County schools; much like the immunization efforts in 2009 to combat H1N1 and in 2021 for COVID-19. During the encephalitis outbreak of 1976, the LCHD advised Livingston communities regarding mosquito breeding grounds and prevention of the vector-borne disease, just like the more recent West Nile Virus.

Routine inspections of food service establishments were also initiated in 1976 and continue today.

The Case Coordination Unit (CCU) program was started in 1983 to assist seniors in their homes and remains busy. The Hubert Wellness Clinic was established in 1988 with funds from the Michael Hubert Trust of Dwight to help residents identify health risks early and still serves county residents today.

The LCHDs only school-based health center was started in 1995 at Pontiac Township High School and continues to care for students. Starting just four years later and still active, the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program was initiated at the LCHD to assist women with their cancer screenings and treatment.

When the Smoke-Free Illinois Act in 2008 was implemented by the state legislature, it was the LCHD who helped county businesses make the healthy change and continues to provide enforcement of the law and help with smoking cessation and prevention.

The history of the agency is so immense, this list captures only a portion of the public health support and services that have impacted Livingston County.

Gladys Kohrt

While many have helped to cultivate strong public health programs in Livingston County, few have had the impact that Gladys Kohrt, RN, and MaLinda Hillman, RN, have had at the health department. Starting their careers at the LCHD as public health nurses, both went on to become the agencys longest serving administrators with a combined 42 years  Kohrt having served in the role from 1971-1990 and Hillman having served from 1996-2019.

As one of the first nurses employed by the LCHD, Kohrt was vital in establishing a strong foundation for the health department.

Gladys was instrumental in building the agencys public health nursing program and enrollment in Medicare for home health services, said Hillman. She established a well-run program which helped lay the foundation for all of our public health efforts that have followed.

Sadly, Kohrt passed away in 2001; however, her care for the LCHD continues as the Gladys Kohrt Donation Fund offers assistance for professional development of staff.

MaLinda Hillman

MaLinda Hillman, LCHD nurse of 39 years and protegee of Kohrts, further bolstered the agencys programs and funding during her 23 years as administrator.

In 1966, the agency started with a budget of $7,500 and facilitated 761 home nursing visits. Upon Hillmans retirement in November 2019, the LCHD operated of budget of $1,205,254, almost half of which was awarded through grant funding, and had expanded to more than 30 public health programs serving nearly 10,000 individual Livingston County residents.

In 2016, the LCHD celebrated its 50-year anniversary and was recognized by IDPH as having established a distinguished record of accomplishment and dedication to providing quality health services to north-central Illinois.

Jackie Dever

Speaking to the history of the health department, Jackie Dever, current administrator and LCHD nurse since 1990, said, As we prepare to move and find remnants of our past throughout our 100-year-old building, it is overwhelming to think of all of the people helped over the years and the positive impact the LCHD has had in the county. We are grateful and excited to continue our long-standing tradition of proudly serving Livingston County in a new building that will better serve our community.

The Livingston County Health Department will be closed the week of Feb. 14. It will reopen Feb. 22 in its new facility, which still the 310 E. Torrance Ave. address.

The LCHD will be closed to the public Feb. 14-18 during the move. LCHD staff asks county residents to please plan accordingly if needing resources from the health department. The building may be changing, but the address will stay the same  310 E Torrance Ave, Pontiac. The new building will be open to the public on Tuesday, Feb. 22, (closed 2/21 for President's Day). Plans to demolish the old building will follow at a later date.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: LCHD is moving into new digs with opening on Feb. 22
Nigeria is looking to Europe for funding to complete infrastructure projects such as railways, with a senior official in the West African nation saying Chinese loans are drying up.

Analysts say Nigeria's situation reflects a broader Chinese move away from funding these expensive projects in Africa, where China has provided hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to develop infrastructure as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

Last weekend, Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi told Nigerian newspaper The Guardian that the country was "stuck with lots of our projects because we cannot get money". "The Chinese are no longer funding," he said. "So, we are now pursuing money in Europe."

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 Abuja on Wednesday, Amaechi said Nigeria had approached Standard Chartered Bank for funding of two existing rail projects, Reuters reported.

He had said in July that Standard Chartered had agreed to provide US$3.02 billion for the Port Harcourt-to-Maiduguri railway project and that Credit Suisse was expected to fund the Kano-to-Maradi line, according to the report.

"We have gone to Standard Chartered Bank. They have not done financial closure but they have approved some level of funding for Kano-Maradi," Amaechi was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Nigerian Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi said the country was pursuing funding from Europe. Photo: AFP alt=Nigerian Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi said the country was pursuing funding from Europe. Photo: AFP>

Nigeria's funding difficulties indicate a wider trend of Chinese policy banks becoming more risk-averse, according to analysts.

Tim Zajontz, a research fellow with the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said lenders were more cautious in assessing projects now.

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That included more realistic feasibility studies and consideration of the potential reputational damage for China, particularly with regard to potentially unsustainable debt, he said.

In Nigeria, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has for some time been trying to diversify funding - including looking to European lenders - for its ambitious railway development programme.

Zajontz said that for projects such as Kano-Maradi, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri and the remaining phases of the Lagos-Kano railway, the government had sought to combine commercial loans with concessional funding to keep debt servicing manageable.

But he said European lenders had tough requirements for the economic feasibility of projects, as well as their social and environmental impact. "I am therefore not entirely convinced by Minister Amaechi's optimism about securing funding from European sources for all these projects," said Zajontz, who is also an international relations lecturer at the University of Freiburg in Germany. "His comments might also serve the strategic purpose of getting Chinese financiers back to the negotiation table."

China has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with about 200 million people. Nigeria is also the continent's second-largest importer of Chinese goods - in 2020 it imported goods worth US$16.78 billion, with Nigerian exports to China worth US$2.45 billion.

Between 2000 and 2019, Nigeria received US$7.2 billion from Chinese lenders, according to the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University and Boston University. Most of the loans went into funding projects in the transport and power sectors, and information and communication technology.

But the general trend now is a shift away from costly infrastructure projects in Africa, according to Yun Sun, director of the China programme at the Stimson Centre in Washington. "There are real concerns about debt sustainability, and also the availability of Chinese financial resources given the economic slowdown," Sun said.

European lenders would also be careful about loan terms and project quality, she said. "It all goes back to the financial viability of the project. Good projects should not worry about the availability of funding," she said. "Investors chase quality projects."

Chinese lending to Africa peaked in 2013, the year Beijing announced its belt and road trade and infrastructure scheme. At November's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Senegal, Beijing signalled a continued shift towards trade financing and support for Chinese equity-based investment in Africa, rather than infrastructure loans. During the Dakar talks, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised US$10 billion in trade finance to support African exports and another US$10 billion in credit lines for financial institutions, but he did not say how much would go to bilateral project finance.

W. Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow with the Centre for Global Development in Washington and a former Liberian public works minister, said China appeared to have become more stringent in its financing criteria. "Projects that would have secured funding five years ago may not cut today," he said.

In general, African governments that fall behind on loan repayments or default on outstanding debts will find it difficult to get new loans from China, according to Bradley Parks, executive director of AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

"China's state-owned banks are primarily motivated by profit, so they don't like to throw good money after bad if they can avoid it," Parks said.

But he said Chinese lenders with especially high levels of financial exposure to a particular borrower could offer new loans to help them repay the old ones.

"As the old adage goes, if you owe the bank a little, the bank owns you. But if you owe the bank a lot, you own the bank," Parks said. "This is why we are beginning to see Chinese lenders offer balance of payments loans rather than project loans to some of their biggest borrowers," he said.

"We may also see Chinese lenders minimise repayment risk by lending to project companies and joint ventures rather than government borrowers with unsustainable levels of sovereign debt."

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  2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
North Carolinas Supreme Court has rejected congressional and state legislative maps drawn up by the states Republican legislators as unconstitutional, another blow to GOP legislators as courtroom battles over voting rights violations and partisan and racial gerrymandering climb towards the nations highest court.

The 4-3 party-line decision from the states highest court on 4 February orders the GOP-controlled state legislature to redraw political maps by 18 February to be approved by a lower court no later than 23 February  which is also the deadline for the states Republican leaders to demand an emergency stay as they appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Fridays decision comes after federal judges found that Alabamas GOP-dominated legislature discriminated against Black voters by approving a congressional map that significantly dilutes their political power. Ohios Supreme Court also recently rejected Republican legislators proposed congressional map for violating a constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering.

The 40-page order in North Carolina found that the states Republican legislators deprived voters of substantially equal voting power on the basis of partisan affiliation by drawing a map that diminishes or dilutes a voters opportunity to aggregate with like-minded voters, which unconstitutionally infringes on that voters fundamental right to vote.

The judges decision comes as Democratic and Republican officials wrestle for control of Congress in this years midterm elections in the middle of a contentious nationwide redistricting cycle, the once-a-decade process of redrafting the nations political boundaries based on US Census results.

Republican-drawn maps in North Carolina all but guaranteed Republican control of at least 10 of the states 14 seats in the House of Representatives, despite the states voters being roughly equally divided between parties, according to the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.

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The maps, which were approved in November, would create two new Republican-leaning districts and remove two Democratic-leaning districts.

The maps also could have given Republican state legislators a veto-proof majority in the General Assembly.

This is the justice we sought when we filed this lawsuit, said Carrie Clarke, executive director of the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, a plaintiff in one of the cases challenging the maps.

With new, constitutional maps, North Carolinians will have a fighting chance to elect a government that fulfills their desire for environmental justice and climate action, she said.

The states Republican party accused the state Supreme Court of choosing political expediency over reason in order to invalidate the maps drawn up by legislators.

This blatantly partisan decision flies in the face of centuries of judicial and legislative precedent and directly contradicts any plain reading of the North Carolina Constitution, North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.

For the first time in decades, states are drafting their political boundaries without critical protections from the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, after the Supreme Court invalidated a requirement that changes to voting rules from states with histories of discrimination be approved by the US Department of Justice.

In 2019, the US Supreme Court  following challenges to partisan maps in North Carolina and Maryland  ruled that Congress and state courts should rule on the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering. Following Fridays ruling, lawyers for plaintiffs argued that the judges ruling carried out the high courts mandate.

Over the last several months, Senate Republicans repeatedly invoked a filibuster to block legislation for national voting rights protections  including restrictions on partisan gerrymandering  as well as restoring elements of the Voting Rights Act tossed out by the Supreme Court.
The vast majority of Akron-area hospital employees have opted to roll up their sleeves and get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Still, Northeast Ohio hospitals have collectively placed hundreds of workers on leave for refusing to get the required shot.

A mandate issued by the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services and upheld last month by the U.S. Supreme Court requires health care workers to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Feb. 14 and the second of a two-dose vaccine by March 15.

Hospitals that don't comply with the federal mandate could face hefty fines.

On Thursday, Akron Childrens Hospital said 66 employees were not compliant with the vaccine mandate. Akron Childrens Hospital set its own deadline of Jan. 11 for the first dose.

Cleveland Clinic also said fewer than 450 of its 65,000 employees systemwide in the U.S. are on unpaid leave after not getting the vaccine. The Cleveland Clinic set a Jan. 27 date for workers to get at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.

Summa Health was the first hospital in the Akron area to set its deadline for employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 31 of last year or face termination.

Summa allowed its employees to continue working after the Oct. 31 deadline while going through the disciplinary process. Initially 180, or 2% of employees, were not in compliance and seven ultimately were fired in late November or early December for refusing the COVID vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccine: Summa fires 7 workers who refuse COVID-19 vaccine. CEO says mandate 'right thing to do'

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

In a statement, Akron Childrens Hospital Chief Operating Officer Lisa Aurilio said the 66 employees who still haven't complied with the COVID vaccine mandate represent less than 1% of the hospital's workforce.

A Childrens Hospital spokeswoman said no further information was available, including how many employees initially were put on leave Jan. 11 or when the leave-of-absences would become terminations.

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We are hopeful that number will decrease as additional employees have indicated a willingness to comply, and we are willing to work with them," Aurilio said. "We are sorry to lose employees who have chosen to end their employment rather than comply. A vaccinated workforce is the best protection we can offer our patients, especially those who are most vulnerable, and is the best way to move beyond the pandemic.

At the Cleveland Clinic, 751 employees systemwide initially were placed on an unpaid leave following the Jan. 27 deadline if they didn't have a COVID-19 vaccine or approved exemption, according to a spokesperson.

COVID-19: Cleveland Clinic latest Northeast Ohio hospital to require COVID-19 vaccines for workers

Since that time, the number has fallen to less than 450 workers, according to a statement from the hospital system.

We are proud that the vast majority of our caregivers chose to comply with the mandate," the Cleveland Clinic statement read.

The Cleveland Clinic hospital system includes Akron General, Medina Hospital and Mercy Hospital in Canton.

A Cleveland Clinic Akron General spokeswoman said the health system was not releasing a breakdown of employee vaccination rates per hospital.

Ohio is among 24 states to have the February and March deadlines. Several other states were part of a separate legal action that was not struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court and had until Jan. 27 and Feb. 28 to meet the original deadlines.

Vaccine mandates: Akron Children's places employees who didn't get COVID-19 vaccine on unpaid leave

Other Akron region hospitals' progress on COVID-19 vaccinations

Heres how other hospitals with operations in the Akron region are faring in meeting the Feb. 14 and March 15 COVID-19 vaccination deadlines:

Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls has a 96% employee COVID vaccination rate, up from 91.4% in mid-January, the hospital reported. In a statement, Chief Human Resources Officer Heather L. Milicevic said: Western Reserve Hospital will be compliant with the Federal healthcare worker vaccination requirement by the February 14, 2022, deadline. All employees not currently vaccinated have received notice of the need to submit validation of either the first dose of a two-dose vaccination series or the single-dose vaccination by 12 noon on February 14, 2022. Those employees who have not complied with this policy will be placed on leave on February 14, 2022.

Holli Cholley, chief nursing and operations officer for Bath-based Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center, with operations throughout Summit County, said the system would be compliant by the Feb. 14 deadline: We are offering on site vaccine clinics and also assisting our staff through the medical and religious exemption process to ensure compliance. We currently are 91% compliant. Pursuant to the mandate, employees not compliant by the deadline, will be placed on a leave of absence by February 10, 2022, so that we can plan for and secure staffing to care for our patients as the federal deadline approaches."

Cleveland-based University Hospitals, with offices throughout Summit County and a hospital in Ravenna, has not indicated how many of its caregivers are vaccinated. UH issued a statement, which reads in part: We will comply with federal requirements and updated deadlines. Since the vaccine became available in late 2020, University Hospitals has encouraged our caregivers to get vaccinated, educated them on the benefits of vaccination, and made vaccines readily available. The overwhelming majority of our caregivers are vaccinated. We believe, consistent with the scientific consensus, that COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are the most effective way to protect our caregivers, patients and community from severe illness resulting in hospitalization and death.

Beacon Journal staff reporter Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ. To see her most recent stories and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron-area hospitals place workers on leave for refusing COVID shot
Now, more than one and a half years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, it has become too clear that having the ability to care for our loved ones and our own health is an essential part of building a prosperous and resilient workforce and economy.

Yet, due to decades of inaction to implement essential social safety nets, the U.S. has become a global outlier lacking paid leave, making our workforce completely vulnerable to this and other possible pandemics and wreaking havoc in our familys and countrys financial stability.

But New Mexico has a unique opportunity to take matters into its own hands. We have the opportunity to join a growing list of states that are creating and successfully implementing Paid Family & Medical Leave  a program that would be administered by the state, to provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave for employees to welcome a new child, care for a family member with a serious health concern, or manage their own serious medical condition.

How it would work is simple. Employee and employer contributions will fund compensation payments and administration of the paid leave fundproviding exemptions for employers with fewer than 10 employees. After contributing for at least six months and submitting an application, employees will receive a percentage of their average weekly wages for up to 12 weeks. Self-employed individuals can opt into the program.

This isnt only a common sense program, but it is also a cost-effective one with estimates of contributions for this fund ranging from $2 to $4 every week. And voters of all types agree this would support families in great ways to achieve their desired short-term and long-term stability.

According to an October 2021 poll commissioned by the Southwest Womens Law Center, on behalf of the PFML Coalition, 77 percent of voters surveyed across the state stated they support the creation of a family and medical leave program. And this is no surprise as PFML programs in other states have been shown to address health disparities, close the racial wealth gap, and lessen the economic impacts of caregiving on women, especially in communities of color.

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PFML programs have also shown to be effective in improving employee performance and engagement. Recent studies show that employees who take paid leave are less likely to take sick leave when they return, more likely to be employed by the same business two years later, and more likely to report high morale and workplace satisfaction. In other words this is a win-win for employees, employers, and our local and state economies.

In the upcoming 30-day session, we will have the opportunity to set the right foundation for the implementation of one of the countrys most effective and impactful paid leave programs in the country. Because by creating a PFML program, we will ensure economic security for New Mexico workers and communities now and in the future.

It is time for the legislature to act to ensure that New Mexico workers no longer face the loss of their livelihood due to a health condition or family caregiving responsibilities. Now is the time to protect our workers!

Terrelene Massey is the executive director for the Southwest Womens Law Center in Albuquerque.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Now is the time for New Mexico to protect workers
Protestors show their support for the Freedom Convoy of truck drivers who are making their way to Ottawa to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates by the Canadian government on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, in Vaughan. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) (Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

OTTAWA - Canada's capital on Saturday was bracing for a surge of demonstrators to join a week-long protest against public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that has blockaded much of the downtown core, unnerved residents and been described by officials as an "occupation" and a "siege."

Local police said Friday that they expected as many as 400 additional trucks and up to 2,000 people to join the self-described "Freedom Convoy" over the weekend. They said that some 1,000 people could also be planning a counterprotest.

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Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, under fire for what critics have called a lenient response to the blockades, said police would be "hardening" the perimeter around the protests and deploying 150 more officers to "deliver a clear message" that "the lawlessness must end." Roads, highway ramps and bridges could also be closed.

Related video: Protests of vaccine mandates, restrictions pop up around the world

"The demonstrators . . . remain highly organized, well-funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstrations safely," Sloly, who said he had received death threats, told reporters on Friday. "This remains, as it was from the beginning, an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration."

The protests were initially started in response to U.S. and Canadian rules requiring cross-border truckers to be fully vaccinated to enter their respective countries. But they have ballooned into a movement against all public health measures, which are mostly imposed by the provinces, and Trudeau, who was reelected in September.

In a "memorandum of understanding," Canada Unity, one of the main groups behind the convoy, calls for the governor general, Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Canada, and the Senate to override the public health measures or to topple the government - far outside their constitutional powers.

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The Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a watchdog group, has documented links between several of the convoy's organizers and the far-right.

The number of protesters had thinned considerably from the estimated 8,000 people who congregated on Parliament Hill last weekend. Police estimated that roughly 250 people remained heading into this weekend when reinforcements were expected to arrive.

The convoy has spurred solidarity demonstrations, including a blockade near a U.S.-Canada border crossing in Alberta. Protests in cities including Quebec City and Toronto are planned this weekend.

Ottawa police have said that the convoy is benefiting from national and international logistical and financial support, including from a "significant element" in the United States.

GoFundMe, the crowdfunding site, said Friday that it had removed a fundraiser for the convoy that had raised more than $8 million because it violated its terms of service. It said it had evidence from law enforcement "that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation" with reports of "unlawful activity."

A parliamentary committee voted this week to call on GoFundMe representatives to testify about the fundraiser.

The demonstrations - which have drawn praise from Fox News personalities, Donald Trump and Tesla founder Elon Musk - have left residents on edge.

Big rigs and other vehicles - emblazoned with signs blasting Trudeau in obscene language and reading "Mandate Freedom" - have blocked main arteries and intersections in the downtown core, causing traffic chaos. The deafening sound of horns has filled the air for much of the day and night. Police say residents have been the targets of racist vitriol.

A woman's shelter said some women have admitted themselves into hospital "due to the increased trauma from the noise and fear." A downtown shelter for vulnerable youth said it would close this weekend to protect the safety of its staff and customers.

As Ontario began a planned loosening of covid-19 measures this week, many businesses shut down or delayed reopening, citing safety concerns. The Rideau Centre, a major downtown shopping mall, has been closed for the last week after it was swarmed with protesters who refused to comply with a provincial mask mandate.

A downtown ice cream shop said it would close until next Wednesday after one of its employees was physically assaulted on the way to work, "blocked on the sidewalk by two men and shoved to the ground for wearing a mask."

"It's not a protest anymore," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this week. "It's become an occupation."

The organizers have vowed to remain until their demands are met. They've built a wooden structure and stockpiled diesel fuel and propane near Parliament, raising security concerns and prompting police criticism.

Sloly has defended the police response, citing worries that the protesters will use vehicles against them and that they might be armed.

"I have deep personal empathy for those that are suffering," Sloly said. "We are doing everything we can to make sure we keep this city safe."

He said this week that there might not be a "policing solution" to the blockades and that officers were considering "military aid to civil power" to end them. Trudeau has said that deploying the military is "not in the cards right now."

Police have charged at least four people in connection with the demonstrations and issued some 30 traffic tickets. They've opened a hate crimes tip line and said that there are dozens of active investigations, including into the desecration of the National War Memorial, which is now fenced off.

Vaccine mandates have been popular in Canada, according to public opinion polls, and Canada has one of the world's highest vaccination rates. The Canadian Trucking Association, an industry group, has distanced itself from the demonstrations, noting that the vast majority of its truckers are vaccinated.

Even if Trudeau dropped the vaccination requirement for cross-border truckers, unvaccinated Canadian truckers would still be unable to cross the border because of the U.S. rule.

Several lawmakers have cheered the convoy on, even happily posing for photos with the big-rigs that have paralyzed the city in the background. They've drawn charges of hypocrisy because many of them called for an aggressive police response when an Indigenous-led movement blockaded railroads to protest a pipeline in 2020.

On Friday, some federal Conservative Party lawmakers broke ranks, including Danny Patterson, a Senator who resigned from the Conservative caucus, deploring protesters who flew Confederate and Nazi flags last weekend.

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Bill Murrill, Sarah Jo Bowman, Ned Elkins, Mark Cage and Tiffany Frintz meet for the first time as the Southeast New Mexico College Board of Trustees.

The Southeast New Mexico College (SENMC) Board of Trustees held a meeting on Jan. 31 to discuss details on the transition to an independent college and the construction of a vocational training center.

College representatives said the center would offer vocational training in partnership with local industries to help meet the region's workforce needs.

New Mexico State University Carlsbad Interim President Dr. Andrew Nwanne said the college will need bond funding to make the project possible. He said the college requested a $4 million General Obligation Bond in the upcoming election, but the Legislative Finance Committee may reduce that requested amount to $2 million.

More: Top education bills to keep an eye on in the 2022 legislative session

Jay Jenkins, a member of Carlsbad mayor's Higher Education Task Force, told the Current-Argus the college would have access to a $40 million surplus after the transition is complete that the council would need to manage and decide how to spend the funding.

"All colleges and universities raise funds for institutional priorities. Southeast New Mexico College is not an exception," Nwanne stated in an email when asked why the bond is necessary, given the surplus.

Nwanne said the college had also promised to set aside $4 million and is planning to raise funds with the help of businesses and foundations.

The bond is expected to be voted on during the upcoming November election.

New Mexico State University- Carlsbad Interim President Dr. Andrew Nwanne discusses the transition to Southeast New Mexico College.

Transition to SENMC

The council also discussed various topics related to the transition from NMSU Carlsbad to SENMC. District 5 councilmember Ned Elkins announced plans to find a temporary college president until the college can officially hire a permanent one.

"I am convinced we need to be extremely judicious and careful in this process, given that what I am announcing is a process to request applications for the job," Elkins said.

Elkins said the board plans to make an appointment for a temporary interim president during its next regular meeting on Feb. 7.

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More: CMS gives students and staff four-day weekends in response to substitute shortage

Nwanne also mentioned the importance of updating the college's website and ensuring it is mobile-friendly.

Our current website is not smartphone friendly, Nwanne said. Most of the students access the institutions website through a smartphone.

The college will also explore hiring a branding consultant to aid with the transition, Nwanne said.

The board met on Feb. 4 for a work session to discuss a variety of topics related to the transition ranging from infrastructure needs to budgeting.

Claudia Silva is a reporter from the UNM Local Reporting Fellowship. She can be reached at csilva2@currentargus.com, by phone at 575-628-5506 or on Twitter @thewatchpup.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: SENMC discusses plans for $4 million GO Bond and college transition
This summer, a key initiative to boost school meal access during the pandemic will expire. In North Dakota, those working at the community level say a return to status quo is not the way to go.

In June, the federal government will no longer provide free meals to all school students the way it has during the pandemic. Barring any action, many schools will return to offering free and reduced-price meals to students who qualify.

Hamida Dakane, community organizer for the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, said many of the new American families she works with already face challenges in accessing these programs because of language barriers. For those who have come to rely on them, it removes a financial burden.

"People who are working with minimum wage, a single parent," Dakane explained. "If the money they were supposed to cover with this school food, now they can cover with their rent, electricity and internet."

Supporters argued establishing universal free meals permanently gives families certainty, especially when there is a sudden loss of income.

There have been federal proposals for permanent extensions, and the Biden administration offered more support in the recent Build Back Better plan. It has also been floated in states like North Dakota and Minnesota. Opponents generally cite cost concerns in providing the option for households not currently in need.

Supporters countered the approach removes major administrative burdens for school districts, while erasing stigma.

Barry Nelson, interim director of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, said it comes down to ensuring a basic, fundamental need for all school children.

"Children have to declare themselves as falling below a certain economic guideline, and that kind of visibility is part of the reason there's a barrier," Nelson asserted.

Other advocates said even though North Dakota's economy was not as affected by the pandemic as much as other states, keeping free meals in place will help families still struggling recover. Prior to the crisis, roughly 30,000 North Dakota students were receiving free and reduced-price school meals.

This article originally appeared on Devils Lake Journal: Supporters of Universal School Meals: Don't Stop Now
Despite the 21st-century overtones of its title, in many ways The Tinder Swindler is a con as old as time. Netflixs new documentary, from the team behind Dont F*** with Cats and The Imposter, begins with the story of Cecilie Fjellhoy, a 29-year old Norwegian graduate student living in London. Its January 2018, and like so many men and women in her position, Fjellhoys search for love mainly comprises flicking left and right on dating apps, assessing potential partners on the basis of a few photographs and a sentence about their interests.

In the usual morass of lads who think eating and sleeping are adequate things to list under hobbies, as though they werent requisites of being a living mammal, Simon Leviev stands out. He is handsome, successful, and has the kind of lifestyle graduate students tend not to enjoy. They meet in luxury hotels and he takes her on private jets. She is bowled over by his occasional vulnerability as well as his charm. He was the kind of person you want to save, she says.

He is the son of a billionaire diamond trader called Lev Leviev of LLD Diamonds. Its lucrative but difficult work, liable to put him in tight spots. He has mysterious enemies. Before long, he asks Cecilie to take out an American Express credit card that he can use to pay for things to throw these enemies off the scent. He hires her to work for his firm and sends her a payslip. With this evidence, Amex increases her credit limit with no trouble. Soon Leviev has spent a quarter of a million dollars of her money.

Its all a fraud. In reality, Simon is Shimon Hayut, an Israeli fraudster. His deception has been thorough. To lend credibility to his operation, he changed his last name to Leviev, and employed fake assistants and security guards. Among other things, the case proves how much store we set by online footprints, as though they cant be manipulated and twisted like any other document. By the time Fjellhoy realises she is being conned, Leviev has already found another victim, Pernilla Sjoholm, a Swede. Evidently, he has a type. As we will discover, he also has previous: he served three years in Finland for fraud. Eventually, the women help police put together the operation that catches him again. In November 2019, he is imprisoned for 18 months.

With hindsight its easy to wonder how these women could have been so credulous. American Express needs to take a hard look in the mirror. But an ostentatious love of private jets, watches, cigars and blondes is hardly a new red flag. Top tip: if he publicises pictures of himself in helicopters, hes a chopper.

Although it was love that he traded in rather than old burgundies, Hayut reminds me of Rudy Kurniawan, the wine fraudster who was the subject of Netflixs 2016 documentary Sour Grapes. Just as Kurniawan evidently had a real skill with wine and a refined palate, Hayut is obviously a charismatic man capable of real charm. In another universe, he might have used these qualities for good, rather than evil. But he didnt. In the deranged voice-notes he leaves these women as the net closes, he sounds frightening: a psychopath on the edge. Fjellhoy, in particular, was sent to the verge of a nervous breakdown by the deceit, and still struggles to speak about her experience without crying. The films ending is bittersweet. Hayut was never charged with defrauding the women, who are still paying off their debts. After serving just five months, he is a free man in Israel, where he was apparently caught trying to skip the queue for vaccines.

Despite the great yarn at its centre, as a film, The Tinder Swindler sometimes lapses into the self-indulgence common to so many modern documentaries, with endless shadowy reconstructions and a heart-tugging soundtrack. At nearly two hours, it is at least half an hour too long. I blame true crime. Especially, I blame podcasts. The market for these kinds of stories is so rabid that once producers get hold of something juicy, as this undoubtedly is, they are determined to wring every drop from it. Rigorous editorial judgement: important when making a documentary; essential when browsing Tinder.
A South Side man was ordered held on $2 million Friday after being accused of shooting an 8-month pregnant woman on Route 83 in Willowbrook, officials said in a news release.

Lawrence Grant, 38, of the 7900 block of South Damen Avenue was charged with attempt first-degree murder, attempt intentional homicide of an unborn child, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated battery to a pregnant woman.

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The felony charges stem from a Jan. 28 shooting on Route 83 where a pregnant woman crashed after suffering a gunshot wound to her back, according to a release from DuPage County prosecutors.

Prior to the crash, prosecutors said Grant and another person were involved in an argument at a grocery store that turned physical. After the fight, all three people, including the pregnant victim, left the store in three separate vehicles traveling southbound Route 83, the release said.

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Allegedly, Grant followed the victim in his vehicle and opened fire, striking the victim in her back, causing her to crash. Grant was found about 10 p.m. at the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was being treated for an unrelated manner, the release said.

Grants vehicle was found on fire about one block from the hospital, officials said.

Grant was taken into custody after he was released from the hospital.

The allegations that, following a physical altercation with the victims boyfriend, Mr. Grant decided to follow the victim, who was thirty-six-weeks pregnant, and open fire on a major roadway are unconscionable, said DuPage County States Attorney Robert B. Berlin. Thankfully, no innocent motorists were injured and, while still hospitalized, Mr. Grants alleged target and her baby are expected to survive. This defendants alleged violent behavior put the motoring public at risk and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The baby was delivered at a local hospital, officials said.

Grants next court appearance was scheduled Feb. 28. If found guilty, he faces between 31 years to life in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
If we truly want to end hunger and improve outcomes in Oklahoma, we must do what it takes to address campus hunger.

When we talk about hunger, we cannot leave behind Oklahoma college students facing food insecurity. The states food insecurity rate remains high  fourth in the nation according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture  and includes hunger on college campuses. As leaders in higher education and champions of adult learning, we see firsthand the challenges students face to not only stay in school but also have what they need to stay focused in the classroom.

Science tells us that nutrition  brain food  fuels our minds to think and plays a critical role in academic performance. We also know post-secondary education yields economic value for graduates and elevates their earning potential. It grows their ability to contribute to our economy and communities. The more we invest in our students, the less we will spend on social services in the future. If we truly want to end hunger and improve outcomes in our state, we must do what it takes to address campus hunger.

Daniel Pae is a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing District 62.

A recent survey from Temple Universitys Hope Center found nearly 50% of students at more than 100 post-secondary schools couldnt afford to eat a balanced meal and 35% of students were skipping meals entirely because they did not have enough money for food. Removing nutritional barriers for postsecondary learners can keep students in school and ultimately help elevate completion rates.

Tackling hunger takes community partnerships. Since 2012, the Oklahoma Food Banks have partnered with more than 30 post-secondary institutions to establish pantries on campuses, including the University of Central Oklahoma, Tulsa Community College and the University of Oklahoma. Despite these efforts, campus hunger remains an issue for too many of our students. Addressing student hunger matters and takes multiple interventions to alleviate it. Its time for the Legislature to do its part.

Leigh Goodson is the president of Tulsa Community College.

We believe a pilot program called the Hunger Free Campus Act can move Oklahoma in the right direction in combating hunger on our college campuses. Imagine if public and private resources came together to provide the needed wraparound support that helps students with food insecurity allowing them to focus on completing their degrees. The Hunger Free Campus Act has a targeted approach allowing the state to gain more insight on campus hunger, explore strategies to mitigate food insecurity and ultimately help boost post-secondary completion rates.

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This session, the Legislature has an opportunity to invest in colleges working to reduce hunger on their campuses or who want to do more in that area. The Hunger Free Campus Act supports strategies that combat hunger on college campuses, educate students on resources available to alleviate food insecurity and measures outcomes for the Legislature to scale the most effective approaches to offer to postsecondary institutions statewide. We have a chance to measure the impact and witness a strong return as we reduce college dropout rates.

An investment in college students' wellbeing is an investment in Oklahomas future. We ask Oklahomans to join us in supporting the Hunger Free Campus Act.

More: While food access improves in some parts of OKC, other areas still struggle with food deserts

Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar is the president of the University of Central Oklahoma.

Daniel Pae is a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing District 62. As an undergraduate at the University of Oklahoma, he led efforts to create a campus food pantry. Leigh Goodson is president of Tulsa Community College. Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar is president of the University of Central Oklahoma.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Viewpoints: Oklahoma legislators can help address campus hunger
A woman who sliced up a romantic rival during a late 2020 altercation in a Fredericksburg shopping center was ordered Friday to serve two and a half years in prison.

Deanna Marie Evans, 22, of Ruther Glen was sentenced in Fredericksburg Circuit Court to a total of six years with all but two and a half years suspended. A jury in December convicted Evans of assault and battery and stabbing in the commission of a felony.

Judge Joseph Ellis sentence far exceeded the recommended state sentencing guidelines, which call for an active prison sentence of between three and six months.

The charges stem from a Dec. 28, 2020, incident in Central Park. Evans and another young woman, Caitlin Winn, exchanged harsh messages that day and both expressed an interest in fighting. The dispute involved a man who both had dated in the past.

Evans drove from Caroline County to Winns job and the two started fighting in the parking lot. During the fight, prosecutor Justin Witt said, Evans pulled a knife from her boot and inflicted 17 wounds on Winn.

Winn was rushed to Mary Washington Hospital while Evans returned to Caroline. A trauma surgeon testified during the trial that Winn was in Stage 4 shock, had lost at least 40 percent of her blood and was within 10 to 20 minutes of death when she arrived.

Evans was charged with aggravated malicious wounding, which carries a prison term of between 20 years and life in prison. The jury decided on the lesser misdemeanor conviction.

Defense attorney Jeremie Childress, who argued at trial that Evans acted in self-defense, argued Friday that the wounding in the commission of a felony charge should be dismissed since the jury decided on assault and battery instead of a felony.

Witt argued that the jury verdict was proper, and Ellis agreed.

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In the midst of the worst national blood shortage in a decade, Beth Deely signed up to donate, as shes regularly done at least twice each year.

Then, the Spotsylvania County woman discovered the deep bruises that had been appearing all over her body were caused by a rare blood disorder.

In a moment, the 48-year-old went from being a blood donor focused on helping others to a patient who could die unless she got a transfusion every other day.

Ive always been big on blood donations, because its just so important, and then this happened and I was like, what the heck? she said from her hospital bed. All my friends and family keep asking what they can do and Ive said, please go donate blood.

The American Red Cross has been making similar pleas in recent weeks as the amount of blood available for hospitals nationwide dropped to critical levels. The agency typically maintains five days worth of blood, but supplies in January fell below one days worth, according to press releases.

Reasons for the shortage were the same factors that have affected other aspects of life in the midst of the fast-spreading omicron variant. Blood drives have been canceled, donors and volunteers have been reluctant to venture out during the pandemic, and staff shortages have resulted from workers being sickened by COVID-19 or having to quarantine.

Across the country, overall donations have dropped by 10 percent since the pandemic began, the Red Cross stated. In the last year alone, the Red Cross and Virginia Department of Health reported a 40 percent decrease in new blood donors in the region, according to Sen. Tim Kaines office, which also announced he was giving blood on Friday in Fairfax.

In addition, there was a 62 percent reduction in blood drives scheduled at colleges and high schools because of the pandemic, the Red Cross said. In 2019, students accounted for one of every four donations, but during the pandemic, that number dropped to one of every 10.

Just as media outlets got the word out about the need for blood, people began to schedule appointments to donatethen some had to be canceled when winter storms walloped the country, said Jeff Hollingsworth, a Red Cross market manager who lives in the Fredericksburg area and serves the mid-Atlantic and southern states.

Weather issues have been kind of hitting us left and right, he said. Its just caused so many cancellations, even farther down South in areas that rarely get cold weather. Were trying to collect blood in areas that arent being hit, but its sort of hitting us from one end to another.

There was a steady stream of donors last week at Resurrection Lutheran Church in the Chancellorsville area of Spotsylvania County. In late 2020, the Red Cross started holding twice-weekly blood drives at the church after it relocated from Spotsylvania Towne Centre, Hollingsworth said.

Among those rolling up their sleeves was Matt Busby, a 28-year-old engineer who gives blood every eight weeks, the minimum amount of time between donations. Last week marked the 18th time hed been to a blood drive in four years as hes contributed 2 gallons of blood.

His family has been aware of the lifesaving properties of blood after several relatives faced emergency situations, including an aunt during childbirth, said Busby, who lives in Spotsylvania.

I try to give as much as I can and Ive tried to encourage other co-workers and friends to give blood because you dont really realize [how important it is] until somebody is in a dire need for it, he said.

The Red Cross supplies 40 percent of the nations blood supply and said last month the ongoing shortage resulted in limited distribution. Some hospitals were not receiving up to one-fourth of the products they needed, according to a press release.

Mary Washington Healthcare has not canceled any surgeries or procedures because of the blood shortage, said Lisa Henry, associate vice president in marketing. However, every day, team members were doing a daily assessment of the blood supply and anticipating what its hospitals and emergency rooms might need for scheduled procedures as well as traumas such as vehicle accidents or illnesses requiring blood transfusions.

Spotsylvania Regional Medical center said it also monitors the situation daily.

We order what we anticipate needing, but are at the mercy of the Red Cross ability to fill the orders, Henry said, adding that the Red Cross bases its distribution on what facilities historically have needed.

While the supply is reportedly looking up, Henry said the health care system is encouraging donations from the community. It was working on scheduling blood drives in March.

Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center has held blood drives twice a year with the Red Cross to give workers the chance to give blood, said Nathan Irwin, chief operating officer. Its next event is March 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Spotsylvania Regional, and Irwin encouraged the public to come out and participate alongside our staff and physicians.

Ann Jones of Stafford County went online to make an appointment to give blood after she saw MWHC posts on Facebook about the need.

It was so easy, she said. It was such a small amount of time and commitment for me to be able to do something that hopefully will help somebody.

Jones also scheduled her next visit to a blood drive in March.

Each donation of blood contains red cells, white cells and platelets, tiny cells in the blood that stick to the lining of vessels and help stop or prevent bleeding. Theyre often given to cancer patients, including children, who have low counts as a result of treatment, as well as those who are undergoing transplants or have blood disorders, according to the Red Cross.

More than 16 million blood components are given each year during transfusions in the United States, according to the Red Cross website. Every 2 seconds, someone in America needs blood or platelets, and one donation can save up to three lives.

As for Daly, the woman with the blood disorder, she spent a week at Mary Washington Hospital, where she also works as a medical auditor. In addition to the rare problem with her blood, she has a stomach tumor. Once she knows what shes dealing with, shell check in the U.Va. hospital in Charlottesville, which is more familiar with her rare condition.

But she wont undergo a biopsy to determine the exact nature of the tumor until the blood situation is under control.

There is too high a risk to hemorrhage on the table, she said, and she doesnt want to take that chance until shes sure there would be enough blood available to treat her.

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A Behlen Mfg. Co. acquisition of Freeland Industries and Freeland Trucking promises the Columbus-headquartered company will expand its product offering, Behlen Country President Jen Miller said.

Residents will see the impact later this year. The agreement could mean more jobs, as well as offering Freelands products to local retailers, Miller added.

Behlen Mfg. Co., 4025 23rd St., announced earlier this week it signed an agreement with Freeland Industries, Inc. and Freeland Trucking, Inc., based in Portage, Wisconsin, to acquire the companys industrial tank and feeder assets.

Their customers are very similar to ours and some of them are the same customers as ours, but because we dont make those items, they get them from Freeland, Miller said.

Behlen Country is a business unit of Behlen Mfg. Co. with an emphasis on livestock equipment. Freeland Industries is a fourth-generation family-owned company, established in 1909. The business manufactures steel stock tanks, hog troughs, creep feeders and structural foam plastic tanks.

These products will be on the shelves of several local retailers soon, Miller said.

Once we get everything integrated and implemented later this year, theyll be able to put some of those product orders as well to go directly to their stores, warehouses or wherever they would like us to ship them, Miller said.  Down the road later this year, hopefully, youll be able to see some of these products at Tractor Supply or Bomgaars here in Columbus.

The agreement also has the potential to create three to seven jobs in the area to help with delivering shipments. This is because the majority of the Behlen Country shipments are transported from its Columbus location to its regional plants in Oregon and Texas. It means there will be additional volume and manufacturing, Miller said.

(It) will help manufacture these products, Miller said. So were excited about it.

According to a Behlen press release, Miller will lead the efforts to integrate Freeland and Behlen through the transition. Meanwhile, Freeland President Lynn Van Epps and the current leadership team will continue to manage the daily operations of the Portage manufacturing facility and trucking company crews.

Meanwhile, Freeland Trucking, which was established in 1983, and Behlens own transportation unit, BMC Transportation, will combine forces to support the growth and maintain pace with the expanding customer business, products and timely deliveries.

Behlen Mfg. Co. President Tom Boal said the Freeland acquisition will make the Wisconsin-based companys products more readily available compared to before.

Freeland has a very small regional distribution and with Behlen Countrys footprintthat Jen has helped develop  it expands way beyond that, Boal said. So the potential for more job opportunities is very high. Were very excited about that. Were able to bring on a well-renowned name in the industry and make it part of the Behlen Country portfolio  and Behlen overall  is a big deal.

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Salem Lutheran Church of Fontanelle Health Cabinet celebrated 21 years of service to the community in 2021.

The health cabinet was formed by parish nurse Glee Johnson. Johnson became the parish nurse in 2000.

She was a retired registered nurse who was looking for the next chapter in her life. Pastor Charles Bichel reached out to Johnson to facilitate a parish nurse program, the first of its kind at Fontanelle.

Johnson accepted the call, and she attended two, four-day seminars on parish nursing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The parish nurse program was started by a hospital chaplain at the Lutheran Hospital in Chicago in 1978. The idea of the program was to focus on body, mind and spirit. The program gives support to patients and families from their church.

When Johnson returned to Salem from her training, she formed the health cabinet, which has continued for 21 years. The health cabinet has been serving the community and the church through fundraisers, educational speakers and programs.

The health cabinet has served the Faith Food Pantry 48 times in 10 years. It also has supported Adopt-A-Family, Salvation Army, Roots to Wings and several other local organizations. The health cabinet also has assisted in building a house in Tanzania, donated mosquito nets to African countries where malaria is prominent, and collected pennies for world hunger.

Johnson passed away in 2018, but her legacy lives on with the health cabinet she established. The cabinet donated a bird bath in her honor that resides outside of Salem Lutheran Church.

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College of Saint Mary announces its deans list and presidents honor roll for outstanding undergraduate academic performance for the fall 2021 semester. In total, 160 students were named to the honorary deans list, while 109 students were named to the presidents honor roll.

To qualify for the College of Saint Marys deans list, students must earn a GPA of 3.5 or higher after completing at least 12 semester hours as a full-time student. For inclusion on the presidents honor roll, students must earn a 3.9 GPA or above.

The following area students were recognized:

Fremont: Jessica Holcomb, freshman, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, presidents honor roll; Lexie Langley, junior, Bachelor of Science in Business, presidents honor roll; Nevaeh Nielsen, freshman, Bachelor of Science in Pre Nursing, deans list.

Ithaca: Kelsie Sears, freshman, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, presidents honor roll.

Kennard: Katelyn Hamre, sophomore, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, deans list.

Scribner: Jessica Reckinger, Junior, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, deans list.

Wahoo: Macy Homes, Senior, Bachelor of Science in Biology, deans list.

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As many as a thousand children may be eligible for the assistance with costs to the state estimated at $500,000 in the first year and $1 million in the second year.
Area graduating seniors and others looking to further their education may begin applying for scholarships awarded by the Fremont Area Community Foundation (FACF).

The deadline to apply is April 1 and those interested may do so by visiting facfoundation.awardspring.com/. Requirements for each scholarship can be found on the website.

While graduation day is still months away, area seniors are already preparing for college, said Melissa Diers, FACF executive director, in a prepared statement. We hope theyll connect with us through our online scholarship program to see if any of the nearly 80 scholarship funds we administer can provide some financial assistance to help them pursue their post-secondary education.

The community foundation provided $128,000 in scholarship funds last year to 116 students attending Archbishop High School, Arlington High School, Cedar Bluffs High School, Fremont High School, Howells-Dodge High School, Logan View High School, North Bend Central High School and Tekamah-Herman High School.

Scholarships are available in a host of study areas, and most are available for students attending two- or four-year colleges or universities. Some scholarships focus on academic achievement or area of study. Others recognize extracurricular activities or financial need.

Several scholarships are renewable and some are available to students already in college.

A new scholarship available this year is the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 20 Scholarship Fund. This fund provides scholarship support to graduating seniors of Fremont High School or Archbishop Bergan High School who are pursuing secondary education at a two-year community college, vocational or trade school.

Thanks to the generosity of many donors, thousands of area youth have benefitted from scholarships administered by the Fremont Area Community Foundation over the years, Diers said. We are honored to be able to help donors support generations of kids pursuing their education.

Founded in 1980, with a single estate gift, the Fremont Area Community Foundation connects donors, nonprofits and community leaders with the needs of the community, creating positive local impact.

During the life of the foundation, so far, more than $32 million has been distributed throughout Fremont and the greater Dodge County. The foundation currently administers over $35 million in community assets.

For more information about the Fremont Area Community Foundation, call 402-721-4252 or visit facfoundation.org.

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Statement from

President Schulz and Provost Chilton

The recent threats of violence against historically Black colleges and universities are a stark and sad reminder of the work that must still be done to achieve racial justice in the United States. Continued systematic violence against communities of color during a time of pandemic that has already cultivated trauma and unrest for so many of us plays upon the basest forms of racism, and causes more fear in communities that have historically been the focus of a catalog of racial terrors. That these threats come at the beginning of Black History Month underscores the need to understand that Black history is American history and that, as a society, we ignore that fact to our own peril.

Washington State University is committed to continue working toward building a society where equity, respect, and justice are a reality for all. Until that time, we support those in our educational community during times of threat so that we can achieve together our greater promise.

Kirk H. Schulz

President



Elizabeth S. Chilton

Provost and Executive Vice President

WSU Pullman Chancellor
Ex-state Rep. Luis Arroyo, right, walks with his attorney, Michael Gillespie, to the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for his arraignment on Feb. 4, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

Federal prosecutors on Friday roundly rejected former state Rep. Luis Arroyos pitch for leniency in a bribery scheme to legalize the shadowy world of sweepstakes gambling, saying he deserves up to nearly five years in prison for his blatant cash grab.

The Chicago Democrat allegedly was caught on a wire offering a bribe to then-Sen. Terry Link, a Lake County Democrat, to support sweepstakes legislation in Springfield.

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Not only did Arroyo put himself up for sale, he attempted to corrupt another lawmaker from the other chamber to advance the scheme, James P. Durkin, an assistant U.S. attorney, wrote in the Friday filing.

As a result, prosecutors said, Arroyo should be sentenced to 46 to 57 months behind bars to deter corruption among public officials.

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Arroyo, 67, entered a blind guilty plea in November to one count alleging he deprived the public of his honest services, a move that came without an agreement on his sentence.

In a filing last week, Arroyos lawyers argued a prison sentence for him would not stop public corruption, that it would be no more effective than draining Lake Michigan with a spoon.

Durkin countered Friday that Arroyos argument represented a depressingly cynical perspective from a man who just a few years ago was a senior member of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Arroyos crime was a blatant cash grab, Durkin wrote. He used the power and influence of his office to advance his own interests through bribery.

In 2019, Arroyo was charged with one count of bribery alleging he agreed to pay kickbacks of $2,500 a month to Link, who cooperated with the feds, in exchange for Links support of legislation involving video gambling sweepstakes games. Link has since pleaded guilty to his own case of tax evasion.

A superseding indictment in the Arroyo case added new wire and mail fraud charges against him and also charged James Weiss with bribery, wire fraud, mail fraud and lying to the FBI. Weiss, who has pleaded not guilty, is married to former Cook County Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios daughter, former state Rep. Toni Berrios.

Weiss, through his company Collage, allegedly paid Arroyo $32,500 in bribes through Spartacus, the lawmakers lobbying company. Arroyo did not report the income on his state economic interest statement.

Arroyo pledged to vote and promote the sweepstakes legislation, an attempt that shifted into overdrive as a major gambling package emerged and passed the General Assembly in 2019. But the sweepstakes legislation was left out of the package.

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Arroyo then allegedly redoubled his efforts to enlist Links support. Durkin said Arroyo and Weiss clearly expected Link to receive as much as $30,000 as a result of the scheme.

If Arroyos bribery scheme had been successful, Durkin argued, he would have changed Illinois law regarding the gaming industry, a heavily regulated industry, for his personal financial benefit and the benefit (of Weiss). His is a serious crime that warrants a serious sentence.
A methane-gas explosion in a coal mine in southwest Pakistan early on February 5 killed four workers, while six others were rescued from the partly collapsed mine, officials said.

The head of Provincial Disaster Management Authority in southwestern Balochistan Province, Naseer Ahmad Nasir, told RFERL that miners were digging inside a coal mine in the Sra Ghorgai area, 20 kilometers from Quetta, when the explosion took place.

Chief mine inspector Abdul Ghani said the mine was allegedly being operated illegally. No owner or contractor linked to the mine could be located after the explosion because the rescued workers were in no condition to provide details, he said.

Ghani said the mine was being thoroughly examined to ensure no others were trapped deep in the collapsed mine.

Compromised safety conditions and a lack of proper training for mine workers have resulted in similar incidents in Pakistan's mines.

According to a report by the Pakistan Central Mine Labor Federation, 237 coal miners were killed in mine explosions in 2021. Most of the incidents took place in mineral-rich Balochistan Province.

Since the start of the year, 21 coal miners have been killed in Pakistani mine incidents, the report said.

With reporting by AP
About the series

This ongoing series from The Gazette delves into Colorados broken mental health care system. In this series, a team of Gazette journalists investigate the gaps in care for children, for veterans, and for the community at large. The series also focuses on solutions that might come as state officials and community leaders sharpen their focus on what for many is a vicious cycle of despair and ruin.

More here
Many people have had trouble adjusting to the news that Colorado Springs is one of two most residentially racially integrated cities in the Un
Cleaning up after hurricane-force winds tore up Colorado Springs  pushing over mature trees, downing fences and cutting power  is in some ways just getting started a week after the storm swept through.

Colorado Springs city crews were still removing trees blocking streets Tuesday and the work to clean up damaged public trees is likely to stretch on for months, City Forester Dennis Will said.

"We will be at this for months," he said.

Street crews, who would normally be clearing snow from the roads this time of year, jumped into help with the initial tree cleanup and some department members will likely be working on street sign replacement for the next 30 days, said Clint Brown, street operations manager.

Colorado Springs Utilities workers were restoring power to the last few homes Tuesday after electricity was knocked out to 47,000 customers at the peak of the outage and winds destroyed 97 utility poles, data from Utilities showed.

Utilities staff expect to review the event closely to see if they could have managed it better, in part, because they expect extreme weather events to become more frequent, CEO Aram Benyamin said.

"We are going to have these kinds of things more and more," he said. Nationally, climate change is expected to drive more frequent extreme weather.

While Utilities was prepared for the storm, it exceeded expectations by downing two reinforced high voltage lines, the backbones of the grid, that are designed to withstand high winds, he said. The loss of the high voltage lines didn't cause outages because one main line remained functional, he said.

"We were hanging off of one contingency," Benyamin said.

The best way to prevent power outages is to put electric lines underground and about 70% of the local grid is already buried. Utilities has budgeted $10 million this year and next year to put lines underground. But it is an expensive process, and an ongoing project to bury lines downtown is budgeted to need $6 million, Benyamin said. He would like to slowly increase the budget to bury power lines annually and eventually have the entire local grid underground.

He also acknowledged that residents who would like Utilities to provide accurate estimates about when power could be restored to their homes after an outage are making a fair request, he said.

He would like to see Utilities get to a point where the staff can provide those estimates. It's a step that will require technology that provides Utilities staff with information from the field about the condition of infrastructure so they can assess damage and the repair process can be streamlined.

For example, drones could provide footage from the field that would allow staff to see damage to a pole and power line, prioritize it and make sure the correct parts are delivered to the site for repair crews, Benyamin said. Such a process could eliminate the need for on-the-ground assessments and help the repair process go much more quickly.

Now that power has been restored to most residents, downed city trees are likely a common post-storm concern, particularly in older parts of town such as Patty Jewett, Old Colorado City and the Old North End.

City operations and maintenance got 200 phone calls in the first two hours of the storm about damage, including downed trees in roadways, said Brown, who oversees a department of about 140 people who jumped in to help.

The calls were so overwhelming crews went street by street to clear the roads, he said.

Once all streets are clear, city forestry will move on to trees that are in imminent danger of failure and pose a safety risk, Will said.

He urged residents to examine their trees for hanging limbs, cracks in the trunk and around the soil because the city could see more wind soon that could cause more damage, he said.

"We dont want anybody getting hurt," he said.

The department has about 400 pending requests for help and needs to take care of trees on homes, so he urged patience, Will said. The city will take care of damage from trees that fell from the right of way, typically the area between the street and the sidewalk.

"If people want to wait, its our responsibility. Well clean it all up," he said.

In addition to the extreme wind, dry conditions likely played a role in the level of destruction to trees the city saw. In 2017, the extreme wind storm brought down far more tree limbs compared to the storm last week that blew over trees 40 to 50 inches in diameter, Will said.

The trees may have toppled because soils don't have any moisture to give them cohesive properties and the root balls weight, he said.

Other factors also played a role. Colorado blue spruce, ponderosa pine and juniper trees were likely some of the common casualties because they don't thrive in the clay soils that are predominate in town. Some trees planted close to homes also did not have enough space for their root systems to grow in all directions and bear the load, Will said.

"I think its a lot to do with the wrong tree in the wrong place," he said.

To report public damage caused by the storm, visit coloradosprings.gov/page/citizen-request-gocosprings-app.
New houses under construction in the Willow Bend subdivision in Thornton, Colo. The Willow Bend Metropolitan District board controls homeowners property tax assessments to pay off subdivision debt. Employees of the homebuilder, the Lennar Corporation, occupy the majority of the seats on the board. The board composition has made circumstances difficult for the only homeowner on the board, Dwayne Bergeron. Photo by Liam Adams
For many Chinese consumers, the annual shopping spree for the Lunar New Year became a more flavorful experience this year as emerging online channels have helped transform purchasing patterns and expand shopping options.

Getting a taste of the new year through food specialties is not enough. Sales of healthy and high-quality products from across the country and foreign states are flying among consumers due to the convenience of e-commerce and young people's growing appetite for a green lifestyle.

With live streaming in vogue on e-commerce platforms, China's indigenous brands also jumped on the bandwagon and raked in huge profits with products that incorporate Chinese cultural elements.

"China-chic"

Traditional culture has come under the spotlight in the country's consumer market, as Guochao, a trend translated as "China-chic," is sweeping across young groups that are obtaining stronger consumption capacity.

Industry data echoed the growth trend. During the online Lunar New Year's Shopping Festival that kicked off on Jan. 10, more than 200 Chinese time-honored brands sold their products through live streaming, according to a report released by Taobao under e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The transaction value of the flagship store of Churin Leaderfoods, selling a typical type of red sausage from northeastern Harbin, skyrocketed during the online shopping festival, while To To Kui, a catering brand known for its Cantonese dim sum, also saw its online sales soar.

Ahead of the Chinese New Year, more companies have launched special items to embrace the China-chic fashion.

"China-chic" has played an important role in the festival gift consumption trend for generation Z, as the order volume of gift box items with Chinese culture elements more than quadrupled, according to JD.com.

"Fancy merchandises for Lunar New Year not only bring delicacies into fashion, but also make traditional culture come alive," said Liu Jianghong, vice head of School of Cultural Industries Management, Communication University of China.

Goods for Lunar New Year are not created out of thin air, but come from the custom and people's interests, Liu added.

New cuisines at table

Amid uncertainties from COVID-19 that impeded the journeys home in some areas, demands from young people for semi-finished dishes witnessed rapid growth. Sales of semi-finished dishes jumped by over 70 percent on the Ele.me platform.

For young generations that cannot reunite with families and have limited cooking skills, these prepared cuisines are good options that meet their needs for a bumper dinner and retain ceremonial sense.

Delicacies ranging from pepper chicken from southwestern Sichuan to seafood and poultry from southeastern Fujian went viral among post-70s and 80s consumers, the Tmall data showed.

The semi-finished food industry has gained impetus from the rapid pace of modern life. China boasts more than 69,000 catering firms whose names or business scope include quick-frozen stuff, prepared food, semi-finished food, ready-to-eat, and clean vegetables, according to the corporate information provider Tianyancha.

Chinese market volume of this sector topped 300 billion yuan (about 47 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, while the figure is expected to exceed 830 billion yuan in 2025, said a report by the consulting firm, New Catering Big Data.

Sharing fancy tastes

While preparing shopping lists for the Spring Festival, consumers have an eye for purchasing high-quality goods from around China, not only local commodities that used to feature an atmosphere of festivity.

Since the start of the online Lunar New Year's Shopping Festival, postal service for specialties saw a fast increase in both scale and frequency, and consumption enthusiasm for upscale food ingredients was ignited in rural regions.

In the first week of the online shopping spree, orders to non-habitual residence grew by 30 percent year on year, and their proportion soared by over 50 percent from the usual levels, JD.com said.

These orders came mainly from young people, who want to share good tastes with their parents during the special festival, according to the e-commerce platform Meituan. Among inter-provincial orders, more than a quarter were for food and beverages.

On top of domestic specialties, consumers' appetites for imported goods are growing.

About 1,800 live streaming events designed for goods from Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states attracted millions of viewers and raked in nearly 100 million yuan during the online shopping festival.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a banquet at the Great Hall of the People Saturday noon to welcome distinguished guests from around the world who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.



Following is the full text of the toast by President Xi:





Toast by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the Welcoming Banquet of

The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

5 February 2022





IOC President Thomas Bach,

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to meet so many old and new friends in Beijing as the Chinese people celebrate the Spring Festival, the start of the lunar new year. Let me begin by extending, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, and in the name of my wife and myself, a warm welcome to all the distinguished guests travelling to China and attending the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. I sincerely thank all governments, peoples and international organizations that care about and support the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. In particular, I wish to express my appreciation to all the friends present here who have overcome difficulties and inconveniences caused by COVID-19 and come all the way to Beijing to cheer for the Olympic Winter Games and for China.

Last night, the Beijing Olympic Winter Games officially opened at China's National Stadium. After 14 years, the Olympic cauldron has been lit once again in Beijing, making the city the world's first to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Committed to organizing a green, inclusive, open and clean Games, China has made every effort to counter the impact of COVID-19, earnestly fulfilled its solemn pledge to the international community, and ensured the smooth opening of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games as scheduled.

Greater public participation in winter sport contributes to the Olympic Movement. By preparing for and organizing the Olympic Winter Games and promoting Olympic winter sport, China has popularized winter sport among the ordinary people, achieved the goal of engaging 300 million Chinese in sport on snow and ice, and made new contribution to the cause of Olympism worldwide.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

Since ancient times, the Olympic Movement has carried humanity's aspirations for peace, solidarity and progress.

- We shall keep in mind the original aspiration of the Olympic Movement and jointly uphold world peace. The Olympic Movement was born for the sake of peace and has thrived thanks to peace. The Olympic Truce Resolution adopted last December by consensus at the United Nations General Assembly, calling for promoting peace through sport, represents the common aspiration of the international community. We need to uphold mutual respect, equality, dialogue and consultation, strive to bridge differences and eliminate conflict, and work together for a world of durable peace.

- We shall promote the spirit of the Olympic Movement and meet the common challenges facing the international community through solidarity. The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging, while global issues including climate change and terrorism keep emerging. The international community should stand closer together. The only way for all countries to address the various challenges effectively is to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and work together for a shared future. We need to practice true multilateralism, uphold the international system centered on the United Nations and the international order underpinned by international law, and work together to build an international family of harmony and cooperation.

- We shall act on the purpose of the Olympic Movement and continuously pursue human progress. The Olympic Movement aims to achieve well-rounded human development. We need to follow the trend of the times, stay true to humanity's common values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, promote exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

To borrow a Chinese poetic line, "Out goes the old year with the sound of firecrackers; in comes the new with the warmth of wine and spring breeze." China has just entered the Year of the Tiger according to the lunar calendar. Tiger is a symbol of strength, courage and fearlessness. I wish all Olympic athletes excellent performance with the strength of the tiger. I am confident that with the joint efforts of us all, Beijing 2022 will surely go down in history as a streamlined, safe and splendid Olympic Games.

To conclude, I propose a toast:

To the dynamic development of the Olympic Movement;

To humanity's noble cause of peace and development; and

To the health of all distinguished guests and your families.

Cheers!
MINNEAPOLIS  The pews were rocking at Holy Trinity on a recent Sunday as worshipers from the Minnesota Swahili Christian Congregation sang and danced beneath the lofty, dark-wood-trimmed ceilings and lively stained-glass windows.

Established in the 1920s, the magnificent house of worship once hosted one of the largest Lutheran congregations in the country but has dwindled to just 200 regular Sunday worshippers today. To remain vibrant, the founding congregation has increasingly opened its historic doors to serve a variety of community needs, from the Swahili-language services to functioning as a makeshift emergency medical center during protests after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

"In the last two years, it's become even clearer to me that the Spirit has been guiding us in places where we never imagined going on our own," said Ingrid Rasmussen, Holy Trinity's lead pastor.

Across the U.S., historic urban churches built decades ago to accommodate hundreds or thousands of worshippers and bulging Sunday school classes have struggled with shrinking flocks and rising preservation costs. Many are finding new ways to use their buildings that let them keep those sacred places viable while serving the neighborhoods they've anchored for decades.

In Minneapolis, landmark churches have hosted everything from food pantries and Finnish language classes to tai-chi practices and group discussions on reparations. Elsewhere in the country, they've rented space for events or programs like preschools, bringing in much-needed revenue, and also made their buildings available for free to community group gatherings as diverse as nutrition clinics and arts workshops.

Historic religious buildings are not just civic and cultural landmarks but crucial social centers, with non-congregants making up an estimated 90% of the people they serve, according to Bob Jaeger, president of Partners for Sacred Places. The nonprofit helps religious institutions nationwide make plans and raise money to repurpose their spaces for a different era, and Jaeger sees plenty of room for more to be done in that area.

"Congregations have enormous civic value but are often underused," he said.

Surveys show the United States keeps growing more secular, with overall membership and churchgoing on the decline. Fewer souls in the pews means less money coming in to pay for staffing, upkeep and programs, forcing many smaller congregations to sell their buildings.

The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated those problems by further shrinking attendance. It has also heightened the need for food, housing, job and educational ministries among both the faithful and broader society.

That's especially relevant for lower-income and minority neighborhoods where faith-based informal networks are often more trusted than government authorities.

The century-old Church of the Incarnation, a predominantly Spanish-speaking Catholic parish in Minneapolis, renovated its garage to host a sort of community minimarket where the 1,600 households who rely on the church for food can get free groceries and other vital goods. On a frigid Sunday, a steady stream of families came to pick up donated coats and sweaters, as well as 10-lb. bags of chicken that stayed frozen despite sitting in the direct sun for hours by the steps outside the sanctuary.

Incarnation has remodeled the basement and used it to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics that drew "tons" of people, according to Victor Guillen, a church member of three decades who oversees maintenance and volunteered on the renovation.

Religious buildings with surplus space are also providing cash-strapped community groups with a place to hold their own gatherings, something that's particularly important in cities where property values and rents are high.

Neighborhood Church in Atlanta's leafy Candler Park neighborhood was born in the mid-2010s out of the merger of two United Methodist congregations. Proceeds from the sale of the larger church building went to finance a renovation of the smaller one, a structure from the 1930s, redesigned to minimize Christian imagery so it would better serve the diverse neighborhood, co-pastors Andy and Anjie Woodworth said.

Today it hosts not only the congregation but two voting precincts and, when the pandemic permits, the activities of more than a dozen groups that share the church's inclusive values, from Scouting troops to advocates for the rights of transgender people of color.

The small, aging congregation of Coppin Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church on Chicago's South Side is another that has increasingly turned outward to the community. Membership has shrunk to about one-tenth of what it was in the 1960s, so Coppin has been struggling to pay for needed upkeep to the nearly century-old building and its artwork, including two murals in the sanctuary.

Through the Coppin Community Center, which provides food and family outreach programs in its adjacent youth center, the congregation has succeeded in attracting grants and growing its service ministry, said Frankye Parham, who directs Coppin's Christian education and its community center.

The church is working on developing a new teen ministry at the request of neighborhood youth who sought Coppin out as a "safe haven" from violence and other social ills.

"The traditional ways don't work today. We need to talk about different things that the community deals with," said Robert Parham, Frankye's husband, who first attended Coppin more than 50 years ago and is now a trustee.

In some cities, using religious buildings for non-worship purposes like homeless shelters has run up against zoning rules and brought conflict with municipal authorities. But faith leaders have often been successful in arguing that such ministries are essential to their mission and community.

"Each faith has texts that compel why to do this," said Randi Roth, executive director of Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul, Minnesota, where the group has been working with the city planner on zoning code amendments. "But for all, it brings to life the words they read in prayer."

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A third arrest has been made in the string of convenience store robberies in Clear Lake and Mason City in late January.

William J. Rogers, 26, of Mason City was arrested Friday by Clear Lake Police, according to a press release issued by the CLPD on Friday afternoon.

Rogers joins Houston D. Conway, 23, and Alexa Cockrell, 25, both of Britt, in facing charges related to a reported Jan. 23 robbery at Casey's at 202 Hwy. 18 East. Conway and Cockrell have been charged with felony second degree robbery.

Conway was also charged with three additional counts of felony robbery in conjunction with three robberies in Mason City, according to the Mason City Police Department.

Police say Conway struck the Yesway at 1224 N. Federal Ave. on Jan. 6, Casey's at 813 N. Federal Ave. on Jan. 23 and the Yesway at 637 12th St. NE on Jan. 25, according to the release.

The two police departments worked together on the robberies.

No bail has been set yet in Rogers arrest.

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China, Russia oppose any attempts to abuse democratic values: joint statement

Xinhua) 09:17, February 05, 2022

BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia oppose any attempts to abuse democratic values, oppose interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states in the name of protecting democracy and human rights, and oppose any attempts to stir up divisions and confrontation in the world, according to a joint statement issued Friday after a meeting between the two countries' presidents.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin is paying a visit to China. The two heads of state held talks in Beijing, and attended the opening ceremony of the 24th Olympic Winter Games.

In the joint statement, the two countries call on the international community to respect cultural and civilizational diversity and the rights of people of different countries to self-determination.

China and Russia are ready to join hands with all the interested countries to promote genuine democracy, the statement said.

The two sides agree that democracy is a shared human value, rather than a privilege of a few countries, and that promoting and safeguarding democracy is a common cause of the entire global community.

The two sides believe that democracy should be whole-process and reflect the interests and will of all citizens, the statement said.

People of all countries have the right to choose such forms and methods of implementing democracy that suit their own national conditions, and it is only up to them to decide whether their country is democratic, according to the statement.

China and Russia, as major countries with long-standing history and culture, have profound traditions of democracy rooted in thousands of years of experience of development, and such traditions are broadly supported by the people of each country and reflect their needs and interests, said the statement.

The people of both countries have full confidence in their development paths, and respect other countries' democratic systems and traditions.

China and Russia note that democratic principles should be reflected not only in domestic governance but also at the global level.

Certain countries attempt to draw dividing lines based on ideology, impose their own "democratic standards" on other countries, and monopolize the right to define democracy by establishing small cliques and alliances.

Such action actually tramples democracy and betrays the spirit and true values of democracy, according to the statement.

Such moves to seek hegemony pose serious threats to global and regional peace and stability and undermine the stability of the world order.

The two countries hold that international human rights cooperation should be based on equal dialogue among all countries, and that all countries should have equal development rights.

All countries should carry out human rights coordination and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect and step up efforts to build an international human rights system, the statement added.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Bianji)
CEDAR RAPIDS  Just as they do every two years, Iowa Democrats and Republicans will hold precinct caucuses next week.

Democrats also wont be doing their slightly-more involved version of a straw poll. Participation isnt likely to be as great as in a presidential election year caucus because those campaigns wont be encouraging their supporters to get to the caucuses.

However, party leaders say the absence of presidential candidates and the accompanying national and international media coverage doesnt diminish from the important work of the caucuses at 7 p.m. Feb. 7

Both parties see the off-year caucuses as party-building opportunities. Caucus participants will elect central committee members and delegates to county conventions. Participants can indicate interest in serving on various committees and submit platform proposals. Caucuses also are an opportunity for candidates hoping to qualify get their ballot petitions signed.

Thats made more difficult by COVID-19 as many party members are reluctant to gather in large numbers.

The Cerro Gordo County GOP will be hosting its caucus at the Mason City High School, Clear Lake High School and the Rockwell Community Center.

The Cerro Gordo County Democrats will be holding it caucus at one location, the Lincoln Intermediate School in Mason City.

Schedules may vary from county to county, but in general, whether caucuses are in-person or virtual, doors open at 6 p.m. with the caucuses starting at 7 p.m.

To find Republican caucus locations statewide, visit iowagop.org/2022-caucus-locations. For state Democratic Party caucuses, visit iowademocrats.org/2022-caucuses.

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DES MOINES  Eight Iowa school districts are violating a judicial order by not reinstating face mask requirements, the American Civil Liberties Unions state chapter claimed in a letter sent to those districts Friday.

The school districts  Ankeny, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Decorah, Denver, Johnston, Linn-Mar, and Waterloo  should have face mask requirements to protect students with disabilities who filed a lawsuit against a state law banning face mask requirements in Iowa schools, the ACLU says.

On Jan. 25, a federal appeals court judge ruled the plaintiffs  families with students with disabilities from 10 Iowa school districts  should receive relief from the new state law because those students health would be placed in danger in a school building without a face mask requirement.

Since then, only Des Moines and Iowa City have implemented face mask requirements, the ACLU said. The eight districts that received letters Friday have not, the ACLU said.

Based on the legal force of the Eighth Circuits opinion, we are asking these eight schools to restore their mask mandates immediately because they are still necessary for our clients children to go to school safely during this time, ACLU of Iowa legal director Rita Bettis Austen said in a statement.

Failing to require masking when it is necessary as a reasonable accommodation forces our clients to choose between their childrens health and their education.

The ACLUs letters ask the districts to respond within a week and state that, if no response is received, the plaintiffs will consider further legal action.

The letters sent Friday address only districts to which a plaintiff in the lawsuit attend. The ACLU said its interpretation of the Jan. 25 ruling is that any district must make similar accommodations for students with disabilities.

We are also committed to ensuring the rights of children with disabilities in other schools in Iowa who are failing to provide masking mandates when required as a reasonable accommodation, and may decide to take further action against unnamed school districts, Bettis Austen said in a news release.

The Linn-Mar Community School District, which is named as a defendant in the suit, stopped requiring students, staff and visitors to schools to wear a mask Jan. 3. In September, the school board had voted to require masks for students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade  a requirement that remained in effect until a COVID-19 vaccine was widely available for children.

Kevin Fry, Linn-Mar communication director, said the district has no comment on the letter from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa at this time.

The district did not wish to comment on questions from The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette asking if district officials have plans to reinstate a mask mandate or if it will be a discussion item for the school board at its next meeting, set for Feb. 14.

A mask requirement remains for students, staff and visitors in the Iowa City Community School District, one of the districts subjected to the original injunction. Because the district is continuing to require masks, it did not receive a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.

The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette reporter Grace King contributed to this report.

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A 16-year-old girl was injured in a single-vehicle crash just north of Mason City on Friday.

Authorities say that around 3:30 p.m., Ivory Johnson of Mason City was travelling along Highway 65, near County Road B20, when poor road conditions caused her to lose control of her 2007 Chevy Malibu, leaving the roadway and striking a tree.

Johnson, who was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, was briefly trapped in her vehicle, but was assisted by a passerby.

Johnson was taken by ambulance to MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, according to a press release from the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office.

Mason City Fire and Ambulance assisted at the scene.

Lisa Grouette is the Local News Editor and Photographer at the Globe Gazette. Reach her at 641-421-0525 or lisa.grouette@globegazette.com. Follow Lisa on Twitter @LisaGrouette

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A 31-year-old former Danville hospital nurse will serve three years in federal prison for tampering with vials of opioids, the U.S Department of Justice reports.

Emilee Kathryn Poteat, formerly employed as a Sovah Health-Danville registered nurse  was sentenced Friday in Danvilles federal court. She pleaded guilty in May to a count of tampering with consumer products (fentanyl and hydromorphone) that affect interstate commerce, a count of reckless disregard for the risk that another person be placed in danger of death or bodily injury and a count of making false statements, a news release reported.

Starting in January 2020, Poteat diverted and tampered with fentanyl vials and hydromorphone that were intended for patients at Sovah Health-Danville, court documents revealed.

The tampering discovery was made on May 19, 2020. Out of 20 vials of fentanyl, 14 had tops popped off, the news release reported. The remaining tops fell off when touched,

In addition, a dry white film  suspected to be superglue  was around one of the vials.

To access a machine where the vials were stored, registered nurses have a unique code to be used. A review showed Poteat was the only employee to access the area where the tampered vials were located.

Those who are trusted to keep opioids and other pain medications secure must be held to the highest standards possible, United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said in a Friday stateemnt. When those individuals break that trust, the United States Attorneys Office will hold them accountable to ensure the publics trust in our medical institutions.

When questioned by police on May 29, 2020, she denied to the tampering and also said she didnt drink alcohol or use drugs, the release reported. She also maintained her innocence in another interview on June 28, 2020. Thats when she told police another person used her password to gain access.

After she was fired from the hospital, she admitted to the Virginia Department of Health Professions that she had a substance abuse issue and self-medicated with opioids. She also said she used the fentanyl and hydromorphone she obtained at Sovah Health-Danville for her own use.

Health care professionals who steal needed medications from their patients put those patients at increased risk of harm and create a disruption in the legal drug supply chain, Mark S. McCormack, a special agent in charge of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations-Metropolitan Washington Field Office, said. We will continue to protect the public health and bring to justice health care professionals who take advantage of their unique position and compromise their patients health and comfort by tampering with prescription drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Virginia Department of Health Professions investigated in incident. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case.
An Arlington County judge has blocked Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order to give parents an opt-out of local school mask mandates, ruling that his executive authority does not supersede state law.

"The efficacy of the Governor's school mask policy contained in EO2 does not bear on whether he has the authority to issue it," wrote Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Louise DiMatteo.

"The single issue before the Court is whether the Governor, via his emergency powers, can override the decision of local school boards delegated to them under SB 1303. On this pivotal point, the Court concludes that the Governor cannot."

Macaulay Porter, a spokeswoman for Youngkin, said in a statement: "The governor will never stop fighting for parents ability to choose what is best for their children. The governor often said that this is not a pro-mask or anti-mask debate. Its about parents knowing whats best for their childs health, and opting-out should there be a mask mandate.

"More voices, including from the scientific and medical community, call into question the efficacy behind a universal mask mandate for children. This is about whats best for their kids health and who can best make that decision. We are going to appeal, this is just the first step in the judicial process."

Richmond and six other school boards  for Alexandria, Falls Church, Hampton and the counties of Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington  say they have authority under the state constitution, as well as under a law Gov. Ralph Northam signed last year to require public schools to provide in-person instruction while following federal COVID-19 guidelines to the maximum extent practicable.

But an attorney for Youngkin said during a hearing Wednesday that the governors emergency powers are vast and broad, allowing him to act by executive order to protect the constitutional rights of students and their parents to choose whether to wear face masks in school.

The public interest favors parental constitutional rights, Deputy Attorney General Steven Popps said.

The suit by the school boards is one of three challenging the governors order to let parents opt their children out of school mask mandates. A group of Chesapeake parents challenged the order in the state Supreme Court and a group of parents of students with disabilities filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court.

The Associated Press reported that three parents who support the governors position filed suit against the Loudoun County School Board, which maintained its school mask mandate after Youngkins executive order.
Question: Hopefully, warm weather will be here soon and baby birds and other small animals will be born.

What should we do if we find a baby bird or other animal that looks like its in distress?

C.P

Answer: In most cases, the best thing to do if you find an injured bird or animal is to leave it alone, according to the N.C. Wildlife Commission.

Many young animals will be left alone during the day. If it doesnt look injured and is alert and active, it probably isnt orphaned and chances are the parents are close by watching.

Leave the animal alone and check again the next day. If the animal is still there and there is no sign of the mother, contact a wildlife rehabilitator.

Wildlife rehabilitators are volunteers who are trained and licensed by the State of North Carolina to rehabilitate wild animals until they can be released back into their natural habitat. Rehabilitators dedicate a considerable amount of their time and money to care for orphaned and injured wildlife.

Before contacting a rehabilitator, be sure the animal truly needs assistance. In most cases, a wild animal has the best chance of survival when it is not taken into human care. Often the best way you can help a wild animal is to leave it alone, the commission said.

The wildlife commission has a list of wildlife rehabilitators and the type of animals or birds that they are licensed to rehabilitate on its website. Go to ncwildlife.org and click on Interactive Maps from its home page. Then click on Wildlife Rehabilitators.

Q: Which U.S. senators are up for reelection this year?

A.D.

A: A total of 34 U.S. Senate seats will be on the ballot this year. Of the seats, 20 are held by Republicans and 14 are held by Democrats, according to rollcall.com.

Of those, five Republicans have announced they will not seek reelection, including Sen. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem. The others not running are Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, and Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri. One Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, has announced that he will not seek reelection.

This class of senators was elected in November 2016 and sworn in on Jan. 3, 2017.

Their terms will expire on Jan. 3, 2023.

The Republican seats that will be up for reelection are those held by: Roy Blunt, Missouri; John Boozman, Arkansas; Burr, North Carolina; Mike Crapo, Idaho; Chuck Grassley, Iowa; John Hoeven, North Dakota; Ron Johnson, Wisconsin; John Kennedy, Louisiana; James Lankford, Oklahoma; Mike Lee, Utah; Jerry Moran, Kansas; Lisa Murkowski, Alaska; Rand Paul, Kentucky; Portman, Ohio; Marco Rubio, Florida; Tim Scott, South Carolina; Richard Shelby, Alabama; John Thune, South Dakota; Toomey, Pennsylvania; and Todd Young, Indiana.

The Democratic seats are: Michael Bennet, Colorado; Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut; Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada; Tammy Duckworth, Illinois; Margaret Wood Hassan, New Hampshire; Mark Kelly, Arizona; Patrick Leahy, Vermont; Patty Murray, Washington; Alex Padilla, California; Brian Schatz, Hawaii; Charles Schumer, New York; Chris Van Hollen, Maryland; Raphael Warnock, Georgia; and Ron Wyden, Oregon.

Q: I gave a memorial for a friend recently. All of a sudden, Im getting requests from charities Ive heard of and many I havent. They seem like good causes, but Im limited in the number of charities I can give to. How do I stop the requests?

B.H.

A: Charity Navigator, an online charity evaluator, recommends that you directly contact the charities you dont want to support, either by phone, mail or email and ask to be removed from their list.

You can make anonymous gifts when you do decide to donate. For more information about Charity Navigator, go to charitynavigator.org.

You can also register with the Data and Marketing Associations list of people who do not want various types of unsolicited mail, including mail from charities. There is a $2 processing fee to register. For more information about DMA, go to dmachoice.org.

 Melissa Hall, Winston-Salem Journal

Email your questions to mike.kernels@greensboro.com. Include Ask a Reporter in the subject field.

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Some Wake County school librarians are speaking out in defense of several LGBTQ-themed books that some parents want removed from school libraries.

Parents in Wake County and across the nation are challenging books, often with LGBTQ content, that they say are pornographic because of graphic language or images related to sex.

But a group of Wake County school librarians urged the county school board this past week to reject the challenges and to keep the books on the shelves.

This board needs to decide what story will be told about WCPSS when our students identities were challenged and access to books in our libraries were jeopardized, Chris Tuttell, the librarian at South Garner High School, told the board. Did we speak up in favor of tolerance, empathy and compassion or did we remain silent?

Our students are watching and listening and they deserve a board that shows them our beliefs arent just words but actions.

Critics, however, say the graphic content in the challenged books makes them unsuitable to be in school libraries.

Remove the books with extreme sexual content from school libraries, Shelley Peele said in written public comments submitted for this weeks board meeting. Why does a school child need access to books describing how to engorge a clitoris with blood for orgasm or visual depictions of oral sex?

Book challenges and legal complaints are being filed across North Carolina and the nation.

A group of parents and community activists filed nine criminal complaints in December with the Wake County Sheriffs Office accusing the school system of distributing obscene and pornographic material. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman says she wont file charges because she doesnt believe the complaints rise to the level of being a criminal matter.

Lawn Boy challenged

Some of the books targeted include Gender Queer: A Memoir, Lawn Boy and Melissa, formerly called George. Those books previously have come under fire in North Carolina from Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Greensboro Republican, and nationally for their sexual content.

Chad Slotta, a parent at Cary High School, had challenged having Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison in the schools library.

Lawn Boy is a coming-of-age story about a 22-year-old man who is growing up in poverty. A News & Observer analysis of the book found it has three scenes involving sexual situations, including the main character recalling how as a 10-year-old he had oral sex with another boy at a youth group gathering at their church.

A six-member committee of parents, teachers and staff at Cary High unanimously rejected Slottas challenge. Slotta appealed the decision to a district review committee, which in January backed Cary High on the grounds that the book has literary merit and contributes to the diversity and representation of characters and experiences in the librarys collection.

The district committee also pointed to how Lawn Boy is not used in classrooms so reading it is voluntary.

Slotta told the school board last month that he planned to appeal Cary Highs decision. Slotta read aloud excerpts from Lawn Boy, saying the language there would not be allowed if it was said in a classroom.

We have a responsibility to protect and safeguard our children, Slotta told the board. Exposing them to obscene, sexually explicit and pornographic material harms their physical and emotional health by normalizing the sexualization of children and stealing their innocence.

Wake County Public Libraries rejected a challenge made against Lawn Boy. The library system briefly removed Gender Queer before returning it to circulation while it reviews the process for handling book challenges.

Gender Queer is a graphic novel, or story told in a comic-strip format, about author Maia Kobabes journey of identifying as nonbinary and asexual. An analysis by The News & Observer found a few sexual scenes in this book, as well as a few illustrations involving nudity and erotic scenarios.

Book challenges harm the students

Amid the challenges, several Wake County school librarians attended the recent board meeting to argue that keeping those books helps the districts LGBTQ students.

Julie Stivers, the librarian at Mt. Vernon Middle School in Raleigh, called the book challenges an attempt to deny the ability of LGBTQ students to see themselves reflected in the books in their libraries and classrooms.

These challenges target Black, Latinx and queer stories, said Stivers, the Wake County school systems librarian of the year. Not only does this harm the students whose identities are authentically and thoughtfully portrayed in this literature, it harms all students who do not get to learn and build empathy.

Stivers read comments that she said came from students who wanted the books kept. The students talked about how having LGBTQ books makes them want to read again and makes them feel safe and seen.

I mean people know that reading about something in a book doesnt mean well go and do it, right? Stivers said as she read one of the student comments. Do they realize I read about dragons and dont start breathing fire?

But Peele, one of the parents who wants the books removed, said in her comments that this isnt anti-LGBTQ propaganda.

This isnt about censorship of ideas, Peele continued. It is one of the most basic non-refutable arguments that simply cant be ignored. You are in effect peddling porn to our children.

Some want to fire the librarians

The spoken and written public comments from the various school librarians has drawn both praise and criticism.

Some have thanked the librarians, saying theyre making sure that the voices of students are being heard.

Powerful advocacy from WCPSS school librarians at last nights board meeting in response to the recent wave of book challenges, most targeting LGBTQ+ titles, Casey Rawson, a teaching assistant professor in library science at UNC-Chapel Hill, tweeted Wednesday. So grateful for the tough work these folks are doing to ensure that ALL students are represented in the library.

But some have called for the school librarians to be fired.

The position of those woke librarians is that pornography should be allowed in schools, Jon Warren, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, tweeted Wednesday. Got it. Now fire them.
RALEIGH  A divided N.C. Supreme Court struck down the new maps for congressional and General Assembly seats Friday, declaring that state courts had authority to throw out lines engineered to secure a long-term Republican advantage in an otherwise closely divided state.

By a 4-3 decision  with the justices who are Democrats comprising the majority  the states highest court directed the GOP-controlled legislature to redraw the plans by Feb. 18 and provide an explanation of how they calculated the partisan fairness of the new boundaries. Any replacement maps would still be used for the May 17 primaries.

The courts decision reversed a ruling last month from a panel of three trial judges and declared partisan gerrymandering found in the redistricting approved by the legislature in November violated several provisions in the North Carolina Constitution. They include the right to free elections, freedom of speech and equal protections of citizens.

The trial judges had found ample evidence that the legislature-approved maps were a result of intentional, pro-Republican partisan redistricting. But they declared it wasnt the judiciarys place to intervene in mapmaking  a duty left to the legislature  when partisan fairness in those plans were challenged. They called the redistricting process inherently political and said many of the lawsuits claims fall outside the scope of legal redress.

On Friday, a majority of the Supreme Court disagreed. They said its the judiciarys obligation to step in to block lines that skew a partys control to the detriment of those with opposing viewpoints. Announced candidates for district seats may have to reconsider their decisions if boundary lines are redrawn.

Fridays ruling is a major victory for state and national Democrats and their allies who had invested greatly in overturning the maps and thwarting Republican gains for the next decade. It could also make it harder for Republicans to retake control of the U.S. House this fall.

Lawsuits filed by voters and advocacy groups were bolstered by mathematicians and electoral researchers who presented evidence of their analysis of trillions of map simulations. They testified the new lines were likely to give the GOP 10 of the states 14 U.S. House seats as well as state House and Senate majorities in almost any political environment. Republicans currently hold an 8-5 seat advantage. The state gets a 14th seat because of population growth reported in the census.

The plaintiffs argued that the enacted maps thwarted the will of the people of North Carolina and the boundaries should produce political outcomes more in line with competitive statewide elections over the past decade.

Republican legislators wanted the trial judges ruling to stand, saying a state Supreme Court ruling of the early 2000s said partisan advantage can be considered in mapmaking. They said the redistricting process was transparent and prohibited the use of racial and political data.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican writing the dissenting opinion, said the courts majority was seeking to hide its partisan bias through its decision.

By choosing to hold that partisan gerrymandering violates the North Carolina Constitution and by devising its own remedies, there appears to be no limit to this courts power, he wrote.
MONROE  A group of Union County parents is asking the state to intervene after the school board this week voted to end contact tracing and quarantine requirements in all of the districts schools.

The decision takes effect Monday and was made based on a steady downward spiral of COVID-19 cases, some members said. Only students and employees who are sick with coronavirus symptoms or who test positive are required to stay home. The policy change means Union County Public Schools will not require proactive isolation or quarantine of those who were exposed or suspect exposure to the virus.

Most school districts in North Carolina have avoided drastic quarantine interruptions by requiring masks, which not only provides protection but also reduces the need for mass quarantines under state health regulations. Union County was one of the few districts in the state that left masks optional since the beginning of the school year.

Still, with COVID-19 numbers declining, cities and towns across the state are again having to readjust their health guidelines to follow suit.

Its very obvious we had a spike the week of Jan. 10, (with) 1,331 cases, said Gary Sides, a member of the Union County school board. The numbers are less than half now.

Still, parents are asking local officials and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to enforce the current state guidance, which is more restrictive.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday did not respond to questions from the Observer asking whether a district voting to end quarantine and contact tracing violates state health rules or regulations. Last year, the Union County school board tangled with DHHS officials over a similar issue and ultimately, under the threat of legal action, the district restored a part of the policy to require proactive quarantining among students and staff who had likely been exposed to COVID-19.

Health experts recommend both contact tracing and close contact quarantining to cut down on possible coronavirus outbreaks in schools. Under state health rules, though, quarantine mandates often result in widespread absences and staff shortages, disrupting classrooms and families.

Many parents have said they feel theyre living in an alternate reality, as COVID-19 rules fall away in many aspects of public life  except schools and day cares.

Just as many, though, feel those restrictions need to be in place.

The (Board of Education) has removed the last barrier of informing and protecting the student body, their families and (district) staff of exposure to a virulent and damaging disease, said Krystyn Smith, who is the founder of a local group that monitors the school district and its policies.

According to a district official, the number of coronavirus cases fell from 148 on Monday to 85 on Tuesday.

The safety of the students and staff is still of the utmost concern, Sides said, but also the mental health and closing the learning gap.
Broadwater County Attorney and Montana Army National Guard member Cory Swanson has been deployed, and Lewis and Clark and Gallatin counties have stepped in to assist in his absence.

Lt. Col. Swanson deployed with the 1-163rd Combined Arms Battalion to the Central Command area of operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, according to Montana National Guard Public Affairs Officer Maj. Ryan Finnegan.

The Lewis and Clark County Commission on Tuesday approved sending special counsel to Broadwater County for about 15 hours a week for approximately nine months. The Gallatin County Attorney's Office has entered into a similar arrangement.

Broadwater County's legal arm was preparing to hire outside counsel in the absence of a deputy county attorney until about six months ago, when Broadwater County Commissioner Mike Delger said the office hired former Helena public defender Jania Hatfield for the job.

Delger said Hatfield will be temporarily appointed to acting county attorney in Swanson's absence.

Hatfield will receive the county attorney's pay for that time, and Delger said Hatfield's deputy attorney pay will cover the cost of neighboring counties' aid.

"(Swanson) does have a deputy county attorney over there ... but it is a two-person job," Lewis and Clark County Deputy Attorney Charles Lane told the local county commission Tuesday. "So we will be assisting where we can with some prosecution and limited civil work, which they will reimburse us for."

The interlocal agreement states the Lewis and Clark County deputy attorneys will carve out 15 hours a week for Broadwater County at a rate of $50 an hour.

Delger said that amount is short of the about 35 hours a week the office will need.

"We can't take Lewis and Clark County's people away for too long," Delger said.

Broadwater County intends to supplement those remaining hours with Gallatin County and Montana Association of Counties lawyers, according to Delger.

He said having laid the groundwork for paid assistance from Lewis and Clark County more than six months ago, though that arrangement never came to fruition, helped facilitate this most recent process.

"Best wishes to Mr. Swanson," Lewis and Clark County Commissioner Andy Hunthausen said. "I wish him the best on his deployment, and I'm glad that our county attorney's office is willing and able to help out."

Fellow County Commissioner Tom Rolfe echoed Hunthausen's sentiments.

"These deployments affect all of us," Rolfe said. "The fact that (Swanson) even as county attorney has stayed involved with the Guard in order to support our country is wonderful, and I'm glad that our county attorney is willing to be of assistance in (Swanson's) absence."

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A new specialty license plate featuring Helena College is coming down the road, and if all goes as expected, it will generate money to support scholarships and programs.

The release of the plate by the Montana Motor Vehicle Division has been moved to March. It was to be released earlier but was delayed due to a shortage of aluminum, a Helena College spokeswoman said Friday.

We are thrilled to have this new design for our plates that showcases the pride we have in Helena through highlighting the Sleeping Giant," Dean Sandra Bauman said in an email. "I look forward to seeing these plates around town, knowing that each time I do it means someone has chosen to support Helena College and the services we provide to our students and the community.

Helena College officials said $30 from each plate will go to supporting scholarships and programs at the college. There is a $10 production cost, a $30 donation to sponsor and a $30 renewal donation, according to the Montana Motor Vehicle Department website at https://bit.ly/333ixpS.

The Helena College plate is among 19 collegiate plates featured on the Montana Montana Vehicle Department website. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2022, the collegiate license plates generated $59,490 in donations for 13 colleges with Carroll generating $8,000 of that, according to the MVD website. Overall, nearly 136 plates generated $1.4 million in donations.

For more on Helena College, go to: http://www.helenacollege.edu.

According to the Motor Vehicle Division website, the 57th Montana Legislature passed the Generic Specialty License Plate Act in 2001, allowing the Department of Justice to issue specialty license plates sponsored by qualified organizations or governmental bodies. It differs from the standard plate in that it has three letters and three numbers without a county designator.

The Motor Vehicle Division determines if an organization or governmental body is qualified as a specialty plate sponsor and oversees the appearance of the plate.

Prior to 2001, license plate approval was left to the Legislature with it voting on every group.

In 2002, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and Glacier National Park plates were the first specialty plates offered to the public.

Taxation on motor vehicles was enacted in 1913 to raise revenue for construction, maintenance and improvement of public highways. A license fee of $5 to $20 was charged depending on the horsepower of the vehicle, according to the Motor Vehicle Department.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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DECATUR  Rochelle Clark is most likely the next superintendent for Decatur Public Schools.

In the board packet, released on Friday prior to the school board's Tuesday meeting, is a contract naming Clark as the superintendent.

The contract, if approved, is for a term from the date of the meeting until June 30, 2025, at a salary prorated for this school year of $80,505; for the 2022-23 school year, $206,000; and for subsequent years, calls for the superintendent's salary to be agreed upon by the superintendent and the board.

Clark has been assistant superintendent of support services since 2021 and was interviewed for the superintendent's position by the board in a closed session on Jan. 31.

She was not among the original candidates presented to the board by the search firm of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates. Two finalists that appeared in online forums on Jan. 5 were removed from contention. Michael Gaal was unable to obtain Illinois certification, and Malika Savoy-Brooks was removed because, board President Dan Oakes said, the board could not reach consensus on her.

As reported by the Herald & Review last week, the board interviewing an internal candidate narrowed the field to only a dozen Decatur educators who hold superintendent's credentials from the state.

Oakes said Clark, who first served Decatur schools as director of student services beginning in fall 2015, returned in 2021 intending for her tenure here to be temporary, had decided to make a long-term commitment to the district when she applied for the superintendent's position.

Originally the plan was for the whole board to meet with her on Jan. 25, but due to several board members being in quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure, that meeting had to be postponed until Jan. 31.

"I feel like she's an experienced administrator and has worked in a variety of situations," Oakes said. "I think she has the acceptance of the staff, and that they will see her as someone they can easily work with. I'm glad she came forward and applied for the job."

VIEW THE CONTRACT

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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The board is expected to announce the new superintendent during its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The candidate is an internal one. The board is declining to release the name until the meeting.

Search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates was contracted for $24,950, which covers the entire search process until a candidate is hired. The search firm found 17 candidates for the job, whittled the list down to five, then three, by the board members through the interview process. The internal candidate was not among the original candidates found by the search firm, and the board did not ask the internal candidate to apply.

On Jan. 5, the two finalists for the job as identified by an independent search committee took part in online forums. But those candidates were both rejected. Malika Savoy-Brooks was removed from the running because the board could not come to a consensus on selection. Michael Gaal dropped out of contention when he discovered he could not obtain a superintendent's certificate in Illinois.

Fregeau left on July 1 to take a position as superintendent of the Fox C-6 district near St. Louis. The original ad seeking applications for the position had a deadline of Oct. 24, 2021.

There are a handful of problematic issues as the search lumbers to a conclusion.

The board retained the same firm the district has used for years, with questionable success.

The search firm offered an unqualified finalist.

How did the internal candidate come about? Was the job posted? How did the candidate know to apply or did they? School board President Dan Oakes said the internal candidate was not among the original candidates found by the search firm, and the board did not ask this candidate to apply.

The lack of transparency is troubling enough, leaving us thinking the more things change with the Decatur board, the more they stay the same. At least this version of the board is not showing the contempt the previous board showed the community and the media.

But this feels like a sloppy and hurried conclusion to an important decision. The manner in which the search has been conducted leaves a foul taste in the mouth. How can the new superintendent come on board with sufficient respect when the process so far has been a series of stumbles?

We wish the new superintendent all the success we all wish for our public schools. But we also have to wonder whether the best move would have been to hire another interim superintendent and start the search over with a different search firm.

Its hard to believe things could go any worse than they have in this search.

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New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Windy with increasing clouds. A stray thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner has on multiple occasions expressed frustration with his Republican colleagues for their refusal to support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act when these bills came up for a vote last month.

In 2021, we had the biggest turnout ever in Virginia, Warner said during a media question and answer session in January. A lot of that was due to lots more early voting, early voting on weekends, the ability to use drop boxes, and that helped the Republican candidates, both at the statewide level and in the House of Delegates.

Indeed, all evidence indicates that easier access to voting allowed the GOP to wrest control of state government from the Democrats. Gov. Glenn Youngkin himself embraced early voting  Weve been encouraging all Virginians to come vote, vote early, he said in October, while in the process of casting his own early vote  and his strategy worked out great, with a record turnout deciding in his favor  which makes it doubly curious that such a huge flock of Republican-sponsored bills to undo that access has gathered in the House of Delegates.

Two from Ronnie Campbell, R-Rockbridge, would have especially sweeping consequences. House Bill 35 would repeal no excuse absentee voting, such that voters would once again have to provide specific government-allowable reasons for not voting in person. The permanent absentee voter list created last year would be dispensed with.

A sister piece of legislation, HB 34, would end the use of ballot drop boxes.

It is perhaps of note that in the Virginia Senate, Campbells bills have the support of Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, who has described herself as Trump in heels and who claimed without providing any supporting evidence that Democrats were cheating in the 2021 elections. Chase spoke at former President Donald Trumps Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, 2021, though she says she did not take part in the riots that followed inside the U.S. Capitol.

Campbell, for his part, signed a Jan. 5, 2021, letter sent to former Vice President Mike Pence by state Del. David LaRock, R-Loudoun, requesting that Pence nullify Virginias 13 Electoral College votes for Biden. The letter claimed that numerous changes to the laws of Virginia enacted in the 2020 Session of the Virginia General Assembly led to greatly increased opportunities for massive voter fraud and election fraud.

Hold that thought.

Two more bills sponsored by Republicans, essentially duplicates, would make it so that voting in-person with an absentee ballot must take place within the two weeks prior to the election. Two more duplicate bills would once again make possession of a photo ID the requirement for casting a vote. Other allowable forms of ID such as a utility bill, bank statement or government document containing the name and address of the voter would be banished, and even an expired license wont make the cut. One of those bills, for good measure, also seeks to repeal the permanent absentee voter list. And there are more bills beyond these.

As of this writing the bills weve highlighted are still alive in the House, though it seems unlikely they will survive long in the Democrat-controlled Senate, if they make it that far.

(Ironically, one election reform bill that had bipartisan backers, a proposed ban on campaign contributions by public utilities like Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power, has already met a quick bipartisan death in Senate and House committees.)

It would be one thing if the voting reforms passed by the General Assembly while Democrats were in charge had in fact brought about an uptick in voting errors or outright voter fraud. But a state risk-limiting audit of Virginias 2020 election found the probability of error to be less than a thousandth of a single percent, a fraction so tiny that in practice it might as well be zero. The audit performed on the 2021 election has also certified the accuracy of the results at more than 99%.

As Warner put it, our elections are secure.

The 2020 changes all worked out fine, more people participated in the 2021 election than ever, Republicans reaped the reward, and some of their number at least still want to cut off their own noses out of some strange involuntary instinct. The oft-repeated conventional wisdom that increased voter turnout helps Democrats got stood on its head this past November.

In Warners January talk, he expressed alarm at efforts to undermine future election results in other states. There is huge concern where you see some of these states saying, Were going to turn over to the state legislature, a partisan entity, who gets to determine who won the state  not an independent election board, or (you see) some of that even taking place at the county level, where the local election officials, often always bipartisan, always independent, are going to get pushed aside.

May that not happen in Virginia. Theres no need to fix what aint broke.
 Flash

China and Russia reaffirmed strong support for each other's core interest, state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and voiced opposition to external interference in their domestic affairs, according to a joint statement issued Friday after a meeting between the two countries' presidents.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin is paying a visit to China. The two heads of state held talks in Beijing, and attended the opening ceremony of the 24th Olympic Winter Games.

The two countries oppose further enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and urged NATO to abandon its Cold-War mentality, respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries, and hold a fair and objective attitude towards the peaceful development of other countries.

China and Russia stand against any attempts to forge exclusive blocs and to stoke confrontation between blocs in the Asia-Pacific region, and they are highly vigilant about the negative impact of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy on peace and stability in the region, said the statement.

The two sides are committed to building an equitable, open and inclusive security system in the Asia-Pacific region that is not directed against any third country, and have made consistent efforts in promoting peace, stability and prosperity, it added.

According to the statement, the two countries are seriously concerned about AUKUS, the trilateral security partnership between the United States, Britain, and Australia, in particular their cooperation in the field of nuclear-powered submarines that involves strategic stability.

The deal runs contrary to the security and sustainable development objectives of the Asia-Pacific region, increase the risk of an arms race in the region, and pose serious risks of nuclear proliferation.

China and Russia strongly condemn such moves and call on AUKUS participants to strictly fulfil their nuclear and missile non-proliferation commitments and to safeguard regional peace, stability and development.

The two sides reaffirmed that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is the cornerstone of the international disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation system, and also an important part of the post-war international security system, which plays an indispensable role in global peace and development.

The international community should promote the the treaty's three pillars in a balanced way, and work together to protect the credibility, effectiveness and the universal nature of the treaty, the statement added.
Lawsuits involving Cardinal Innovations and Richard Topping Jr., its fired chief executive, appear to have reached the settlement stage, according to filings submitted Thursday to the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Cardinal, based in Charlotte, had operated as the states largest behavioral health managed care organization covering 20 counties  including Cabarrus and Union and Alamance, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Rockingham and Stokes counties in the Triad.

Counsels for Cardinal and Topping said the parties agreed Jan. 27 to a settlement in principle on Cardinals lawsuit against Topping and Toppings countersuit. No terms were disclosed in the filings.

Topping is serving as chief legal officer for CareSource, a managed-care services provider based in Dayton, Ohio.

In March 2018, a newly constituted Cardinal board of directors sued Topping as part of an attempt to claw-back, or recover, $1.68 million in severance that the previous board paid to Topping.

The board has been pursuing altogether about $3.8 million in paid severance from four former Cardinal officials.

Cardinal reimbursed the state the $3.8 million from administrative funds.

About an hour after Cardinal filed its lawsuit against Topping in Mecklenburg Superior Court, an investigator hired by the Cardinal board, Kurt Meyers, disclosed his findings in a news conference.

On May 30, 2018, Topping sued the former federal prosecutor for libel and slander, claiming Meyers presentation was misleading and false. That lawsuit came 15 days after Topping countersued Cardinal.

According to Thursdays filings, the necessary papers are now being prepared to finalize the global settlement.

The parties requested the courts permission to have until March 10 to file that agreement. The current filing deadline is Tuesday.

Cardinal agreed on June 1, 2021, to being taken over by Vaya Health of Asheville by June 30, 2022.

That merger occurred in part in response to several county boards of commissioners, including Davidson, Davie, Forsyth and Rockingham, gaining permission in fall 2021 by then-state Health Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen to move to another MCO.

The common denominator among the commissioners is they had lost faith in Cardinals ability to manage care for their residents.

Controversial reign

Cardinal, at its peak, had responsibility for more than 850,000 Medicaid recipients and more than $675 million in federal and state Medicaid funding.

The firing of Topping in November 2017 represented the climax of regulatory and legal probes into his performance as Cardinals top executive.

The Cardinal board was revamped in large part because Cohen determined the previous board, led by chairwoman Lucy Drake, had acted inappropriately in paying severance to Topping and other Cardinal executives as part of their dismissals.

Topping was terminated without cause by the previous Cardinal board on Nov. 17, 2017, which allowed him to receive a $1.68 million, two-year severance package. The board also allowed Topping to continue his duties through Nov. 30, 2017.

Cohen stepped in on Nov. 27, 2017, to formally remove Topping and disband the Cardinal board.

State law permits the health secretary to remove the chief executive and the board of a behavioral-health MCO if the secretary determines that the agency demonstrates serious financial mismanagement or serious regulatory noncompliance.

Topping faces seven claims in the Cardinal lawsuit: breach of contract; breach of fiduciary duties; breach of implied duty of good faith and fair dealing (in his role as CEO); conversion (deleting data from Cardinal-owned devices and not returning Cardinal electronic property); unjust enrichment; constructive trust (knowingly accepting overpayments in severance); and constructive fraud (taking without permission highly confidential Cardinal financial and operational data).

The revamped Cardinal board complaint called Toppings severance excessive and unlawful payments. Topping also was paid as much as $635,000 in annual salary  more than three times the $204,000 permitted by state law.

Topping and Drake and the previous Cardinal board had for years viewed the agency as an independent contractor as part of state Medicaid reform.

As such, they claimed Cardinal gained financial and business flexibility from the legislature beyond those of the other behavioral-health MCOs.

That included, they claim, being allowed to build up its fund balance from what was supposed to be prudent cost-cutting not harmful to Medicaid recipient services.

State Auditor Beth Wood said in a May 2017 audit ordered by a bipartisan group of legislators in August 2016 that Cardinals whole independent contractor claims have been taken out of context, and they are being misleading when they say they are.
The Republican National Committee voted to censure U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for serving on the House committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol last year, saying the panel is persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.

By a voice vote without discussion, the RNC approved a resolution censuring the lawmakers at its winter meeting in Utah on Friday. The resolution said their participation on the panel hurts the party and its efforts to win back congressional majorities in 2022.

The censure shows the grip former President Donald Trump still holds on the base of the GOP, but it drew pushback from some Republicans. Critics said it is wrong for the party to punish two of its members for helping to investigate the Jan. 6 riot  and counterproductive to focus on Republicans instead of President Joe Biden and Democrats ahead of midterm elections in November that will determine party control of Congress.

Some also see the move as showing loyalty to Trump, who has called the Jan. 6 investigation a witch hunt, said he would consider pardons for those charged in the attack if he runs again and wins, and demanded support for his baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

The party that long valued individuality and differences of opinion now demands fealty to the election results lie, Mike DuHaime, a GOP strategist and former RNC political director, said on Twitter. And it stupidly keeps the focus on Trump instead of Biden.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump in the impeachment for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, said in a tweet, The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on January 6th - HUH?

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who also voted to convict Trump, said on Twitter that shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. He also said honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.

Cheney, who faces a daunting primary race in Wyoming from a Trump-backed challenger, and Kinzinger, whos not seeking re-election in Illinois, issued statements saying they were upholding their oaths to support the U.S. Constitution.

I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump, Cheney said. History will be their judge.

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William C. Gorgas

William Crawford Gorgas (Oct. 3, 1854-July 3, 1920) is best remembered for controlling the transmission of yellow fever and malaria by controlling the mosquitos that carry these diseases.

Born in Alabama, Gorgas developed an interest in medicine at an early age. He pursued a medical education at The University of the South and Bellevue Hospital Medical College. Upon receiving his medical training, Dr. Gorgas was appointed to the United States Medical Corps in June 1880.

As many in the military, Gorgas was reassigned to various posts during his career in the Army. His many locations in which he served included Fort Clark, Fort Duncan and Fort Brown in Texas.

During his time at Fort Brown in 1884, he survived an episode of yellow fever. His fiancee, Marie Cook Doughty, also contracted the disease at the same time. They would recover and were married in 1862.

At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, Gorgas was appointed Chief Sanitary Officer in Havana, where he worked to eradicate yellow fever and malaria. Together with Major Walter Reed, another Army doctor, they would rely on the insights of a Cuban doctor, Carlos Finlay. The three doctors established that indeed the mosquito was primarily responsible for the transmission of yellow fever. So, they needed to determine a way to get rid of the mosquitos.

Gorgas had all the standing water drained, and had hospitalized yellow fever patients quarantined in screened service rooms away from the other hospitalized patients. The cases of yellow fever in Havana plunged from 784 to zero within one year. For this accomplishment, Gorgas won international fame.

Later, Gorgas worked in Florida and Havana Cuba prior to consulting with other personnel in the construction of the Panama Canal in 1904.

As chief sanitary officer on the canal project, Gorgas implemented far-reaching sanitary programs, including draining of ponds and swamps, fumigation, use of mosquito netting, and construction of public water systems.

Due to his medical accomplishments, Gorgas served as president of the American Medical Association during the 1909-1910 year. In 1914, he was appointed Surgeon General of the Army. That same year Gorgas was awarded the inaugural Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.

Due to his contributions to medicine, Gorgas received many honors. The U.S. Army awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal, the Spanish Campaign Medal, the Army of Cuban Occupation Medal and the Victory Medal.

In 1947, the Gorgas Science Foundation was founded at Texas Southmost College. The college is now located on the site of the former Fort Brown.

There have been many individuals trained in medicine that have made enormous contributions to the welfare of man.

Certainly, William C. Gorgas, stands near the front of the line of those so recognized.

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Seeing tanks and soldiers advancing to the Ukraine border is unsettling. These images bring World War II to mind. Research reports, with some variations, provide the following World War II numbers: Fifteen million deaths, 25 million wounded, and 45 million civilian deaths. (https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war)

Reading the horrific historical facts about the war should serve to stop wars. Violence or the threat of violence should not be tolerated. Modern technology enables falsehoods to be shared and believed; therefore, it is difficult to know the truth. Manipulation of the truth is harmful.

These circumstances beg for the recordings of historical facts to be accurate and preserved. Accurate historical events of all countries should be recorded in books and textbooks for schools. The truth should be taught with the hope that history does not repeat itself. We pray for solutions for our many concerns and fears.

We know from historical accounts that Russian purges were directed against the clergy, Jews, scientists, writers and citizens. Stalin was responsible for the deaths of millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s. Russias past actions could cause present concerns. After years of religious repression, research reveals that Russia has a wide range of different religions and a growing number of people who identify as religious. The Russian Orthodox Church has the largest number of members. (https://www.rusemb.org.uk/religion/) With non-aggressive/non-repressive leadership and the increasing number of religious people, Russia could possibly change its future.

Pope Pauls recent message included the dangers faced by Ukraine and the need for prayers. He expressed his desire for the common good, the elimination of partisan interests, and a change of hearts and minds of world leaders. He hoped wounds, fears, and divisions can be overcome. (https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/day-prayer-ukraine-pope-recalls-countrys-historical-suffering-2022-01-26

Political changes are too often beyond the control of everyday people, but Christians can find strength from the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:1018. Paul was not speaking about a physical war, but calling for spiritual defenses against warring people.

He used the metaphors of war. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Be alert and always keep on praying for all of the Lords people.

Paul provided advice for followers in Philippians 4:9, Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me  put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

In response to the bomb threats to many important Black colleges and universities, I will end with two passages: We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:19-21) In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. (Acts 2:17)
A Winston-Salem resident whose residence is within a mile of the Winston Weaver Co. Inc. fertilizer plant has filed a lawsuit against the company, according to a news release from her attorneys.

The Crumley Roberts law firm in Greensboro filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kathleen DuBois in Forsyth Superior Court. She is seeking damages in excess of $25,000, along with punitive damages, according to the complaint.

Winston-Salem public-safety officials issued an evacuation directive Monday night for a one-mile radius around the 4440 N. Cherry St. plant after it had caught fire.

Officials also closed nearby roads out of concerns about a possible explosion from about 500 tons of ammonium nitrate and other unknown chemicals believed to be stored on the property.

Residents were strongly encouraged to stay away from their dwellings for nearly three days before the evacuation radius was lowered Thursday night to one-eighth of a mile around the plant.

The lawsuit alleges company negligence with its operational procedures, as well as failure to follow safety precautions that led to the massive fire.

"Defendant Weaver conducted an abnormally dangerous activity on its property. Storing toxic and explosive chemicals is an activity that is not common usage and creates a foreseeable and highly significant risk of physical harm even when reasonable care is exercised by all actors."

DuBois claims a range of property losses and negative health effects from the fire and its aftermath, according to the news release.

Even after her forced evacuation, the lawsuit states that fumes from the blaze caused Ms. DuBois to experience shortness of breath, coughing, headaches and irritation of the lung, nose, and throat.

In addition to the company, the lawsuit names an as-yet-unknown John Doe as a defendant, representing one or more employees who may share liability for the incident.

The complaint said John Doe "was responsible for seeing that the chemicals and products on the fertilizer plant were inspected, maintained and operated according to manufacturer and industry standards."

The complaint alleges that the company and the company official "failed to properly maintain, inspect and manage the chemicals and products located at the fertilizer plant ... and should have known of the dangerous conditions created from the lack of maintenance, inspection and reasonable care."

The lawsuit requests the Superior Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order to preserve all company documents, video and other materials related to the fire.

Winston Weaver spokesman Adam Parrish could not be reached for comment Friday about the lawsuit.

With the plant being constructed in 1939 and debuting in January 1940, the original 1936 building code still applies to four of the campus five buildings. Sprinklers were not required until the 1953 code amendment, and only for building two stories or higher.

The key element is that facilities are required to be in compliance with the code in effect when it was built.

The pattern has been to grandfather older facilities, rather than require upgrading to meet new business code standards.

Winston-Salem fire investigator Rick McIntyre said Thursday that the 1936 code had very little in it to control how chemicals are kept on the site.

The building codes today have a lot more detail and requirements in regard to chemical processes and chemical storage, McIntyre said. Now, it is much more detailed, and that is what they would be required to meet if they built there today.

The goal with grandfathering is limiting infrastructure up-keep and renovation expenses for older buildings to keep them viable as competitive options compared with new construction.

There is nothing, however, that prohibits building owners and operators from voluntarily bringing older buildings up to the latest Business Code standards.

The state Building Code also limits what elected officials can tell residents who live around plants containing hazardous materials.

Crumley Roberts attorney Karonnie Truzy, representing DuBois, said that Winston Weaver is a business that knowingly kept these dangerous materials stored close to innocent neighbors for years.

Were just fortunate that at this time these materials have not exploded and caused considerable damage and loss of life.

Through this lawsuit we will determine the facts of what happened, compensate residents for their losses, and hopefully keep something like this from happening again.

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One by one, investigators with the Winston-Salem Fire Department filed into a meeting room in an out-of-the-way Forsyth County administration building near Smith Reynolds Airport.

Their task  finding the cause (and contributing factors) of a massive fire capable of causing an explosion that could level entire neighborhoods  lay before them.

Huge paper maps covered tables near the front of the room as assistant fire Chief Tad Byrum clicked through the latest slides showing aerial views and thermal images showing the size, depth and intensity of the fire 36 hours in.

Ordinarily, wed be on the scene by now, deputy fire marshal Angela Sowell said Wednesday morning.

But the blaze at the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant was no ordinary kitchen fire; some 500 tons of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate saw to that.

Still, even though investigators werent allowed on site  the danger forced firefighters to pull back to a perimeter 1 mile away  there was plenty of legwork that required attention.

Facts and evidence

Under normal conditions, the results of a fire investigation would mainly be of interest to property owners, insurance companies and fire prevention experts.

But this one, a fire at a fertilizer plant in an 80-year-old building that few other than immediate neighbors knew existed will interest nearly everyone in Winston-Salem for years to come.

And the results may well serve as the Exhibit A basis for lawsuits and justification for a hard look at existing building codes, zoning and rules for the storage and handling of highly flammable and/or explosive materials.

Almost certainly, state legislators will be forced to look at outdated state building codes which allowed a company that had some 500 tons of ammonium nitrate in buildings dating to 1939 to be exempt from installing alarms or a sprinkler system.

Findings as to the cause of a fire that had in the words of Chief Trey Mayo the potential to be one of the worst explosions in U.S. history no doubt will add to debate over clean-up, long-lasting environmental hazards and any potential for rebuilding.

But before any of those things can happen, McIntyre and investigators from the city fire department, the SBI, the State Fire Marshals Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will have to make a determination.

It will take a while, Sowell said.

At this point, just how long that may be is only a guess.

We can make a hypothesis (one allowed inside) about what happened, Sowell said. But we never make a call until we have all the facts and the evidence.

With a fire the size of the one at the Winston Weaver plant, thats likely to take weeks, not hours or days.

That does not mean, however, that investigators sat idly by all week. Far from it.

Fire officials knew, for example, that ammonium nitrate was stored at Weaver and the potential dangers. They had studied the 2013 explosion in West, Texas caused by fire and ammonium nitrate that killed 15 and destroyed an entire block.

Other disasters have occurred, McIntyre said. We have reviewed those and the lessons learned. You dont wait until something happens.

First thing Tuesday morning, fire investigators started meeting with Weaver company officials and reviewing their internal records.

Theyve been very forthcoming, McIntyre said.

As one would expect. Company officials no doubt knew the danger posed by ammonium nitrate and realized immediately the potential liability.

Didnt have time

In addition to studying the latest still-camera images, video and thermal imaging data, investigators were busy conducting in-person interviews and reviewing body-camera footage taken by firefighters first on the scene.

Weve interviewed (Weaver) employees and listened to the 911 tape, Sowell said. It might be the caller said something in the moment they didnt recall later  maybe something they didnt recall saying.

In that sense, a fire investigation resembles a police investigation. Interview witnesses and gather evidence to form a conclusion.

A Weaver employee discovered the fire just before 7 p.m. Monday. The initial report was heavy fire in the east end of the building, McIntyre said.

At that point, a fire extinguisher would have been useless. Protocol  and common sense  dictated that getting out was the only prudent move.

There was nothing they (could) do, he said. They didnt have time.

In the days ahead, investigators will follow the path of the fire.

Well be looking at all of it from the least-burned to the most, Sowell said. The fire created a pattern that is going to guide you to the area where it started.

There, investigators will look at electrical and heating systems, for the presence of combustible materials that fueled the fire and the possible presence of accelerants.

Just like in a criminal investigation, theyll need to document the scene while assuming nothing and ruling no explanation out until all the evidence is gathered and weighed.

(The paperwork) will fill this entire table, McIntyre said.

The task ahead is daunting but not impossible. No pressure, but an entire city anxiously awaits the outcome.

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Winston-Salem officials are confirming that firefighters responded to the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant on Dec. 26, but have so far released no details that would support neighbors suspicions that the call might have been an early indicator of problems leading to the devastating fire at the plant Monday night.

It was just like what were smelling now, said Jarrod Whitaker, who lives near the plant.

City Manager Lee Garrity said Friday the city will release details of the December call as soon as they research it and put together the information.

Meanwhile, firefighters on the property continue their efforts to finish putting out the massive fire that destroyed the plant on Monday.

When they learned about the potential for a massive explosion at the plant, Whitaker and Wilson Somerville, another nearby resident, exchanged texts in which they shared a common memory.

Weve all been talking for the last 48 hours  why is nobody mentioning the fire Dec. 26? Whitaker said Wednesday.

Somerville said hed like to know whether theres a common thread between the fire on Dec. 26 and the much larger one on Monday.

As you can imagine, I and other neighbors wish a very thorough investigation not only of the current fire, but of the previous fire, and given the two fires, a thorough check of whether there was an issue at the plant that had been going on a while ....  Somerville wrote in an email.

The Dec. 26 incident has become shrouded in mystery because city officials have not mentioned the fire call in any of their news conferences about fertilizer-plant fire.

Somerville and Whitaker specifically remember seeing haze from smoke in car headlights along Polo Road and smelling an acrid odor in the air the night after Christmas when they went outside to investigate.

We originally thought a house was on fire in the neighborhood, Whitaker said. We couldnt figure it out.

Garrity confirmed Friday that someone called about a fire at the plant, and that the fire department responded, but added that he had no other details on the incident.

In a Thursday morning briefing from fire officials, Rick McIntyre, the lead investigator on the fertilizer plant fire, said Winston Weaver Co. has had minor fires within the past couple years. He said those occurred in electrical equipment. McIntyre did not mention a December fire.

Winston-Salem Fire Chief William Trey Mayo, informed on Wednesday that Somerville had written an email to the Journal about a December fire, appeared to have no knowledge of it but said he would investigate. The Journal sent Mayo a copy of Somervilles email.

The Journal followed up on Thursday with a query to Garrity, who said he would have someone check. Garrity responded to a follow-up on Friday saying:

There was a fire call to that site on 12/26. Staff is researching details. All I know so far. Garrity later updated his response to clarify that he meant that someone had made a call about a plant fire, and that the fire department had responded.

Still fighting

On Friday Winston-Salem firefighters remained busy on the site of the big Monday fire, applying water to hot spots, and with the help of a contractor removing rubble to gain access to the areas they need to reach to complete their task.

Mayo told reporters on Thursday that the effort would be time-consuming and meticulous, and so it appeared on Friday: At one point in the early afternoon, a lone firefighter could be seen atop a tall ladder, aiming water down onto parts of the fire and getting direction on where to point the stream from others monitoring the state of the fire.

Heavy smoke still hung in the air in and around the plant site. Shifting breezes carried the smoke to different parts of the city.

An excavator was lifting away twisted chunks of metal that used to be part of the plant structure. Mayo said a lot of the work would involve uncovering materials that were buried beneath rubble, a process that posed the risk of igniting materials that were hot enough to burn but didnt have oxygen.

Mayo also told reporters that as the mopping-up operation continued there might be more smoke and not less, and that also appeared to be the case on Friday: When the firefighter on the ladder aimed a stream of water at some designated point, huge billows of smoke and steam would rise from where the water was landing.

And while most of the smoke seemed to be coming from the smoldering remains, fire department scanner talk revealed active flames in at least one section they were tackling.

On the side of the plant that faced the rail line, a rail car could be seen with a placard on it indicating that the contents are ammonium nitrate. On Monday, one of the greatest fears that firefighters faced was that the material in the rail car could explode.

Looking for fire

Cellphone records from Whitaker and Somerville indicate that two emergency calls were made Dec. 26, the first at 8:21 p.m. and a second at 8:31 p.m.

A fire truck slowly drove down Harmon Street shortly after the calls were made. We asked the driver, Whitaker said. He said We dont know. Were looking for it now.

A police officer who came through the area a little while later told neighbors that the fire was at a fertilizer plant at Indiana and Cherry streets.

I didnt know anything about the plant, Somerville said. That was the first time I had heard the name Weaver.

When a much larger fire broke out Monday night, stoking fears of an explosion and prompting calls for evacuating residents who live within one mile of the site, memories about that first fire cropped up along with a raft of other questions.

Chief among them: Is there any connection between the fires?

Once the fire is extinguished, investigators will begin the slow process of answering all the questions people are having about the fire.

Garrity said he informed members of the Winston-Salem City Council that the Weaver plant had had the December fire call. The city manager said he told council members he would release the information when he gets it.

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Nigeria's Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi on Friday lauded the quality of work delivered by a Chinese company on the Kano-Kaduna railway in Nigeria, highlighting ample opportunities created by the project.

Underlining the importance of utilizing local materials and manpower in the railway's construction by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the minister said the Nigerian government is encouraging not only the use of local materials but also the recruitment of local workers.

The project, he said, is designed to facilitate the movement of passengers and cargoes, especially cargoes.

Amaechi said that Kano, a city in northern Nigeria, is an important economic center, and the railway project will strengthen the link between Kano and Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub.

The minister expressed optimism that the railway will be delivered for commercial operations before May 2023.
Ahem. Ahem. Ahem!

It started innocently enough with a guttural cough two weeks before Christmas. Then came a stuffy nose and white phlegm. Innocuous enough, she reasonably dismissed the symptoms as seasonal allergies or reactions to the dramatic changes in the weather in Western North Carolina. But the symptoms quickly got worse. Much worse. From the sputum to fever to shakes and chills to losing her breath. Her mind spun like a top and never stopped.

Is it her asthma acting up again?

Is it pneumonia?

Is it COVID?

Ms. Smith (not her real name), born and raised in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, now began to think of her young children and her family member recently diagnosed with COVID-19. She grew increasingly nervous  and scared. Just days before Christmas, she eventually came to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Wilkes Medical Center, which, by that time, like hospitals across the country, had become overburdened in the emergency department and inpatient units.

What she didnt know was that our countrys health care system was already in the midst of a hospital bed capacity stress test that began in November 2021, largely due to suboptimal vaccination rates, lackluster mask use and provider fatigue. Now omicron, just a few weeks after arriving in the United States, was exacerbating an already strained system. It created the perfect storm for the holiday season.

As a practicing physician often at the front lines with our courageous nurses, I have been humbled by how this virus manages to pack such suffering into just 140 nanometers in size. Too often we have been the last people that a patient, like Ms. Smith, sees before being intubated. Rural community hospitals have been hit particularly hard.

COVID-19 has been the burning platform and a reality check forcing us to rapidly re-think traditional practices over the past two years. As the number of omicron hospitalizations rose among the unvaccinated and health care staffing was stretched to its maximum capacity, we innovated.

The virtual hospital launched on Christmas Eve at Wilkes Medical Center. Under the leadership of Dr. Harsh Barot, medical director of the virtual hospital at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, a pivot was made on Dec. 24.

Our remote health care providers delivered real-time inpatient care with the floor nurse and the patients at Wilkes Medical Center. A camera mounted on the cart coupled with a remote stethoscope and speakers allowed us to examine the patient and listen to Ms. Smiths heart, lungs and abdomen. As we listened to the cardiac murmurs, fine pulmonary crackles and gurgling bowel sounds, we expanded our capacity to take care of inpatients in an innovative way.

Hospitalization rates continued their alarming increase across the country during the week between Christmas and the New Year. The pivot to virtual hospital proved timely as a winter storm hit North Wilkesboro on Jan. 2 that froze pipes and shut down electricity in many areas of western North Carolina.

Ms. Smith was discharged on Jan. 3, in time for her to spend a few remaining days of the holiday season at home. She was relieved to be back home with her family, thankful to the virtual hospital program and grateful to be alive.

The virtual hospital initiative delivered excellent care for Ms. Smith and many more like her.

Omicron may not be the last COVID-19 variant, but we, as health care leaders and front line providers, must continue to provide the very best patient care at our rural hospitals, innovate when necessary and pivot.

Dr. Chi Huang is executive medical director of General Medicine and Hospital Medicine Shared Services at Wake Forest Baptist Health System. The views expressed in this column are his own.
As a child I was always fascinated by Black History Month. Its lessons taught me that the accomplishments of Black people were vast and wondrous, and that I, as a descendant of those people, could accomplish anything I set out to do.

One story in particular still amazes me. It is the story of Dred Scott, an enslaved man who was taken from a slave state to a free territory by those who enslaved him. Scott eventually sued to gain freedom for himself and his family.

During a prolonged court battle, Scott was assisted by abolitionists and others. While the law seemed to favor Scotts argument that he could not be returned to slavery once he was transported to a free territory, the court ruled against him in a 7-2 decision. The majority opinion was penned by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who wrote that Black people were of an inferior order and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.

That opinion, based on Taneys belief that the nations founders never intended for Black people to be citizens, is at the very core of Donald Trumps rise in American politics.

Now, just over a year after leaving office as the only chief executive in the nations history to be impeached twice, Trump finds himself under investigation by prosecutors in several states, and at multiple levels. District Attorney Fani Willis in Fulton County, Ga., is investigating Trumps attempt to pressure Georgias secretary of state into finding enough votes for Trump to win a state he lost. New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating Trumps questionable business dealings, as is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson is leading the congressional investigation of Trumps alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. And all of these prosecutors have one thing in common  theyre Black.

In an America where the Supreme Court is poised to gut affirmative action to make it harder for Black students to get into prominent universities, and where historically Black colleges and universities face bomb threats, its hard for Black people to become prosecutors. I suspect its meant to be that way. And for those who still believe that the Black man has no rights the white man is bound to respect, it is no doubt offensive that Black Americans could overcome such barriers to challenge a powerful white man like Trump.

After all, Trumps rhetorical attacks on the nations first Black president were based on the assertion that Barack Obama could not have had a legitimate birth certificate, and therefore was not a citizen. And now, as Black prosecutors close in on him from numerous jurisdictions, Trump is calling on his mobs to attack, because those prosecutors, and Black people in general, were never meant to be Americans.

If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had ... in Washington D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt, Trump told a cheering crowd in Texas last Saturday.

As a Black man watching him spout this insidious rhetoric, I was mortified. Not because he was repeating his lies about winning an election that he lost by more than 7 million votes, but because he was explicitly targeting Black Americans who are doing nothing more than their jobs. And when Trump calls these prosecutors racists, that is red meat to his followers. When he then says there should be protests in the cities where they work, it represents a threat that any conscious Black person understands.

Thats why Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked for FBI protection after Trump spoke. Its why numerous news outlets began to sound the alarm. It is why Black America must now be on guard.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands the moment. Among them are the Black people who routinely sit behind Trump at his rallies. I hope they understand, as I do, that if Trumps mob is unleashed, no one will ask for their political affiliation.

Because, sadly, in America, there are far too many who still believe the Black man has no rights that the white man is bound to respect.

Solomon Jones is a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the author of 10 books.
Saint Paul United Methodist Church in downtown Lincoln is hosting a winter speaker series, which continues Monday, Feb. 7, with Lincoln in Black & White: the photographs of African-American photographer John Johnson, presented by Ed Zimmer.

The series profiles three of Lincolns most preeminent figures specializing in our citys history, and those individuals who helped make that history, as they tell the stories that shaped what Lincoln is today.

The series is open to the public and will continue to take place socially distanced on the following additional Mondays from 7-8 p.m. in the Sanctuary at Saint Paul UMC, 1144 M St.:

 Feb. 21  Lincolns Parking Lots and What They Displaced  Speaker: Jim McKee.

 March 7  The Poet, the Publisher and the Talk Show Host: John G. Neihardt, Virginia Faulkner and Dick Cavett  Speaker: Ron Hull.

 March 21  Saint Paul & the Churches of Lincoln  Speakers: Ed Zimmer and Jim McKee.

If you have questions, contact the church office at 402-477-6951.

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A fire that broke out about 6 a.m. Friday forced firefighters to cut through the roof of Lincoln's Zoetis manufacturing plant to battle the blaze, according to Lincoln Fire and Rescue.

Capt. Nancy Crist said crews were able to put the fire out with water cans after using ladder trucks to access the roof of the plant at 601 W. Cornhusker Highway.

The fire started in the insulation between the plant's metal roof and rubber membrane. Crist said firefighters cut through the exterior metal to get water on the fire.

She said there was a construction crew on the roof when the fire started, but it's unclear what caused the blaze. She said she wasn't sure how much damage was done.

The plant is Zoetis' largest, producing pharmaceutical products and vaccines.

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A majority of Nebraska State Board of Education members signaled Friday they're not willing to give up on writing health education standards for Nebraska schools.

More than two dozen people urged board members to junk the effort permanently, but the board voted to reject a motion from board member Kirk Penner to do that.

Penner was the only vote in favor.

The controversial school health education standards have been on ice since Sept. 3, when board members, facing a groundswell of opposition, postponed their development indefinitely.

That left open the possibility of reviving the process. That looks likely at some point based on several board actions.

The board Friday also voted 7-1, with Penner voting no, to oppose state Sen. Joni Albrecht's bill that would prohibit the board from writing health education standards.

If LB768 became law, then the board would be restricted to writing standards only in core academic areas of math, science, social studies, reading and writing.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing Feb. 15 before the Legislature's Education Committee.

Also at the meeting, an ad hoc committee of the board delivered its findings and recommendations on how to improve the standards development process, which several board members have blamed as a factor in last year's failed adoption.

Among the recommendations is that the state board adopt a policy stating it will continue to adopt standards in all subject areas  including health.

The committee is also calling for hiring a consultant to review and make recommendations on the standards development process.

Among the topics the consultant would look at are the role and qualifications of subject-matter experts, the review and consensus process of the writing team, and the purpose, opportunities and timing of public input.

Last March, the Nebraska Department of Education made public draft health and sex education standards that were both comprehensive in scope and inclusive of diverse genders and sexual orientations.

Kindergartners, for example, were to learn about cohabitating and same-gender families. First graders were to learn about gender identity and gender stereotypes, and older kids about anal, oral and vaginal sex.

The proposal, while praised by advocates of LGBTQ+ youth, met with a firestorm of opposition from parents, Catholic and family advocacy groups, lawmakers, the governor and dozens of school districts.

Penner, who Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed to the board in December, argued Friday that the board should leave health education decisions to local school boards, parents and medical professionals.

Penner's motion called for the board to "permanently reject" state development of health education standards.

The board also rejected a proposed policy he offered that would have prevented the state Department of Education from providing local districts with resources on "sensitive" topics such as sex education, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Board member Deborah Neary said local school officials asked the board to write health standards.

She said the state ed board must consider the views of all parents, not just the ones who show up to testify against the standards.

"There are a lot of parents out there who are telling me something different than what I'm hearing in this room," Neary said.

Parents in her Omaha district and across the state tell her they want standards that teach kids about healthy relationships and pregnancy prevention and that acknowledge and support LBGTQ+ youth, she said.

Penner said the board spent "10 months of trying to jam some of this stuff down kids' throats" yet members still don't understand that parents want to control what their kids learn about sex education, sexual orientation and gender identity.

He said the board should deal with issues of a teacher shortage and core academics.

"Let's do what we're good at," Penner said. "Why do we have to keep going back to the sex of our little kids?"

Board member Patti Gubbels said sex education was only a part of the proposed standards, which she said would not be mandated but provide guidance for local districts.

"I believe there were eight different strands," she said.

"There were one or two that the majority of the public objected to," Gubbels said. "So what that tells me is there are things in those drafts that were meaningful, that made sense to people."

Board member Jacquelyn Morrison said she believes education is a way to get rid of the stigma over mental health, to identify problems present in communities and help teachers with some of the behavioral problems they are facing.

The proposed health standards addressed depression, anxiety and other issues, she said.

"That is something I can't give up on," she said. "As much as we talk about a kid should eat an apple or an orange, we should be talking about how to keep them mentally healthy as well."

Though Penner's efforts to derail the standards failed, he made it clear he will continue to use his seat to raise issues.

At Friday's meeting, he also raised concerns about the content of books in school libraries.

Penner read aloud several sexually explicit passages from books he said were on the shelves of some Nebraska school libraries.

He said local districts have a right to put those books in the library, "but is it right?"

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When Jami Jo Thompson moved to Beatrice after student-teaching in Lincoln, she only expected to be there for a couple of years before making her way back.

But plans change. Life, as it tends to do, got in the way. Thompson met her husband in Beatrice and stayed there for longer than she expected  18 years, in fact  first as a special-education teacher and coordinator, then as the director of student programs.

Now all these years later, Thompson, the superintendent of Norfolk Public Schools, finally has a chance to come back to the place where her career in education started.

Thompson is one of four finalists for superintendent at Lincoln Public Schools and was in town Friday to meet with staff, parents and students ahead of an interview with the Lincoln Board of Education.

"I am excited about the possibility of coming back," said the Dorchester native. "I think I bring the perspective of I have lived Nebraska public schools as a student, as a parent, as a teacher and an administrator."

During a Friday news conference, Thompson walked through some priorities if hired, including raising graduation rates, developing a strategic plan with the community and bolstering mental health supports. She also offered solutions to teacher burnout and workforce shortages, including recruiting LPS students to education.

"I feel like part of that issue is we need to reframe the dialogue around education," said Thompson, 49. "There are a lot of teachers that still love the profession. And we need to make sure that we're getting those stories out in front of our young children so that they want to come back and be teachers."

She pointed to her successful efforts to grow the graduation rate in Norfolk and her "collaborative, principle-driven" leadership style that involves all voices.

"I believe we all do better when we work together as a team," she said.

Like outgoing LPS Superintendent Steve Joel, Thompson is a veteran of Beatrice Public Schools. In 2017, she was named the superintendent in Norfolk.

Thompson has three degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln  a bachelor's in education and a master's and doctorate in educational administration. She also earned her educational specialist certificate from UNL.

On Wednesday, she was named one of three finalists for the superintendent job at Millard Public Schools, which is undergoing its own search after Jim Sutfin announced his plans to retire. Norris superintendent John Schwartz and Seward superintendent Josh Fields are the other finalists.

For now, she's just excited to be a part of two superintendent searches in districts she considers the best in the state.

"Millard and Lincoln are exceptional school districts," she said. "And so I'm proud that I can be a part of both (searches), and it's very exciting as well."

Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @zach_hammack

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Dannisha Dee Weatherspoon might have been the perfect mother. Diligent, loving and did whatever she could to make her two little girls happy.

It was really important to (Dannisha) to raise her daughters the right way, said Weatherspoons sister, Angelica Reed. She never skipped a beat. Shed always have them at school, always give them breakfast. It was just a routine to make sure the girls  the girls was number one for her. They asked for something, she made sure she got it done for them.

Weatherspoon died at the age of 29 on Jan. 21 in a car crash on Highway 32, just south of the Racine County border in Kenosha County. She was a passenger in the car, on her way to work as a cook at the dining hall at Carthage College.

Her family is currently looking after her two children, Deonna, 9, and Savannah, 4.

They created a GoFundMe fundraiser (gofund.me/dbd0b62e) with a goal of raising $20,000 to help care for the girls schooling, home transitions and other expenses. As of Friday morning, the fundraising site has raised almost $4,000.

Growing up

Weatherspoon was born on Nov. 29, 1992. She lived in Racine. She went to Gifford Elementary School, was homeschooled throughout middle school and graduated from Case High School.

She pursued a higher education at Gateway Technical College and finished her studies online through Penn Foster College. In March, she would have started beauty school in Kenosha to become an esthetician.

In 1995, Weatherspoon was adopted by Kelvin and Debra Weatherspoon, who had already adopted her biological brother, Landon Weatherspoon, prior.

According to her obituary, Dannisha had five maternal siblings, seven foster siblings and two special foster siblings.

Both Landon and Reed described Dannisha as the baby of the family.

She would cling to me. She would follow me everywhere I was, said Reed, the next older sibling to Dannisha.

Landon described Dannisha as loving, caring and super fun. She always said things to make you smile.

She liked everything I liked. Arthur, Magic School Bus, he said.

Though she had a lot of siblings, there was one thing that made Dannisha such a special sister. She came to each individual sibling and spent time with them, Landon said.

Their fond memories with Dannisha include attending the Wisconsin State Fair and her trying to eat absolutely everything, her obsession with cheese and ramen noodles and her presence at every birthday, no matter what.

Caring for her kids

Dannisha was planning a surprise trip for her and her daughters to go to Disneyland before she died. Not for a birthday, not for doing well in school specifically. It was for a vacation just because, Landon and Reed said.

The siblings children all go to the same schools and all keep their eyes on each others children as one big family.

For now, the Weatherspoons oldest sister, Sondra, is now the primary caretaker of Deonna and Savannah, while the girls other aunts and uncles also take turns watching them.

Landon and Reed thanked all who have contributed to the fundraising site so far. From close friends to strangers, they have been overjoyed from the support they have received. Not one person has said no, Landon said.

Just knowing that a girl was on her way to work, and a tragedy happened. That shows her character, Landon said. Thats one thing that  that breaks my heart, because thats what she was doing. My sister wasnt doing anything out of the ordinary, but living life. Trying to get to work on time.

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KENOSHA  A licensed psychiatrist ruled the man charged in an October shootout with Kenosha County Sheriffs Department deputies that seriously wounded a police K-9 competent to proceed.

But that doesnt mean thats the end of that part of the case.

After Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas read from the seven-page report of court-appointed psychiatrist Jenna Goebel that Allan Brown, 33, of Countryside, Ill., was competent. His attorney, Christopher Bub, asked for time to get a second opinion.

The request was granted, and the attorney will have to find his own doctor to examine his client, who faces eight felony charges and continues to be held in custody in the Racine County Jail on a $1 million cash bond.

Youd have to find somebody to do the evaluation, get it done and filed, Milisauskas said.

That is my plan, and I think were all on the same page, Bub said.

Brown is charged with three felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety with the use of a dangerous weapon, a felony count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of firing a dangerous weapon on a police K-9 causing injury, one count of failing to comply with an officers attempt to take a person into custody and one count of operating a motor vehicle without owners consent with the use of a dangerous weapon.

The felony charges carry a total maximum prison term of 71 years, six months and a fine of $140,000.

A second competency hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. on April 4. At that time, both Kenosha County District Attorney Mike Graveley, who is prosecuting the case with Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Phan, and Bub are to have their doctors present to testify about their findings.

Both in court and after the hearing, Graveley said he was concerned the case may continue to drag out without a resolution in sight.

Brown is the main suspect in two homicides in Chicago, and Graveley said he sees the defendant as someone who may be seeking to delay the proceedings here as long as possible.

Im concerned that this is a defendant who has no incentive to move this case along, Graveley said. Hes facing very substantial problems in Chicago. One of the tasks of the District Attorneys Office here is to make sure this moves along.

Graveley said it is a bit unusual for a defendant to seek a second opinion, but hes confident in the report filed by Goebel.

That doctor has clearly concluded that this is a competent individual, he said.

Shootout

During the Oct. 21 shootout with police at Benson Corners, 2000 75th St. (Highway 50), Bristol, Brown seriously wounded K-9 officer Riggs and then fired on three deputies as they attempted to take him into custody.

While in pursuit of Brown, Riggs was released by his handler and took the defendant to the ground just before he was shot. Riggs first was treated for a bullet wound to his skull at a veterinary hospital in Paddock Lake, then transferred to one in Buffalo Grove, Ill., before his release in October.

Riggs had not been expected to return to duty, but he is back on the force with his partner and handler.

Deputies were alerted earlier that day that Brown was being sought by Chicago Police in connection with two homicides in that city. He is considered the only suspect in both fatal shootings, one at a bus stop in the citys Logan Square neighborhood, and the other after a carjacking.

Graveley said Friday there is nothing new to report on the Chicago investigation.

Brown was struck in the left thigh, abdomen and bicep when deputies returned fire in the incident at Benson Corners. He also faces a potential escape charge after he allegedly pushed a Racine County deputy and very briefly escaped custody as authorities attempted to transfer him from Froedtert Pleasant Prairie Hospital to the Racine County Jail.

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Hundreds of truckers, protesting vaccine mandates, parked their trucks across U.S.-Canada border crossings, aiming to shut down the economies of both nations until the mandates are lifted.

Some Ottawa City Council members have called the protest an occupation. The protests have been almost entirely peaceful.

During an event hosted Tuesday by the House Freedom Caucus, Tiffany said: I would submit to you, we should be talking to Canadian truckers in Ottawa, Canada, right now, and asking them to come to the southern border  I think they might be somewhat effective.

The Freedom Caucus is comprised of the most fiscally and socially conservative members of Congress. Tiffanys is the northernmost of Wisconsins eight congressional districts. Tiffany is the only Wisconsin member of the Freedom Caucus.

A reporter contacted Tiffanys office via email Friday, asking how the congressman believes truckers from another nation could be deployed at the southern border  which stretches 1,954 miles and includes more than four dozen border crossings that are open for legal, international travel.

No reply was received from Tiffany or his staff.

While Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has avoided the public eye amid the protest, fearing violence, his government has not relaxed its COVID-19 vaccine requirements affecting international travelers. Meanwhile, in the areas targeted by the trucking protesters, supplies have become harder to come by because of the disruptions.

The protesters, while making an impact, still appear to be a vocal minority. As the BBC reported last week: The Canadian Trucking Alliance estimates that 85% to 90% of the 120,000 Canadian truckers who work cross-border routes are vaccinated and said on Saturday (Jan. 29) that it appeared many of the protesters in Ottawa have no connection to the industry.

Border

The focus of Tuesdays Freedom Caucus event was the ongoing spike in border crossings. During the event, Freedom Caucus members and those they brought in to speak argued both that the unfinished border wall is effective, which is questionable, and also that illegal border crossings from Mexico are at an all-time high, which is accurate.

Brandon Judd, president of the union that represents border agents, said Tuesday that in areas where the wall exists, border crossings have severely declined.

However, as Ben Feigenberg, a University of Illinois-Chicago associate professor of economics, argued in a 2020 paper, existence of the wall in some areas led to a more concentrated flow of migrants in unwalled areas, and may not have slowed the flow of undocumented immigrants into the U.S. at all.

For those living in the Mexican border region, if theyre residing in a municipality thats fenced, I identify a 27% decline in migration from that municipality, Feigenberg told the American Economic Association after publication of the paper. Then I find reductions in the interior of Mexico up to 35%, depending on what share of the municipalities through which residents had historically crossed have now been fenced. Those are pretty sizable effects, with the important caveat that this is also a really expensive program.

Billions and billions of dollars were allocated to border fence construction. I have back of the envelope, cost-benefit calculation at the end of the paper that says in spite of these large estimated deterrent effects, at the end of the day, this looks likely no more effective than the technologies that were already available in terms of just increasing staffing levels at CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection).

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WATERFORD  The owner of Uncle Harrys is suing a construction contractor for allegedly mishandling funds meant for renovation and expansion of the popular ice cream stand.

Uncle Harrys owner Jay Noble has raised accusations of fraud in a civil suit against Michael Mansell and his company, Midwest Renovations and Property Management LLC.

The suit filed in Racine County Circuit Court alleges that Mansell and his company hampered the renovation and expansion project with shoddy, incomplete and untimely work, while also pocketing $50,000 without getting the work done.

Mansells attorney, Christopher Kloth, denied the allegations and said the contractor is preparing a countersuit that will allege breach of contract by the Uncle Harrys owner.

Kloth acknowledged that the Waterford ice cream shop project has resulted in crisscrossing allegations of wrongdoing.

Things just go awry, the attorney said. And both sides are pointing fingers at one another.

The civil dispute is pending before Racine County Circuit Judge Jon Fredrickson. No hearing or trial has been scheduled yet.

Former gas station

Uncle Harrys, 100 S. Jefferson St., is a distinctive property in Downtown Waterford that began as a gasoline station in the 1930s and still reflects the original Tudor-style design, with bright red accents.

When previous owner Harry Dembrowski renamed the establishment Uncle Harrys and began serving ice cream in the 1980s, the result was a popular summer gathering spot in the village.

Noble, along with his brother, John Noble, have sought to energize the ice cream place and expand it with hamburgers and other hot food served from a secondary adjacent building that once housed a hair salon.

According to the lawsuit, Noble hired Mansell and his Waterford-based construction company in March 2021 to oversee renovations to the ice cream shop as well as construction work to convert the former hair salon into Uncle Harrys Burger Shop.

Uncle Harrys is a well-known institution in the Waterford community, the suit states. Seeking to build upon their success with Uncle Harrys, plaintiff envisioned expanding Uncle Harrys to include food options.

Planned dining area

As described for the Village of Waterford, Noble planned an outdoor dining area overlooking Main Street from beneath a decorative overhead pergola.

The new burger shop would require demolition work, concrete work, installation of windows, installation of a kitchen exhaust system, painting and other details.

The suit alleges that Mansell and Midwest Renovations accepted a $50,000 payment with the goal of having the project finished by Memorial Day of 2021. Instead, the contractor allegedly failed to get work done and ultimately had to be replaced by another contractor.

Noble, who filed the suit Dec. 22 through his company, Waterford Hill Properties LLC, also alleges that he paid Mansell for materials and supplies only to discover later that the suppliers were never paid.

Defendants falsely and fraudulently sought payment for parts, material, and work on the project that defendants did not do or did not pay for, the suit states. Defendants also misrepresented to plaintiff that they had performed the work or procured the parts and materials, despite not doing so.

Mansells attorney declined to provide details of the countersuit being prepared, except to say that it would include allegations that Noble failed to pay Mansell and his construction business.

Uncle Harrys was open all summer last year for ice cream, sorbet and frozen custard sales. But the burger shop remained unfinished and never opened.

In a statement, Noble said: While we experienced large setbacks with Mike Mansell and Midwest Renovations, our new contractor got things back on track, and we are excited to open our burger shop soon.

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 Flash

Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday that it has approved the use of China's Sinovac and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines for people 6 years of age and older.

Previously, the FDA only permitted the two vaccines to be used on people aged 18 and above.

The FDA announcement came as the Southeast Asian country has been accelerating vaccine roll-out to step up protection against COVID-19.

On Friday, the country reported 9,909 new confirmed cases during the last 24 hours, the highest daily case tally in more than three months, raising the total number of infections to over 2.47 million, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

As of Thursday, 70.1 percent of the country's nearly 70-million population had been fully vaccinated, while 21.4 percent had received booster shots, according to the CCSA.

In December 2021, Thailand's FDA gave the green light to allow children aged 5 to 11 to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
1. Yes. Raising the bar for future developments will boost the citys housing market.

2. Yes. It will help in newer areas, but more needs to be done to change Killeens image.

3. No. The new standards will just slow down homebuilding and drive away developers.

4.No. The ordinance will do little more than drive up the price of new homes in the city.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say what the effect will be until they have been in place for a while.

Vote

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KEARNEY  Mike Schnieders remembers when cataract surgery or the removal of wisdom teeth required an overnight stay in the hospital. Now were seeing total knee and hip replacements done on an outpatient basis. What a difference, he said.

Schnieders, president of CHI Health Good Samaritan for nearly 12 years, has seen revolutionary changes in his 47 years in health care. Later this month, he will retire.

I have mixed emotions, he said this week. I look forward to retirement, but I realize that on that first Monday morning after I retire, Ill be just another Joe Blow on a street corner.

If so, hes a Joe Blow who has left an impact on health care in Kearney.

The good and the bad

During his tenure at Good Sam, the hospital opened its new emergency room, nine new operating rooms, and the Ron and Carol Cope Heart Center. It opened a bright, spacious new dining room. Last September, the new Dr. Kenton Shafer Emergency Center opened to replace the smaller, technologically outdated emergency room.

Beyond the hospital walls, political changes have impacted medicine, too, including the Affordable Care Act. New electronic medical records systems allow doctors to keep more accurate, easily accessed statistics and allow patients to keep track of their medical histories via their home computers.

As medicine is changing, it is asking, What can we do to keep people healthy and out of the hospital? The new emphasis is wellness. he said several years ago.

Schnieders dealt with crises, too, including COVID-19 and two major floods, one of which damaged the new cafeteria and kitchen.

A decade ago, disgruntled doctors left Good Sam and built this citys second hospital, Kearney Regional Medical Center. In 2014, a Blue Cross Blue Shield ruckus in Omaha and Lincoln affected Good Samaritan and other CHI Health hospitals, halting coverage for a time. Some patients headed to Kearney Regional and never looked back.

Schnieders called that his biggest challenge. Its effects on Good Sam were felt long after the Blue Cross issues were resolved.

We had to adjust our operations to reflect the volume changes. You always have to do that when you are running a business, but it made us more keenly aware of who our customers were and their importance, whether here in Kearney or in the surrounding service area, he said.

Equally daunting was COVID-19. In his lengthy medical administration career, he had never experienced anything like it. Hopefully, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for anyone working in health care, but the size, the scope and not knowing quite what we were dealing with were all quite challenging. So much was unknown, and so much is still unknown, especially its long-term effects. Thats a biggie, he said.

A numbers guy

Schnieders likes to say he got into health care in the previous century. Which he did. He also took a zigzagging path.

The Waterloo, Iowa, native earned a bachelors degree in accounting in 1975 at the University of Northern Iowa at Waterloo. His first job was an accountant with Blue Cross Blue Shield. As he worked on the business end of health care, he was in and out of hospitals and liked what he saw.

I could see how people were working, and it was very satisfying. I saw that I could help people, he said. As a hospital administrator, you still have interactions with patients. We see people at their lowest point, when things arent always going well, but you can see how your actions help people.

He went on to get an MBA from the University of Iowa and transitioned into hospital administration.

He spent 19 years with Covenant Health System in Waterloo, Iowa, and then became executive vice president and administrator of the 370-bed Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y., just outside New York City.

Back home again

The traffic congestion and big-city hustle brought Schnieders and his wife Diane back to the Midwest. He and Diane were sitting in stalled traffic on I-878 after taking their son to college in Wooster, Mass., when Diane said, Youve got to find a job back in the Midwest.

Schnieders said, It was a great adventure living near New York City, but there were too many people and too many cars. As my wife said, Its not just that the city never sleeps; the whole area is always on the run.

At that point, he had been working in Catholic health care for 26 years. As he explored a move, I was looking for a faith-based health care organization. We visited Kearney, and it reminded us a lot of Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Both have between 30,000 and 35,00 people. We were impressed with its Midwest location, its size and faith-based Good Samaritan Hospital. The sky was bigger and bluer here. It felt like home, he said.

He took the helm of Good Sam in late June 2010.

You can be your whole self at a faith-based institution, he said. At a hospital, there are sad things. There are joyful things. At a faith-based hospital, we can have prayer. We can have a service and pray for families if they wish.

Getting involved

Schnieders has become an integral part of Kearneys civic life. He has served on the boards of MONA, the HelpCare Clinic, Buffalo County Community Partners, Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce, Kearney Family YMCA, Prairie Health Ventures and American Heart Associations Midwest Affiliate Board of Directors.

After he retires, he and his wife Diane plan to move to Charlotte, N.C., to be close to their two grown children and two grandsons, aged 6 and 3. As much as we enjoy living here, we wanted to be closer to family, he said.

But he will miss the people, he said quickly. With deep friendships you stay in touch, but I will be leaving so many people I have worked with for 12 years and see every day.

But he will be back now and then. He plans to return to Kearney in two years for the reopening ceremonies at MONA after its lengthy expansion project is completed.

As Schnieders cleaned out his office he carefully packed up the buffalo he purchased at Art in the Park. It was done by the late sculptor Del Pettigrew. It stands 12-15 inches high and is 24 inches long. A plaque underneath it says, Once we were many.

He and Diane will take it to Charlotte as a tribute to their fulfilling lives here. It will make me think of Nebraska and South Dakota, he said.
Tensions and stress levels are universally high as the coronavirus pandemic enters its third year, and some are reacting with anger, the brunt of which is being born by health care workers.

Nationwide, incidents of harassment and violence against physicians, nurses, receptionists and other employees in hospitals are on the rise, exacerbating a trend already on the upward trajectory. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, those working in the health care and social services industries are five times more likely to experience intentional injury caused by workplace violence than those employed in other fields, with a 2018 rate of 10.4 per 10,000 for related injury and illness requiring days away from work. Seven years prior, the rate was 6.4 per 100,000.

With the pandemic sparking even higher rates of patient projected hostility against medical workers, state legislators are proposing a bill to protect frontline health care workers from battery and threats of violence. Wisconsin Hospital Association president and CEO Eric Borgerding released a statement, reading in part, Unfortunately, providers and staff in our hospitals are reaching their limits. Growing threats being made against them and their families are forcing them to prioritize their personal safety over the increasing danger they face doing what they love. Sadly, health care workers are leaving their jobs at an alarming rate, exacerbating a workforce shortage in our state that predated todays challenging environment.

Over the past decade, levels of violence and threats of violence towards staff in hospitals have reached an all-time high, Borgerding continued. These workers answered a calling to care for their neighbors. They now need us to care for them. The introduction of this legislation by Majority Leader LeMahieu, Speaker Vos, Senator Wanggaard and Representative Magnafici clarifies in state law that threats of violence against health care workers are not tolerated in Wisconsin. We thank them for their partnership on this critical issue.

Area hospitals have not been immune to the rise in harrassment, with patients lashing out due to masking guidelines and other precautions, longer wait times, delay of procedures due to staff and capacity issues or even due to the divisiveness of vaccination. At Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Dr. LeighAnn Gooden says patients have a right to expect professional and compassionate care and to be listened to, but that respect needs to go both ways.

Renee Groth, Mayo nurse manager, says patients are increasingly becoming a little bit more demanding, and while staff work hard to meet any requests, sometimes patients cross the line, where they start getting a little bit more violent in how they speak with us and and how they ask what they would like. Instead of saying please and thank you, it becomes more of a demand  If you dont do this, this is whats going to happen to you.

Gooden notes that sometimes things a patient expects or demands for themselves or their family member dont necessarily align with appropriate medical care or what might be in the(ir) best interest, noting fears regarding health issues can heighten emotions and trigger belligerence.

Generally, Groth says, harassment is verbal, such as swearing, raising of voices, making derogatory comments and speaking harshly. Gooden says there have been times verbal threats escalated to violent acts, and, as the pandemic continues, a possible increase in incidents of physical harm is a concern.

For staff who entered the field of health care due to their compassionate nature and desire to help, being sworn at and told they are bad at their job is hurtful, and leaves them anxious and less motivated to go back in the room to care for that patient, Groth notes.

There is a lot of compassion fatigue ... because (of) the constant getting cursed at or yelled at. ... Eventually it makes people get burned out, and you dont want to be a caregiver anymore, Groth says.

Adds Gooden, They dont have joy in the work that once used to bring them joy. They look to other vocations as opposed to staying in health care. The staffing shortage is twofold  its related to pandemic but also related to their work environment. They dont feel (safe) any longer ... and everybody is entitled to have a safe work environment. That should be guaranteed and shouldnt be in question. So when they are continually attacked verbally  hopefully not physically, but it does happen that that leads them (away). They deserve to be treated better and theyll look elsewhere.

David Moitzheim, security operations manager for Mayo S.W. Wisconsin, says unfortunately, historically its almost been accepted in the health care community that theres a certain amount of abuse, that it is part of the job. ... We make it very clear to our patients and to our staff that, no, thats not part of the job, its not something were going to accept. If you behave poorly in one of our facilities, were going to take it very seriously and it will be addressed.

Staff, Moitzheim says, understand patients that come in are experiencing pain or anxiety, but covert and overt threats are unacceptable. Employees do their best to work with patients and families to calm the situation before it requires security intervention, and Gooden asks patients to have patience and understanding that everyone is working in unprecedented times. Staff understand the frustrations, and they welcome questions, but need patients to know with hospitals being so busy at this time it may take longer to get an answer.

Adding to tensions may be the restrictions on visitors put in place due to the pandemic and divide or differing opinions on care within families.

Sometimes we get put in the middle of that conflict because people want information or people want to do things and we cant always give that information, Groth says. We need to have the patient be responsible, but theyre sick, and so thats the hard part. People are trying to be an advocate for their their loved one, but need to do it in a respectful manner and make sure you understand our policies and procedures. Its always okay to ask. You may not always get what you ask for, but certainly do it.

Gooden emphasizes when it comes to queries and requests, there is a difference between seeking answers and speaking with the goal of hurting feelings or intimidating.

If your intent is to cause me fear and cause me emotional grief and discombobulation, then that goes towards abusive, Gooden says. Thats not just expressive, so I think that that thats something that needed to be delineated.

Individuals who are unsatisfied with their care are advised to contact patient experience to express those grievances, with Gooden calling it a more appropriate avenue that saves a lot of emotion and mental stress for health care workers as well as patients and family members.

Security is only involved, Moitzheim says, if absolutely necessary, but when they do need to be called they too will require the patient to be calm.

Were going to ask you to be respectful, be realistic in your expectations and if you feel like your needs arent being met, please speak up, let us know what we can do to meet those needs, Moitzheim says. As long as its done in a respectful manner, we will move mountains to make your experience a good one.

Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net.

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Last month, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski released a plan for rural Wisconsin, a region home to a significant portion of the states Republican voters.

As Senator, Godlewski said in a statement about her rural policies, including boosting broadband and health care access, I will listen, I will engage, and I will ensure that Washington politicians finally start hearing Wisconsins rural voices.

Shes not the first to make such a claim.

Last year, U.S. Senate candidate and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson kicked off the Full Nelson Tour, visiting each of Wisconsins 72 counties over six weeks. In his tour announcement, he pledged to fight for a Green New Deal, Medicare for All and a $15 minimum wage while listening to what rural voters needed from him.

U.S. Senate candidates Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, whose policy proposals have thus far been less focused on rural initiatives, still have voiced support for increased internet access, improved health care and support for family farms.

But Democrats face a steep challenge in courting a demographic that overwhelmingly votes Republican, gets information from media that berate the left and would be generally skeptical of the leading Senate candidates, who are all more liberal than President Joe Biden.

Rural Wisconsin is not a monolith: While the region has steadily moved to the right under former Republican Gov. Scott Walker and moved even further right under former President Donald Trump, rural voters also played a part in delivering liberal U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the Democratic presidential primary win in 2016 over Hillary Clinton.

Still, that outstate liberal constituency is small and waning.

In 2020, almost every rural county in the state voted for Trump. Many counties registered two Trump votes per Biden vote, similar to the sum total of the suburban Milwaukee WOW counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington.

Thats a far cry from 1992, when most rural Wisconsin counties voted for then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton over Republican President George H.W. Bush.

Today, about 30% of Wisconsinites live in rural areas and rural millennials are fleeing to population hubs, according to Malia Jones, a social epidemiologist at UW-Madisons Applied Population Laboratory.

The farm vote

Many rural Wisconsinites are still farmers  with 435,700 jobs or about 12% of the states employment shared between on-farm production and processing, according to a report  though that number is dwindling. The state leads the nation in farm bankruptcies.

With the current situation in agriculture, theres been a need for emergency aid packages, said Darin Von Ruden, a third-generation farmer and president of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Farmers Union Board of Directors, who said he is not on board with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh.

Hes never voted for the farm bill, which means that he doesnt want to see these aid packages coming to farmers, which means that theres fewer dollars for farmers to generate an income, Von Ruden said.

Von Ruden added that many farmers want climate action to preserve farms longevity, but the Green New Deal prioritizes urban centers and would regulate farms more than many farmers want to be regulated.

While farmers have historically voted Democratic given their reliance on government programs, many small farmers have been shifting to the right, former Sauk County Republican Party chair Scott Frostman said.

The people in Sauk County want to know that the government will be there in times of extraordinary need but for the most part allow them to live their lives as they see fit, he said.

Frostman added that many rural farmers support Johnson despite his votes against the farm bill.

Theyre not going to agree with the candidate on every single issue, but I think that Ron has great appeal to a lot of rural voters because of some of those traditional values that he supports, he said.

Along with the rest of the countrys population, rural Wisconsinites are often more focused on national issues than local ones.

I would say people (here) are more upset with the border than anything else, said Florence County Republican Party chair Brian Jennings.

Florence County, which touches the Upper Peninsula, lies about 1,600 miles from the Mexican border, and about 1% of the county population is Latino, according to the Census. In 2020, over 72% of Florence County voters opted for Trump.

Jennings said he and many other Florence County residents are also concerned with voter irregularities along with national security.

Incremental goals

With rural voters, Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin said, Democratic candidates best bet is to reduce their loss margins and focus on rural population centers.

Part of developing your local base is, you may be losing a place 70 to 30 but letting the 30% minority know that there are other people with them in that area is a real way to convert a 30% vote to a 35% or even a 40% vote over time, he said.

The Democratic pursuit of the rural vote  making up between a quarter and a third of the statewide vote  is critical, even if Republicans win the rural vote by a big margin, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said.

Fortunately for Democratic Senate candidates, there is a successful local model in rural areas: In 2018, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, flourished in rural Wisconsin, at least relative to other statewide Democratic candidates.

Baldwin represented many of the things rural voters claim to loathe: Madison, Democrats and career politicians. But she also presented rural voters a tangible plan to assist rural communities and a track record showing that her promises werent empty.

Among other things, Baldwin rallied behind improving Wisconsin rural health care and rural broadband. She also introduced a bill in the run-up to her reelection to ban almond, oat and soy drinks from advertising using the term milk, to the delight of Wisconsins dairy farmers.

But duplicating Baldwins ability to bond with rural voters despite her voting record  shes one of the more liberal members of the U.S. Senate  may be challenging for todays candidates, who face a country more divided and more partisan than even four years ago, Franklin said.

This growth of nationalization has made it harder and harder for politicians to carve out a personal relationship and a personal vote, and its being replaced by party-line voting, Franklin said.

Democrats plan

Godlewskis rural plan, the first policy paper of her campaign, follows many of the same points as Baldwins in 2018. She wants to bring public broadband to rural areas where private internet providers do not provide service; she wants to divert federal money to keep rural hospitals open and expand programs to place more primary care doctors, dentists and mental health care practitioners in rural Wisconsin.

Health care, especially, is a crucial issue in rural Wisconsin, where hospitals are closing, new doctors are all but nonexistent and mental health care is sparse.

A 2017 Wisconsin Office of Rural Health report shows, in rural Wisconsin, there are 950 people for every mental health care provider compared with 530 in more urban counties. And there are 1,480 people for every primary care physician, compared with 1,170 in more populated areas.

A rural backing probably wont help candidates as much in Augusts primary as it will in the general election, with far more Democrats living in urban centers.

But it could influence the race in the primary if Godlewski or other candidates can make a pitch that they are more electable in November because they have a strategy for at least keeping down their losses in rural communities, Burden said.

He also added that if the other candidates focus on Madison and Milwaukee and split the vote there, there could be a candidate who reaches out to some less typical parts of the state for Democrats and is able to pull off a victory that way.

Godlewski isnt the only Democrat courting rural voters. Nelson, for one, says he has knocked on 70,000 doors across the state  a large portion of them in rural areas  and he talks about how he worked on his grandparents dairy farm and helped to save a Fox Valley paper mill from closure.

Theres one thing Wisconsinites prize, and thats hard work, Nelson said in an interview, referring to his door-knocking and his series of wins as a former Assembly member for the 5th District  once beating now-Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, with almost 65% of the vote  and then as a county executive in a GOP stronghold.

His focus on green energy to address climate change, which threatens Wisconsins farms, also earned him an endorsement from the environmental group Sunrise Movements Wisconsin chapter.

Barnes also made it a point to visit every county in Wisconsin.

Lasry has been showing up in communities that have traditionally been largely ignored by most Democrats and taken for granted by Republicans, his spokesperson Thad Nation said.

Godlewski followed her rural policy proposal with a three-day tour around the state and highlighted several endorsements from key rural organizers, including rural advocate and political organizer Bill Hogseth, who said Godlewski is going to places that Democrats often ignore and shes working hard to earn support, as well as state Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick.

As part of her plan, Godlewski declared her intent to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee. In an interview, she said winning the state would require Democrats to do well in all 72 counties. She said her focus has been on rural Wisconsin partly due to Wisconsin leading the nation in farm bankruptcies. Godlewski said she hopes to change that.

We have got to get a voice at that table, she said. If not, you see what happens.

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BRUSSELS (AP)  Belgian police searching for drugs in a Brussels apartment have discovered 37 cannabis plants  as well as a collection of dozens of poisonous spiders, scorpions and desert-dwelling lizards.

Prosecutors said Friday that two men arrested in the apartment during the raid are being investigated for animal welfare violations, in addition to facing drug-related charges.

Police made the unexpected discovery Wednesday after they were told a strong cannabis smell was coming from a building in a northeast neighborhood of Belgium's capital.

Officers searched an apartment where a father and his adult son were arrested. In addition to the cannabis plants and 228 grams of marijuana they seized, police found 52 tarantulas, a python, three scorpions, four turtles, two lizards in the Pogona family  also known as bearded dragons  and 16 beetles.

More of this week's weirdest news:

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A $150,000 grant to Lancaster County Workforce Development Board will be used to bring back tours of industry for teachers and create new summer camps to expose students to potential careers in healthcare and manufacturing.

The grant is part of $3 million in Business-Education Partnership distribution recently announced by the state Department of Labor & Industry. Lancaster was one of 22 workforce development organizations across the state that received the federal money made available from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act.

The money will support the workforce boards Career Ready Lancaster! partnerships three-year strategic plan to connect students to career paths in the county.

In its application for the grant, the workforce development board said it planned to bring back Educator Industry Tours in partnership with Lancaster Chamber. Local businesses would host educators in tours followed by training facilitated by Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 to incorporate learning from their experiences.

The grant would also go to support summer camps to expose Lancaster youth to careers in healthcare, manufacturing and construction in partnership with Lancaster County Career and Technology Center and ABC Keystone. The camps aim to increase diversity into these fields.

According to Career Ready Lancasters application, the grant will also support:

Further defining career pathways in the manufacturing and healthcare Industries in Lancaster through the Employer Action Team working with Economic Development Company of Lancaster County Center for Regional Analysis. Then reaching out to schools, jobseekers, parents and guardians to explain the opportunities.

Lancaster County students enrolled in a manufacturing pre-apprenticeship hosted by The Manufacturers Association of South Central PA.

Development of a 3-year sustainability and strategic plan for Career Ready Lancaster! that includes improving cross-sector collaboration and clear and measurable goals and transparency.
St. Anne Parish and the Lancaster Catholic Vietnamese community have joined as one body of believers, and will now be known as St. Anne and Our Lady of La Vang Parish.

The merger was made official in a ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 29. at the Lancaster city church, located at 929 N. Duke St.

The Most Rev. Ronald W. Gainer, Bishop of Harrisburg, read an official decree at the mass to join the two communities as one.

The Lancaster Catholic Vietnamese community formed shortly after arriving to the area after the fall of Saigon in 1975, according to a news release from the church. The group was acknowledged by and provided pastoral care under the Diocese of Harrisburg. Over the years, the group has been assigned to various parishes within Lancaster as their place of worship, but never had a parish home.

In 2015, the Rev. Tri. M. Luong was assigned as pastor to St. Anne Parish. At the same time, he was given pastoral care of the Lancaster Vietnamese community.

Over the past seven years, the Lancaster Vietnamese community has worshiped alongside St. Anne parishioners. According to a news release from the church, the arrangement has blossomed into celebration of each others traditions and bilingual masses. They were so cohesive, the news release reads, that many St. Anne parishioners thought members of the Vietnamese group were parishioners, too.

Each group had its own leadership council, and in 2021, conversation began about St. Anne becoming the permanent home for these parishioners. Luong approached Gainer, who gave approval to proceed in the merger.

The name Our Lady of La Vang was chosen by the Lancaster Vietnamese community, named for a community in Vietnam to which the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared in 1798, when Catholics were persecuted and killed in Vietnam.

According to a news release from the church, there is only one other parish in the country that has accomplished a similar merger  in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
It was 9 a.m. Monday and Lori Laytons 8-year-old daughter should have been starting her day at Hempfield School Districts Mountville Elementary.

Instead, she was on the phone with her mom, reporting that she waited outdoors for 30 minutes in 17 degree cold for a school bus that never came.

She didnt know what to do, Layton, 39, said.

Layton, a nurse practitioner, quickly drove home from work to take her daughter to school. When she arrived, her daughter was sitting on a heating pad and warming her hands with a hair dryer.

The Laytons experience is one of the more dramatic consequences of a problem school districts everywhere are facing. The pandemic has stretched school bus companies thin as employees get sick and new drivers are hard to recruit as jobs of all types are proving hard to fill. The rise late last year of the fast-spreading omicron variant has pushed the situation to a breaking point.

Hempfield is not alone among local districts struggling. Conestoga Valley School District has planned for a shift to virtual instruction if it is short bus drivers. In early January, Warwick School District announced a similar contingency plan. Donegal School District encouraged parents and guardians to become drivers in an October letter.

In an interview early January with LNP | LancasterOnline, Mike Kramer, president of Schultz Transportation, said the company had to get creative by combining bus routes or covering routes with other employees whose duties would not typically include driving. Fortunately, everyone in the office, regardless of position, is certified to drive buses. Schultz services Lancaster, Penn Manor, Lampeter-Stasburg and Warwick school districts.

Hempfield School District buses are operated by Student Transportation of America. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the district was served by 93 buses and 105 drivers, including substitutes, said Hempfield director of communications Cheryl Irwin-Bass. Now, there are 67 vehicles and 70 drivers, including substitutes, to transport approximately 7,300 students.

An attempt to reach a Student Transportation spokesperson Thursday afternoon was unsuccessful.

Irwin-Bass said a substitute driver was filling in on the route where Laytons daughter and several other students were stranded Monday.

Because the driver was unfamiliar with the route, they missed a few stops, Irwin-Bass said.

According to Hempfield Superintendent Mike Bromirski, Student Transportation  like Schultz has done  pulled in its office staff as substitute drivers that day. So, the Student Transportation office employee normally responsible for communicating delays with parents was driving a bus.

Communication from Hempfield Superintendent Good evening, Thank you for reaching out to us. First and foremost, Im sorry this occurred. This was certainly unacceptable, and I apologize that district protocols were not followed. Ive copied Mark Brooks, our CFOO, on this email as our transportation director, Mr. Frank, has been out of the office. Mr. Brooks is still working through this with the bus contractor (STA) to determine the total extent of what occurred and find ways to ensure that this doesn't happen again. From Mr. Brooks: There were several substitute bus drivers today. To compound the matter, the bus contractor (STA) office staff, who usually notifies the district of any issues that would require a robocall, were covering bus runs themselves, which left no one in their office to contact the district. We are investigating new routing software that would be installed in the buses to aid the new or substitute drivers in ensuring that all stops are clearly defined, with the goal of no missed stops. While this does not address the matter this morning, I wanted to let you know that we are seeking ways to improve our service. Regarding tomorrow morning, Mr. Brooks confirmed with STA that the students will be picked up at the same time as last week - not what is currently in PowerSchool. Regarding the PowerSchool information, we have been forced to reroute buses due to driver shortages. The parents/guardians of the students impacted by this change should be receiving an email alerting the parents/guardians of the change which will take place on Wednesday February 2, 2022. Any information in Power School reflects the new time starting Wednesday, not the pickup tomorrow. Again, we do apologize for what occurred today and are working with the bus contractor to ensure that this does not happen again. Mike

Im sorry this occurred, Bromirski said in an email to Maureen Eccleston, 44, a Mountville parent who contacted him Monday. This was certainly unacceptable.

Bromirski said the district and Student Transportation are investigating new software to aid in ensuring all stops are clearly defined and none are missed.

Less and less notice

Since January, Layton said buses ran late consistently. Just two weeks ago, she received an automated phone call every day that her daughters bus would be late.

Monday was the first incident in which parents were not notified in advance of any bussing issues, she said

I would categorize it as an isolated incident, Irwin-Bass said. Im also not minimizing it to the children that were left out there. We take that seriously.

As students returned from their holiday breaks in early January, bus drivers were few and far between. Schultz Transportation had 21 drivers call in sick Jan. 3, Kramer said, adding that those circumstances are a rarity for the company.

A lot of these people would normally be at work and work through those scenarios, Kramer said of drivers experiencing cold-like symptoms. But when you throw the word COVID in there that kind of puts everyone on the defensive, and in some cases, rightly so.

Hempfield parent Cassandra Harter, 36, said her childrens bus driver was unavailable in the first week of January. Her 9- and 12-year-old students had a different bus that arrived 25 minutes late each day that week.

Buses are often late because theyre doubling up, meaning a bus driver completes their regular route and returns to pick up students on another route. In those instances, Harter said her children wouldnt get picked up until 9 a.m.

They dont even get to school until after school starts and they miss breakfast, she added.

Regardless of income, Hempfield students are offered free breakfast before the 9 a.m. bell, so students coming in any later miss that opportunity.

And some students don't have transportation to school if a bus doesnt come.

Michelle Pollis, 41, and her husband are out of the house early in the morning  before their two children head into school. A sitter drives their children to the bus stop but cant stay with them until the bus comes.

On Monday, they waited half an hour for the bus before neighbor Jaci Hoosier, 44, offered to drive them into school.

Prior to that she said the district had been giving us less and less notice when buses were delayed.

Hempfield told parents Jan. 4 that delays were to be expected and robocall notifications wouldnt be sent out unless the bus was running 15 minutes late.

The only other option for parents would be to drive their children to school.

Were tired

Harter said Hempfield asks parents to drive their children to school to lessen the load for bus drivers.

An email she and other parents received from Derrick Frank, Hempfields director of transportation, included the line If your student is picked up daily and can be long term removed from the roster, please email transportation@hempfieldsd.org.

Harter, a stay-at-home mom, took her kids into school when the bus didnt come. However, navigating pick-up and drop-off times for school is tricky with a 3-year-old in the mix.

Preschool starts for her youngest at the same time as elementary school, while afternoon nap-time cuts into pick-up time.

Then, theres the drop-off or pick-up line.

You cant just roll up and drop off, she said, adding that some parents get in line to drop off their students 45 minutes before school begins. Ultimately at the end of it all, youd get home after the bus would have already dropped the kids off again anyways and then just lost so much time.

In a time with so little caregiver relief, Harter said she had just been looking forward to the benefit of public services like bus transportation.

Whether youre working or stay-at-home, were tired, Harter said. To be asked to do more is really draining.
A Chester County man repeatedly made threatening and obscene comments toward multiple state police dispatchers in East Lampeter Township, at times threatening to rape and kill them, according to state police.

Christopher Martin Evans, 39, of Oxford, Chester County, threatened four different dispatchers at the state police station at 2099 Lincoln Highway East during a series of phone calls beginning just after 9:45 p.m. July 11, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Evans was charged Jan. 29 with four counts of terroristic threats and four counts of harassment.

In one call, Evans told a female dispatcher he was going to rape her and when he was finished she was supposed to thank him for it, police said. In another call, Evans threatened multiple times to kill a second dispatcher, also calling her degrading names.

Other dispatchers also were subjected to similar obscene and degrading language, according to the affidavit.

Evans directly identified himself during one of the calls, telling a dispatcher that state police needs to bow  down to Christopher Martin Evans, also referring to the dispatcher in dehumanizing terms, according to the affidavit.

The dispatchers, who told investigators Evans may have been under the influence of an unknown substance at the time, repeatedly told him to report a police emergency or they would disconnect his calls.

Evans later told police he was drunk and venting when he made the calls, which came during a psychological breakdown. Evans seemed disgusted and upset with himself when he was told what he had said during the calls, saying he was sorry and would never call them again, according to the affidavit.

Evans also told police he had made threatening calls to the White House in the past.

Court documents did not list an attorney for Evans. He has not been arrested, court records show.

A preliminary hearing date has not been scheduled.

YWCA Lancaster runs a 24-hour sexual assault hotline, 717-392-7273, that connects callers to free, confidential counseling and therapy services for community members impacted by sexual abuse, harassment or assault.
Firefighters battled a blaze at a West Cocalico Township chicken house Saturday morning, according to Lancaster County-Wide Communications.

The fire broke out in a 12,000-square foot chicken barn in the 1300 block of Wollups Hill Road, about two miles west of Denver, at 9:47 a.m., the supervisor said. Firefighters arrived to find the barn ablaze.

Smoke was seen from about a mile away from the blaze, according to a dispatch report.

No one was injured in the blaze.

A state police fire marshal was later called to the scene.

Attempts to reach the Stevens Fire Company for additional information were not immediately successful.
Lancaster County has a new county commissioner: John Trescot, a 63-year-old retired engineer and executive who lives in Lancaster Township.

Trescot was the unanimous pick of the countys 13 Court of Common Pleas judges following a three-hour session in which the judges interviewed the 12 applicants hoping to fill the remaining 23 months of former County Commissioner Craig Lehmans term. Lehman resigned effective Jan. 7 after 14 years in the role.

Trescot gave an excellent presentation and showed he was eminently qualified, President Judge David Ashworth said after the judges decision was announced.

Trescot will be sworn in on Monday in a private ceremony, Ashworth said. He will be the lone Democrat on the three-member board of commissioners, serving alongside Republicans Ray DAgostino and Josh Parsons.

Wearing a windowpane-patterned suit and sporting a short, white beard, Trescot was the second-to-last candidate to be interviewed by the judges on Friday afternoon.

The self-described lifelong Democrat said his decades of experience managing large budgets and projects makes him the best candidate to do the job. He also said he is disinterested in partisan politics, and wants to focus on how the county can retain employees and attract investment.

If you treat the commissioners job as a political job, you start doing political things, Trescot told the judges during his interview. If you think of it as a job to get things done you look at what needs to get done.

Presiding over the session in a Lancaster County Courthouse courtroom, Ashworth asked each candidate the same eight questions. The 12 other Court of Common Pleas judges sat in chairs below him, taking notes and listening to the applicants responses.

Each applicant was first asked to promise not to run for a full four-year term in 2023  a requirement that Ashworth previously explained was to ensure the finalist wont hold an edge over other Democrats who may run that year.

Applicants were asked how he or she would address the countys staffing problems  an issue important enough to Ashworth that hes raised it publicly in recent months. Vacancies in the departments servicing the county courts are so severe they could bring judicial operations to a halt, Ashworth wrote in a letter to the commissioners in November.

Trescot answered by pointing to his time working in China, where he said it was very difficult to hire employees. He said this experience of hiring in a tough job market and improving employee retention sets him apart from the other candidates.

Background

Trescot moved to Lancaster Township in 2009 from Beijing, China. He retired in 2015 from a 25-year career as an executive for Metso Minerals Industries, an international industrial services supplier based in Finland. He received a bachelors in mechanical engineering from Clemson University, and a masters of business administration from the University of Rochester, and served in the U.S. Army Reserves.

He was a senior vice president for the company at Metsos York location after moving back to the United States in 2009, managing its mining and construction projects and overseeing a staff of 400 people worldwide, according to his application.

Now in his retirement, Trescot said during his interview Friday that he has served as a substitute judge of elections around Lancaster County, and works independently as a property mediator.

Im comfortably retired, I dont need this job, Trescot said during his interview. I want the job because I want to do something for the county that I live in.

An LNP | LancasterOnline editorial from Jan. 16 inspired him to apply to be the countys next commissioner, Trescot said in a phone call Friday night.

My background is not political, but heavy on engineering and management, he added. I will ask a lot of questions, get to know the staff and the key issues that are important to the county right now.

Trescot said he will be sworn in Monday, but had previously scheduled plans to visit Bangkok for the next few weeks following his swearing in. He said he would not take a county salary until he returns from that trip.

Sally Lyall, the former chair of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, said Trescot is a good centrist Democrat.

Lyall, who is Trescots neighbor in Lancaster Township, said she was pleased for the county that he was chosen, noting his experience managing multi-million dollar budgets.

Hes just a really good guy, Lyall added.

Trescot could not immediately be reached on Friday. DAgostino and Parsons also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The salary for a Lancaster County commissioner is $99,410 per year.

Other candidates who interviewed Friday include the countys former emergency management coordinator Randy Gockley, two former Manheim Township commissioners Sam Mecum and Tom OBrien, and redistricting advocate Amy Ruffo, among others.

One candidate, Lewis Waltman, withdrew prior to the interviews Friday.
Leaders of Pennsylvanias Republican Party are planning to meet behind closed doors in Lancaster County on Saturday to decide whether to endorse candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate.

The decision to close the meeting is unusual, if not unprecedented, in the state GOPs history. For decades, the endorsement sessions have been open. It also stands in contrast to the state Democratic Party, which held its endorsement convention last weekend and allowed the press to attend.

Starting Friday, party leaders from across the state gathered at the Wyndham Resort and Convention Center in East Lampeter Township for two days of meetings, capped off by the endorsement discussion.

Angela Alleman, the state GOPs executive director, said in an email that the entire weekends events are closed to the press.

When asked why this traditionally open process has been made private, Alleman claimed the endorsement session was usually closed to the media.

But decades of past news articles and photos, along with multiple reporters recollections, show otherwise. While the first day of the state GOP meeting was often closed to the press and the public, reporters from across the state recall being able to watch the second days session where state committee members vote on whether to endorse in specific races and, if so, which candidate to back.

Four years ago, reporters were able to watch an emotional speech from former House Speaker Mike Turzai, as he bowed out of the governors race after Scott Wagner secured enough votes for the endorsement. In 2010, reporters described former Gov. Tom Corbett as white-haired and assured as he secured the partys gubernatorial stamp of approval.

"Shutting the press out of this meeting, especially when it includes the possible endorsement of gubernatorial or U.S. Senate candidates, means the public loses out on the chance to assess candidates' backgrounds and qualifications," said Paula Knudsen Burke, a Pennsylvania-based attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and a former LNP editor and investigative reporter.

David Atkinson, a former top aide to Senate Pro Tempore Bob Jublierer and later a staffer for then-state Sen. Lloyd Smucker, said he could not recall a time that the press was shut out of an endorsement meeting. He described the PAGOPs decision to do so as extraordinary.

As we are watching history unfold these days, it seems to be more a tactic favored by Republicans that they prefer their own sources of media or pseudo-media, therefore trying to control the narrative, said Atkinson, a long-time Republican. If youre afraid of media coverage, (a layperson) is going to wonder, what are you up to? If you put your statement out, you let your words and your deeds speak for you, what harm can the media do to you?

Part of the motivation for closing this event is to ensure the state GOP can control the messaging, said Terry Madonna, a senior fellow for political affairs at Millersville University.

Why would you close it off? You dont want any negative aspects of the meeting to be reported in the press, Madonna said. Thats the fundamental reason.

Madonna said by closing off the meeting, candidates and state committee members will be able to more freely speak their mind.

People may be reluctant if they know the press is there, Madonna said. They want privacy and confidentiality so you can get more candor. That way, people will be more likely to speak their mind.

Alleman did not say why the events are closed.

No GOP-endorsed candidate has gone on to lose the partys gubernatorial primary in 40 years. (The party's endorsed candidate lost the U.S. Senate primary in 2012.)

The endorsement doesnt guarantee victory. But party support helps garner campaign funds and provides troops on the ground to work at phone banks, and contacts across the state, and volunteers to knock on doors.

2022 meeting agenda

The agenda of this weekends GOP meeting shows party leaders had access to candidates and policymakers alike during Fridays sessions.

The schedule showed the day starting with a lunch with the partys candidates for U.S. Senate. State Sen. Cris Dush of Jefferson County was then scheduled to brief attendees on the investigation hes leading into the states 2020 election  a topic hes repeatedly declined to discuss with the media.

Later sessions included a forum with candidates for lieutenant governor, a meeting of the partys Hispanic Assembly, capped off with a dinner and a debate between the partys candidates for governor, according to an agenda obtained by LNP | LancasterOnline.

Party leaders are scheduled to discuss possible endorsements starting at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
When: West Hempfield supervisors meeting, Feb. 1.

What happened: Supervisors addressed land use requests for several properties. They accepted a sketch plan for a planned 60-family development at 760 High Ridge Road where developers agreed to limit the High Ridge Road access point to emergency use only. A conveyance plan for 620 Sycamore Drive and conservation and trail agreements for 4301 Marietta Avenue also were accepted.

Pending: A rezoning request from Saadia Groups Stony Battery & Meadow Spring property was referred to the township and county planning commissions. A Turkey Hill land development plan for 3570 Marietta Avenue was denied pending response to a township letter.

Police officer honored: Cpl. James M. Gardills retirement was recognized. He served West Hempfield Township residents for 32 years. During this time, he received numerous commendations and letters of gratitude from citizens, motorists, neighboring departments and county agencies. He received the departments Life Saving Award in 2010 and 2020 and was also named Officer of the Year in 2020. As officer in charge of his shift, he was promoted to the rank of corporal in April 2021.

Police car transfer: The township is donating a police car to Mountville Fire Company.
Community Mourns the passing of Community, Labor, and Civil Rights Activist Gwen Green at the age of 96

We are sad to report the passing of Gwen Green at the age of 96. Gwen Green had been active in the civil rights movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She also was an active leader in equal access, equal pay fighting for equal access, equal pay and other union issues throughout her time here in Los Angeles.

Gwen was an active supporter and member of The Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade, Mothers in Action, SCLC-LA, The NAACP and other civil rights organizations.

Gwen was also a family woman who was beloved by her children and grandchildren. During the pandemic the community saluted Gwen for her 96th birthday with a drive by celebration in her honor, her birthday was April 22.

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Please check back to lasentinel.net for more information regarding Mrs. Green in the coming days.

Historian and Archivist Sherwin Keith Rice shared his most treasured moments of working the Green. He said, Gwen was 88 years old when we met her. For me, she was the older cool kid in high school that let you hang out with them, in hopes that the cool would rub off on you.

Rice continued, Since that first meeting it has been an honor to know Gwen and call her my friend and a friend and supporter of the Bradley Center. Gwen was always straight with me. She would let me know when I was being naive about the movement by saying in a motherly fashion, baby, youre being naive, they were all just people like everyone else.

Still, I dont think I became any less naive. I was still in awe of her and everyone else who had made sacrifices for us all. How could I not be? I was lucky enough to drive her to some events and be in her presence while she might be having small talk with Andrew Young or when she would tell me about meeting Malcolm X. Rice Said.

Ms. Green worked endlessly for all people to share the right to vote. History.com recalled this period as a critical part of American heritage. President Lyndon B. Johnson worked alongside activists leading the fight for social justice and voting rights.

Green oversaw marches and fundraisers, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in 1965, she served as assistant director for the SCLCs Summer Community Organization and Political Education Project. Ms. Green would commute to six southern states to provide voting registration and education at a time where Black Americans were hassled and put in prison for registering to vote. Green worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr., and civil rights activist Hosea Williams.

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Updated 2/8/22 by Sentinel News Staff
Scientists researching climate change in Antarctica are studying penguins in an effort to better understand the areas environmental health.

The scientists are measuring the growth and development of the penguin population on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Reuters news agency recently reported on studies in the area carried out by two American researchers.

"We are counting penguin nests to understand how many penguins are in a colony, producing (young) every year, and whether that number is going up or down with the environmental conditions," said Alex Borowicz. He is an ecology researcher at New Yorks Stony Brook University.

The work is not easy for climate researchers in the icy, faraway reaches of Antarctica. But penguins are easier to follow than some other kinds of animals because they nest on land. Their black bodies and waste droppings can also be identified against the areas white background.

Michael Wethington, another researcher from Stony Brook, told Reuters the penguin population can represent overall climate conditions and the health of the areas whole ecosystem.

The researchers say counts of individual penguins can be combined with data from satellite images to get a more complete picture of how the animals are progressing.

Gentoo penguins  with bright orange beaks and white markings on their heads  prefer open water without broken pieces of ice floating around. So when temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula began rising during the latter half of the 20th century, gentoo populations moved south. Some scientists called the movement the gentoofication of Antarctica.

David Ainley is a biologist with the ecological advisory company H.T. Harvey & Associates. He has been studying penguins for more than 50 years. "Gentoo penguins don't like sea ice," Ainley told Reuters. They mostly forage over the continental shelf and dont go far out to sea.

As sea ice has decreased along the western side of the peninsula, gentoos seem to have gotten used to the changed conditions. But those same conditions have been worse for the Adelies penguin species. This is because the Adelies depend on sea ice for feeding and reproduction.

"When we find Adelie penguins, we typically know that sea ice is nearby," Stony Brooks Wethington said. He added that whenever researchers see sea ice decreasing or disappearing, they also see Adelie penguin populations drop sharply.

Even though Adelie penguins are increasing in number overall, some populations have fallen by more than 65 percent, researchers say.

On their January trip to the area, the Stony Brook scientists found that Adelie colonies around the still-icy Weddell Sea had remained solid during the past ten years. "This peninsula is maybe a safe space as we see climate change progressing and overall warming throughout the globe," Wethington said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________

Words in This Story

nest  n. a home built by birds and some other creatures to hold their eggs and to live in

ecosystem  n. everything that exists in a particular environment

beak  n. the hard part of a birds mouth

forage  v. to move around searching for things you need, especially food

species  n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

globe  n. the world
Our story today is called The Exact Science of Matrimony. It was written by O. Henry. This story was adapted by Shelley Gollust and produced by Lawan Davis. Here is Barbara Klein with the story.

Jeff Peters and Andy Tucker could never be trusted. One day, the two men decided to open a marriage business to make some quick and easy money. The first thing they did was to write an advertisement to be published in newspapers. Their advertisement read like this:

A charming widow, beautiful and home-loving, would like to remarry. She is only thirty-two years old. She has three thousand dollars in cash and owns valuable property in the country. She would like a poor man with a loving heart. No objection to an older man or to one who is not good-looking. But he needs to be faithful and true, can take care of property and invest money with good judgment. Give address, with details about yourself. Signed: Lonely, care of Peters and Tucker, agents, Cairo, Illinois.

When they finished writing the ad, Jeff Peters said to Andy Tucker: So far, so good. And now, where is the lady?

Andy gave Jeff an unhappy look. What does a marriage advertisement have to do with a lady? he asked.

Now listen, Jeff answered. You know my rule, Andy. In all illegal activities, we must obey the law, in every detail. Something offered for sale must exist. It must be seen. You must be able to produce it. That is how I have kept out of trouble with the police. Now, for this business to work, we must be able to produce a charming widow, with or without the beauty, as advertised.

Well, said Andy, after thinking it over, it might be better, if the United States Post Office should decide to investigate our marriage agency. But where can you hope to find a widow who would waste her time on a marriage proposal that has no marriage in it?

Jeff said that he knew just such a woman.

An old friend of mine, Zeke Trotter, he said, used to work in a tent show. He made his wife a widow by drinking too much of the wrong kind of alcohol. I used to stop at their house often. I think we can get her to work with us.

Missus Zeke Trotter lived in a small town not far away. Jeff Peters went out to see her. She was not beautiful and not so young. But she seemed all right to Jeff.

Is this an honest deal you are putting on, Mister Peters? she asked when he told her what he wanted.

Missus Trotter, said Jeff, three thousand men will seek to marry you to get your money and property. What are they prepared to give in exchange? Nothing! Nothing but the bones of a lazy, dishonest, good-for-nothing fortune-seeker. We will teach them something. This will be a great moral campaign. Does that satisfy you?

It does, Mister Peters, she said. But what will my duties be? Do I have to personally reject these three thousand good-for-nothings you speak of? Or can I throw them out in bunches?

Jeff explained that her job would be easy. She would live in a quiet hotel and have no work to do. He and Andy would take care of all letters and the business end of the plot. But he warned her that some of the men might come to see her in person. Then, she would have to meet them face-to-face and reject them. She would be paid twenty-five dollars a week and hotel costs.

Give me five minutes to get ready, Missus Trotter said. Then you can start paying me.

So Jeff took her to the city and put her in a hotel far enough from Jeff and Andys place to cause no suspicion.

Jeff Peters and Andy Tucker were now ready to catch a few fish on the hook. They placed their advertisement in newspapers across the country. They put two thousand dollars in a bank in Missus Trotters name. They gave her the bank book to show if anyone questioned the honesty of their marriage agency. They were sure that Missus Trotter could be trusted and that it was safe to leave the money in her name.

Their ad in the newspapers started a flood of letters  more than one hundred a day. Jeff and Andy worked twelve hours a day answering them. Most of the men wrote that they had lost their jobs. The world misunderstood them. But they were full of love and other good qualities.

Jeff and Andy answered every letter with high praise for the writer. They asked the men to send a photograph and more details. And they told them to include two dollars to cover the cost of giving the second letter to the charming widow.

Almost all the men sent in the two dollars requested. It seemed to be an easy business. Still, Andy and Jeff often spoke about the trouble of cutting open envelopes and taking the money out.

A few of the men came in person. Jeff and Andy sent them to Missus Trotter and she did the rest. Soon, Jeff and Andy were receiving about two hundred dollars a day. One day, a federal postal inspector came by. But Jeff satisfied him that they were not breaking the law.

After about three months, Jeff and Andy had collected more than five thousand dollars, and they decided it was time to stop. Some people were beginning to question their honesty. And, Missus Trotter seemed to have grown tired of her job. Too many men had come to see her and she did not like that.

Jeff went to Missus Trotters hotel to pay her what she was owed, and to say goodbye. He also wanted her to repay the two thousand dollars that was put into her bank account.

When Jeff walked into the room she was crying, like a child who did not want to go to school.

Now, now, he said. Whats it all about? Somebody hurt you? Are you getting homesick?

No, Mister Peters, she said. Ill tell you. You were always a good friend of my husband Zeke. Mister Peters, I am in love. I just love a man so hard I cant bear not to get him. Hes just the kind Ive always had in mind.

Then take him, said Jeff. Does he feel the same way about you?

He does, Missus Trotter answered. But there is a problem. He is one of the men who have been coming to see me in answer to your advertisement. And he will not marry me unless I give him the two thousand dollars. His name is William Wilkinson.

Jeff felt sorry for her. He said he would be glad to let her give the two thousand dollars to Mister Wilkinson, so that she could be happy. But he said he had to talk to his partner about it.

Jeff returned to his hotel and discussed it with Andy.

I was expecting something like this, Andy said. You cant trust a woman to stick with you in any plan that involves her emotions.

Jeff said it was a sad thing to think that they were the cause of the breaking of a womans heart. Andy agreed with him.

Ill tell you what I am willing to do, said Andy. Jeff, you have always been a man of a soft and generous heart. Perhaps I have been too hard and worldly and suspicious. For once, I will meet you half-way. Go to Missus Trotter. Tell her to take the two thousand dollars out of the bank and give it to this Wilkinson fellow and be happy.

Jeff shook Andys hand for a long time. Then he went back to Missus Trotter. She cried as hard for joy as she had done for sorrow.

Two days later, Jeff and Andy prepared to leave town.

Wouldnt you like to go meet Missus Trotter once before we leave? Jeff asked Andy. Shed like to express her thanks to you.

Why, I guess not, Andy said. I think we should hurry and catch the train.

Jeff was putting all the money they had received in a belt he tied around his body. Then Andy took a large amount of money out of his pocket and asked Jeff to put it together with the other money.

Whats this? Jeff asked.

Its Missus Trotters two thousand dollars, said Andy.

How do you come to have it? Jeff asked.

Missus Trotter gave it to me, Andy answered. I have been calling on her three nights a week for more than a month.

Then you are William Wilkinson? Jeff asked.

I was, Andy said.

Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. Have you ever done anything dishonest? What was that experience like? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

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QUIZ

Quiz - The Exact Science of Matrimony by O. Henry Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

For Teachers

This lesson plan, based on the CALLA Approach, teaches the learning strategy, make inferences.

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Words in This Story

publish  v. to have something you wrote included in a book, magazine, or newspaper

investigate  v. to try to get information about (someone who may have done something illegal)

reject  v. to refuse to love, care for, or give attention to (someone)

federal  adj. of or relating to the central government

inspector  n. a person whose job is to inspect something

partner  n. one of two or more people, businesses, etc., that work together or do business together


KEARNEY  Bryan Drew brings a wow factor to his biology classes.

The University of Nebraska at Kearney faculty member wants students to get excited about nature and all the potential careers they can pursue in this field.

As a botanist and ecologist, he travels the world to study plants and animals  something they can do, too.

The associate professor has led several research and field class trips since joining UNK in 2015, including a recent adventure that took Drew and a group of students to Baja California Sur. They spent 10 days in the Mexican state  part of the Baja California Peninsula  where they soaked up the sun and soaked in knowledge about the regions diverse ecosystem.

The whole idea of these trips is to expose people from Nebraska to something different  culturally different and ecologically different, Drew said. I want to open up their world and show them this is something that can be accessible.

Although Drew is a globetrotter, many of the students who sign up for his trips have never been outside the U.S. That was the case for UNK senior Charlotte Okraska of Clay Center.

An English major with a biology minor, Okraska has conducted research with Drew in the Desert Southwest, but this was a completely different experience.

Ive never left the country before, so I was really excited to get out of the States and experience not only the biological aspects of another part of the world, but also the culture, she said. It was all so new to me.

Drew, whos been to the Baja Peninsula numerous times, definitely hit all the high points.

They hiked in the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range, a UNESCO biosphere reserve thats home to numerous plant and animal species that can only be found there. With its tallest peak around 7,000 feet, the mountain range offers dramatic views of the surrounding landscape, which transitions from sandy beaches to arid desert to lush forest.

The UNK group also visited cultural sites, including a mission built in the late 1600s, and traveled to both sides of the peninsula. They snorkeled in the Gulf of California to the east, where they saw sea lions, tropical fish and other marine life, and spent time whale watching along the Pacific coastline to the west.

It was a lot of fun, said UNK junior Kaylee Gibson, a wildlife biology major from York.

Gibson had vacationed in Mexico before, but this was her first time on the Baja Peninsula. Id really like to go back, she said.

The Mexico trip was offered as a two-credit hour biology course during the January intersession, an optional three-week term that gives students a chance to take online classes or participate in internships and other experiential learning opportunities during the extended winter break.

Naturally, Drew brought plenty of books so they could identify and discuss the plants, birds, fish and insects they encountered throughout the journey.

It was so cool to walk around and actively try to learn everything, whether it was a new word in Spanish or the name of that bird sitting on top of that cactus, Okraska said.

Gibson agrees.

Honestly, anybody in any department could go and they would be able to take away something from the trip, she said. Being involved in wildlife, I feel like I took away quite a bit.

Drew made sure the students got to check out some scorpions and a tarantula  the cool stuff you wont find in Nebraska. He led a similar trip to Baja California Sur in October and plans to take another group of students to Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula next fall.

Okraska called the trips very valuable and very affordable, thanks to grant funding and department scholarships that help cover the costs.

Being able to go on this trip through UNK really took away that financial burden, she said. It was such a great experience.
" " Inheritance rights and emotional connections often drive adult adoptions. TaniaVdB/Pixabay/CC0 Creative Commons

Adult adoptions are more common than you think. In all 50 states, it's legal for two or more consenting adults to form a new parent-child relationship through adoption. In two-thirds of states, you don't even have to be older than the son or daughter you are adopting (Arizona has the most restrictive law, only allowing adult adoptions for adoptees who are between 18 and 21).

The U.S. doesn't keep tabs on how many adult adoptions occur, but in 2013 the president and CEO of the National Council for Adoption told the Houston Press, that "dozens occur annually." That's a drop in the bucket compared to the 135,000 children adopted in the U.S. each year, but the number seems to be rising.

The most common reason for adult adoption is when a stepparent wants to legally adopt a stepchild who is over 18. Randall Hicks, an adoption attorney in Southern California, says that with child adoptions, a stepparent has to get permission from the child's biological parent. That's not the case with adult adoptions.

"If the biological father refuses to sign a consent and the adopting parent doesn't want to go to court to fight about it, he can just wait until the adoptee becomes 18 when they no longer need the absent parent's consent," says Hicks.

The process for an adult adoption is much faster and cheaper than child or newborn adoptions. There's no need for home inspections or interviews by state child welfare agencies, because the adoptee is an adult who is responsible for his or her own care. All that's required in most states is a petition for adoption signed by both parties along with a stated reason for the adoption.

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Emotional Connections

Adults adopt other adults for many reasons, says Hicks, but the second most common after adult-stepparent adoptions are situations where people with no real relationship to their biological parents form a special bond with an individual or couple that's nothing less than a parent-child relationship.

One of Hicks' recent clients was a 57-year-old woman adopted by her 80-something neighbor who had become like a father to her over three decades of friendship. Parker Herring, a family law attorney in North Carolina, tells the story of a client, also in her eighties, who adopted her 60-year-old caregiver, calling her "the daughter I never had."

In both of these cases, the motivation to perform an adult adoption was primarily an emotional one. These individuals wanted to make official something that they already knew in their hearts was true. But there were also legal and financial benefits to adopting, namely that adopted children automatically inherit a deceased parent's estate with or without a will.

In the case of the elderly woman adopting her caregiver, "She wanted to make it very clear that in case anybody contested her will, this person was a legal child, and adoption gives you that assurance," says Herring. "When you're adopted, you step in as if you were born to that person."

In North Carolina, the adoptee is required to notify his or her biological parents and siblings that a petition for adoption has been filed with the court. Same for any existing children of the adoptive parents. If any of those parties objected to the adoption, they could technically show up at the courthouse and make their case, but Herring has never seen it once in her 30-plus years of practice.

In California, where Hicks practices, they don't even have to notify the rest of the family. The only people who need to consent to the adoption are spouses of either the adoptive parent or the adoptee. The outcome of an adult adoption is a state-issued decree of adoption and a new birth certificate for the adoptee, including a free name change if requested. The old birth certificate is sealed with the adoption records.

Hicks says that in family law courtrooms, adult adoptions are joyous occasions, especially for judges who spend the rest of their day presiding over ugly custody battles.

"Almost every court will waive the rule about no cameras, and the judge will even pose for pictures," says Hicks. "Some adult-stepparent adoptions have been 15 or 20 years in the making, so quite a few happy tears are shed in these proceedings."

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Adoption Fraud

Adult adoptions can get messy, though. Celebrity heiress Doris Duke famously adopted her 35-year-old friend, Chandi Gail Heffner, when the former "Richest Little Girl in the World" was 75. Duke and Heffner had a falling out in 1991 and Duke died two years later, not including Heffner in her will. But Heffner successfully sued for $65 million of Duke's fortune as her legal child.

And then there are situations where adult adoptions have been used "creatively" outside of the standard parent-child relationship. Before same-sex marriage was legalized nationally in 2015, it was explicitly banned in many states. Gay couples in those states were not considered spouses or family of any kind, which created issues around the inheritance of trusts and other death benefits.

To get around those laws, some same-sex couples chose adoption, becoming "father and son," or "mother and daughter" instead of life partners. (Some states forbid adult adoption if the couple is in a sexual relationship, citing incest laws.) Now that inheritance rights are extended to same-sex couples, that's not an issue.

Now, believe it or not, the cost of college can make people get creative with adult adoptions. The price difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at some state universities is $15,000 a year or more. Hicks says that some families are actually having their college-age children be adopted by friends and family who live in the same state as the desired university.

"To me, and in the eyes of most lawyers, that's completely fraudulent because there's no genuine parent-child relationship with the adopting parent," says Hicks. "The parent-child relationship is with their mom and dad in another state who just want to save money."

In those cases, the biological parents would presumably adopt the child back after four years. Unless, perhaps, the kid graduates with a lot of student loan debt.

Now That's Wild In Japan, 98 percent of all adoptions are adult adoptions. That's because Japanese business owners often legally adopt employees who will take over the firm. The chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation, for example, is the fourth adopted son in a row to run the multinational carmaker.
Elections

Candidates for district judge of 159th Court respond to Q&A

CHARANZA

KASSAW

There are six contested races for an elected position in Angelina County government this election cycle; among those is the race to be district judge of the 159th Court.

Incumbent Paul White announced he would not run for reelection, and local attorneys Al Charanza and Todd Kassaw filed to run for the seat with the Republican Party.

This position will be determined in the March Primary Elections because there are no Democratic candidates. Early voting for the primaries starts Feb. 14.

District courts are the trial courts for the county. They have jurisdiction over felony criminal cases and civil cases filed in the district court, including: divorce cases, cases involving land titles, election contested cases and more.

Each candidate was given the same questions and allowed 750 words to answer them. They also consented to a video interview where they delve further into issues related to the position. These can be found on lufkindailynews.com.

Q. Tell us about yourself.

A. Charanza: I am Al Charanza and have been practicing law for 29 years. I have served as a prosecutor, defense attorney and civil attorney. In 1987, I graduated from the University of Texas in Austin and in 1992 I graduated from South Texas College of Law. I served four years on active duty as a Marine Corps Judge Advocate before moving to Lufkin in 1996. I was an Associate Attorney with Fenley & Bate before serving as an Assistant District Attorney for Angelina County. In 2003, I opened my private practice as Charanza Law Office; primarily providing representation in criminal defense and appeals in state and federal courts. I have been a trial attorney involved in over 6,000 criminal cases in Angelina County alone. I have tried over 100 jury trials during my career. I became Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law in 2005 and Criminal Appellate Law in 2011.

I have served our community and country. I served in the Marine Corps Reserve for 21 years and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. During my military service, I served as a Judge Advocate, Intelligence Officer, Personnel Officer, trainer of prosecutors, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for a Commanding General, and an instructor at the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island in trial advocacy. I have also taught at Angelina College in the Police Academy and Paralegal Program.

I have served our local community as a volunteer attorney for the Reentry Drug Court for 14 years and represented numerous mental health clients. Currently, I am active in the Marine Corps League Detachment #1362, AirFest, Toys for Tots, American Legion Post #113, and First United Methodist Church. I am a graduate of Leadership Lufkin, a life member of the Leadership Lufkin Alumni, and a member of the Angelina County Chamber of Commerce.

A. Kassaw: My name is Todd Kassaw, and I want to be your next 159th District Judge. I have lived and worked in Angelina County for the last 31 years. I have been married to Kim Kassaw for 33 years, and we have two children, Katie Kassaw and Tanner Kassaw. Kim is the Executive Director of Special Services for Lufkin ISD. Katie is the Special Ed. Counselor at Lufkin High School. Tanner is married to Madison Berry Kassaw. He works at the West Fraser Lumber Plant, and his wife, Madison, is a teacher at Trout Elementary. We are all active members at Harmony Hill Baptist Church.

I am a 1987 graduate of Texas A&M University and was a member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets while a student. I graduated in the top 25% of my class from South Texas College of Law. In law school, I was invited to join the South Texas Law Review because of my high-grade point average. I was elected to the Order of the Lytae, which is an academic honor society at South Texas College of Law.

Upon graduation from law school, I joined the Zeleskey Law Firm in 1990. Although the name of the building has changed, I have continued to represent my clients in civil litigation for the last 31 years. I became Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law in 1995, by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. I am a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, which is an invitation-only organization of trial lawyers nationwide. I have represented businesses and individuals in cases all over the State of Texas.

Q. Why did you choose to run for this position?

A. Charanza: My experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney and civil attorney has prepared me to serve as a District judge as the next step in my career. I want to bring my experience, knowledge of the law, and skills to the bench. Approximately 70% of the cases in the District Courts are criminal cases. I believe I am the best qualified person to oversee the cases in the 159th District Court. My plan is to continue my service to Angelina County as a hardworking, knowledgeable judge, who runs an efficient and responsive court.

A. Kassaw: The short answer is one word  service. I decided to run for this position so that I can serve this county not just as a volunteer and community leader, but as my career. I have a long history of service to the county as a volunteer. I have been Chairman of the Angelina County Youth Fair for the last 28 years. I was working with 4-H and FFA exhibitors before my children were born, while they were participating, and have continued to do that now that they are grown.

I am an active member of the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce, having served on the Board of Directors for several years, and as Chairman of the Chamber Board in 2009. In 2004, I was honored to receive the Butch McMullen Silver Spike Award for Outstanding Community Service. Over the years, I have served on the board of the Angelina County Expo Center, Texas Forestry Museum, Angelina Youth Foundation, United Way Budget Committee, and past President of the Angelina County Bar Association. I am also currently serving as Chairman of the Lufkin Civil Service Commission.

We should all strive to serve others, and I believe that I am called to serve Angelina County as the next 159th District Judge. I intend to bring this same sense of honor, integrity and selfless service as your next District Judge.

Q. What is the biggest issue facing Angelina County? And how do you propose to fix it?

A. Charanza: Angelina County is facing a backlog of civil and criminal cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have had an 18-month delay in jury trials which are necessary to resolve cases. The jail is full of persons who want jury trials. There are plaintiffs who have claims that need a jury to settle their dispute.

When allowed by the Office of Court Administration, multiple juries could be selected each month on jury selection days until the backlog is resolved. Civil and criminal cases should be going to trial within one year of filing unless the case is settled or dismissed.

We have also seen a rise in violent crime. Public safety is at risk. Persons are being harmed by violence and shootings including murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault, and robbery. There has been a moral breakdown of respecting the life and property of others. If the accused person is not in jail and facing a crime of violence, then bond conditions should be ordered to ensure public safety.

I plan to provide timely hearings on pretrial matters, and immediately make decisions, so any disputes will be resolved before trial. Decisions will be made based on the facts of the case and the applicable law without bias or prejudice. I will encourage mediation, if necessary, to resolve cases. I will be an accessible judge who makes timely decisions, provides direct and clear court orders, and enforces those orders.

It is my goal to provide just, fair, equitable and impartial decisions based on the laws of Texas and following the constitutions of Texas and the United States. Cases will be moved as quickly as practical and at the least expense to those involved. Court rules will be applied to ensure that, as far as reasonably possible, all matters are brought to trial or final disposition at the earliest possible date. Delaying cases cost the people of Angelina County more time and money; which is not fair or just.

Doing justice includes holding the person or party accountable AND addressing the problem causing them to be involved in the criminal justice system.

A. Kassaw: The biggest issue as it relates to the District Court is the backlog of cases. Unfortunately, Covid has created a situation where cases have been backed up over the last two years. I believe that we can eliminate the backlog with hard work and pushing the cases to trial or resolution. The mere fact that cases are going to trial will cause other matters to settle or resolve as well.

I also want to make sure that the repeat offenders do not simply go back out on the street to commit another crime. Although I must follow the law, I do not like the idea of someone getting arrested 24 times and going right back out to commit more crimes. I am well versed in the Rules of Evidence, which are the same for both civil and criminal cases. I absolutely have the experience and education to handle all cases in this court.

I should point out with respect to the backlog of cases, my opponent has represented hundreds of these criminal defendants. This conflict would prevent him from serving as Judge on those cases. All those cases would have to be moved to the other District Court, which would create an entirely new backlog on top of what the county is currently facing. It is with Honor, Integrity, and Selfless Service, that I humbly seek this position. I would be grateful for your vote for 159th District Judge in the Republican Primary.
Guests were displaced but no one was injured in a large fire at a Green Lake County inn late Thursday night, the Sheriff's Office said.

A total of 10 different fire departments assisted with the major fire, which is now under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation. Authorities did not say whether they suspect the fire was intentional or accidental.

Firefighters responded to a report of a structure fire at the Dartford Inn, N6264 N Lawson Drive, in the town of Brooklyn shortly after 11:40 p.m., according to the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Crews arrived to find visible flames, a lot of smoke and a large portion of the building involved in the fire, the Sheriff's Office said. Firefighters were on scene for roughly eight hours.

All of the building occupants had evacuated prior to emergency crews responding, the Sheriff's Office said. With assistance from the Red Cross, law enforcement relocated the displaced guests.

The Sheriff's Office did not say what caused the fire, nor how much damage there was to the building. The Sheriff's Office and the Department of Justice are investigating.

The Green Lake/Brooklyn Fire Department was assisted on scene by fire departments from Berlin, Ripon, Markesan, Princeton, Brandon/Fairwater, Montello, Poy Sippi, Redgranite and Omro.

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A Madison man pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge for the shooting death of his sister on Christmas Eve 2019 at her West Side home, but as part of an agreement with prosecutors, he was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

Joseph G. Green, 59, who was originally charged with first-degree intentional homicide for shooting his sister, Sheila Green, 63, multiple times at her South Midvale Boulevard home, pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional homicide. Dane County Circuit Judge Julie Genovese will decide on Feb. 28 how long his commitment to the state Department of Health Services will last, among other issues.

Feb. 28 was to be the first day of a scheduled weeklong trial for Green, which is now canceled. Fridays court date was to be a motion hearing in preparation for the trial, but Greens lawyers, assistant public defenders Laura Breun and Colleen Taylor, came to an agreement with Assistant District Attorney Dan Hess.

Mental health issues have been key in Greens case from the start. Green was found incompetent to assist in his defense in February 2020, though he maintained that he was competent. He was ordered to receive treatment to restore him to competency, and a judges order that compelled Green to take medications involuntarily launched a legal dispute over whether the court had the authority to make such an order without the requisite justification.

Green was deemed competent again in December 2020, and again in June.

At the competency hearing in February 2020, a forensic psychiatrist testified that Green believed he was charged with homicide because of a conspiracy by members of his family to silence accusations he made about them. Green told Dr. Craig Schoenecker that he had been misdiagnosed in the past as schizophrenic.

Green was charged with homicide on Dec. 27, 2019. A criminal complaint states a man believed to be Green called 911 and told a dispatcher his sister needed medical help. He was also seen on a security video outside his apartment building on Sawyer Terrace putting an object into an outdoor trash bin that turned out to be a holstered gun. Ammunition in the gun matched spent shells found at the scene of the shooting, the complaint states.

Hess said Friday that Greens mental illness, which was not specified in court, is connected to the prosecutions decision to amend the homicide charge from first- to second-degree intentional homicide.

Under second-degree intentional homicide, Green agreed that he shot his sister but had the subjective belief, which a reasonable person would not have, that there was a mitigating reason he had to act against his sister. By agreeing to second-degree intentional homicide, Hess said, prosecutors admit they cannot show that Green did not have that subjective belief, which would have been required for a first-degree intentional homicide conviction.

By state law, when Genovese decides the disposition of the case later this month, she can order Green to remain under the supervision of the state Department of Health Services for up to 40 years. Based on the recommendations of a pre-disposition report, which will be completed by DHS, Genovese will also decide whether Green will be initially placed in a state mental institution or supervised in the community, and whether he will be required to continue taking medications.

According to her obituary, Sheila Green was a board-certified ultrasound technician and had worked at St. Marys Hospital for nearly 40 years. Originally from Maryland, she lived her teen and adult years in Madison, her obituary states, and was a 1974 graduate of West High School.

Joseph Green was the only one of her three living siblings who lived in Madison.

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In August, several members of the western Wisconsin community of Holmen were escorted out of a School Board meeting for failing to comply with the districts mask requirement. Now two of them who spoke out against COVID mitigation policies are seeking election to the School Board in April.

About 17 miles north of Milwaukee, in the Mequon-Thiensville School District, at least one candidate seeking election to the board ahead of the February primary led a recall effort  driven by frustration with COVID mitigation policies  which was ultimately struck down in November. Two of the four board members targeted in the recall, who are up for re-election, decided against running to retain their seats.

In Dane County, the Mount Horeb School Board contest has drawn 11 candidates in the Feb. 15 primary for three seats with some candidates highlighting hot-button political issues.

Equality is extremely important to me, but creating a racial divide is not. I dont feel divisive curriculum should be in our schools, candidate Jeff Shields wrote on his Facebook campaign page, where he emphasizes that his motto is KIDS instead of POLITICS.

Across the state candidates focused on political platforms and single issues have signed up for this Aprils nonpartisan school board races ahead of the November midterm elections.

Were certainly seeing the nationalization of school board races here in Wisconsin and across the country, UW-Oshkosh associate professor of public administration Michael Ford said. Youre seeing a heck of a lot of talk about things like vaccine mandates, critical race theory, things that are actually pretty disconnected from the reality of being a school board member.

That theme was on display at a Parent Empowerment rally in Richfield on Saturday attended by school board hopefuls from across the state, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, of Oshkosh, and Frank McCormick, a former educator from Illinois.

McCormick echoed other speakers at the event in railing against COVID-19 mask mandates and declaring that public schools are indoctrinating students with Critical Race Theory, an academic framework that focuses on racism embedded in the nations laws and institutions and isnt taught in any of Wisconsins K-12 schools.

School board elections have now become the most important elections in our lives, he said. Because were talking about who controls the future  children.

Potential for obstructionism

While more civic engagement is always welcome, politicizing such historically nonpartisan races threatens to make governing more difficult, Ford said.

The worry is obstructionism, he said. You have a one-issue candidate or, more importantly, if you have a few candidates who are just hellbent on conflict, you really start to mess with the group dynamic of a governing board and grind the process to a halt. Thats the real fear.

Recent efforts that have gummed up the workings of government, Ford said, include more than a dozen school board recall elections, launched in response to COVID mitigation policies, that took place across the state since the pandemic began. A parent group in Oshkosh that was vocal about the school districts mask policies had a few candidates throw their name into the hat to seek seats on the School Board.

Just about every major school district in the state has at least one candidate who is running on an issue like critical race theory, and if you had gone pre-COVID-19 that was not a thing. That was never an issue anybody had talked about, he said.

Its more of a frustration that some folks have with state and federal government and their inability to gain traction at the state and federal level has brought some of these more social issues to the surface at the local level.

Airing grievances, building candidates

School board races appear to have become a platform used to air grievances about life during the pandemic, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said. Concerns about public health mandates, masks, school closures, possible vaccine requirements and the specter of Critical Race Theory are being echoed by conservatives nationwide and will bubble up in the November midterm election, he said.

School boards are a place where politicians often get their start, he said, citing Michele Bachmann, a school board candidate from Minnesota who was elected to state and then federal office before seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

It can be a breeding ground to create a fealty of candidates and it looks like right now the Republican Party is making better use of that, to create a pipeline of people who might seek higher office, Burden said.

He said some of the people seeking public office in Wisconsin are dissatisfied with President Joe Biden and Gov. Tony Evers and motivated to enter the race by issues such as COVID mitigation policies and equity initiatives in K-12 curriculum.

Its anger more than enthusiasm, and the people who theyre angry at are the incumbents, he said.

In solidly Democratic Madison theres markedly less enthusiasm for running for School Board than in other parts of the state. Of the three seats up for election this year, only one is contested after two incumbents opted not to run again.

Madison School Board President Ali Muldrow, who is up for reelection but is running unopposed, said interest in serving on the board, or any local office, is like the swing of a pendulum based on the political climate. The district hasnt faced much public outcry over its COVID mitigation or equity policies.

Madison is a really progressive city. ... And I do think progressives are tired, she said. Voter engagement is going to matter a lot, and I do think Republicans in more purple parts of the state are going to work really hard this year to establish contrast campaigns.

Money and influence

Johnson, who is up for reelection in November and spoke at Saturdays rally, had previously appealed to the public during an August event in Kenosha to get conservatives on the ballot in every race, including local, typically nonpartisan elections. He urged Republicans to take up the grassroots approach to build enthusiasm ahead of statewide races.

The reason were seeing our children being indoctrinated, the reason things like Critical Race Theory  whether they call it that or not  are being taught in our schools is because conservatives have focused largely on the federal government, he said Saturday. They took their eye off the ball of local elections. We cant do that anymore.

Rebecca PAC, a committee former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch launched in 2020 to support Republican legislative candidates, donated at least $6,400 to school board candidates in 2021  including $1,000 to Rob Abraham, the La Crosse assistant police chief who won his bid for the La Crosse School Board in April.

Abraham also received $1,200 from the La Crosse County Republican Party to support his bid for the seat, during a time when the La Crosse School District and board were struggling with the decision about whether to have police stationed in public schools.

For me thats concerning for at least two reasons, political parties are getting openly involved in nonpartisan races and a political PAC from across the state is throwing money into a local nonpartisan race in La Crosse  that sends some red flags, said Brad Quarberg, vice president of the La Crosse School Board. We need candidates who care enough about kids to put their partisan biases aside.

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GARY, Ind.  A man who sparked a winter storm SWAT standoff in Northwest Indiana was wanted for charges of sexual assault against a child and has had a previous conviction for child abuse, according to court records.

Juandiego Cisco Alvarez, 36, was arrested Wednesday and transported to Lake County, Indiana, Jail, said Gary Police Department Cmdr. Jack Hamady.

Alvarez has been wanted by authorities since May 2019 when an arrest warrant was issued with Fond du Lac County Criminal Court in Wisconsin.

The arrest warrant is for charges filed in April 2019 for one count of sexual assault and one count of serious sexual assault of a child, according to the Fond du Lac County Clerk's Office.

In 2015, Alvarez was convicted of child abuse causing great bodily harm in Fond du Lac County. Alvarez has not yet been extradited to Wisconsin, officials from Fond du Lac County Jail said.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, authorities arrested Alvarez, said Hamady. Gary police and Lake County Sheriff's SWAT members set up a perimeter in the 2600 block of West Ridge Road.

Police used tear gas in the building and were able to contain the man in a room as officers entered, Hamady said. He then surrendered to police and he was taken to Lake County Jail.

The incident began at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when police responded to a report of a family dispute in the area, Hamady said. The man left the residence where the alleged dispute was reported and officers located him on foot on West Ridge Road.

However, the man ran inside of a towing garage nearby, refusing to come out, Hamady said. He said police were told he was armed with a firearm, and he was believed to be alone inside the building.

Lake County Sheriff's SWAT team was called to assist Gary officers. A drone and a Lake County armored rescue vehicle were at the scene, said Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr.

SWAT members tried to negotiate with the man on the phone, but he remained inside the building and refused to cooperate with police for hours, Hamady said.

No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported. Police spent hours in the frigid snowstorm.

Additional courts information for Alvarez in the Lake County Prosecutor's Office was not immediately available Friday.
In 1973, the Arab oil embargo had Americans lining up to buy gas, and I was starting first grade outside the United States due to my dads job.

My new friends admired America because it fought tyranny abroad and promised opportunity here at home. I learned about Americas enemies while playing in an Austrian field under the gaze of soldiers on the other side of the Iron Curtain. To the east, Vladimir Putin had just joined the Soviet Unions KGB, and Xi Jinping had been admitted to the Chinese Communist Party on his 10th attempt.

As an adult, thanks to the blessings of liberty, I went into business, helping to start a software company in Atlanta. Then I happily moved to Milwaukee to join Wisconsins greatest tech success, Fiserv. In 17 years there, I got to build and run businesses, including new ventures in Latin America and Asia  where, again, I felt the uniqueness of being American.

The problem with Americas faltering global image isnt merely one of likability. When America is in turmoil, the world is increasingly dangerous. In addition to opposing U.S. interests and helping other autocrats, Putin (now president of Russia) and Xi (now president of China) find common ground in sowing discord inside America. It is not without their help that American politics have become so tribal, extreme and given to conspiracy theories.

Wisconsin is shaping up to be ground zero of extreme partisanship this year. Over $100 million will likely be spent on dividing us between conspiracy theorist U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, and a Democrat slate of challengers the Wall Street Journal describes as lining up on the left of Joe Biden.

All but the most ardent of Wisconsin Democrats are skeptical of the socialist trends in Washington. This is a fiscally conservative state whose people have the second-highest credit scores in the entire country. Most of us know that the Build Back Better bill is loaded with wasteful spending. It would cost much more than advertised, centralize more power in Washington, and create new and unaccountable bureaucracies.

Most of us believe in local control of public schools. We are proud of American history and our progress in building an ever more perfect union. While most of us take climate seriously, we dont like subsidizing electric cars for the wealthy or asking the Saudis to pump more oil after weve plugged American wells and killed pipelines. We think defunding police departments is a terrible idea.

Unfortunately, rather than effectively countering the left, Johnson is now best known for perpetuating COVID quackery and false claims about our elections. This should be very troubling to all of us, including  perhaps especially  my fellow Republicans. Even his long-time supporters know his electability is hurt by the fantastical things he has said.

Deeper than that, Johnsons actions to undermine trust in our electoral and medical systems is anti-conservative and ethically wrong. Conservatives are often skeptical, but they fundamentally believe in the integrity of institutions that have been built up over long periods of time, through the rule of law and our system of checks and balances.

Conservatives believe in personal responsibility. But it is the height of irresponsibility to cultivate votes from the conspiracy-prone and grow their numbers. Americas enemies love to see us fall for conspiracy theories, whether they are about vaccines, elections, social justice or anything else.

Wisconsin is not naturally a state of extremes, but that is the choice that is shaping up for our Senate race in November. The ways to get a better option would be through a conservative third party or a Republican challenge to Johnson. My guess  and hope  is that a quiet majority of non cult-of-personality conservatives can lead a coalition of independents and centrist Democrats into a movement of substance, perhaps within the GOP.

This strategy won the governorship for Republicans in Virginia last year and almost did the same in New Jersey. Without a shift of this nature, America will not move beyond acrimonious stalemates on issues such as public safety, health care, immigration, climate and the economy.

Wisconsin can embrace rational, effective conservatism and help lead the way.

Irwin, of Elm Grove, is a business executive.
BUHL  Farmers had mixed reactions during the first Idaho hemp producers meeting on Friday.

Although many people are interested in growing the new crop, there were concerns about the number of steps the Idaho State Department of Agriculture requires to get a license.

I know you may want to beat up on the state of Idaho, but take it up further, said Morgan Tweet, co-founder of Montana-based company IND Hemp. Its the USDA that really has these strenuous rules.

More than 70 people attended the meeting on Friday, held at 1,000 Springs Mill in Buhl.

Speakers included local farmer Tim Cornie, Idaho State Department of Agriculture representative Casey Monn and Hempitecture Founder Mattie Mead.

Tweet and Ben Brimlow, IND Hemp agronomist, spoke about how their business has grown since the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the controlled substances list.

IND Hemp takes the raw hemp grain, cleans it and processes it into usable commodities like hemp seed oil and hemp hearts.

I tell people what we work with is the Thomas Jefferson hemp, there is the Bob Marley hemp out there, that has its place, but we are Thomas Jefferson hemp, Brimlow said to laughter.

Hemp has a stigma because of its connection to marijuana. The plants are both part of the same species, however, hemp contains less THC.

Idaho State Police Specialist Rick Stouse said legislatures have decided hemp is a legitimate crop, such as soybeans and potatoes, and thats how law enforcement will treat it.

Everyone thinks Some high schooler is going to come into my field and roll up a joint, thats not going to happen, Tweet said.

She encouraged farmers in attendance to be advocates for the new crop and dispel misconceptions. Part of her work involves speaking with legislators and policymakers to change how the crop is managed.

If youre growing a fiber crop, and you dont even have a flower to harvest, why are you having to be regulated and managed the same as crops that are growing the flower? she said.

Industrial hemp is grown for its fiber and seeds. THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis is found in the flower, not the seeds or stalks, she said.

Industrial hemp fiber can be used for a wide variety of products including textiles, clothing, building materials and paper. Hemp seeds are rich in protein, fiber, and healthy fatty acids including omega-3s and omega-6s, said Cornie, who is the co-owner of 1,000 Springs Mill.

We have been lobbying for three years to get where we are today, Cornie said.

His company makes organic, non-GMO foods and he is eager to add hemp products to the list. He already applied for his growers license with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture.

He doesnt believe that the rules should dissuade anyone from growing the crop.

We are no different than any other state, he said.

To get a license or handling license, applicants need to submit a background check, along with maps, and information about their farm or handling facility.

Individuals are ineligible to receive a license if the applicant is under 18 or if they have been convicted of a felony relating to a controlled substance in the past 10 years. A full list of eligibility rules can be found on the Idaho Department of Agriculture website under the State Hemp Plan document.

Casey Monn, Idaho State Department of Agriculture ag bureau chief for the Bureau of Food Safety, Hemp and Hops, said there are a few common errors the department is noticing on applications.

Incomplete maps, background checks done out of the state, not listing growing locations or incorrect GPS coordinates, are all reasons why an application could be denied, he said.

The application is $100, for both producers and handlers. The annual license costs $500 for growers and $1,000 for handlers.

Handlers, who will be able to process industrial hemp into commodities or products, are the limiting factor in terms of growth, Tweet said.

Hemp has had a little bit of a slow start here in the U.S. because there are very few facilities who can do that first processing step, she said. There are a lot of people interested in growing it, a lot of people interested in consuming it and using it, but theres not a lot of people converting it from a raw material to a usable ingredient.

Hempitecture is one of the businesses that wants to use processed hemp to create HempWool, a thermal insulation. The company is building a manufacturing center in Jerome that should be completed sometime this year.

Mead, the companys founder and CEO, said HempWool is safe to touch, sustainable and 92% plant-based. It also captures carbon dioxide, making it more environmentally friendly than other alternatives.

Tweet said there was one thing she hoped everyone learned on Friday.

The one take-home you get out of here today, for those of you who are new to industrial hemp, is the fear and maybe the stereotype you came in here with today is gone.

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BOISE  Idaho inmate Gerald Pizzutos death sentence was reduced to life in prison by a state district court judge Friday  a ruling with far-reaching implications for the state after the judge found the governor has no power to reject a clemency recommendation in murder cases under the Idaho Constitution.

Judge Jay Gaskill, of Nez Perce County, ruled that the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole is the only body with the authority to commute an inmates sentence stemming from a murder conviction. The governor, meanwhile, possesses final say on cases of treason and impeachment.

Gaskill referred to the creation of the states commutation process in the 1980s and concluded that theres no indication the governor should have been granted such overarching power.

There is no indication that the founders or the people of the state of Idaho in 1986 intended to give the governor the ultimate decision-making authority with respect to whether a death sentence should be commuted, Gaskill wrote. This court finds that the commissions power to issue commutations applies to all cases of offenses against the state except treason or conviction on impeachment.

Under the action, the death sentence of Pizzuto, 65, who is terminally ill with late-stage bladder cancer, was dropped to life in prison without the chance of parole. Gaskills ruling prevents the state from issuing a death warrant to execute Pizzuto, who has been on Idaho death row since 1986.

The Federal Defender Services of Idaho, the nonprofit that represents Pizzuto, applauded Gaskills decision.

We are grateful that the court upheld the just and merciful decision by the parole commission to let Jerry Pizzuto die in prison, Deborah Czuba, supervising attorney of the nonprofits unit that oversees death penalty cases, said in a written statement. As the court recognized, the Idaho Constitution wisely leaves commutation decisions to the commissioners, who the governor appoints based on their judgment and expertise in such matters. The people of Idaho have not given the governor the power to interfere in the commutation process, and as the court found he acted illegally here.

We hope the state will now do the right thing and finally allow a dying man to pass away of natural causes in prison, rather than continuing to fight for an unnecessary execution through costly litigation at taxpayer expense, Czuba added.

Gov. Little responds, plans to appeal court decision

Gov. Brad Littles office said in a written statement that he will challenge the ruling in court. In December, the Republican governor denied the parole boards recommendation in a 4-3 vote to reduce Pizzutos sentence to life in prison.

One judge agreed with the federal defender that Idaho code violated the (Idaho) Constitution, the written statement reads. Gov. Little has followed the constitution and Idaho code as written. Gov. Little will challenge this ruling because the state must have the ability to carry out the death penalty as ordered by the court in this case. Pizzuto was convicted of rape, robbery and four brutally gruesome murders. This matter is now left for a higher court to ultimately decide.

LaMont Anderson, chief of the capital litigation unit at the Idaho attorney generals office, argued on behalf of the state in a Jan. 20 virtual hearing held in Gaskills court in opposition to the claim that the governor lacks the authority to approve or deny clemency decisions. Anderson also represented the state in another losing effort during Pizzutos Nov. 30 clemency hearing  just the second in Idaho for a death row inmate since 1976.

After an all-day clemency hearing and another day of closed-door deliberations for the parole board, the seven-member commission released its decision a month later on Dec. 30 recommending Pizzuto be allowed to die of natural causes in prison. The governor rejected it the same day.

The attorney generals office declined to comment through spokesperson Scott Graf.

The Idaho Department of Correction, and Commission of Pardons and Parole, each declined to comment on the ruling through spokesperson Jeff Ray.

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TWIN FALLS  Former mayor and longtime council member Greg Lanting has announced he will seek a seat in the Idaho House of Representatives. A Republican, Lanting retired in January from 16 years serving on the Twin Falls City Council.

Lanting grew up on a farm and ranch south of Twin Falls, and said his family had long been involved in politics. After retiring from the Twin Falls City Council, he was inspired to run for an open seat after Rep. Linda Wright Hartgen announced she would be leaving the House to run for an open seat in the Idaho Senate.

He will run for seat B in district 25 after redistricting changes go into effect.

Calling himself as a common sense conservative, Lanting said he would seek to conduct the business of the State without additional theatrics.

Im not the type of person whos going to introduce bills just to get my name in the paper, Lanting said. Im going to be up there just trying to just do things right.

Prior to his career with the City Council, Lanting was a teacher for 16 years and principal for 17 years, experience which he said would give him insights in to one of the Legislatures main concerns. Over half the Idaho budget goes to education.

One thing Lanting said he would like to do is increase education budgeting, which he said would lower property taxes at the same time.

If we could lower that percentage (of override levies) we could get the bonus of keeping quality education and maybe even improving it, and lowering property taxes at the same time when we could use the huge state surplus to do that, Lanting said.

The filing period for candidates seeking to appear on primary election ballots is Feb. 28, to March 11. The primary election is on May 17.

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BOISE  A panel of Idaho lawmakers is recommending the Legislature ask Congress to fix a legal loophole that has some calling a portion of Yellowstone National Park the Zone of Death, where crimes could arguably go unprosecuted.

The vast majority of the 3,471-square-mile (8,990-square-kilometer) park sits in Wyoming, but about 3% of it stretches into Montana and 1% of the park is in eastern Idaho. When Congress created the park in 1872, the federal court in the District of Wyoming was given jurisdiction over the crimes committed within park borders.

Boise Democratic Rep. Colin Nash, an attorney, told the House Judiciary and Rules Committee on Thursday that he first learned about the zone of death in law school. The phrase refers to a legal theory advanced by Michigan State Law professor Brian Kalt in 2005, which says a jurisdictional loophole could force the federal government to dismiss charges against anyone accused of committing a federal crime in the Idaho portion of the park.

In an academic paper titled The Perfect Crime, Kalt noted the Sixth Amendment says that people charged with crimes have a right to be tried by a jury of their peers, selected from the state and region where the crime took place.

Thats a problem for Yellowstone, because the only beings living in Idahos roughly 50-square-mile portion of Yellowstone are grizzly bears, elk and other wildlife  and they arent eligible for jury duty. Kalt theorized that someone who committed a murder in Idahos portion of Yellowstone could get away with it, since the federal government would be unable to seat a constitutionally sound jury.

Nash is sponsoring a joint memorial to formally ask Congress to close the loophole.

No crimes have been committed, that Im aware of, and gone unprosecuted, Nash told the committee. But every time theres a high-profile disappearance in this area, I think about this  and there were two last year.

During the months-long search for 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and her little brother, 7-year-old JJ Vallow, law enforcement authorities said theyd obtained video and photo evidence that the children had entered Yellowstone National Park with their mother Lori Vallow Daybell, but no evidence was found showing Tylee ever left the park. The bodies of both children were later found buried in the back yard of an eastern Idaho home owned by their mothers new husband, Chad Daybell. Lori and Chad Daybell were subsequently charged with several crimes in Idaho state court.

When 22-year-old Gabby Petito disappeared last year shortly after calling her family from Grand Teton National Park  which borders Yellowstone  theories about the zone of death again came to the fore. Petitos body was found in the Wyoming portion of the park, and authorities pinned the blame on her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, who was later found dead in a Florida swamp.

Congress could change the law to make the Idaho and Montana portions of Yellowstone subject to the jurisdictions of the District of Idaho and the District of Montana. Nashs memorial would urge Congress to do just that, at least for Idaho.

Nash acknowledged that its not clear if Congress will actually do anything, since its long been a known issue.

We can try our darnedest, he told the committee, prompting some rueful laughter in the room.

The committee agreed on a voice vote to recommend that the full House of Representatives approve the resolution.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Education leaders in Idaho and around the country should trust parents, not treat them with dismissiveness or anger when theyre passionate about their childs school environment.

Too many parents experience of education today is one of stress or economic hardship. In recent months, we have seen how school meetings have become political flashpoints, as families show their frustration over school closures and the problems theyve caused for parents and students alike. The answer lies in respecting parents, and we can do this by shifting education to a model that empowers and trusts families to make the best school choices for them.

The organization I head, the Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families, represents parents and guardians of the approximately 3,200 students attending Idahos 16 public charter schools. Every week I work with moms and dads who are passionate and emotionally invested in their childrens education. In the charter model, these families have found a school choice that respects their involvement in and feedback about their childs education and thats something all school sectors can learn from.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, public charter schools originated more than three decades ago, and are currently authorized in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Charters receive public funding, but have more flexibility than traditional public schools. In exchange, the organization that charters a schoolwhich could be a group of parents, a university, or a school boardholds the institution accountable for its outcomes.

During the pandemic, Idaho charter schools rose up to provide solutions for the education crisis, consistent with our student-driven mission. We worked to enroll more students, while still keeping family advising and teaching quality at high levels. Some online charter schools even exceeded outdated and constrictive enrollment caps imposed by the state, choosing to violate an arbitrary rule rather than to turn down desperate families who had no other viable options while traditional schools remained closed.

Our successful response to COVID-19 flowed from the fact that, as charter institutions, we trust parents and seek to be always tuned in to their needs. Indeed, we depend on parents for survivalif enough parents didnt choose us, we would no longer exist.

Parents are kids first educators; they care personally and passionately about their childs future. Through my work in charter education, I know that the charter model is built on trusting parents and bringing value to our families. I also believe that parents who take the time to make a choice on behalf of their studentsno matter what that choice may bemotivate the educational system to improve, to the benefit of us all.

Besides charter schools, Idaho families school choices currently include public school open enrollment, public magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling.

The more that parents, as opposed to bureaucrats, make the decision about where their child learns, the better off Idaho children will be.

Indeed, the heated discussions nationwide and the witness of families I work with here in Idaho show that parents are wanting more flexibility and trust from the educators they partner with. We can offer this. We could give families more realistic enrollment caps, more equitable funding of public charter schools, and more scholarship opportunities for at-risk kids who need non-public options to thrive.

This School Choice Week (Jan. 23-29) celebrates the power of engaged learning. We should trust parents, the people most passionate about their childrens education, by giving them clear information about their choices, so they can pick the best environment for their students. I encourage you to use this Week to learn about charter schools and all opportunities in Idaho, so that together we can work toward an education future where every parent has access to and knowledge about school choice.

Tom LeClaire is President of the Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families.

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Ocala, Fla.Love lingers in the air during February. But unlike the candy and flowers many people exchange on Feb. 14, love is not always so sweet.

Too often, especially for young people, relationships can be marred by some noxious factors. Studies show that about one of three teenagers experience some form of dating violence.

To help adults spot the signs and symptoms of a youths unhealthy romantic relationship, the Florida Department of Health in Marion County is sponsoring a free Teen Dating Violence workshop and dinner. The event is scheduled from 5:308 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Webber Center at the College of Central Florida, 3001 S.W. College Rd. in Ocala.

Dinner will be served, and giveaways will be provided.

The workshop is open to adults and youth age 12 or older. The presentations will seek to inform participants about the signs, risks, and consequences of dating violence, as well as how to set boundaries and priorities, and where to find help, if needed. To register for the workshop or learn more about it, call the Department of Health at 352-644-2687.

The keynote speaker will be Ashley Bendiksen, a noted violence-prevention educator, author, and activist on social issues facing teenagers and young adults.

Bendiksen also is a survivor of an abusive dating relationshipone that forced her to drop out of college and left her homeless. Seven years after she fled college and her abuser, Bendiksen graduated as valedictorian of the class of 2013 at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island.

Teens and young adults face unhealthy abusive dating relationships at higher rates than any other demographic, Bendiksen said. Its an extremely vulnerable time, and unhealthy relationships are extremely common.

My story shows students that no matter what challenge theyre facing, they can overcome adversity and achieve success, she added.

The American Psychological Association reports that roughly one in three American teens between 14 and 20 have been victims of dating violence, while nearly one in three admit theyve been the perpetrator of such acts.

Teen dating violence can involve physical and sexual abuse, as well as stalking and psychological aggression, which includes actions such as yelling, insults, name-calling and being controlling.

The workshop is sponsored by the Department of Healths BRAZEN team, whose mission is to educate young people on risk avoidance.
Averett honors

Several local residents have earned academic honors at Averett University for the fall semester. Students named to the Presidents List have a grade point average of 4.0, and those named to the Deans List have a gpa of 3.4 or above.

Evelyn Balderrama of Henry County and Tracy Walker of Martinsville have been named to the Presidents List.

Jamie Lynskey, Jenifer Silva and Jessica Beam of Henry County have been named to the Deans List.

JMU honors

Several local residents have been recognized for academic achievement at James Madison University by being named to the Presidents List:

Rya Hall of Fieldale, who is majoring in elementary education.

Caroline Cook of Martinsville, who is majoring in communication sciences & disorders.

Guadalupe Rivera of Martinsville, who is majoring in elementary education.

Olivia Cooper of Martinsville, who is majoring in health services administration.

Mary Gilbert of Martinsville, who is majoring in nursing.

Honor roll

Fourth-grader Bryson Penn was named to the honor roll at Patrick Henry Elementary School, the school announced after the honor rolls were published.

P&HCC Scholars

The Patrick & Henry Community College Foundation is now accepting applications for the Patrick & Henry Scholars and Commonwealth Legacy scholarship, which is awarded to up to 10 local high school students each year. The scholarship covers tuition, textbook, and fees for up to two academic years.

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must have a high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale. They must be graduates from an area high school or have completed a homeschool program of study. Scholars are chosen for their superior academic achievement, civic involvement and leadership potential. Graduates of homeschool programs must at least 17 years old at the time of the application and must reside in the P&HCC service region.

Once accepted, Patrick & Henry Scholars must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and be full-time students (enrolled in at least 12 credit hours) at P&HCC. They also will be expected to participate in two extracurricular activities per semester and accrue 10 volunteer service hours each semester.

To apply, students can go to www.patrickhenry.edu/scholarships.

Students who apply for the Patrick & Henry Scholars award will automatically be considered for the Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship. One outstanding student from each community college in Virginia is selected to receive this award which was created by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. The funds from this scholarship can be used for tuition, textbooks, and fees. Eligible students are full time, associate degree-seeking students attending college for the first time. As a merit-based scholarship, it will be awarded to a student who has demonstrated academic excellence and a commitment to develop leadership skills.

These scholarships are highly competitive, and the guidelines are rigorous, says Tiffani Underwood, Director of the P&HCC Foundation. We have set the bar high because becoming a Patrick & Henry Scholar is a distinguished honor that is both an experience and an opportunity. It can open many doors, not only at P&HCC but also beyond at the students transfer institutions and in their careers.

For additional information or questions, contact Letitia Pulliam in the Patrick & Henry Community College Foundation Office at 656-0250 or lpulliam@patrickhenry.edu.

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The daughter of a Marion police officer is stepping up to help raise money for her fathers colleague who was injured in a fiery crash this past week.

Madilyn Hink, a sixth-grader at East McDowell, is auctioning off one of her paintings to support Officer Breanna Toney of the Marion Police Department. Hink is the daughter of Criminal Investigator R.J. Hink.

On Monday, Toney was driving on N.C. 226 North in Mitchell County, a truck driven by Audie Peterson Jr. traveled across the center line and struck Toneys police car. After the collision, Toneys vehicle caught fire, and she was unable to get out of the car. According to a news release, a brave citizen was able to open Toneys door and pull her from the car. Toney was airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, where she underwent surgeries for several lower-extremity injuries. She also suffered broken ribs and upper extremity injuries that will not require surgery.

Madilyn told The McDowell News that seeing Toneys car burn like that made her very sad, and wanting to do something to help the injured officer.

I just feel this is my way of helping, Madilyn said. I just hope to see her smile when I give her the money.

The auction for Madilyns painting is happening on Facebook on her fathers page. They will take bids until 9 a.m. Monday. As of Saturday morning, bids for the painting were at $400. She is also auctioning off another painting and a tumbler by visiting Jonis Craft Haven on Facebook. A GoFundMe page for Toney has already generated nearly $13,000. To contribute, visit GoFundMe online and search for Officer Breanna Toney.

Everyone at the police department is rallying around Breanna and her family right now. Law enforcement is a very tight knit community and a big extension of our own families, said Marion Police Chief Allen Lawrence. When one of us hurts, we all hurt, so acts of kindness like what Madilyn is doing allows us to help when we feel helpless.

Lawrence said he speaks with Toney daily and she is in good spirits.

She has a long tough road to recovery due to the injuries she sustained in the crash, but there is not a doubt in my mind she will overcome her injuries, Lawrence said. The Marion Police Department is very fortunate to have a professional police officer like Breanna as part of our department.
France will help the United Arab Emirates secure its airspace against attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The announcement was made by both sides who recalled that the move falls within the frame of their defense agreement.

The UAE Ministry of Defense has announced the start of the activation of the joint defense cooperation agreement between the UAE and France.

This agreement will serve to help the Emirates to deal with terrorist attempts against them. The decision was taken after the visit to Paris of General Saleh Al Ameri, head of the Joint Operations Command of the Emirates, where he met with French military leaders.

The Emirates were the victims of serious attacks on their territory in January. In order to show our solidarity with this friendly country, France has decided to provide military support, in particular to protect their airspace against any intrusion, wrote the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, on her Twitter account.

France and the United Arab Emirates are linked by a strategic partnership, our contribution is part of the application of our defense cooperation agreement, she added.

Several countries have voiced their unconditional support to the United Arab Emirates which is subjected to the multiplication of terrorist threats from Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

On Wednesday, the United States announced the dispatch of a warship, the USS Cole missile destroyer, and fifth-generation fighter jets to Abu Dhabi to help its Emirati ally.

France is the second country to announce similar news. Aerial operations are planned and conducted from Al Dafra air base (near Abu Dhabi), in close coordination with the Emirati forces, the Ministry of the Armed Forces said in a statement.

France has an air base in the Emirates, made up of no less than 650 men, from which it regularly organizes its strikes against jihadist groups.

Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for three attacks targeting the Emirates in January, including one carried out using drones and missiles that killed three in Abu Dhabi on January 17. On January 31 again, they had claimed missile fire intercepted over the Emirates.
(HealthDay)It's less enchanting than reading tea leaves, but federal health officials announced Friday that they are expanding nationwide efforts to track COVID-19 by monitoring virus levels found in raw sewage.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to add an additional 250 surveillance sites over the next few weeks to a list of more than 400 places that already regularly test their wastewater for bits of COVID-19 virus, Amy Kirby, program lead for the CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System, said during a morning media briefing.

"Because increases in wastewater [virus] generally occur before corresponding increases in clinical cases, wastewater surveillance serves as an early warning system for the emergence of COVID-19 in a community," Kirby said. "These data are uniquely powerful because they capture the presence of infections from people with and without symptoms, and they're not affected by access to health care or availability of clinical testing."

The CDC is also adding wastewater surveillance data to the agency's COVID Data Tracker site, so people can see trends in their communities, Kirby added.

Estimates suggest between 40% and 80% of people infected with COVID-19 shed viral RNA in their feces, whether or not they've developed symptoms, Kirby said.

"The shedding in feces starts very early after someone is infected. It's in fact one of the first signs that we see of infection, which is really important for this early warning capability for wastewater," Kirby said. "We see those rates go up very, very high, so lots of virus shed in feces very early in the infection, and then it tails off."

With this in mind, the CDC started the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September 2020 to forewarn communities facing a future COVID-19 surge. The NWSS now collects more than 34,000 samples daily representing approximately 53 million Americans, Kirby said.

Public health agencies can use COVID wastewater tracking to plan where to place mobile testing and vaccination sites within communities, as well as warn local hospitals to brace themselves for an upcoming surge, Kirby noted.

Some states are also performing genetic sequencing on their wastewater samples, she added, to track the potential emergence of new COVID variants.

New York City's wastewater tracking program recently detected COVID-19 fragments with unique mutations never before seen in human patients. These "cryptic lineages" could be evidence of new variants, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Nature Communications.

"Many of our states are sequencing their wastewater samples, and that data will be coming in to CDC within the next few weeks. We will have that available to monitor as well," Kirby said. "That's a very powerful method for tracking variants of concern in wastewater."

Tracking sewage for virus isn't a new concept, Kirby said. Locales overseas use wastewater as part of their polio eradication efforts, for example.

And while the NWSS was created as part of the COVID-19 response, the CDC is working to expand the system's ability to track other pathogens.

Future targets will include antibiotic-resistant germs, foodborne infections, influenza, and emerging fungal pathogens, Kirby said.

Explore further Chemicals in wastewater may help track COVID-19

More information: Visit the Visit the COVID Tracking Project to see the new wastewater surveillance program. SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, media briefing, Feb. 4, 2022 with Amy Kirby, PhD, MPH, program lead, CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System Journal information: Nature Communications

Copyright  2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Kristin Travis, a community outreach doula, holds a home COVID-19 test kit Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, while picking up supplies at Open Arms Perinatal Services before going out to visit some of her clients in Seattle. With the brutal omicron wave rapidly easing its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of the 50 states. Credit: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.

The two-year total, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina.

The milestone comes more than 13 months into a vaccination drive that has been beset by misinformation and political and legal strife, though the shots have proved safe and highly effective at preventing serious illness and death.

"It is an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago as this pandemic was getting going that 900,000 Americans would die over the next few years, I think most people would not have believed it," said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

He lamented that most of the deaths happened after the vaccine gained authorization.

"We got the medical science right. We failed on the social science. We failed on how to help people get vaccinated, to combat disinformation, to not politicize this," Jha said. "Those are the places where we have failed as America."

President Joe Biden lamented the milestone in a statement Friday night, saying, "After nearly two years, I know that the emotional, physical, and psychological weight of this pandemic has been incredibly difficult to bear."

Diana Merchant self-tests for COVID-19 at a No Cost COVID-19 Drive-Through testing provided the GUARDaHEART Foundation at the Guirado Park in Whittier, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. With the brutal omicron wave rapidly easing its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of the 50 states. Credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

He again urged Americans to get vaccinations and booster shots. "Two hundred and fifty million Americans have stepped up to protect themselves, their families, and their communities by getting at least one shotand we have saved more than one million American lives as a result," Biden said.

Just 64% of the population is fully vaccinated, or about 212 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nor is COVID-19 finished with the United States: Jha said the U.S. could reach 1 million deaths by April.

Among the dead is Susan Glister-Berg, 53, of Sterling Heights, Michigan, whose children had to take her off a ventilator just before Thanksgiving after COVID-19 ravaged her lungs and kidneys.

"She's always cared more about people than she did herself. She always took care of everyone," said a daughter, Hali Fortuna. "That's how we all describe her: She cared for everyone. Very selfless."

Glister-Berg, a smoker, was in poor health, and was apparently unvaccinated, according to her daughter. Fortuna just got the booster herself.

"We all want it to go away. I personally don't see it going away anytime soon," she said. "I guess it's about learning to live with it and hoping we all learn to take care of each other better."

Kristin Travis, a community outreach doula, holds a home COVID-19 test kit Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, while picking up supplies at Open Arms Perinatal Services before going out to visit some of her clients in Seattle. With the brutal omicron wave rapidly easing its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of the 50 states. Credit: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

The latest bleak milestone came as omicron is loosening its grip on the country.

New cases per day have plunged by almost a half-million since mid-January, when they hit a record-shattering peak of more than 800,000. Cases have been declining in 49 states in the last two weeks, by Johns Hopkins' count, and the 50th, Maine, reported that confirmed infections are falling there, too, dropping sharply over the past week.

Also, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has declined 15% since mid-January to about 124,000.

Deaths are still running high at more than 2,400 per day on average, the most since last winter. And they are on the rise in at least 35 states, reflecting the lag between when victims become infected and when they succumb.

Still, public health officials have expressed hope that the worst of omicron is coming to an end. While they caution that things could still go bad again and dangerous new variants could emerge, some places are already talking about easing precautions.

Los Angeles County may end outdoor mask requirements in a few weeks, Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said Thursday.

"Post-surge does not imply that the pandemic is over or that transmission is low, or that there will not be unpredictable waves of surges in the future," she warned.

A product stall filled with free N95 respirator masks, provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, sits outside the pharmacy at this Jackson, Miss., Kroger grocery store Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. With the brutal omicron wave rapidly easing its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of the 50 states. Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

Despite its wealth and its world-class medical institutions, the U.S. has the highest reported toll of any country, and even then, the real number of lives lost directly or indirectly to the coronavirus is thought to be significantly higher.

Experts believe some COVID-19 deaths have been misattributed to other conditions. And some Americans are thought to have died of chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes because they were unable or unwilling to obtain treatment during the crisis.

The Rev. Gina Anderson-Cloud, senior pastor of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church in Virginia, lost her dementia-stricken father after he was hospitalized for cancer surgery and then isolated in a COVID-19 ward. He went into cardiac arrest, was revived, but died about a week later.

She had planned to be by his bedside, but the rules barred her from going to the hospital.

"I think it's important for us not to be numbed. Each one of those numbers is someone," she said of the death toll. "Those are mothers, fathers, children, our elders."

When the vaccine was rolled out in mid-December 2020, the death toll stood at about 300,000. It hit 600,000 in mid-June 2021 and 700,000 on Oct. 1. On Dec. 14, it reached 800,000.

It took just 51 more days to get to 900,000, the fastest 100,000 jump since last winter.

Workers wear protective equipment at a COVID-19 testing site Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. With the brutal omicron wave rapidly easing its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of the 50 states.Credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

"We have underestimated our enemy here, and we have under-prepared to protect ourselves," said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a public health professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "We've learned a tremendous amount of humility in the face of a lethal and contagious respiratory virus."

The latest 100,000 deaths encompass those caused by both the delta variant and omicron, which began spreading rapidly in December and became the predominant version in the U.S. before the month was out.

While omicron has proved less likely to cause severe illness than delta, the sheer number of people who became infected with it contributed to the high number of deaths.

Ja said he and other medical professionals are frustrated that policymakers are seemingly running out of ideas for getting people to roll up their sleeves.

"There aren't a whole lot of tools left. We need to double down and come up with new ones," he said.

COVID-19 has become one of the top three causes of death in America, behind the big twoheart disease and cancer.

"We have been fighting among ourselves about tools that actually do save lives. Just the sheer amount of politics and misinformation around vaccines, which are remarkably effective and safe, is staggering," Sharfstein said.

He added: "This is the consequence."

Explore further COVID falling in 49 of 50 states as deaths near 900,000

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FRIDAY, Feb. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Federal health officials announced Friday that they are expanding nationwide efforts to track COVID-19 by monitoring virus levels found in raw sewage.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to add an additional 250 surveillance sites during the next few weeks to a list of more than 400 places that already regularly test their wastewater for bits of COVID-19 virus, Amy Kirby, Ph.D., M.P.H., program lead for the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System, said during a morning media briefing.

"Because increases in wastewater [virus] generally occur before corresponding increases in clinical cases, wastewater surveillance serves as an early warning system for the emergence of COVID-19 in a community," Kirby said. "These data are uniquely powerful because they capture the presence of infections from people with and without symptoms, and they're not affected by access to health care or availability of clinical testing."

The CDC is also adding wastewater surveillance data to the agency's COVID Data Tracker site, so people can see trends in their communities, Kirby added. Estimates suggest between 40 and 80 percent of people infected with COVID-19 shed viral RNA in their feces, whether or not they have developed symptoms, Kirby said.

"The shedding in feces starts very early after someone is infected. It's in fact one of the first signs that we see of infection, which is really important for this early warning capability for wastewater," Kirby said. "We see those rates go up very, very high, so lots of virus shed in feces very early in the infection, and then it tails off."

With this in mind, the CDC started the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September 2020 to forewarn communities facing a future COVID-19 surge. The NWSS now collects more than 34,000 samples daily representing approximately 53 million Americans, Kirby said.

Public health agencies can use COVID-19 wastewater tracking to plan where to place mobile testing and vaccination sites within communities, as well as warn local hospitals to brace themselves for an upcoming surge, Kirby noted. Some states are also performing genetic sequencing on their wastewater samples, she added, to track the potential emergence of new COVID-19 variants.

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FRIDAY, Jan. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Medicare will soon provide up to eight free COVID-19 rapid tests a month to seniors enrolled in the government health insurance program, the Biden administration announced Thursday.

The new policy for the over-the-counter tests will take effect in early spring. The at-home tests will be available at pharmacies and other locations for clients with the Medicare "Part B" outpatient benefit, which about 90 percent of enrollees have. This will be the first time that Medicare has covered an over-the-counter test at no cost to recipients, the Associated Press reported.

Access to free COVID-19 rapid tests will also be available to people with Medicare Advantage, a private insurance option used by four in 10 Medicare enrollees. Those plans can already cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests as a supplemental benefit, the AP reported.

Last month, the Biden administration told private insurers to provide up to eight free at-home tests a month for their clients. Thursday's announcement that Medicare will do the same was applauded by the AARP, an advocacy group for older people.

"AARP applauds today's announcement that will guarantee access to at-home over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at no cost for Medicare's 64 million beneficiaries," Nancy LeaMond, an AARP executive vice president and its chief advocacy and engagement officer, said in a statement. "We know that people 65 and older are at much greater risk of serious illness and death from this disease -- they need equal access to tools that can help keep them safe."

Before Thursday's announcement, Medicare enrollees could get free at-home tests by requesting four free tests for home delivery through covidtests.gov or picking up free tests from community locations such as libraries or senior centers that distribute them. Those options will remain available while the new policy is going into effect, the AP reported.

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Nigerian minister lauds China-assisted railway project

Xinhua) 10:22, February 05, 2022

LAGOS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi on Friday lauded the quality of work delivered by a Chinese company on the Kano-Kaduna railway in Nigeria, highlighting ample opportunities created by the project.

Underlining the importance of utilizing local materials and manpower in the railway's construction by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the minister said the Nigerian government is encouraging not only the use of local materials but also the recruitment of local workers.

The project, he said, is designed to facilitate the movement of passengers and cargoes, especially cargoes.

Amaechi said that Kano, a city in northern Nigeria, is an important economic center, and the railway project will strengthen the link between Kano and Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub.

The minister expressed optimism that the railway will be delivered for commercial operations before May 2023.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Bianji)
SATURDAY, Feb. 5, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- If your baby has a cough, you might immediately think it's COVID-19, but coughing is a common wintertime symptom, a pediatrician says.

Dr. Mona Patel of Children's Hospital Los Angeles offers some advice on what to do when your baby develops a cough.

Congestion and postnasal drip will worsen the cough, especially during naps or at night during sleep, so try to keep nasal passages as clear as possible.

A cool-mist humidifier in your child's bedroom will help moisten airways to reduce the coughing caused by postnasal drip.

Give your child lots of liquids such as water or juice. Warm, decaffeinated tea may also help ease the tickle that triggers coughing. If your child doesn't want a drink, try a popsicle, Patel suggested in a hospital news release.

A spoonful of honey before bed can coat the throat and alleviate soreness. However, never give honey to children younger than 1 year old, and it's not recommended for children under 2 years old. In younger babies, honey can cause botulism, a life-threatening illness.

Children's Tylenol or ibuprofen can keep babies with a fever comfortable. Never give your toddler cough or cold medicines. They aren't effective for young children and can cause dangerous side effects, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.

For little ones who can't blow their noses yet, use nasal saline drops and a bulb aspirator to suction a runny nose.

Patel recommended consulting your child's doctor if the cough doesn't improve, or in these situations:

Onset of cough within the first few weeks of life.



Cough with fever lasting more than five days.

A cough lasting for eight weeks.

A cough getting worse by the third week.

Associated difficulty in breathing or labored breathing.

Night sweats, weight loss, coughing up blood.

A wet or dry, hacking cough without wheezing or fast breathing, day or night.

A cough and stuffy nose that persist for more than 10 days without improving.

Testing is the only way to tell if a child's cough is caused by COVID. Whether or not you think your child has COVID-19, if they are having difficulty breathing, are unresponsive or unable to eat or drink, seek immediate medical care, Patel said.

More information

For more on coughs, go to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

SOURCE: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, news release, Jan. 31, 2022

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When two Democratic senators killed reforms to the General Mining Law of 1872 this fall, one of the casualties was a fee that would have helped pay for reclaiming abandoned hardrock mines. The proposed charge of 7 cents per ton of material would have raised about $200 million over the next decade  a paltry amount, considering that the cost of simply taking an inventory of the abandoned mines on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands is estimated at more than $650 million, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

There are at least 140,000 abandoned hardrock mine features  such as the tunnels or toxic waste piles associated with mining  on federal lands. And thats only whats cataloged; federal officials estimate there may be more than 390,000 additional abandoned mine features on public lands that have yet to be identified.

Its unclear how many billions of dollars itll take to clean up this mess. The federal government has historically lacked robust data on hardrock mines overall because few of them incur federal royalties.

But abandoned mines are dangerous: Each poses environmental hazards that range from waste contaminating soil to tunnels perpetually leaking toxins into waterways. Such mines litter the Western U.S., but some of the worst offenders are near Indigenous communities  a tangible example of this countrys environmental racism.

Before environmental reforms like the Clean Water Act and Superfund law took effect beginning in the 1970s and 80s, there was only the General Mining Law of 1872. Still in effect today, the law governs mining of hardrock minerals  like gold, copper, lithium and uranium  on public lands.

Congress passed the law nearly 150 years ago to encourage settlement and development in the West. The law didnt establish royalties, which could have given Americans financial return for industrial exploitation of their public lands. Nor did it give miners any instructions or regulations concerning how to remediate the damage mining did to the land.

The scars just piled up. Even after the reforms of the late 20th century began requiring miners to clean up after themselves on public land, there was often no responsible party to hold to account. If the mine operator died or the company dissolved, taxpayers inherited the burden.

The government is covering some of the cleanup costs. A group of federal agencies  the BLM, the National Park Service, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency  spent about $2.9 billion on addressing physical safety and environmental hazards at abandoned mines between fiscal years 2008 and 2017. But BLM officials estimate that it could take $4.7 billion to address the nearly 65,000 physical safety hazards just on the lands they administer while addressing hundreds of thousands of additional uncatalogued features; the agencies are currently falling far short.

Staffing is a major barrier, too. Given the BLMs current staff and budget for abandoned mine work, officials say it could take up to 500 years simply to confirm the presence of safety or environmental hazards, according to a GAO report.

All the public lands in the United States are the ancestral lands and sometimes the unceded territories of Indigenous nations. Today, many abandoned mines are clustered near Native communities. According to a 2017 paper by University of New Mexico researchers, more than 600,000 Native Americans  about 15% of the Indigenous people in the West  live within approximately 6 miles of an abandoned mine.

For years, for example, the abandoned Formosa Mine in Oregon has leaked millions of gallons of acidic water and toxic metals into waterways near the homeland of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. Because the company that operated the mine had dissolved, under the 1872 Mining Law, U.S. taxpayers were left on the hook for an estimated $12 million in cleanup costs.

In Idaho, old mines on ancestral Nez Perce lands have degraded water quality in the South Fork Salmon River, a critical lifeway for the tribe. Today, the proposed Stibnite Gold Project would involve developing multiple new open-pit mines on these lands. The tribe stands firmly against this: Given gold minings legacy of dispossession and wanton destruction of our land and resources, Nez Perce vice chair Shannon Wheeler wrote in 2020, the Tribe is committed to preventing these harms from ever again revisiting our people.

Dine people living on the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico fear further uranium mining pollution in the aquifer that supplies their water. Past mining for the radioactive mineral has already caused higher rates of cancer, as well as respiratory and kidney conditions, in this region. Cancer rates on the reservation doubled from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Abandoned mines are just one of myriad environmental injustices affecting Native communities in the U.S. When the BLM tackles abandoned mine cleanup projects, it prioritizes them by addressing the highest-risk sites first; environmental justice is only a tangential concern.

In terms of uranium mine remediation, says Eric Jantz, an attorney with the nonprofit New Mexico Environmental Law Center, the federal government tends to do a lot less for tribes and tribal communities than it does in more Anglo communities.

A BLM spokesperson says that the projects selected for remediation under its Abandoned Mine Lands program receive environmental justice analysis and that BLM continues to implement relevant executive and secretarial orders on environmental justice. But on the ground in places like New Mexico, that doesnt always mean much.

Manuel Manny Pino (Acoma Pueblo), a retired sociology professor at the Scottsdale Community College, grew up with uranium mining. Since childhood, hes witnessed the environmental degradation caused by the mines. When his grandmother died of cancer, his concern escalated. We had no background of cancerous-related illnesses on that side of the family, and I began to wonder if her illness was correlated with all that uranium development, Pino said. As we began to see people dying, we began to wonder: Whos responsible for this?

Pino recalled that uranium-related illnesses began appearing first in miners. By the 1970s, however, members of the general public were suffering the same fate. In hindsight, that wasnt surprising; Pino remembers how the high desert winds would blow radioactive dust everywhere, including onto agricultural areas where pueblo members grew their food.

Although uranium mining has ceased near Acoma, Pino said, the federal government still has to address the effects of legacy pollution by taking care of those who have been affected by it. That includes, he said, expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and making more aggressive cleanup efforts in marginalized communities. Pino mentioned Red Water Pond, a community in the Navajo Nation in New Mexico where a Cold War-era uranium mine still isnt cleaned up.

Would it take that long if it was a major municipality where white middle-class people lived? Pino said. Its beyond racism, its beyond injustice. Its genocide, because they knew the problems existed.

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Children, families and friends enjoy a night at the 79th Annual North Florida Fair during opening night Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021.

Since I first began writing for the Tallahassee Democrat in February 2012, I have consulted an online interfaith world religion calendar weekly to learn about any important holidays that might be observed by persons of faith or spiritual practice.

In 2012, I found very few such calendars that were truly interfaith. Today that number has increased significantly. Many colleges and universities have calendars that are not only indicative of important religious and cultural holidays, but go a step further to suggest how persons seeking to be respectful of various faiths or practices might best honor those who observe the holy day or holiday.

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This week, many persons who follow the spiritual path of Buddhism will celebrate the Buddhas enlightenment.

Bodhi Day, so named for the fig tree under which Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment, is celebrated in Japan and in some other countries according to the Western calendar on the fixed date of Dec. 8.

But many Buddhists worldwide follow the prescribed and changeable eighth day of the 12th month of the Chinese lunar calendar as Bodhi Day, which this year falls on Jan. 10.

New understandings

Enlightenment seems to me to be as important today as it was 2500-plus years ago when Siddhartha Gautama sat down beneath the Bodhi tree to meditate deeply on what it means to be alive.

In a world of uncertainty, finding the patience and discipline to learn from reliable sources what we can know and integrating that knowledge into our ethical concern seems critical.

Just as the Buddha awakened to important new understandings, we want to contemplate what we can do to bring meaning and hope to our own lives and to the lives of so many in our world who are suffering.

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I was deeply saddened to read the New York Times report this week on how our children have been impacted by the ongoing pandemic. I think we all have wondered about the ramifications of understandable changes to public education, to communal gatherings, to developing socialization among our youngest population.

I imagine all of us know children we love and care about who have changed in subtle or not so subtle ways, feeling the weight of uncertainty that is too much for us grownups to carry, much less children.

Soaring rates of depression, anxiety

The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared a National State of Emergency in Childrens Mental Health with soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality. Not surprisingly, these concerning numbers are highest for youth of color, who have suffered disproportionately greater loss of adult family members during the pandemic.

Youth suicide attempts have increased across the board, with the largest increase in girls ages 12-17, rising by 51% from 2019 to 2021.

Some describe the decline in academic achievement among our youth since the pandemic, A crisis unlike any we have seen in living memory. Again, those of color and those living in poverty have been the most adversely impacted.

As people of good will and faith, enlightened by the reasonable understanding that this pandemic is not only impacting our physical health but also our mental and social health, what can we do to help our most vulnerable, our youth?

Candace shared a copy of the Greater Good Magazine article with her own doctor as an idea he might adapt for his practice.

Reaching out with support

I wonder if we might begin by reaching out to the children in our lives with words of affirmation and hope. I wonder if we might check in with those youth we know to see how they are coping, offering our support and concern.

I wonder if we might be more intentional in supporting parents of children we know and love, offering time out for them to renew their energy by caring for their children or listening to their concerns.

Educators certainly need our encouragement and support, as do administrators and support staff. And if we are members of organizations that can impact the wellbeing of our children, especially those who have been most adversely impacted, we might suggest some deep meditation and reflection on what can be done to turn the tide on the current crisis.

It will take all of us caring enough and giving what we are able to give of our talents and resources to make a difference.

Simple ways to send a message

I read an article in the excellent Greater Good magazine about a physician who prescribes happiness practices for his patients, including taking a few deep breaths several times daily, going for a walk outside, talking kinder to yourself, and connecting with someone you know.

Hand-written on an old-fashioned prescription pad with one consistent prescription, Spread the love, it is his hope to invigorate the spirits of all his patients.

Perhaps we can encourage children, parents, educators, and caregivers to engage in such happiness practices that are proven and affordable for most all of us.

What the Buddha did with his profound enlightenment, guided by his compassion for the suffering of the world, was to share it for the benefit of others. As we learn about the suffering of the world, I pray we, too, will seek to share our resources and concern and, in particular, do what we can now for our children who are in crisis.

The Rev. Candace McKibben

The Rev. Candace McKibben is an ordained minister and pastor of Tallahassee Fellowship.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Reach children in crisis with messages of love, support
Delbert "Del" E. Peterson, 98, of Rockford, a World War II veteran who was chief of the Rockford Police Department for 20 years until he retired in 1985, died Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022.

ROCKFORD  A World War II veteran who family members say epitomized the spirit of the Greatest Generation and was chief of the Rockford Police Department for 20 years, died Tuesday at age 98.

Delbert Peterson was a lifelong Rockford resident. He grew up during the Great Depression and graduated from West High School in 1941. He fought in World War II as a U.S. Navy Corpsman with the 4th Marine Division at the battles of Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima.

And he was a Rockford Police Officer for more than 36 years, the last 20 as chief until he retired in 1985.

"He had an extraordinary life," said Dana Schreibel, Peterson's stepdaughter. "He was very proud of the city. He was a lifetime Rockford resident and very proud of his service to the country. Really, when they talk about the Greatest Generation  that was him."

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Peterson married Lois Dahlberg Anderson in 1983. They enjoyed spending time with their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren for more than 38 years. They traveled together to all 50 states.

Known to many as "Del," Peterson served as chief of the Rockford police force from 1965 to 1985, a period that included the tumultuous Vietnam War era as the civil rights movement roiled the country and reverberated through the city.

Peterson was known for giving sage advice that some officers never forgot.

Among them was Joe Rinaldo, who when he retired in 2010 after a 42-year career, recalled in an interview with the Rockford Register Star an exchange he had with Peterson as a young officer.

"I'll never forget that day," Rinaldo told the Register Star. "He said, 'You know the difference between right and wrong, don't you, son?' I said, 'Yes sir.' He said, 'Well, I want you to go out there and do right, and arrest everybody who is doing wrong.' "

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Peterson administered the oath of office to then rookie Rockford police officer Dominic Iasparro in 1971 who later went on to lead the department's detective bureau, serve as a deputy chief and as an interim chief of police in 2005.

Iasparro said Peterson had a reputation for integrity and professionalism. He said Peterson was "an honest, decent man who was very fair and was very tough. He set high standards."

Peterson was a law enforcement leader who was respected not only in Rockford but also by leaders of state and federal law enforcement agencies, Iasparro said.

COVID news: Officials say Rockford area experiencing record number of COVID cases with omicron variant

He volunteered and participated with myriad police, veteran and community associations including the Rockford Rotary Club and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In his retirement, Peterson helped develop and establish a police history exhibit at the Midway Village Museum.

Peterson was recognized for modernizing the department in terms of equipment, evidence storage and record keeping systems. He helped establish CrimeStoppers in Rockford and the chaplains program in 1970, "a successful program that was copied throughout the country," Iasparro said.

"He was ahead of his time in terms of the organizational aspects of the department," Iasparro said. "He was really a leader in law enforcement in many ways."

Funeral Services are planned at noon Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 200 N. First St. Visitation will be from 10 to 11:45 a.m. before the service.

Jeff Kolkey: jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

Editor's Note: An earlier version misidentified a battle that Delbert Peterson participated in during World War II. It should have said he was a veteran of the battle of Saipan in 1944.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Del Peterson, who served as Rockford police chief, dies at 98
The five finalists for Fort Collins Utilities director appeared in a virtual forum on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Clockwise from top center: Kendall Minor, Scott Kulwicki, Eleanor Allen, David Hornbacher, Tiana Smith. (Top left is city moderator Ginny Sawyer.)

The community got a closer look at the five finalists for Fort Collins Utilities director at a Wednesday evening virtual forum.

The finalists come from disparate backgrounds: One candidate, Tiana Smith, previously spent a decade with Fort Collins Utilities and now leads climate strategy for a natural gas utility thats working to decarbonize. Another, David Hornbacher, is president of the Platte River Power Authority board and has experience leading a utility that includes broadband services. Finalist Kendall Minor works on renewable energy projects in Georgia and has experience in electric utility leadership for one of the largest utilities in the country. Finalist Scott Kulwicki works for another major electric utility and has spent the last 10 years focused on wind, solar and other renewable sources across several states And finalist Eleanor Allens background is in water and, more recently, nonprofit leadership as CEO of Water for People.

The finalists answered city and community member questions from city moderator Ginny Sawyer during the 90-minute forum. What follows is a summary of what we learned in each candidates answers to those questions.

Eleanor Allen

Background: Allen has spent much of her career in consulting for water and wastewater projects, and she took on the CEO role for the nonprofit Water for People six years ago. That organization develops water infrastructure for communities in Africa, Latin America and India.

What sets her apart from the other candidates: Shes the only candidate leading a nonprofit, and she has the most experience in water and wastewater.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: Analysis and customer education go hand-in-hand, she said. The utility needs to carefully analyze the costs and risks associated with new infrastructure, and leaders need to communicate with customers about rate increases and why the utility is pursuing upgrades that require more revenue.

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More: Here's what you can expect from Fort Collins City Council in 2022

Comments on employee hiring and retention: People often leave their jobs because they dont like their managers, they dont feel heard, or they dont feel challenged, Allen said. She said shed look for ways to connect employees with their zones of brilliance  things theyre great at and love to do  recognizing them for good work and giving them stretch assignments and career development opportunities. (Note: This question asked candidates for their ideas outside of compensation.)

Comments on trends in utilities: Along with the energy trends that other candidates mentioned, she highlighted water quantity and quality concerns. "We're growing drier and drier, as we've seen by the recent fires, and extreme weather is going to be more and more concern for everyone living here, she said, adding that water storage will be a necessity and the community will need to continue focusing on water quality impacts from wildfires.

David Hornbacher

Background: Since 2019, Hornbacher has been executive director of Longmont Power and Communications, which oversees Longmonts electricity and internet services. He was previously the utilities director in Aspen and has experience in water, wastewater, gas and electricity utilities. Hornbacher emphasized his interest in community-minded projects like municipal broadband, advanced metering infrastructure and customer information system remodels, as well as his dedication to climate action.

What sets him apart from the other candidates: He has experience working alongside Fort Collins Utilities leadership on the Platte River Power Authority board, since both communities get power from PRPA. He also has experience overseeing a broadband utility, which isnt currently under the Fort Collins Utilities umbrella but could be down the road.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: He said his key strategies would be careful analysis of capital projects to ensure theyre being deployed equitably, embracing electrification while utilizing existing infrastructure and investing in conservation and efficiency.

More: Fort Collins Connexion needs $20 million funding boost for last phase of buildout

Comments on employee hiring and retention: He said he thinks attracting and keeping good employees comes down to benefits, work-life balance, quality of the community and creating a supportive environment where employees have the opportunity to be their best, to make a difference, to go home satisfied to share something at the table with their family. He said he prioritizes accessibility and hands-on engagement with employees.

Comments on trends in utilities: One trend he noted was the need to adapt to the future of electricity, including bidirectional flow of energy (from rooftop solar panels and vehicles to the grid, for example), energy storage and synchronizing use with the transient flow of wind and solar power.

As I (tell) our staff at the city of Longmont, each and every day, we are building the utility of the future, he said. What we did in the past was very successful, but it does not guarantee our success in a much different energy future.

Scott Kulwicki

Background: Kulwicki said hes spent over 20 years working for NextEra Energy and Florida Power & Light, the latter of which is a subsidiary of NextEra. His career has included power plant design and engineering, leading the transition away from coal and oil to natural gas, which has relatively lower greenhouse gas emissions. Hes spent the last 10 years managing operations and developing contracts for a renewable energy portfolio of wind and solar production in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. He said Fort Collins goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030 is impressive and added that hes embraced those disruptors to the utility sector for the last decade.

What sets him apart from the other candidates: He has the most experience working for a major electric utility company and is one of the most experienced finalists in terms of renewable energy development. His background in mechanical engineering and power plant design is also unique.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: He said his experience has shown that utilities can invest in renewables without blowing out budgets, especially by focusing on economic analysis: For every dollar spent in capital, how does it affect the customers bill?

We all want to do the right thing  we want to make an impact on climate change, and reducing your emissions is going to take dollars, he said. Is there going to be an impact your bills? Yes, I think there is. But we can offset (capital expenses) with gains and efficiencies elsewhere. You can do it smartly.

Comments on employee hiring and retention: He said hed work to create a culture where employees feel like their ideas are valued in the organization. His current employer, he said, adopted an approach giving employees at all levels an annual opportunity to submit ideas for operational improvements that helped foster an employee-centered culture.

Comments on trends and challenges in the utilities industry: He said decarbonization will pose challenges, such as strain on the grid from electrification of vehicles and the necessity of major capital expenses to continue moving to renewables and fortify infrastructure in the face of climate change impacts. He also said cybersecurity will be a big concern as utilities leverage new technologies and have to grapple with system vulnerabilities.

Kendall Minor

Background: Minor started his career working in design for stormwater, wastewater and water treatment projects and later took a position for Southern Company, one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S. Hes been involved in environmental regulatory compliance and oversight of construction projects, and ultimately he rose to portfolio leader of the power company. He said hes now vice president of Cherry Street Energy, a renewable energy company that develops solar power projects for businesses, municipalities and other clients.

What sets him apart from the other candidates: Hes one of the only candidates with experience in water and wastewater as well as construction oversight. His position in a renewable energy-focused start-up is also unique. Hes one of two finalists with experience working for one of the countrys biggest electric utilities.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: He said its important to educate customers about the regulatory drivers when rate increases are needed and consider ways to prioritize capital spending and reduce impacts to customers. The latter, he said, could involve reversing a rate increase or even giving money back to customers if a project comes in under budget.

We have to get with our partners and the regulatory agencies to (come up with) a long-term strategy so that we're not impacting our customers and our clients in a negative way, he said.

More: Platte River Power Authority seeks out solar contracts to reach 54% renewable electricity

Comments on employee hiring and retention: When he worked at Southern Company, he said he focused on community outreach with younger people who might be interested in pursuing trade school rather than college, working to introduce them to the idea of a career in utilities. He said hed pursue the same approach here.

Comments on trends in utilities: He said one of the most important trends is the move toward renewable power, along with innovative technology like integrated microgrids, battery storage and hydrogen energy storage. He added that his current focus on renewable power and experience with customer-oriented work makes him well-suited for the transition.

Tiana Smith

Background: Smith spent 10 years with Fort Collins Utilities, primarily in finance and account management. She said she has a lot of experience in customer behavior and understanding how to engage customers to help meet utility goals. Shes spent the last four years working in human resources, energy efficiency and creating climate strategy for Vermont Natural Gas, which is working toward a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

What sets her apart from the other candidates: Shes the only one whos worked at Fort Collins Utilities. Shes also got unique experience in account management, having overseen relations with Utilities largest accounts, and creating climate strategy for a utility.

Comments on balancing utility costs with impacts to ratepayers: She said its important for the departments leaders to think about how utility bills can place a burden on household costs. She said shed focus on enhancing conservation, prioritizing capital projects to manage expenses and looking for investments to lower long-term costs, similar to Fort Collins undergrounding of electricity lines.

Comments on employee hiring and retention: She said this has been a focus in her current role, and her two main strategies are building a talent pipeline and engaging employees with meaningful work that makes them feel rewarded and recognized. To build a talent pipeline, shed focus on strengthening relationships with local schools and Colorado State University and creating more mentorship opportunities.

Comments on trends in utilities: She agreed with other finalists comments on the renewable energy transition and added that we've done a really good job of setting mid-century goals. But I think we're starting to feel competing pressure as to whether that's urgent enough. Do we need more aggressive climate policy? I think that's going to continue to be a competing pressure that we, as a big part of emissions, are going to be faced with.

Jacy Marmaduke covers government accountability for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @jacymarmaduke. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Get to know the 5 finalists for Fort Collins Utilities director
ASHEVILLE  A Morganton man was among four people indicted by a federal grand jury after the burglary of an Asheville firearms dealer.

Bernard Eugene Carson Jr., 33, of Morganton, was indicted on a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon, according to a release from the United States Department of Justice.

Also charged were:

Jesse Lynn Williams, 33, of Asheville, who was charged with conspiracy to commit theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee, theft of multiple firearms from an FFL, aiding and abetting and possession of a firearm by a felon

Lyron Deshawn Greenlee, 34, of Asheville, who was charged with conspiracy to commit theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee, theft of multiple firearms from an FFL, aiding and abetting and possession of a firearm by a felon

Alexa Rae Bassillo, 29, of Asheville, who was charged with conspiracy to commit theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee, theft of multiple firearms from an FFL and aiding and abetting

The charges came after investigators alleged Williams, Greenlee and Bassillo conspired to break into and steal guns from Carolina Guns and Gear West on Sweeten Creek Road in Asheville, the USDOJ release said.

The USDOJ cited the indictments, which said Williams broke into the gun store and stole 33 firearms, while Bassillo and Greenlee served as lookouts or drivers during the burglary. Carson was said to be in possession of one of the stolen firearms between Jan. 7-12.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is investigating the case, along with Asheville Police Department.
There are many dogs and cats are available for adoption at Burke County Animal Services.

Trinity Johnson, the shelter technician, wants all of the animals in the shelter to find a loving furever home. These are the animals she chose to spotlight this week.

Our dog of the week is Shadow, Johnson said. He is a 2-year-old lab mix. Shadow is a very sweet and energetic boy that loves to play outside. He would love a big fenced in yard to run and play in, but he also does well on a leash.

His previous foster said Shadow did great going potty outside, and that as long as he is let out often, he does not have any accidents in the house. Shadow is about 40 pounds and makes a great cuddle buddy when its time to go to bed. He loves attention, playing with toys, and lets you know when its potty time and play time.

All animals brought to animal services come from different backgrounds and are in different physical condition. The agencys staff works to ensure all animals are taken care of while theyre in the shelter and in preparation to be adopted into their forever homes.

Our cats of the week are a pair we would love to stay together if possible  Charlotte and Aiden, Johnson said. Charlotte is a beautiful long-haired tuxedo kitten and Aiden is a handsome short-haired tuxedo kitten. These guys are just reaching 6 months old and are very socialized and playful.

Charlotte and Aiden came in when they were just 8 weeks old, and they were not in the best of conditions. For the past few months, these two have been living it up in their wonderful foster home and they are ready to find their furever home! Charlotte and Aiden are now the cutest, sweetest, healthiest kittens and they would love to find a family to call their own.

Animal services tries to take in as many animals as it can, and with the help of foster home volunteers it is able to care for more animals.

There are different fees for those interested in adopting a dog or a cat from animal services. The adoption fee for any adult dog or puppy is $125. The adoption fee for any adult cat or kitten is $90.

All animals come up-to-date on vaccines, flea control, and deworming, as well as being spayed and neutered.

The shelter also offers foster programs for members of the community to help the animals of the shelter without having to make a lifelong commitment. Fosters are only required to give a copy of a valid ID with address and phone number and to sign their foster agreement.

Fostering is free, and animal services provides all needed supplies, including litter boxes, litter and food and the same for dogs, the agencys policy says. Crates are provided, if available. Foster parents are just asked to transport the animal either to vet appointments or back to the shelter for updated vaccines and deworming.

For more information on Shadow, Aiden, Charlotte or any other adoption or foster-related questions, call animal services at 828-764-9588 or visit its website at burkenc.org/animalservices. Visit its Facebook page at Burke County Animal Services for information on adoptable animals or upcoming adoption events.
Black women have been absent from the U.S. Supreme Court for the past 233 years, and some people are in no hurry to change that. They think objective merit is the only legitimate criterion in choosing justices. They are appalled that Joe Biden has pledged to nominate an African American to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said: Black women are, what, 6% of the U.S. population? Hes saying to 94% of Americans, I dont give a damn about you. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., accused Biden of being race-obsessed, gender-obsessed. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., implied that Bidens choice could only be a travesty: I want a nominee who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog.

Ilya Shapiro, who was about to join the Georgetown University law faculty, groused that a lesser Black woman would be nominated instead of the objectively best pick. (He later apologized for his poor choice of words but was suspended by the school.)

Similar cries of outrage were not heard when Donald Trump pledged to nominate a woman after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg  and proceeded to select Amy Coney Barrett. Or when Ronald Reagan, running in 1980, said he would name the first woman to the court. Or when George H.W. Bush claimed that Clarence Thomas, an African American, was the best qualified candidate.

All those presidents acknowledged that the court should no longer be the exclusive preserve of white men. They suggested that groups long unrepresented would bring valuable perspectives. Justice Thomas, asked later if it was appropriate to take such factors into consideration, said, Im glad we have the system we have, where you have presidents who nominate all sorts of different people.

But Republicans have public opinion on their side. A new ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 76% of Americans want the president to consider all possible nominees.

But no president considers all possible nominees, and its silly to suggest that there is one objectively best candidate in all the land. Determining the worlds fastest human boils down to one simple question: Who holds the record for the 100-meter dash? Determining the best possible Supreme Court nominee is far more complicated and subjective.

Its like deciding whom to admit to highly selective universities. Ivy League schools are besieged each year with applicants who would perform well academically if admitted. But since these schools cant take everyone who could graduate, or even everyone who could graduate with honors, they seek out students who bring different talents, experiences, backgrounds and interests.

This approach rests on the notion that all students benefit when they are not all cut from the same old cloth. Its plausible to assume that the Supreme Court also gains when someone arrives who is different from present and former justices.

As it is, 115 humans have served as justices, 110 of them men and 112 of them white. The courts slogan could be: Looking for a qualified Black woman since 1789.

Not so long ago, presidents considered only pallid males. Even within that narrow pool, choices were not made on pure merit. After the Senate rejected Richard Nixons first choice for the court, Clement Haynsworth of South Carolina, the president ordered an aide: Find a good federal judge further South and further to the right!

When Ronald Reagan chose Antonin Scalia in 1986, he felt that it would be great to put an Italian American on the Supreme Court, according to his White House counsel, Peter Wallison.

When the second Jewish justice, Benjamin Cardozo, died in 1938, Franklin Roosevelt nominated Felix Frankfurter, who was Jewish. When Frankfurter retired in 1962, John Kennedy chose Arthur Goldberg for the Jewish seat. When Goldberg left, Lyndon Johnson adhered to custom with Abe Fortas.

Even now, Republicans dont really want to cast a wide net. They expect Republican presidents to choose nominees who align with the staunchly conservative Federalist Society and are young enough to stick around for a long time. If youre a little too moderate or a little too old  well, they dont care if youre objectively best.

There are plenty of possible Biden nominees who have the credentials, experience, ability and judgment to make good or excellent justices. The Supreme Court has an ancient and regrettable tradition of having no place for Black women, and its not too soon for that tradition to end.

Follow Steve Chapman on Twitter @SteveChapman13 or at www.facebook.com/stevechapman13. To find out more about Chapman, visit www.creators.com.
BAYOU BLUE, La.  Police in Louisiana on Friday arrested a man accused of raping and killing his 5-year-old niece in North Carolina more than four years ago.

David Wesley Prevatte, 23, of Lumberton, North Carolina, was arrested Friday in Bayou Blue, Louisiana, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said in a news release.

He said North Carolinas Pender County Sheriffs Office tracked Prevatte to the community 43 miles southwest of New Orleans after getting a warrant accusing him of first-degree murder and first-degree rape of Paitin Fields in November 2017.

Capt. Brennan Matherne, a spokeperson for Webre, said he did not know whether Prevatte has an attorney who could comment.

The little girl died Nov. 16, 2017, three days after her family brought her to a hospital, unresponsive.

North Carolina news outlets reported that she was Prevattes niece.

An autopsy showed signs of sexual trauma and strangulation, and detectives identified Prevatte as a suspect in June 2018, the news release said.

It said Prevatte pleaded guilty the following March to unrelated charges of intimidating a witness, breaking and entering, larceny, and burning a building, and spent about 10 months in prison. He was released in January 2020.

The warrant against him also accuses him of committing a sex offense against a child.

He will be extradited to Pender County, Webre said. He complimented the tenacity and professionalism ... that led to the arrest.

Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler said, This has been an ongoing investigation and I am extremely pleased and proud of the effort that has been put into this investigation by my personnel.
Africas largest cryptocurrency exchange is looking for a foothold in the U.S., the latest international platform to try and tap one of the worlds biggest populations of digital-asset investors.

Owned by conglomerate Digital Currency Group Inc., Luno is assessing regulatory regimes in all 50 states to allow for its rollout in the course of the year, Marius Reitz, its general manager for Africa, said in an interview.

It is more complex than launching in an individual market because of the different states and different regulations within each of these states, so theres lots of moving parts, Reitz said. But it is a company focus for us for 2022.

A number of fast-growing cryptocurrency exchange brands  such as FTX and Binance  have been moving into the U.S. market. The worlds biggest economy is home to more than half of the worlds crypto unicorns, according to CB Insights. A unicorn is a private startup thats achieved a valuation of at least $1 billion.

Founded in 2013, Luno has 9 million users from Asia to Africa. It currently offers trading in tokens including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple  and could soon add new coins chosen from the worlds 10 most liquid cryptocurrencies, Reitz said.

A lot of the operation time goes into security and custody when choosing a coin, he said.

Digital Currency Group was the earliest investor in Luno and acquired it entirely in 2020, going on a year later to achieve a $10 billion valuation when it raised $700 million in a transaction led by SoftBank Group Corp.

Lunos other early backers included Cape Town-based technology investor Naspers Ltd., Africas biggest listed company.

The spread of cryptocurrencies in Africa has so far centered on Nigeria and South Africa, where nearly a fifth of the population own some form of digital assets. That compares with the global average of just over 10%, according to the latest data from Finbold. Luno has also identified opportunities in East Africa, where it already has operations in Uganda, Reitz said.

About 16% of Americans have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrency, a recent Pew Research Center survey showed.

New Regulations

In South Africa, Luno is awaiting new regulations that Reitz says are imminent and will likely boost consumer protections. The changes should allow platforms including Luno to pull in institutional investors currently sitting out of the market.

The rules could also make possible the listing of more sophisticated products. Reitz said that, in a year or two, he anticipates offerings such as cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, which allow investors to hold a basket of coins without having to purchase them.

South Africas stock exchange operator JSE Ltd. has rebuffed efforts to list crypto ETFs before, citing a lack of a regulatory framework in the country.

We have got all these asset managers sitting on the sidelines wanting to launch their own crypto products, but theyre not able to do so, Reitz said. As soon as we see regulation, youll see a flurry of crypto products being offered to investors in South Africa.
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David La Rochelle is rebuilding his Silverado home that burned down during the 2017 Atlas Fire, and hes determined the new home wont share a similar fate.

The retired orthopedic surgeon is having a concrete house built by Santa Rosa-based Gateway Builders at the Westgate Drive site. Workers on a recent day scurried here and there as they worked on the walls amid a maze of temporary steel support beams.

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Its a fort, La Rochelle said.

But it wont look like a fort. Rather, the 9,853-square-foot house is to look for the most part like the previous house, in a style the architect calls modern Mediterranean.

Just dont look for a lot of wood. About the only wood to be seen at the construction site on a recent day was for the forms.

This house is designed not to burn.

Its made out of non-combustible materials, La Rochelle said as workers built his house. The only wood thats going to be in it is kitchen cabinets, cabinets in bathrooms, stuff like that.

Hell be ready for a worst-case scenario, too. The house will have a 7,000-gallon cistern to hold water for firefighting if local hydrants arent working during a wildfire. The water can also be used for irrigation.

La Rochelle pondered the odds of this house surviving the next wildfire if another wildfire happens.

I think its about 98% it will stand, he said. Theres nothing on the outside to burn, except for a few bushes that will be six feet from the house.

His concrete house isnt remotely like the concrete warehouses locals might often see being built in Napa Countys airport industrial area. David Hosking of Gateway Builders said this isnt tilt-up construction, where walls are cast and then lifted into place using cranes.

He and Gateway Builders President Matt Watson stood near the house-to-be where workers shot concrete through a hose onto fire-resistant RSG-3D insulated foam panels. The concrete sandwiches the panels.

One way fires start in homes amid wildfires is sparks go into the house through attic and floor vents. Hosking said the vents are used to control mold and mildew. Since concrete doesnt have a mold problem, vents arent needed with LaRochelles house.

If Hosking is right, people who see this house when its finished will be surprised.

Youd say, Is this a concrete house? It looks just like a regular house, he said.

La Rochelle said the concrete construction doesnt cost any more than wood construction.

The Westgate Drive area borders a very high fire severity zoned as mapped by Cal Fire. La Rochelle recalled the Atlas Peak wildfire of 1981, an arson-caused blaze that destroyed close to 60 homes.

He could see the fire coming down the hill near his house. No water was available from hydrants. The fire stopped advancing by his back fence and the house survived.

The Atlas Peak Fire was a close call for him. Far worse, though, was the night of Oct. 8, 2017, when the 2017 Atlas Fire broke out on Atlas Peak amid wind gusts reported up to 70 mph.

La Rochelle turned on the television news at 10 p.m. and the newscaster said people living in the Atlas Peak area should leave. He looked outside and could see the glow of fire on the ridgeline.

That was our warning, he said.

He returned to the house at 11:40 p.m. to get another car and his house still stood. He thought it would survive and thinks radiant heat ultimately was why it later caught on fire.

Westgate Drive was hit hard by the Atlas Fire. Today, vacant lots line portions of the street where homes once stood.

The La Rochelle project is to be finished by years end. Then La Rochelle will have what he calls a beautiful home thats built to withstand a wildfire.

The 2017 Atlas, Tubbs, and Nuns fires and 2020 LNU Lightning Complex and Glass fires destroyed 1,329 homes in Napa County and 938 of the owners have yet to file a rebuilding application, the county recently reported.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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When a flash mob of flag-bearing Palestinian activists attacked Jewish diners outside a Los Angeles delicatessen last summer, they shouted they were reacting to the fact that Jews in Israel had the temerity to defend themselves.

They didnt say it quite that way, but thats what they meant. The motive was similar when outright anti-Semites distributed propaganda pamphlets and posters to homes and public buildings in cities like San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and Santa Monica just before last months International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The materials falsely claimed The Covid Agenda is Jewish, even declaiming that some non-Jewish scientists it vilified are in fact Jews.

As in most anti-Semitic hate crimes, police responded with mere token efforts to identify and punish the perpetrators.

The Palestinian-expressed notion that Jews, wherever they live, should not defend themselves also seems an underlying reality of the current battle over demands that school districts, churches, state pension funds and the faculties of universities and colleges cut ties with the worlds only Jewish state, Israel.

That fight flared anew here during and after the latest major exchange of bombardments between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization that rules the city of Gaza, evacuated by Israel years ago to end its occupation.

News accounts of causes for that conflict were sketchy at best, reporting it was sparked by an Israeli effort to evict some Palestinians from homes theyve occupied for generations in Jerusalem.

In fact, the properties belonged to Jews for decades before the 1948 war in which the armies of seven Arab countries invaded Israel, with Jordanians seizing the buildings. The previous Jewish owners took back possession when Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War.

Todays Palestinian residents  still living there  refuse to pay rent, so owners sought last spring to oust them in a private action not involving the government.

Hundreds of Palestinians reacted by gathering at the Al Aqsa Mosque atop Jerusalems Temple Mount, hurling rocks at crowds of Jews praying before the base of the Western Wall about 60 feet directly below the mosque. Police moved in to stop the stoning.

Hamas answered with rocket fire from Gaza, countered by Israels air attacks on Hamas terror facilities, which often include weapons dumps in apartments or tunnels dug below homes, hospitals, and school buildings in Gaza.

The conflict fueled a wave of crimes against Jewish Americans, especially in California. In 2021, more than 80 percent of reported religious hate crimes in this state targeted Jews.

The upsurge in California anti-Semitism is part of a national picture dramatically played out in last months Texas synagogue hostage-taking.

There has been no anti-Semitic shooting or hostage situation in California since a 2019 synagogue murder in Poway. But thousands of demonstrators marched multiple times last year in California demanding Israels demise. The state saw a 40 percent increase in anti-Semitic hate incidents during 2020; they rose far more sharply after the latest Gaza conflict.

Did the demonstrators and hate criminals expect Jews in Israel not to retaliate for deadly rocket fire?

Similarly, do education bureaucrats expect Jews to capitulate to them as they minimize Jewish American achievements in California while pushing the states new ethnic studies mandate.?

That curriculum lionizes figures from the late 1960s prime of the often-violent Black Panthers, including onetime Panther leader Bobby Seale, but ignores California Jews who played key roles in shaping cities like San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles, including Levi Strauss, John Jones, Adolph Sutro, and Florence Kahn.

The battle over Israeli self-defense continues, too, with the United Teachers of Los Angeles, the states largest local teachers union, still undecided on a resolution demanding this country boycott, sanction, and divest from Israel because of its apartheid and war crimes.

The resolution ignores war crimes Hamas commits by hiding ammunition dumps behind innocents.

Palestinians, and especially their allies on college campuses, right now are unhappy when Israel defends itself effectively. That's a big shift for the world's Jews, who were intimidated for centuries when pogroms and inquisitions victimized them, ending in the Holocaust. But no longer.

Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It. Readers may reach him at tdelias@aol.com.
In 2021, a total of 458,700 tons of grain were imported to Armenia, of which 349,800 tons were wheat, the Ministry of Economy has informed in response to Armenian News-NEWS.am's written inquiry.

In 2020, grain imports amounted to 460,400 tons, of which wheat350,500 tons.

And in 2019, grain imports amounted to 353,100 tons, of which wheat250,300 tons.

In both cases, it is about 100 thousand tons (30%) less than in the next two years.

Such figures testify to Armenias growing dependence on foreign markets for that strategic product as a result of the 44-day Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war in the fall of 2020.

This connection can be seen by following the indicators of grain productionof about 150,000 tonsand export amount in Artsakh before the war. If we take into account that the amount of grain consumption in Artsakh was about 30,000 tons, even a simple calculation can show that Artsakh supplied those 100,000 tons of grain to Armenia annually, which Armenia now has to buy from third countries.

Let us add that 88% (in 2019) and 99% (in 2020) of Armenias wheat imports are from Russia.

Armenia imports grain also from Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and some other countries.
A fatal hit-and-run that stemmed from a fight between acquaintances over mayonnaise has ended with an Iowa man being sentenced to life in prison in the US, AP reported.

Kristofer Erlbacher, 29, of Woodbine, was sentenced Monday to a mandatory life sentence after being convicted in December of first-degree murder in the 2020 killing of 30-year-old Caleb Solberg, of Moorhead, the Des Moines Register reported.

Investigators have said the men were eating and drinking at a Moorhead bar the night of Dec. 17, 2020, when Erlbacher put mayonnaise on Solbergs food. A fist fight between the two men ensued, and Erlbacher left in his truck, making threats to hurt Solberg and others. The threats included calls to Solbergs half-brother, Craig Pryor, whom he later confronted and whose vehicle he rammed with his truck.

Prosecutors say later that night, Erlbacher spotted Solberg outside a cafe in nearby Pisgah and ran him down with his truck. He doubled back and ran over Solberg twice more to make sure Solberg was dead, officials said, and called Pryor to say he had just killed his brother.

Erlbacher unsuccessfully sought to reduce the charge to second-degree murder, arguing he acted recklessly because he was drunk and didnt intend to kill Solberg.
One dollar drops below AMD 450, euro also falls in Armenia

Armenia MFA says there is no discussion, agreement on re-demarcating border with Turkey

Cavusoglu claims there is agreement to clarify Armenia-Turkey border

Azerbaijan president receives Brice Roquefeuil

Armenia ex-defense minister: These authorities are able to use force inside the country

Police: 244 people apprehended in Yerevan as of 2pm

Incident involving disobedience march participants occurs at Armenian State Pedagogical University

Yerevan Police apprehend opposition MP

Police: 199 people apprehended in Yerevan as of noon

Armenia defense ministry refutes Azerbaijan MOD statement

Resistance Movement coordinator says they will assemble at France Square in downtown Yerevan at 6pm

Armenia parliament opposition faction leader: More than 200 people apprehended

The Azeri Times: Azerbaijan closes airspace for Russia military aircraft to disrupt transportation to Armenia

Bill Gates warns of more fertile' COVID-19 variant

Police: 3 dozen intersections in Yerevan were closed off by citizens since morning

Armenia PM congratulates several Arab countries leaders on Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr

3 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Journalist falls ill during scuffle at civil disobedience action in Yerevan

Armenia ex-ruling party official: I assess these actions of disobedience very positively

Armenia FM to head for US, will meet with Blinken

Armenia Police: 189 people apprehended so far in Yerevan

UN announces blocking of millions of tons of grain in Ukraine ports

Small plane crashes in Canada, 4 dead

125 people taken to Yerevan police stations

Erdogan says will hold talks with Putin this week

Quake hits Armenia-Georgia border zone

One person falls ill during oppositions peaceful disobedience action in downtown Yerevan

Resistance Movement coordinator says 14 streets currently blocked by citizens in Yerevan

Peaceful civil disobedience actions kick off in Yerevan early morning

Hungary says 10 European countries opened bank accounts in Russia to pay for natural gas in rubles

Finland to build fences along Russia border

Armenia ex-President Serzh Sargsyan: For 10 years international community said Artsakh should self-determine

Putin signs decree on measures to ensure Russia information security

3rd President Serzh Sargsyan is at Yerevans France Square

Opposition continues to keep France Square in downtown Yerevan closed

Europe asks Russia natural gas giant to increase supplies

Clashes break out between police and anarchists in Paris

The Jerusalem Post: Time for Israel to not fear Turkey and to recognize Armenian Genocide

Armenia opposition lawmaker: People are constantly approaching ex-president Kocharyan (VIDEO)

Putin bans foreign investors from organizing regular transfers on public-private, city-private partnership basis

Ex-defense minister: Prior to 44-day war it was possible to negotiate in such way that Armenia will not be at war

Police dispatching additional forces to Yerevans France Square

Opposition to set up tents at France Square in downtown Yerevan (PHOTOS)

Armenia opposition MP: How did US, France, Russia talk about Karabakh status after war?

Resistance Movement coordinator: Armenian people told whole world that they are masters of their destiny, future

Huge opposition rally kicks off in downtown Yerevan

Armenia former ruling party official says ex-President Serzh Sargsyan will attend today's opposition rally

Russia to impose $101M fine on Google

Resistance Movement marches reach French Square in Yerevan

Turkey police beat, detain dozens in May Day demonstrations

Armenia international airports passenger traffic doubles in first quarter of 2022

Nancy Pelosi visits Kyiv, meets with Zelenskyy

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan defense ministry disseminating disinformation

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan joins opposition march to Yerevan

US Embassy in Armenia: Large crowds are unpredictable

Germany supports EU plans to give up Russian oil

Russia MOD announces airstrike on Odessa military airport

Italy cancels Covid certificates

Resistance Movement marches reaching Yerevan

Artsakh President receives Armenian Relief Society delegation

4 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Blinken, Kuleba discuss return of American diplomats to Ukraine

Armenia PM: Thanks to joint efforts and work we were able to overcome these crisis situations

Person commits suicide by hanging self in Armenias Artik

US, UK hold talks to reduce risk of war with China over Taiwan

1 dead, several injured in US festival shooting

Drought causes megafire in US New Mexico

Biden resumes White House Correspondents' Dinner tradition, Kim Kardashian among celebrity guest

Turkey expresses readiness to support UN efforts on Ukraine

Survey: Erdogan's rating falls again after slight improvement

China launches new remote sensing satellites

Clashes between police and protesters against anti-coronavirus measures in Ottawa

Denmark sends Piranha 3 APCs and heavy mortars to Ukraine

Macron promises Zelenskyy to increase military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine

Egyptian tricycle carrying 13 children sinks in Nile Delta killing at least 8 children

Iraqi PM: Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are coming to an end

Russian MFA: Dialogue with US on strategic stability is frozen

Indian authorities seize 90 kg of heroin-soaked yarn worth $58 million at port

Germany sues Italy to the International Court of Justice

Parents of fallen soldiers protests at Armenian Prosecutor General's Office building
YEREVAN.  Past daily writes. The Russian Ministry of Defense will receive 98 new Mi-28 helicopters by 2027, which will be armed with S-8 missiles with 80-millimeter caliber. ().

Those missiles were being purchased by the Soviet, and then the countriesincluding Armeniaacquiring Russian armaments. And now the same Russia has allocated 9.7 billion rubles to buy the same missiles manufactured in 1991. It is about the existing remnants of the same missiles once manufactured in its own country and supplied to other countries.

This information is noteworthy for Armenia in the sense that at present, the head of the company supplying weapons to Armenia, Davit Galstyan (Patron Davit), and the former Minister of Defense, Davit Tonoyan, are charged [in Armenia] with buying low-quality missiles. Moreover, it is about the above-mentioned missiles. Years ago, by order of the Armenian Ministry of Defense, Davit Galstyan bought and delivered 4,232 such missiles [to Armenia].

And the fact that Russia not only does not sell, but also started buying back those missiles, as their number is quite small, proves in itself that that these missiles are of high quality and within [their] time limit.
A joint Russian-Chinese statement approved as a result of Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Beijing symbolizes a transition to a completely different structure of international relations, according to The Daily Telegraph, TASS reported.

The newspaper notes that Putins meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital that took place "at a moment of immense international tension," is ushering in "the arrival of a new geopolitical era." According to the article, "from now on, the dominance of the US-led global West will no longer be taken for granted - or tolerated."

The article asserts that "after decades of humiliation, the worlds autocratic superpowers have risen from their knees and will now up-end the inequitable post-Cold War world order." That said, the newspaper names the Russian president as "the immediate winner." According to it, having China as an ally will help Russia strengthen its positions in the global political arena as well as soften the consequences of possible Western sanctions in case of Russias hypothetical invasion of Ukraine. According to the newspaper, "by throwing Chinas full weight behind the grand bargain Mr Putin has demanded from the West, he is giving Moscow much more leverage."

The Daily Telegraph also emphasizes that the close partnership between China and Russia does not allow the US to shift the focus of attention to the situation in the Pacific region which Washington views as the priority foreign policy direction. That said, the newspaper notes that even though Russia has "a huge nuclear arsenal and an army that is battle-hardened and effective," "richer" and "more populous" China will have the upper hand in the relations between the two countries. It concludes that "for now though, they have a common goal: the end of Pax Americana."
Prisoners are released from Welikada prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)

COLOMBO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday granted amnesty to 197 prisoners on the country's 74th Independence Day, the government information department said.

The prisoners were released at a ceremony held in Colombo's Welikada prison.

The prison's spokesperson Chandana Ekanayake said those released were serving minor sentences and some of them had not been able to pay their fines. Prisoners over the age of 65 and those who had completed 50 percent of the jail term were also among those who were released under the presidential pardon.

The amnesty did not apply to those convicted for murder, drug offences, rape and armed robbery, Ekanayake said.

Sri Lanka got its independence from British rule on Feb. 4 of 1948, and a grand military parade was held to celebrate its 74th Independence Day. 

Prisoners are released from Welikada prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)

Prisoners are released from Welikada prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)
The US sanction waiver on Iran is "insufficient" to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday, Xinhua reported.

Iran is waiting for the United States to fulfill its duties and obligations regarding the lifting of sanctions, Khatibzadeh told Jamaran news website.

"The news we hear today is about a dimension of lifting nuclear sanction, and everyone knows that this is not enough," Khatibzadeh said, adding that, "what the United States needs to do is to lift all sanctions, including the nuclear sanctions."

The US government on Friday restored the sanction waiver to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, while the Vienna talks, which were initiated about 10 months ago to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program, have now reached a crucial stage.
Gurgaon (Haryana) [India], February 5 (ANI/PNN): Sagacious IP, one of the largest IP research and consulting firms globally, announced its recognition after being certified as a "Great People Manager Company" by the Great Manager Institute. The certificate is a testimony to years of hard work and commitment towards building a people-centric organization with a core focus on employee well-being and overall growth. People managers are essential to the plan of building a successful organization. That is why; Sagacious IP has a systematic and well-laid out process for training and nurturing its managers. Great People Manager Study is the largest study of People Managers and Leaders in India that helps to recognize Great People Managers and the companies that nurture them. The 2021 cycle of the study involved registrations of 10,273 leaders and managers (including self-nominations) from 4,189 organizations, spanning all sectors. The evaluation was done for about 18 months starting April 2020, thus being able to assess and analyze greatness in leadership during one of the worst crises ever faced by humankind. To achieve the certification of "Great People Manager Company," a survey was performed to gauge the state of a company's work culture and its managers. The survey questionnaire collated feedback of Managers on subjects related to effective communication, technical expertise, leadership traits, strategic thinking, and reputation. People managers at Sagacious IP performed exceptionally well on the index reaffirming its beliefs and values and based on the cumulative people managerial effectiveness score, it emerged as a company of Great People Managers. Sagacious IP understands the importance of people as its most valuable asset. Therefore, it is constantly rediscovering its learning and training program for managers with changing times. For example, even during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company demonstrated resilience with low to moderate effect on its employee. On the recognition, Tarun Kumar Bansal, President, Sagacious IP, stated that the certificate is a culmination of years of painstaking work and commitment towards improving our employee's productivity, happiness, and welfare. The certification strengthens our tenets and inspires us to achieve even more illustrious feats for our employees and people's managers. Sagacious IP truly believes that the fortune of a company is positively correlated to the well-being of its people. This desire propels the company to invest its resource actively to prepare the next generation of bold, innovative, and compassionate people's managers. Sagacious IP is an award-winning IP research solutions provider working with the world's largest companies, law firms, institutions, research organizations, and inventors to help them monetize, defend, and expand their patent portfolios and drive innovation within their industries. For more information visit: https://www.sagaciousresearch.com/ This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
New Delhi [India], February 5 (ANI/PNN): BSE listed, ARC Finance Ltd, an NBFC, Non-Deposit taking Non Banking Finance Company engaged primarily in the business of advancing loans and investing/trading in securities has informed the BSE that its board will meet on February 11, 2022, to consider proposal for sub division of equity shares of Rs.10 each to Re.1 each. The Company has been able to give the significant upward performance in terms of Sales, Profitability from the last five years. The financial parameters of the company are the indicators of its performance and the company has been able to outshine and stand among the other players in the Finance Industry. Finance company offers loans in various segments including small scale and large scale industries for affordable rates. The company is also offering Micro finance loans in different sectors. Company offers loans to the customers for their expansions of business and widely operates in very large scale in terms of financing and rendering financial services to their customers. The company operates from branches in urban, semi-urban & rural areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat, Eastern India, etc. with own offices, direct selling agents and business partners. ARC has a strong Loan book too which it is planning to increase in coming time very shortly. As per a recent survey, Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) continue to grow in the personal loan (PL) segment in volume terms, doubling their market share in the last two years up, whereby companies like Comfort would tend to be benefitted substantially. Also this helps in expanding their borrower base rapidly and provides cross-sell opportunities for other financial products & services. With the Budget laying thrust on infra related sector, ARC would tend to benefit as its loan and financing to infra sector could improve substantially. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], February 5 (ANI/PNN): Ajay's Takeaway Food, which started with a small outlet in Gujarat's Navsari town offering hot coffee, burgers, and pizzas celebrated a landmark occasion in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) history with the launch of its 100th outlet on the Vasana Road in Vadodara on February 5. The launch marks an important step in the brand's attempt to establish its footprint in the burgeoning food service market in Gujarat. In a very short span of eight years, Ajay's has spread its wings by setting up outlets in Surat, Navsari, Billimora, Valsad, Chikhli, Ankleshwar, Bharuch and Vadodara. The brand has big plans to penetrate pan-India. Ajay's, which began its journey in Navsari town in 2014 with the business principle of serving tasty, high-quality, and affordable food, is giving established multinationals a run for their money by demonstrating a better ability to penetrate the market and target lower price-points. Ajay's Takeaway Food is the brainchild of the two Gujarati brothers--Ajay Solanki and his elder brother Jaideep Solanki. After they shifted from Pune to Navsari in Gujarat along with their parents in 2012, they opened their first store, which was not branded as Ajay's. The success of the first venture inspired them to open a second location, but it failed miserably. They realised that successful businesses have distinct brands and provide something unique. MNC-operated fast-food chains were out of reach for a large segment of the population. This is how Ajay's was born in August-2014 on the philosophy of providing branded and hygienic burgers, pizza, and cold coffee at reasonable prices. Ajay Solanki, the founder of Ajay's, which is named after him and his elder brother Jaideep Solanki, said, "During COVID-19 pandemic, like most businesses, Ajay's too bore the burnt, and from 21 outlets, the number fell to 13 within two months of the nationwide lockdown. We adopted multi-pronged strategy by reducing entry barriers with zero franchising fees and scrapped the 5 per cent royalty on sales. Today, more than 75 per cent of our franchise outlets are run by entrepreneurs below 35 years." Starting from 2014 to 2015, Ajay's established three outlets in Navsari. In 2016, the first franchise of Ajay's Takeaway Food was set up in Surat's Nanpura. The food-loving people of Surat accepted the reasonably priced burgers, pizzas, and cold coffee offered by Ajay's and there was no looking back. From 2017 to 2021, Ajay's spread its wings by setting up more outlets in Surat, Navsari, Billimora, Valsad, Chikhli, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, and Vadodara. Jaideep Solanki, co-founder of Ajay's said, "Like our philosophy of affordable food, we are offering franchise for Rs 8 lakh, allowing the budding entrepreneurs to make a windfall of profits." This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
New Delhi [India], February 4 (ANI/ATK): Sandeep Kumar Mishra from India, a poet, artist, editor and lecturer, is among the top ten poets from around the world, who has been selected to be featured in 'New Millennium Writings Award-2021. Mishra's poem "Immigration: A Tree Without Roots," will be published in an anthology by New Millennium Writings literary magazine in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the second oldest literary magazine in Tennessee and has the largest circulation of any literary magazine in that state. It is the 52nd New Millennium Writings Awards given yearly since 1996. The other poets shortlisted for the 52nd New Millennium Writings Awards are John Collen (USA), Tessa Swackhammer (Canada) Stephen Toskar (Japan), Yael Hacohen (Israel) and Ruth Osman (Trinidad and Tobago) and others. In 'Immigration' Indian poet Sandeep Kumar Mishra shares his own experience and history with Australian immigration. He left his family home in order to escape the financial crisis and in search of a freer, more peaceful life. Upon arrival in Australia, he was met with unemployment, hunger, health issues and racism and the various struggles outlined in the poem. He is still uncertain about his future as he has been refused visa to stay in Australia. Mishra is one of ten finalists in the competition selected from around the world. The work that has been selected for this award has been republished in the O Henry Prize Anthology, Best New Stories from the South and the Pushcart Prize collection. Among past winners are Robert Clark Young, Laura S. Distelheim, Morgan McDermott, and Vivian Shipley. Winner of a Golden Press Award for Excellence, the magazine has published such notable authors as Susan Vreeland, Madison Smartt Bell and Shelby Foote, and interviews with literary giants like John Updike and Norman Mailer. As we know Sandeep Kumar Mishra, has also been shortlisted for "International Book Awards-2021" by American Book Fest. His book "One Heart- Many Break" is also featured at "The 2021 New York Book Festival. He also has awards such as "Indian Achievers Award-21", "IPR Annual Award-2020" and "Literary Titan Award-2020", "Indies Today Book of the Year Award 2020" and "Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize 2021" and "Oprelle Rise up Poetry Prize 2021". He was also "The Story Mirror Author of the Year" nominee-2019. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
Dubai [UAE], February 5 (ANI/NewsVoir): Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala along with H.E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, and Commissioner General of EXPO2020 Dubai yesterday inaugurated the Kerala state floor at India Pavilion in EXPO2020 Dubai. H.E. Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, P Rajeev, Minister for Law, Industries and Coir, Government of Kerala and Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to UAE were also present at the occasion. Talking about the investment opportunities in Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala said, "Kerala has consistently been among the top five states in India for social development and sustainability indicators as per the UN Sustainable Development Goals with its high Human Development Index, and a host of reforms initiated on the industrial front. I certainly hope that companies and businesses in the UAE would be able to take advantage of the business-friendly environment in Kerala to make our partnership stronger." "The Government of Kerala is committed to improving the ease of doing business in the state. Several initiatives including the simplification of procedures and enablement of digital engagement channels have also been introduced to strengthen the state's economy," he added. Vijayan also said that the UAE has a massive diaspora of almost 1.2 million Malayali people living in the country. The EXPO2020 will, therefore, help in strengthening the base and cementing the future of both regions. H. E. Dr Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, UAE said, "India ranks as the UAE's number one trading partner that accounts for 40 per cent of non-oil exports. India is a crucial trade partner for the UAE, and we look forward to strengthening our trade relations, especially, with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)." P. Rajeev, Minister for Law, Industries & Coir, Government of Kerala said, "Today, Kerala stands distinct in terms of innovative steps taken towards industrialization of the state. We have strengthened an ecosystem for attracting more investment and are working towards generating more employment opportunities. We hope the EXPO2020 Dubai will help us to showcase the credential and achievements of 'God's own country' to the world." Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to UAE said, "The presence of Shri Vijayan means a lot to the large Malayali community in the UAE. Despite the pandemic, UAE stands out at a very bright spot by showcasing to the world how this whole situation is to be dealt with. I am confident that all the Indian states including Kerala will connect with the UAE for innovation, start-ups and investment opportunities." The event was also attended by APM Mohammed Hanish IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Kerala, Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai and Deputy Commissioner-General for India at EXPO2020, MG Rajamanickam IAS, MD, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), S Harikishore, IAS, Director of Industries & Commerce, Government of Kerala and MA Yusuff Ali, Chairman, Lulu Group International and Vice Chairman, Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department, Government of Kerala along with senior state Government officials, eminent industrialists based in the UAE and NRK business community. The inaugural ceremony was followed by cultural performances by artists from Kerala. The event was attended by Pinarayi Vijayan, H.E. Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Managing Director for the EXPO2020 Dubai, Sunjay Sudhir along with Malayalam cinema star & producer Mammootty. The Kerala Week at India Pavilion will conclude on February 10, 2022. To know more about India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit: Website - www.indiaexpo2020.com/ Facebook - www.facebook.com/indiaatexpo2020/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/indiaatexpo2020/ Twitter - twitter.com/IndiaExpo2020?s=09 LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/india-expo-2020/?viewAsMember=true YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UC6uOcYsc4g_JWMfS_Dz4Fhg/featured Koo - www.kooapp.com/profile/IndiaExpo2020 To know more about EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit - www.expo2020dubai.com/en. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Croatian National Council for the Introduction of the Euro reveals the officially approved design of the Croatian euro and cent coins to be used at the start of next year, in Croatia, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Slavko Midzor/PIXSELL via Xinhua)

ZAGREB, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Croatian National Council for the Introduction of the Euro on Friday revealed the officially approved design of the Croatian euro and cent coins to be used at the start of next year.

The frontal motif of the 2-euro coin will show a geographical map of Croatia, and the 1-euro coin, the marten.

The euro coins of 50, 20, and 10 cents will feature an effigy of Nikola Tesla, who was best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system, and the 1, 2 and 5 cents coins, the Glagolitic script.

"The checkerboard motif, which is part of the Croatian emblem, is selected as a common background of all coins. The message is the recognizability of Croatia," Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a session of the Council.

Croatia joined the European Union in 2013 and is expected to replace the national currency Kuna with euro on Jan. 1, 2023. 

Croatian National Council for the Introduction of the Euro reveals the officially approved design of the Croatian euro and cent coins to be used at the start of next year, in Croatia, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Slavko Midzor/PIXSELL via Xinhua)

Croatian National Council for the Introduction of the Euro reveals the officially approved design of the Croatian euro and cent coins to be used at the start of next year, in Croatia, on Feb. 4, 2022. (Slavko Midzor/PIXSELL via Xinhua)
American actor Julia Fox has set the record straight on her pre-Kanye West love life by addressing a report that she dated Drake in 2020. According to People magazine, the 'Uncut Gems' actor talked about this on her 'Forbidden Fruits' podcast and said that "nothing really happened." Though she did not completely deny any romance or intimacy between her and Drake, the actor said Kanye is already well aware of her connection to the 'Certified Lover Boy' artist. "He's a great guy and a gentleman... and that was it. Nothing really happened, we were just, like, friends hanging out," Fox said, adding, "I wouldn't say that we were dating." Fox further claimed that the once foes have put their issues behind them, after West said in November that "it's time to put it to rest" and later reunited onstage with Drake, for the 'Free Larry Hoover' benefit concert in December. She noted, "I feel like they've squashed their issues. Obviously, when I first started speaking to Ye, I told him immediately, I think on the first day, before it went any further, because I'm just an honest person." Drake's complicated relationship with the 'Donda' artist goes back as far as 2007, although he's referred to West as "the most influential person" in music. Even their loved ones have not been immune to the on-and-off feud, which included rumours that Drake once shared a romance with Kanye's estranged wife Kim Kardashian, who later dispelled the speculation. Fox has been open about her budding romance with West, revealing in her Interview magazine column that they shared an "instant connection" after meeting in Miami on New Year's Eve. Prior to recently establishing 'Juliye' as their couple nickname, Fox has been open about her romance with West. She had revealed in her 'Interview' magazine column that they shared an "instant connection" after meeting him in Miami on New Year's Eve. A source previously told People magazine that despite Kanye's new relationship with Fox, "he's still telling people that he wants to have Kim Kardashian, who filed for divorce last year, back and he is willing to make appropriate changes to do so." Fox shares a 1-year-old son Valentino with ex-husband Peter Artemiev. Meanwhile, Kanye and Kim, who are going through a divorce, are co-parents to daughters North, Chicago and sons Saint and 2-year-old Psalm. Since October, the 'SKIMS' founder has been romantically linked to Pete Davidson. (ANI)
According to Variety, the production on the sequel, 'Meg 2: The Trench', has started with a splash at Warner Bros. owned Leavesden Studios outside London, where the 'Harry Potter' and 'Batman' franchises were also made.

The upcoming film, directed by Ben Wheatley, will be about a murderous 80-foot prehistoric shark. Wheatley has taken the reins over from Jon Turteltaub, who directed the first instalment of the franchise, which took USD 530 million worldwide.

In the sequel, Statham and Bingbing Li are expected to reprise their roles. The former was US Navy rescue diver Jonas and Li was oceanographer Suyin.

During his early years, Statham has been a world-class diver, competing as a member of Britain's National Diving Squad and even represented the country at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Other returning members for the upcoming film include screenwriters Dean Georgaris, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber along with producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Belle Avery and executive producer Catherine Xujun Ying.

As per Variety, 'The Meg', in which Statham battled a monstrous prehistoric shark after it emerged from the world's deepest ocean trench, was based on Steve Alten's 1997 book 'Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror'. (ANI)
American actor Brian Austin Green is expecting his first child with girlfriend Sharna Burgess. As per People magazine, the 'Dancing with the Stars' pro is pregnant, expecting her first baby with boyfriend Green. The actor is already dad to kids Journey River, Bodhi Ransom, and Noah Shannon with ex Megan Fox as well as 19-year-old son Kassius from a previous relationship. The couple, who started dating five months after Green confirmed his split from Fox after nearly 10 years of marriage in May 2020, were photographed in Hawaii where Burgess put her baby bump on display. A few photos have been doing the rounds on the internet. In one photo, Green can be seen cradling his girlfriend's belly while the two look lovingly at one another. The pregnancy news comes one month after Fox announced her engagement to Machine Gun Kelly, whom she's been dating for nearly two years. Last month, a source told People magazine that Green has no bad blood with his ex. The former couple filed their divorce judgment on October 15 and it will soon be finalised. "As long as they're both on the same page with the kids, he's good and happy for her," the source said, referencing the pair's three children. "They're strictly co-parents," the source added. "He's got another woman that he's super into. He's entirely moved on." In October, Green and Burgess celebrated their one-year anniversary, with Green writing on Instagram at the time, "1 year of accepting me in a way I've never been loved before #damnimlucky." "We met at a coffee shop, then had a few dates and then we were locked in a house together," Burgess told People magazine in June of her love story with Green. "I was grateful for that because it allowed us to really take our time, and it was really awesome." The actor said that meeting Burgess "was something I'd never experienced before in my life," adding: "On our first date, we just completely lost track of time and the same thing happened the next time. It became something noticeably different from anything I'd ever experienced before." "I wasn't sure what that meant until the first time we kissed, and then it was the attraction and a whole bunch more. It was really cool," Green said. "And we really have the same moral compass." Green and Burgess first sparked dating rumours in December 2020, when they were photographed kissing during a Hawaiian getaway. A month later, the actor confirmed that he had started seeing Burgess calling her "super sweet and caring, passionate, fun to be around." (ANI)
Lily James has revealed that she was unable to recognise herself after her transformation into Pamela Anderson for her role in the series 'Pam & Tommy'. Fox News obtained quotes of James from her recent interview on James Corden's 'Late Late Show', in which she revealed what went on behind the scenes in order to resemble the actress and former Playboy model. She recalled slipping into the iconic red swimsuit Anderson donned for 'Baywatch' for the first time. "I was very nervous about that day, obviously, because it just feels so iconic. It was wild. Over the four hours, the transformation that took place it was full-on with the makeup and the different prosthetics I had on, it was weird," James said. The 32-year-old star admitted, "I sort of lost myself." "I couldn't see myself anymore. Then I would get be in the bathing suit and then I'd be in my trailer doing my press-ups and getting the blood flowing," she said with a laugh. The miniseries, which became available for streaming on Wednesday, explores the sex tape scandal that rocked Anderson and Tommy Lee's relationship. But mastering Anderson wasn't just about her appearance. James also discussed repeating the phrases Anderson used that served as "anchors" to get into character. She said her favourite was taken from an appearance on MTV's former 'Cribs', where Anderson yelled, "Security! Security!" "In America, well, everyone has security, but particularly here there'd be a couple security guards on set and they'd always run over," James said. James co-stars in the miniseries opposite Sebastian Stan as Lee. The sex tape scandal all started in 1994 when the rocker and the Playboy cover girl met at a New Year's Eve party. Lee was freshly single after he and his wife of seven years, actress Heather Locklear, called it quits. Lee and Anderson crossed paths at Hollywood club Sanctuary, where they shared a drink. The pair later connected while Anderson was preparing to leave town for a photoshoot in Cancun, Mexico. The Motley Crue drummer flew to Cancun and tracked Anderson to the Ritz-Carlton. Within 96 hours, the pair said "I do" on the beach and tattooed each other's names on their ring fingers. Shortly after tying the knot, the newlyweds filmed a sex tape and took explicit photos meant for their eyes only. The X-rated footage would later come back to haunt them. Anderson has walked down the aisle five times. Her most recent marriage to bodyguard Dan Hayhurst ended after one year. As for Lee, he married internet personality Brittany Furlan in 2019. (ANI)
Choreographer Brinda's Tamil directorial debut is coming to cinemas on March 3, 2022. Earlier, the film was slated to release on February 25.

Taking to his Instagram handle on Saturday, Dulquer unveiled a refreshing new poster of the film, along with the release date.

In the caption, he wrote, "Choreographer and now director @brinda_gopal's debut film #HeySinamika coming to cinemas from March 3rd. Gear up for a quirky rom-com ft @kajalaggarwalofficial @aditiraohydari and myself. Music - @govindvasantha and Story - @madhankarky #HeySinamikaFromMarch3 #DQ33."

Touted to be a romantic comedy, the film will be produced by Jio Studios in association with Global One Studios. (ANI)
Offering fun glimpses of snow season in Moscow, Raashii Khanna has now slipped into her new project 'Sardar' with Karthi Ravivarma.

Khanna announced the commencement of her next project on her Instagram story.

Recently, the actress wrapped the shooting schedule of 'Thank You' with Naga Chaitanya in Moscow.

Apart from 'Thank You' and 'Sardar', the 31-year-old actor also has 'Yodha', 'Rudra: The Edge of Darkness' and Shahid Kapoor starrer action thriller OTT drama directed by Raj and DK. (ANI)
Actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya has been garnering praises for his roles in the recently released 'Looop Lapeta' and 'Rocket Boys'. For the unversed, he plays a nuclear physicist in 'Rocket Boys', headlined by Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh. In 'Looop Lapeta', he essays the role of a gangster chef. Expressing gratitude to the makers for giving him such amazing opportunities, Dibyendu said," Both the projects are visibly different in nature, and that, I say, is the beauty of the OTT space. While the viewers will see me as a gangster in one movie, they will also get to see me as a mindful physicist in one. The mindset, the effort, and the execution for both the roles were different, but both of them allow me to dig into my craft at different levels." He added, "I am anything but honoured to be able to be a part of entertaining projects and be able to practice my art in such forward times, working with such fine performers, directors like Abhay Pannu and Aakash Bhatia, and technically sound crew." Dibyendu also has an interesting slate of projects coming ahead, including Khuda Haafiz: Chapter II, season 2 of Jamtara, Andekhi, The Gone Game, among others. (ANI)
Streaming giant Netflix is in early talks to make a movie on 'Tinder Swindler', an eye-opening documentary about a notorious con man who used the dating app to defraud multiple women. According to Variety, Netflix is in talks with producers to make a movie on the 'Tinder Swindler' documentary. Sources told that the conversation is in the early stages and that the tone of a potential film is still being worked out. 'The Tinder Swindler' debuted on the streaming service only on Wednesday, and it's already cracking the platform's Top 10 lists in the US and UK. Produced by 'Three Identical Strangers' makers Raw TV, alongside AGC Studios and Gaspin Media, the 114-minute documentary tells the story of Israeli fraudster Shimon Hayut, who conned Scandinavian women into parting with hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending on dating app Tinder to be Simon Leviev, the son of Israeli diamond tycoon Lev Leviev. The documentary directed by Felicity Morris, interviews the women who were conned by Hayut as they uncover his true identity with the help of journalists from Norwegian newspaper VG, and bring him to justice. Hayut, who was imprisoned in Israel in December 2019 on a 15-month jail sentence (of which he served just over five months), conned his victims by romancing them with expensive dates and forming long-distance relationships with them. He then asked them to take out lines of credit for him under their names in order to pay for what he claimed to be were extensive security needs. Hayut who currently resides in Israel has more than 2,00,000 followers on social media. As per Variety, Hayut shared an Instagram story on Friday indicating he is prepared to tell his version of the story. The producer on 'Tinder Swindler' is Bernadette Higgins, while executive producers are Bart Layton and Sam Starbuck for All3Media-owned Raw TV; Jeff Gaspin and Eric Levy for Gaspin Media; and Stuart Ford and Lourdes Diaz for AGC Studios. (ANI)
The film is presented by Jayantilal Gada (Pen Studios) in association with A Studios. Pen Marudhar will be distributing the film in the North Territory.

Talking about the Hindi release, Jayantilal said, "As the times have changed, now there is a demand for original content, as the audience likes to see the film in its purest form. The content of Khiladi is extremely entertaining combined with Ravi Teja's popularity across India, Pen Studios felt that his movie should also be released in the Hindi language too, in cinemas."

Helmed by Ramesh Varma, the film also stars Meenakshi Chaudhary and Dimple Hayathi in lead roles. (ANI)
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has started with her Platinum Jubilee celebrations with her first outing of 2022. According to People Magazine, the Queen, 95, hosted a reception at Sandringham House on the eve of her Accession Day on Saturday, which will mark the 70th anniversary of her reign. Surrounded by representatives from local charities and members of the Sandringham Estate, she cut a special cake that was decorated with the emblem of the Platinum Jubilee and was given gifts, including a mosaic created by local children. Among the guests in the Ballroom was Angela Wood, who helped create the original recipe for Coronation Chicken, which was made in 1953 as Britain celebrated when the monarch was crowned at Westminster Abbey. The coronation took place more than a year after Elizabeth became Queen following the death of her father King George VI on February 6, 1952. Looking cheery and upbeat, the Queen was joined at Saturday morning's party by fellow members of the Sandringham branch of the Women's Institute. The Queen, who has been a member of the local women's group since 1943, usually attends a meeting with them at a local village church hall when she is staying at Sandringham after Christmas. This year's meeting was not able to take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. As the Hunstanton Concert Band entertained the party, she talked with pensioners and their families, as well as representatives from local charities Little Discoverers, which provides early education for pre-school children with movement difficulties and delayed development, and West Norfolk Befriending, which aims to reduce social isolation by uniting isolated older people in the local area. After meeting the guests, the Queen cut a cake that had been made by a local resident and was given flowers, including lily of the valley that had formed part of The Queen's Coronation bouquet in 1953. The concert band played 'Congratulations' as she left Sandringham House. Queen Elizabeth has remained largely out of the public eye in recent months amid a series of health setbacks. She was seen walking with a cane for the first time since 2003 this past October. Shortly thereafter, it was reported she had been advised to give up horse riding and martinis, and she was hospitalized overnight on October 20 for undisclosed "preliminary investigations." On October 29, the Queen was advised to extend her rest period and only "to undertake light, desk-based duties." A weekend of festivities to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee is planned for June. Beginning on June 2, events will include Trooping the Colour (the annual public festivities for the Queen's birthday), the lighting of Platinum Jubilee beacons, a service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, the Derby at Epsom Downs, a live concert called 'Platinum Party at the Palace', the Big Jubilee Lunch and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. Sunday will see the Queen become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. (ANI)
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who came to China for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who came to China for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Xi said that the bilateral relations between China and Tajikistan have reached a historical high of comprehensive strategic partnership over the past 30 years since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, calling Tajikistan an "ironclad friend."

Hailing the unbreakable political mutual trust and staunch mutual support between the two countries, Xi said China is willing to work with Tajikistan to push for new development of their relations.

Xi stressed China's firm support for the Tajik side to safeguard national independence, sovereignty, security and for the Tajik people to realize the development goal toward prosperity.

Xi called on the two sides to step up cooperation on green energy, digital economy and e-commerce, among others.

He also expressed China's readiness to expand the import of high-quality Tajik farm products and accelerate the building of a Luban Workshop in Tajikistan, which will be the first in Central Asia.

Xi said China is willing to provide support and assistance to Tajikistan in its COVID-19 response and stands ready to work with Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries to enhance anti-terrorism cooperation.

Calling China Tajikistan's good neighbor, friend and partner, Rahmon said deepening Tajikistan-China friendly relationship has been, is and will remain a priority for his country's foreign policy.

He said Tajikistan is willing to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation and welcomes China's increased investment in Tajikistan and expanded import of Tajik farm products.

He also called on the two sides to deepen educational, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, as well as communication and coordination in safeguarding regional security and stability.

The two sides signed an economic and trade cooperation plan between the two governments. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who came to China for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
The family of late 'Walking Dead' actor Moses J. Moseley does not think he committed suicide, but they believe that he was kidnapped and murdered. Moses' sister, Teerea Kimbro, told TMZ that everyone who was close to the actor knew he loved life and she believes "with all her heart" that he "was kidnapped and then killed three days later." TMZ broke the story that law enforcement sources told Moses' body was found in Georgia on Wednesday and cops were investigating his death as a possible suicide. But, Moses' sister says he had booked a taping for the Monday before his body was found but never showed up, something she says he would never do. She went on to say he loved where his career was heading and they were planning big things in the near future. Cops also told TMZ that they found Moses' body in his car with the doors locked, a gun in his lap and a facial bullet wound. His sister said investigators told her the gun in question was one of hers adding she and Moses liked to go to the gun range and that he had a license to carry. The family said that cops told them they're looking at possible foul play. Henry County Police Captain Randy Lee told TMZ that "It is being investigated as a possible suicide, however, detectives are following any and all available avenues and not ruling anything out." A service will be held for Moses on Saturday in his hometown in South Carolina. (ANI)
Ahead of Goa Assembly elections, Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that fight in Goa exists only between two parties, which are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, and no other party. "The fight is between Congress and BJP and not with other parties so don't waste your votes," while addressing a virtual public rally in Sankhali (Sanquelim) which is the constituency of BJP Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Attacking BJP, he said that BJP has remained a complete failure in the areas of COVID-19 management, livelihood, tourism. Further claiming that the Congress party will form the government in Goa, he said, "With a full majority, Congress will form government in Goa. We want that the Congress party form government with full majority in Goa with the help of voters." "I appeal to you to vote for the government that listens to you," he added. He further stated, "This time Congress has taken a firm stance not to give tickets to the defectors who backstabbed us. We have given tickets to new people. With the full majority, Congress will form a government in Goa." Earlier today, all the 40 candidates of Congress and Goa Forward Party on Friday pledged to be united and to be loyal to Congress in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, said a press release. Goa will go to the Assembly polls on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
One of the killed terrorists has been identified as Ikhlaq Hajam, who was also involved in the recent killing of HC Ali Mohammad at Hassanpora, Anantnag, added the IGP.

Incriminating materials like two pistols were recovered from the terrorists, stated the IGP Kashmir.

"Two terrorists of terror outfit LeT/TRF neutralised by Srinagar Police. One of the killed terrorists, Ikhlaq Hajam, was involved in the recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at Hassanpora Anantnag. Incriminating materials including 2 pistols recovered: IGP Kashmir," tweeted Kashmir Police. (ANI)
"Rahul Gandhi is a tourist politician, he comes to Goa only before the elections," said Ravi during door-to-door campaign in Calangute for upcoming assembly elections in Goa.

"Unlike Congress, BJP does not sign agreements with China. Congress needs to be loyal to the country," he added.

On Trinamool Congress Party and Aam Aadmi Party campaigning in Goa, he said, "I ask Arvind Kejriwal to implement Goa's drainage system in New Delhi, while, Mamata Banerjee should adopt the Goa model in West Bengal.

"I request her not to bring West Bengal to Goa as it is all about murder, atrocities and rape. Goa has a good law and order system. She should implement the law order system of Goa in West Bengal. Goa's beautiful roads should be constructed in West Bengal by her," he added.

Goa will go to the Assembly polls on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
"Children of sanitation workers in my area do not have the facility to study online. If I win the election, I'll provide free Wi-Fi to them," said Edwin.

According to Edwin, Madurai's Subramaniapuram is a very important constituency and he is contesting the civic elections to serve the common people.

"My parents and I come from a slum area. Therefore, I am aware of their problems. I am here to serve them and help them as soon as a problem crops up and whatever is the problem," he said.

Asked about his manifesto, Edwin said, "I am giving students free education, Wi-Fi, medical camp. I have friends who are doctors in Madurai. They are helping me."

The Urban Local Body elections in Tamil Nadu will be held in a single phase on February 19. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that Gorakhpur will no longer be identified with the mafias and as of date, the "mafiawaadis" are now in jail. Addressing a conference on voter awareness in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said, "Gorakhpur will no longer be identified with the mafias. The mafiawaadis here are now adorning the jail. Women now feel safe and can roam freely even at night." The Chief Minister also lauded India's ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive. "Earlier, it was witnessed that vaccines for various illnesses used to come in India after a gap of 50 to 60 years. Within one and a half to two years of the Coronavirus driven pandemic, as many as two vaccines have been made in India and in UP, 100 per cent of the people have got the first dose," said the Chief Minister. He added, "Most of the central schemes that are there today.....Uttar Pradesh is either at the first position or on second position. Under the Samajwadi Party's government, only 18000 houses were approved for the poor in the entire state. In my tenure, as many as 32,000 houses have been given in the Gorakhpur metropolis." Prior to this address by him, Yogi Adityanath on Friday filed his nomination papers as a BJP candidate from Gorakhpur Urban constituency for the state assembly elections. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats. (ANI)
Priyanka, an MBA student while filing her nomination on Friday said, "I am filing nomination for the first time and it was a great experience. I would also tell the youth that they should also join politics," she said. "I hope people vote for me", she added.

Priyanka said, "After I win the election, I would tell people of the ward to contact me on social networking sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram about their problems and immediate action would be taken about it."

The Urban Local Body elections in Tamil Nadu will be held in a single phase on February 19. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed condolences on the demise of C Janga Reddy who was among the two BJP MPs in Lok Sabha after the 1984 General elections. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said that Reddy was an integral part of the efforts to take the Jana Sangh and BJP to new heights of success. "Shri C Janga Reddy Garu devoted his life to public service. He was an integral part of the efforts to take the Jana Sangh and BJP to new heights of success. He made a place in the hearts and minds of several people. He also motivated many Karyakartas. Saddened by his demise," the Prime Minister tweeted today. The Prime Minister said that Janga Reddy was an effective voice for the BJP at a very critical phase of the party's trajectory. "Shri C Janga Reddy Garu was an effective voice for the BJP at a very critical phase of the Party's trajectory. Spoke to his son and expressed condolences. Om Shanti," tweeted PM Modi. Expressing condolences, Shah said that Janga Reddy was one of the two BJP MPs who had won in the 1984 elections. "Anguished to learn about the demise of veteran BJP leader C Janga Reddy Ji. He was one of the two BJP MPs who had won in the 1984 elections. His contribution towards saving the democracy in the 1975 emergency and strengthening BJP can never be forgotten. My condolences. Om Shanti," he tweeted. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that Janga Reddy had the unique distinction of defeating the former Prime Minister P V Narisimha Rao in 1984 from Hanumakonda Lok Sabha segment when BJP had just two MPs in the lower house. "I'm deeply saddened & left distraught by the passing away of Sri Janga Reddy Garu, a veteran leader of the BJP. As one of the only Two MPs the BJP had after 1984 Lok Sabha Elections, he worked to strengthen the party's foundation. My condolences to his family. Om Shanti," he said. "Sri C.Janga Reddy was one of the founding members of the Jana Sangh in the combined state of AP. He worked with unwavering devotion for strengthening of the party in Telangana undeterred either by the extremists or by the persecution during the emergency," he said in another tweet. Minister of State for Railways Darshana Jardosh also condoled Janga Reddy's death. "Pained to know about the demise of Senior BJP leader Shri C Janga Reddy garu. He was one of the two BJP MPs who had won in the 1984 elections. His contributions to the party and the nation will always be remembered with great honour," she tweeted. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah on Friday visited Rezangla LA War Memorial in Chushul village of Leh district of Ladakh and paid homage to gallant heroes of 1962. Vijay Shah and a team of bikers made a trip to Rezangla LA at Chushul in eastern Ladakh. The minister also paid homage by laying a wreath and taking the tour of the memorial. The Forest Minister thanked Major General Abhinaya Rai General Officer Commanding (GOC) uniform force and Brigadier MC Tamang, VSM commander of 114 Infantry Brigade for being guardians of this area. Speaking to ANI, Vijay Shah said, "I visited Rezangla LA Memorial and paid homage to Major Shaitan Singh and 114 other officers who attained martyrdom. Their bravery and sacrifice for Mother India inspire the youths of the country. I salute the Defense Minister and all the soldiers of the country. Their passion has also created today thousands of youth to fight for the service of the country till the last drop of blood for Mother India." He also said that the youths of this country should visit the memorial. "I salute the spirit of soldiers of our country who are serving the nation in the minus 40 degrees Celsius. I would also urge the youth of the country to not only show respect to them but should also join the defence forces and wherever they have attended martyrdom should visit that place and should shout slogans 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'," he said. The Minister further said that after today onwards, all of us will also say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' instead of 'Hello' on the telephone. He said that he wanted to feel the conditions here regarding soldiers who put their lives at stake even at minus 40 degrees Celsius. (ANI)
Keeping in view the fact that there is a dip in COVID-19 cases in Delhi, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Saturday wrote to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana urging him to resume physical hearing in the Supreme Court with strict compliance with COVID-19 protocols and appropriate behaviour. SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh in the letter to the CJI said considering that the pandemic in the country has been very much in control in the last two weeks requested for the opening of the top court in physical mode. The letter stated that the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to reopen schools, colleges, and gyms in Delhi with effect from February 7 and offices are now allowed to function with a 100 per cent capacity. It added that in Delhi the positivity rate has come down to 3.85 per cent as of date. "The position on February 4, 2022, as far as COVID-19 bed occupancy is concerned is that in hospitals, out of 15,426 COVID beds only 1200 (i.e. 7.78 per cent) are occupied. In the dedicated COVID Care Centre, out of 4,626 beds, only 138 beds (i.e. 2.98 per cent) are occupied and in the dedicated COVID Health Centre, of the 198 beds, only 5 beds (i.e. 2.53 per cent) are occupied. Considering the above situation, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to reopen schools, colleges, and gyms in Delhi with effect from February 7, 2022. Offices are now allowed to function with a 100 per cent capacity and gyms will open with restrictions, the DDMA order added. Schools for nursery to class 8 will reopen from February 14," it added. In these circumstances there is no justification to not open the Supreme Court for full physical hearing on all 5 days forthwith, the letter stated. The letter further said, "As has been demonstrated in the earlier phase of physical hearing in November-December 2021, the lawyers will continue wearing their masks and abide by the Covid protocol as long as the same is in place." The hearing in open Court is both the convention and the constitutional requirement in the Supreme Court. It is therefore requested that physical hearing in Supreme Court be resumed forthwith as it was pre-pandemic, it said. In view of the rising number of Omicron variants of COVID-19 cases during the third wave, the apex court on January 2, 2022, had decided to shift to the virtual system of hearings from January 3. Suspending the physical and hybrid option of the hearing, the apex court had decided to shift to a complete virtual hearing. By another circular, the top court judges decided to work from their residential offices. (ANI)
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed on Saturday the significance of China-Kazakhstan relations to regional and world peace and stability.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with visiting Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev who attended the opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Noting an independent, safe, stable and prosperous Kazakhstan is in the common interests of the people of China and Kazakhstan, Xi said China firmly supports Kazakhstan in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and believes it has the ability to safeguard national security and social stability.

"China will always be Kazakhstan's reliable friend and firm partner, and is ready to help Kazakhstan maintain stability, develop economy and improve people's livelihood," Xi said.

Hailing the continuous improvement of bilateral relationship since the two countries established diplomatic ties 30 years ago, Xi expressed the hope that the two sides will work together and usher bilateral relationship into another 30 years of golden period.

China and Kazakhstan, which were among the first to jointly pursue Belt and Road cooperation, have implemented a series of projects of strategic significance, bringing benefits to the two peoples and setting a good example for the international community, Xi said.

He urged the two sides to give priority to cooperation in production capacity, trade, agriculture and infrastructure construction and continuously raise the level of interconnectivity.

Xi also stressed cultivating new growth points in the fields including green energy, modern healthcare, artificial intelligence, e-commerce and digital finance to jointly build a "green Silk Road," "a Silk Road for health," and "a digital Silk Road."

China is willing to deepen security cooperation with Kazakhstan, safeguard the security and stability of the two countries and the region, and promote the building of a closer community with a shared future under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with other SCO members, Xi added.

Tokayev said Kazakhstan cherishes its relationship with China and will continue to actively support and participate in cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative while supporting the Global Development Initiative put forward by President Xi.

He expressed gratitude to China for firmly supporting Kazakhstan's efforts in opposing external interference and safeguarding its own security and stability.

Kazakhstan will, as always, be China's friend, brother and reliable strategic partner, firmly support China on issues involving China's core interests, and will not be influenced and interfered by external forces, said Tokayev.

The Kazakh president also expressed the hope for Xi's early visit to Kazakhstan. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday said that there is a shortage of vaccines for the age group of 15-17 years in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad due to which the pace of inoculations in the area has slowed down. "It has come to notice that vaccine stock for the 15-17 age group isn't enough in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. There is not even stock for today and tomorrow", said the deputy chief minister. Pawar said that the low vaccination rate is a concern and that the administration needs to take efforts to address it and speed up the drive. "This is leading to less vaccination in the 15-17 years age group in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad area." He also informed that new stocks would be made available from Monday. Pawar on Saturday had declared that all schools for all classes in the Pune district will be allowed to open full day (regular hours) from Monday, February 7. (ANI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday hit out at the Samajwadi Party accusing it of doing "politics of appeasement", and asserted that "only BJP can do development" in Uttar Pradesh. The minister's remarks came while he started his day-long campaigning in the state by addressing a public gathering from the Baldev constituency. "Samajwadi Party does politics of appeasement. Politics should be done for the welfare and development of people not for making government. Politics should not be based on caste or creed. Samajwadi Party is doing religion and caste-based politics," Singh said. Noting "what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, it completed", the Defence Minister said, "the development of new India is possible with the development of UP and only BJP can do development in UP". Singh reminded that how politicians in independent India did not complete the promises that they made to the public. Remembering Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the Defence Minister said the "BJP is working on the direction and vision given by Pt Deendayal Upadhyay". The Defence Minister also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandi, saying he "talked about China-India clash in Galwan Valley. He believes anything that he read. He said only 3 Chinese jawans were killed in Galwan. I would like to clarify, as per an Australia-based newspaper, 38-50 Chinese jawans were killed, not 2-4" The Minister asserted that "Indian borders are safe". Polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3 and March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
Health experts say reinfection of people with COVID-19 within two to three weeks of their last infection is because of the 'immune escape capacity' of the virus. The experts, who have been dealing with COVID-19 patients, while speaking to ANI, said that reinfection is possible and chances are higher among people who have been infected during the Omicron-driven third wave. They also advised all not to lower their guard at this point or after having recovered from the infection. Dr DS Rana, Chairman, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital told ANI, "People who have been infected earlier are turning positive again. They are getting reinfected within a gap of two or three weeks because if the virus enters inside you, reinfection can happen. This primarily happens because this virus has the capacity to immune escape. This virus is escaping immunity. At this point, we can't afford to lower our immunity." The antigenic escape, immune escape, immune evasion or escape mutation occurs when the immune system of a host, especially of a human being, is unable to respond to an infectious agent. The host's immune system is no longer able to recognize and eliminate a pathogen, such as a virus. Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Apollo Hospital said, "The reinfection rate is higher with Omicron variant than compared to the Delta variant because what has been seen is immune escape phenomenon is stronger in Omicron rather than Delta or any other variant so far. When studies were conducted it was found that the risk of reinfection is higher in people infected with Omicron." Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), the mutant of the Coronavirus, though mild in nature, acted as a superspreader. It was first reported in Botswana on November 11, 2021, and appeared on November 14 in South Africa. It was immediately declared a variant of concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). Anecdotal evidence shows that in South Africa, people have been infected with Omicron again after recovering from the disease caused by the virus. Meanwhile, India reported 1,27,952 fresh COVID-19 cases, 2,30,814 recoveries, and 1,059 deaths in the last 24 hours. (ANI)
Prime accused in Kerala gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh on Saturday said that had a "good, genuine friendship and family relationship" with former Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and that M Sivasankar, the ex-principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had manipulated and used her. Speaking to ANI, she said, "I do not have any personal relationship with Chief Minister. Any relationship I had was purely professional and the point of contact was always Sivashankar. Don't have personal connections with his family members." Suresh further said that she purely had an official relationship with Left Democratic Front (LDF) MLA KT Jaleel. "With KT Jaleel also it was purely official, he had a very close association and acquaintance with the Consul General then. With ex-Kerala Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, we had a good, genuine friendship, family relationship," she said. Further talking about the allegations made by Sivasankar in his upcoming autobiography "Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana" in which he alleged that Swapna trapped him by gifting him an iPhone, which later proved to be a major proof against him, she said she had never expected such allegations from the latter as they had a very strong bond. "That's very heartbreaking because I never expected Sivasankar to level such an allegation against me because our relationship was so strong we have exchanged so many emotions and so many things it's not just an I phone. So I don't think Swana Suresh had a requirement to actually cheat him by gifting an iPhone," Swapna said. "He exploited and manipulated me," Swapna alleged. "Well, he knows everything day-to-day affairs of my personal life official life he has always told me that it is not safe to prolonged my tenure with the Counsel General of UAE because of the malpractices and hanky panky activities that are taking place. Whatever I know as a mirror he knew till July 5," Swapna added. Swapna further claimed that the Cargo clearance part is the responsibility of Public Relations and she was just extended to all the clerical requirements for the clearance of the baggage. The Kerala gold smuggling case pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels. It had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019. After spending 16 months behind bars, Swapna Suresh, was released from jail in November last year. Sivasankar was arrested on October 28, 2020, after the Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition. In his upcoming book, he alleged that Swapna had deceived him and that she was the mastermind of the gold smuggling racket, according to vernacular media reports. Sivasankar was released on bail on February 4, last year. The case is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, National Investigative Agency (NIA) and the customs department. (ANI)
The study has been published in the 'Scientific Reports Journal'.

As per Fox News, in a study, a team of scientists at the University of Tsukuba in Japan aimed to determine the acute effect of a single bout of running on mood, executive function and neural substrates in the prefrontal cortex.

Twenty-six participants completed both a 10-minute running session on a treadmill at "the most popular running condition" and a resting control session in randomized order.

The authors assessed executive function using Stroop interference time from the colour-word matching Stroop task and mood using the Two-Dimensional Mood Scale questionnaire before and after both sessions.

Prefrontal hemodynamic changes - or blood flow changes - while performing the Stroop task were investigated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

They concluded that running resulted in significant enhanced arousal and pleasure levels compared to the control and caused a significantly greater reduction of Stroop interference time and increase in oxygen-haemoglobin brain signals in bilateral prefrontal cortexes.

Additionally, the researchers found a "significant association" among pleasure level, Stroop interference reaction time and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortexes - which they noted are "important brain loci" for mood regulation and inhibitory control.

"To our knowledge, an acute moderate-intensity running has the benefit of inducing a positive mood and enhancing executive function coinciding with cortical activation in the prefrontal subregions involved in inhibitory control and mood regulation," the authors said.

"These results together with previous findings with pedalling imply the specificity of moderate running benefits promoting both cognition and pleasant mood," they added.

They also noted that neural mechanisms for running-elicited cortical activation have remained unclear and that specific features of running may benefit brain activation by enhancing blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery.

Co-authors Chorphaka Damrongthai and professor Hideaki Soya told Medical News Today that they were "surprised" by the results.

The publication noted that almost all previous studies had used pedalling instead of running.

"Running may stimulate the prefrontal cortex more broadly to benefit mood and executive function than other forms of exercise that do not require as much coordination of weight-bearing activity, such as pedalling," the pair said in a statement.

Medical News Today highlighted potential study limitations, including its small scale and that the mood scale is self-reported. (ANI)
Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case on Friday alleged that she was exploited and manipulated by M Sivasankar, principal secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The statements came after Sivasankar in his upcoming autobiography "Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana" alleged that Swapna had trapped him by gifting him an iPhone. However, that proved to be a major proof against him later on. Speaking to ANI, Swapna said, "It is not absconding according to me, I was clearly instructed by Sivasankar that unless and until I receive a written summon from the authority, I may not have to a female appear for the customs authorities. And before appearing, it is better that I seek anticipatory bail. And as per his instruction, Sandeep and my husband's instruction, I followed them blindly and I went in for anticipatory bail and I landed up in Bangalore. And it became absconding. I was exploited and manipulated." The Kerala gold smuggling case pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels. It had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019. After spending 16 months behind bars, Swapna Suresh was released from jail in November last year. Sivasankar was arrested on October 28, 2020, after the Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition. In his upcoming book, he alleged that Swapna had deceived him and that she was the mastermind of the gold smuggling racket, according to vernacular media reports. Sivasankar was released on bail on February 4, last year. The case is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, National Investigative Agency (NIA) and the customs department. (ANI)
On the remark of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi comparing Indian politics with that of Israel, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson Nalin Kohli on Saturday took a dig at Owaisi saying that now he is using Israel for his politics. "Owaisi sahab is often involved in communal talks and attempts such politics. But now it is a strange thing he is taking support of the shoulder of Israel as well for his politics. Why he is doing it, you must ask him," said the BJP leader. A day after shots were fired at the convoy of Owaisi in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Lok Sabha MP on Friday said that Indian politics, which is under the control of majoritarian, may not become like that of Israel. Lauding the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the BJP leader said, "The entire ecosystem that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has created for startups is a testimony to the fact that in India those opportunities are expanding and a number of unicorns are developing. Day and night we see young entrepreneurs working to bring Indian companies on the global map. Simultaneously, when it comes to China, the import-export, the data points that in the pandemic period actually, our exports to China have increased. So, it has narrowed the gap." Notably, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury yesterday took a swipe at the Centre stating that 'Make in India' should be termed as a "farce" as the trade deficit between India and China reflects that India continues to import more from the neighbouring country. On this, Kohli said, "It is possible that some leaders of the Congress party may be making political issues. But the facts speak otherwise. Under PM Modi, the Indian economy has been resilient and unlike other economies that are struggling in the COVID period, the Indian economy on the contrary showing very positive signs." Slamming the Congress stating that there is apparently a rife within the party's Punjab unit following the delay in the announcement of the Chief Ministerial candidate for upcoming Assembly polls, the BJP said that there seems to be a conflict with the leadership within the party. "It is the internal matter of the Congress party. However, one notes that there seems to be some kind of an internal conflict of war in the party. At one end, several senior Congress leaders repeatedly raise questions about the leadership qualities and the abilities of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Simultaneously, when we speak about Punjab, it seems that there is some competition there 'of who will be the CM'. Every day a statement or the other comes in, some competition is taking place. Their focus and objective is no longer serving the people of Punjab. Their focus is power for the same of power and who can become more powerful," the BJP leader said. In an apparent dig at the Congress top leadership,he said, "Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had said that the people at the top want a weak Chief Minister who can dance to their tunes." Punjab Congress is yet to announce its CM face for upcoming Assembly polls scheduled to be held at February 20. (ANI)
The Congress leader received a warm welcome as people showered flower petals on her.

Earlier in the day, Priyanka conducted a door-to-door campaign in the Khair Assembly constituency of Aligarh.

"Congress is coming to fulfill the expectations of UP," the official Twitter handle of Congress tweeted along with pictures of Priyanka waving at people in Aligarh.

While campaigning in Sahibabad and Ghaziabad on Friday, Priyanka had said that for the first time in 30 years Congress in contesting on all Assembly seats of UP.

However, Congress star campaigner of Uttar Pradesh Sachin Pilot had earlier told ANI that as a "political courtesy" the party did not field any candidate against Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav justifying that the SP did not field any candidate against Sonia Gandhi, when she was contesting from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in the state earlier.

Sonia Gandhi was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli's seat in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Karhal assembly seat of UP, while his uncle who heads Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) Shivpal Singh Yadav is contesting from Jaswant Nagar seat.

Notably, Samajwadi Party had also not fielded its candidate from the Amethi assembly seat against Rahul Gandhi during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

In Uttar Pradesh, the first phase polling will be held on February 10, the second phase on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3, and the seventh phase on March 7.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
"One time it was said 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became Prime Minister, he added 'Jai Vigyan' in it and now with Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiative, the new slogan 'Jai Anusandhan' has been added to it," Tomar said.

This comes on the occasion of the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

"This year India is celebrating 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is also completing 50 years. Both the occasions give us inspiration and opportunity to make resolutions for the next 25 years," The Union Minister said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister kick-started the 50th-anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT in Patancheru, Hyderabad.

He inaugurated (ICRISAT)'s Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and Rapid Generation Advancement Facility and also launched a commemorative stamp issued in Hyderabad.

While addressing the event, the Prime Minister said CRISAT has experience of five decades of helping other nations in making agriculture easy and sustainable.

"CRISAT has experience of 5 decades of helping other nations in making agriculture easy and sustainable," Modi said.

"I am hopeful that they will continue to deliver their expertise to strengthen India's 'Krishi' sector," he said at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of ICRISAT.

Prime Minister also said, "India has set a target of Net-Zero emission by 2070."

"India has set a target of Net-Zero by 2070. We have also highlighted the need for a life lifestyle for the environment and also called for a Pro Planet People movement - a movement that is crucial to combat climate change and connects every individual with climate," PM Modi said. (ANI)
Kerala Opposition leader VD Satheesan on Saturday said that the revelation by Swapna Suresh, a prime accused in the gold smuggling case, indicated that the 'Chief Minister's Office' was involved in smuggling and corruption. Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Satheesan said, "The revelations made by the accused in the Gold Smuggling Case is shocking. It reveals that the Chief Minister's Office was the centre of smuggling, anti-social activities, economic corruption, everything. The CMO is the biggest office in the state. And this Sivasankar is the first person, confident of the CM. He was controlling and dealing with all illegal activities, anti-social activities." He further said, "The CM was getting all the intelligence reports daily. We cannot believe that he didn't have any information about what was happening in this case. It is unbelievable. How can we believe that all these illegal activities were unknown to the CM of Kerala? He was aware of this thing. Now, this accused person is now in the civil service Kerala who was dealing with all these illegal activities and economic corruption also. This is all scripted. I don't believe some part of this accused person also. She is trying to safeguard the CM and other ministers. Somebody is putting pressure on her. She is also trying to put pressure only on Sivasankar. She is acting according to the script. Somebody else is behind her. I think so." He also alleged corruption in the LIFE mission, a project of the Kerala government to provide houses to landless and homeless people. Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case on Friday alleged that she was exploited and manipulated by M Sivasankar, principal secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The statements came after Sivasankar in his upcoming autobiography "Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana" alleged that Swapna had trapped him by gifting him an iPhone. However, that proved to be a major proof against him later on.Speaking to ANI, Swapna said, "It is not absconding according to me, I was clearly instructed by Sivasankar that unless and until I receive a written summon from the authority, I may not have to a female appear for the customs authorities. And before appearing, it is better that I seek anticipatory bail. And as per his instruction, Sandeep and my husband's instruction, I followed them blindly and I went in for anticipatory bail and I landed up in Bangalore. And it became absconding. I was exploited and manipulated." The Kerala gold smuggling case pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels. It had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019.(ANI)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who came to China for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday expressed willingness to strengthen all-dimensional practical cooperation with Pakistan.

While meeting with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Li said China always takes Pakistan as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and supports Pakistan's pursuit of prosperity.

Li said China supports its enterprises to invest in Pakistan, and appreciates the Pakistani government's efforts to safeguard the safety of Chinese firms and personnel in the country.

China will actively consider expanding the import of agricultural products from Pakistan, Li said.

Khan said the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China is the cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy.

Pakistan is firmly committed to the flagship project of the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor and will continue strengthening cooperation in multiple fields, he said, adding that the country will do its utmost to ensure the safety of the Chinese people and projects in Pakistan. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who came to China for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was not present at the Hyderabad airport to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited the city to unveil the 'Statue of Equality'. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and state minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav were among those present at the airport to receive the Prime Minister. Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy was also present. Telangana BJP slammed Chandrasekhar Rao for "violating protocol" and not receiving the Prime Minister at the airport. The party termed it "shameful act" and said the chief minister had stooped to "new low". "KCR has been regularly insulting our PM @narendramodiji Now violating protocol stoops is such idiot and shameful act of KCR. We will never tolerate this to our PM," the party said in a tweet. The state BJP also accused Chandrasekhar Rao of following the "footsteps" of Channi and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu. "As Expected! KCR violating Protocol stoops to a new low by sending his unimportant Minister. Following NCBN, Channi footsteps. You'll be paid back in return," the state BJP said. Prime Minister Modi visited International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ICRISAT) campus in Hyderabad and inaugurated two research facilities. The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the 'Statue of Equality' in Hyderabad. The 216-feet tall Statue of Equality commemorates the 11th-century Bhakti Saint Ramanujacharya, who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living including faith, caste and creed. Chandrashekar Rao had earlier this week expressed disappointment over the Union Budget 2022 and said that the BJP-led central government needs to be "removed and thrown in the Bay of Bengal". He had also called the Prime Minister "short-sighted". "We will do whatever is needful for the country; will not sit silent. This is democracy. There is a need for qualitative (leadership) change in the country," he said. The Telangana Chief Minister had last month also protested the move to amend the All India Services (Cadre) Rules and said it was against the federal polity of the Constitution. (ANI)
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday lauded Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for taking the state's economy from Rs 11 lakh crore in 2017 to Rs 31 lakh crore, putting the state at the second place in India in economic development. "With regards to the economy, UP which used to lag behind, today stands at number 2 position in the country," said Singh. While addressing a public gathering in Agra during his day-long visit to the state, the Minister also praised CM Yogi for his action against criminals and creating fear in the hurts of "mafias" (known criminals). Dubbing CM Yogi as "Buldozarwale Baba", Singh asked people in the rally, "Where are gundas (criminals)? Are they on roads or in jail?". He said that criminals used to rule Uttar Pradesh during the regime of the Samajwadi Party but the situation has changed now due to exemplary work done by the Yogi government. "The development of any state or country is based on better law and order. Yogi government did development focusing on law and order situation in the state. The situation has now changed in UP," said the Minister, adding "jab hoga Kanon ka shasan, tabhe vikas karega yogasan" (there will be development only when there is a rule of law). The Union Minister also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his recent statement in Parliament, where he blamed the BJP-led government's foreign policy which he claimed brought China and Pakistan together. "Rahul Gandhi said in Parliament that because of our wrong foreign policies, Pakistan and China became friends. I think Rahul Gandhi is not aware that Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of India when the Shaksgam valley was handed over by Pakistan to China," said the Union Minister. "Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister when Karakoram highway was built in PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was made in Congress' regime. You (Rahul Gandhi) are blaming the BJP government's policies for the friendship between China and Pakistan. It is a baseless allegation," said Singh said. Referring to a violent clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh's Galwan valley, the Defence Minister said the Indian soldiers displayed exemplary courage and valour in the line of duty and even sacrificed their lives. Taking a jibe at Gandhi over the number of casualties on the Chinese side, he said, "It means you will accept whatever Chinese mouthpiece Global Times says." Singh referred to a report published in the Australian newspaper "The Klaxon", which stated the possibility of 38-50 Chinese casualties. The senior BJP leader said he never raised a question over the valour of the Indian Army irrespective of which political party was in power. Singh also said that, unlike other parties, BJP fulfilled all its promises made to the public. The Minister informed how the BJP government abrogated Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and brought Citizenship Amendment Act for the reliably persecuted Indians residing in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3 and March 7. The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10. (ANI)
Harcharan Bains, who is the Principal Advisor to SAD President S. Sukhbir Singh Badal, in an official statement, said that Badal was advised to undergo regular check-ups by doctors twice or thrice a week as a precaution, especially after being infected by COVID-19 and he is doing it dutifully.

At the age of 94, Badal will contest the Punjab Assembly polls from his home turf Lambi. He will become the oldest candidate to contest any type of election in the country.

Badal, who still makes political appearances, was the youngest sarpanch when he got elected from Badal village of Punjab in 1947.

He also became the youngest Chief Minister in 1970 at the age of 43 years. Later, he became the oldest Chief Minister in 2012.

Badal held the Chief Ministerial position in Punjab five times from 1970-71, 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-17.

He was the president of SAD from 1995 to 2008 and has also been a member of Lok Sabha once.

Punjab will go to the polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
Congress leader Anand Sharma has slammed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao over his suggestion that the Constitution should be rewritten and said he has violated his oath of office. Sharma, who is Congress Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha, said the suggestion for a "new constitution" is a trap of those who are plotting to "dismantle India's constitutional democracy" which provides justiciable rights for all. "Strongly disagreeing with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, on his call for rewriting of the constitution, which is unacceptable. This is a trap of those who are plotting to dismantle India's constitutional democracy which guaranteed justiciable rights for all," Sharma said in a tweet. He said the Chief Minister has taken the oath to uphold the Constitution and his remarks were a matter of concern. "PM, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and MPs have taken the oath to uphold the Constitution. Telangana Chief Minister has violated his oath of office, which is a matter of concern," Sharma said. K Chandrashekar Rao had said earlier this week that the time has come that the Constitution in India needs to be rewritten. "We have to rewrite our Constitution. Nayi Soch, Naya Samvidhan should be brought in. The Constitution needs to be strengthened," he said while addressing a press conference on the union budget. Rao also stated that many countries in the world have also made changes in their Constitution. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had criticized Rao for his remarks. Telangana BJP also held protests against the Chief Minister's remarks. On Saturday, K Chandrasekhar Rao was not present at the Hyderabad airport to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited the city to unveil the 'Statue of Equality'. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and state minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav were among those present at the airport to receive the Prime Minister. Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy was also present. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had also not received the Prime Minister at Bhatinda airport when he visited the state for unveiling development projects in the state last month. The Prime Minister was on his way to the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala but was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes causing a major security lapse. After this security lapse, it was decided to head back to Bathinda Airport. Telangana BJP on Saturday slammed Chandrasekhar Rao for "violating protocol" and not receiving the Prime Minister at the airport. The party termed it "shameful act" and said the chief minister had stooped to "new low". "KCR has been regularly insulting our PM @narendramodiji Now violating protocol stoops is such idiot and shameful act of KCR. We will never tolerate this to our PM," the party said in a tweet. The state BJP also accused Chandrasekhar Rao of following the "footsteps" of Channi and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu. "As Expected! KCR violating Protocol stoops to a new low by sending his unimportant Minister. Following NCBN, Channi footsteps. You'll be paid back in return," the state BJP said. Prime Minister Modi visited International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ICRISAT) campus in Hyderabad and inaugurated two research facilities. (ANI)
"Ibrahim Sutar who spread the values of religious harmony in the society without any religious disparities is the 'Kabir of Modern times'," Bommai said in his condolence message.

Ibrahim Sutar spread the message that there is no religion better than human compassion. The essence of all religions is the same.

"Adopting his ideals in our lives is the best way of expressing our respect for him. His death is a big loss for the state, Bommai said.

The Chief Minister prayed the almighty to give strength to his family and followers to bear this grief.

The Union Government recognized his social work towards spreading social and communal harmony and awarded him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2018.

Ibrahim Sutar was known to spread harmony through his songs and bhajans, which were popular not only in Karnataka but also in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi and Goa. (ANI)
Following a decline in COVID-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday decided to reopen schools and colleges in a phased manner from February 7, and several teachers welcomed the step. Schools will reopen only for Classes 9, 10, 12. The rest of the classes will be open from February 14.This decision came after a COVID-19 review meeting of the DDMA. RC Jain, President of the Delhi State Public School's Management Association said, "For a very long time, our association had been demanding that schools should be opened because schools were opened in almost all of the states of the country. Even schools outside the country had opened. The World Health Organization (WHO) had also said that now there is no justification for closing the school. So, now schools will be opened, I welcome it and that too in phases. But, the way they have talked about running schools both online and offline, it would've been better if they would've done it all offline just like they did for colleges. Students were waiting eagerly." The DDMA in it s order directed all higher educational institutions, colleges, ITIs, polytechnic and skill institutes to only take offline classes from Monday. However, the schools have been directed to function in a hybrid mode with both online and offline classes. Maya Gupta, Principal, Universal Public School said, "It is a very positive step of reopening schools after such a long time. We have been waiting for so long for the reopening of schools." Laying emphasis on prioritizing COVID protocols to keep the virus away from infecting children, Gupta said that proper check will be done. "Our utmost priority is students health and safety. Sanitation, checking of temperature, sanitation of classrooms, all will be done daily. 80 per cent of students in class 9 onwards of our schools are vaccinated. Yesterday also, there was a vaccination camp at our school and we motivated students to take the vaccine to students who didn't get it earlier," Gupta added. Veena Mishra, Principal, National Victor Public School said, "We are very happy that schools are being reopened after so long. Students will come to school after almost 2 years. I welcome the decision of the government." She further said that the students of her schools are completely vaccinated. "So, the first covid measure keeping the covid situation in mind I had been met," she said. "We have decided to bring students in batches. We will divide the batches into two so that social distancing is followed in the classrooms. We are also planning to change the timings as well. Another thing which we will keep in mind is sanitisation. All the classrooms will be sanitised. We have put soap dispensers with hand sensors and taps so that there is minimum touch. Mask will be compulsory. We are 100 per cent ready. We will run the school in hybrid mode as per the instructions. Students in batches will come to school on alternate days and the other days they'll attend classes online," she added. Yogesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi said, "We are going to examine the order issued by DDMA. If they say that colleges can be open with 100 per cent capacity, then we will open the colleges soon which is within 10 days. Students from various states study at our university. It takes time for students to look for their accommodation be it hostel or PG. If we suddenly reopen it, then students will be at loss. So, looking at the situation, we will issue a date. We can reopen the colleges in a phased manner as well or together. I feel within 15 days, we will reopen the colleges. But if they have given any conditional approval of reopening the colleges, then I can't say, but chances are that it will be open. We will make preparation in 5-10 days for students and then will open the university. The decision of reopening colleges is fine. They have experts and data and they must have taken this decision after looking all aspects. We did not open university because they were not allowing with 100 per cent capacity." The DDMA on Friday released an order relaxing COVID-19 curbs in Delhi. It gave its nod to reopen schools for classes 9 to 12 in hybrid mode. Delhi Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had said hybrid classes will continue while colleges will be asked to discourage online classes and have offline classes instead. (ANI)
Days after the attack on AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Lok Sabha MP said on Saturday that those who fired bullets on his vehicle were the ones who killed Mahatma Gandhi. The AIMIM chief held a poll campaign in the Bagpat district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday for his party. Addressing a public meeting at Baghpat's Chhaprauli, Owaisi said, "My car was attacked, fired four shots. Those who fired bullets (on his vehicle) were the ones who killed Gandhi. I talk about the rights of the people, hence the bullet was fired. I talk about the stake (of Muslims), so the shot was fired. When I talk within the ambit of the Constitution, the evildoers cannot tolerate it. These idiots think that their bullets will silence my voice. If one Owaisi dies, I bequeath you to produce lakhs of Owaisi." Referring to the Centre's decision to provide him Z category security cover, he said he will not take Z security adding that if the poor get protection, it will be his security. "I do not want security, I want a share. Make Muslims of India and the poor A category citizens," he said. Owaisi further cornered Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal for keeping mum on Citizenship Amendment Bill. Attacking SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said, "Akhilesh is showing lollipop of MLC and Rajya Sabha to the minority leaders who are not getting ticket anywhere. I am alerting those leaders that Akhilesh Yadav will betray." Two men have been arrested allegedly for firing at the convoy of Asaduddin Owaisi when he was leaving Meerut's Kithoudh area for Delhi after poll campaigning on Thursday, informed Uttar Pradesh Police. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi was in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh's Meerut for campaigning. Following the attack, the central government reviewed the security of the AIMIM chief and provided him with Z security of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with immediate effect, said sources on Friday. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections for the 403 Assembly seats would be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
As per MacRumors, Apple Music will now offer a shorter one-month free trial to first-time subscribers in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Japan, and other countries.

Apple Music pricing remains unchanged, with an individual plan available for USD 9.99 per month in the United States after the one-month trial period.

For comparison, rival streaming music service Spotify typically offers a one-month free trial for its Premium tier, but it is currently offering a two-month trial as a limited-time promotion in the United States and select other countries. Spotify is also offering a three-month free trial to first-time customers who sign up through PayPal.

Apple Music continues to offer a six-month free trial to customers who purchase eligible AirPods, Beats, or HomePod models for a limited time. (ANI)
Islamic evangelist and preacher Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) said on Saturday that the central government's action to declare the Foundation as an unlawful association is unwarranted and unjustified, besides being wholly arbitrary and illegal, and amounts to abuse of the draconian provisions of the UAPA Act. IRF in its reply to the UAPA tribunal stated, "There is not an iota of evidence to show that the Foundation has ever indulged in any unlawful activity in the past. The Foundation also does not have for its objects any unlawful activity or any activity punishable under section 153 (A) or 153 (B) of IPC." The Foundation is a registered charitable Public Trust and has in its aims and objects, activities which inter-alia promote charitable, educational, moral and socio-economic development, besides establishing schools, orphanages, research and educational institutions, hospitals, etc and also giving scholarships and educational support to deserving students, the reply said. The Tribunal for Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on Friday directed Dr Zakir Abdul Karim Naik to file his Vakalatnama in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court. His vakalatnama be filed through Indian Embassy at Malaysia after proper verification of his signatures, said Tribunal Chief DN Patel. Tribunal also directed the Union of India to file its list of witnesses and examination-in-chief before the next date of hearing, while posting the matter for February 10, 2022, for a detailed hearing. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appeared for Union of India on Friday objected to Zakir Naik's vakalatnama and said it is not according to Supreme Court direction and related judgement. Solicitor General also stated that someone has to carry out the verification that the signature upon Vakalatnama of Dr Zakir Abdul Karim Naik who claims to be the trustee of IRF is the signature of the same person. Since Zakir Naik is an absconder, hence the vakalatnama must be verified by Indian Embassy in Malaysia. The Tribunal on the last date of hearing had sought response of Zakir Naik and IRF organisation in the plea to confirm the Centre's decision to declare Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's organization Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an "unlawful association" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently has set up a tribunal headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to adjudicate over Islamic Research Organisation (IRF) ban. The MHA recently had extended the ban imposed on Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), an NGO headed by Islamic evangelist and India-born preacher Zakir Naik for a further five years. In its notification issued, the Ministry mentioned if the activities of the "unlawful association" were not curbed, it would continue its subversive activities and reorganize its absconding activists to create communal disharmony, propagate anti-national sentiments and support militancy. The Ministry in its notification had said that Islamic preacher Naik's speeches and statements were meant to inspire youths of a particular religion in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts. Naik's statements and speeches are objectionable, subversive that promote enmity, hatred among religious groups, the Home Ministry said on extending the ban on IRF. The Centre had declared the IRF an unlawful organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) on November 17, 2016 for a period of five years. The Union Home Ministry in its notification said that the IRF "has been indulging in activities which are prejudicial to the security of the country and have the potential of disturbing the peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country." Naik's IRF has been "encouraging and aiding its followers to promote or attempt to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious communities and groups which are prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country," the notification said. According to the Ministry, Naik makes radical statements and speeches which is viewed by crores of people worldwide. The Ministry said that these statements by Naik can also "disrupt the secular fabric of the country by polluting the minds of the people by creating communal disharmony, propagate anti-national sentiments, escalate secessionism by supporting militancy and some people may undertake activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country". Naik runs two television stations, namely Peace TV and Peace TV Urdu. Both the channels are banned in many countries. It is banned in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United Kingdom. The IRF head fled to Malaysia in 2016, just before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) started a probe against the Islamic preacher. (ANI)
Counsel for Tahir Hussain concluding his argument on bail plea in money laundering case on Saturday said, "he can't be kept behind the bars during the pendency of the trial of riots case which will take years to be concluded." He argued that the case of money laundering is not made out against him. Ex AAP Councilor Tahir Hussain is accused of a money laundering case related to Northeast Delhi Violence. It is alleged by the agency that he used proceed of crime for funding of riots in Northeast Delhi in February 2020. He is in custody for one and a half years. Advocate Rizwan concluded his argument before the Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat. The Court has fixed the matter to hearing the arguments of Prosecution on the bail plea. Counsel for Tahir Hussain submitted that no case of money laundering is made out against his client. He argued that the basis of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case is an alleged transaction of Rs 1.5 crore on fake and bogus invoices. He argued that in the light of the said transaction, only a case of GST is made out against him for transaction through fake and bogus invoices. Rizwan during his argument questioned the reliability of the prosecution witness including Rahul Kasana. The prosecution has relied upon many witnesses who deposed that Tahir Hussain distributed money to Suleman Siddiqui, Gulfisha including others at protest sites. He argued that Hussain has been made accused of money laundering along with Amit Gupta. He argued that Amit Gupta has not been made an accused of the riots case on the basis of which this money laundering case was registered. Counsel finally argued that there is no flight risk, no risk of tampering with evidence or influencing the witness as the applicant would remain in custody in other cases. In this situation the apprehension of the prosecution is baseless. He also argued that the punishment in the instant case is seven years and he can not be convicted without conviction in the main riots cases and that will take years to be completed. The accused has already undergone a period of one and a half years in jail. In this situation, the applicant can't be kept in jail for a prolonged period. He also relied upon the judgement of the Supreme Court in the bail matter of Sanjay Chandra and P. Chidambaram on the point of gravity. He referred to the judgement of the Delhi High Court in the bail matter of Shivinder Mohan Singh on the point of an ongoing investigation and prolonged custody. Delhi Court had taken cognizance on a charge sheet filed against AAP's suspended councillor Tahir Hussain and others in IB staffer Ankit Sharma murder case. He is also accused along with others in the Delhi riots case conspiracy case. According to the Delhi Police, Tahir Hussain is one of the prime accused in connection with North East Delhi Violence held in February 2020. ED had registered a complaint against him and other accused in the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act. (ANI)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija, who came to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday said China is willing to expand its trade and investment cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Li made the remarks while meeting with Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Zoran Tegeltija in Beijing.

China is ready to work with BiH to consolidate the positive momentum for the development of bilateral relations and push for further achievements in practical cooperation.

He said that China will import more high-quality specialty agricultural products from BiH, promote the implementation of energy and infrastructure cooperation projects, and continue to step up anti-pandemic cooperation, providing assistance to the best of its capacity to BiH for fighting COVID-19.

Tegeltija said that BiH has always been upholding the one-China principle and holds that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.

He added that BiH attaches great importance to cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija, who came to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
According to sources, the government of India had earlier placed an order for 30 crore Corbevax doses on August 21.

The government has not decided yet about the beneficiaries of the vaccine. However, Corbevax can also be used for children vaccination aged between 12-15 years.

The Hyderabad based company is expected to deliver the doses in the month of February.

The HLL Lifecare Limited, a public sector undertaking has issued the supply order of Corbevax to Biological E.

The pharmaceutical company Biological E has also received permission for heterologous booster dose trials.

ANI approached Biological E for a comment on the story but they didn't respond. (ANI)
While flagging off vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri carrying food grains from Bihar's Patna to Guwahati's Pandu, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that it will open a new gate to the "Gateway of North East". He also unveiled the foundation stone of a terminal at Kalughat of Bihar during the event. "This 2,350 km voyage will open a new gate to the 'Gateway of North East' (Assam) and ensure seamless waterways connectivity to North Eat Region through Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers," said Goyal. According to the official statement, the Minister while flagging the vessel named 'MV Lal Bahadur Shastri' said that it reminds him of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan". "This will make our farmers Aatmanirbhar by expanding their reach and providing them better prices and better living. This event is a perfect demonstration of PM's combined vision for 'Act East' policy and the inclusive development of Bihar & North East Region", he added. The Minister stated that the planned intermodal terminal at Kalughat, Bihar with Rs.78 cr will provide a boost to the region's socio-economic development and create multiple job opportunities. This will also help decongest the roads of North Bihar and provide an alternative route for the transportation of cargo in this area. He further said that this route from Patna can prove to be a viable alternative to the conventional mode of movement of foodgrains and goods for the North-East region. The Minister informed that for seamless navigation to the North-East region, 2 stretches of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route are being developed with Bangladesh having the budget of Rs. 305 crore. "New scheme in budget with Rs. 1,500 cr for North East- PM-DevINE to fund infrastructure and social development projects, will enable livelihood activities for youth and women," he added. The Minister mentioned that the India-Bangladesh friendship is reaching new heights under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina. He said that our friendship has evolved into a strategic partnership with multifaceted and deep collaboration in trade, investment, food security and technology. "This event is another milestone and a testament to the ever-growing friendship between India and Bangladesh," he said. This first food grain movement will be an integrated IWT movement via National Waterway-1 (River Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra). Inland vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri carrying 200 Metric Ton of food grains belonging to the Food Corporation of India is the first food grain movement on this Inland Water Transport (IWT) route. The 25-30 days voyage will be an integrated IWT movement via National Waterway-1 (River Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra). While on the voyage from Patna to Pandu (Guwahati), the vessel Lal Bahadur Shastri will traverse through Bhagalpur, Manihari, Sahibganj, Farakka, Tribeni, Kolkata, Haldia, Hemnagar, Khulna, Narayanganj Sirajganj, Chilmari, Dhubri and Jogighopa. IWAI Terminal at Kalughat is located on river Ganga at Saran District in Bihar and the terminal is directly connected to NH 19. This terminal will be constructed at a cost of Rs. 78.28 crores. (ANI)
The fees of 50 per cent seats in private medical colleges will now be at par with government medical colleges of that particular State/UT, said the National Medical Commission on Saturday. "After extensive consultations, it has been decided that the fee of the 50 per cent seats in the private medical colleges and deemed universities should be at par with the fee in the government medical colleges of that particular State and UT. The benefit of this fee structure would be first made available to those candidates who have availed government quota seats, but are limited to the extent of 50 per cent of the total sanctioned strength of the respective medical college/deemed university. "However, if the government quota seats are less than 50 per cent of total sanctioned seats, the remaining candidates would avail the benefit of a fee equivalent to the government medical college fees, based purely on the merit," added the notification. Experts in the medical fraternity welcome the Centre's move. Speaking to ANI, Dr Vikas Bhatia, Executive Director, AIIMS Bibinagar said, "It is a welcoming decision as it will help meritorious and deserving students having financial constraints. The opportunities for such aspirants have been enhanced. The country needs the best doctors and it is a good decision." Hailing the decision, Dr Anil Chandna, executive member, Dental Council of India (DCI) said, "I think it was a long time due. It is the right decision is in the right direction. This will benefit to meritorious students and society by large. Deemed universities were charging an exuberant fee which was beyond the budget of students from the middle class. Meritorious students who can not afford these higher fees can pursue their dreams in the medical field." National Medical Commission is entitled to frame guidelines for the determination of fees and all other charges in respect of fifty per cent. Of seats in private medical institutions and deemed to be universities which are governed under the provisions of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019. (ANI)
Amid Karnataka hijab row, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Malviya on Saturday said that a campaign is being run against hijab in Iran and Turkey while in India we are pushing young Muslim girls behind hijab. "In 2018, in a similar matter, the Kerala High Court has opined that it is for the school authorities to decide what dress code will they allow. In 2019, again in Kerala, a Muslim education society that runs about 150 institutes banned hijab on their college campuses. Rahul Gandhi, who is an MP from Kerala, should know about it. We have seen protests against hijab in countries like Iran and Turkey. But in India, we are pushing the young Muslim girls behind hijab," the BJP leader told ANI. Slamming Congress, Malviya said that on several occasions, the party has raised its voice against "ghunghat pratha" and questioned, "how come hijab is right?" "Educational institutes are meant to push your creative limits to explore and to assimilate. If we push these young Muslim women into Ghettos and tie them to their identities, will they ever be able to assimilate?" Malviya asked. On February 4, students wearing hijabs were allegedly denied entry into a government college in the Kundapur area of Udupi in Karnataka, amid a row on wearing the headscarf in classrooms. Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had slammed the Karnataka government on the controversy over the demand by Muslim students for wearing the hijab in classrooms stating that by not permitting them to do so, the country was robbing the future of its daughters. (ANI)
"Shah's rally in Baghpat, a Jat dominated area, is aimed to woo members of Jat community many of whom participated in the farmers' agitation on the borders of Delhi after Centre passed three farm laws," says sources.

Amit Shah's rally in Baghpat is aimed to cover Chhaprauli, Baraut and Baghpat assembly seats which will go to the polls in the first phase of elections i.e., February 10.

He will also address a public meeting in the Amroha district.

Earlier this month, Shah held a meeting with more than 200 Jat leaders from western Uttar Pradesh at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Parvesh Verma's residence in New Delhi.

In the meeting, the Home Minister said, "There are some similarities between you (Jat leaders) and us (BJP). You have fought with Mughals for around 650 years. Just like, Jats do not think only about themselves, but always prioritise nation's security, BJP also has the same ideology."

The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3 and March 7. The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10. (ANI)
As per highly placed sources in the party, for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP will release its 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra' on Sunday, which may include issues of nationalism, development, good governance and development of Kashi Mathura.

Amit Shah will issue the manifesto in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP election in-charge for UP Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, both Deputy Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad and Dinesh Sharma and BJP state President Swatantra Dev Singh.

After releasing the manifesto, Amit Shah will address an election rally in Jat-dominated areas of western Uttar Pradesh.

"Nationalism, development, good governance, electricity, women's security, employment, development of Kashi-Mathura can be mentioned in the manifesto," sources said.

BJP had also sought suggestions from the common people for the manifesto and it is likely that some major suggestions would also have been given a place in it.

In the BJP's manifesto, there will be a big announcement.

As per sources, there may be something in response to the 300 units of free electricity of the Samajwadi Party, there can be an announcement regarding the outstanding electricity bill.

There can be a big announcement for the farmer in the manifesto, which could be made for the sugarcane farmers too.

Notably, several BJP leaders have been saying that the party has fulfilled most of the promises made in the last election's manifesto.

The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats. (ANI)
Social media influencer Vikas Fhatak alias 'Hindustani bhau' was produced before a magistrate court in Bandra on Saturday after which he was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. Vikas Fhatak was arrested on February 1 for allegedly provoking students of classes 10 and 12 to protest against the offline board exams. Earlier, he was sent to police custody till February 4 by the Court. "We have tendered an unconditional apology in court. Our cause was right, we had come to support the students. Unfortunately, it was misused and it turned into a riot. We will cooperate in the police investigation," Mahesh Mulya, Advocate of Vikas Pathak alias Hindustani Bhau told the reporters. In a video posted by 'Hindustani Bhau' earlier, he allegedly asked the students to assemble in the Dharavi area near the residence of Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad to protest. In the video, he could be heard saying, "Many deaths took place due to COVID-19. People have not come out of its fear, now the Omicron variant has come. The government itself is saying to stay at home and take precautions." He had said that the professors are also holding meetings via online mode, so why the risk is being taken with children's health by taking offline exams. "I would like to request you (government) to cancel the offline exams. If not then, my students and I would take to protest at the doorstep of the Varsha Gaikwad. I won't stop until they get justice...," Bhau had said in the video. After the video went viral, students had staged a protest outside State School Education Minster Professor Varsha Eknath Gaikwad's residence in Maharashtra's Mumbai, against offline exams. The protesting students had demanded online exams for classes 10 and 12 in view of the COVID-19 situation. (ANI)
The recovery was made from Gokulnagar area on International Border.

Tajing to Twitter BSF said, "BSF Troops in relentless anti-smuggling operations against trans-border smugglers are also foiling new modus operandi" of smugglers on Indo-Bangladesh International Border in Tripura."

"Today, on specific intelligence input regarding smuggling of a huge amount of Bangladeshi currency, troops of BOP NC Nagar, Ex-133 Bn BSF, Gokulnagar foiled new modus operandi of trans-border smugglers and successfully recovered Bangladeshi amounting to 9,97,000 Taka, which was clandestinely hidden in bicycle tyre," BSF said.

Earlier on Friday, the BSF and the Assam Police apprehended two men for smuggling fake Indian currency worth Rs 3.03 lakh into India from Bangladesh. (ANI)
Priyanka Gandhi campaigned in several areas of Aligarh and was surrounded by party workers. At a local market, some BJP workers were also shouting slogans in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The Congress leader leaned down from her vehicle and exchanged a few words with the BJP workers. A man in the crowd wearing a BJP cap apparently refused to take the youth manifesto while the one next to him accepted it. Some distance away, a BJP worker was carrying the party flag.

Priyanka Gandhi campaigned for Congress candidate in the Khair Assembly constituency of Aligarh. She also held a door-to-door campaign.

Congress had last month released its youth manifesto to provide a framework for providing jobs to the youth in Uttar Pradesh and promised to bring a timetable for exams and results.

"I want to say to people that if you want a change, jobs, development in the state then vote for us. The rest of the political parties are doing the same type of politics," she told ANI.

The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7.

The counting of votes will be done on March 10. (ANI)
Speaking to the ANI, Bala Suresh, Station House Officer (SHO) of Jangareddigudem said that the accused Yanamadala Lakshmi poured hot water on the seven-year-old girl Midula, resulting in severe burn injuries.

He said that the girl was studying at a school in Balajinagar and her mother Durga lives in Kuwait and hails from Tadepalligudem. The kid had been residing at the house of her mother's friend Lakshmi.

The police said that the girl's father died years ago and since her mother lives abroad, she placed her daughter under the care of her friend as the grandmother or uncle of Midula were not taking care of her.

The police has registered an FIR against accused Lakshmi and has shifted the girl to a hospital for treatment.

Earlier, Lakshmi had accused the girl of committing a theft at her house.

The police officer informed that the girl would be shifted to the government's hostel. (ANI)
ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Amid a series of old and emerging security perils, the countries in the Horn of Africa (HoA) urgently need to find fresh conflict resolution approaches to ensure stability and peaceful socio-economic development.

China stands ready to propose the "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said when visiting Kenya in early January.

The proposal came after Wang visited Ethiopia in early December last year and Eritrea in early January, before his trip to Kenya. The three are countries in HoA region.

The proposal has received positive responses from Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and other countries in the region, which believe that it meets the urgent needs of countries in the HoA, and that China's appointment of a special envoy of the Chinese Foreign Ministry for the HoA affairs indicates that the Chinese side will play a more active and constructive role there.

STABILITY PREREQUISITE FOR DEVELOPMENT

There are two main considerations in China's proposal, said Wu Peng, head of the Department of African Affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The first is to respect and support the countries in the HoA to give full play to their own initiative, eliminate interference from powers outside the region, and let the HoA countries solve the current peace and security issues on their own, Wu said.

Noting that peace and stability are the prerequisite for economic and social development, he said that there can be no lasting and solid peace without development, which is also based on China's historical experience.

Therefore, the second is that China is willing to strengthen practical cooperation with countries in the HoA to promote regional economic development and lay a solid foundation for regional peace and stability, Wu added.

In their interviews with Xinhua, African experts said that security concerns and unstability pose a serious threat to the continent's development.

Eyob Belachew, an Ethiopia-based international relations and political analyst, said the region is one of "the most volatile regions in the world" at present.

"The Horn of Africa has been afflicted by inter-state and intra-states conflicts and proxy wars mostly due to geo-politics, geo-strategically and also geo-economic factors," Belachew told Xinhua recently.

"The region has witnessed other forms of conflict such as terrorism, piracy and proliferation of small and light weapons. As if these are not enough, the Horn has also been a theater of cross-border conflicts with regional ramifications," Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, told Xinhua recently.

Recurrent natural disasters such as droughts, consistent flooding and desert locust invasions, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have further complicated the region's path to peace, development and good governance.

CHINA-PROPOSED OUTLOOK

China has been part of efforts to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges.

Wang, during his latest visit to Kenya, said the HoA, albeit with a unique strategic location and great development potential, has in recent years experienced flare-ups of hot issues and eruptions of conflicts and confrontations, which run counter to the interests of the people in the region and have to be stopped.

China is willing to propose the outlook to support the region in realizing long-term stability, peace and prosperity, Wang said, adding the core of the outlook is to support countries in the region to stay out of any geopolitical competition between major countries while keeping their fate in their own hands.

The senior Chinese official outlined three major priorities, noting that the Horn of Africa should strengthen intra-regional dialogue to overcome security challenges; should accelerate regional revitalization to overcome development challenges; and should explore effective ways to overcome governance challenges.

Belachew, noting that the regional security concerns are multifaceted amid a number of competing and important players, said possible solutions must be systematic and efficient to establish longer term regional stability.

"China's initiative can play a significant role in the peace-building process and development in the Horn of Africa. By providing the platform and also the experience since China itself implemented in its peaceful rise to modernize its nation, I believe that the Horn countries can learn a lot from the Chinese experience," the analyst said.

Experts widely commended the appointment of a Chinese Special Envoy as an important step to help realize the vision of peaceful development in the region.

"Beijing's foreign policy of non-belligerence is an asset and should serve as a galvanizing voice in search for sustainable peace and security in the region," said Adhere.

CHINA'S CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE

According to a recent report by the Africa Policy Institute, a pan-African think tank, since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013, China has supported modern infrastructure projects such as railways, roads, ports, dams, industries, and digital connectivity, injecting vitality into Kenya's growth.

"In less than a decade, Kenya has a brand new 670-kilometer modern Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) connecting the port of Mombasa and the inland (dry) port of Naivasha," said the report titled "Shared Prosperity: Tracking the Belt and Road Initiative in Kenya, 2018-2021."

The report indicated that as a result of the BRI, Kenya has many new industries which employ thousands of people and boost the economy.

There are on average six passenger trains and 17 freight trains operating along the Chinese-built Mombasa-Nairobi SGR on a daily basis, which have reduced travel times while guaranteeing the safety of commuters and bulk cargo.

George Agutu, a middle-aged civil servant who works in Mombasa said the modern train service has guaranteed him seamless travel to Nairobi every weekend for a reunion with his family.

"I now conveniently take the SGR night train to Nairobi on Friday night to be with my family and back to work on Sunday," Agutu said.

Eliud Muraya, a Nairobi-based entrepreneur, said the SGR freight service can deliver his imported merchandise in less than a week at affordable prices and with enhanced safety while it used to take 30 days by ferry cargo from the port of Mombasa to his premises with clearance hurdles.

Erastus Mwencha, former deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, noted the SGR has eased congestion at the port of Mombasa to the benefit of local and foreign investors. He said a large number of trucks have been removed from Kenyan highways, which also brings ecological benefits to the country.

The Chinese-built 752.7-km-long Ethiopia-Djibouti standard gauge railway, which connects landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti port, recorded about 86.13 million U.S. dollars in revenue in 2021, up 37.5 percent compared to 2020. The line has been used by 449 passenger trains and 1,469 freight trains over the year.

The railway has also improved the efficiency of operation, with the time to process a freight train at the Port of Doraleh in Djibouti reduced from three days to one-and-a-half days, while the loading and unloading time at the dry port of Modjo has been reduced from 12 to seven hours.

Besides, China has been helping deal with natural disasters in the region and has enabled locals to quickly and effectively respond disasters.

When Ethiopia suffered from the worst desert locust invasion in about 25 years for much of 2019 and 2020, the Chinese government had donated batches of what the Ethiopian government described as "timely and much-needed" anti-locust materials.

China also donated relief food consisting of 945 tons of rice to Kenyans when Kenya declared a drought-induced national disaster in September last year after 23 arid and semi-arid counties were affected by drought, leaving about 2.5 million people in need of humanitarian support.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, China has made numerous donations of anti-pandemic medical supplies and vaccines.

The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), which started implementing various life-changing programs in Ethiopia in 2015 targeting vulnerable people including refugee children, also showed China's growing engagement in fighting poverty within the region.

By the end of 2020, the CFPA had benefited some 130,000 people in Ethiopia, with the number of beneficiaries still growing. 
Attacking Samajwadi Party (SP) ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda on Saturday asked why the mafias lodged in jail are dear to Akhilesh Yadav. Addressing the public meeting here, the BJP chief said, "There were only mafia and gundaraj five years ago. People have not forgotten the Muzaffarnagar riots or the forced migration of Kairana. Remember the Muzaffarnagar riots? Even the Supreme court condemned and said that the riots were a result of Akhilesh Yadav's government's failure." "The Supreme Court also observed that the arrangements for compensation by the SP government were such that only a particular religious community could benefit. Court had said the riot was not just negligence but administrative failure. But today, there are no mafias. Now mafias are either in jail or outside the state. But why these people in jail are dear to SP? Even Akhilesh Yadav supports these people in jail from outside," he added. Referring to Mahatma Gandhi, Nadda said, "Gandhiji used to talk about cleanliness. The real Gandhiji left, after that all the Gandhis who came only did politics. They did not make any difference. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came, he told from the ramparts of the Red Fort that the Swachhata campaign would be carried out and Swachhata would be brought into the country." Slamming the Opposition parties, Nadda said the Opposition have limited vision and never cared for the nation's development. "Opposition never cared for nation's development. They only cared for their families' development. They have limited vision. Today, with PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, no poor person has any shortage of food. This is the difference between BJP and them." The polling for the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had won a landslide victory, winning 312 Assembly seats. The party had secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. SP had bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while the Congress could manage to win only seven seats. (ANI)
Researchers have discovered that more than half of the ocean surface has exceeded a historical heat extreme threshold regularly since 2014. The research has been published in the 'PLOS Climate Journal'. And it is these heat extremes, researchers said, that increase the risk of collapse for crucial marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and kelp forests -- altering their structure and function, and threatening their capacity to continue to provide life-sustaining services to human communities. Researchers conducted the study by mapping 150 years of sea surface temperatures to determine a fixed historical benchmark for marine heat extremes. The scientists then looked at how often and how much of the ocean surpassed this point. The first year in which more than half of the ocean experienced heat extremes was 2014. The trend continued in subsequent years, reaching 57 per cent of the ocean in 2019, the last year measured in the study. Using this benchmark, just two per cent of the ocean surface was experiencing extremely warm temperatures at the end of the 19th century. "Climate change is not a future event," said Dr Kyle Van Houtan, who headed the research team during his tenure as chief scientist for the aquarium. "The reality is that it's been affecting us for a while. Our research shows that for the last seven years more than half of the ocean has experienced extreme heat," Houtan added. "These dramatic changes we've recorded in the ocean are yet another piece of evidence that should be a wake-up call to act on climate change. We are experiencing it now, and it is speeding up," he continued. The study grew from separate research into the history of kelp forest changes throughout California. Van Houtan and his team discovered that sea surface heat extremes, which are key stressors for canopy kelps, needed to be quantified and mapped along the California coast throughout the last century. The researchers then decided to expand the investigation beyond California to better understand the long-term frequency and location of extreme marine heat across the global ocean surface. Using historic records, aquarium scientists first determined the average temperatures for the ocean's surface over the period spanning 1870 to 1919. Then they identified the most dramatic ocean warming that occurred during that period -- the top two per cent of temperature increases -- and defined that as "extreme heat." The team then mapped the extremes over time, examining whether they occur regularly or are becoming more frequent. "Today, the majority of the ocean's surface has warmed to temperatures that only a century ago occurred as rare, once-in-50-year extreme warming events," Van Houtan said. The researchers said that the new normal of extreme heat across the majority of the ocean's surface is further evidence for the urgent need to drastically reduce emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, which are the driver of climate change. "When marine ecosystems near the tropics experience intolerably high temperatures, key organisms such as corals, seagrass meadows, or kelp forests can collapse," Van Houtan said. "Altering ecosystem structure and function threaten their capacity to provide life-sustaining services to human communities like supporting healthy and sustainable fisheries, buffering low-lying coastal regions from extreme weather events, and serving as a carbon sink to store the excess carbon put in the atmosphere from human-generated greenhouse emissions," he added. (ANI)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss challenges posed by China and the situation in Ukraine during meetings with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) partners on his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific region, according to Sputnik. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said Blinken, during his visit to Australia, will discuss the challenges which Beijing poses to the rules-based order in a number of sectors. "As leaders of four of the world's key democracies, I think it will be natural for them to address all of the important issues of the day and I am sure Ukraine will be one of them given the seriousness of the issue and the threat it poses to the rules-based global order," Sputnik quoted Kritenbrink as saying on Friday. Kritenbrink also informed that foreign ministers will reaffirm the principle of rules-based order. "I am confident that when our foreign ministers get together that they will reaffirm those principles and values that we hold dear, they will discuss challenges to that order and to those values and I am confident that part of that discussion will relate to the challenges that China poses to those values and to that rules-based order in a number of sectors," he added. US Secretary of State is scheduled to visit Australia, Fiji and Hawaii February 7-13 to engage with Indo-Pacific allies and partners across the region, including at the Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial alongside India, Japan and Australia, according to the State Department. Antony Blinken will also travel to Fiji, where he will host a hybrid meeting with Pacific island leaders, 18 of whom have been invited to attend, where the US will demonstrate their long-standing commitment to the region. (ANI)
India renews its commitment to the human fraternity by promoting pluralism, cultural diversity and advancing dialogue and understanding between regions, cultures and civilisations for fostering a genuine culture of peace, said India's Permanent Representative to the UN T S Tirumurti on the occasion of the International Day of Human Fraternity on Friday (local time). "As a resolution to commemorate, the International Day of the Human Fraternity reaffirms that we need to commit ourselves to pluralistic traditions," said Tirumurti during the high-level virtual event commemorating the International Day of the Human Fraternity. "Pluralism is the protective sheet in which the human fraternity blossoms. This is in line with our own belief that the world is one family, Vasidhaiv Kutumbkam," he added. Expressing his gratitude to the UN Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) for organising the event, Tirumurti said, "We would like to convey our sincere appreciation to the UAE and Egypt for successfully piloting this resolution which proclaims February 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity." "India was happy to co-sponsor this resolution last year. On this day, we renew our commitment to the human fraternity by promoting pluralism, cultural diversity and advancing dialogue and understanding between regions, cultures and civilisations for fostering a genuine culture of peace," he added. Stating that this date marks the meeting in Abu Dhabi between the heads of the two major religions of the world, Tirumurti said, "This meeting not only underlines the importance of the deepening the understanding between these two Abrahamic religions but in fact between all regions and faiths as well." "Spirit of human fraternity also enjoins us to combat hate and violence, not just against Abrahamic religions but combat hate and violence against all religions including Sikhism, Buddhism and Hinduism. The shattering of the iconic Bamyan Buddhas to name one tragic event stands as testimony to what hate against other religions can do," he added. Further, Tirumurti said, "International days are the days that should seek to bring all of us together as one family and we celebrated in an inclusive manner. They should not seek to divide us." (ANI)
Pakistan is reviving its previous tactics to spread hatred, disrupt communal harmony and promote extremism in India as Islamabad has been supporting jihadi activities against New Delhi to disrupt peace in the country, according to a report. Pakistan's security apparatus has for decades supported jihadi and Khalistani groups that have targeted India, and a revival of this activity should be a source of concern to the American national security apparatus as well as India's, said the Hudson Institute's report. A recent arrest in Germany shows Islamabad's support for spreading extremism in India. Last year in December Jaswinder Singh Multani was arrested in Germany by the country's authority for allegedly masterminding a blast at Ludhiana court in December last year. Officials in the Asian nation had blamed Sikh separatists based in Europe for the attack and alleged that Multani was the mastermind behind the attack, according to the report Authorities believed that Multani "has links to Pakistan and has been involved in smuggling of arms and ammunition from across the border into Punjab." Authorities had previously accused him of "arranging and sending weapons consignments comprising explosives, hand grenades and pistols from across the border with the help of Pakistan-based operatives," according to Hudson Institute. The Institute further stated that Multani is reportedly a leading member of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) movement. The SFJ's public face, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has apparently confirmed this fact, revealing a close relationship with Multani. Over the years, Sikhs for Justice has written public letters to the prime minister of Pakistan and the presidents of Russia and China, seeking their support against India. The issue of Khalistan may appear to many to be a purely internal issue for New Delhi, but the recent increase in Khalistan-related anti-India activism within the US is occurring as the United States and India collaborate in confronting China's rise, especially in the Indo-Pacific. Therefore, Pakistan, a critical Chinese ally, has a vested interest in weakening the India-US collaboration, said the Hudson Institute. The Hudson Institute report, Pakistan's Destabilization Playbook: Khalistan Separatism within the US, which was authored by a group, emphasises the need for law enforcement in Western countries to be vigilant with respect to Pakistan-backed extremist groups. The activities of Khalistani groups located in North America should be investigated, within the limits prescribed by law, to prevent a reoccurrence of the violence orchestrated by the Khalistan movement in the 1980s, according to the institute. (ANI)
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's China visit -- first in the last two years -- points to Islamabad's financial dependence on Beijing, especially as the West continues to ignore Pakistan, according to a media report. Prime Minister Imran Khan -- who is in Beijing -- on Friday invited Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan and benefit from the business-friendly policies of the PTI-led government, reported Geo News. Imran Khan, during a series of meetings with the executives of Chinese state-owned and private corporate sectors, underlined that Pakistan was offering a conducive environment for investment in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Khan also appreciated the keen interest of the Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan as Chinese corporate leaders briefed the premier on the progress of their ongoing projects in Pakistan. The Imran Khan government with this visit is eying on a loan to the tune of USD 3 billion from China to stabilise its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and also seeks an investment bonanza in half a dozen sectors, The Express Tribune reported citing sources earlier. The Pakistan Prime Minister is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials in China where discussions will inevitably turn toward the USD 1.5 billion in overdue payments Pakistan owes Chinese energy companies that have built power plants as part of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), reported Asia Times. The interests of the Imran Khan government with this visit underlines Islamabad's financial dependence on China as the Western powers have been ignoring Islamabad for quite some time. Islamabad's ties with the United States were somewhat strained during the 1990s, but the country again became Washington's ally in the "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001, attacks. However, following the US pullout from Afghanistan, the South Asian country is now looking to the East for strategic alliances, according to DW. In return for the financial gains from China, experts believe that Islamabad could grant Beijing access to the Indian Ocean. (ANI)
Russia has shut down the Moscow bureau of Deutsche Welle, Germany's international media broadcaster, and has withdrawn the press credentials of all of DW's journalists on Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that it was cancelling DW's broadcasting license in Russia, calling it a response to the ban of the Russian broadcaster in Germany, reported DW. Notably, the Russian state broadcaster, RT DE can no longer be transmitted in Germany and the ban of DW's Moscow bureau comes as a response to that. DW Director General Peter Limbourg has called the move an 'overreaction'. "The measures by the authorities in Russia are completely incomprehensible and a total overreaction,", he said. Furthermore, the German MABB media watchdog and Commission for Licensing and Supervision of media organizations on Wednesday said that RT DE could not broadcast in Germany using a Serbian license, reported DW. Though licencing issues were cited, Russia had criticized a German regulator's ban on German-language programming by Russia's state broadcaster RT as an attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Having credentials of DW's Moscow Bureau staff revoked, they have stopped working early on Friday. "We have been made into a kind of pawn, which the media must often endure in autocracies. We formally protest against this absurd reaction by the Russian government and we will take legal action against the announced measures. Until we are officially presented with the measures, we will continue reporting from our office in Moscow. Even if we ultimately do have to close it, our reporting about Russia will remain unchanged. In fact, we would increase our coverage.", Limbourg added. This is a key development as last week on Friday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht and both shared their concerns over Russia's military deployments near Ukraine and emphasized their strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, reported DW. (ANI)
An additional five people were left injured and are being treated at District Hospital as per the Police.

The jeep was en-route to Gaumukhi Village Council of Liwang from Nau Bahini Village Council after the marriage at a place called Okharpata, Police Inspector at District Police Office Beni Prasad Gaire informed.

"6 people died on the spot while 2 breathed their last while on the way to District Hospital. The jeep met with the accident while it was en-route to groom's house and the incident took place at around 3 AM (local time) in the morning," Gaire told ANI over the phone.

The Police are yet to ascertain whether the bride-groom were present in the ill-fated vehicle and establish the identity of the deceased.

As per the preliminary information, the police has been able to identify that five female and three males are amongst the dead.

The site of the accident is about 25 kilometres from the district headquarters. (ANI)
Washington [US], February 5 (ANI/Sputnik): The Russian Embassy to the United States has described the US Department of State's criticism of the Russian ban on Germany's Deutsche Welle (DW) broadcaster as an example of the policy of double standards. On late Friday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price condemned the Russian ban on Deutsche Welle and expressed solidarity with the German broadcaster. "@StateDeptSpox statement is another example of double standards policy. Where were [the US] 'high democratic values' when #Berlin banned the satellite and other types of broadcasting of @de_rt_com channel?" the embassy wrote on its Twitter page. On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow would close the DW bureau, annul the accreditation of its employees, and terminate DW satellite and other broadcasts in response to the RT DE ban in Germany. Meanwhile, the ministry's official told Sputnik that if Germany revisits its position on RT DE, Moscow will respond in kind. On Wednesday, German media regulator MABB officially banned broadcasts by RT DE in Germany, claiming that the organizers did not have the necessary permission. (ANI/Sputnik)
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in Beijing on a four-day tour, also signed an agreement on industrial cooperation with China, on Friday to facilitate investment from China and other parts of the world to Pakistan.

Additionally, a USD 350 million textile cluster over 100 acres of land on Lahore-Kasur Road is under pipeline, Khan's aide on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Khalid Mansoor told the media.

Imran Khan interacted with National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) chairman He Lifeng to deliberate on CPEC projects.

Notably, Chinese state-owned and private enterprises have also expressed their desire for investment in CPEC projects, reported the newspaper.

On the very first day of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, Imran Khan signed the deal with China and the NDRC chairman said China attached immense significance to CPEC and was firmly committed to its steady progress and development.

He said that China had become Pakistan's largest investment and trade partner in the last seven years and both sides were keen to maintain the momentum of overall economic and trade ties in future as well, reported the newspaper.

Earlier on Thursday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Pakistan's economy remains vulnerable because of delayed implementation of structural reforms and widening imbalances on external accounts.

Pakistan remains vulnerable to possible flare-ups of the pandemic, tighter international financial conditions, a rise in geopolitical tensions, as well as delayed implementation of structural reforms. (ANI)
Xi meets Serbian president, hails ironclad friendship between China, Serbia

Xinhua) 14:02, February 05, 2022

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia when meeting with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Beijing on Saturday.

Xi said that the two countries enjoy high-level political mutual trust, and bilateral relations have withstood the test and become even stronger, setting a model of international relations.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Bianji)
by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng

TEHRAN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Tehran said Saturday that Washington's move to restore sanctions waivers was "good but not enough," while the Vienna talks, which were initiated about 10 months ago to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, have now reached a crucial stage.

Washington on Friday announced it was waiving sanctions on Iran's civilian nuclear program, which allows international nuclear cooperation projects.

"NOT A CONCESSION"

Friday's step "is neither a concession to Iran," nor "a signal that we are about to reach an understanding on a mutual return to full implementation" of the nuclear deal, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a senior State Department official was quoted by U.S. media as saying.

The sanctions waiver "is designed to facilitate discussions that would help to close a deal on a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA and lay the groundwork for Iran's return to the performance of its JCPOA commitments," the U.S. State Department said in its report to Congress, adding it is also designed to "constrain Iran's nuclear activities."

"Absent this sanctions waiver, detailed technical discussions with third parties regarding the disposition of stockpiles and other activities of nonproliferation value cannot take place," the U.S. State Department official added.

By the same token, "we did not provide sanctions relief for Iran and will not until/unless Tehran returns to its commitments under the JCPOA," U.S. State Department Spokesman Ned Price tweeted.

Such a step aims to "permit our international partners to address growing nuclear nonproliferation and safety risks in Iran," Price added.

They made the remarks as critics of the nuclear deal, which the United States quit in 2018 under its former President Donald Trump, voiced against the decision made by his successor Joe Biden.

"These waivers should be opposed on the merits, not just their signal of complete desperation and weakness," tweeted Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser to the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

"NOT ENOUGH"

Assal Rad, a senior research fellow at the National Iranian American Council, however, said as people who pushed Trump's failed policy start yelling that this is a "concession" to Iran, remember "the sanctions crushing its economy are still in place."

Also, the United States "has done absolutely nothing to end 'maximum pressure' sanctions targeting innocent citizens," said Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran.

"While preserving Iran's rights, any deal must comprehensively & verifiably remove all of the barbaric sanctions & credible assurances must also be provided," he tweeted.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Saturday that Iran, via intermediaries, has made clear to the American side that they must show their "good faith in action" in the Vienna nuclear negotiations.

"Good faith in practice, in our view, means something tangible happening on the ground, and the lifting of some of the sanctions could be considered as goodwill that the Americans are talking about," Amir Abdollahian said in response to Washington's latest move.

"What happens on paper is good, but not enough," he added.

"The news we hear today is about a dimension of lifting nuclear sanction, and everyone knows that this is not enough," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday, adding that the United States needs to "lift all sanctions, including the nuclear ones."

"RIGHT DIRECTION"

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said the U.S. waiver decision was "a move in the right direction."

"It will help expedite restoration of JCPOA and mutual return of U.S. and Iran to compliance with 2015 deal. It also can be seen as an indication that the Vienna talks have entered the final stage," Ulyanov, also head of Russia's delegation to the nuclear negotiations, wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Rad also said that "these waivers let other countries work on Iran's civil nuclear program, a step that helps bring it back to compliance."

However, "the suspension of several nuclear sanctions, which will have no economic impact, is more the beginning of a new blame game, than a sign of U.S. goodwill," Nour News, a website close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, wrote on Saturday.

While the progress of the negotiations is "tied to the U.S. political decision-making, the show is merely a move to ease pressure on Washington and pursue a blame game," it warned.

As has been agreed by various parties, progress has accelerated in less complex issues of dispute, yet disagreement on thorny matters, like guarantees and verification measures, still remains.

"Political decisions are needed now," Enrique Mora, the European Union's coordinator in the negotiations, has said recently.

To move the negotiations forward, Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, has highlighted "a need for more flexibility on both sides," and suggested the United States "go first." 
Amid calls mounting for answers over missing women activists, the Taliban on Friday released 14 women prisoners in Kabul to tackle global pressure. To tackle global pressure, Taliban release 14 women prisoners in Kabul Office of Prisons Administration of the Taliban announced that they have freed 14 women from female prison in the Afghan capital Kabul, reported Tolo News. The body said that the inmates were let out as a result of an assessment conducted by a government delegation. A statement sent to media by OPA read that "14 women prisoners were released on Thursday, February 3 as a result of an assessment conducted by a five-member delegation." Deputy of the counternarcotic body in the ministry of interior affairs of the Taliban Moulayee Abdulhaq said that the prisoners released promised not to do carry out activities that harm societal order and that are illegal and/or in opposition with Sharia law, reported Tolo News. The move comes amid reports of a second instance of missing women rights' activists--two more were allegedly abducted this week--that sparked international reactions, with many public figures and organizations demanding information about the fate of these women who have gone missing. Zahra Mohammadi and Mursal Ayar are the two female activists who went missing two days ago. Over two weeks ago, Tamana Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhil went missing. The US special envoy for Afghan women, Rina Amiri, said that if the Islamic Emirate seeks legitimacy from the world and the people inside Afghanistan, it must respect the human rights of the Afghans. "These unjust detentions must stop. If the Taliban seek legitimacy from the Afghan people and the world they must respect Afghans' human rights - especially for women - including the freedom of expression and immediately release these women, their relatives and other activists," Amiri said on Twitter. Some women's rights activists called on the international community to take serious steps to release of the detained female activists. Meanwhile, the UN Mission in Afghanistan sought information from the Taliban on the latest reported detentions by the Taliban. It also repeated calls for all 'disappeared' women activists and relatives to be released. "Urgent information sought from @moiafghanistan today by UNAMA on latest reported detentions over last 24 hrs by the Taliban of a further two women activists in Kabul. UN repeats its call for all 'disappeared' women activists and relatives to be released," the UN Mission said in a tweet. (ANI)
Pakistan's Balochistan is witnessing a tide of violence as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) continues to carry out terrorist attacks in the province, with recent attacks on security posts in Pakistan that resulted in the death of seven Pakistani soldiers and 13 terrorists. Forty-one soldiers and civilians died in January 2022 and the toll could cross 50 and more. Umer Farooq writing for Pakistan's weekly, Friday Times said that Pakistan is back to the situation where it has to face two insurgencies one in the North West led by the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) also known as Pakistani Taliban and the other in South led by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), reported Al Arabiya. Speaking on Taliban, he said Afghanistan's Taliban in both cases of insurgency are "in the north as well as in the south". "The fact that Taliban have now become a state doesn't necessarily mean that they have completely transitioned out of their former status as a terror and militant organisation.", he said, reported the news channel. Notably, following the BLA attacks, Pakistan's Interior Ministry on Thursday issued a threat alert in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in the Panjgur and Naushki districts of Balochistan. Umer Farooq also draws attention towards the Afghan Taliban's "linkages with Al-Qaida,on the one hand and Pakistani Taliban on the other" and their 'rivalry' with the localchapter of the Islamic State (IS) that is called ISIS (Khorasan). Furthermore, he said that the Pakistani Taliban have regrouped and revived their strengthin the Pak-Afghan border, areas and their leadership is based in Afghan cities and townsclose to the border. Overall, this indicates Pakistan's growing frustration with the Afghan Taliban forwhom they have pleaded the world community for humanitarian aid, reported the news channel. (ANI)
Taiwan on Saturday condemned joint Russia-China statement made on Friday opposing island independence and supporting the One-China principle. "In response to Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development issued by China and Russia in the evening on (February) 4, in which Russia confirmed that it adheres to the One-China principle and recognizes Taiwan as an integral part of the Chinese territory, the foreign ministry expresses its strong protest, and also strongly condemns the false language that infringes on the sovereignty of the Republic of China [Taiwan]," the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met hours before the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony and issued a joint statement that voiced Russia's support for China's stance that democratically-governed Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and opposition to any form of independence for the island. The foreign ministry added that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other, and the Chinese government never ruled Taiwan. "The Chinese government has no right to represent Taiwan at the international level, and it should not force other countries, international organizations, and international companies to make false comments using their fictitious 'One-China' principle against their will and facts," the ministry said. Rebuking Beijing for its false claims the island is part of China, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said, "It not only increases the Taiwanese people's disgust at and loathing for the Chinese government's arrogance and bullying, it also clearly shows all the world's countries the sinister face of the Chinese Communist regime's aggression, expansionism and damaging of peace." The ministry further said that the joint statement declaration before the Winter Olympics that the island is part of China increases people's 'disgust' of Beijing's 'arrogance and bullying'. "This is an insult to the peaceful spirit embodied by the Olympic Rings, and will be spurned by Taiwan's people and held in contempt by democratic countries." The One-China principle is a basis for diplomatic relations between Beijing and other countries, and no nation that recognizes Taiwan as an independent country can establish diplomatic relations with China, until it severs ties with Taipei. (ANI)
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, while speaking to reporters, on Friday, said, "Destabilizing conflict in Europe would impact China's interests all over the world," adding "Certainly, China should know that."

This comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held summit talks and affirmed a deeper partnership between their countries.

Along similar lines, senior US State Department official Daniel Kritenbrink conveyed on Friday that Beijing could have played a role to de-escalate mounting tensions along the Ukraine border as Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The meeting should have provided China the opportunity to encourage Russia to pursue diplomacy and de-escalation in Ukraine, that is what the world expects from responsible powers," said Kritenbrink on Friday with respect to the meeting between Putin and Xi.

In a joint statement earlier in the day, Russia and China said they oppose further enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and called on the alliance to abandon its ideologically-charged Cold War approach, according to Sputnik. (ANI)
An international humanitarian society, Red Crescent on Friday distributed aid to eight hundred vulnerable families in the Kunduz province. Mohammad Reza Naseri, Head of the Kunduz Red Crescent Society, said that 11 million afghanis (Afghanistan's currency) worth of food has been provided to the needy, reported Tolo News. "The total worth of this aid is more than eleven million, we started the distribution process today and we will finish it by tomorrow," he said. "Several items of food and non-food items are provided to each family," said Abdul Halim Halim, Head of the Kunduz Red Crescent Society for Disaster Management. "These donations also include clothes and flour." A number of citizens in the northern province of Kunduz complained about the lack of employment, saying that the cold weather, on the one hand, and poverty and unemployment on the other, have added to their problems, reported Tolo News. "There are no jobs, we ask the Islamic Emirate to provide job opportunities and to continue such kinds of assistance to the people," said Baba Shireen, a resident of Kunduz. "The government should set up factories for us and provide us with job opportunities because all the people are out of jobs," said Jalat Khan, a resident of Kunduz. 60-year-old Abdul Rahim, whose three sons were wounded in recent years due to fighting and are now disabled, said that he is the sole breadwinner for his family and his three sons, but is unable to find a piece of bread for his family. "If we sell our home appliances ... we will have to reach out to one side because man cannot tolerate hunger," said Abdulrahim. Afghanistan is under deep humanitarian crisis and over 50 per cent of Afghan's are facing a "tsunami of hunger," the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported, citing numbers from UN World Food Programme. The Taliban took over control of Kabul on August 15 last year and following this, the country has been battered by a deepening economic, humanitarian and security crisis. A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban have plunged the country, already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis. (ANI)
Pakistan's Parliamentary committee has approved four bills, including one that seeks separation of the judiciary and the district administration in the country's capital Islamabad, local media reported on Saturday. The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Friday, which met with Senator Mohsin Aziz in the chair, also discussed a number of other bills, according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn. The media outlet further reported that the committee discussed the draft "Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2021" which seeks amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1898 to end judicial powers enjoyed by bureaucrats in Islamabad. According to Dawn, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, who moved the bill, told the committee that the exercise of judicial powers by the district administration was in conflict with Article 175 (3) of the Constitution. Besides, the committee also passed two other bills moved by Senator Shahadat Awan - The Registration (Amendment ) Bill 2021 and Consideration of the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act 1933. Notably, Yesterday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ruled that the allotment of plots on subsidised rates to Pakistan's top judges, lawyers and bureaucrats was illegal and ordered the federal government's real estate entity to initiate housing schemes for the general public. According to Dawn newspaper, an IHC division bench consisting of Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani issued the judgement on identical petitions related to the allotment of plots by the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) in sectors F-14 and F-15 of Islamabad. The verdict declared the FGEHA project in both sectors as well as the upcoming sectors F-12 and G-12 illegal. "Surprisingly, the list of successful beneficiaries posted on the website included senior members of the bureaucracy, besides serving and retired judges of the superior judiciary. Virtually every judge of the district judiciary of Islamabad was amongst the beneficiaries. Ironically, they included judicial officers who were kept under observation either for incompetence or having questionable reputations. It also included those judicial officers who were dismissed from the services pursuant to disciplinary proceedings or who had opted to resign," the court order stated, according to Dawn. The court verdict noted that FGEHA board members had even allotted plots to themselves. (ANI)
Inspired by the Canadian trucker protests that have brought Ottawa to a standstill, the Convoy Finland protesters practiced civil disobedience and public disruption.

"Police towed dozens of vehicles from the Mannerheimintie street and arrested 55 people. Two arrested are suspected of violent opposition to a police officer," the police said in a statement.

Traffic in Helsinki was fully restored in the early hours of Saturday, according to the police.

In mid-January, the Finnish government announced an extension of COVID-19 restrictions by two weeks beyond their deadline at the end of January given elevated occupancy rates in hospitals. (ANI/Sputnik)
Expressing serious concern about the security situation in Pakistan, the Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain raised the issue of regrouping of terrorists in the country. Condemning the recent attacks in Balochistan, the ANP urged the Imran Khan government to adopt an effective strategy to eradicate the menace to protect people's lives, the Dawn newspaper reported. Pakistan's southwestern province is witnessing a tide of violence in recent months. Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the province, with recent attacks on security posts in Pakistan that resulted in the death of seven Pakistani soldiers and 13 terrorists. Forty-one soldiers and civilians died in January 2022 and the toll could cross 50 and more. "Had the government implemented the National Action Plan in real sense the terrorists would have never dared to regroup," said ANP central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain during his visit to residences of the slain police officials in Nowshera on Friday. Writing for Pakistani newsweekly Friday Times, Umer Farooq said that Pakistan is back to the situation where it has to face two insurgencies one in the North West led by the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) also known as Pakistani Taliban and the other in the South led by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). He said that the Pakistani Taliban have regrouped and revived their strength in the Pak-Afghan border, areas and their leadership is based in Afghan cities and towns close to the border. Overall, this indicates Pakistan's growing frustration with the Afghan Taliban for whom they have pleaded the world community for humanitarian aid, reported the news channel. (ANI)
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has stopped the returning officers designated for the second phase of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from issuing public notices till further order. The order was issued in the wake of the verdict of the Peshawar High Court, Abbottabad circuit bench the other day that directed the ECP to postpone the second phase of the local government elections slated for March 27 in view of the snowfall and cold weather in the hilly areas. In view of the verdict of the PHC, you are requested not to issue public notices to this effect till further orders, said a circular issued to the returning officers and cited by The News International said. An official of the ECP said no public notice was issued on Friday in wake of the PHC verdict. Public notices are supposed to be issued before the submission of the nomination papers by the respective candidate, The News International reported further. On Friday, the Peshawar High Court suspended a notification issued by the ECP to hold the second phase of the local government polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on March 27, and directed the electoral watchdog to instead hold the polls after Ramazan (April) due to the rough weather forecast in various parts of the province next month. The PHC's Abbottabad bench issued the directions while hearing a petition filed by a citizen who contended that various districts in the province would be shut by heavy snow in March, following which the voters would struggle to reach polling stations under severe cold and through snow-covered roads, Dawn reported. The ECP had on January 20 announced the schedule and a code of conduct for the second phase of local government elections in 18 districts of the province. The first phase of elections was held in 17 districts on December 19. (ANI)
The Taliban said on Saturday that media in Afghanistan must be committed to Islamic values and urged them to comply with the law on media. This comes as hundreds of media organizations have been forced to close due to economic collapse, threats and draconian reporting restrictions since the Islamic outfit came to power. "The Islamic Emirate is committed to freedom of media, but the media are also required to be impartial and committed to Islamic and national values. We seek to remove obstacles to the media and urge them to comply with the law on media," the spokesperson for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, wrote on Twitter. Thousands of journalists and media professionals, especially women, have lost their jobs, according to a major new survey. The survey, conducted by IFJ-affiliate Afghanistan National Journalists Union (ANJU) across 33 provinces, shows 318 media have closed since 15 August 2021. Just 305 of the 623 media which were active before the Taliban took control are still operating. The crisis has hit newspapers the hardest with just 20 out of 114 continuing to publish. 51 TV stations, 132 radio stations and 49 online media have ceased operations according to the report compiled for the IFJ. The collapse of media and threats against journalists mean just 2334 journalists are still working from a pre-Taliban high of 5069. Just 243 women are still employed by the media. 72 per cent of those who have lost their jobs are women, IFJ said in a release. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "For the first time, from data collected across 33 provinces, we can see the true scale of the crisis affecting journalism in Afghanistan. From threats to draconian reporting restrictions and from economic collapse to the withdrawal of development funding the picture is catastrophic not just for journalists who have lost their jobs or been forced to flee but also for citizens who are being denied access to information. "The international community must urgently provide the aid and assistance to support journalists and journalism to shine a light on what is happening across Afghanistan and address the humanitarian crisis faced by journalists and their families - both those who have been forced to flee and those who remain but without work and in poverty," Bellanger added. (ANI)
ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations(UN) announced on Saturday that positive discussions with Yemen's warring parties had taken place regarding a proposal to solve the crisis caused by a rusting oil tanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast.

"The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly held constructive meetings last week on the UN-coordinated proposal to mitigate the threat posed by FSO Safer, an aging floating storage and offloading unit moored off the coast of Hodeidah," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in a statement.

The statement said that Gressly held a series of meetings in Aden and discussed the proposal with Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, the minister of transport, and the Safer Emergency Committee.

"In our very positive discussions, the government officials confirmed that they support the UN-coordinated proposal to shift the million barrels of oil onboard the vessel to another ship," said Gressly, adding "they want to see the threat mitigated as soon as possible."

Gressly also held very constructive discussions on Jan. 29 with senior representatives of the Houthi group on the FSO Safer.

The Houthis "stressed their concern over the environmental and humanitarian risk posed by the tanker and their wish to see rapid action to resolve the problem, agreeing in principle on how to move forward with the UN-coordinated proposal," according to the statement.

Gressly is currently "engaging in a broader conversation with interested member states, whose support will be crucial to realize the project," it added.

The Safer has been moored at a port north of the city of Hodeidah since 1988 as a crude oil storage and offloading platform.

The oil tanker is currently under the control of the Houthi militia, and its maintenance has stopped since 2015, which caused corrosion of the vessel's main body. The 45-year-old fuel vessel FSO Safer has 1.1 million barrels of crude on board.

The United Nations officials reportedly called for access to the long-abandoned fuel tanker off Yemen's coast amid growing fears of a catastrophic oil spill. 
The US sanction waiver on Iran is "insufficient" to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, media report citing Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday. Iran is waiting for the United States to fulfill its duties and obligations regarding the lifting of sanctions, Khatibzadeh told Xinhua News Agency reported. "The news we hear today is about a dimension of lifting nuclear sanction, and everyone knows that this is not enough," Khatibzadeh said, adding that "what the United States needs to do is to lift all sanctions, including the nuclear sanctions." The U.S. government on Friday restored the sanction waiver to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, while the Vienna talks, which were initiated about 10 months ago to restore the JCPOA, have now reached a crucial stage. The Biden administration restored a sanctions waiver for Iran that is meant to ensure compliance to nuclear commitments as stakeholders enter the final weeks of negotiations to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a senior State Department official told Sputnik. "The technical discussions facilitated by the waiver are necessary for the final weeks of JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] talks, and the waiver itself would be essential to ensuring Iran's swift compliance with its nuclear commitments," the official said on Friday. "If talks do not result in a return to the nuclear agreement, such technical discussions could still contribute to achieving our non-proliferation goals." With respect to the sanctions waiver, it will allow third parties to have more detailed technical discussions related to the disposition of stockpiles of enriched uranium in Iran and other non-proliferation activities, the official said. (ANI)
Pakistan is witnessing an alarming rise in the number of honour killings as it claims 176 lives last year, mostly including women, local media reported citing the Sindh Suhai Sath, a non-governmental organisation. Honour killing is commonly known as "Karo-kari" in local parlance. A man accused of having an extramarital relation is declared 'Karo' and his woman counterpart 'Kari' by their community under this custom and both are liable to be killed by their blood relatives, Dawn reported. On Thursday, Dr Ayesha Hassan Dharejo and Advocate Farzana Khoso, the chairperson and co-chairperson, respectively, of the organisation, said that 93 people were killed in such incidents in Kandhkot-Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Ghotki districts alone, Dawn reported. According to the statistics compiled by the organisation, 27 people (23 women and four men) were killed in Kandhkot- Kashmore district, 26 people (14 women and 12 men) in Jacobabad district, 23 people (18 women and five men) in Shikarpur district and 17 people (14 women and three men) were killed in Ghotki district in 2021, the Pakistani newspaper reported. They pointed out that charge sheets were filed in 649 honour killing cases but only 19 of the accused were convicted. Those nominated in 136 cases were acquitted while 494 cases were pending a trial. They noted with concern that the conviction rate appeared to be around two per cent, and attributed the position to weak prosecution, slackness on the part of police and anomalies in the law and justice system, Dawn reported. They also quoted the Sindh police record suggesting that 769 people, 510 of them women, were killed in the name of honour during the 2014-19 period, the Pakistani newspaper reported. (ANI)
An advanced smokeless incineration technology is being used to treat industrial waste in Hokkaido Japan. "This Facility has a durable Incinerator to burn wastes such as plastics and other hospital waste, safely and easily. Also, it is an incinerator which succeeds in complete smokeless combustion. The first part of the facility is the container which takes the waste. The second part is the incineration furnace body. We pump air inside it to reach about 800 degrees to achieve complete incineration," said Hideaki Matsumoto, Chuwa Industrial co., ltd. "In this part, we achieve smokeless operation by reaching 800-degree gas temperature for two seconds. Next, we filter the gases and release the air without any carbon dioxide or other harmful gases," Matsumoto added. "Our company has a history of over 50 years. We are the makers of smokeless incinerators. Our units are used by many hospitals in Japan, and we thought that many foreign countries are facing it difficult to dispose their medical waste, so we started exporting to foreign markets. Later we received support from JICA to provide Morocco with our incinerator," said Kuniaki Imao, President, ChuwaIndustrial Co., ltd. Japan International Cooperation Agency or JICA is working tirelessly to solve social issues in developing countries. Environmental problems and decarbonization are being given urgent priority. Chuwa Industrial Corporation proceeding with technology transfer of industrial waste incinerator technology. JICA strongly support its overseas expansion. Around 360 units were provided to Vietnam. Regular online meetings with local staff and Hospital officials are held in Vietnam to evaluate projects and discuss further cooperation. (ANI)
In order to assist the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic, Japan has announced to donate 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to seven emerging countries. Additional 11 million doses to 13 countries will be given through the COVAX facility. The countries that are set to receive the vaccines were thrilled to hear the news. Apart from this, 124 million dollars have been given to 59 countries to improve their cold chain vaccine transport. VTV correspondent Long Nguyen reported the development. "Globally organized vaccination assistance is expected to take more time, therefore, the Japanese government has announced that it will donate the vaccines directly to countries such as Vietnam in order to boost the vaccination rate," said Long Nguyen, Reporter, Vietnam TV. "Vaccines were donated from Japan to Vietnam in July. We appreciate the assistance from the Japanese government and the people of Japan for donating vaccines for the Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese Government," said a Vietnamese citizen. The national television station of Cambodia broadcasted a live program lasting over an hour marking the arrival of the vaccines. "The Royal Government and the people of Cambodia as a whole are extremely grateful to the government of Japan for supporting and assisting Cambodia in the fight against this pandemic through the provision of equipment and financial support," said Samdach Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia. Thailand, one among the beneficiaries, has received two million doses. The AstraZeneca vaccine was recently administered at hospitals and clinics. "On behalf of all medical staffs and the officials working on COVID 19, we would like to thank the Japanese government and the Japanese people for helping us by donating vaccines and also medical supplies," said Sirirurg Songsivilai, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Thailand. "We Vietnamese people have overcome pandemic in a less painful way. Thanks to your donation, I myself and my family have been benefitted," said another Vietnamese citizen. Japan's contribution to its neighbours' fight against the Covid-19 pandemic has been warmly received. The international community has also lauded Japan's humanitarian efforts. (ANI)
The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan is set to hold a meeting of religious scholars to discuss several issues including governance and women's rights, local media said on Saturday. The gathering would be convened in the near future TOLOnews reported but didn't give any specific date for the meeting. The media reports said it is also expected that women's education and their right to work outside the home would be discussed at the meeting. "A gathering, with the participation of the country's prominent Islamic scholars, will be held to discuss various matters, including ensuring good governance, stabilizing the economy, and creating job opportunities among other government affairs," said Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban-led administration. The Taliban has said that it has no objection to education for women and will decide the right of women and girls to work within the Islamic law framework. European Parliament's Vice President Heidi Hautala said countries in the 27 member bloc do not want to be in the situation of recognizing the current Afghan government before changes have been made in the lives of Afghan women. "We need to be very, very careful so that we do not end up in the situation where important countries including the European Union member states and the EU as such will give recognition to the Taliban and things just continue as they are today... millions and millions of women are kept inside their homes," said Hautala. The EU official made her remarks during the European Parliament's two-day summit on Afghan women on February 1-2. (ANI)
Pakistan's trade union have demanded the Imran Khan government to take stern action against the industries and organisations for not paying the minimum wage of Rs 21,000 to the workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per the official notification. On Thursday, Muttahida Labour Federation (MLF) provincial president Mohammad Iqbal raised the issue while chairing a meeting of the federation held in the Premier Sugar Mills, Mardan, Dawn newspaper reported. According to the publication, participants of the meeting discussed the problems being faced by them and shared their opinions for possible solutions. After the meeting, Iqbal told this scribe that it had become difficult for the workers and labourers to manage their expenses in view of the rising prices of essential commodities, Dawn reported. He pointed out that it was an injustice with them to make conditional their facilities and privileges with the certificates of 2 per cent under the Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance and 5 per cent under the Workers Participation Act. Iqbal also said that it was the responsibility of the government to make the institutions abide by the rules in this regard. (ANI)
Pakistan's southwestern province is witnessing a tide of violence in recent months. Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the province, with recent attacks on security posts in Pakistan that resulted in the death of seven Pakistani soldiers and 13 separatists.

Pakistan has tightened the security in the important locations in the city including the Diplomatic Enclave and the other sensitive installations, government buildings, Parliament House, PTV, Pak Secretariat, and Supreme Court of Pakistan, The News International newspaper reported.

Citing interior ministry sources, the report said extra forces of police commandos, Rangers, and Paramilitary Forces are being deployed in Islamabad.

The newspaper report added that joint forces of law enforcement agencies have been positioned around the federal capital as first-tier protect the capital city in the perspective of attack like Balochistan

"The possible terrorism will be countered through hidden and visible security," the sources said, as quoted by the News.

On Thursday, Pakistan's Interior Ministry issued a threat alert in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in the Panjgur and Naushki districts of Balochistan. This is the second threat alert issued in less than two weeks.

The threat alert has been issued at a time when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is on his four-day visit to China. (ANI)
Warsaw [Poland], February 5 (ANI/Sputnik): The first group of American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived in Poland on Saturday following Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby's announcement about 1,700 additional troops from the United States to be sent to the country, Polish media reported. On Wednesday, Kirby said that the US will temporarily deploy additional forces to Europe amid escalating tensions with Russia. The deployment includes 1,700 soldiers to be sent to Poland and 1,000 US personnel based in Germany will be relocated to Romania and another 8,500 troops will "remain ready to move if called for the NATO response force," Kirby said. The US forces that will station in Poland landed at the Jasionka airport near the Polish city of Rzeszow, the PAP news agency reported. On Friday, Poland received a US frontline team to make preparations for the arrival of the troops and ensure material and technical support. Russia denies the West's and Kiev's accusations of alleged preparations for invading Ukraine and reiterates that it has no plans to attack any country. Moscow also views similar allegations as a pretext for NATO to deploy more military equipment near Russian borders. (ANI/Sputnik)
Berlin [Germany], February 5 (ANI/Sputnik): The head of the German parliament's defense committee warned Ukraine on Saturday that it should stop throwing around criticism about what it sees as Berlin's unfair refusal to supply it with weapons. "I sympathize with Ukrainian representatives in Kiev for being on edge in the face of the Russian army threat. But I have no sympathy for constant verbal gaffes of some Ukrainian voices," Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the dpa news agency. Ukraine has repeatedly criticized Germany for denying it weapons, including modern air defense systems and warships, as well as for blocking lethal arms exports by NATO allies. Germany insists that it does not allow weapon exports to war zones. Strack-Zimmermann said Ukraine should not "confuse friends and foes" in the heat of the moment and urged Kiev to exercise "a little bit of restraint." She estimated that Germany had provided Ukraine with almost 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in non-lethal aid since 2014. (ANI/Sputnik)
Condemning the surge in threats against journalists in Afghanistan, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday said that journalists and media workers in the country are facing increasing "harassment" in the Taliban regime. Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that the Taliban intelligence agency, known as 'Istikhbarat', and the Ministry for Promoting Virtue and Suppressing Vice are directly implicated in this harassment, which violates Afghanistan's press law. "Reporters Without Borders condemns the surge in threats, summons for interrogation and arbitrary arrests to which journalists and media outlets have been subjected for the past two months in Afghanistan," the statement by the Paris-based organisation said. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15 last year, at least 50 journalists and media workers have been detained briefly or arrested by the police or Istikhbarat. These arrests, which are often accompanied by violence, have lasted from several hours to nearly a week. They usually occur when journalists are covering street demonstrations by women in the capital, Kabul, and show the increasingly important role that the Istikhbarat is playing in the harassment of the media, the statement said. "Headed by Abolhag Wasiq, this intelligence service is playing a key role in the Taliban regime and is directly overseen by the interim prime minister. It has replaced the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), itself the heir of the KHAD (State Intelligence Agency), a local branch of the KGB during the 1980s," it added. The Istikhbarat is not just directly involved in arresting journalists. According to RSF several media outlets have received threatening phone calls and summonses for questioning from Istikhbarat officials. "Threatening to rip out journalists' tongues in order to prevent them from covering certain subjects is completely unacceptable," said Reza Moini, the head of RSF's Iran-Afghanistan desk. "Journalists must be able to practice their profession without being under a permanent threat of arrest and torture. These unlawful threats, which violate Afghanistan's media legislation, are all the more horrifying for coming at a time of growing harassment and increasingly restrictive rules for the right to news and information." Afghanistan is ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index which RSF issued in April 2021. (ANI)
-- The countries in the Horn of Africa (HoA) urgently need to find fresh conflict resolution approaches to ensure stability and peaceful socio-economic development.

-- China stands ready to propose the "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges.

-- China has been part of efforts to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges.

ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Amid a series of old and emerging security perils, the countries in the Horn of Africa (HoA) urgently need to find fresh conflict resolution approaches to ensure stability and peaceful socio-economic development.

China stands ready to propose the "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said when visiting Kenya in early January.

Chinese and Ethiopian staff members monitor the loading of containers to be transported by the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway in Ethiopia, on Sept. 2, 2020. (Photo by Tang Yongcheng/Xinhua)

The proposal came after Wang visited Ethiopia in early December last year and Eritrea in early January, before his trip to Kenya. The three are countries in HoA region.

The proposal has received positive responses from Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and other countries in the region, which believe that it meets the urgent needs of countries in the HoA, and that China's appointment of a special envoy of the Chinese Foreign Ministry for the HoA affairs indicates that the Chinese side will play a more active and constructive role there.





STABILITY PREREQUISITE FOR DEVELOPMENT

There are two main considerations in China's proposal, said Wu Peng, head of the Department of African Affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The first is to respect and support the countries in the HoA to give full play to their own initiative, eliminate interference from powers outside the region, and let the HoA countries solve the current peace and security issues on their own, Wu said.

Noting that peace and stability are the prerequisite for economic and social development, he said that there can be no lasting and solid peace without development, which is also based on China's historical experience.

Therefore, the second is that China is willing to strengthen practical cooperation with countries in the HoA to promote regional economic development and lay a solid foundation for regional peace and stability, Wu added.

In their interviews with Xinhua, African experts said that security concerns and unstability pose a serious threat to the continent's development.

Eyob Belachew, an Ethiopia-based international relations and political analyst, said the region is one of "the most volatile regions in the world" at present.

"The Horn of Africa has been afflicted by inter-state and intra-states conflicts and proxy wars mostly due to geo-politics, geo-strategically and also geo-economic factors," Belachew told Xinhua recently.

"The region has witnessed other forms of conflict such as terrorism, piracy and proliferation of small and light weapons. As if these are not enough, the Horn has also been a theater of cross-border conflicts with regional ramifications," Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, told Xinhua recently.

Recurrent natural disasters such as droughts, consistent flooding and desert locust invasions, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have further complicated the region's path to peace, development and good governance.





CHINA-PROPOSED OUTLOOK

China has been part of efforts to support regional countries in addressing security, development and governance challenges.

Wang, during his latest visit to Kenya, said the HoA, albeit with a unique strategic location and great development potential, has in recent years experienced flare-ups of hot issues and eruptions of conflicts and confrontations, which run counter to the interests of the people in the region and have to be stopped.

China is willing to propose the outlook to support the region in realizing long-term stability, peace and prosperity, Wang said, adding the core of the outlook is to support countries in the region to stay out of any geopolitical competition between major countries while keeping their fate in their own hands.

Freight trains are seen at Nairobi station of Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Nov. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

The senior Chinese official outlined three major priorities, noting that the Horn of Africa should strengthen intra-regional dialogue to overcome security challenges; should accelerate regional revitalization to overcome development challenges; and should explore effective ways to overcome governance challenges.

Belachew, noting that the regional security concerns are multifaceted amid a number of competing and important players, said possible solutions must be systematic and efficient to establish longer term regional stability.

"China's initiative can play a significant role in the peace-building process and development in the Horn of Africa. By providing the platform and also the experience since China itself implemented in its peaceful rise to modernize its nation, I believe that the Horn countries can learn a lot from the Chinese experience," the analyst said.

Experts widely commended the appointment of a Chinese Special Envoy as an important step to help realize the vision of peaceful development in the region.

"Beijing's foreign policy of non-belligerence is an asset and should serve as a galvanizing voice in search for sustainable peace and security in the region," said Adhere.





CHINA'S CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE

According to a recent report by the Africa Policy Institute, a pan-African think tank, since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013, China has supported modern infrastructure projects such as railways, roads, ports, dams, industries, and digital connectivity, injecting vitality into Kenya's growth.

"In less than a decade, Kenya has a brand new 670-kilometer modern Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) connecting the port of Mombasa and the inland (dry) port of Naivasha," said the report titled "Shared Prosperity: Tracking the Belt and Road Initiative in Kenya, 2018-2021."

The report indicated that as a result of the BRI, Kenya has many new industries which employ thousands of people and boost the economy.

There are on average six passenger trains and 17 freight trains operating along the Chinese-built Mombasa-Nairobi SGR on a daily basis, which have reduced travel times while guaranteeing the safety of commuters and bulk cargo.

Chinese and Kenyan drivers prepare to launch the train at Nairobi station of Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Nov. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

George Agutu, a middle-aged civil servant who works in Mombasa said the modern train service has guaranteed him seamless travel to Nairobi every weekend for a reunion with his family.

"I now conveniently take the SGR night train to Nairobi on Friday night to be with my family and back to work on Sunday," Agutu said.

Eliud Muraya, a Nairobi-based entrepreneur, said the SGR freight service can deliver his imported merchandise in less than a week at affordable prices and with enhanced safety while it used to take 30 days by ferry cargo from the port of Mombasa to his premises with clearance hurdles.

Erastus Mwencha, former deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, noted the SGR has eased congestion at the port of Mombasa to the benefit of local and foreign investors. He said a large number of trucks have been removed from Kenyan highways, which also brings ecological benefits to the country.

The Chinese-built 752.7-km-long Ethiopia-Djibouti standard gauge railway, which connects landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti port, recorded about 86.13 million U.S. dollars in revenue in 2021, up 37.5 percent compared to 2020. The line has been used by 449 passenger trains and 1,469 freight trains over the year.

The railway has also improved the efficiency of operation, with the time to process a freight train at the Port of Doraleh in Djibouti reduced from three days to one-and-a-half days, while the loading and unloading time at the dry port of Modjo has been reduced from 12 to seven hours.

Besides, China has been helping deal with natural disasters in the region and has enabled locals to quickly and effectively respond disasters.

When Ethiopia suffered from the worst desert locust invasion in about 25 years for much of 2019 and 2020, the Chinese government had donated batches of what the Ethiopian government described as "timely and much-needed" anti-locust materials.

China also donated relief food consisting of 945 tons of rice to Kenyans when Kenya declared a drought-induced national disaster in September last year after 23 arid and semi-arid counties were affected by drought, leaving about 2.5 million people in need of humanitarian support.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, China has made numerous donations of anti-pandemic medical supplies and vaccines.

China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Feb. 10, 2021. (Photo by Li Boyuan/Xinhua)

The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), which started implementing various life-changing programs in Ethiopia in 2015 targeting vulnerable people including refugee children, also showed China's growing engagement in fighting poverty within the region.

By the end of 2020, the CFPA had benefited some 130,000 people in Ethiopia, with the number of beneficiaries still growing. (Video reporters: Liu Chang, Yang Yi; video editors: Zhao Yuchao, Zhu Jianhui, Zhou Saang)
The Secretary-General made the remarks while addressing the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly via video link as African leaders met physically for the first time since the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals depends on supporting massive investments in strong health and education systems, in job-creation, especially in the green and care sectors, and in universal social protection, gender equality, and opportunities for young people," Guterres told African leaders.

The two-day AU Assembly summit, slated from February 5 to 6 at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is being held under the theme of the year "Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development."

"We need to accelerate investment into Africa," he said, adding that "we need to deliver real investment resources, including by redirecting Special Drawing Rights to countries that need support now, reforming the international debt architecture for the future, increasing concessional forms of finance, and ensuring that African countries with sound economic fundamentals are not unduly penalized by markets and rating institutions."

He further called for the need to fuel the immense promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).

Issues such as rebuilding Africa from the brunt of the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring continental peace and security, socio-economic development, as well as representation of Africa in multilateral international institutions took center stage at the AU Assembly Summit. (ANI/Xinhua)
Le told reporters that Friday's talks were rich in content and yielded fruitful results.

In recent years, the two leaders of China and Russia held talks about 38 times and communicated with each other over 100 times through various means including phone calls and letters, Xinhua news agency reported. This is unique among leaders of major countries, Le said.

"In a cordial and friendly atmosphere, President Xi and President Putin had an in-depth and thorough exchange of views on China-Russia relations and a series of major issues concerning global development and stability, drawing up a blueprint and charting the course for China-Russia relations under the new historical conditions," he said.

The two presidents issued a joint statement, which will have an important and far-reaching impact on improving the global governance system under the new situation, Le said, adding that the joint statement has become the most important political achievement of their meeting on Friday.

China and Russia signed nearly 20 documents on cooperation in areas including economy and trade, investment, energy and sports, laying a solid foundation for deepening bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

Putin, who is on a visit to China, attended Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. (ANI)
Tokyo [Japan], February 5 (ANI/Sputnik): The US authorities are encouraging Japan to consider implementing economic sanctions against Russia in the event of an escalation in Ukraine, yet the Japanese government speaks against rushing into such measures, media reported on Saturday. Kyodo news agency reported, citing both US and Japanese diplomatic sources, that Washington has indicated its position to Japan via diplomatic channels and urged Tokyo to toughen its criticism of Moscow over its alleged buildup at the Ukrainian border. In turn, Japan has reportedly shelved its response to the US request, wary of possible implications for bilateral relations with Russia, including a protracted territorial dispute, in which Tokyo is "seeking a breakthrough," according to Kyodo. At the same time, a government source told Kyodo that Tokyo would be forced to take appropriate measures in the event of Russian aggression, but the government refrains from declaring its intentions on sanctions before the actual invasion occurs. The Japanese officials repeatedly claimed that the issue of any particular steps against Russia, if the situation around Ukraine escalates, is speculative and would not be commented on. However, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden concluded after holding talks in January that the sides have a shared intention "to work closely together to deter Russia aggression against Ukraine" and maintain close cooperation "on taking strong action in response to any attack." Tensions around Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks, with the United States and the European Union raising concerns over Russian military buildup at the Ukrainian border, and NATO urging allies to enhance their military support for Kiev. The European Council announced in January that Moscow would face "massive consequences and severe costs" if it invades Ukraine, with the European and US officials saying that an unprecedented batch of sanctions is being prepared to retaliate an incursion. Russia in turn has on many occasions denied the accusations of military buildup and aggressive intentions towards Ukraine, pointing to NATO's military activity near Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. (ANI/Sputnik)
Taking to Twitter, spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) Inamullah Samangani said that Hanafi also met with the UN Deputy Coordinator of humanitarian assistance and his delegation in the office of Prime Minister, Khaama Press reported.

In a tweet Samangani said, the Deputy Coordinator expressed gratitude to the cooperation and provision of security across Afghanistan by the IEA and added that they will continue delivering aid to the Afghan people, the Afghan media reported.

"This is the policy of the IEA to deliver the aids to Afghan people transparently and the Ministry of the plan has drafted a policy based on which the relief assistance will be provided to people in need." Khaama Press quoted Hanafi as saying.

Hanafi further stated that the IEA is obliged to provide facilities to the UN personnel across Afghanistan and provide them with security. (ANI)
The action was strongly condemned as "despicable" by the Consulate General of India, triggering shock and disappointment among the Indian-American community.

The incident took place early on Saturday when the statue was defaced by some unknown persons, the Consulate General of India in New York said.

"The Consulate condemns this act of vandalism in the strongest terms," it said, adding that the matter has been taken up with local authorities.

"The statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Union Square in New York City was defaced by some unknown persons on February 4, 2022. The Consulate condemns this act of vandalism in the strongest terms. The matter has been taken up with the local authorities as well as the US State Department for immediate investigation and appropriate action against those responsible for this despicable act," India in New York tweeted.

Last year, a 6-foot-3, 650-pound bronze Gandhi Statue of Peace in Central Park of California's Davis city was vandalised and desecrated by unknown miscreants.

2021's act had triggered a massive outrage among the Indian-American community who demanded that the officials investigate it as an act of hate crime. The statue was a gift from the government of India since 2016. (ANI)
As many as 62 per cent of people consider the wrong distribution of tickets for ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) loss in provincial polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while 30 pc think it was due to corruption, The News International newspaper reported.

This damning poll stands contrary to claims made by Imran Khan party spokespersons who described him as a new corruption-free brand.

This outlook of the Pakistani public was revealed in another opinion poll, conducted by the Pulse Consultants using a sample size of 2000 people, the report added.

This poll comes at a time when Imran Khan's China visit -- first in the last two years -- points to Islamabad's financial dependence on Beijing, especially as the West continues to ignore Pakistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister -- who is in Beijing -- on Friday invited Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan and benefit from the business-friendly policies of the PTI-led government, Geo News reported.

Imran Khan, during a series of meetings with the executives of Chinese state-owned and private corporate sectors, underlined that Pakistan was offering a conducive environment for investment in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). (ANI)
The Taliban delegation paid a visit to Oslo last month to hold talks with Afghan politicians, civil activists, diplomats of Norway and other countries.

"The women who were invited to a meeting in Norway now asked for asylum there," said Khairullah Shinwari, the director of information technologies department of the Taliban led Afghan Foreign Ministry, as quoted by Russian news agency Sputnik.

Shafi Azam, another Afghan official of the country's Foreign Ministry, tweeted that women and the youth often "hide behind" the protection of civil rights to receive asylum abroad.

Last month, the UN International Labour Organization revealed that employment of women in Afghanistan dropped by 16 per cent in the third quarter 2021, after the Taliban seized power in Kabul.

In December 2021, the Taliban issued a decree on women's rights which acknowledged that women are not property and cannot be forced into marriage.

Later in January this year, the movement made it obligatory for women to wear face-covering hijab in public which caused protests in Kabul. (ANI)
The US State Department has cleared all the decks for the appointment of Sardar Masood Khan as Pakistan's envoy in Washington, local media reports said on Saturday. Now, he will replace incumbent Pakistani Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, reported Geo News on Saturday. Earlier, Media reports in this past week had claimed that the US held up the acceptance of the Masood Khan over his sympathy for terrorist leaders and organizations. Masood Khan's nomination had been sent to Washington by Pakistan Foreign Office in November last year. Earlier this week, a US Congressman had raised grave concern about the appointment of Masood Khan as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States. In a letter to US President Joe Biden, Congressman Scott Perry had asked Biden to reject Masood's appointment, stating that Imran Khan's nomination of a bona fide "terrorist sympathiser". Congressman Perry added that Masood Khan can only be described as a "breathtaking lack of judgment at best," and "a demonstration of Islamabad's unmitigated contempt for the United States at worst." "While I am encouraged that the State Department has reportedly placed a pause on approving Masood Khan as the new Ambassador from Pakistan, a pause is not enough. I urge you to reject any diplomatic credentials presented to you by Masood Khan and reject any effort by the Government of Pakistan to install this jihadist as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States," Scott Perry had said in his letter to Biden. (ANI)
Amid the build-up of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine, an expert in international relations has said that escalation in tensions between Russia and the Western countries will put pressure on Indian foreign policy priorities and New Delhi will find it hard to balance all sides. Harsh V Pant, Head of the Strategic Studies Programme at Observer Research Foundation, said that India "had not really responded in the Crimea situation in 2014". "Many in the West had argued that India had taken the side of Russia. I think it's a similar policy that India might approach this year," he said. Pant said if there is significant aggression then voices will rise, asking India to critique Russian policy. He also said Russia's reliance on China will increase in case the situation escalates. "This scenario will also put pressure on Indian foreign policy which is facing the China challenge not only across the border, but across various frontiers," he said. He said any conflict in Ukraine is going to put pressure on energy prices. "And this will have an impact on Indian economy which is just about beginning to recover post-COVID. So I think there are multiple factors here that India will have to take into account as the situation in Ukraine develops," Pant said. Moscow-based American political analyst Andrew Korybko said if Russian national security red lines aren't respected, it will take action to defend its legitimate interests. "If the US continues pressuring Russia up to the point of encouraging Kiev to provoke the earlier described scenario for further escalating tensions, then India will obtain more importance for Russia as a non-Western counterbalance that also helps it pre-emptively avert future disproportionate dependence on China," he said. "In the event that tensions are successfully de-escalated through the US respecting all or most of Russia's security guarantee proposals - ideally in writing but possibly informally as a temporary measure to defuse the crisis - then America will refocus the bulk of its Eurasian efforts on seeking to contain China. In that scenario, Beijing might become more amenable to Delhi's proposals to - as India would describe it - more fairly de-escalate their own border, economic, financial, investment, tech, and other tensions," he added. Answering a question on Russia's expectation from India, Korybko said Moscow is expecting India to remain neutral and non-aligned as per its grand strategy that was reaffirmed during President Putin's visit there in early December. "It doesn't anticipate Delhi taking anyone's side, but pragmatically balancing between all parties in ways that don't occur at anyone else's expense." In the long-term, the Moscow-based expert said, Russia seems sincerely interested in jointly assembling then leading a new Non-Aligned Movement ("Neo-NAM") with India for creating a third "pole of influence in a bi-multipolar world order". India had last month called for an immediate de-escalation of tensions related to Ukraine and reiterated its support for a peaceful resolution of the issue for long-term peace and stability. Speaking at a meeting on Ukraine at UNSC, India's permanent representative TS Tirumurti had said last month that quiet and constructive diplomacy is the need of the hour. "Any steps that increase tension may best be avoided by all sides in the larger interest of securing international peace and security," he said. (ANI)
A 12-member jury in Kingston Crown Court in London, which is hearing the case of Muttahida Qaumi Moment (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain for inciting people to violence, was told on Friday that "democracy in Pakistan is immature and the real power lies with the Pakistani army". The British Crown Prosecution has filed a case against MQM chief Altaf Hussain under the Terrorism Act 2006 for inciting people to violence through a speech from London on August 22, 2016. However, Altaf Hussain denies the allegations. On Friday, Dr Nicola Khan, a British writer, appeared before a jury as an expert researcher. Explaining the background behind the formation of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) from Muttahida Mohajir Mahaz, Dr Nicola, a lecturer at Brighton University in the United Kingdom said that MQM is a party representing the Muslims who migrated from India to Pakistan on the occasion of Partition of India. In the early decades of Pakistan's existence, the majority of Mohajirs settled in Karachi, and they have been voting for Jamaat-e Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e Pakistan. Dr Nicola said that when students in Pakistani universities started taking up arms which were readily available to them due to Afghan Jihad in the 1970s, Altaf Hussain also formed an organisation called 'All Pakistan Mohajir Student Organisation.' Altaf Hussain founded the Mohajir Qaumi Mahaz in 1984, one of the initial demands of which was to recognise the Mohajirs as the fifth nationality of Pakistan. She said that after the formation of MQM, there was a fierce battle between the Mohajirs and the Pashtuns in Karachi. The Pakistani military conducted several military operations in Karachi to contain the violence, and Altaf Hussain left Pakistan for Britain in 1992. Dr Nicola said that when the violence in Karachi was at its peak, the MQM was very successful politically and it emerged as the third largest party in the country in the 1988 general elections. Dr Nicola said that Mustafa Kamal was very popular and he did a lot of development work in the city but after some time Mustafa Kamal left Karachi and went to Dubai. Dr Nicola Khan said that in 2015, Rangers raided MQM headquarters Nine Zero. She said that the raid of Pakistan Rangers on MQM headquarters was carried out a day after Altaf Hussain announced his support for PPP in the Senate elections. Describing the organisational structure of the MQM, Dr Nicola Khan said that the MQM has three wings which include political, militant and welfare. She said that the welfare wing of the MQM was known as Khidmat-e Khalq while the MQM had never recognised its militant wing. Dr Nicola Khan said that MQM is painted badly in the Pakistani press and Pakistani politicians like to hate MQM. She told the jury that three judges of the Lahore High Court in an order directed the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority to block Altaf Hussain's speeches from London which was successfully implemented by PEMRA. Dr Nicola Khan said that after Altaf Hussain's speech on August 22, 2016, two leading leaders of MQM, Dr. Farooq Sattar and Izharul Hassan were arrested and released the following day. Responding to a question, Dr Nicola Khan agreed that Pakistan Rangers had a history of extrajudicial killings and was accused of extrajudicial killings of MQM workers. When asked what she meant by extrajudicial killing, she said "killing illegally." Dr Nicola said that all methods have been used to suppress the MQM. Dr Nikola Khan said that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had said in many of his speeches that this was the way to get rights. Replying to a question regarding the ideological basis of MQM, she said that MQM is not a completely secular but politically moderate party. Dr Nicola Khan admitted that the residents of Karachi have suffered financially a lot due to MQM. She cited estimates by the Karachi Chambers of Commerce, which claimed that the MQM's strikes in Karachi caused a daily loss of USD 37 million. (ANI)
LAGOS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi on Friday lauded the quality of work delivered by a Chinese company on the Kano-Kaduna railway in Nigeria, highlighting ample opportunities created by the project.

Underlining the importance of utilizing local materials and manpower in the railway's construction by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the minister said the Nigerian government is encouraging not only the use of local materials but also the recruitment of local workers.

The project, he said, is designed to facilitate the movement of passengers and cargoes, especially cargoes.

Amaechi said that Kano, a city in northern Nigeria, is an important economic center, and the railway project will strengthen the link between Kano and Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub.

The minister expressed optimism that the railway will be delivered for commercial operations before May 2023. 
Bangladesh Muktijuddha Mancha held a human chain and a protest rally in front of the National Museum in Dhaka for the immediate repatriation of 5,000 Bangladeshi students studying in China. The demonstration was held in Shahbagh city on Saturday afternoon around 3 pm. Shaheen Sikder, vice-president of the organization and General Secretary of the organization Mohammad Al Mamun presided over the human chain and protest rally. Others who spoke at the rally included Roman Hossain, vice-president of the organization, Sonnet Mahmud, president of DU branch, Touhidul Islam Mahim, general secretary, Rasha, a sculptor, Mizanur Rahman, a student returning from China, Hasib and Kamrul Hasan. Sonnet Mahmud, president of the DU branch of the organization strongly condemned and protested against the Chinese government's policy of extreme discrimination against Bangladeshi students. "About 5,000 Bangladeshi students are studying in China, and they are awaiting repatriation to China to resume their studies. The academic activities of thousands of Bangladeshi students have come to a standstill and their future is in dark," Sonnet Mahmud said. Affected students echoed concerns as students from other countries could go back to China but not from Bangladesh. The government is treating them unfairly and their careers are at stake. "Even students from Pakistan are being allowed to enter China but Bangladeshis are not being taken. The Chinese government is treating us in a biased manner, which is never desirable," said a victim, Mizanur Rahman in the statement. Mohammad Al Mamun, General Secretary of the organization said: "After the COVID-19 crisis subsided, Bangladeshi students could go to almost all countries of the world, but for almost two years now the Chinese government has not allowed thousands of Bangladeshi students to enter China." "We are disappointed by the silence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who should have take appropriate initiative and effective action. We seek the intervention of Prime Minister in this regard. Bangladeshi students must be repatriated to China immediately failing which the Bangladesh Muktijodha Mancha will announce a tougher program to safeguard the future of affected students returning to China, including the siege of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy," General Secretary said. (ANI)
Scores of Young Kashmiris, carrying Indian flags, held car rallies in the union territory. Some were seen posting videos, where they raised slogans like: "I am Kashmir, I am India, Jai Hind and Jai Bharat."

Sajid Yousuf Shah, President of All JK Youth Society in a tweet said, "Widespread protests were held in multiple locations of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir today to call out the Pakistani establishment's double standards on Kashmir. Protesters in Mang, Hajira and Bagh observed 5th February Fraud Day today."

Mahmood Kashmiri, Chairman of Jammu Kashmir National Independence Alliance (JKNIA) slammed Pakistan and said that Pakistan is responsible for the destruction of Kashmir and February 5 is not a day of solidarity, but hypocrisy.

Kashmiri was speaking to Dr Shabir Chaudhry, the host of Our Voice. Notably, every year on February 5, the Pakistani nation reaffirms its solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

"People in Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit-Baltistan does not have any freedom. They do not have the freedom to even talk. " "Pakistan has filed treason charges on people there and if all this is happening, then Pakistan can never show solidarity with the people of Kashmir. ", he added.

He rebuked Pakistan and said that if people in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, are spending their lives with weapons, then there must be something to it. (ANI)
Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday said that talks with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) couldn't move forward despite the Afghanistan Taliban help, local media reported. Briefing the Senate Committee on Home Affairs, Rashid said the ruling Imran Khan-led government had abandoned the idea of dialogue with the TTP due to the conditions put by the banned outfit, The News International reported. Rashid said the Afghan Taliban had initially held talks with the TTP and tried to persuade them to settle issues with Pakistan, but the talks could not move ahead as there were things that could not be accepted, the Pakistani newspaper reported. The interior minister further stated that there were people of the outlawed TTP in the border areas of Afghanistan and many groups may have come together, adding that two of their terrorists had been killed in Islamabad recently, The News International reported. Earlier, Rashid said that his ministry had alerted all armed forces in the country, asking them to stay vigilant. This high alert comes following the blast in Lahore's Anarkali area that led to the death of three people and injury to 26, Dawn reported. Rashid further stated that a "surge in the wave [of terrorism]" had been observed in the country in the recent past, with terrorism incidents rising by around "35 per cent" since August 15. "But this cannot bring down our nation, morale, spirit and armed forces," he added. Meanwhile, Rashid blamed "small remnants of groups" defeated by the Taliban for creating an "atmosphere of terror" in Pakistan, Dawn reported. (ANI)
Washington [US], February 6 (ANI/Sputnik): Russia expects the United States to order 28 Russian diplomats to leave by July, the Russian ambassador to the US said, although he promised that Russia would keep trying to avoid a diplomatic breakdown. "A further 28 Russian diplomats will have to leave the US by June 30," Anatoly Antonov said on Solovyov Live show. The 27 Russian diplomats who were told last November to leave the US by the end of this January were threatened with arrests if they lingered a day longer, the ambassador said. Asked whether the two countries were on a brink of cutting off diplomatic ties, the ambassador said that President Vladimir Putin would decide on the next steps. "This falls in the competence of our president," he said, adding that the embassy would "work until the last diplomat to defend our national interest while trying to normalise the US-Russian relationship." Russian diplomats last met with their American counterparts in Vienna on February 3, Antonov said, but the meeting failed to produce any positive results. "Russian colleagues came there with a positive program that was aimed solely at removing all limits on diplomatic work in the US and Russia, allowing diplomats to work, as usual, ending the visa war and restoring functions of our diplomatic missions," he explained. (ANI/Sputnik)
Andrew Garfield has said he is a little bit bored now that his Spider-Man: No Way Home role has been revealed.

No Way Home  which stars Tom Holland as the webslinger  was released on 15 December. The film is the third in the franchises Homecoming trilogy.

Excitement surrounding No Way Home was huge with many fans speculating that the film would see Garfield and Tobey Maguire (both of whom played previous interactions of the superhero) appear alongside Holland thanks to the MCUs multiverse.

The films cast, however, repeatedly denied the rumours and managed to keep the storyline secret until No Way Home was released and the speculation was confirmed.

In a new interview with The Independent, Garfield opened up about what it was like having to keep his role under wraps.

The 38-year-old said that he is having less fun now that the film has been released.

It was much more fun keeping it a secret, to be honest. It gave me something to do, he said.

Its much more fun keeping it a game. When the games over, you kind of get a little bit... bored. Whens the next game gonna start?

The actor said that he has the worst poker face, admitting that he almost gave the game away during appearances on chat shows including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Garfield previously played Peter Parker opposite Emma Stones Gwen Stacy in 2012s The Amazing Spider-Man and 2014s The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Andrew Garfield in 'The Amazing Spider-Man' (Moviestore/Shutterstock)

Asked whether reprising the role gave him closure, the Tick, Tick Boom! star replied that the pressure this time was on Tom [Holland].

Garfield praised Hollands performance as the superhero, stating that the 25-year-old is made for that part.

And for me and Tobey [Maguire], we got to come in and have fun and be of service to Tom. So actually, it was very light this time around, he said.

Andrew Garfield in Amazing Spider-Man 2 (PA)

The actor went on to say that it was a deep experience because it was like three Spider-Men, three Peter Parkers, finding each other across dimensions and realising that even though theyve been feeling incredibly alone in their very unique experiences that they actually never have been alone.

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He continued: Thats really profound, actually. Thats cosmically, existentially beautiful. Theres a spiritual component, which I find really beautiful.

Elsewhere in the interview, the actor spoke about having to rush back to England during the filming of The Eyes of Tammy Faye when his mothers cancer worsened.

You can read the full interview here.
By Lidia Kelly

(Reuters) -Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce apologised on Saturday to Prime Minister Scott Morrison for calling him "a hypocrite and a liar" and said that Morrison had rejected his offer to resign.

Morrison said in a statement that he accepted Joyce's apology.

In a leaked message the deputy prime minister, who heads the junior partner in Morrison's coalition government, said last year that he had never trusted Morrison.

"He is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time," Joyce wrote to a former staffer of Morrison's Liberal Party who had alleged sexual assault by a fellow staffer.

Joyce's remarks further shake the political position of Morrison, who must call a federal election by May. His approval ratings https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-pms-ratings-take-hit-months-away-election-poll-shows-2022-01-17 have fallen over his handling of a Omicron-driven coronavirus outbreak.

"I want to apologise to the prime minister ... I should have never written the text that I did," Joyce told a news conference. "My view from the backbench about the prime minister was based on assumption and commentary, not from a one-on-one working relationship."

Joyce became deputy prime minister in 2021 as the leader of the National Party, not as Morrison's appointee. Joyce's party, which has the power to remove him as its leader, said it would not be commenting beyond Joyce's statement.

Morrison responded, "Relationships change over time. Politicians are human beings too. We all have our frailties and none of us are perfect."

Joyce's text message, first reported on Friday night by Nine Newspapers, was sent through a third party to former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins. She had alleged https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-politics-rape-idUSKBN2AJ12Z she was sexually assaulted in Parliament House in March 2019.

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The political commotion comes days after a controversy about an alleged exchange between senior Liberal Party members making derogatory remarks about Morrison.

Opposition Labor leader Anthony Albanese said that it was "untenable" for Joyce to continue as deputy prime minister.

"I couldn't care less that the Liberal Party members all don't like each," Albanese said at a briefing. "What I do care about is the consequences of a government that is dysfunctional."

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard)
In the leaked message the deputy prime minister, who's the head of the National Party, the junior partner in Australia's coalition government, said he had never trusted Morrison.

"He is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time," Barnaby wrote in the 2021 message through a third party to former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins after she alleged sexual assault by a fellow staffer.

Morrison said in a statement that he accepted Joyce's apology.

"Relationships change over time," Morrison said. "Politicians are human beings too. We all have our frailties and none of us are perfect."

The political commotion comes just days after controversy about an alleged exchange - reported by Network Ten commercial television - between senior Liberal Party members in which Morrison was called a "horrible person" and a "complete psycho."
Update 6:40 p.m. ET: The suspect has been arrested and the bobcat was safely recovered, Pennsylvania state police said.

Original story:

A 22-year-old bobcat with known medical issues put up a fight as a man stole her from a Pennsylvania animal farm, state police said.

The man got away with the bobcat named Blanch, and now state troopers are seeking the publics help in identifying him.

Officials say the man walked into Pocono Snake & Animal Farm in East Stroudsburg at about 10:15 a.m. Feb. 4. He grabbed the bobcat and then exited the building with her, according to a police report shared by Trooper Anthony Petroski on Twitter.

While in the parking lot, police say the man physically struggled with the bobcat.

He dropped her several times in the parking lot and wrestled with her, Jon Lowris with Pocono Snake & Animal Farm told the Pocono Record. I think he said something like, I dont want to kill you.

Surveillance video obtained by WNEP shows the man as he leaves the building, gets close to his car and then drops the bobcat on the pavement at least three times as hes heard yelling at the animal.

Lowris told the Pocono Record that chunks of hair and a broken claw were found in the parking lot following the theft.

He says the man accused of stealing the bobcat was able to enter his familys building as an employee left the front door unlocked, and he left $50 in her place, according to the newspaper. Lowris estimates the bobcat is worth about $5,000.

Police say the man may have an Eastern European accent based on his voice captured by the Ring security video. Hes believed to be tall and large framed with shoulder-length brown hair.

Theft of a BOBCAT



Anyone with information on the identity of the male in the below pictures is encouraged to contact PSP Stroudsburg immediately!@wbrewyou @WNEP @FOX56WOLF @69News @PoconoRecord pic.twitter.com/T1f3U17xeI  Trooper Petroski (@PSPTroopNPIO) February 4, 2022

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Pennsylvania State Police Stroudsburg Barracks at 570-619-6480.

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Pocono Snake and Animal Farm has been closed for the winter since Jan. 2, according to its Facebook page. Its described as a mini zoo with exotic animals, including monkeys, a bear and lemurs.

East Stroudsburg is about 100 miles north of Philadelphia in eastern Pennsylvania.

Bald eagle unable to fly found in Missouri. Lead was in its blood, officials say

What was thought to be a raccoon likely was bear cub outside Kansas home, experts say

Watch mountain lion stare down pup through glass door of Colorado home. Really scary
Cities are often known by the newspapers they support and the opportunities that their residents find. When one English immigrant arrived in Dallas in 1885, he became known for both. George Dealey became the driving force behind The Dallas Morning News from its founding and became an important figure in the early growth of the city.

George Bannerman Dealey was born in Manchester, England, in 1859. He was the fifth of 10 children born into a modest family in the growing industrial city. The family soon moved to nearby Liverpool. He began attending school and also working as an apprentice for a local grocer. In 1870, the family made the decision to move to America in pursuit of a better life.

Bridges

The family arrived in Galveston where Dealey continued his schooling and took a series of jobs in the new city. His older brother had taken a job as an office assistant at the Galveston Daily News. When his brother left in 1874, he took up the position. Dealey moved up the ranks, eventually taking classes at Island City Business College and becoming a reporter.

In 1885, the owner and publisher of the Daily News, Alfred H. Belo, saw that Dallas was growing rapidly. In fact, the city would more than triple in size during the 1880s, passing Galveston. He saw a valuable opportunity and decided that Dallas needed a new newspaper to serve the city though there were already others in operation. Belo sent Dealey to Dallas to serve as business manager for the new publication, to be called The Dallas Morning News. Belo and Dealey agreed that a morning publication would be an advantage over the afternoon papers in the city by providing the late news from the previous day first. It was an unusual approach as most newspapers in the country still printed and distributed their papers in the afternoons, something that would continue into the 1970s and 1980s.

The newspaper quickly became a success. The paper brought the worlds news to the doorsteps of residents, and Dealey actively promoted the city through its reporting. Dealey was promoted to manager in 1895. In 1899, he campaigned for the Cleaner Dallas League, a civic organization dedicated to improving the citys appearance and services, which became the Dallas Civic Improvement League.

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He was placed on the board of directors of the A. H. Belo Corporation in 1905 but continued to direct the growth of the Morning News. Agreeing with other city leaders that Dallas needed a university, he supported the creation of Southern Methodist University, which opened in 1911. He used the papers growing influence to lobby for Dallas to become the site of the new Federal Reserve Bank in 1913, beating Houston.

He became president of the A. H. Belo Corporation in 1919. With radio becoming more popular, and the City of Dallas establishing its own public radio station in 1920, Dealey pushed to begin a station owned by the Belo Corporation. In 1922, radio station WFAA went on the air and would enjoy a close relationship with the paper for decades. He bought the newspaper and became majority stockholder in the Belo Corporation in 1926. For his efforts to promote Dallas, he was named vice president of the National Municipal League in 1923 and president of the Dallas Historical Society in 1933. He later served on the boards of the Childrens Hospital of Texas and the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.

Dealey insisted on integrity in reporting and in advertising. He refused to run ads for liquor sales, and even in the midst of the oil boom refused ads from oilmen as he could not verify the honesty of the speculators descending into the region. He also railed against the Ku Klux Klan in editorials and reporting, including stories written by his son, future publisher Ted Dealey. By the early 1920s, The Dallas Morning News was one of the most important newspapers in East Texas and strong rivalry with the other local newspaper, the afternoon Dallas Times Herald and with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to the west.

In honor of his work to improve the downtown area, Dealey Plaza opened in 1934 as a park area on the west side of the old Dallas County Courthouse along Elm Street and bounded by Houston and Commerce streets. It became a popular feature in the downtown area with its trees and sloping hills.

Dealey died in February 1946. Up until the end at age 86, he continued to work as publisher for the paper he had worked to build. Upon his death, he was praised by colleagues around the country as the dean of American newspaper publishers. A statue in honor of Dealey was placed at Dealey Plaza in 1949. However, the Dealey Plaza area later became synonymous with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Dealey continued to be remembered for his contributions to the city. Years later, a public Montessori school in North Dallas was named for him. By 1991, The Dallas Morning News had become the only daily newspaper in Dallas and is still one of the largest newspapers in the state.

Ken Bridges is a writer, historian and native Texan. He holds a doctorate from the University of North Texas. Bridges can be reached by email at drkenbridges@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ken Bridges hard work paid off as Dealey became big deal in Big D
KATHMANDU, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Eight people died early Saturday morning when a jeep carrying members for a wedding procession skidded nearly 150 meters off a hilly road in mid-western Nepal, local police said.

"Six people died on the spot, while two others lost their lives when they were being taken to a nearby hospital," Deputy Superintendent of Police Satya Narayan Thapa told Xinhua. "Five others, including the bride and the groom, were also injured in the accident."

"It appears that the jeep skidded off the slippery rough road due to overnight rainfall in the area," Thapa said, noting the accident happened at around 3:00 a.m. local time in Pyuthan district when the vehicle was returning to the groom's home following their wedding ceremony.

Nepal has been seeing snowfalls and rainfalls in the mountain and lower regions in the last few days, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. 
Bruce Mouats hat played a pivotal role in Great Britains win over the Czech Republic (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

Bruce Mouat credited his magic hat for helping sweep Great Britain to the brink of a mixed curling medal match in Beijing on Saturday.

Mouat and Jennifer Dodds brushed aside Czech husband-and-wife pair Paul and Zuzana Paulova 8-3 to move to a 4-1 record midway through the round-robin phase.

Mouat is so well known for wearing a hat on the curling circuit that it has its own Twitter page with over 100 followers.

After sealing his win over the Czechs, Mouat said: I guess its a wee bit of a superstition almost now.

I didnt play very well in the first three games and I was quite disappointed with how I was playing so I put the hat on, and its got superpowers, apparently.

Its maybe a vanity thing, my hair is all over the place. It just covers it up and people dont worry about my hair.

The British pair led 5-1 after three ends against the Czechs, and never looked in danger of surrendering their advantage.

Dodds and Mouat were due to return to the ice later on Saturday to face Italy who currently lead the standings having won all five of their matches to date.
Michael Scotto: The Milwaukee Bucks and free agent center Greg Monroe have agreed to a 10-day contract, a league source told @HoopsHype. Monroe had multiple 10-day offers on the table before choosing the Bucks.

Source: Twitter @MikeAScotto

Whats the buzz on Twitter?

Michael Scotto @MikeAScotto

The Milwaukee Bucks and free agent center Greg Monroe have agreed to a 10-day contract, a league source told @Jorge Sierra. Monroe had multiple 10-day offers on the table before choosing the Bucks.  8:45 AM

More on this storyline

Ava Wallace: The Wizards announce Greg Monroes 10-day contract. Monroe recently finished up a 10-day with Minnesota where he played three games, marking his first appearance since the 18-19 season. Hoyas fans who had all those games canceled does this help?? -via Twitter @avarwallace / January 6, 2022

Darren Wolfson: NEWS: Thought otherwise, especially after Celtics game, but assuming #Timberwolves are good Covid-wise today, they wont sign Greg Monroe to another 10-day. Good news for him is that he will sign a 10-day with the Washington #Wizards. -via Twitter @DWolfsonKSTP / January 5, 2022

Marc J. Spears: The Timberwolves say they have signed center Greg Monroe to a 10-day contract. -via Twitter @MarcJSpears / December 27, 2021
The New York Times

Oleg Y. Tinkov was worth more than $9 billion in November, renowned as one of Russias few self-made business tycoons after building his fortune outside the energy and minerals industries that were the playgrounds of Russian kleptocracy. Then, last month, Tinkov, the founder of one of Russias biggest banks, criticized the war in Ukraine in a post on Instagram. The next day, he said, President Vladimir Putins administration contacted his executives and threatened to nationalize his bank if it d
Feb. 5Superior Court Judge C. LaTain "Tain" Kell announced Friday he will step down from the bench after 14 years of service. Kell will serve through the end of April and plans to start a litigation consulting and mediation firm.

Kell was first appointed in December 2007 by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue and has since been elected four times to four-year terms. He served as chief judge of the Cobb Judicial Circuit from 2017 to 2019.

"I plan to retire from the bench so that I can pursue some other interests," Kell said in a news release. "In my entire career, I've never been my own boss, or controlled my own schedule. I'm looking forward to seeing what that's like."

Gov. Brian Kemp will appoint a successor to serve out the remainder of Kell's term, which runs through 2024. Kemp spokesperson Katie Byrd said a timeline of the appointment was not yet available.

Kell is not the only judge leaving the bench. His colleague on the Cobb Judicial Circuit, Judge Robert Flournoy III is not seeking reelection, and will retire at the end of his term in December. The election to fill Flournoy's seat will take place in November.

During his time on the bench, Kell helped develop a new curriculum to train Superior Court judges across the state, according to the release. He currently serves as vice chair of the Legislative Team for the Council of Superior Court Judges. In 2016, he started the Intermediate Drug Court, after previously working with the Cobb County Adult Drug Treatment Court.

Kell has presided over the Cobb Veterans Accountability and Treatment Court since January 2021, the release said. He has also served on the State Bar's Task Force on Criminal Justice Reform and served on the state Child Fatality Review Panel.

"I'm looking forward to just a little bit more flexibility so that I can do some of the things I've always wanted to do, and so it seemed like a great time to do that," Kell told the MDJ.

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Prior to his appointment in 2007, Kell worked at two private practice firms and worked for 10 years in the state attorney general's office.

"It has been a true honor to serve the people of Georgia and the citizens of Cobb County in this capacity for almost 15 years," Kell wrote in his resignation letter to Kemp. "In total, I have been blessed to serve the State of Georgia for 25 years, and I hope to continue to serve in some capacity in the years to come."

Kell grew up in Marietta, graduating from Wheeler High School. His parents, Corky and Carole Kell, were Cobb educators  Kell High School is named after his father.

Kell earned his bachelor's degree in journalism and his law degree from the University of Georgia. He is currently completing a master's degree in Judicial Studies at the University of Nevada Reno, in partnership with the National Judicial College.

Kell said he looks forward to spending more time with family, traveling and pursuing his hobbies, such as painting, photography and hiking.
Feb. 5LEWISTON  Simon McCormick drained seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 25 points to spark Bates College to a 74-68 NESCAC men's basketball victory over Connecticut College on Friday.

McCormick made 7 of 14 from 3-point range. His final trey gave Bates a 68-64 lead with less than two minutes remaining.

The Bobcats (8-8, 2-5 NESCAC) made 13 3-pointers. Stephon Baxter (two 3s) scored 15 points and Jahmir Primer (two 3s) added 11 points for Bates.

Ben Rice and Cam Schainfeld scored 16 apiece for the Camels (8-8, 2-4)

The Camels (4-15, 2-5 NESCAC) pulled ahead in the third quarter and the Bobcats (11-5, 3-2) never recovered in a conference loss in New London, Connecticut.

Connecticut outscored Bates 21-9 in the third to flip a four-point halftime deficit to an eight-point lead. The Bobcats, who led 22-18 at halftime, were outscored 45-28 in the second half.

Jaycie Rojik led Connecticut with 19 points, and Molly Cronin added 14 points.

Mia Roy hit six 3-pointers and scored a team-high 20 points for Bates.

The Black Bears (10-10, 7-3 America East) held a fourth straight opponent to 45 points or less and extended their winning streak to four with a victory over the Bearcats (5-13, 1-7) in Vestal, New York.

Anne Simon scored 17 points, and Maeve Carroll had 16 points and 10 rebounds for UMaine.

Denai Bowman led Binghamton with 21 points.

Theresa Schafzahl scored in the first period and Ellice Murphy in the third as the Catamounts (18-9-2, 15-6-1 Hockey East) defeated the Black Bears (12-14-1, 10-9-1) at Orono.

Ida Kuoppala scored for Maine from Ali Beltz and Ida Press with 1:11 remaining.

Vermont, which has won eight straight, snapped Maine's six-game winning streak, which started after a 3-0 road loss to the Catamounts on Jan. 2. Other than the two losses to Vermont, the Black Bears haven't lost since Dec. 4.

Logan Cockerill and Wilmer Skoog scored in the first period, and Robert Mastrosimone added two second-period goals as the Terriers (14-10-3, 10-6-3 Hockey East) shut out the Black Bears (4-15-4, 2-11-2) in Orono.

Vinny Duplessis stopped 27 shots for the shutout. Maine's Victor Ostman made 35 saves.
Screenshots of a cellphone video show Barstow Police Department officers detaining a man on Jan. 17, 2022. Attorneys for the man and others say officers used excessive force which led to injuries.

A Barstow man, Robert Kerns, his wife and four others are each seeking more than $2 million in damages from the city and its police department, alleging they were injured by officers using excessive force after a wedding ceremony.

The governmental tort claims sent to the city of Barstow and Barstow Police Department on Feb. 1 are a precursor to a civil rights lawsuit.

Sharon Brunner, one of Kerns attorneys, said the city could ask for 45 days to investigate the claims or deny them, which would trigger a 6-month deadline to file the lawsuit.

The chaotic scene was captured on cell phone video last month and first reported by TMZ.

At the beginning, a Barstow police officer can be seen striking a man, Christian Bryant, in the face several times as hes on the ground. The video does not show what led up to the fight.

Barstow police Chief Andrew Espinoza said Bryant and two other men, including Kerns, resisted arrest. A day after the incident, Espinoza wrote in a letter to the public that he had initiated an administrative investigation to determine that the actions of the officers were within policy.

Espinoza did not say how many officers were being investigated or if any were placed on administrative leave.

Kerns and the claim filers, meanwhile, assert they did nothing to provoke officers and were having a friendly get-together when it was violently interrupted.

Claudia and Robert Kerns pose on their wedding day in January 2022.

Following a wedding ceremony and reception, Kerns, his bride Claudia Kerns, and family members and guests went to the Quality Inn Hotel at 1520 E. Main St., where they had reserved several rooms.

Kerns tort claim states the group was enjoying each others company and a few males in the group were engaging in playful horseplay by wrestling on a grassy area outside the rooms.

Around 11:30 p.m., three hotel employees came to the rooms and asked the group to keep the noise down as they had received complaints.

As the employees and the group were talking, Kerns alleges thats when several Barstow police officers arrived and began yelling and cussing even though absolutely nothing was happening.

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The officers then without provocation tased and beat Bryant who was rendered unconscious, according to Kerns claim. The cell phone video reportedly started recording after Bryant fell to the ground.

Chief Espinoza said officers were dispatched to the hotel at 12:15 a.m. on Jan. 17 for a fight in the courtyard involving four males. When they arrived, they attempted to detain Bryant because they believed he had been in a fight with a woman.

Bryant resisted and grabbed one of the officers batons, Espinoza said. The officers then fired their tasers at him.

Larry Smith, a retired law enforcement officer and use-of-force expert, reviewed the video but said he was unable to make a comprehensive opinion about the officer striking Bryant without knowing the totality of the circumstances.

Use of force is based upon Graham vs. Connor, a Supreme Court decision noting that the force is rapidly evolving and should be evaluated by what an officer would do under similar circumstances, he said. Punching to get the person to comply may be a viable alternative.

In his filing, Kerns went on to allege that him and other members of the group were also attacked by officers, including Kerns wife.

According to the claim, Claudia Kerns saw her husband being hit in the face after he was tackled and tased and began shouting, Please do not shoot my husband!

She said she was several weeks pregnant when pushed by an officer and tased in the chest.

The allegation that a woman was tased was under investigation, Espinoza wrote in an email last week.

The San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office later charged three men in connection with the incident: Bryant on two counts of felony resisting an executive officer, and Kerns and Steven Rodriguez each on two counts of misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Bryant pleaded not guilty to the charges Jan. 19.

The claims filed by Kerns and the others allege intentional infliction of emotional distress, excessive force, assault and battery and false report, among other contentions.

Attorneys Brunner and James Terrell are also asking the Barstow Police Department to release the officers unedited body-worn camera footage and audio recordings to demonstrate full transparency.

The Chiefs letters and words indicate he knows the truth, so release the evidence to the public, not self-serving letters, they wrote in a release.

Espinoza told the Daily Press in an email on Friday that he remained committed to releasing the (body-worn video) once the investigations are completed.

Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or MEstacio@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Couple files excessive force claims against Barstow police for wedding party scuffle
The positivity percentage rate for COVID-19 is declining across the state of Alabama and Etowah County, but remains high locally.

The county saw a 6.3% decrease over the past week to a positivity rate of 44.2%, which remains 10% higher than the states positivity rate of 34.2%.

As of Friday, the state reported 1,229,300 cases of COVID-19 since March 2020. This year alone, the state has seen 307,875 confirmed cases, with 21,116 being reported in the last seven days.

On Thursday, UAB reported a COVID-19 patient caseload of 192. Of those, they report that 58 are in intensive care and 37 of those have been placed on ventilators. UAB said 135 of those patients are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

In Etowah County, 6,268 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed within the first month of the year. The county has seen 27,358 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with 520 of those being reported in the past week.

As of Thursday, Gadsden Regional Medical Center was reporting 50 patients in its care for COVID-19. Whitney Alexander, marketing manager for the hospital, said the number fluctuates daily, but it is consistent with what other hospitals in our state are experiencing.

We would still like to remind the public that due to the high numbers of patients in our care, we are asking asymptomatic individuals who want a COVID-19 test to return to work or school to visit your primary care office, urgent care or local health department, she said. This will allow our ER team to remain focused on addressing medical emergencies and treatment.

An email seeking information from Riverview Regional Medical Center was not returned.

The state is reporting a total of 17,215 deaths from COVID-19, 536 of those in 2022. As for Etowah County, 17 deaths have been reported this year, bringing the overall toll to 548.

The three public school systems in Etowah County are reporting a downward trend in COVID-19 numbers.

Gadsden City Schools Superintendent Tony Reddick said the system's positivity percentage rate has declined over the past week. We had a rough Monday this week, with 12 being out, but by Tuesday we only had one person out, he said, Overall, this week we had 16 students and only three staff members reported positive.

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Reddick said the system hopes this downward slope will continue over the coming weeks, but always predicts a small spike over the weekend just because of the lack of control it has over those two days.

He said the system's mask mandate will continue until further notice, citing the increase in numbers seen without it compared to the current COVID-19 caseload.

When we made the masks optional, we noticed an increase in numbers, but not a sharp one, he said With the masks, however, we have definitely noticed our case numbers going down.

Etowah County Schools Superintendent Dr. Alan Cosby also reported a downward trend with 175 cases reported last week, which is 260 cases less than the system reported two weeks ago (435).

The direction the numbers are reporting are down, he said, As of yesterday, we only had 15 students reported positive in the county and our attendance rate is up to 91%. We hope that these numbers continue to go down and we can have school as close to normal as possible.

Attalla City Schools Superintendent Jeff Colegrove said, Our situation is continuing to improve regarding students and teachers. As far as our problems with substitute teachers and other teacher shortages, our conditions are improving. We hope to continue to see these improvements and will continue to provide our services as safely as we can.

As of Thursday, Attalla City Schools reported a weekly total of 23 cases within the system to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Alabama has administered 5,755,355 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those, 2,820,325 have had one dose and an additional 2,289,562 are fully vaccinated. The state also has administered 728,597 booster doses of the vaccine.

In Etowah County, 108,665 doses of the vaccine have been administered. The county reported that 52,109 have had at least one dose, while 43,810 are fully vaccinated; 14,149 booster shots of the vaccine have been administered.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Positivity percentage rate for COVID-19 going down in state, county
Due to COVID-19, some meeting times might have changed or have been canceled. Call ahead to guarantee that the meeting is still scheduled.

Email your regular support group or club meetings for the Daily Calendar to americannews@aberdeennews.com. Include town, event, time, place and a number to contact if there are questions. Publication in this calendar is not guaranteed.

Today

Family history research: 10 a.m.-noon, free instruction on genealogical research. Individual consultation by appointment. Aberdeen Family History Center, 1103 24th Ave. N.E. 605-225-0407 or 605-290-7303.

Alcoholics Anonymous: 1 and 7 p.m. (all closed meetings), Yellow House, 519 S. Arch St. 605-225-1292.

Narcotics Anonymous: Open meeting, 8 p.m., Faith United Methodist Church, 503 S. Jay St. Use south door, downstairs. Jeff, 605-290-4675.

Sunday

Family history research: 9 a.m.-1 p.m., free instruction on genealogical research. Individual consultation by appointment. Aberdeen Family History Center, 1103 24th Ave. N.E. Call 605-225-0407 or 605-290-7303.

Alcoholics Anonymous Sixth Sense: 10 a.m. spirituality meeting (closed/nonsmoking), 422 Fifth Ave. S.E. (west door); Rich, 605-380-4784.

Alcoholics Anonymous: 1 p.m. (closed meeting) and 8:30 p.m. (open meeting), Yellow House, 519 S. Arch St. 605-225-1292.

Narcotics Anonymous: Open meeting, handicapped accessible, 8 p.m., The Journey Church, 502 E. Melgaard Road. Jeff, 605-290-4675.

Alcoholics Anonymous Pin Night (open meeting): 8 p.m., Yellow House, 519 S. Arch St. 605-225-1292.

Monday

Alcoholics Anonymous: 1 and 8:30 p.m.; Big Book Meeting at 7 p.m. (closed), Yellow House, 519 S. Arch St. 605-225-1292.

Family history research: 1-3 p.m., free instruction on genealogical research. Individual consultation by appointment. Aberdeen Family History Center, 1103 24th Ave. N.E. Call 605-225-0407 or 605-290-7303.

Steps 2 Recovery, Al-Anon family group: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., 422 5th Ave SE, #111 (west door), Aberdeen. steps2recovery57401@gmail.com.

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Alcoholics Anonymous Sixth Sense: Back to Basics: 6 p.m. (closed/nonsmoking), 422 Fifth Ave. S.E. (west door). Rich, 605-380-4784.

Narcotics Anonymous: Open meeting, 7 p.m., Faith United Methodist Church, 503 S. Jay St. Use south door, downstairs. Jeff, 605-290-4675.

Gamblers Anonymous: 7 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 1732 S. Main St. Kathy 605-225-8632.

Hub City Amateur Radio Club: 7 p.m., Community Room, Brown County Courthouse, 25 Market St.

Hub Toastmasters: 5:30 p.m., New Life Fellowship, 600 N. U.S. Highway 281. Kenneth Maas, 605-229-1727 or 605-216-2059. maas@nvc.net.

Embracing Grace Dementia/Alzheimers Support group: 6:30 p.m., First Methodist Church community room, call Jerry 605-228-1254 for information.

Exchange Club of Aberdeen: Noon, Best Western Ramkota, 1400 Eighth Ave., NW, Aberdeen, SD.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Daily calendar for Feb. 5, 6 and 7
Wales after the final whistle against Ireland in Dublin (PA Wire)

Wales captain Dan Biggar admitted that Ireland won too many physical collisions after the reigning Guinness Six Nations champions subsided to a 29-7 defeat in Dublin

It was Wales heaviest Six Nations loss since losing by a 23-point margin against the same opponents at the Aviva Stadium eight years ago.

And it immediately puts them on the back foot in terms of a successful title defence, with effectively no more room for error, starting against Principality Stadium visitors Scotland next Saturday.

Wales captain Dan Biggar (left) in action against Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Wire)

Wales were not at the races in front of a sold-put 51,700 crowd, conceding four tries and only breaking their points duck five minutes from time when their best player  flanker Taine Basham  touched down, and Callum Sheedy converted.

Biggar led his country for the first time as Wales launched their Six Nations campaign without injured regular skipper Alun Wyn Jones, who was joined by fellow absentees like George North, Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric and Josh Navidi.

We said the discipline and the physicality were the two things that we needed to bring, coming to Dublin, and we probably didnt get those two quite right across the whole 80 minutes, Biggar said.

There is no doubt it was a frustrating afternoon. We didnt get enough front-foot ball or dominate enough collisions to really allow us to put pressure on Ireland for large periods, like they did to us.

We know we are better than that, and we have got to make sure we get a bit more edge to us in training

Wales captain Dan Biggar

Ultimately, Ireland won too many physical collisions, and for us, for whatever reason, that is what we need to go back on and have a look over the weekend and on Monday.

The collisions in rugby, if you dont win them and especially against a team the way Ireland play, it was going to be a hard afternoon, and that is how it turned out. That will be a huge focus for us this week, along with the discipline.

We are better than that today, really. We know we are better than that, and we have got to make sure we get a bit more edge to us in training this week.

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Not overthink things, because there is not a huge amount to fix. Physicality is a huge one, and discipline. I am really proud to lead the team out, but it was a disappointing afternoon, there is no doubt about that.

Wales are without a Six Nations win at the Aviva Stadium since 2012, and they never threatened an Ireland team in a rich vein of form that saw them continue from autumn successes against New Zealand and Argentina.

The visitors offered little in attack and had centre Josh Adams sin-binned, and although they rallied during the final quarter it was a case of way too little, too late.

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said: Collectively, we talked about the start we wanted  we wanted to match them physically.

You have to do that when you come to Dublin, and our discipline needed to back that up. We werent able to do that  it was evident with the penalty-count in the first 20 minutes.

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac saw his team beaten by Ireland in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Wire)

When you are defending for long periods like that  there were 100-odd tackles made in the first-half  it makes it very difficult when we do get our hands on the ball.

It will be the performance you want to improve on. We will go away and work very hard, the players will look at their performance and come back in a positive frame and build on some of the good things that we did in that game.

As I have alluded to, when you make over 100 tackles in a half, a bit of fatigue does set in. It happens to any side.

I thought the boys came back very strongly in that last quarter of the game and kept fighting towards the end, which we want.

We have to make sure (about) the start of both halves, because we gave them too many points in that part of the game.
DHAKA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has brushed aside the claim that his country is falling into a Chinese "debt trap".

China's loans to Bangladesh only comprise a small fraction of the country's external debt, said the minister while speaking to reporters after attending a program in the capital Dhaka Saturday.

He said the "debt trap concern" was an apparent bid to smear China's Belt and Road Initiative and deter the cooperation between China and Bangladesh or other countries in the region and beyond.

"You have to have 40 percent loan if you want to get into a debt trap," said the minister, referring to the debt-to-GDP ratio. "Bangladesh's total debt is just over 15 percent or about 16 percent."

Momen said Bangladesh so far borrowed the most from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "The Chinese loan is not even about 5 percent of our total amount of borrowing money from foreign sources," he said.

Meanwhile, he said Bangladesh has become an "eyesore" for some due to the country's geopolitical significance. "The issue of human rights is not the real purpose, the real purpose is to see whether they can reap some benefits from creating pressure on us," he noted.

Momen had earlier slammed the U.S. sanctions on officials of the country's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) over alleged rights abuse, saying the move was "very unfortunate" and "not fact-based". 
Delta CEO Ed Bastian. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty and PAULO NUNES DOS SANTOS/AFP/Getty

Delta CEO Ed Bastian wants convicted unruly passengers put on a national no-fly list.

He outlined his request in a letter sent Thursday to US Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Bastian's call comes amid a surge in on-board disruptions since 2020.

The boss of Delta has asked the federal government to place convicted unruly passengers on a national no-fly list.

In a Thursday letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, first reported by Reuters, Delta CEO Ed Bastian called on the government to put passengers convicted of on-board disruptions on the national no-fly list, which would prevent them traveling on commercial US airlines.

Bastian said the move would "help prevent future incidents" and "serve as a strong symbol" of the consequences travelers could face if they don't comply with crew member instructions.

Delta has put nearly 1,900 people on its own no-fly list for refusing to wear face coverings. The airline has also asked the Transportation Security Administration to seek civil penalties from 900 people banned from flying on Delta.

Bastian's call for federal intervention comes amid a surge in airplane conflicts since 2020. Recently, two Delta passengers were removed from a flight after becoming aggressive toward flight crew.

In 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took action against unruly passengers by sending 37 of the "most egregious" disruptive cases to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for prosecution. Those cases are a fraction of the 5,033 incidents reported to the FAA in 2021.

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said previously that adding unruly passengers to the federal no-fly list should be "on the table." His comments came after an American Airlines flight attendant suffered multiple broken bones in her face after being attacked by a passenger in 2021.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Nampa School District Superintendent Paula Kellerer announced Friday she would resign from her role, a district spokesperson confirmed.

The resignation, first reported by Idaho Education News, comes just about a week after a Nampa school board member announced he would be leaving his position.

In a Feb. 4 letter addressed to the districts board of trustees, Kellerer said it was important that the superintendent and the board align and work together for a shared vision that puts children first.

Sometimes, however, values and deeply held individual beliefs are too far apart, she wrote in a letter provided to the Idaho Statesman. When that occurs, it creates division and prevents a district from effectively focusing on the important work of student achievement.

Kellerer said it was an honor to serve as the districts superintendent and hopes the new board will take time for professional development.

In todays world, school board members face a myriad of legal, policy and academic requirements that go beyond what the average person realizes or understands, she wrote. That complexity takes time to understand, but it is essential for district success.

The Nampa school board will meet Saturday, when trustees are expected to accept the superintendents resignation, spokesperson Kathleen Tuck said in an email. The school board could also declare a vacancy on the board after the resignation of Trustee Michael Kipp, according to the meetings agenda.

In a Jan. 28 resignation letter, Kipp cited the toll that serving as a trustee during the pandemic had taken on him and his family, and said he was weary and tired.

I believe I served in this role to the best of my ability and with enthusiasm. However, at some point along the way, it felt as if the arguments about a global pandemic (and even its legitimacy) had diminished our focus on student achievement, he wrote. That was discouraging and even demoralizing.

The four remaining trustees include three who just assumed their roles in January after being elected to the position in November. All three new trustees have opposed mask mandates.

Becca Savransky covers education for the Idaho Statesman in partnership with Report for America. The position is partly funded through community support. Click here to donate.
Hundreds of students at Chicago Public Schools and at scores of districts across the state may be freed from wearing a mask in the classroom, with an Illinois judge ruling Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzkers COVID-19 mandate was authorized illegally.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a request from downstate attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt the governors executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools, finding that the measures are beyond the governors authority and deprive students of due process.

This court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken, not only on this State, but throughout the nation and globe, Grischow wrote in the decision. Nonetheless, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the boundaries of the authority granted under the Constitution.

Pritzker issued a statement late Friday saying he asked the attorney generals office for an immediate appeal of the decision.

The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities  and this may force schools to go remote, Pritzker said.

In her ruling, the judge sided with parents who allege that students who object to wearing masks or being excluded from school for being a COVID-19 close contact are entitled to due process, and that such measures are a form of modified quarantine that can only be required by the local health department.

The (Illinois Department of Public Health) is limited by law to delegating its authority only to certified local health departments and has not been authorized by the Legislature to delegate any of its authority to any other body of government, including school districts, she wrote.

The restraining order prevents the state from ordering school districts to require students involved in the lawsuit to wear masks if they object, except during the terms of lawful order of quarantine issued from their respective health department. The order also prevents the state from requiring school districts to force school employees who sued to get vaccinated or test weekly if they object, without first providing them due process of law.

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Grischow denied DeVores request that the lawsuits be given class certification, which if granted, would have extended the ruling to all students at the nearly 170 school districts named in the two lawsuits  one filed by parents against 146 school districts, and a second filed by school employees against 21 school districts.

Although she denied class certification, Judge Grischow pointed out in a footnote to the decision that she had declared the emergency rules at issue from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education void. Thus, non-named Plaintiffs and School Districts throughout this State may govern themselves accordingly, she wrote.

The judges ruling means that any school district that attempts to enforce the mask requirement against any student whose parents joined the lawsuit would be held in contempt of court, according to DeVore, who said parents who want the ruling to apply to their children can join the lawsuit.

DeVore, an outspoken critic of Pritzkers handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, has long argued that the school mask mandate and other mitigation strategies the governor has declared by executive order could not be enforced unless they were formally approved by the General Assembly.

I dont pretend to understand the political complexities at Chicago Public Schools, but I do know the law cant be disregarded, and youve got a judge who upheld the law as its written, DeVore said shortly after Judge Grischow issued the ruling.

CPS issued a statement Saturday saying the ruling would not prevent the district from continuing to require masks.

The courts current ruling does not prohibit CPS from exercising its authority to continue its COVID-19 mitigation policies and procedures, including universal masking by students and staff and vaccination and testing requirements for staff members, the statement said.

We are confident that masking and vaccination have been key parts of keeping the virus transmission low in our classrooms this school year and successfully allowed our faculty and students to safely teach and learn in person, the statement said. Our caseload is declining and the number of vaccinated students and staff continues to increase. We will stay the course.

The Chicago Teachers Union noted in a statement Friday that the judges ruling states that collective bargaining agreements are still enforceable.

Our January 2022 agreement with Chicago Public Schools, which guarantees masking, will keep schools open and safe, the union said.

At Arlington Heights School District 25, which was named in the school employees lawsuit, officials said late Friday that the district is reviewing the judges ruling and will reach out to our staff and our community when we have further information.

Many Illinois school districts have said that regardless of the outcome, they will continue to strongly encourage students and staff to follow the states masking guidelines and other COVID-19 protocols.

The judges decision brought relief to parents like Shannon Adcock, a Naperville mother of three, and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Indian Prairie School District 204.

We had a victory for liberty today, and the kids will finally be able to go to school mask-free, said Adcock, the president of the parents group Awake Illinois.

This is a legitimate due process ruling, and youre going to see a lot of families pushing back now, Adcock said.

Steve Lucie, a farmer and former longtime school board member with Warsaw Community Unit School District 316, said his involvement in upending the governors school mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigations started at his kitchen table with a few farmers and neighbors.

This ruling is euphoric for all of these parents, and mostly for the kids, Lucie said.

Some people arent ready for this, which I understand, but its been our stance all along that parents need to make that choice on their own, he said.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the states school board were not immediately available for comment on Friday.

kcullotta@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kcullotta
The commercial building in the 100 block of S. Aurora Street is where Stockton fire captain Max Fortuna was shot and killed while battling a blaze at the rear of the building in downtown Stockton.

STOCKTON  The stretch of Aurora Street near Independence Park in downtown Stockton is bordered by Market Street to the north and Washington Street to the south. The area is home to a collection of light industrial businesses. Here, storefronts are clean but piles of trash and discarded household items line side alleys and areas behind the buildings' back lots, along the railroad tracks.

It was here that Fire Capt. Vidal "Max" Fortuna, 47, was fatally shot Monday, Jan. 31, while fighting a dumpster fire.

Find out: Are acts of violence against firefighters common?

Charged in Fortuna's death is Robert Somerville, owner of Capital Concessions and Manufacturing, a food truck design and repair business at 142 S. Aurora St.

Business owners describe the neighborhood as relatively safe in recent years, despite past break-ins.

"We feel in shock to see what happened," Jose Torres, owner of La Popular Mattress store said.

The commercial building in the 100 block of S. Aurora Street is where Stockton fire captain Max Fortuna was shot and killed while battling a blaze at the rear of the building in downtown Stockton.

"It feels generally safe. The police are here a lot," said Laura E. Gassner, co-owner of Mark Ease sign store. "But that's during the day."

Memorial: Here's where the public can pay their respects to fallen Stockton fire captain

Mark Ease, which is located next to Somerville's business, has not had a break-in for seven or eight years, Gassner said.

Break-ins decreased after authorities removed a homeless encampment located nearby under the Crosstown Freeway about two years ago, Gassner's son, Nick Gassner said.

Torres said his business has not been broken into for "probably like a year and a half ago." he said.

Several other crimes have occurred in the neighborhood in recent years, including a stabbing at Lafayette and Aurora streets in 2020 and a shooting at Aurora Street and the BNSF Railroad the same year.

Torres and Gassner said they recalled Somerville, who lived at the shop, as a decent and quiet neighbor.

'He's a nice guy': Neighbors describe Robert Somerville as quiet, decent

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Somerville's family said in a statement that he had also experienced break-ins at his business and may have believed his store was being burglarized when Fortuna was shot.

Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers business, housing, and land use. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton block where Fire Capt. Vidal Fortuna was shot 'generally safe'
NEW YORK  One of the things Gov. Kathy Hochul said during her State of the State address in January was that she wanted to bring back to-go drinks, which were popular during the shutdown and helped bars and restaurants maintain income.

The governor justified the return of the lapsed COVID-19 shutdown policy by saying it would support small businesses struggling during the latest omicron variant surge.

Unfortunately, it's no longer up to the governor to put the policy in place. The state legislature has to pass a law in order to it to come to fruition.

Hospitality groups got behind Hochul's proposal recently and said in a news release that to-go wine and cocktails "provided a necessary financial stream during the pandemic and served as a lifeline to an industry economically devastated by the pandemic."

A statement from the NYC Hospitality Alliance said the to-go policy was extremely popular with consumers as well and urged members of the Assembly and Senate that represent the city to play a leading role in making sure drinks-to-go legislation is passed very soon.

However, not everyone is in favor of making to-go drinks permanent.

Who is against getting a cocktail to take home with your take-out dinner?

The liquor store industry, The New York Times reported.

The industry has sent tens of thousands of dollars to lawmakers, while store owners pressured their elected officials  actions that caught bars and restaurants off guard.

Losing money was the rationale of the liquor store industry, according to The Times, and the activism is basically the same that has kept grocery stores from selling wine.

The Metropolitan Package Store Association put out a fundraising email that said the permanent extension of to-go drinks would be devastating to liquor stores and create a public health crisis, Forbes reported.

Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, D-Albany, who co-sponsored a bill making to-do drinks permanent, said she didn't realize how much power the liquor store industry has, Gothamist reported.



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"It's unfair, there's tension between the restaurant industry and the liquor store industry," she told Gothamist.

Now it's your turn to weigh in on the issue. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.

This article originally appeared on the Yorktown-Somers Patch
The worlds first atomic bomb was detonated at a test site in the southern New Mexico desert during the summer of 1945, sending a multi-hued cloud thousands of feet in the air and carving out a crater in the earth a half-mile wide and eight-feet deep.

Sand was fused by the heat, forming a glass-like substance that would come to be known as trinitite, a reference to the Trinity nuclear weapon test site, about 36,000 acres in south-central New Mexico where the blast took place.

All that stood between the test site and surrounding area was a chain-link fence.

The Trinity site is about an hours drive from Carrizozo, the village of about 800 where Paul Pino and his extended family settled.

Even closer to the site is Bingham, population 165 and about 25 miles away from the blast.

More: Nuclear waste storage ban gains steam among New Mexico lawmakers, but Carlsbad leaders oppose it

Paul Pino looks out the window of the old adobe homestead on the ranch of his ranch in Carrizozo on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.

As Pino tells it all these years later, it feels like the July 1945 explosion tore through his family too, and those of the surrounding communities.

He worried the human impact of the nuclear industry in New Mexico could continue as more nuclear projects are allowed to come to the state.

Fix your damn mistakes before you ask us to risk anymore, Pino said recently during an interview from his home in Albuquerque. The money that we get from the nuclear industry is a pittance to what we pay out in medical bills and suffering.

As he learned more about the blast and the impacts of the nuclear industry on his native community, about five years ago Pino joined with the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, an activist group in New Mexico that promotes awareness for those affected by nuclear activities and exposure to radiation.

More: Nuclear weapons development coming soon to Los Alamos National Laboratory amid safety concerns

Pino and the Downwinders join a diverse group of interests across New Mexico whove put aside their differences to oppose Holtec Internationals plan to send nuclear waste stranded at nuclear power plants across the country to a 1,000-acre site in the New Mexico desert halfway between Carlsbad and Hobbs.

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That collection of opposition includes a rare combination of environmental and Indigenous activists, state government officials and oil and gas companies who argued the placement of the underground silos will impede the ability to drill in the area, an oil-rich shale deposit known as the Permian Basin that spans from southeast New Mexico into West Texas.

The Nuclear industry is so dirty that no one knows what to do with the garbage, Pino says. They know they want to send it to us. Who would keep producing garbage you cant throw away?

Native American groups in New Mexico have appealed to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a former New Mexico congresswoman, for help as she now oversees one of the most powerful land management agencies in the American West.

Haaland is the first Native American appointed to the cabinet and a member of the Navajo Nation and the Laguna Pueblo in northern New Mexico.

New Jersey-based Holtec received preliminary approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year to build the facility of underground silos to store some of the 83,000 metric tons of uranium presently held at nuclear power plants across the United States.

Cement and steel canisters filled with spent fuel would come by barge, truck and rail from sites across the U.S. The Holtec site would serve as temporary storage until the federal government makes good on a promise it made decades ago to find a permanent repository for the nations nuclear waste.

In total, it could hold up to 100,000 metric tons of the waste when fully built out.

Related: How the federal military spending bill will impact WIPP and nuclear projects in New Mexico

The NRC is expected to issue a final decision in the coming months, which will likely be followed by litigation.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has opposed the plan, saying giving Holtec a license would amount to economic malpractice. Oil and gas revenue makes up roughly a third of the states budget and the Permian Basin remains one of the most prolific drilling regions in the nation.

The governor has also cited the disproportionately high adverse human health and environmental effects from nuclear energy and weapons programs of the United States" suffered by Native Americans and Hispanics in the state.

To this day, there remain abandoned uranium mines in the northern and western parts of the state that are still classified as Superfund sites, drawing concerns from people in those areas that exposure to radiation could continue for generations.

In March 2021, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, citing the impact the plan would have on the agriculture and oil and gas industries, sued to block the NRC from issuing a license to Holtec.

And during New Mexicos 2022 Legislative Session that began in January, Democrat state lawmakers Sen. Jeff Steinborn and Rep. Matt McQueen introduced identical bills in their respective chambers to prohibit high-level nuclear waste storage in the state.

The legislative effort, directly intended to prevent Holtecs project from reaching fruition, was fought by local government officials in Carlsbad and Hobbs who hoped to bring the project and what they believed was an economic opportunity to the region.

Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway and Eddy County Commission Chairman Steven McCutcheon co-signed a letter along with Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb and Lea County Commissioner Jonathan Sena expressing their concerns to Lujan Grisham.

The two cities and two counties formed a consortium known as the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance which sited the project and recruited Holtec to build and operate the facility.

Carlsbad and Hobbs as well as Lea and Eddy Counties remain resolute in their support for the Holtec interim storage facility because of the safety and security of the project, the letter read. This bill, if passed, may very well have serious negative unintended consequences for our national labs as well as your clean energy goal for the state.

They also touted the economic diversity the Holtec project could bring to southeast New Mexico, along with billions of dollars in investments and hundreds of jobs.

That would be welcome, local leaders said, in a region heavily reliant on the volatile oil and gas industry.

"Furthermore, as you well know, we in southeastern New Mexico, suffer with the ups and downs of the oil industry, and this safe, secure storage facility will provide some 350 jobs as well as a $3 billion capital investment in our area," the letter read.

"While the oil and gas industry is very robust now, it is inevitable that with the number of electric vehicles on the road becoming larger and larger, the oil and gas industry will become smaller and smaller."

The day the bomb went off

On July 16, 1945 the worlds first atomic bomb was detonated during a test at the Trinity site, setting off a shockwave that was felt at the nearest observation point about 5 miles from Ground Zero, a 100-foot steel tower that held the bomb when it went off.

Radiation was believed to emanate for miles around the blast and into nearby Carrizozo.

What followed the clouds clearing and spectators departing the remote site were generations of cancers riddling the Pino family.

Pino, now 67 and a retired schoolteacher living in Albuquerque, said there were four family members living at the ranch when the bomb was detonated. He said all were impacted by different forms of cancer later in life.

His mother, Esther Lopez Pino, died at 78 after suffering from bone and skin cancer.

Paul Pino stands near a fence on the Pino Ranch in Carrizozo on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.

A brother, Gregorio, 68, was diagnosed with stomach cancer and Pinos sister Margie had a series of nine cancerous brain tumors removed. She is presently living with thyroid cancer.

Six of Pinos eight cousins died of cancer, and his daughter was diagnosed with skin cancer.

Nieces and granddaughters have since developed thyroid cancers.

She suffered horribly, Pino said of his mother. She was a tough rancher woman, but she suffered.

And Pino believes all the suffering and death can be tied back to that fateful day at the Trinity Site.

They had people there in town monitoring and the Geiger counters went off scale within eight hours of the blast, he said. They had incredible amounts of radiation.

One of Pinos cousins Bernice Gutierrez, 76, a retired social worker also living in Albuquerque was born eight days before the Trinity blast in Carrizozo.

Her grandfather had stomach cancer, her mother had thyroid, skin and breast cancers, and Gutierrezs brother and his daughter both suffered from thyroid cancer.

In June 2021, Gutierrezs oldest son Toby Gutierrez Jr. died of Leukemia after receiving a bone marrow transplant and living on a ventilator.

Doctors recommended Gutierrez have her thyroid removed due the high rate of diagnoses in her family and she did so.

I think its an unnecessary evil, Gutierrez said. I think New Mexico has been viewed as a dumping ground. The State of New Mexico has become a sacrifice zone. I think the government has used us as their dump site for nuclear.

Gutierrez views Holtecs plan as the continuation of an industry that already brought generations of sorrow to her people and one that should be stopped and relocated.

They think of us as indispensable, she said. They have to. We are not important to them. All were good for is to have a site, an area where they can dump their nuclear waste. We have to fight that. Were a sacrifice zone for New Mexico and that has to end. We cannot be viewed as indispensable people.

The old adobe homestead on the ranch of Paul Pino's ranch in Carrizozo on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.

Weve been neglected.

For Pino and Gutierrez, part of healing from the Trinity blast and New Mexico's nuclear legacy could come in the form of federal compensation.

Through the Tularosa Basin Downwinders the cousins hoped to see an expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), a law enacted in 1990 to provide cash payments to those impacted by Americas nuclear weapons legacy.

The Downwinders hope to make New Mexicans and the people of Carrizozo eligible for compensation under the Act.

As it is currently administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, the RECA offers one-time payments to uranium workers across 11 western states including New Mexico.

It also offers payment to downwind counties believed close enough to nuclear weapons test sites like Trinity to be impacted by radiation exposure.

Buildings in Downtown Carrizozo on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.

Areas in Nevada, Arizona and Utah qualify for downwinder payments, but New Mexico is excluded and thus so are the ranchers of Carrizozo.

People in Carrizozo are super patriotic," Pino said. "Its a shame weve been neglected after they tested a nuclear bomb on us.

A bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) in September 2021 aimed at expanding RECA payments to New Mexicans, supported by U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM) and a companion bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate with Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) listed as co-sponsor.

New Mexicans have endured the harmful effects of nuclear testing and uranium mining for decades, Leger Fernandez said in a statement. These arent abstract issues for New Mexicans. Our communities, especially communities of color, suffered when we tested nuclear weapons and mined uranium for those bombs on our lands. Our government must right this wrong.

Lujan said the bill and compensation for New Mexicans suffering the effects of radiation exposure was long overdue.

While there can never be a price placed on ones health or the life of a loved one, Congress has an opportunity to do right by all of those who sacrificed in service of our national security by strengthening RECA, he said.

A picture of Jesus Christ sits in a old adobe homestead on the ranch of the ranch of Paul Pino in Carrizozo on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.

To Pino, cash given under RECA does little to make up for the damage, but it would signal to him an apology by the American government and acknowledgment of what his hometown sacrificed for the sake of military might.

Theres so many people that have already died. They could apologize and they could make us part of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, Pino said. We were the first people on the face of the earth to be exposed to radiation from a nuclear bomb.

He said several Carrizozo residents and former residents would today qualify for the funds that could offset medical bills and help raise many New Mexicans out poverty  a widespread issue in the rural state.

It would change the economic face of New Mexico for generations. If you give a Chicano in New Mexico $150,000 it would go into their local community next week, Pino said. Were not going to put it in a bank or some kind of investment. Maybe that would keep us from always being at the bottom of everything.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-618-7631, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Human impacts of New Mexico nuclear industry haunt proposed waste project
TEHRAN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. sanction waiver on Iran is "insufficient" to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday.

Iran is waiting for the United States to fulfill its duties and obligations regarding the lifting of sanctions, Khatibzadeh told Jamaran news website.

"The news we hear today is about a dimension of lifting nuclear sanction, and everyone knows that this is not enough," Khatibzadeh said, adding that "what the United States needs to do is to lift all sanctions, including the nuclear sanctions."

The U.S. government on Friday restored the sanction waiver to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, while the Vienna talks, which were initiated about 10 months ago to restore the JCPOA, have now reached a crucial stage. 
A Ewing man who followed a woman to her Jackson home, slashed her in the face and threatened a second woman with a knife last spring was sentenced to eight years in state prison Feb. 4, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.

Michael Mahan, 38, who also fled from police in his car before hitting two other vehicles, pleaded guilty Sept. 29 to eluding, terroristic threats, aggravated assault and driving while intoxicated, according to the Prosecutor's Office. He was sentenced by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Michael T. Collins.

More: Man charged with following Jackson woman home and slashing her face pleads guilty

More: Two Neptune men plead guilty in gang-linked, Asbury Park shooting

Judge Collins also suspended Mahans driver's license for seven months.

Jackson police responded to a report of a stabbing on Maria Street on May 8 and found a woman with a large cut across her face, officials said.

Police then learned that Mahan followed the woman home, held a knife to her neck and punched her in the face while the knife was in his hand before fleeing in his car, according to authorities.

More: Watch video of Keansburg police shooting: 'They are holding my co-worker hostage'

Officers spotted Mahans car traveling on Toms River Road and tried to stop him, but he sped away, officials said.

Mahan hit a vehicle while turning onto West Veterans Highway, where he continued to travel at a high speed before striking a second vehicle and forcing it off the road, authorities said.

He was arrested after his car became disabled about 500 feet ahead of the location where he hit the second vehicle, the Prosecutors Office said.

Mahan was taken to a local hospital to give blood sample, which found that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.14%, officials said. The legal limit is 0.08%. He was brought to Ocean County Jail, where he has been held since his arrest.

The female victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The occupants of the two vehicles struck by Mahan were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 38 years, and is also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ewing man sentenced to eight years for slashing Jackson woman's face
The family of a man who was fatally shot in Missouri late last year is calling for the county coroner to resign, citing his social media posts as overtly racist and dehumanizing.

Justin King, a 28-year-old Black man, was shot by a neighbor on Nov. 3 in a trailer park in the small city of Bourbon, about 75 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Earlier this year Crawford County Prosecuting Attorney David S. Smith said he wouldnt charge the man, after saying he agreed with the findings of a county coroners inquest that the shooting had been done in justifiable self-defense.

Kings family and civil rights leaders have since questioned why the shooter, whos white, wasnt charged.

On Wednesday, a lawyer for the victims family, Rod Chapel, wrote a letter to multiple state coroner oversight boards accusing Crawford County Coroner Darren Dake of racist behavior.

Chapel, whos the president of the Missouri NAACP, cited a Facebook post from 2017, which had been recently highlighted by The Daily Beast, in which Dake writes that the KKK and BLM are the same racist coin, he said using the acronyms for the Black Lives Matter movement and the Ku Klux Klan.

His posts demonstrate his reluctance and preconceived biases which prevent him from completing his professional responsibilities in a way required by statute, Chapel said in the letter, according to The Associated Press.

On Thursday, Dake responded to the recent article from the Daily Beast accusing my office, and me personally of racism, in a lengthy Facebook post.

He accused Chapel and the reporter who wrote the article of using hate-filled race-mongering propaganda for personal gain and at the expense of hurting a family.

The coroner said that his words were used out of context, but still doubled down on his criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Close inspection of my words will show that I was calling out ALL prejudice, including that of the hate group, BLM, he wrote.

According to Chapel, Dake discriminated against Kings family during the investigation.

I have seldom seen a coroner act with such antagonism and callous disregard for victims of murder, he wrote, slamming Dakes treatment of the family as antagonistic, unhelpful and overtly inconsiderate.
Unlike some of its peer festivals, the True/False Film Fest only bestows one award per year.

The True Vision Award is not tied to a single achievement or event, but celebrates a growing body of work the festival deems innovative or transformative within the world of nonfiction cinema.

Juan Pablo Gonzalez will receive the True Vision Award at next month's festival, True/False announced Friday.

More: True/False Film Fest cues up live soundtrack for 2022 festival

The Mexican filmmaker will bring his latest work, "Dos Estaciones," to the fest; and in keeping tradition, True/False will screen titles from Gonzalez's catalog  specifically, past festival selections "Caballerango" and "Las Nubes"  as well as a Gonzalez-curated film that influenced his artistry, to be announced with the full festival lineup.

Juan Pablo Gonzalez

Gonzalez's work, which "spans fiction and nonfiction," is deeply tied to his place and time, the festival announcement noted. It "seeks to reclaim the medium to counter colonial narratives and center the voices of rural Mexico  building alternative histories to those that seek to frame its communities as being locked in stasis, or as victims of circumstance."

The filmmaker regularly collaborates with people from within his personal life, the festival said, together working to "explore community, grief, globalization, and the changing nature of Jalisco as a place."

More: True/False Film Fest releases health protocols for 2022 edition

The Sundance Film Festival, which recently screened "Dos Estaciones," called Gonzalez's latest "a visual love letter" to the state of Jalisco. The film hinges on the challenges facing a main character who, like the director, comes from a tequila-producing family, The Wrap's Robert Abele reported.

A still from "Dos Estaciones"

"With the fusing of fictional sensibilities and non-fiction elements an increasingly appealing alchemy for filmmakers  particularly where capturing the authenticity of a place is concerned  Gonzalez shows hes as talented as anyone at this emerging genres rewarding visual and thematic possibilities," Abele writes.

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Last year's True Vision Award winner was "Delphines Prayers" filmmaker Rosine Mbakam. Others among an illustrious cast of honorees include Kirby Dick, Alex Gibney, Laura Poitras, Claire Simon and the Ross brothers, Bill and Turner.

The 19th edition of True/False is scheduled for March 3-6. Learn more at https://truefalse.org/.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mexican filmmaker Gonzalez to be honored with True/False's only award
RZESZOW, Poland (Reuters) -The first U.S. troops reinforcing NATO allies in Eastern Europe amid a Russian military build-up on Ukraine's border arrived on Saturday at Rzeszow military base in southeastern Poland.

A small plane carrying what a Polish military source said were U.S. chain of command personnel landed at Rzeszow-Jasionka airport as preparations continued at the base, which is near Poland's border with Ukraine.

TV footage showed temporary accommodation being prepared at the G2A Arena in the nearby town of Jasionka, while workers could be seen building a fence around the venue.

"As announced, the first elements of the brigade battle group from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army have arrived in Poland," a Polish military spokesman said.

The U.S. army confirmed that the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, U.S. Army Major General Christopher Donahue, had arrived in Poland.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from potential spillover from the Ukraine crisis.

About 1,700 service members, mainly paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, will deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland in coming days, U.S. Army sources have said.

According to the Pentagon, a squadron of around 1,000 U.S. service members based in the German town of Vilseck will be sent to Romania.

The first additional U.S. troops from the 18th Airborne Corps arrived in Germany on Friday.

"Our Corps' presence serves to bolster existing U.S. forces in Europe and demonstrates our commitment to our NATO allies and partners," spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps, Captain Matt Visser, was quoted saying in a statement on Saturday.

Russia has denied planning to invade Ukraine but has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and says it could take unspecified military measures if its demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Kyiv.

The latest U.S. deployment goes beyond the 8,500 troops the Pentagon put on alert last month to deploy to Europe if needed. NATO defence ministers are expected to discuss further reinforcements at their next meeting on Feb. 16-17.

(Reporting by Kuba Stezycki; Writing by Claire Watson and Anna Koper; Editing by Catherine Evans and David Holmes)
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine crisis by phone with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and underlined the need "to maintain dialogue to de-escalate (the situation)," the French presidency said on Saturday.

Macron is due next week to visit Russia, which has massed troops near Ukraine, stoking Western fears of an invasion. Moscow denies planning to invade Ukraine.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Jenifer Lewis attends attend the Los Angeles rally for Kendrick Johnson & premiere screening of "Finding Kendrick Johnson" at Laemmle NoHo 7 on October 29, 2021 in North Hollywood, California. Robin L Marshall/Getty Images

A Georgia sheriff is putting up a $500,000 incentive for information related to the death of Kendrick Johnson.

Johnson, 17, was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat in 2013, prompting local and federal investigations.

His parents have long insisted that their son had been murdered, but authorities said they have not found evidence of foul play.

A Georgia sheriff said he's putting up a $500,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction in the case of a teenage boy who was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat.

Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk, who closed the case into the death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson late last month after investigators reopened the case in March 2021, announced on January 31 a renewed effort to secure any information that investigators could not uncover.

Paulk's office released a 16-page document this past January detailing his investigation, which concluded that no charges will be filed in Johnson's death.

Police in 2013 found Johnson's body in a mat in his Valdosta, Georgia, high school gym, prompting local authorities and the Justice Department to open an investigation into his death. Six years ago, authorities closed the case for the first time, ruling Johnson's death an accident. But in March 2021, investigators re-opened the case.

And just last week, Paulk closed the case once more.

Johnson's parents, who have for years insisted that their son had been murdered, accused him of lying, he told Insider.

"I went through all the federal files, wrote up the synopsis, and there's nothing to point to anybody committing a homicide on Kendrick Johnson," he said. "You call me a lot of things, but you can't call me a liar."

Paulk said, in response to Johnson's parents, that the reward would serve as an incentive to potentially gather more information.

So far, the $500,000 has not yielded any new information, Paulk said. "It'd be a big surprise" if it does, he added, but he'd be happy to put up the money if it leads to something he missed.

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"If I had to write that check, it would be satisfying to me that I put somebody in jail that I missed," he said.

Paulk said no evidence collected and evaluated by him and other entities like the FBI and the DOJ turned up anything that suggested foul play. But the parents are adamant to believe otherwise, he said.

"It's a tragedy to lose a child," Paulk told Insider. "I don't know if they just want to continue to believe there's something out there to find. But what I've seen, and a lot of other people who are a lot more qualified than myself, it's not a homicide."

Read the original article on Insider
Gov. Greg Abbott makes his way through the crowd at the Amarillo Lincoln-Regan Dinner Friday night.

Running late due to multiple plane issues, Gov. Greg Abbott spoke to an enthusiastic GOP crowd at the Amarillo Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on various topics promoting his re-election campaign Friday evening at the Amarillo Civic Center.

Gov. Abbott currently has seven other GOP gubernatorial candidates attempting to unseat him as the Republican candidate in primary for the upcoming election.

From the moment Abbott rolled onto the stage, he started hitting upon his touted accomplishments as governor. He boasted of his defense as attorney general, defending the 10 Commandments monument located at the state capital. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, with the state prevailing 5-4 to keep the monument on state grounds. Retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was the swing vote that decided for the state.

Praising his role in expanding the economy, especially in the energy sector, Abbott commented that under his watch, Texas now had been named the number one state for doing business every year as governor. He also stated that Texas now has the ninth-largest economy in the world.

Texas elections 2022: Amarilloans head to the polls for March 1 primary; Jan. 31 last day to register to vote

Gov. Greg Abbott greets supporters at the Amarillo Lincoln-Reagan Dinner Friday night.

Together, we have created an economic juggernaut in Texas, Abbott said. We know that the true heart of business in Texas is small business. There are more people in Amarillo with jobs than at any time in history.

Following that statement, he claimed that Texas was named the best place to start a small business and pledged that he would keep Texas number one in producing new jobs if re-elected.

Without any specifics, he spoke about opposing the Democratic partys Green New Deal and how it would destroy jobs in the Texas energy sector, even though the current administration is not touting many tenets of the program. Also, his statement did not address the jobs that would be created in the green energy sectors.

Shifting his talking points to education, Abbott then went with the current hot topic of Critical Race Theory (CRT), touting the bill that he passed that banned the teaching of this curriculum. Overall, the subject has left a muddled understanding from all sides of what can be taught in schools. He said this was a product of the radical leftist agenda.

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GOP supporters await the delayed arrival of Gov. Greg Abbott at the Amarillo Lincoln-Reagan Dinner Friday night.

I was shocked when I learned it was being used in the state of Texas to students as young as elementary," Abbott stated. "I was astonished because what the leftists are trying to teach is hostile to the United States.

Claiming that CRT was being used in government classes and history in public schools, Abbott said he banned it for those reasons. As with most claims of CRT being taught in school, the governor spoke in generalities and gave no specific examples of classes using it in their curriculum other than parents had shown them passages in books that they interpreted as such.

Abbott spoke about the issues on the border and the inability of the current administration to secure the border. Pledging with him as governor, Abbott said the state will build its border wall for Texas.

Instead of sending troops to secure the border in Ukraine, President Biden should send forces to secure our border, Abbott said.

More: New voting rules are in effect for upcoming primaries

Gov. Greg Abbott meets with a supporter at the Amarillo Lincoln-Reagan Dinner Friday night.

He touched on topics of human trafficking, the importation of fentanyl and funding of police. He stated that he was pushing bills to combat human and drug trafficking.

After his speech, Abbott spoke briefly with reporters.

When asked about State Sen. Kel Seliger's deposition about his partys redistricting of Senate District 10 violating the constitution and the voting rights act, Abbott pushed back his claim.

The way the Senate drew these districts is the way they have always existed, Abbott said. I support the redistricting and it looks like the lines will be upheld as legal."

Seliger had stated in his declaration in January: Having participated in the 2011 and 2013 Senate Select Redistricting Committee proceedings, and having read the prior federal court decision regarding SD10, it was obvious to me that the renewed effort to dismantle SD 10 violated the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.

Primary voting for all races starts Feb.14.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at Amarillo Lincoln Reagan-Dinner
Investigators are seen outside Melody Hookah Lounge in downtown Blacksburg on Saturday following the shooting the night before (AP)

A high school student has been killed and another four people have been injured in a shooting at a hookah bar near the Virginia Tech campus, according to authorities.

The shooting unfolded just before midnight on Friday night at the Melody Hookah Lounge on Main Street in downtown Blacksburg, plunging the campus into an hours-long lockdown.

Blacksburg Police said officers were called to reports of shots fired at the bar at 11:53pm and found five people suffering gunshot wounds.

Of the five shooting victims, one person died while the four others were rushed to hospital. The extent of their injuries is unclear.

The identities, genders and ages of the five shooting victims have not been revealed.

However, Roanoke City Public Schools said on Saturday that the person killed was a student at Patrick Henry High School.

The school district announced the death of a member of our Patrick Henry High School family in a Facebook post on Saturday afternoon.

We are saddened by the death of a member of our Patrick Henry High School family. Our thoughts are with all those who are grieving, the statement read.

We understand many in our community may have feelings of grief, loss, anger, or fear and encourage you to reach out for support.

School counsellors will be available on Monday at both Patrick Henry and William Fleming High Schools for any students and staff who need support.

We are here to support our RCPS family and hope the community will join us in respecting the privacy of the family as they grieve, the district said.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech officials confirmed that one of the survivors is a male student at the college.

Vice President for Student Affairs Frank Shushok Jr. said in a statement on Saturday afternoon that the school had been in contact with the students family and were told he is out of surgery, recovering, and seems to be doing well.

We continue to respect the privacy of the student, and we are grateful for the outpouring of care and support directed to him, he said.

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President Tim Sands said that the college sent condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased and we extend our support to those who were injured.

He urged students and faculty to care for yourself and seek assistance if you need it, pointing to counselling services on offer.

Police described the investigation as a complex, ongoing case that has shifted to a homicide investigation.

No suspects have been named and no further details have been released about the events that led up to the shooting.

The Independent has reached out to Blacksburg Police for more information.

Melody Hookah Lounge posted a statement on social media saying they are deeply hurt and devastated of what happened Friday night, our condolences go to the families and friends of everyone who were affected.

The bar vowed to add more precautions and regulations in place for this types of situations.

The incident took place around half a mile from the scene of the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead.

On 16 April 2007, undergrad student Seung-Hui Cho carried out two separate attacks on the campus - first at the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory and then in the Norris Hall classroom building.

In total, 32 people were killed and 17 wounded, before the gunman turned the gun on himself.

At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

Fridays shooting also comes just three days after a gunman shot and killed two campus police officers at Bridgewater College in Virginia on Tuesday afternoon.

Former student Alexander Wyatt Campbell was arrested and charged with murder.

Anyone with information about the shooting in Blacksburg is urged to contact the Blacksburg Police Department at (540) 443-1400 or call the anonymous tip line at (540) 961-1819 or by emailing ciu@blacksburg.gov
A Home Depot employee has been arrested for swapping out $387,500 of the stores cash with counterfeit money, the U.S. Secret Service said in a news release Friday.

Adrian Jean Pineda worked as a vault associate in a store in Tempe, Arizona  where he was responsible for preparing cash from registers for bank deposits, a process that included counting cash and sealing cash bags for transfer and deposit to a Wells Fargo bank.

According to a criminal complaint, Pineda had been taking money from the deposits and replacing it with counterfeit currency during his shifts.

The Home Depot store reported losing $387,500 between January 2018 to January 2022 due to receiving counterfeit notes in their cash deposits, the U.S. Secret Service said.

Related video: Inside look at retail theft sting

Agents from the U.S. Secret Service office in Phoenix arrested Pineda on Monday and seized $5,000 in counterfeit money and recovered $5,300 in genuine currency, according to the news release. Agents recovered an additional $22,000 in genuine currency while conducting a search warrant on Pinedas home.

This case illustrates the continued commitment of the Secret Service and the US Attorneys Office to investigating and prosecuting counterfeit violations," Frank Boudreaux Jr. of the U.S. Secret Service office in Phoenix said in a statement, adding that Pineda's arrest "marked the culmination of a strategic investigation enacted by Phoenix special agents, Home Depot security personnel and Wells Fargo Bank."

Pineda has been charged with uttering of counterfeit U.S. currency and is set to appear in court on Feb. 7 for a status hearing at the federal district court in Arizona.
Feb. 5A hiker who got lost on Waiakeakua Ridge trail in Manoa was rescued by Honolulu firefighters tonight.

The Honolulu Fire Department responded to a call around 6 :45 p.m. about the lost hiker, a 31-year-old man, who was alone and had started hiking on the Waahila Ridge trail around 4 p.m. He headed toward the Koolau Summit trail and became "lost in darkness " near the summit, HFD said.

HFD, using its Air 1 helicopter, made visual contact with the hiker around 7 :45 p.m. and lifted the hiker from the trail to safety just before 8 p.m.

HFD reported no injuries.
CHICAGO  Thousands of students at scores of school districts across the state may no longer be required to wear a mask in the classroom, with an Illinois judge ruling Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzkers COVID-19 mandate was authorized illegally.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a request from downstate attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt the governors executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools, finding that the measures are beyond the governors authority and deprive students of due process.

This court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken, not only on this State, but throughout the nation and globe, Grischow wrote in the decision. Nonetheless, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the boundaries of the authority granted under the Constitution.

Pritzker issued a statement late Friday saying he asked the attorney generals office for an immediate appeal of the decision.

The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities  and this may force schools to go remote, Pritzker said.

In her ruling, the judge sided with parents who allege that students who object to wearing masks or being excluded from school for being a COVID-19 close contact are entitled to due process, and that such measures are a form of modified quarantine that can only be required by the local health department.

The (Illinois Department of Public Health) is limited by law to delegating its authority only to certified local health departments and has not been authorized by the Legislature to delegate any of its authority to any other body of government, including school districts, she wrote.

The restraining order prevents the state from ordering school districts to require students involved in the lawsuit to wear masks if they object, except during the terms of lawful order of quarantine issued from their respective health department. The order also prevents the state from requiring school districts to force school employees who sued to get vaccinated or test weekly if they object, without first providing them due process of law.

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Grischow denied DeVores request that the lawsuits be given class certification, which if granted, would have extended the ruling to all students at the nearly 170 school districts named in the two lawsuits  one filed by parents against 146 school districts, and a second filed by school employees against 21 school districts.

Although she denied class certification, Judge Grischow pointed out in a footnote to the decision that she had declared the emergency rules at issue from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education void. Thus, non-named Plaintiffs and School Districts throughout this State may govern themselves accordingly, she wrote.

The judges ruling means that any school district that attempts to enforce the mask requirement against any student whose parents joined the lawsuit would be held in contempt of court, according to DeVore, who said parents who want the ruling to apply to their children can join the lawsuit.

DeVore, an outspoken critic of Pritzkers handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, has long argued that the school mask mandate and other mitigation strategies the governor has declared by executive order could not be enforced unless they were formally approved by the General Assembly.

I dont pretend to understand the political complexities at Chicago Public Schools, but I do know the law cant be disregarded, and youve got a judge who upheld the law as its written, DeVore said shortly after Judge Grischow issued the ruling.

CPS officials were not immediately available for comment Friday.

But in a recent parent message, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said if the temporary restraining order was granted, it would require that CPS stop the enforcement of certain current health and safety protocols, including the wearing of masks.

If a TRO is issued, CPS will continue to fight against this lawsuit and immediately file for a stay asking that the judges order not be enforced while we appeal the courts decision, Martinez said.

Whatever happens with these lawsuits, CPS will strongly encourage all students and staff to continue wearing masks as they have successfully done throughout the school year, Martinez said.

We are confident that the vast majority of our school communities will do exactly this, because it is in all of our best interests to stay safe, he said, adding: We feel confident that any change would likely be temporary. We would hope to quickly return to implementing all of the proven protocols that we know are keeping staff and students safe, including the wearing of masks.

At Arlington Heights School District 25, which was named in the school employees lawsuit, officials said late Friday that the district is reviewing the judges ruling and will reach out to our staff and our community when we have further information.

Many Illinois school districts have said that regardless of the outcome, they will continue to strongly encourage students and staff to follow the states masking guidelines and other COVID-19 protocols.

The judges decision brought relief to parents like Shannon Adcock, a Naperville mother of three, and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Indian Prairie School District 204.

We had a victory for liberty today, and the kids will finally be able to go to school mask-free, said Adcock, the president of the parents group Awake Illinois.

This is a legitimate due process ruling, and youre going to see a lot of families pushing back now, Adcock said.

Steve Lucie, a farmer and former longtime school board member with Warsaw Community Unit School District 316, said his involvement in upending the governors school mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigations started at his kitchen table with a few farmers and neighbors.

This ruling is euphoric for all of these parents, and mostly for the kids, Lucie said.

Some people arent ready for this, which I understand, but its been our stance all along that parents need to make that choice on their own, he said.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the states school board were not immediately available for comment on Friday.


I can't wait to get back to Charleston and explore more of the city and it's surrounding areas. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

I recently took a three-city road trip that started in Charleston, South Carolina.

Over the course of three nights and around two and a half days, I explored the city.

There was so much to appreciate, and I hope to return to enjoy more of the food, views, and scenery.

I recently traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, from my home in NYC to embark on a mini road trip.

I picked up my rental car at the Charleston airport. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

I flew from NYC to Charleston, where I traded air travel for a rental car.

After three nights and around two and a half days, I made my way into Georgia where I stopped in Savannah, and then Atlanta before flying home.

Though I would have loved more time in each city, I tried to make the most of the days I had. In Charleston, that meant eating as much as I could and using all my free moments to explore. I already can't wait to go back, and when that happens, here's what I'll be planning to do.

I could spend an entire afternoon simply walking in and out of the little back streets of Charleston's French Quarter and the surrounding residential area.

One of many cobblestone paths in downtown Charleston. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Walking through Charleston's historic downtown area was beautiful. When I started dipping in and out of the tiny little walkways, I lost myself in the adventure of it all.

Many of the cobblestone paths weren't fit for traffic  some not for cars at all  but they were perfect for exploring on foot, which is one of my favorite activities regardless of where I am.

On these walks in Charleston, I was treated to up-close looks at the architecture of largely renovated carriage houses, small gardens fit for enjoying afternoon lunch (in my fantasy, at least), and fragrant floral arrangements.

I'd love to spend more time on the water as it seemed like a great place to have fun with sports and boating.

I got a taste of life on the water during my sailboat stay. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Walking is great, but I'd also be excited to return to Charleston to spend more time by the water.

As part of my time in Charleston, I spent one night on an Airbnb sailboat docked in a marina on the Ashley River. While I'm not sure I would personally spend the $800+ for a night on a sailboat (Insider paid for the Airbnb, per our reporting standards), I would love to return to this part of Charleston again.

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I saw people pass by on small boats and even some kayaks, which I imagine would be a great way to experience the beauty of the city  next time, I would look into these types of rentals.

Charleston has so many great restaurants. No matter how many I get to in one trip, there are so many more I still want to try.

I ate everything from oysters to biscuits. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

While I was able to check famous Charleston restaurants like Darling Oyster Co. and Callie's Hot Little Biscuit off my list on this first trip, my personal restaurant wish list is ever-growing.

Charleston is teeming with incredible places to eat, from barbecue joints to seafood spots and side-of-the-road eateries. However, I made peace with the fact that I wasn't going to get to try them all in this one, three-night visit. There's always next time, and when that happens, I'll be making it a point to taste some Lowcountry classics and Gullah-Geechee cuisine.

I didn't experience Charleston's rooftop bar scene while in town  I'd make that a priority on my next trip.

I could see this rooftop bar from my hotel. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Each time I told someone I was going to Charleston, I would hear about the rooftop bar scene and how great it is for evening cocktails. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capitalize on this awesome city trait, but I'd love to make the effort (and the reservations) next time.

I was only able to catch the sunset on just one of the three nights during my early December visit. Personally, I love being able to sit on a great rooftop with friends, family, or even by myself and enjoy the experience of watching the sun disappear past the horizon line.

There are so many areas outside of downtown that I would want to spend time exploring.

Until next time, Charleston! Rachel Askinasi/Insider

While in Charleston, I spent my time on the peninsula, mainly in the historic downtown area because that's where my work took me.

I loved what I saw, but I know there are so many other parts of the city and county  including, but not limited to, North Charleston, James Island, and Sullivan's Island  that offer different views, food, and landscapes.

With so many things already on my wish list, I can't wait to plan another trip to this southern, coastal city.

Read the original article on Insider
A national civil rights group is accusing immigration officials in New Orleans of illegally deporting asylum-seekers without interviewing them about why they fled their home country, as required by law.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said in a complaint filed last month against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's New Orleans field office that, in some cases, asylum-seekers never had a credible fear interview to explain why they fled and why they fear returning.

Some deportations are happening before asylum-seekers can get a hearing before a judge, or while a review of their case or their appeal is pending, according to SPLC attorneys.

The center filed the complaint on Jan. 18 with the Department of Homeland Securitys Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

According to federal law, a person who expresses fear of return to their country cannot be deported until they have had an interview with an asylum officer. The law also bars asylum-seekers from being removed while an appeal is pending or while a case is before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Ive never seen anything like this before, said Mich Gonzalez, an SPLC attorney who said three of his clients were illegally deported.

Gonzalez and other attorneys say they have seen sporadic cases over the years where an asylum-seeker was mistakenly deported and often returned when DHS realized they had made a mistake.

But seeing this many cases in a six-month span is unprecedented, Gonzalez said. And in these recent cases, DHS and ICE are aware and everyone is washing their hands.

One of his clients was deported to Nicaragua on Dec. 23, the day before Christmas Eve. The client said he spent two months requesting a credible fear interview. He said he fled Nicaragua after being beaten multiple times by members of the National Police.

The National Police shot me with a rubber bullet and beat me. And here, the United States turned its back to me, he said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo Investiga before his deportation.

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An ICE spokesperson said Gonzalez's client was afforded all due process that he was entitled to under U.S. law.

ICE insisted in an emailed statement that it conducts a thorough review of cases before removing anyone from the U.S to "ensure due process has been afforded and that they are not eligible for any additional form of relief at the time of removal.

Immigration attorneys insist this is not the case.

Gonzalez said another client was deported to Haiti days before Christmas, even though emails shown to NBC News indicate that ICE had been informed of a request for reconsideration.

After arriving in Haiti, according to photos and text messages sent to Gonzalez by his client, he was brutally beaten by supporters of two political parties because of his familys political activism, and narrowly avoided being set on fire.

Gonzalez said his client is still actively fleeing persecution.

According to Gonzalez, ICE has not responded to multiple requests that his client be returned from Haiti.

Homero Lopez, executive director of Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy in New Orleans, said his office has received about 20 to 30 calls from asylum-seekers saying they have been notified they will be deported but havent received a credible fear interview. By the time attorneys try to meet with them, theyre already gone.

Theres definitely some shift that has happened at the asylum office, said Lopez, who noticed the trend during the past three to four months.

Attorneys and advocates have long criticized conditions at detention centers of the New Orleans field office since the Trump administration. There have been complaints of horrendous conditions in the facilities, excessively low rates of parole, and asylum-seekers being offered parol under unusually high bonds.

Jeremy Jong, a staff attorney with the nonprofit Al Otro Lado, said he has a client who was deported to Guatemala despite an active stay of removal. He said that for several months ICE assured him it would bring her back. They havent made any moves in that direction at all  shes still out there languishing, and I cant get any of the ICE people who are responsible to answer me," he said.

Jong believes part of the problem is that even though administrations have changed, the staff that runs the day-to-day operations at the detention centers remain the same.

I am not in touch with the thousands of people the ICE office detains," Gonzalez said. "I dont know how deep the scope of this problem runs. The human cost is terrifying."

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Activists came from down the street and across the state to Des Moines Saturday to raise a white flag in support of a peaceful solution to tensions between Europe and Russia.

The protest occurred just hours after the Iowa Army National Guard announced mobilization orders to head to Poland.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has massed an estimated 100,000 or more troops near Ukraines border, raising concerns of a possible invasion. He wants concessions from the West, in particular assurances that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO.

Protester Jon Krieg, 59, of Des Moines said "we need to be negotiating, not escalating."

A dozen protesters stood at the corner of Douglas Avenue and Merle Hay Road at midday, bundled against the gusty wind, to hold up their signs and wave to honking cars as they passed.

Iowans gathered at the corner of Douglas Avenue and Merle Hay Road Saturday, Feb. 5, to show their support for a nonmilitary solution to tensions between Europe and Russia.

"People are gathering all over the world to protest these aggressions," said Brian Terrell, 65, from Maloy in southwest Iowa. "We need to get rid of NATO and we need to get rid of nuclear weapons."

The Des Moines protest was called by CODEPINK and the Catholic Peace Ministry.

According to its website, CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect tax dollars into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.

The Catholic Peace Ministry is based in Des Moines and works for peace and justice, focusing mainly on Central America, militarization, economic justice and the death penalty.

More: Will Russia invade Ukraine? Talks, timing, desire for a long fight factor into strategy

Iowa National Guard heads to Poland

Meanwhile, it was announced Friday that approximately 250 soldiers from two Iowa Army National Guard companies based in Mason City and Iowa City were selected to support federal mobilization missions by the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau.

The 1133rd Transportation Company in Mason City and the 209th Medical Company Area Support in Iowa City will support Operation Atlantic Resolve and NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence mission. The two companies will provide transport equipment and supplies, and field hospital health service support.

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The 1133rd Transportation Company was last activated into federal service in 2008 to support Operations Noble Eagle, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and the global war on terrorism.

The 209th Medical Company deployed to Iraq in 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2005 the company was activated in response to Hurricane Katrina.

The Pentagon has placed thousands of troops on heightened alert to support a NATO quick-reaction force if it is activated. It also announced Wednesday that it would deploy 3,000 troops to Germany, Poland and Romania as tensions rise with Russia over Ukraine.

More: Pentagon to deploy 3,000 troops to Europe as tensions spike with Russia over Ukraine

Protesters stand their ground

Protester Barb Waldron, 79, of Indianola, stood steadfast on the corner near Merle Hay Hall Saturday with her CODEPINK sign calling for others to "Join us in taking action to stop the next war."

Iowans gathered at the corner of Douglas Avenue and Merle Hay Road on Saturday, Feb. 5, to show their support for a nonmilitary solution to tensions between Europe and Russia. Bundled against the gusty wind, making temperatures in the mid-30s feel more like the low 20s, the protesters waved cheerfully to the frequent car horns honking to show support.

"I think we should do everything we can to negotiate our way out of these conflicts," Waldron said. "I don't want us to do something, like when we escalated into Iraq and went after Saddam Hussein. Please don't let us do that again."

USA TODAY contributed to this report.

Teresa Kay Albertson covers Des Moines' southern suburbs for the Register and the Indianola Record-Herald. Reach her at talbertson@registermedia.com or 515-419-6098.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowans call for peaceful solution as Russia masses troops near Ukraine
James McAvoy has confirmed that he secretly married his American partner, Lisa Liberati.

The actor was rumoured to have married the personal assistant in 2019, but until now he had refused to confirm whether the reports were true.

In a new interview with The Guardian, writer Arifa Akbar stated that after the pair met on the set of Split, they began a relationship a couple of years later and, he confirms, recently got married.

As Liberati is from Philadelphia, McAvoy was asked if he is now an honorary Philadelphian, to which he replied: Yeah, its like a second home for me.

McAvoy, 42, met the Liberati on the set of M Night Shyamalans thriller Split (Liberati was Shyamalans PA).

McAvoy played the lead role in the film, a psychological horror about a man with 24 different personalities who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls.

During filming, McAvoy was in the process of separating from actor Anne-Marie Duff after 11 years of marriage.

Two months after the divorce was finalised, McAvoy and Liberati made their relationship official on Instagram.

Rumours that the pair had got married began after director Jamie Lloyd, who is a close friend of the McAvoys, was overheard referring to Liberati as the actors wife.
A Pinellas County judge has dismissed a lawsuit centered on a 2020 presidential election wager, ruling that the bet was illegal in Georgia, where the plaintiff resided, as well as void under Florida law.

The saga started in November 2020, when St. Petersburg resident Sean Hynes and an acquaintance, Jeffrey Costa of Atlanta, agreed to a $100 wager on the presidential election. Hynes bet on Donald Trump, and Costa put his money on Joe Biden.

However, after Biden was declared the winner, Hynes refused to pay up. So Costa decided to sue in December 2020, asking for the $100 from the bet, plus $250 in court fees and $300 in interest.

In March 2021, the two parties settled the dispute in mediation. Hynes agreed to pay the bet, plus $215 in court costs. The agreement also stipulated that if the election results were overturned by Sept. 10, 2021, Costa would pay Hynes $207.50.

In late April, Hynes still had not given Costa the $315 agreed on during mediation, and the court ordered Hynes to pay the settlement and fill out a small-claims form and return it to Costa. In September, when Hynes still had not filled out the form, Judge Edwin B. Jagger threatened to hold him in contempt of court  punishable by fines and incarceration. The judge set a court date of Nov. 1, by which time, the judge said, Hynes would be required to explain why he had failed to fill out the form, and why he should not be held in contempt of court.

In response, Hynes filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed based on his claim that election wagering is illegal in Costas home state of Georgia. In an Oct. 28 cover letter, Hynes pleaded with Jagger, asking the judge to delay the Nov. 1 court date if the case was not dismissed because Hynes said his father was in the ICU.

As I sit here watching my father in ICU, I question the value of life, Hynes wrote. Pardon the drama, but I believe this case has gone far enough, wasted enough resources and needs to be put to rest, as we all value more important things in life.

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Hynes further questioned Costas reasoning for filing the lawsuit.

While I may be liable, the approach has been immoral and is not about the money, the plaintiff does not need it, Hynes wrote. Its about Ego.

Jagger agreed with Hynes assertion that the election wager had been illegal under Georgia law and, furthermore, was of no effect under Florida law, and generally contrary to the public policy of the state. The judge subsequently dismissed the case on Jan. 27.

Costa did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Hynes told the Tampa Bay Times that he was happy to hear the lawsuit had been dismissed. He said he discovered Georgias laws while doing his own research, and he encouraged others who had been sued to search for information that could help them.

Hynes said he would have eventually paid the bet if Costa had been patient, but he wanted to wait for the smoke to clear around the election results. Hynes said he was shocked when he first heard about the litigation.

I was flabbergasted, he said.

The litigation unnecessarily used up time and money, as well as ruining what friendship the two had, Hynes said.

A colossal waste of time, he later added.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

As of late, Kanye West seems to have one mission and one mission only: to get a reaction out of his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian. And on Friday morning, he finally got his wish.

The rapper went on an early morning tirade about his 8-year-old daughter North being on TikTokconveniently skipping over the fact that North shares the account with Kardashian, who seems to be heavily involved in what she posts.

Since this is my first divorce, West began his post, a not-so-subtle dig at Kardashian, who had been married twice prior to their nuptials, I need to know what I should do about my daughter being put on TikTok against my will?

The offending TikTok had been posted three days earliera silly video of Kardashian and North lip-syncing to a high-pitched remix of a Rae Sremmurd track. And just to make sure Kardashian had seen his directive, he made sure to tag her in the post.

Its undoubtedly low for West to publicly drag his young daughter into a contentious family matter. But sadly, its just another example on Wests long list of recent antics, each one pointedly aimed to get a rise out of his ex.

The former couple, who share four young children, had presented a united front following their shocking divorce announcement in early 2021. They both largely stayed quiet on what caused the split, but footage from Keeping Up with the Kardashians over the summer indicated there was no real bad blood, with Kardashian primarily painting their troubles as two people simply growing apart.

I just think he deserves someone who will support his every move and go follow him all over the place and move to Wyoming. I cant do that, she told her sisters through tears. He should have a wife that supports his every move and travels with him and does everything, and I cant. I feel like a fucking failure. Its my third fucking marriage. Yeah, I feel like a fucking loser. But I cant even think about that. I want to be happy.

While West poured his emotions about the separation into his album Donda, Kardashian was by his side, even walking out onto the stage during a listening event in Chicago in August, donning a wedding dress and recreating their wedding vows as a form of performance art. There was even hope of a reconciliation, as they walked out of the arena hand in hand.

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Kanye Tells Kimand Thousands of Concert GoersHe Wants Her Back

When Kardashian hosted Saturday Night Live in October, West sat in the front row for her opening monologue, even turning up to the studio with her for dress rehearsals.

But things took a decisively sour turn shortly after, not so coincidentally when Kardashian was linked to SNL comedian Pete Davidson, with whom she had shared a quick kiss during a comedy sketch.

Of course, anyone who Kardashian might have been linked to after her separation from West was sure to cause a media storm. But Kardashian setting her eyes on Davidson was enough to collectively melt peoples minds, with every sighting of the new couple dominating pop culture headlines.

Their blossoming romance seemed to irk West, who in a rare two-hour interview with Revolt TVs program Drink Champs in November, said he was still trying to work their relationship out.

SNL making my wife say, I divorced him on TV because they just wanted to get that bar off, and I aint never even seen the papers, he scoffed. Were not even divorced that aint no joke to me. My kids want they parents to stay together. I want us to be together.

Later that month, he spoke again about wanting to call off the divorce, going on a bizarre tangent about the enemy separating Kimye, and how staying together would influence millions of families to overcome the work of the separation, of trauma the devil has used to capitalize to keep people in misery while people step over homeless people to go to the Gucci store.

Spittin Mad Kanye West Threatens Pete Davidson in New Rap

And when his December concert pleawhere he changed the lyrics to his song Runaway to I need you to run right back, baby, more specifically, Kimberlyfailed to work, West embarked on a publicity blitz campaign with Uncut Gems actress Julia Fox.

West and Fox had met by chance on New Years Eve in Miami, where he had announced a surprise concert hours beforehand (which just so happened to be the same night and the same city that Davidson was live-hosting a TV special for NBC).

A few days later, West and Fox were papped together all around New York City, with Fox later writing a first-person essay for Interview in which she gushed about their whirlwind time together.

It was every girls dream come true, she wrote about West surprising her with an entire wardrobe of designer outfits. It felt like a real Cinderella moment. I dont know how he did it, or how he got all of it there in time. But I was so surprised. Like, who does things like this on a second date? Or any date!

The showmance continued when they jetted off to Paris Fashion Week and shared a very French kiss. This week, for Foxs 32nd birthday, West gifted his new fling and her closest friends some very expensive Birkin bagsaccompanied by dozens of PDA-filled photos.

All the while, Kardashian has bitten her lip. Shes never addressed Wests publicity stunts, nor responded when he rapped about wanting to beat Davidsons ass, when he allegedly started a vile rumor that Davidson was battling AIDS, or when he accused her of not letting him see their children.

But Friday was the final straw. In a rare move by Kardashian, who hardly ever publicly comments on personal matters, she tore into West.

Kanyes constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create, she wrote on Instagram. As the parent who is the main provider and caregiver for our children, I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervisionbecause it brings her happiness.

She continued: Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanyes obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all. From the beginning I have wanted nothing but a healthy and supportive co-parenting relationship because it is what is best for our children, and it saddens me that Kanye continues to make it impossible every step of the way.

Throwing some shade herself, Kardashian added, Hopefully he can finally respond to the third attorney he has had in the last year to resolve any issues amicably.

Why You Shouldnt Fall for Kanye Wests Julia Fox PR Blitz

If Kardashian hoped her statement would be enough to quiet West, she was sorely mistaken. He quickly hit back, accusing her of trying to kidnap their 4-year-old daughter Chicago on her birthday by not providing the address of where her party was being held.

You put security on me inside of the house to play with my son then accused me of stealing. I had to take a drug test after Chicagos party cause you accused me of being on drugs, he wrote, before accusing Kardashians close friend and publicist Tracy Romulus of manipulating her.

He then uploaded a screenshot of TikToks terms and conditions, which states users under the age of 13 would be placed on the companys younger users experience, and those who post content outside of those parameters would be removed from the app.

Its deeply sad to watch estranged/former spouses publicly take swipes at each other, especially when one is begging the other to handle their issues privately, instead of having the world watch them fight publicly, as if it was some spectator sport.

But West seems intent on getting a rise out of Kardashian by any means necessary, not only reveling in the spotlight he commands, but taking it to the extreme with his jabs at Davidson, airing family business on social media, and now parading his new beau around with any chance he gets.

This time, hes finally succeeded. But at what cost?

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Were now down to the ban the books in the cultural wars, after many skirmishes over critical race theory and the teaching of history.

Banning books in schools is nothing new  Catcher in the Rye being the prime example of a book school boards have wrestled with for decades.

This is the original cover art, now on the 50th anniversary reissue, of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. --- DATE TAKEN: rcd 07/01 No Byline NoCredit HO - handout ORG XMIT: PX51423

Now it is down to books that touch on sexuality and anything that might cause little Johnny and Susie mental distress. Try teaching history honestly and there is bound to be some distress.

Some states are coming up with laws that would give parents the ability to have books pulled from school libraries and, in one case, legislation would put cameras in the classroom so parents could see what their childrens teacher was teaching that day.

Imagine, if you will, a class of 20 students. And in that class there are a mix of students. Now imagine the teacher, with the all-knowing camera eye trained on them, trying to come up with class instruction that would theoretically please all of the parents of those disparate students. Sounds pretty ugly, doesnt it?

In a column by Art Cullen in The Washington Post, he talked about the first things on the agenda for the Iowa legislature.

Kendall P. Stanley

Next on the agenda in Des Moines: draft a list of books to ban from schools involving race or sex. Here, Kansas already had the jump on Iowa. Not to be outdone, Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman, a Republican from the nearby suburbs, said that the media and teachers were complicit in a 'sinister agenda' to push 'deviant' materials onto children. He wants to impose criminal penalties on Marian the Librarian if she puts on the shelves something like 'Lady Chatterleys Lover'  or whatever a farmer-legislator finds prurient without having read it. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in her Condition of the State address suggested that every school district should publish its entire curriculum online with a listing of assigned reading material. Some of this stuff could be X-rated, she claimed. She wants parents in charge.

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Apparently the governor doesnt realize that little Johnny can find plenty of X-rated material on his iPhone anytime his little heart desires. Even in Iowa.

Republicans are touting all of these laws as part of parental rights which sounds good until you realize that the concerns of one set of parents may be opposed by another set  with the poor school district and its teachers stuck in the middle.

All of which suggests that the current teacher shortages will probably become even worse as more and more teachers retire or leave the profession for other work.

If you were a teacher, would you want to be under a microscope for every class you teach?

Some of the books County Citizens Defending Freedom want to ban from Polk County Public Schools. They say the material is pornographic in nature.

As an example, this is Black History Month. How do you proceed so that little Johnny isnt distressed by reading about the actions of his forebears in the age of slavery? What materials do you recommend that some might find offensive?

Education is in a crisis across the country with class positions going unfilled, substitute teachers unavailable, even school bus drivers are in short supply.

National Public Radio reported this week on a poll taken by the National Education Association which found that 55 percent of those surveyed said they will leave the professional earlier than they had originally planned.

Ninety percent of the members said burnout was a problem, 86 percent had seen educators leaving the profession or retiring and 80 percent said unfilled job openings had led to more work obligations for those who were left.

While not all teachers who say they are out the door actually walk through it, about 43 percent of educational job openings are going unfilled.

You will still hear some teachers say they became teachers because they felt it was a calling. Nowadays it might be better to not heed such calling.

It is hard enough being an educator these days without being second-guessed by parents who seek to keep their children safe and distress free from the realities of American life.

So Republican politicians will continue to vote for parental rights in education making sure that life is stress free for little Johnny and Susie.

And they call us liberals snowflakes.

 Kendall P. Stanley is retired editor of the News-Review. He can be contacted at kendallstanley@charter.net. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer and not necessarily of the Petoskey News-Review or its employees.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Kendall Stanley: Ah, the cultural wars
By Laila Bassam and Timour Azhari

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon has received letters from French and Luxembourg authorities asking for information relating to Lebanon Central Bank Chief Riad Salameh's bank accounts and assets, two Lebanese judicial sources told Reuters.

The sources did not elaborate.

A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary confirmed to Reuters in November https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/luxembourg-judicial-authorities-open-criminal-case-related-lebanon-central-bank-2021-11-15 it had opened "a criminal case" in relation to Salameh and his companies and assets, declining to provide further information at the time.

France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Lebanon are also probing Salameh's personal wealth. Salameh has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing during his nearly three-decades at the helm of Lebanon's central bank.

A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary and Lebanon's justice minister did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

The French embassy in Lebanon said Saturday it could not comment on "ongoing judicial affairs".

When asked for comment, Salameh told Reuters the request for cooperation from Luxembourg was a "normal procedure" not a "legal suit".

"If they had filed a legal suit they don't need help in the investigation," he said.

Salameh denied reports that he had been charged by Luxembourg authorities, and noted both Switzerland and France had previously requested similar cooperation from Lebanon.

Salameh's role at the central banks has come under close scrutiny since Lebanon's economic meltdown in 2019, which has seen the value of the currency collapse and swathes of the population pushed into poverty.

The Swiss attorney general's office last year said it had requested legal assistance from Lebanon in the context of a probe into "aggravated money laundering" and possible embezzlement of more than $300 million under Salameh at the central bank.

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The Swiss probe centres on comissions paid to a company owned by Salameh's brother, Raja, from 2002 till 2015. Salameh has said the comissions were paid by so-called "third parties", not the central bank.

Reuters was unable to reach Raja Salameh for comment. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Timour Azhari in Beirut; Writing by Timour Azhari; Editing by Jane Wardell, Matthew Lewis and Alex Richardson)
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia reported 9,117 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, the highest daily figure in four months, due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The new cases bring the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 2,904,131. Malaysia has also reported over 32,000 deaths.

Noor Hisham Abdullah, the director general of health, has said Malaysia is expected to see a surge in COVID-19 infections and that the country's high vaccination rate has resulted in fewer number of severe cases.

"Although the number of cases is expected to rise in next couple of days and weeks, due to the high transmissibility of Omicron variant, it causes a less severe form of the disease in those who had full vaccination and taken their booster shot," Noor Hisham said in a Facebook post on Friday.

About 97.9% of Malaysia's adult population has received two doses of the vaccine, while 52.3% have also received the booster shot. Around 88.7% of 12-17 year olds has also received two doses.

Malaysia kicked off vaccination for 5-11 year olds this week.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; editing by Clelia Oziel)
Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland are set to star together in the upcoming film "Uncharted." Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Netflix; Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage/Getty

Mark Wahlberg clarified on Instagram that he gifted Tom Holland a muscle recovery massager.

Holland said in an Access Hollywood interview that he thought the device was for "self-pleasure."

"This is a massage tool for muscle recovery. Nothing else," Wahlberg said in a video.

Mark Wahlberg said on Instagram that he gifted his "Uncharted" costar Tom Holland a "massage tool" meant for muscle recovery, not a "self-pleasure" device as Holland had originally assumed.

"Mr. Tom Holland, you see this? Power Plate Pulse. This is a massage tool for muscle recovery," Wahlberg, standing shirtless in a room filled with free weights, said in a video he posted to Instagram on Thursday.

In the video, he holds up the Power Plate Pulse, which somewhat resembles a hand drill with a massage implement attached to the end. Wahlberg is a key stakeholder in Power Plate, as well as a brand ambassador.

"Nothing else. Muscle recovery," the actor reiterated in the video.

Holland told Access Hollywood in a joint interview with his costar published on Tuesday that Wahlberg had gifted him the device at Wahlberg's home in LA. On the ride back to his hotel, which Wahlberg drove him back to that day, Holland said that he was "confused" about exactly what kind of massager his costar had given him.

"I thought it was the type of self-pleasure," Holland said. "I thought Mark Wahlberg was driving me back to my house for other reasons than just being a gentleman."

Addressing Wahlberg, Holland continued: "I didn't know you, it's Hollywood baby! Who knows what's gonna happen."

Holland and Wahlberg are starring together for the first time in "Uncharted," the film based on the video game franchise of the same name. Holland, who prepared for the film in part by working shifts at a luxury London bar, told Access that he was initially nervous to meet Wahlberg. Within minutes, though, he said that he realized that they would become "fast friends."

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Wahlberg said that he couldn't believe that Holland had assumed during the full drive back to his hotel in Los Angeles that he had been gifted a sex toy.

"Tom, you gotta get your head out of the gutter, buddy," the actor told Access Hollywood.

Read the original article on Insider
Meta launched Personal Boundary on Friday. Meta

Meta has responded to reports of virtual groping in Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues.

It's introduced a feature dubbed Personal Boundary that creates 4-foot safety bubbles around avatars.

A Meta exec said the feature would make it "easier to avoid unwanted interactions."

Meta has responded to reports of virtual sexual harassment in its metaverse by limiting how close avatars can get to each other.

With a new feature dubbed Personal Boundary, launched Friday, avatars in Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues won't by default be permitted to get within about four feet of one another.

In January, a 43-year-old British woman claimed she was virtually groped by a gang of male avatars in Horizon Venues. In December, a woman claimed she was virtually groped in Horizon Worlds.

Vivek Sharma, vice president of Horizon, said in a blog post Friday that Personal Boundary would create "more personal space for people and making it easier to avoid unwanted interactions."

He said: "If someone tries to enter your Personal Boundary, the system will halt their forward movement as they reach the boundary. You won't feel itthere is no haptic feedback.

"This builds upon our existing hand harassment measures that were already in place, where an avatar's hands would disappear if they encroached upon someone's personal space."

Although Personal Boundary will be turned on by default, users should still be able to high-five or fist-bump by extending their arms.

A spokesperson for Meta told The Verge that users can't choose to disable Personal Boundary because it's intended to establish norms for interaction in Meta's metaverse.

Meta did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the new feature.

Horizon Worlds lets users hang out with up to 20 people in a virtual space. Horizon Venues allows people to create avatars that can watch online events together.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told employees to focus on video content amid competition from TikTok and following a brutal post-earnings market cap loss. Insider's Sarah Jackson reported that Meta would be zeroing in on Instagram Reels.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Joe's Stone Crab is a Miami hotspot in South Beach known for its bluestone crab claws.

In operation for 100 years, Barbra Streisand, Bill Murray, and The Rolling Stones have dined there.

I went and thought the legendary claws were delicious, unlike any other crab meat I've ever tried.

I recently dined at Joe's Stone Crab, a famous seafood restaurant in Miami's buzzy South Beach that's been serving patrons for over 100 years.

Joe's Stone Crab is in Miami Beach. Joey Hadden/Insider

Joe's Stone Crab is one of South Beach's most popular restaurants that started out as a lunch counter in 1913  before Miami was even a city, according to its website, which also states it was the only restaurant on the beach at that time.

Joe Weiss, the founder, discovered that stone crabs were edible in the early 1920s and his restaurant became the first ever to serve them, according to the same source on the website.

Today, Joe's Stone Crab is known for this dish, which includes only the largest claw of each harvested crab, which they say means the crabs are returned to the wild where they can grow new claws three to four times.

While stone crab is served in many restaurants, the tropical, warm waters of the Florida Keys and surrounding Gulf are optimal. According to the company's website, stone crab legs from other areas may have a stringier texture and taste gamey, while stone crab claws from Florida, by comparison, are sweet with a firm texture.

The historic restaurant is known for drawing celebrities like Tom Cruise and Barbra Streisand. So when I took my first trip to Miami, I had to see what it was like.

Tom Cruise (L) and Barbra Streisand (R) have dined at Joe's Stone Crab. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for BSB, Samantha Zucchi/Insidefoto/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

Barbra Streisand is a frequent customer at Joe's Stone Crab, and according to Billboard, even ordered takeout from the restaurant in her Netflix Special. She has also been known to order delivery from Miami to her home in Los Angeles, Patch reported.

Joe's Stone Crab didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Streisand ordering from the restaurant.

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Streisand is one of many celebrities to dine at Joe's, according to Forbes; and stars like Tom Cruise, Bill Murray, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, and 19 US presidents have eaten there, Patch reported.

The vibe of the restaurant wasn't formal, but it wasn't casual, either. A dress code banned athletic wear and cut-off shorts.

The author follows the dress code when dining at Joe's Stone Crab. Joey Hadden/Insider

According to Insider's guide to Miami Beach, it's typical to wait hours in line for a table at the famous restaurant.

I made a reservation for lunch on a Thursday, a couple of days in advance to ensure I wouldn't be stuck in a line, but I didn't see anybody waiting to be seated at that time. I imagine dinner might be more competitive, however.

Inside, the restaurant had wood paneling and wooden clocks, which I thought was pleasant, though it skewed more old-fashioned than contemporary.

The entrance to Joe's Stone Crab. Joey Hadden/Insider

The restaurant's decor reminded me that this was a place that was historic, and I thought about how some pieces, like the large clock on the wall, may have been around since before I was born.

Once I entered the dining room, I could see why celebrities might like this place  it felt like a luxury experience with servers clad in tuxedos and white tablecloths.

An evening at Joe's Stone Crab restaurant. Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

My server was nice, attentive, and professional. I felt like I was staying in a fancy hotel as my server waited on me thoroughly and talked me through the menu.

Once seated, I learned there were several options for how to order the crab claws.

The October 2021 crab claws menu at Joe's. Tami C./Yelp

While the small, medium, large, and jumbo blue crab dishes all come with the same amount of crab, my server told me that the larger claws are easier to crack and eat without getting pieces of shell mixed in with the meat. So I opted for the more expensive option.

Aside from the famous claws, Joe's had an extensive menu with a variety of seafood, steak, and chicken entrees, as well as soups and salads. The menu also had a selection of sharable sides like fries, blistered corn, and grilled tomatoes.

After I ordered the stone crab claws, I was served a Joe's Stone Crab bib and a bowl of bread.

The author gets a branded bib and a bowl of bread. Joey Hadden/Insider

I'm not used to being given a bib at restaurants, so I had a feeling that my meal would be messier than I was expecting it to be.

I ordered the large-sized bluestone crab legs, which were $85. It came with a side of melted butter and mustard sauce. I got some fries, too.

The author's plates of crab. Joey Hadden/Insider

About 10 minutes after ordering, my meal was in front of me.

The meat was chilled, firm, and slightly sweet. The taste reminded me more of lobster than of other types of crab, which I loved.

The author dines at Joe's Stone Crab. Joey Hadden/Insider

This was my first time having blue stone crab claws, and I thought the meat was refreshing, moist, and unlike any other crab I've ever had. And cracking and pulling the meat from the claws was satisfying and fun.

They were also much more filling than I expected. I thought a handful of crab claws would leave me hungry, but I was quite satisfied by the portion.

Joe's Stone Crab is known for its mustard sauce, but I preferred to dunk my meat into the cup of melted butter.

The author's picked-apart crab legs. Joey Hadden/Insider

I wasn't a huge fan of the mustard sauce because I thought the flavor of the crab was so good on its own and I didn't want to dilute it. But the butter added the perfect amount of light flavor and warmth that contrasted nicely with the chilled meat.

As I finished my crab, I realized the fries I ordered  though delicious  were completely unnecessary. I was simply too full.

The author's fries are behind the crab plates. Joey Hadden/Insider

Since the claws didn't come with a side, I figured ordering fries was the right move. But the crab meat was so filling and satisfying that I ended up being too full for my fries.

After eating at Joe's Stone Crab, I understand why famous people often choose to come to this restaurant. You can't get crab like this anywhere else.

The author enjoys her meal. Joey Hadden/Insider

As I savored my last few bites of the uniquely satisfying crab claws, I wondered when I'd have the opportunity to taste them again. At $120, the bill was steep for one person's lunch, but for a special occasion, I think it's worth the price (Insider paid for the meal, per our reporting standards).

So worth it, I can't help but think about how great it would be to follow Barbra Streisand's lead and have the claws delivered to me all the way in Brooklyn.

Read the original article on Insider
Five fire departments battled a house fire Thursday morning, that claimed the life of a child and seriously injured the mother. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

ZANESVILLE  A fire that claimed the life of a child on Thursday morning has now taken the life of the mother.

South Zanesville Fire Department Chief Russell Taylor said Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center confirmed her passing on Friday afternoon.

Taylor said the names could not be released yet, and the investigation by the Ohio State Fire Marshall's Office is ongoing. They had three investigators at the scene on Thursday.

Taylor's department arrived at 112 S. Willow Drive in Springfield Township a few minutes after being dispatched at 9:30 on Thursday. Taylor described a chaotic scene upon arrival, with the house fully involved and several neighbors screaming that people were trapped in the house.

Taylor said firefighters found a woman collapsed in the doorway, with only her feet outside of the house. Neighbors said there was a child still in the house, but gave conflicting information where the child was.

Taylor said one of his firefighters tried to enter the house from a rear window, but was unable to see anyone inside.

The woman was rescued from the doorway and placed on the lawn, where deputies from the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office tried to assist her with her breathing while firefighters set up hoses to fight the blaze. The woman was then taken Genesis Hospital.

Medics reported the woman to be in cardiac arrest several times while on route and later at the hospital. She was later taken to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, according to Taylor. She suffered extensive burns and heavy smoke inhalation.

Taylor said a surviving child told him he was working on his computer when the power went out to their room. The mother went to the basement and came back alerting the children to fire. The boy was able to escape and it appeared the mother returned to the house to try and rescue the girl.

The Community Bank is assisting the family, according to their Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Mother passes away from Thursday fire
Selena Rodriguez (ABC News)

A Connecticut mother sued social media giants Meta and Snap for allegedly causing her 11-year-old daughter to develop an extreme addiction to social media before she killed herself.

Tammy Rodriguez alleges that the platforms are to blame for her daughter, Selena, becoming hooked on Instagram and Snapchat for several years before she took her own life in 2021.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in January in San Franciscos US District Court, claims that Meta and Snaps products contained defective design, negligence and unreasonable dangerous features.

Tammy Rodriguez alleges that Selena Rodriguez suffered severe mental harm, leading to physical injury, from using the social media platforms.

Her family alleges that the companies failed to provide adequate safeguards from harmful and exploitative content.

Were suing (Meta Platforms Inc. and Snap Inc.) for designing an algorithm that is addictive to children, lawyer Matthew Bergman, the founder of Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), told ABC News.

Court papers state that before her death from suicide, Selena had struggled for two years with addiction to Instagram and Snapchat, and was hospitalised for emergency psychiatric care to treat depression and low self-esteem.

Her family told the news network that Selena would become violent and physical when her phone was taken away, and once broke her older sister Destinys nose in a fight.

We definitely started noticing that she stopped interacting with us, and she was a very recluse toward the end of everything, and she just always wanted to be on the phone, Destiny told ABC News.

I think she kind of grew dependent on it.

The lawsuit also states that Selena had been solicited by male adult users for sexually exploitative content on numerous occasions.

We are devastated to hear of Selenas passing and our hearts go out to her family, a SNAP spokesperson said in a statement.

While we cant comment on the specifics of active litigation, nothing is more important to us than the wellbeing of our community.

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A Meta spokesperson said that the companys thoughts are with the families affected by these difficult issues but that they cold not comment on an ongoing legal matter.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
Feb. 4Gov. Tim Walz announced Friday that he's authorizing the Minnesota National Guard to provide public safety assistance in St. Paul related to the federal civil rights trial underway of former Minneapolis officers in George Floyd's death.

The executive order also means the National Guard will be prepared if Minneapolis requests support in the aftermath of a Minneapolis officer fatally shooting Amir Locke while carrying out search warrants in downtown Minneapolis this week.

"Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Minnesotans, and at the request of the city of St. Paul, I have authorized the Minnesota National Guard to make preparations to assist local law enforcement agencies as needed," Walz said in a statement. "The National Guard will be available to help keep the peace, ensure public safety, and allow for peaceful demonstrations."

The executive order doesn't direct the National Guard to post throughout the Twin Cities at this time. The Minnesota State Patrol will assist local law enforcement, if necessary.

Three ex-Minneapolis officers are on trial at the federal courthouse in downtown St. Paul on charges that they violated Floyd's civil rights.

St. Paul City Council Member Mitra Jalali said she continues "to oppose the usage of the National Guard in our communities for response to police killings and/or civil unrest, which is far outside of their more traditional service roles like natural disaster or pandemic response."

She wrote that she recognizes and appreciates that Mayor Melvin Carter "has stated he weighs this decision very seriously, and is specifically not requesting the National Guard to be actively deployed, or to be in St. Paul at all at this time." To her knowledge, "the request is for them to adopt a state of readiness and stage at their designated location in Arden Hills, in the event the Mayor of the requesting city officially calls upon them in the future."

"What we do need is healing," Jalali wrote. "What we do need is real trauma response, and for the material needs of our people to be addressed  not militarization."
The Minority Business Development Agency recently awarded New Mexico State Universitys American Indian Business Enterprise a $600,000 grant over two years to increase and support Native American student entrepreneurs across New Mexico. The AIBE team includes, from left, Arrowhead Center Program Specialist Rachel Livingston, Statewide Outreach Assistant Sarah Mata and AIBE Director Brooke Montgomery.

LAS CRUCES - The Minority Business Development Agency recently awarded New Mexico State Universitys American Indian Business Enterprise a $600,000 grant over two years to increase and support Native American student entrepreneurs across New Mexico.

AIBE partnered with Navajo Technical University, New Mexico Community Capital and Indian Resources Development to help provide services to the indigenous community with a focus on culturally appropriate and relevant content.

A historical lack of under-investment by the public, private and nonprofit sectors in Indigenous communities have inhibited the development of robust policies, resources and infrastructure needed to leverage entrepreneurial talent for sustainable economic development, said Henry Jake Foreman, New Mexico Community Capital program director. This grant will continue to support Indigenous businesses and bolster local entrepreneurial ecosystems by enhancing digital and financial literacy skills as well as growing a network of mentors and subject matter experts. We at New Mexico Community Capital are grateful for this collaboration with AIBE to grow together.

More from NMSU: NMSU joins effort to develop maple industry in western US

As part of the Arrowhead Center and NMSU, AIBE grants clients access to all the resources Arrowhead Center offers, while leveraging organizational knowledge and assets to better serve the people of New Mexicos 19 pueblos, three Apache tribes and the Navajo Nation. Selected AIBE clients will be able to complete the pathway program with partners New Mexico Community Capital and Indian Resources Development. The program includes classes on financial business basics and digital media marketing, and culminates with the five-week Native American Sprint.

Indian Resources Development in the NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences congratulates its partner AIBE for the hard work of starting and growing the program during the pandemic, said Claudia Trueblood, director of Indian Resources Development. We are thankful to the Minority Business Development Agency for continuing their support of Native American entrepreneurs across New Mexico. Indian Resources Development is committed to continue working with AIBE in their effort to support more businesses and help them connect with other valuable partners.

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More from NMSU: NMSU Art Museum awarded $300,000 Andrew W. Mellon grant

We plan to continue advocating for Native communities in ways of entrepreneurship. Connectivity is one distinction that makes Native culture unique, said Rachel Livingston, Arrowhead Center program specialist and Dine of the Naaneesht ezhi Tachiinii. It is about being inclusive, expansive and universal. AIBE will continue to provide resources that value unique ideology and worldviews by seeking input from Native leadership and community.

Cassie McClure writes for New Mexico State University's Arrowhead Center and can be reached at cassie@mcclurepublications.com.

Others are reading:

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSUs American Indian Business Enterprise receives grant
Patrick Kelly, director of education at the Stokes Nature Center, inserts a spile into a maple tree during a Jan. 15 maple-tapping demonstration at Patrick Smith Park in Santa Fe. New Mexico State University is collaborating with the center and other institutions to develop a maple syrup industry in a region of eight western states, including New Mexico, Montana and Utah.

LAS CRUCES - A New Mexico State University professor is part of a research collaborative that received a $500,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to develop a maple industry in the nations interior west region.

Rolston St. Hilaire, NMSU Regents professor and head of the Plant and Environmental Sciences and Extension Plant Sciences departments in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, serves as the co-principal investigator of the project.

The project, a collaboration with Utah State University, aims to develop a maple syrup industry in a region of eight western states, including New Mexico, Montana and Utah, through research and targeted extension activities, St. Hilaire said. The project team includes faculty and Extension personnel from USU and NMSU; The Forest Farmers, LLC, a maple syrup industry consulting company in New York; Montana MapleWorks, a maple syrup company in Missoula, Montana; and the Stokes Nature Center in Logan, Utah.

More from NMSU: Renowned pianist to perform at NMSU, mentor music students

The overall goal is to tap New Mexico, Montana and Utah maples to determine the conditions that will be needed to produce a quality syrup, St. Hilaire said.

Maple syrup is commonly made by boiling the sap of sugar maple trees. But other maples also produce syrup, St. Hilaire said, noting that bigtooth, boxelders and Rocky Mountain maple trees are native to New Mexico, Montana and Utah. The three states also have nonnative maples planted in urban areas.

St. Hilaire said the projects team will work to determine the potential for tapping maples in the Intermountain West region for syrup production, using traditional bucket collection and gravity tubing systems. The team will also work to educate hobby producers and landowners about maple sap-tapping techniques and maple syrup-production processes.

St. Hilaire said theres a need for alternate areas to produce maple syrup to sustain maple syrup production, given that climate change will likely impact maple-producing areas in Canada and the northeastern U.S.

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More from NMSU: Scholars, researchers find answers in NMSU's Mary Daniels Taylor Durango Microfilm Collection

This new partnership will allow NMSU to help build the foundation for developing the food value of maples grown in the interior west, he said.

As part of the project, Extension staff from NMSU and USU, with support from the Stokes Nature Center, will host maple-tapping demonstrations this year, showcasing traditional and modern methods for tapping maple trees. The first demonstration took place Jan. 15 in Santa Fe.

There is a real opportunity for production of maple products in the west that are truly unique, said Patrick Kelly, director of education at the Stokes Nature Center. It was great for our Utah team to come teach in New Mexico and see how enthusiastic folks are about maple tapping here. Im sure Ill be buying an all-New Mexico sourced green chile maple syrup in the very near future.

The team also hopes to recruit New Mexico landowners to participate in the project by allowing researchers to conduct maple tapping experiments on their land. Landowners interested in participating should contact St. Hilaire at rsthilai@nmsu.edu or 575-646-5280.

Eye on Research is provided by New Mexico State University. This weeks feature was written by Carlos Andres Lopez of Marketing and Communications. He can be reached at 575-646-1955 or carlopez@nmsu.edu.

Others are reading:

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU joins effort to develop maple industry in western US
North Carolina's state Supreme Court handed Democrats one of their biggest legal victories yet in the fight over redistricting, striking down a GOP-drawn congressional map that could have given Republicans control of 11 of the states 14 districts.

In a ruling released Friday evening, the justices split 4-3 along party lines in deeming the current map an illegal partisan gerrymander that is unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The state Supreme Court gave the General Assembly until Feb. 18 to submit a new redistricting proposal to the court  or a trial court will approve a new plan.



The decision is a resounding win for Democrats  and the latest sign yet that their legal strategy is equalizing the House battlefield and giving them a check over Republicans in several key states. It's left Democratic operatives optimistic that they will emerge from redistricting in 2022 in better shape than they had expected, despite controlling fewer state legislatures and governorships than the GOP.

The North Carolina Supreme Court, which is composed of four Democrats and three Republicans, made a speedy decision just two days after opening arguments Wednesday. The ruling reverses a Jan. 11 decision by a lower court that let the Republican-drawn congressional map stand.

The General Assembly violates the North Carolina Constitution when it deprives a voter of his or her right to substantially equal voting power on the basis of partisan affiliation," Justice Robin Hudson wrote in the order. Achieving partisan advantage incommensurate with a political partys level of statewide voter support is neither a compelling nor a legitimate governmental interest.

The Republican-drawn map transforms retiring Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfields seat into a competitive district and guts the Greensboro-area seat held by Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning. Democrats currently have five seats in the North Carolina delegation, their highest total in years, thanks to a 2020 state court decision that determined last decades map was also unfairly drawn to benefit Republicans.

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The ruling notably did not list any specific standards or geographic metrics that a new map should meet. But it suggested mapmakers could use various mathematical analyses, such as the "efficiency gap" formula, to determine an unfair partisan advantage.

North Carolina gained a seat in reapportionment. It has a Republican-controlled General Assembly, and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has no veto power over maps. But Democrats have poured resources into state Supreme Court elections in recent years in the hopes of reining in Republicans redistricting power.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican who narrowly beat out Democrat Cheri Beasley for the top spot on the court, penned a dissent, accusing his colleagues of liberal activism. The other two Republican justices joined in his dissent.

A majority of this Court, however, tosses judicial restraint aside, seizing the opportunity to advance its agenda, Newby wrote.

Democrats have notched three major redistricting court rulings this year alone. Ohio's state Supreme Court tossed out a Republican-drawn map that could have relegated Democrats to just two of the 15 seats. Meanwhile, federal judges ordered Alabama's legislature to draw two heavily Black districts instead of packing a large number of the state's Black voters into one seat  though Republicans have appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.

Courts are also expected to determine the maps in Wisconsin, Louisiana and Pennsylvania in the coming weeks. All three states have Democratic governors with veto power but Republican-dominated state houses.
S. China border port ensures smooth int'l trade during Spring Festival

Xinhua) 15:11, February 05, 2022

NANNING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Youyi Port in Pingxiang City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is still busy during the Spring Festival this year.

Lyu Jinfu, a freight forwarder, was busy handling documents and guiding trucks to move.

For epidemic prevention and control, Lyu has not been able to go home for eight months and has spent every day in closed-loop management. "On New Year's Eve this year, I made a video call to my families," said Lyu.

Cross-border driver Yu Zhijun also began a busy day early. He drove a truck loaded with mangoes, longan, and other Vietnamese fruits, passed through the intelligent customs clearance scheduling system from the checkpoint, and entered the designated warehouse through the port for goods transfer.

"There are so many goods these days that I have to make seven or eight trips a day," Yu said. In Pingxiang, there are now more than 300 freight forwarders and cross-border drivers commuting between the port and warehouses every day, up to more than 600 at peak times.

Youyi Port is an important exit and entry channel for people, as well as a main land channel from China to ASEAN destinations, with frequent cross-border personnel and goods exchanges. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, over 700 personnel and 1,300 vehicles enter and leave the port on a peak day.

The local government has strictly implemented epidemic prevention and control measures to prevent imported cases, ensure the smooth flow of cross-border channels, and safeguard the security of China's southern border.

In 2021, Youyi port's foreign trade continued to grow. It saw a total of 402,800 inbound and outbound freight trucks and about 4.4 million tonnes of import and export cargo.

According to Yu Ruida, deputy director of Pingxiang Commerce and Port Administration, the local government has innovatively introduced a customs clearance agent driving system for cross-border drivers, and all Chinese freight vehicles entering and leaving the port are driven by designated cross-border drivers who are strictly under closed-loop management.

Besides, cross-border vehicles are comprehensively disinfected, and imported goods can enter China only after undergoing nucleic acid testing, disinfection and other procedures.

At the Beitou warehouse in Pingxiang, cars with Vietnamese or Chinese license plates shuttled back and forth, and staff in protective suits were busy loading and unloading goods.

According to Zhang Yaoquan, manager of the warehouse, all goods from overseas need to have nucleic acid testing first, and only if the result of the test is negative can they be loaded and unloaded.

Fruits from ASEAN countries enter the Chinese market through Youyi Port every day. "Our company carries many durian, dragon fruit, longan, and other ASEAN fruits," said Su Yu, head of the operation Department of Guangxi Xiangxiang International Logistics Co., LTD.

According to Su, now both the port and the company have attached great importance to the safety of cross-border cold chain logistics, and have made every effort to prevent products with the virus from entering China.

"Despite the impact of the epidemic, customs clearance at Youyi Port has remained relatively efficient," said Su, adding that with the support of local customs and other departments, goods from China can be delivered to Bangkok in four or five days.

Su is quite optimistic about the development prospects of the company. "Now China and the ASEAN have become each other's largest trading partners and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement has also officially come into effect, so we are expecting to enjoy closer regional economic and trade exchanges," said Su.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Bianji)




The deadly Aug. 26 bombing outside the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members was carried out by a single bomber and was not a "complex" attack as U.S. officials first thought, according to a Pentagon investigation into the blast.

Officials found the bomber detonated an explosive containing ball bearings, killing at least 170 Afghan civilians in addition to the service members, as they approached the Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport, U.S. Central Command head Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told reporters Friday.

McKenzie acknowledged the findings were different from what officials initially believed, which was that the attack used two bombs and gunmen.

"At the time, the best information we had in the immediate aftermath of the attack indicated that it was a complex attack by both a suicide bomber and ISIS-K gunman," McKenzie said. "We now know that the explosively fired ball bearings cause wounds that look like gunshots and when combined with a small number of warning shots, that led many to assume that a complex attack had occurred."

He added: "the battlefield is a confusing and contradictory place and it gets more confusing the closer you are to the actual action."

Eleven Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy sailor were killed in the blast that was claimed by ISIS in Khorasan and took place in the final, chaotic days of the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan

Investigators pieced together the events of the day after interviewing more than 100 American and British witnesses, scrutinizing the findings and analysis of medical examiners and explosive experts, and reviewing all available video evidence which included a drone that began observing the scene roughly three minutes after the attack, McKenzie said.

At their conclusion, investigators found the bombing was "not preventable," according Army Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis, who took part in the investigation and briefed reporters after McKenzie's remarks.

Story continues

"Based upon our investigation at the tactical level, this was not preventable. And the leaders on the ground followed the proper measures," Curtis said.

Investigators told reporters it was "highly likely" the bomber was able to reach Abbey Gate by using an alternate route and was not stopped because they bypassed Taliban checkpoints.

Afghans trying to flee the country were increasingly using such alternate routes in the final days of the evacuation as the Taliban would turn away or beat civilians trying to make it past their checkpoints.

As the U.S. military's Aug. 31 deadline approached and people became more desperate to leave, Abbey Gate became significantly more crowded. The issue was exacerbated by other gates being closed, investigators said.

The briefing included partial video footage of the bomber, which showed the individual in the background before a flash of light.

Investigators also showed footage from the drone pilot, which caught on camera Marines running toward the gate from inside the airport and carrying dead and wounded service members from the blast area.

The report exonerates service members who were initially suspected of firing deadly shots into the crowd after the attack. Investigators found that Marines had instead only fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.

"The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire, either U.S. or Afghan," McKenzie said.

One investigator said several factors contributed to the initial belief that the attack was complex, including "the fog of war and disorientation due to blast effects," and the warning shots which created an "echo effect."

In addition, service members had been carrying tear gas in canisters which were punctured by the ball bearings in the blast, releasing the chemical into the air.

"Plainly put, the blast created instant chaos and sensory overload," they said.

The report also found that military leaders on the ground took appropriate force protection measures throughout the operation and the medical services that were available "saved every life they possibly could through heroic efforts." McKenzie said.

"This was a terrible attack that resulted in tragic outcomes and a horrific loss of life, both Afghan and American," he added.

The FBI is conducting a separate investigation into the identity of the suicide bomber.
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) recommends sending a larger team to observe Hungary's April 3 parliamentary elections including monitoring the media, OSCE said late on Friday.

Europe's main security and rights watchdog said in a report on its website that in addition to a core team of analysts it plans to delegate 18 long-term observers to follow the electoral process nationwide and 200 short-term observers to follow the voting on election day. OSCE sent only small, limited observation missions for the last Hungarian elections in 2018, 2014, and 2010.

Since winning an election landslide in 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has transformed Hungary into a self-styled "illiberal democracy". Controls on media and civil society groups have put Budapest at loggerheads with the European Union.

On April 3, 58-year-old Orban faces a close race against an opposition united against him for the first time. His ruling Fidesz party has a slight lead over the opposition alliance in latest opinion polls.

OSCE said in its report that aspects of the election that could benefit from further assessment included "voter registration, the campaign, including possible voter intimidation and vote-buying, media coverage of the elections, the transparency of campaign finances and the effectiveness of the complaints and appeals process".

It said that during its talks the representatives of state institutions "expressed their full readiness to conduct the elections in line with the law, and welcomed observation by the ODIHR."

"The media environment comprises a large number of outlets, and is characterized by significant polarization, and an increasing concentration of ownership," OSCE said.

It said the majority of Hungarian stakeholders it spoke to for its report said "these circumstances skew media pluralism, independence of editorial policies and provide a limited diversity of views, particularly in rural areas".

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The Hungarian government denies this.

"The reality is that the diversity and balanced nature of Hungarian media is a bright spot compared to what we can see in Western Europe," government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told Reuters in emailed comments this week.

The Foreign Ministry said last month that it welcomed OSCE observers at the elections, adding that OSCE had full independence in determining the extent of its mission.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Catherine Evans)




It's Friday, welcome to Overnight Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. Subscribe here: thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

The deadly Aug. 26 bombing outside the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members was carried out by a single bomber, a Pentagon investigation found.

We'll detail the investigation and what officials found, plus the latest in the saga over a former Pentagon chief and his lawsuit with the Pentagon.

For The Hill, I'm Ellen Mitchell. Send me tips at emitchell@thehill.com

Let's get to it.

One suicide bomber behind attack that killed 13 US forces

The deadly Aug. 26 bombing outside the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members was carried out by a single bomber and was not a "complex" attack as U.S. officials first thought, according to a Pentagon investigation into the blast.

Officials found the bomber detonated an explosive containing ball bearings, killing at least 170 Afghan civilians in addition to the service members, as they approached the Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport, U.S. Central Command head Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told reporters Friday.

Different findings: McKenzie acknowledged the findings were different from what officials initially believed, which was that the attack used two bombs and gunmen.

"At the time, the best information we had in the immediate aftermath of the attack indicated that it was a complex attack by both a suicide bomber and ISIS-K gunman," McKenzie said. "We now know that the explosively fired ball bearings cause wounds that look like gunshots and when combined with a small number of warning shots, that led many to assume that a complex attack had occurred."

He added: "the battlefield is a confusing and contradictory place and it gets more confusing the closer you are to the actual action."

Piecing together events: Eleven Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy sailor were killed in the blast that was claimed by ISIS in Khorasan and took place in the final, chaotic days of the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan.

Story continues

Investigators pieced together the events of the day after interviewing more than 100 American and British witnesses, scrutinizing the findings and analysis of medical examiners and explosive experts, and reviewing all available video evidence which included a drone that began observing the scene roughly three minutes after the attack, McKenzie said.

'Not preventable': At their conclusion, investigators found the bombing was "not preventable," according Army Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis, who took part in the investigation and briefed reporters after McKenzie's remarks.

"Based upon our investigation at the tactical level, this was not preventable. And the leaders on the ground followed the proper measures," Curtis said.

How did it happen?: Investigators told reporters it was "highly likely" the bomber was able to reach Abbey Gate by using an alternate route and was not stopped because they bypassed Taliban checkpoints.

Afghans trying to flee the country were increasingly using such alternate routes in the final days of the evacuation as the Taliban would turn away or beat civilians trying to make it past their checkpoints.

As the U.S. military's Aug. 31 deadline approached and people became more desperate to leave, Abbey Gate became significantly more crowded. The issue was exacerbated by other gates being closed, investigators said.

Instant chaos: One investigator said several factors contributed to the initial belief that the attack was complex, including "the fog of war and disorientation due to blast effects," and the warning shots which created an "echo effect."

In addition, service members had been carrying tear gas in canisters which were punctured by the ball bearings in the blast, releasing the chemical into the air.

"Plainly put, the blast created instant chaos and sensory overload," they said.

Read the full story here.

Esper drops suit against Pentagon over memoir dispute

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper is dropping his lawsuit against the Pentagon over proposed redactions for his forthcoming memoir.

Esper's attorney Mark Zaid on Friday filed a motion for voluntary dismissal of the case, indicating that the parties "stipulate to dismiss" the action. The motion did not provide further insight into the decision.

Some movement: But Zaid suggested the Pentagon had moved on some of Esper's demands.

In an emailed statement to The Hill, Zaid said that because of the "success" of the litigation, the memoir will be published as scheduled with "minimal redactions" that "will not disturb the flow of reading the book."

"The state of the law is clear: the U.S. Government has absolutely no authority to prevent anyone from publishing unclassified information. That is an incontrovertible constitutional right and established by binding precedent," Zaid said in an emailed statement.

Esper's tenure: Esper served as Defense Secretary from June 2019 until then-President Trump abruptly fired him in November 2020, days after the 2020 presidential election. He was succeeded by Christopher Miller, who served as acting secretary for the remainder of Trump's term.

Timing: The move to dismiss the case comes roughly four months after the former Defense chief initially filed the suit in late November alleging that the Pentagon was unlawfully blocking parts of his upcoming book "A Sacred Oath."

The book, which is due to be published in May, details his time as Defense Secretary in what he describes as a "tumultuous second half of the Trump administration."

What the Pentagon wanted: Zaid said that the Pentagon wanted to redact "significant swaths" of content on over 50 pages of his book, which "absolutely gutted substantive content and important storylines."

In his suit, Esper said he submitted the manuscript of the book around May 24, 2021 for mandatory pre-publication review. On Oct. 7, the agency's Office of Pre-publication and Security Review (DoDOPSR) sent Esper pages that had to be amended for his book to receive full approval.

A broken system?: Zaid added that the pre-publication classification review system is "clearly broken," particularly when "the existence of litigation compels the Defendant to reverse its position on an overwhelming majority of classification decisions it earlier asserted were so vital to the national security interests of the United States, when the fact is they never were."

Read the full story here.

ON TAP FOR MONDAY

WHAT WE'RE READING

Well, that's it for today! Check out The Hill's defense and national security pages for the latest coverage. See you on Monday.
Parker-Hannifin Corporation (NYSE:PH) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Therefore, if you purchase Parker-Hannifin's shares on or after the 10th of February, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 4th of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$1.03 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$4.12 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Parker-Hannifin has a trailing yield of 1.4% on the current stock price of $302.97. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Parker-Hannifin's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

See our latest analysis for Parker-Hannifin

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. That's why it's good to see Parker-Hannifin paying out a modest 28% of its earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Parker-Hannifin generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 26% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

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Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. For this reason, we're glad to see Parker-Hannifin's earnings per share have risen 19% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share are growing rapidly and the company is keeping more than half of its earnings within the business; an attractive combination which could suggest the company is focused on reinvesting to grow earnings further. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination - plus the dividend can always be increased later.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Parker-Hannifin has delivered an average of 11% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

The Bottom Line

Is Parker-Hannifin worth buying for its dividend? Parker-Hannifin has been growing earnings at a rapid rate, and has a conservatively low payout ratio, implying that it is reinvesting heavily in its business; a sterling combination. It's a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.

On that note, you'll want to research what risks Parker-Hannifin is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Parker-Hannifin you should know about.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.
Update: This story was updated Feb. 7, 2022 with more information about the decedent.

Homicide detectives have taken over an investigation after a 15-year-old shot on the north side of Indianapolis died Thursday, according to police.

The shooting occurred in the 4400 block of College Avenue on Tuesday just before 7 p.m.

Officers found the teen outside with gunshot wounds and he was transported to a hospital where he later died, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

The police departments aggravated detectives initially responded to the scene to begin an investigation, but the case was turned over to homicide investigators after the teen died, according to IMPD.

Other Indianapolis crime news: 19-year-old arrested in fatal shooting of woman on north side, police say

The Marion County Coroners Office later identified the teen as Darryl Fisher.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Detective Chris Craighill at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or email him at Chris.Craighill@indy.gov.

Alternatively, those with information can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 to remain anonymous.

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis crime: Darryl Fisher dies days after College Avenue shooting
We need to stop banning books. Liberals, conservatives, anyone in between. Stop banning books. It leads to intellectual ignorance, the washing away of history and the creation of an uninformed and unintelligent society.

Ive complained before about schools banning what I believe to be the greatest American Novel ever written: "To Kill a Mockingbird." It has language we would never and should never use today. It depicts Black people treated as less valuable both in society and the legal system. It depicts the truth of an era in America that should always be taught and never be forgotten. It also shows the strength and character of a man willing to risk it all, his safety and that of his family, to stand up in the name of justice. It is powerful. It brings to life a time in our nations history in a way few other teachings can, while keeping a kid interested in a book. That last part, is vital for true education.

Alicia Preston Xanthopoulos

Other schools have banned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for similar reasons. I think erasing history because in 2022, history is inappropriate, is dumb. As my husband says, You dont know where you are, if you dont know where youve been, I think this has no place in our educational system in America. Do you know where they banned books? Nazi Germany. Which leads me to the latest sample of book-banning and to quote the author of said banned book, it is baffling."

More: They're trying to ban 'Maus': Why you should read it and these 30 other challenged books

An Athens, Tennessee, school board recently voted unanimously, 10-0, to ban Maus." Maus is a graphic novel, a novel presented like a comic book, about the Holocaust. Specifically, the author, Art Spiegelman, is telling the story of his family during the Holocaust and internment in Auschwitz. In in, the Nazis are depicted as cats and the Jews are depicted as mice. Every piece of it is deliberate and pointed. However, the school board thought that the handful of bad words, including the word damn and a tiny image of a naked woman (which was a drawing of the author's mother in a bathtub after cutting her wrists), was too much for eighth-graders to be included in their curriculum.

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As for the bad words? Give me a break. These arent 5-year-olds. The naked lady drawing? Kids see more in sex ed by that age and as the author noted in response to the ban, So it [the nude drawing] is seen from overhead and you can see it's a tiny image so you would really have to want want to get your sexual kicks by projecting on it, it seems like a crazy place to get them.

Fired cop: Dover police officer loses job, career for lying about double fatal crash on Sixth Street

I first heard of this book a few years back when the then ninth grader was reading it at school. You know how I know its a great educational book about the Holocaust? The then 15 year old was talking about it at the dinner table. She was talking about the Holocaust and WWII and asking questions. She always has liked to read, but I dont recall her ever being so inquisitive and intrigued. That is what education is all about.

I dont understand the opposition to this book. One school board member said incredulously, It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy. Promote? Id like to think depicting those things does the opposite of promote it. It visually demonstrates the horror of the Holocaust. It was dehumanizing. The cartoon of cats and mice, shows that. Why would we hide those realities from kids, particularly in the name of education? What? Are we going to just have kids learn from sanitized text books? Content without context. Kids dont learn if they arent engaged, and like the then ninth grader, this book engaged her.

More: York School Committee votes to keep 'It's Perfectly Normal' after bid to remove book

I dont know the real motives behind the banning of Maus, although some have speculated. I dont know the political make-up of the School Board in Athens, Tennessee, although I tried to find it. But, I know the state is as red as a fire truck, the county this school board is in went for Donald Trump overwhelmingly in 2020, and the vote by this board was unanimous. As a conservative, Ive been opposing the liberal efforts to ban books for decades. I hope, my side of the aisle isnt jumping on this bandwagon. And, thats all it is. It certainly isnt for the betterment of our kids. If it were, wed be holding rallies demanding it be part of the curriculum in every single school district in the country. There is hope. It is currently the number one selling novel on Amazon.

Alicia Preston Xanthopoulos is a former political consultant and member of the media. Shes a native of Hampton Beach where she lives with her family and three poodles. Write to her at PrestonPerspective@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Alicia Preston Xanthopoulos: We need to stop banning books
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Andrew will give evidence next month in the sex abuse lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, a source close to the prince said on Saturday.

The Duke of York, who denies accusations that he sexually abused Giuffre two decades ago when she was 17, will speak under oath in London, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

"We agreed to voluntarily produce the Duke for a deposition on March 10. Despite repeated requests, Ms. Giuffre still hasn't committed to a date or location for her deposition," the source told Reuters.

Giuffre, 38, sued Andrew last August, alleging he battered her while the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was trafficking her.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Andrew, 61, admitted meeting Epstein in or around 1999, but denied Giuffre's allegation that he "committed sexual assault and battery" upon her.

Andrew's ties to Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges, have undermined his reputation with the public and standing in Britain's Royal Family.

Last month, the family removed Andrew's military links and military patronages, and said the second son of Queen Elizabeth would no longer be known as "His Royal Highness".

The prince's lawyers previously called Giuffre's lawsuit "baseless" and accused her of seeking another payday.

Giuffre received $500,000 in a 2009 civil settlement with Epstein.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has said a trial could begin between September and December 2022.

If Giuffre won at trial, Andrew could owe her damages. She has asked for an unspecified amount.

Andrew has not been criminally charged, and no criminal charges can be brought in Giuffre's civil lawsuit.

(Reporting by Michael Holden, writing by Andy Bruce, editing by Timothy Heritage)
Happy Saturday! It's me again, Brad K. Evans, your host of the Denver Daily.

Saturday's weather: Some sunshine. High: 42 Low: 19.

Here are the top five stories today in Denver:

Business owners skeptical of Mayors plan to combat rising crime rates. Many business owners are feeling the impacts of a what some are calling a public safety breakdown in downtown Denver. One business owner said I dont feel like the police are standing behind us as law-abiding citizens who have a right to be safe in this community. (CBS4) Denver Rescue Mission working on pilot program. A new housing pilot in Northglenn is being staffed by Denver Rescue Mission in hopes of helping those experiencing homelessness in the northwest part of metro Denver. (Yahoo) Chaffee County wrestles with the influx of dispersed camping. In addition to poorly tended campfires that are raising wildfire fears, the campers are leaving behind trash and human waste that are threatening fresh-water trout-filled rivers. (CO Sun) What RTD is "Re-Imagining" for bus routes in the future? The struggling transit agency is planning to reduce bus service hours to 85 percent of pre-Covid levels by 2027. RTDs rail lines are not expected be reduced under the plan. (RTD) Cushy new hotel coming to LODO. Thompson Denver Hotel is bringing its refined-yet-edgy aesthetic to Denver with a Colorado-inspired design. The new hotel, located at 1616 Market St., opens on Feb. 7. (5280)

Today in Denver:

From my notebook:

2022 Black History Month Project Contest: Deadline for Submission is Feb. 15, 2022 (8 a.m.)

Traitor, Survivor, Icon - The Legacy of La Malinche : Opening at the Denver Art Museum on Feb. 6. The exhibit examines the historical and cultural legacy of La Malinche. Both reviled as a traitor and hailed as the mother of Mexico. (DAM)

Join a public meeting with RTD. Learn more about adjustments to its bus services beginning in May 2022. The meetings will also discuss additional service changes proposed as part of its Reimagine RTD process. Virtual meetings on Feb. 7 or 8 (RTD)

Denvers citywide minimum wage increased to $15.87/hour on Jan 1, 2022. The tip credit for the food and beverage industry remains $3.02/hour. The citywide minimum wage applies to all work performed within the City and County of Denver. (Denver)

Mark Your Calendars - Virtual Public Meeting: For the plan for East Bruce Randolph Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 15, from 6 - 7:30 pm. Hosted by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI). (Denver)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Saturday. I'll be back in your inbox bright and early on Monday morning with a new edition of the Denver Daily!  Brad K. Evans

This article originally appeared on the Denver Patch
Queen Elizabeth is celebrating 70 years on the throne with a little help from her beloved dog Candy.

On Friday, the royal family shared several photos taken last month of the British monarch looking over cards, letters and artwork that children and other members of the public sent her to mark the special occasion.

BRITAIN-ROYAL-QUEEN-JUBILEE (STEVE PARSONS / Getty Images)

The queens dog Candy, a dorgi breed (mix between a corgi and a dachshund), also made an appearance in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, looking for some affection from the monarch.

The smiling 95-year-old queen seemed happy to oblige and reached out to pet the dog.

Candy clearly wanted some attention! (Getty Images)

Corgis have always held a special place in the queens heart. Over the years shes owned more than 30 of the herding dogs, including several mixed breed dorgis.

In December 2020, her dorgi named Vulcan died and left behind only Candy. But in March 2021, TODAY confirmed that the monarch had welcomed two corgi puppies.

Platinum Jubilee (Steve Parsons - PA Images / Getty Images)

The queen, who celebrates her Platinum Jubilee on Sunday, seemed delighted as she pored over the stack of jubilee memorabilia. Some items had been preserved from previous jubilees, like this fingerprint portrait from schoolchildren in Leicestershire.

BRITAIN-ROYAL-QUEEN-JUBILEE (STEVE PARSONS / Getty Images)

Many items, including cards, were specially made for the queen in honor of her special milestone.

BRITAIN-ROYAL-QUEEN-JUBILEE (STEVE PARSONS / Getty Images)

There are several celebrations planned this year in honor of the queen's anniversary.

Related:
Investigative reporters for The Real News, Taya Graham and Stephen Janis, break down their reporting on a disturbing trend of overpolicing in small town America. About Rising: Rising is a weekday morning show with bipartisan hosts that breaks the mold of morning TV by taking viewers inside the halls of Washington power like never before. The show leans into the day's political cycle with cutting edge analysis from DC insiders who can predict what is going to happen. It also sets the day's political agenda by breaking exclusive news with a team of scoop-driven reporters and demanding answers during interviews with the country's most important political newsmakers. Follow Rising on social media: Website: Hill.TV Facebook: facebook.com/HillTVLive/ Instagram: @HillTVLive Twitter: @HillTVLive
The crux of Americas looming educational crisis is obvious and it has nothing to do with the books in the curriculum.

The lesson is deep into the much-maligned transcript of a Tennessee school boards discussion before unanimously voting to nix the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus from the 8th grade curriculum.

This illustration photo taken in Los Angeles on Jan. 27, shows a person holding the graphic novel "Maus" by Art Spiegelman. [Maro Siranosian/AFP via Getty Images/TNS]

The vote got the McMinn County board members widely roasted, belittled as another example of overreach by elected officials. For many, it fit neatly into disputes in districts nationwide; book censorship, the meddling on mask mandates and insistence the children may be made to feel badly about themselves if they learn about racisms historic roots.

But Maus is a bit different. And potentially, more alarming, if America continues down the path were perilously striding.

Understand first that Maus; A Survivors Tale is ingenious. The work by Art Spiegelman depicts how he coaxed his father to tell him of surviving the Holocaust. Its deeply nuanced with threads of loss and grief, historically informative and accessible; the very sort of text that educators seek for youth.

The Nazis are drawn as cats. Jewish people are mice. The animal depictions somehow make them that much more real, people existing amid one of the most deplorable acts of genocide in history.

And except for a few bad words, seriously not that bad, and one female mouse drawn nude, well, even the board members found positive things to say about the two volumes. They just didnt like the naughty words or the unclothed mouse.

In the transcript of the early January meeting, an unnamed high school teacher acknowledges that the school board wasnt opposed to teaching the Holocaust.

Then, she gets to the point, saying of students: unless they have adequate background of the concept thats being discussed, theyre going to miss it, some of my freshman this year still had a hard time connecting the dots and being ethical, moral and all that other stuff. Its because they have not been in the classroom for nearly two years because of Covid, they are missing a lot of stuff that they might have, had they been there. Its going to be a lot harder to get them to understand.

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Succinctly, the teacher stated whats true of schools nationwide.

And yet, here we have board members atwitter about a handful of words. The discussion does not show the group to be marching for the door, Maus in hand to burn.

Theyre oddly hyper-focused on the words, as if they cant shake the image of the naked mouse long enough to grasp broader views. So much so that much attention is given to nonsensical gerrymandered non-options. The board delved into copyright infringement if words are blocked, for example.

As a longtime reporter, I can attest to the fact that board conversations, be they for schools or any public entity, can end up down rabbit holes. But this example shows more a lack of higher level thinking, analysis and real problem-solving. Similar simple-mindedness is increasingly normalized.

Banning is not new. It can be traced throughout time. Ancient rulers did it. China during the Cultural Revolution swept texts and yes, the Nazis burned of Jewish books and sacred scrolls.

Many of those acts were clearly about control and power, eliminating some information to make way for a propagandized substitute to flourish.

Those censors sought to contain ideas and thoughts they felt threatened an opposite worldview or form of governance. Those efforts were based in fear but also in intellectualism.

Whats often happening today is far more uninformed.

Peel back the layers and its often revealed that books have been misinterpreted or judged by cryptic snippets. The fervent pushback is based on a lack of knowledge.

Take recent history, efforts to keep children from understanding the complexities of gender and sexual orientation. Thats control, fear and usually, a deep lack of factual information.

This is the crucial distinction to ponder with Maus. And we need to consider this while enough of us still have the cognitive skills to muster the exercise.

Despite drilling into the text to find problematic words, the board doesnt seem able to draw out to broader issues.

They just cant get there. And so, a vote is taken. All say get rid of it. And its on to the next item on the agenda item.

They dont come across as mean-spirited, or not wanting to think critically. And yet, they dont.

The classroom that the unnamed teacher described can be found across America, in private and public schools, suburban, urban and rural. Children are struggling. Baby boomer retirements are sweeping the teacher ranks. The depletion is exacerbated by the pandemic and pointless attacks by boards, parents and legislatures.

So many of these actions, the slights to the studied reasoning of educators, fall to the simplistic approaches like what ditched Maus.

Mary Sanchez's syndicated column is distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Sanchez: The problem isnt banned books, naughty words or wokeness
Chrishell Stause remembered both of her late parents with a touching Instagram post on World Cancer Day.

The "Selling Sunset" star shared two throwback pictures of her parents on social media after her mother died in July 2020 from the same type of lung cancer that claimed her father's life in April 2019.

"Today is #worldcancerday and it was 2 years to the day that I found out my mom was suffering from the same lung cancer that took my dad the year before," she said. "PLEASE get your checkups and second opinions. "

"There isnt a day that goes by that I dont wish we caught it sooner so we could have maybe had more time together," Stause continued. "My heart is with all of you that have lost someone to this terrible disease. My parents were always the life of the party I had a dream last night with them laughing so vividly. "

In her post, Strause said that she wished she had saved more memories with her late parents.

"I wish we took more pictures and videos when we were together. I wish I didnt hold a grudge so long on things when they were just trying their best," she added.

At the end of her post, the Hollywood Hills real estate agent urged fans and followers to treasure time with their loved ones.

"If anyone is reading this and mad at a loved one  Life is truly too short. Please let it go if you can. Try and see things from where they are coming from and the tools that they have. I miss you, every day," Stause said.

Two years ago, Stause opened up about her mother's death on Instagram. In an emotional post, she said that it was "heartbreaking" to watch her mother take her "last labored breath." However, she also found "peace" knowing that her mom had reunited with her dad.

"I find comfort knowing Dad is up there taking care of you and showing you the ropes like only he could," Stause said.

When her father died in 2019, Stause also took to Instagram to share a throwback photo of them together.

"I grew up in an unconventional family and my dad was a drummer-the heartbeat of the music," she said on Instagram when announcing his death. "Today we lost the heartbeat of our family but I am happy knowing he took his music to heaven. It just got a lot more rock and roll up there. We love you so much."

Related:
Attorneys representing San Francisco Chinatown attack victim Anh Le have accused the District Attorney Chesa Boudin's Office of releasing misleading statements in response to their clients lawsuit, insisting that he was never made aware of a potential plea deal.



Le, 69, filed a federal lawsuit against the San Francisco District Attorney's Office on Jan. 25 after it allegedly failed to inform him of and involve him in plea discussions that led to a lenient sentence for Jimmy Tanner Sr., a man who allegedly attacked him in November 2019.



On Jan. 27, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article that cited records it had obtained from the Chesa Boudin's office that reportedly demonstrated that a victim advocate from the office had documented reaching out to Le more than two dozen times but received no response.



Those attempts were reportedly made through emails and phone calls. The advocate, according to the Chronicle, left several messages in the week leading up to a plea deal for Tanner.



Le is represented by King & Spalding LLP, a member of the Alliance for Asian American Justice. In a statement to NextShark, his legal team disputed several details in the Chronicles report, saying their client was never told in a phone call or email that a plea deal would be reached or was being considered  let alone dozens of times.



We are shocked by the San Francisco DAs Offices decision to attack a victim through misleading statements rather than to address the systemic issues in Mr. Les Complaint, the team said. As a result of these statements, the San Francisco Chronicles article from [Jan.] 27, 2022 contains significant errors that we wish to correct.



Les attorneys pointed out that the contacts Le had made with the district attorney were related to a preliminary hearing, which indicated that the case was still charging Tanner with a felony. Tanner, according to the Chronicle, later pled guilty to misdemeanor battery through the deal, resulting in no jail time and year-long probation.



NextShark obtained a record of emails from Les attorneys that show that Le was first invited to a preliminary hearing on Nov. 9, 2020, but that hearing did not take place and was rescheduled on March 22, 2021. The hearing was then later rescheduled yet again for April 12, 2021, when Tanner pled guilty to the misdemeanor battery charge. In an email sent on April 13, the victim advocate told Le, The case resolved yesterday.



The emails seen by NextShark show that Le had been seeking updates on the case since September 2020. But throughout his correspondence with the San Francisco District Attorneys Office between that time and April 12  including in the advocates invitations to the preliminary hearing  not once did the word plea appear.



Le responded to the district attorney on April 13, writing, I have not received a phone call from you. His attorneys also rejected a claim that he received an email on April 8 that said the case might conclude in four days.



Les legal team also contradicted details claimed by Tanners defense team surrounding the original incident, which took place on Nov. 2, 2019. Les attorneys claimed that Tanner was on foot, contrary to his lawyers statement that he had been traveling in his wheelchair.



Mr. Tanner followed him on foot when he chased Mr. Le with a glass bottle and was on foot when he attacked others the same day, the team said. They also stressed that Le did not know whether the bat used by Tanners son to allegedly attack him was plastic, but that it was 3 feet long, solid and painful.



ABC7 reporter Dion Lim obtained surveillance images of Tanner and his son, along with the bat in question. NextShark could not independently verify the material of the bat, but the image of Tanner shows him standing on both feet inside what appears to be a retail store.



Mr. Le suffered significant trauma as a result of this event, for which he is still undergoing mental health counseling, two years later, his attorneys said. The DAs attempt to minimize the attack, in order to avoid responsibility for his offices failures, is deeply disappointing.



Featured Image via Alliance for Asian American Justice

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A Texas woman admitted to straddling another woman in what she called a prayer position, though she wouldnt elaborate or answer further questions regarding the victims death out of fear of incriminating herself, police say.

That woman, identified as 41-year-old Gloria Ann Jordan, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of Gloria Farmer, jail records show.

Farmer was a pastor, and Jordan was her daughter, her obituary says. Police did not immediately respond to McClatchy News when asked if the department has confirmed the relationship.

Wichita Falls Police Department responded to Farmers home on Nov. 21, 2021, in what was first considered a medical death, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by McClatchy News. Jordan and another woman told police they were the only ones at the home when Farmer died.

A few days later, on Nov. 24, police initiated a follow-up investigation into Farmers death after a family friend raised some concerns. An autopsy was also ordered, which police say confirmed Farmer died of mechanical asphyxia in a death that was ruled a homicide.

Following the raised concerns, police interviewed the other woman who was at the home. She told police on Nov. 24 that Jordan may have killed Farmer, but she didnt say anything when authorities first came to the home because she was afraid of Jordan, according to the affidavit.

She stated that while praying, Jordan put her hand on Farmers forehead and pushed her backwards in an office chair until Farmer and the chair fell backwards, the affidavit says. She said Jordan then straddled Farmers body and sat on her chest while Farmer was yelling for her to get off because she could not breathe.

The woman said she tried pulling Jordan off Farmer but was unable to do so. She told police that Jordan stayed in that position until Farmer stopped breathing.

Also on Nov. 24, police talked with Jordan in a hospital room, as she had been admitted on an unrelated medical condition, the report says. In the non-custodial interview, police say she admitted to pushing Farmer backward in an office chair until she and the chair fell backward.

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She admitted that she then straddled her body in what she called prayer position with her hand on Farmers forehead, according to the affidavit. When asked to elaborate on how her body was positioned, Jordan stated that she would not answer any further questions out of fear of incriminating herself.

In a non-custodial interview, the person is free to leave at any time, police said, and the Miranda warning is not provided. In these interviews, a suspect is free to leave even if they confess to a crime  but police can obtain an arrest warrant after the interview.

In this case, police obtained the warrant on Feb. 1. A public information officer with the department was unsure why an arrest warrant wasnt obtained until February, but it may have been due to a delay in receiving the full autopsy report or a detective waiting on other evidence.

Police and Wichita Falls Crime Stoppers issued a wanted poster for the arrest of Jordan that day, offering a reward of up to $1,000. By the next day, she was arrested by Burkburnett police and being held on a $150,000 bond.

Burkburnett is about 15 miles northwest of Wichita Falls.

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Canton  A car jumped an embankment in Canton early Saturday and landed in the Farmington River off Torrington Avenue, police said.

One person was transported to the hospital.

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Fire and EMS Chief Johnathan Gotaski said fire and EMS crews and police were dispatched to the scene at about 7:30 a.m.

Gotaski said police found a car that had gone into the river.

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Canton Fire Crews worked quickly to gain access to the vehicle, he said. Crews were deployed in cold water suits to extricate the patient...

Canton crews on scene at a rollover into the Farmington River on Saturday Feb. 5, 2022 (Greg Sims)

Gotaski said the patient was brought up the rock face via a rope system in a stokes basket, treated and transported by Canton fires ambulance. He said mutual aid was provided by Burlington Fire/EMS.

Attached is a photo from one of our members, Greg Sims for photo credit.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
Charges have been filed against a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville student who is accused of falsely reporting a hate crime to police.

Kaliyeha Clark-Mabins is being charged with three counts of disorderly conduct, each a class 4 felony.

SIUE police received a report of a hate crime on Sunday, Jan. 23 that alleged hand-written notes were left on the door of a room in Woodland Residence Hall. It also was reported an anonymous text message thread from fall 2021 containing threatening and racially hostile content.

The news release from SIUE Police Chief Kevin Schmoll does not include any details of the investigation other than that two people accused in the false report, Amanda Jerome and Jimmi Thull, have been cleared of any involvement.

The Belleville News-Democrat has filed open records requests for Clark-Mabins police report as well as police reports from the investigation.

A different SIUE student emailed the BND about the incident on Jan. 29, but did not respond after the BND tried to contact him.
Star Jones shows up in red to bring awareness to womens heart disease

Former The View co-host Star Jones returned to the ABC show on Friday for the first time in more than a decade.

The 59-year-old ex-attorney, who helped The View rise to prominence as an original cast member during the 2000s, appeared on the shows Hot Topics segment donning red to bring awareness to womens heart disease for the American Heart Associations National Wear Red Day.

Star Jones returned to The View on Feb. 4, 2022. (Credit: The View on YouTube)

Jones herself became a national volunteer for the American Heart Association after undergoing open-heart surgery 12 years ago.

My heart was stopped for 22 minutes on the table, Jones said. Ive been really working hard and you know Ive kept the weight off.  God knows I had a whole heck of a hard time.

Jones pre-scheduled appearance on The View, which the show announced in a Jan. 28 press release, came less than a week after regular co-host Whoopi Goldberg was suspended for controversial comments she made about the Holocaust.

Whoopi Goldberg attends Waldo On Weed  2019 Tribeca Film Festival at SVA Theater on May 03, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)

Goldberg has apologized repeatedly for her Monday remarks, which were condemned by the Anti-Defamation League. She and her fellow cohosts have expressed anger about her suspension, but Goldberg is scheduled to return to the show in less than two weeks.

Jones co-hosted The View for nine seasons beginning in 1997 before departing from the show in 2006 following a rift with fellow original co-host Barbara Walters, according to ET Canada.

She is scheduled to take over for Faith Jenkins as a judge on Divorce Court in September, according to Deadline.

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The post Star Jones returns to The View for National Wear Red Day appeared first on TheGrio.
Students walk to the College of Media and Communication on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, on the Texas Tech campus

Texas officials said Friday that they believe that the state has passed the peak power demand in this weeks winter storm, and that the grid has held up without major outages.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the states power grid operator, forecast that electricity demand Friday morning would reach roughly 74,000 megawatts. However, it topped out at only about 69,000 megawatts.

We do not expect demand to exceed that amount for the rest of the storm, Gov. Greg Abbott said. At the height of power generation supply, more than 86,000 megawatts of power was available.  That's important because that far exceeds the estimated demand during last years winter storm.

Most of the state remains in low temperatures, with North Texas remaining at or below freezing temperatures as of Friday afternoon. Abbott said the entire state is expected to be at or below freezing temperatures Friday night and most of the state will see subfreezing temperatures for the next few nights.

Experts estimate that last year during Winter Storm Uri, peak electricity demand would have been around 77,000 megawatts. Abbott said due to improvements made following last years widespread outages, the grid would have been equipped to meet that level of demand.

Many Texans braced themselves for the cold snap across the state, nervous after last years weeklong and widespread blackouts. But so far, the situation has been a fairly typical Texas cold front. Demand on Texas electrical grid was far lower than ERCOT, the states grid operator, had predicted.

Abbott said the grids performance this week should give residents confidence.

The Texas electric grid is more reliable and more resilient than it has ever been, he said.

While officials say the worst of the storm may be behind the state, they still warned of dangerous driving conditions and cautioned Texans to stay off roads when possible.

There were around 20,000 Texans without electricity as of Friday morning, Abbott said. He said this was due to local incidents, such as downed lines, not strain on the electrical grid. Officials stressed that anyone who loses power should call their local power provider.

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Abbott credited the surplus of energy to changes that legislators made following last years winter storm.

After last February's blackouts, Texas lawmakers passed legislation aimed at preventing electricity blackouts, but it will likely take years before those changes are fully implemented.

Two major bills included key changes to the states power grid that energy experts said will begin to address some issues, such as requiring power companies to upgrade their plants to withstand more extreme weather and creating a statewide emergency alert system.

The legislation said power regulators needed to ensure all power plants were weatherized, a rule the Public Utility Commission adopted this fall. Meanwhile, lawmakers approved legislation that said oil and gas companies did not need to be weatherized until 2023.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: State leaders say Texas has passed peak power demand during winter storm
With the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination being approved by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging Michigan residents to get their vaccinations and booster shots as soon as possible.

LANSING Following FDA approval earlier this week of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for those ages 18 and up, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is renewing its call to Michiganders to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

"We now have two fully FDA approved COVID-19 vaccines that have saved millions of lives throughout the pandemic," said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

"For Michiganders who have been waiting for this approval, now is the time to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine and join the nearly 6.5 million Michigan residents who have already received their first dose. The vaccine remains our best defense against the virus as we continue to face omicron and any future variants," said Bagdasarian.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is urging Michiganders to complete the primary series of COVID-19 vaccination and then get a booster dose once they are eligible to ensure they are up to date with their protection against the virus.

More information is available at Michigan.gov/COVIDVaccine.

The Moderna vaccine, now known as Spikevax, was the second COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed in December 2020 and has shown to be better than 93% effective against the virus that causes COVID-19 and 98% effective in preventing severe disease.

To date, more than 5.3 million primary and booster doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered in Michigan and more than 65% of Michiganders ages 5 years old and older have gotten at least their first dose of one of the safe, effective vaccines.

From Jan. 15, 2021, to Jan. 14, 2022, unvaccinated Michiganders accounted for 77.6% of COVID-19 cases, 85% of hospitalizations and 83% of deaths.

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit Michigan.gov/COVIDVaccine. This website has several tools to help those who have questions, including why getting the vaccination is important, as well as a number of other resources.

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To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine near you, visit Vaccines.gov. This website also offers a number of frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine and answers to those questions.

For more information about COVID-19 in Michigan, including numbers of daily and cumulative cases, numbers of deaths, visit Michigan.gov/coronavirus.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: State residents encouraged to get vaccinated or boosted by MDHHS
A suspect has been arrested in connection with a fight that left a San Francisco 49ers fan in a medically induced coma, CBS Los Angeles reports. The attack happened in a parking lot at SoFi Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Rams, just before Sunday's NFC championship game between the two California teams.

Bryan Alexis Cifuentes, 33, was charged with felony assault by means to produce great bodily injury. Police said Friday that video footage of the incident shows 40-year-old Daniel Luna standing in the parking lot with fellow 49ers fans before the game. He shoves a man wearing a Rams jersey, later identified as Cifuentes, from behind. Cifuentes then shoves and punches Luna once near the mouth, sending him to the ground.

In the video, police said it appears some people tried to help Luna, who had gone to the game by himself after the people he planned on going with canceled, CBS Los Angeles reports. Cifuentes seems to speak with some people in a vehicle and then leaves the scene.

According to police, a security guard later found Luna in the parking lot and called paramedics, who transported him to the hospital. Luna, who owns a restaurant in Oakland, is still in the hospital. He is in stable condition but remains in a medically induced coma, according to CBS Los Angeles.

Authorities tracked down the car seen in the surveillance video. Its owner was not a suspect, but investigators left their contact information with the owner.

Cifuentes later called police and agreed to go to the Inglewood police headquarters. After interviewing him, police placed him under arrest, CBS Los Angeles reports.

SoFi Stadium officials issued a statement saying, "We are aware and saddened by the incident. Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna's friends and family during this difficult time. We are working with law enforcement officials in their investigation."

In a statement to CBS San Francisco following the attack, the 49ers said, "What happened to Daniel Luna is reprehensible, and we strongly condemn all acts of violence. We know local authorities are conducting a full investigation, and we're here to support them however we can. Our thoughts and prayers go to Mr. Luna, his family, friends, and the medical team providing him care."

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Cifuentes was released on a $30,000 bail Friday morning, CBS Los Angeles reports. Dates for his arraignment have not been announced, but if convicted, he could face up to 4 years in state prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

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TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan on Saturday condemned as "contemptible" the timing of China and Russia's "no limits" partnership at the start of the Winter Olympics, saying the Chinese government was bringing shame to the spirit of the Games.

China and Russia, at a meeting of their leaders hours before the Winter Olympics officially opened, backed each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the West.

Russia voiced its support for China's stance that democratically-governed Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and opposition to any form of independence for the island.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said China's continued false claims the island is part of the People's Republic of China were exactly the same as the country's habit of spreading fake news.

"It not only increases the Taiwanese people's disgust at and loathing for the Chinese government's arrogance and bullying, it also clearly shows all the world's countries the sinister face of the Chinese Communist regime's aggression, expansionism and damaging of peace."

At a time when the world's eyes are focused on the Winter Olympics and cheering on their athletes, the Chinese government has used the Russian summit to engage in the expansion of authoritarianism, the ministry added.

"This is an insult to the peaceful spirit embodied by the Olympic Rings, and will be spurned by Taiwan's people and held in contempt by democratic countries."

The United States has also criticised the meeting, saying Chinese President Xi Jinping should have used the meeting to push for lowering of tensions in Ukraine.

The Olympics, to which Taiwan has sent a small team of four athletes to compete, is happening at a time of heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing, with China regularly sending military ships and aircraft near the island.

While Russia is a close friend of China's, both Russia and Taiwan maintain small de facto embassies in each other's capitals.

Former Taiwan President Chiang Ching-kuo, who began tentative democratic reforms, spoke Russian and was married to a Russian lady he met while working there in the 1930s.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Waving posters and flags, the teachers marched from the Capitol to La Fortaleza, the official residence of the governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi.

The oversight board has said that under the plan, which comes after a nearly five-year-long debt restructuring process, government retirees are still in line to receive their full pensions at their current levels. However, the plan freezes defined-benefit retirement programs that cover active teachers and replaces them with defined contribution plans and enrollment in social security.

Teachers' unions have opposed the new plan and called for continued defined benefit pensions and higher wage increases, saying that low salaries and rising prices mean many educators have to take additional jobs to make ends meet.

Puerto Rico filed for protection under a bankruptcy-like law, known as Title III, in May 2017. Its $135 billion in liabilities included more than $55 billion in underfunded pension obligations.

Puerto Rico piled up unsustainable levels of debt in the years leading up to 2017.

The debt adjustment plan is expected to go into effect by March 15. The oversight board will remain in place until Puerto Rico has had four consecutive years of balanced budgets.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia. AP Photo/Steve Helber, File

Cruz came to the defense of Youngkin after the new governor was heckled at a Virginia grocery store.

A shopper asked Youngkin why he was inside the Alexandria Safeway store without a face covering.

The Texas senator blamed the incident on "Dem Karens" who will "scream at you if you don't obey."

Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday came to the defense of GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia after video surfaced showing a woman needling the governor after he made a maskless appearance while visiting a Safeway store to promote his economic agenda.

The Texas Republican, who backed Youngkin in the 2021 gubernatorial election, tweeted a response to the incident, blasting individuals whom he referred to as "angry screaming Leftists."

"Dem Karens want to tell you how to live your life," Cruz wrote. "And they'll fire you, cancel you, or scream at you if you don't obey."

The conservative lawmaker was using the name "Karen" as a perjorative term  which in recent years has been applied to women who are perceived as overly demanding or entitled  while attempting to associate the moniker with the Democratic Party.

Last year, Cruz actively promoted Youngkin as the first-time political candidate was running to become the first Republican governor elected in the Commonwealth in 12 years.

After defeating former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe last November, Youngkin was inaugurated last month and held a roundtable on Thursday to discuss his plan to eliminate the Commonwealth's grocery tax.

While Youngkin was inside the store in Democrat-heavy Alexandria  just minutes from the White House  a masked woman berated him for his lack of a face covering.

"Governor, where's your mask?" the woman asked the governor in a video tweeted by WUSA9 reporter Matthew Torres.

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Youngkin responded to the woman: "We're all making choices today."

"Yeah, look around you, Governor. You're in Alexandria," the woman said. "Read the room, buddy!"

Youngkin on his first day in office lifted statewide school mask mandates, drawing both the support and ire of many parents across the Commonwealth.

While many school districts have complied with the governor's order, several boards  which includes Alexandria  are keeping their mask mandates in place pending ongoing litigation.

In last year's gubernatorial election, McAuliffe easily defeated Youngkin in Alexandria, winning by a 75%-24% margin.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A 15-year-old high school student who was hit by a car in Manchester this week died Friday, police said.

The teen was pronounced dead at Connecticut Childrens, Lt. Ryan Shea said. He did not release her name, but said she was a student at Howell Cheney Technical High School, which is around the corner from where she was struck.

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Its absolutely tragic for the school community, said Kerry Markey, director of communications for the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System.

Markey also released this statement on behalf of the school system: The loss of a student is one of the worst things that can happen to a school community. Our thoughts are with the family, friends, and entire school community affected by this tragic event. Over the coming days, Cheney Tech will be offering grief counseling services to students and staff who are in need.

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Although the school was closed Friday for weather reasons, online counseling was offered to students, Markey said. She said administrators plan to open the school Saturday for continued support and will provide the grief counseling next week. Therapy dogs will be brought in as well.

The student was struck about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday on New State Road, near the intersection with Hilliard Street. Police said she suffered significant, life-threatening injuries.

The 81-year-old driver of the car that police said struck her stopped afterward and has been cooperating with investigators. He was not injured.

Officers from the Manchester Police Department Traffic Unit and the Metro Traffic Services Crash Reconstruction Team continue to investigate. Anyone who saw the collision or has information that may help investigators is asked to call Officer Kevin Jackson at 860-533-8651.

Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.
BERLIN (AP)  The head of the German Bishops Conference expressed doubts Saturday that the planned return of Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki as archbishop of Cologne following a spiritual timeout will help the diocese overcome a crisis sparked by the church's handling of sex abuse allegations.

Georg Baetzing, who chairs the Bishops' Conference, expressed concerns whether a real fresh start can happen there."

That's needed to overcome the crisis that occurred there, he added.

Pope Francis last year granted Woelki leave until early March after criticism over his decision not to publish an independent report into allegations of sexual abuse in the church.

Baetzing spoke at the end of a meeting of the synodal gathering of German Catholics, which also discussed reforms that could lead to women performing sacraments in the future.
Taylor Johnson, nursing student at Grambling State University, was selected as one of 10 women across the country to be an OLAY x EBONY HBCU STEM Queen.

Grambling State University students Desteny and Taylor Johnson are hoping to help encourage more Black women to enter the STEM fields, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and EBONY Magazine has taken notice.

The two cousins are among 10 women studying STEM fields at Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country who were selected as the 2021 OLAY x EBONY HBCU STEM Queens. These 10 women will be featured in EBONYs commemorative print issue this month.

"There's not many African American people in STEM, so for me, I want to be able to make history and like people look back and be like, 'Yeah, she's the one that was on EBONY magazine,'" Taylor said. "'She was the one that was in STEM fields.'"

More: Grambling State University on alert following bomb threats at other HBCUs

Desteny, a junior, studies computer information systems, and Taylor, a freshman, studies nursing. Desteny found the opportunity to enter the OLAY x EBONY HBCU STEM Queens competition via social media and encouraged her cousin to enter with her.

The Johnsons, and their fellow queens, won an all-expense-paid trip to Los Angeles, where they took part in a photoshoot and were able to discuss their paths as Black women in STEM. They also walked the red carpet for the Power 100 Weekend for Olay. Desteny and Taylor said the girls received scholarships as well as internships and mentorships from Fortune 500 companies.

"It was just like us living a dream," Desteny said.

Desteny said she remembers when she was in high school in Atlanta, Georgia and how she was the only Black girl in her technology classes. Now, she has the opportunity to attend Grambling to further her education as well as inspire others to pursue a career in STEM.

More: 'It was awesome': ULM grad wins World Water Ski Championship

She said she enjoys volunteering with STEM NOLA, a program where nearby children, mostly Black students, come to Grambling to take part in scientific activities. Events range from teaching the students coding to helping them build volcanoes.

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"I think it's good to get them interested early," Desteny said. "And now that we have us as EBONY queens, I'm pretty sure Grambling's going to do everything they can to further STEM."

The EBONY special issue is set to debut Feb. 11, the same day as International Women and Girls in Science Day. The issue also makes its way to shelves during Black History Month, which continues throughout the month of February.

The Johnsons said they hope being on the cover of EBONY encourages more girls and women like them to see a career in STEM is possible.

Desteny Johnson, a computer science student at Grambling State University, was selected as one of 10 women across the country to be an OLAY x EBONY HBCU STEM Queen.

"We want them to look at the magazine and say, 'Hey, she looks like me,'" Desteny said. "And not just the youth. We want other people from our school to be selected for this type of program if they do the STEM Queens competition again next year. We want them to experience what we did or even more."

More: Hue Jackson talks about Grambling State signee Byron Jones during National Signing Day

Follow Sabrina LeBoeuf on Twitter @_sabrinakaye and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3B8sgHo.

Support local journalism by subscribing at https://cm.thenewsstar.com/specialoffer.

This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Grambling students take crown as HBCU STEM Queens
The Lynchburg Museum and The Legacy Museum of African American History are bringing new stories to light that werent known or easily accessible just 10 or 20 years ago through a new project called Silent Witnesses.

When the project is complete, there will be more widespread awareness of the contributions of enslaved people to the community, and a deeper understanding of how slavery underpins local history, Lynchburg Museum Director Ted Delaney said.

This will take many forms, from historical markers on our streets, to a substantial online database of information about slavery in Lynchburg, to lesson plans and resources teachers can use to integrate that information into their curriculum, he said.

Silent Witnesses first was conceived by the Legacy Museum in summer 2020.

A few Legacy board members approached me in the fall of 2020 to gauge our interest as a partner, realizing this was a big project, and it would be difficult for either organization to take it on alone, Delaney said. I responded that we were definitely interested  and that I thought it was an important topic that deserved renewed study from local historians, museums, and historic sites.

Delaney said he thinks the wider community is very interested right now in learning more about this topic with the two museums.

To me, the title Silent Witnesses suggests how so many legacies of slavery are all around us in Lynchburg, and yet we dont recognize them  or have collectively forgotten their connection to slavery in our community, he said.

For example, enslaved people were auctioned and sold in front of the old Market House near the corner of 9th and Main streets, Delaney said.

I doubt many people today who drive or walk through that busy intersection think of our citys participation in the slave trade, he said.

Another good example are the gravestones of enslaved people in the citys historic Old City Cemetery. There are at least 40 or 50 stones there for enslaved men, women, and children from before Emancipation, each recording an actual persons name and life dates, he said.

How many of us recognize those markers or think of the cemetery as a burial ground for enslaved people when we drive through? Think of how many structures in downtown Lynchburg were built by enslaved hands  by real people in our own community who lived in slavery  and yet they and their work remain invisible to us today, Delaney said.

Delaney also spoke of the story of how local Quakers  including the citys founder, John Lynch  emancipated enslaved people and promoted abolition in the late 1700s.

Lynchburgs founding fathers and mothers provided moral leadership on the issue of slavery at a surprisingly early date, and I dont think theyve ever really been given credit for that, he said.

Delaney said antebellum Lynchburg typically is portrayed as a success story, as a wealthy, robust, commercial and industrial engine fueled by tobacco. However, the story is much more complicated  from the tension between Quakers and their neighbors over slavery, to the essential role enslaved and free people of color played in generating Lynchburgs wealth.

For every decade of the 19th century, there were almost as many Black residents of Lynchburg as there were White, and in one decade  the 1880s  there was even a small Black majority, he said in an email to The News & Advance.

He said the project will be able to identify many enslaved individuals by name, reaffirming they were real people with families and their own stories.

So many important primary sources, like newspapers, court papers, and church records, have been digitized in recent years and can now be easily searched and browsed online, he said. They are helping us build a massive database of names and biographies.

He hopes the public will understand how integral slavery was to the growth and success of Lynchburg  and how much of the city literally was built by enslaved people.

I see it as adding a new layer to what we already know about local history, to tell a richer, fuller, more accurate story, he said. The public expects this now, and the time is right for Lynchburg.

David Neumeyer, board member at the Legacy Museum, said the project aims to document both physical sites in Lynchburg and with online history.

We intend to work with the city to place physical markers, and wed like to make the information available online, and particularly make it available to city schools so they can have this information available as to what the extent of enslavement that took place in Lynchburg, Neumeyer said.

The project is especially important to two African American members of the Legacy Museum board, Ramona Battle and Vivian Miller, who both descended from enslaved families that lived in Lynchburg.

Neumeyer hopes the community will be able to contribute to the project by sharing old photographs, stories, and artifacts that have been passed down within families from descendants of enslaved people and from descendants of owners.

The purpose of this is to make the community aware of the degree to which Lynchburg history was deeply involved with enslavement and that is true, of course, for much of the South and it is something that has been lost in visibility and public knowledge, he said.

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About 95 children received complimentary dental services Friday as part of the 15th annual Give Kids a Smile.

The free dental treatment day is held in conjunction with Childrens Dental Health Month, which is observed in February. Children receive free screening, preventative treatment and care, according to Liz Addison, I-Smile coordinator at Family Inc. and organizer of Give Kids a Smile.

Each student had their teeth cleaned and got an exam, an X-ray and a fluoride treatment.

As usual, dentists also filled some cavities, applied sealant to some students teeth, pulled a couple teeth and identified some children for follow-up care, Addison said.

Well be working with the families after today to connect them to care, Addison said.

Dentists usually perform care identified at the event pro bono, she said.

Dental staff at BlueJay Family Dental, Broadway Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, My Pediatric Dentist, New Image Dentistry and Omni Dental Care donated their services to make the event possible. Children are pre-selected based on need. The reason most often cited by families for their need was they were unable to find a provider accepting Medicaid patients, followed by a lack of insurance coverage or transportation.

Medicaid subscribers struggle to gain access to dental care, both locally and across the state, according to a press release from Family Inc., which operates the I-Smile program.

In Pottawattamie County, 57% of children ages zero to 12 are covered by Iowa Medicaid, the press release stated. However, 84% of dental offices in the county are not accepting patients with this insurance coverage.

Family called this a drastic access-to-care crisis.

Only three family and pediatric dental offices in the county are accepting Iowa Medicaid patients currently, the press release stated. In addition, 43% of Pottawattamie County children ages zero to 14 enrolled in Iowa Medicaid (4,486 children) were without a dental visit in 2020  Its also getting increasingly hard to assist families in finding emergency dental care, when the situation arises.

Its easy to understand why Iowa dentists are reluctant to accept very many Medicaid patients, the press release from Family Inc. stated.

The care Iowa dentists provide to Medicaid patients is reimbursed at around 40% of their typical fee, it stated. As most Iowa dentists are small business owners, accepting such low Medicaid rates is not financially feasible, resulting in many dropping out of Medicaid altogether.

For example, the (reimbursement) rate for a childs dental cleaning has only increased by 57 cents over the last 20 years and is currently reimbursed by Iowa Medicaid at 37% of the customary charge.

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Chef Walter Little takes orders for his thriving business inside the Swift Factory. The 80,000 square foot community hub and business incubator houses a majority of Black-owned and women-owned businesses. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

Hartford  Growing up in Hartford, all Walter Little knew about the M. Swift & Sons factory in the citys Northeast neighborhood was that it made gold leaf for the dome of the state Capitol.

But in the past year, Little has learned a lot more, like how a $34 million redevelopment of the vacant, rundown factory into incubator and entrepreneurial space has given Little a chance to build a thriving restaurant business, Chef Walts.

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Its like a dream, Little said, shaved beef and onions sizzling on the grill and a pot of jerk chicken bubbling nearby. It gave me an opportunity that I wouldnt have had, not having the best of credit, not having parents who could back me up.

Jacqueline Hylton prepares food inside Chef Walter Little's kitchen at the Swift Factory. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

Chef Walts space was one of a dozen stops in the renovated former gold-leaf factory on a tour Friday by U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy.

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The 80,000-square-foot hub of incubator and community space on Love Lane houses mostly Black-owned and women-owned businesses.

There also are plans for a new, $5 million neighborhood branch of the Hartford Public Library and a branch of Chase Bank, expected to open next year, and space for Capitol Region Education Councils Head Start programs.

For years, Little said he had worked to build a restaurant business in the neighborhood, first in a gas station on Albany Avenue, then in space at the American Legion and later at the Jerk Pit Cafe, both on Main Street.

First floor space at The Swift Factory awaits finishing as a library. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

Before coming to Swift, Little said he considered renting space that would have cost him $2,500 a month.

It was a closet and needed a lot of work, Little said. It wasnt a state-of-the-art, walk-in opportunity like this. This gives me the room to grow.

Little said he sealed the lease at Swift with $200 and handshake. Hes now paying $1,700 a month with a business model built around curbside delivery for patrons. Little said he has already taken on more space and is considering adding even more.

He started with just two workers  himself and a dishwasher. A year later, he now employs six.

The incubator space also is occupied by, among others, the Hartford Plant Co., a grower of microgreens; and Bloom Bake Shop, a bakery that soon plans to move to a larger storefront downtown later this year.

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Monica Beaudoin, at left, and Alex Pilon, at right, of Bloom Bake Shop talk with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, second from left and Helen Nixon, co-chair of the Northeast Neighborhood neighborhood revitalization zone and U.S. Sen Chris Murphy during a tour of the Swift Factory. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

Fridays upbeat mood for the tour was years in the making, however. The Swift factory  its gold-leafing business once of national renown  closed in 2005 and was donated in 2010 to Community Solutions, a high-profile nonprofit dedicated to strengthening neighborhoods.

Construction didnt start for eight years as Community Solutions built bridges with area residents skeptical that the redevelopment would help reverse decades of deterioration and disinvestment in the neighborhood.

A file aerial of the Swift Factory in Hartford's Northeast neighborhood. (By JENNA CARLESSO)

There were other setbacks along the way, including Bears Smokehouse pulling out as an anchor tenant.

The nonprofit also had to find the right tenants and sign leases to secure a patchwork of federal, state and local funding. A big boost came when the neighborhood became part of Hartfords Promise Zone.

Rosanne Haggerty, a West Hartford native and president of Community Solutions, said Friday after the tour that there must be a better way than slogging it out for eight years with many different funding sources.

Haggerty credited the neighborhood with the initial vision for Swift as a place that could provide a platform for creating jobs for local residents.

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From left: Anastasiya Collins of Hartford Plant Co. talks with U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, at right. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

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Workforce development will be a key component of the library branch. The branch will replace one on nearby Barbour Street and be more than seven times larger, at 15,000 square feet.

With some imagination, a building that has served one purpose for over 100 years could still become the economic anchor, Haggerty said. But it wasnt going to be the sole employer model anymore, the economy has shifted. The building has just surfaced so much entrepreneurial energy that existed in the community.

Both Blumenthal and Murphy praised the redevelopment of the factory and its potential to inspire similar future projects. They pledged to keep seeking federal funding to support the effort.

This is tremendously impressive, Murphy said after the tour. Were excited to help find federal funding. It obviously couldnt happen without federal funding, but it really couldnt happen without all of you.

Bridget Quinn (foreground), President and chief executive of Hartford Public Library, speaks with visitors to the Swift Factory in a space that will open as a library branch next year. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

Neighborhood leaders who attended Fridays tour endorsed the project as having the potential to spark further transformation in the neighborhood.

This is the anchor, this is just the beginning, Helen Nixon, co-chair of the Northeast Neighborhood neighborhood revitalization zone, said. I am looking forward to everything thats happening here to be spread out all over, especially the Northeast neighborhood.

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Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com
Sisters Sophie and Gabby Bartels keep things running smoothly on both sides of the practice at Omni Dental Centre in Council Bluffs.

The two were born and raised in Council Bluffs, where they still live today. Both Bartels attended St. Albert Catholic Schools, with Gabby graduating high school in 2012. Sophie transferred to Abraham Lincoln during high school, and she graduated in 2009. After high school, Gabby went to Iowa Western Community College for its dental assistant program. When she finished up, she went straight to Omni Dental Centre, where shes been for the past seven years.

A few years ago, Omni needed some help on the business side of the practice and Gabby suggested that her sister would be a perfect fit. She was, and the two have been working together now for a few years.

The Bartels said the Omni staff is like one big family, which makes it easy to come into work day after day. They also said its been great getting to know the wide variety of patients, young and old, over the years. Another thing the sisters look forward to is the annual Give Kids a Smile event, which took place at a number of area dental practices Friday morning.

The free dental treatment day is held in conjunction with Childrens Dental Health Month, which is observed in February. Children receive free screening, preventative treatment and care thanks to Family Inc., and about 95 kids had their teeth worked on Friday.

Its always a fun day, Gabby said. Its good to see the kids come through and go home with a smile on their face.

You can tell theyre having a blast, Sophie added. Sophie and Gabby Bartels hope to keep everyone who walks through Omni Dentals doors smiling.

 Joe Shearer
CEDAR RAPIDS (AP)  The trial of a Cedar Rapids teen charged with killing his parents has been pushed back to October.

Attorneys for 17-year-old Ethan Alexander Orton sought the delay, which a judge granted and set a new trial date for Oct. 18, The Gazette reported. Ortons first-degree murder trial had been set to begin Tuesday.

Orton is charged as an adult in the Oct. 14 killings of 42-year-old Casey Arthur Orton and 41-year-old Misty Scott-Slade. Police have said the 17-year-old killed his parents with a knife and ax at their Cedar Rapids home and told investigators he did it to take charge of his life.
The Council Bluffs Community School District Board of Education has approved an immediate jump in wages for specialized special education paraeducators and an increase for other employees represented by the Communication Workers of America for the 2022-23 school year.

The wages are part of a multi-year agreement ratified by CWA members and then by the Board of Education. The union represents 288 paraeducators, preschool teacher assistants, office workers and health, library and technology associates, according to Garry Milbourn, chief of human resources.

We are very proud of the agreement and our continued collaboration with the CWA, Milbourn said. We hope these increases honor the challenging and important work our CWA employees engage in each day as they serve students. We also recognize that competitive wages assist in recruiting and retaining qualified team members.

Under the agreement, specialized special education paraeducators received a 15% increase in their base wages effective Feb. 1, according to board materials.

The increase in wages for specialized paraeducators for the remainder of this school year was a result of reevaluating the positions essential duties, as well as market comparisons, Milbourn said.

They are having some challenges in hiring people into the (specialized) classrooms, said Bonnie Winther, CWA representative. Because they need to attract people into those positions, they asked if they could start that in February. Were all in favor of giving people the wages they deserve.

Winther said she didnt think other employees minded people in those positions receiving the larger, immediate raise.

People realize that those classrooms are tough, she said. The other staff could put in to go into one of those, if they wanted to.

Beginning July 1, 2022, all other CWA workers will see a 7% increase in base wages, and the specialized special education paras will receive a 2% increase (on top of the 15% implemented this month). They received a 2.25% increase for the 2021-22 school year.

Winther said members were very pleased with the wage increases.

I think the wage increases were very good, because wages have fallen behind, she said.

All CWA employees will receive a 2% wage increase for the 2022-23 school year.

Besides base wages, there were a few adjustments in compensation for longevity with the district, Milbourn said. The longevity compensation rewards employees who have been employed full time for the district continuously for at least five years. Employees with more than five but less than nine years of continuous, full-time service receive an additional 65 cents per hour, and the rate climbs several more times to reach a maximum of $1.50 per hour for those who have been continuous, full-time employees of the district for more than 21 years.

Winther said workers would like to see some language restored to the contract that was stripped after the Iowa Legislature changed the laws regarding negotiating with public employees in 2017. Public employers are no longer required to bargain on anything except wages.

The next time the CWA negotiates with the school district administration will be in fall 2023, she said.

In other business, the board:

Resolved to request $3,156,387 in spending authority from the School Budget Review Committee for drop-out prevention and at-risk services for the 2022-23 school year

Resolved to request $213,196.50 in state relief funds from the SBRC for increased enrollment in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool program in the 2021-22 school year. The amount requested matches the amount of funding the SBRC has said the district is eligible to receive.

Resolved to request $2,647.90 in spending authority for a district student attending Woodward-Granger School District for special education services

Resolved to request $61,808.88 in spending authority for special education administrative costs for overseeing Heartland Family Service and Childrens Square USA.

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The Republic of Senegal has been entrusted the rotating presidency of the African Union from this Saturday.

During the opening ceremony of the 35th ordinary session of the African Union Summit being held in Addis Ababa this February 5-6, the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, received the attributes of power (flag and gavel) and thus becomes the new current President of the Pan-African organization for a one-year term.

The Senegalese head of state takes over Felix Thisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who assumed the presidency for 2021-2022.

Addressing the session, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed concern over the security situation in the African continent.

The security situation of the continent today is deeply marked by terrorism and the dangerous resurgence of unconstitutional changes of governments, Mahamat said.

Chairperson of the pan-African bloc said terrorism and violent extremism was Africas security challenge last year with international terror links are embedded in east, west, and southern Africa.

The security situation on the continent now calls for a real new approach which should question our peace and security architecture and its correlation with the new destabilizing factors in Africa, Mahamat said.

The chairperson further said financing the continents development through an energetic fight against illicit capital flows and establishment of African financial institutions remain a greater challenge to Africa.

King Mohammed VI is represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

The 35th session is held under the theme Building resilience in terms of nutritional security on the African continent : strengthening agriculture, accelerating socio-economic and human capital development.
KEARNEY  A Nebraska probation officer who reported being kidnapped, robbed and assaulted in December is being accused of lying about the incident, and reportedly was instead in a relationship with her alleged attacker.

Mara Stamp, 31, of Kearney is charged in Buffalo County Court with tampering with physical evidence, a felony, and misdemeanor false reporting in the Dec. 18 incident. Stamp accused her former probation client Shawn W. Smith, 35, of Kearney of coming to her house, hitting her several times, taking her to an ATM where he forced her to withdraw money, then allegedly threatening her if she told anyone.

Smith was arrested and charged in Buffalo County Court with felony kidnapping, robbery, terroristic threats, and misdemeanor flight to avoid arrest, third-degree assault and driving under the influence of alcohol-first offense in the incident. However, the kidnapping and robbery charges were dismissed Wednesday by Buffalo County Attorney Shawn Eatherton.

The remainder of Smiths charges were sent to district court for trial. A hearing date has not been set.

In Stamps case, court records indicate she was in a romantic and intimate relationship with Smith on Dec. 18. At the time of Smiths arrest he told Kearney Police Department officers Stamp was a cheater and liar.

Smith said on Dec. 18 he went to Smiths house in southeast Kearney where he found her in bed with another man, and he became upset. Smith said he and Stamp had been in a relationship for about six months and they tried to keep it a secret because Stamp was a probation officer who had previously supervised Smith as her client.

Court records show Stamp was Smiths probation officer in August 2016.

Before Dec. 18 incident Smith told KPD he had been living at Stamps house for about 30 days. He described to KPD several paintings he had made that Stamp had hanging on the walls of her house.

KPD met with Stamp at her house where she initially denied any relationship with Smith, saying he was just a prior client, and that she hadnt seen him for about two months. Inside the house police noticed blank places on Stamps walls where it appeared something previously had hung, and where Smith had earlier told police his paintings were located.

A few days later records indicate KPD returned to Stamps house for a follow-up interview where they noticed paintings around the house had been moved. One painting was found sticking out of a metal trash container in her garage. When they looked at the paint KPD found a yellow notebook with a note addressed to Shawn, and signed with a heart and always Mara.

Police also retrieved Stamps cellphone at the time. When officers returned her phone later in the day they tried to retrieve the painting from the trash can, although the container had been emptied and the painting was missing.

Records indicate Stamp claimed she didnt know where the painting went, although KPD found it in the back seat of her vehicle parked in her garage. KPD seized the painting, along with two others from the back seat.

The yellow notebook also was missing from the trash can. It was later found, torn up and in a plastic bag under the kitchen sink, records indicate.

The investigation revealed Stamp was involved in a relationship with Smith, that he knew where Stamp lived because Smith had lived with her at one time, and that Stamp allegedly deleted messages from her cellphone between her and Smith.

Heres what court records show was initially reported in the Dec. 18 incident:

The Dec. 18 incident began around 1:31 a.m. when a man called the Kearney Police Department asking officers to check on the welfare of a woman at a house in the 1000 block of 15th Street. The man said he had been in bed with the woman when another man came to the residence and tried to punch him.

The man reporting the incident left the residence, but was concerned about the womans safety.

When KPD arrived at the house a neighbor told police a man and woman left in a silver sport utility vehicle. As KPD rang the doorbell to the residence a silver SUV matching the description of the SUV pulled into the driveway to the east, then backed out the driveway heading east on 15th Street at a high rate of speed without its headlights on.

An officer stopped the vehicle in the 1400 block of Avenue K, where, records indicate the driver, Smith, had a strong odor of alcohol. The passenger, known to officers as Stamp, had an abrasion on her lower lip, blood on her mouth, face, hands and clothing, and when the officer asked her what had happened, she said Smith beat her up.

Stamp was transported to CHI Health Good Samaritan where she was treated and released.

Stamp told police she had been lying in bed around 1 a.m. when she heard a knock at her door. Thinking it could be her neighbor or ex-boyfriend she answered it, and not registering who it was asked if he was OK. The man pulled her outside, shoving her to the ground where she hit her head on a ceramic pot, which caused her to momentarily black out.

The man went into the residence and the woman was locked out. She went around the residence and knocked on a bedroom window, but got no response and returned to the front door where Smith let her back in, according to records.

Stamp tried to use her phone to call her mother, based on records, but Smith took it away, accusing her of trying to call police. He then told her to give him money, or he would beat her.

The woman got back her cellphone and went into the bedroom to put on clothes, according to records, where Smith allegedly hit her in the face 10-15 times and kicked her in the ribs.

Smith allegedly told the woman he wanted $1,000, and took her to an ATM to make a withdraw.

The woman withdrew $500 from one bank, and told the man to go to another bank to get the remaining money. Instead, Smith allegedly gave the woman until noon Saturday to get the rest of the money.

Smith allegedly threatened the woman if she didnt get the remaining money he had friends in Omaha who would find her and her child. Smith then drove back to the residence on 15th Street, but when they arrived he saw KPD and fled the area.

Smith and the alleged victim were stopped a short time later and Smith was arrested for DUI where records show preliminary breath tests indicated his blood alcohol content at .176 and .146.

The legal content for an adult to drink and drive in Nebraska is .08.

Deb Minardi, Nebraska Probation administrator, said Stamp resigned her position when state officials started their inquiry.

This unfortunate incident involving Ms. Stamp was brought to our immediate attention. The Administrative Office of the Courts and Probation immediately started an internal inquiry to ensure all relevant facts where obtained, she said in an email response to the Hub. It important to note all probation personnel are held to a high standard and education, training and policies are in place to ensure these standards are met.

Stamp is scheduled to appear Feb. 10 in Buffalo County Court for a preliminary hearing on her charges.

@HubChic

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The American Red Cross is facing its worst national blood shortage in a decade.

North Platte isnt being spared.

Usually theres a lot of blood on the shelf at the local Red Cross storage site, said Brandi Brown, collections specialist at the North Platte Blood and Platelet Donation Center. The coolers arent full like they have been in the past.

The American Red Cross says it has seen a 10% overall blood donation decline since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Blood drives have also been impacted by illness, weather and staffing limitations. Due to the shortage, hospitals may not receive 1 in 4 blood supplies they need, which poses a risk to patient care, says the Red Cross.

Brown urges prospective donors to think of the human impact they will make by giving blood.

Think of the person that (the blood) is going to, how sick they are and how much they need it, Brown said. If theyre not able to get that, its life and death for people.

While supply was dire a couple of weeks ago  a donor told Brown that blood had been limited to one unit per person  Great Plains Health Marketing Manager Mary Roberts said the North Platte hospital hasnt had to delay any procedures. Roberts also said that though the need for blood is still critical, there was more on the shelf this week.

Donors dont need to wait for a blood drive to give blood. The North Platte Blood and Platelet Donation Center at 1111 S. Cottonwood St. is open Saturday through Wednesday. Donors can schedule appointments from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

We hardly ever turn away a walk-in, so if walking in for people works, walk in, Brown said. A blood donation usually takes about 30 minutes, Brown said.

In addition to blood, the Red Cross also needs people willing to donate red blood cells, plasma and platelets, the components that make up whole blood. Those donations take a little longer than a whole-blood donation.

Alyssa Fabik of North Platte and her parents donate blood products, making it what she calls a family effort. Fabik began donating blood in high school.

I would tell you, I was a chicken and I was afraid of it, but its really not that hard of a process, and the Red Cross people will walk you through it, she said.

Donating blood is another way for Fabik to give back, and its not something thats too terribly hard to do.

Most likely, your worst day of giving blood will be the best day for the person who receives it, Fabik said.

If someone isnt able to donate blood, there are still ways to help, according to Brown, like sharing posts about blood drives on social media or donating their time in other ways.

We always tell people if you cant donate or dont have good enough veins: Bake cookies, Brown said. Bake cookies, bring them in; well give them to the donors who can.

More by Susan Szuch

Digital editor for The North Platte Telegraph.

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For west central Nebraskans living near the South Platte Creek  uh, River  two questions may linger about Gov. Pete Ricketts surprise call to revive and finish the Perkins County Canal from Colorado.

The Telegraph answered the first one  What canal?  in Jan. 23 stories about the abortive 1894 effort to build the canal and the 1923 South Platte River Compact allowing Nebraska to build it sometime.

Heres the other question: Wheres the water coming from?

That may be the greater mystery in Keith and Lincoln counties, whose residents usually see bare trickles in the South Platte  except for four floods since 1995  and know its due to Colorado agriculture and ever-growing Denver and the Front Range.

Despite all that growth, Nebraska and Colorado water officials agree, theres still South Platte water to talk about.

Counting return flows from upstream irrigators, a recent Colorado study contended, Nebraska receives enough South Platte water at the state line northeast of Julesburg to fill Lake Maloney 15 times.

Now Colorado leaders are looking up Interstate 76, contemplating ways to use that water and even pipe it back to the Denver area.

Thats why Nebraska officials are reconsidering the 127-year-old canal that started near present-day Ovid but never made it into Nebraska back then.

The Legislatures Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. CT Wednesday on Legislative Bill 1015. It would set aside $500 million to finish the Perkins canal, whether or not Nebraska routes it into Perkins County.

Its hearing follows the Colorado Legislatures introduction of a bill late last week to make South Platte water storage that states top priority for water projects.

Senate Bill 22-126 says its intended to boost the beneficial consumptive use of Colorados undeveloped waters to which Colorado is entitled under the South Platte River Compact, as well as to reduce the need for transferring water east across the Rockies.

Jesse Bradley, assistant director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, said his department has barely begun to explore how such a canal gets built in 2022.

But the evidence suggests Nebraska should invoke its compact rights before its too late, Bradley said.

That will continue to preserve the flows coming into Nebraska currently or at least a part of them, he said.

Kent Miller, general manager of the North Platte-based Twin Platte Natural Resources District, said he shares Bradleys urgency.

Were concerned (that) in the future or in the near future there wont be any water in Nebraskas part of the river, he said.

First in time, first in right

To understand whats going on, one must review how the two states use of the South Platte evolved over more than 160 years.

The tale begins on Oct. 1, 1859, when Boulder County vegetable growers Marinus G. Smith and William G. Pell dug a ditch from Boulder Creek to their fields. Colorado wouldnt gain statehood until 1876.

A pipeline continues to exercise the legal water right secured by the partners  the oldest of 5,564 such rights for beneficial uses listed by the Colorado Division of Water Resources.

They cover the Wests most commonly known water uses: irrigation ditches, pipelines, reservoirs and groundwater wells and wellfields.

Theyre just 8.5% of the 65,149 water rights Colorado recognizes in the South Platte basin  a list also including commercial, industrial, municipal, environmental and many other purposes.

But the 1859 Boulder Creek right outranks them all. Colorados prior appropriation doctrine, adopted by Nebraska and other Western states, gives a rivers oldest users first call on its water  that is, first in time, first in right.

Other water-rights holders on the South Platte or its tributaries can be told to suspend water use if theyre upstream from a user that has an older water right and isnt getting the water its entitled to.

Colorado forbade water rights for out-of-state users in 1916. But the South Platte River Compact overrides that  and it gives Nebraska a century-old place in line.

Some 600 early Perkins County settlers, who dug 16 miles of a planned 65-mile canal in fall 1894 from just southwest of Ovid, quit east of Julesburg when financing fell apart.

But Ogallala-area leaders decided in late 1921 to pick up where their southern neighbors left off.

Their version of the canal would have provided 180,000 acre-feet of South Platte water to irrigate 75,000 acres in southern Keith County, using natural tableland depressions as natural reservoirs.

Colorado, by now paying close attention to South Platte water rights, chose to negotiate with Nebraska instead of taking it to court.

The South Platte compact, concluded in Ogallala on April 24, 1923, was the result.

After it was approved by both states legislatures, Congress ratified it in 1926.

It gave Nebraska the right to finish the canal, with a water right of Dec. 17, 1921  on or about the date the Keith County group applied with Nebraska for its water right. It said the ditch would have to run on or near the canals original 1894 survey, at least west of the Nebraska line.

Two Nebraska-based groups tried to invoke the compact in the 1980s. Both failed.

A decade-long effort led by the Upper Republican NRD would have kept the canal going through Perkins County, terminating in the vicinity of Enders Reservoir in Chase Countys part of the Republican River basin.

Congress agreed to share planning costs in 1986, but the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had called off further efforts on the South Platte-Frenchman Valley Project by 1989.

The four-county Twin Platte NRD didnt even get that far with a scheme it proposed on Oct. 7, 1981.

It envisioned a South Divide Canal that would have run through Keith County into Lincoln County, storing water in a half-dozen reservoirs to supply 165,000 acre-feet to local irrigators.

Miller said it could have stopped southwest of Roscoes Interstate 80 interchange or at Lake Maloney, returning water to the river in the latter case through the NPPD Canal.

A tug-of-war with the state over when Twin Platte needed to conduct environmental studies ended with a July 1986 Nebraska Supreme Court ruling killing the proposal.

Our (NRD) board back in the 80s never talked about raising taxes or seeking funds to build the canal, Miller said. But we wanted to secure that 1921 (water-right) date.

Should a similar canal be built now, he said, southern Keith County and western Lincoln County farmers could get their water by ditch instead of wells if they chose.

Where canal water isnt

All those years, Colorado kept tapping its part of the South Platte  especially the water below the river.

Wells and wellfields account for just 195 of the 1,767 beneficial use water rights older than the Perkins canals compact right of Dec. 17, 1921.

But the larger figure accounts for just 31.8% of the South Plattes 5,564 existing rights in that category, according to the states Division of Water Resources database.

Nearly two-thirds are for wells or wellfields. About 94.4% of those have been granted since May 10, 1978. Almost all of those serve Denver and Front Range cities.

But none of that activity directly affects prospects for filling a finished Perkins County Canal, Colorado and Nebraska water officials say.

Thats because the South Platte River Compact guarantees Colorado all the water from present and future appropriations on the Upper Division between the rivers headwaters and the Morgan-Washington county line northeast of Brush.

Only one existing beneficial use right  for a well granted to Sterling on Dec. 27, 1978  is located in the Lower Division between Brush and the Nebraska line, according to Colorados database.

The compact says Colorado has the right to Lower Division water for present appropriations  those in place when the compact was approved  plus 35,000 acre-feet, half again as much as Lake Maloneys 21,600 acre-foot capacity.

Colorado has never stored that 35,000 acre-feet anywhere between Brush and Julesburg, said Division of Water Resources State Engineer Kevin Rein.

I do know we have diversions and uses in the lower end of the river, he said.

Upstream thirst

In dusting off the dormant project Jan. 10, Ricketts and other state leaders cited a Colorado list of 282 projects that could slash South Platte water entering Nebraska by 90% if all were approved.

Where is that water? And how much?

One must turn to the compact again:

 During the typical irrigation season  April 1 to Oct. 15  the compact says Colorado must send Nebraska up to 120 cubic feet per second of South Platte water. The states maintain a measuring gage at Julesburg to track the amounts.

The rivers most recent large floods in June 1995, June 1997, September 2013 and May 2015 all occurred in that time window. A finished Perkins canal probably could help divert floodwaters, Miller said.

 Should Nebraska choose to build the Perkins canal  a right that includes eminent domain power to seize land as needed  Colorado must supply it up to 500 cfs between Oct. 15 and April 1.

Only 128 cfs was flowing past the Julesburg gage Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. River flows there were nearly twice that in mid-January.

Yet its that Lower Division area, from Brush to the state line, where Colorado wants to tap more water  and where Nebraska would relaunch its canal.

A December 2017 study ordered by the Colorado Legislature said Nebraska received an annual average of 331,000 acre-feet of South Platte water between 1996 and 2015.

Some 293,000 acre-feet, 90% of the overall average, went to Nebraska in excess of the compact, wrote study authors Leonard Rice Engineers of Denver.

Such statements suggest a momentum in Colorado to take this water that we believe we have an entitlement to, said Bradley, the Nebraska DNR assistant director.

But a footnote in the Rice report said the use of this water is subject to Nebraskas compact rights to build the Perkins canal and up to 500 cfs of water to fill it after Colorados reserved water is accounted for.

That would provide up to 177,450 acre-feet  just over 60% of the 2017 studys estimated compact surplus  over the 5 months when Nebraska could call for it.

Rein and Lauren Ris, deputy director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, said their states water officials are still seeking to clarify Nebraskas concerns. Both spoke with The Telegraph before Colorado lawmakers introduced their bill to make South Platte projects the states top priority.

Ris said the 282-project list comes from her boards online database of hoped-for water projects by local roundtables in each of Colorados nine river basins.

But the vast majority of those, she said, are studies and other projects that wont sink a well or move dirt for a new water project.

Very few of them  and none between Brush and the Nebraska line  are even close to seeking major funding, Ris added.

There is no guarantee that they would be finished or garner the support neded to even explore them further, she said.

The Lower Division area accounts for 25 of the 282 listed projects. Only two below Brush are estimated to cost more than $250,000: a two-stage, $1.07 billion project to pipe South Platte water back to Parker, a suburb southeast of Denver, and the $20 million Ovid Reservoir, just below the Perkins canals starting point.

The Water Conservation Board lists both as mid-term in readiness for further exploration, Ris said.

Ovid Reservoir would store 5,772 acre-feet between the Sedgwick County town and the South Platte, according to a Colorado District Court list from November 2018.

The far larger Parker project, touching both Logan and Washington counties, would create two reservoirs as well as a pipeline. Parker lies about 107 miles southwest of Sterling and 89 miles southwest of Akron, the counties respective seats.

Rein and Ris said Colorado has a decentralized system for approving water projects. The Water Conservation Board works with project promoters, but it cant approve or kill projects, Ris said.

Its database is a reflection of values we have in the state of Colorado as to what we want our water future to be, she said. But its not a list of state-approved projects.

Even in an overappropriated system, people can apply for water rights, Rein said.

The Perkins canal itself would be a long way from reality even if approved, Miller and Bradley said. The Twin Platte NRDs 1981 South Divide Canal application projected it wouldnt have carried water before 1997.

Even so, Colorados explorations have served as a wake-up call for Nebraska, Bradley said. Theyre seeing it as the last remaining source of water they have not tapped.

Nebraskas ability to exercise its rights would suffer if a massive project like the Parker diversion were in place, Miller said.

If they actually build something to do that, even though Nebraska could contest it, its a lot harder to deal with something thats physically in place, he said.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Anti-abortion centers across the country are receiving tens of millions of tax dollars to talk women out of ending their pregnancies, a nearly fivefold increase from a decade ago that resulted from an often-overlooked effort by mostly Republican-led states.

The nonprofits known as crisis pregnancy centers are typically religiously affiliated and counsel clients against having an abortion as part of their free but limited services. That practice and the fact that they generally are not licensed as medical facilities have raised questions about whether its appropriate to funnel so much tax money their way.

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Nurse Cassie Owen demonstrates an ultrasound machine at the Portico Crisis Pregnancy Center Jan. 26, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. States that have passed ever-restrictive abortion laws also have been funneling millions of taxpayer dollars into privately operated clinics that steer women away from abortions but provide little if any health care services. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski) (Mark Zaleski/AP)

An Associated Press tally based on state budget figures reveals that nearly $89 million has been allocated to such centers across about a dozen states this fiscal year. A decade ago, the annual funding for the programs hovered around $17 million in about eight states.

Estimates of how many abortions have been prevented by such programs are unknown because many states only require reports of how many clients were served. Similarly, as abortion rates have declined across the U.S. for years, there is no way to know the extent to which the pregnancy centers have played a role.

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Trying to pinpoint exactly how many pregnancy centers receive taxpayer dollars also is difficult because each state has a different system to distribute the money.

Its bad governing. Were supposed to be monitoring our taxpayer money and we dont know where the money is going, said Julie von Haefen, a Democratic state representative in North Carolina, which has sent millions in public money to pregnancy centers. These clinics dont provide medical care. They act like they do, but they dont.

What is clear is that taxpayer funding for the centers has spiked in recent years as more Republican-led states have passed legislation severely limiting access to abortion.

The centers have also been accused of providing misleading information about abortion and contraception  for example, suggesting that abortion leads to mental health problems or breast cancer.

What we have found is that theyre providing misleading information about the risks of abortion and not providing the actual prevalence of when that happens, because abortion is quite safe, said Andrea Swartzendruber, a University of Georgia public health professor who has helped map the location of crisis pregnancy centers nationwide. Theyll claim that abortion will lead to breast cancer, when it in fact does not. Or theyll say abortion leads to abortion PTSD. They make up this post-abortion syndrome.

The pregnancy centers often pop up close to abortion clinics with the goal of luring pregnant women away.

Supporters hope to expand the number of centers if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns or significantly restricts abortion rights in a case to be decided later this year.

That momentum is already building in Texas, where a state law that effectively bans abortion at about six weeks  before many women know they are pregnant  has been in effect since September. State lawmakers recently gave a hefty funding boost to programs offering abortion alternatives, dedicating $100 million over the next two years.

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Programs in Texas and other states typically offer counseling and classes in parenting skills, as well as clothing and food. Proponents argue that these are essential social services offered to women who would otherwise remain pregnant but were unaware of the help they could receive.

We have seen women still steadily seeking out resources and services, said Chelsey Youman, Texas state director and national legislative adviser for Human Coalition, a top contractor under the states alternatives-to-abortion program. Women are saying, All right, abortion isnt available after my child has a heartbeat, so what is out here?

The new law, Youman said, has helped refocus the crisis pregnancy centers efforts on both women who have accepted the new restrictions and need help, as well as those who are wavering on whether to cross state lines to get an abortion.

Most centers offer pregnancy tests and pregnancy-related counseling. Some also offer limited medical services such as ultrasounds. Because the centers are not licensed health care facilities, they are exempt from certain government regulations, such as minimum staffing levels.

Last year, Tennessee lawmakers allocated money for several ultrasound machines to be placed in pregnancy centers. The website of one center includes a disclaimer stating that any information provided is an educational service and should not be relied on as a substitute for professional and/or medical advice.

At a recent dedication of an ultrasound machine in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Nashville, Republican Gov. Bill Lee and anti-abortion supporters said the state-funded purchase was critical in swaying patients who were considering the procedure.

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This is really about serving women who have a crisis and want information, Lee said.

The first state to enact an official abortion-alternatives program was Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s. The funding grew out of a deal in the Legislature between abortion rights supporters and abortion opponents.

Then-Gov. Robert P. Casey, an anti-abortion Democrat, signed the crisis pregnancy center funding into law, barely a year after his administration fought to the Supreme Court to win a landmark 1991 ruling allowing states to impose restrictions on abortion.

Under the deal, Pennsylvania began subsidizing the program to appease opponents of a preexisting program that subsidized Planned Parenthoods services for womens health. Republican majorities in the Legislature have enforced the agreement ever since, including for the past eight years under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who supports abortion rights. It received $7.2 million in the current fiscal year.

If money for the program were cut from the budget, then we would ax that line item that goes to Planned Parenthood, as well, said state Rep. Kathy Rapp, a Republican who chairs the health committee in the House.

By 2001, Pennsylvania also became the first state to receive approval to use $1 million from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to help fund the pregnancy centers.

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The Pennsylvania Health Department then contracted with a nonprofit known as Real Alternatives to oversee the program and distribute money. The Pennsylvania-based group eventually was selected to oversee similar programs in Michigan and Indiana, where it says it has since served more than 408,000 women.

The Campaign for Accountability, a Washington-based watchdog organization, has launched multiple complaints against Real Alternatives, including allegations that the group failed to meet its own goals and misspent taxpayer money.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale declared in 2017 that a lack of government oversight allowed Real Alternatives for decades to use tax dollars to expand their work in other states. The state instructed the group to change the way it pays subcontractors when its contract was renewed.

In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed the states annual $700,000 budget for abortion alternatives in 2019 following a complaint from the Campaign for Accountability, which argued that Real Alternatives had provided services to only about 3,700 pregnant women instead of the 9,000 outlined in its contract. Michigan had funded the program since 2013.

Michiganders deserve comprehensive family planning programs that are evidence-based and support a persons full range of reproductive health options, Whitmer said in a letter to the watchdog group, thanking them for raising the complaint.

In Georgia, critics point to lax reporting requirements that require abortion-alternative programs to disclose only their total expenses and the amount of money dispersed to providers.

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Despite the transparency concerns, the push to expand alternative programs continues across the country.

Arizona does not have an official alternatives-to-abortion program, but in 2019 lawmakers set aside $2.5 million for three years to develop a phone help line designed to steer pregnant women away from abortions.

In Tennessee, the GOP supermajority in the Legislature recently signed off on giving $3 million to the Human Coalition to set up call centers to serve as virtual clinics in Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville. Their goal is to direct people to pregnancy centers or government services.

Arkansas is the first state to require patients seeking an abortion to first call an information hotline to learn about possible pregnancy assistance before they can undergo the procedure. The program is set to be implemented in 2023.

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma have all funded crisis pregnancy centers for years. But no state has acted as ambitiously as Texas.

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In 2005, Texas created its own program with $5 million taken from its federal welfare dollars, allowing a variety of nonprofits to apply for grants. It quickly expanded under the Republican-controlled Legislature as crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies and maternity homes clamored for more money.

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By 2020, the states abortion-alternatives contractors provided roughly 1 million goods such as diapers and food, gave 331,000 counseling sessions, taught 314,000 parenting classes, made 217,800 referrals to government assistance programs and provided 56 adoption services, according to the latest annual report.

This year, Texas lawmakers dedicated a record $100 million in state tax dollars to fund the project over the next two years.

State Rep. Debra Howard said the money could be better spent on state-supervised womens health programs that offer annual exams, disease screenings and family planning services.

The exponential increase in funding is unparalleled, the Austin Democrat said. Its certainly not something weve seen for other programs that are in the category for womens health.

___

Associated Press Writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
Candidates for Nebraska governor collectively raised well more than $12 million in 2021, but the vast majority of that total, according to campaign statements, went to the campaigns of two Republicans: Jim Pillen and Charles Herbster.

Meanwhile, the lone Democrat in the race, state Sen. Carol Blood, came up far short of either, raising the equivalent of 1.4% of Pillen's haul.

Pillen and Herbster have been considered front-runners in the primary race and have occasionally sparred as the May 10 primary draws closer.

The top fundraiser so far is Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent and livestock producer who counts Gov. Pete Ricketts and the Nebraska Farm Bureau among his supporters. Ricketts can't run again because of term limits.

Pillen raised $5.3 million in cash last year. Of that, $1 million was his own money, while nearly $2.8 million came from individuals and $1.5 million came from other sources, such as companies and political action committees. He also brought in $127,155 in in-kind donations for a total of $5.4 million. He had spent $1.3 million at the end of 2021.

Campaign manager Kenny Zoeller said in a statement that Pillen's "conservative vision" is resonating with Nebraskans.

While 98% of Charles Herbster's money has come from his own pockets or out of state, we have raised 97% of our contributions from Nebraska, with over 1,300 Nebraska contributors," Zoeller said.

Herbster, a businessman with ties to former president Donald Trump and endorsements from the former president and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, recorded the second-biggest haul. He has largely self-financed his campaign  a reality that he said is intentional.

My time in this campaign is not spent fundraising, its spent learning about the people of Nebraska," Herbster said in a statement. "For this reason, I am primarily self-funding this campaign. I refuse to let donors control my priorities or legislative agenda."

Herbster brought in $4.9 million in cash contributions in 2021, and $4.7 million of it came from his own pocket. Nearly $192,000 came from individuals, and $13,000 came from other sources. He also brought in about $14,000 in in-kind donations.

Herbster spent far and away the most of any candidate last year: Nearly $4.3 million of his money went to consultants, advertising and other expenditures.

The Herbster campaign's report shows its last payment to Lewandowski Strategic Advisors was Nov. 3. Herbster announced last September he was cutting ties with Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump confidant who was accused of sexual harassment at a Las Vegas event last year.

Blood brought in a total of about $74,000 in cash. About $100 came from her own pocket, while about $56,000 came from individuals and $18,000 came from other sources. She received in-kind contributions of $2,000 and spent about $39,000.

Blood said in a text message that she has raised an additional $16,000 thus far in 2022, but has had to pause some outreach efforts because of having loved ones in the hospital.

State Sen. Brett Lindstrom and former state Sen. Theresa Thibodeau, both Republicans, round out the pack of candidates, falling far behind the top-two earning campaigns.

Lindstrom raised about $1.6 million. He hasn't given any money to his own campaign and raised $1.5 million from individuals (including a $1 million donation from Buildertrend co-founder Steve Dugger) and $65,000 from other sources. He's spent $362,000.

We are humbled by the outpouring of support our campaign has received from every corner of the state," Lindstrom campaign manager Tori Mahoney said in a statement. "The momentum behind our grassroots campaign is strong and continues to grow. Nebraskans deserve to be represented by someone who has earned their support, not bought it."

Thibodeau gave $5,000 to her campaign, collected $51,000 from individuals, $34,000 from other sources and received a $20,000 loan for a total of $110,000, plus about $3,000 in in-kind donations (mostly from herself). She has spent about $26,000.

In a statement, Thibodeau's campaign pointed out that she announced her candidacy later than most, on Nov. 8.

Since then, our campaign has focused on traveling across Nebraska to share Theresas message with every voter," the campaign's statement reads. "Our plan and mission remain unchanged. We are grateful and humbled by the confidence placed in Theresa by our fellow Nebraskans, who have and continue to give generously to this effort.

Candidates' annual campaign statements for 2021 were due Monday to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

Another Republican candidate, Breland Ridenour, has a committee on file with the commission but didn't yet have a 2021 statement on file online as of Thursday. No other candidates who have declared their candidacy or filed with the Secretary of State have registered committees, according to commission records.

Candidates are required to register committees when they raise or spend more than $5,000 in a calendar year on their campaigns. According to Ridenour's committee registration, he hit that threshold in March 2021.

The next deadline for candidates to file reports is April 11.
KEARNEY  Should there be a merger of Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District headquartered at Holdrege and Lexington-based Dawson Public Power District?

Its a question discussed by the districts staff and directors since late 2020, when Power Systems Engineering of Madison, Wisconsin, was hired to initiate what could be a four-phase, $210,000 study of the possibilities.

The first two phases have focused on whether a merger is an economic and strategic fit that would benefit both districts, their customers and other stakeholders.

Phase two study results presented by Power Systems Engineering President Erik Sonju at Thursday mornings joint meeting of the two boards in Kearney were mostly positive.

Challenging financial, organization and governance questions will be studied more in-depth if the two boards decide to move ahead with phase three. Discussion and a possible vote on that move are on agendas for the two boards regular, individual meetings on Monday morning.

CNPPID General Manager Devin Brundage saluted members of both boards Thursday for considering a merger in a world where everyone tends to keep on doing things the way theyve been doing them.

The benefits

Sonju started with an overview of the districts common and complementary assets:

- Central owns and operates hydroelectric generation facilities (Kingsley, Jeffrey, Johnson 1 and Johnson 2) in addition to providing irrigation, groundwater recharge, recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat.

- Dawson purchases wholesale electricity, distributing and selling it to end-use customers.

- The two districts serve central Nebraska areas that partly overlap. Both have an interest in economic development, agriculture and the environment in the area.

Also, some farmers who are Central irrigation customers get their electricity from Dawson Public Power.

The Power System Engineering study estimates a merger could result in $11.7 million in savings over seven years, 2023-2030. Sonju said it would be up to the new board to decide how to relay savings to customers, but examples could be delaying electricity rate increases or cutting peak rates for irrigation.

The savings would come from human and equipment efficiencies, realignment, workforce reductions as employees retire, and DPPDs ability to use approximately 20 megawatts of power from Centrals Jeffrey plant near Brady. The Jeffrey plant already has connections to the Dawson Public Power system.

Sonju said more subjective merger benefits include DPPD adding renewable power and Central having a reliable, stable, local customer for the energy it produces.

DPPDs current contract with Nebraska Generation & Transmission Cooperative, Inc. and Nebraska Public Power District runs through 2034. It allows Dawson to get 10 percent of its needs from qualified local renewable generation.

That is nearly the same amount as the 20 megawatts produced by the Jeffrey plant. Sonju said the combined benefits of using the Jeffrey power production is estimated to average $1.14 million a year.

CNPPID currently sells that energy, plus production from the similar J-1 and J-2 plants along the irrigation supply canal near Johnson Lake to Evergy of Kansas City. The contract expires in 2024, which would allow the change to Jeffrey sales.

Dawson Public Power couldnt use the J-1 and J-2 generation until after its current NEGT-NPPD contract expires in 2034 Then, production from all three Central hydros potentially could be used on the Dawson system, which is an ultimate merger goal.

CNPPID sells all of the power from the Kingsley Hydro to NPPD and that wont change.

Hurdles Ahead

Sonju said phase two surveys of the districts staff and directors found that merger issues of most concern are future board composition, governance and representation; employee compensation and benefits; and regulatory oversight.

Another big issue is how capitol projects are financed. Sonju said DPPD uses debt financing because it has a predictable revenue stream, while Central uses cash reserves because of inconsistent revenues linked to weather and water supplies.

It would require further analysis of what is the right mix of debt and cash, Sonju said, and also to determine details about a new board, staff alignments and compensation, and other issues.

If directors decide to move to phase three, he said, it would be more of a negotiation between the two boards. Are there enough benefits and do the benefits outweigh the challenges, Sonju said about the key question.

Whats Next

DPPD General Manager Gwen Kautz told the Hub the goal always will be to take care of the districts customers, which means having a thorough merger assessment.

The value of a consolidation is the ability to be flexible, with the changes coming to the energy industry in the future, Kautz said, adding that flexibility will affect everything, including managing rates for customers and economic development opportunities.

Brundage sees benefits to all customers from a merger. Well have the ability for both entities, together, to use hydro generation for our own customers, he said.

There wont be a merger unless both boards approve study phases three and four, and give final approval. It also must be approved by the Nebraska Power Review Board.

DPPD Board Treasurer Craig Wietjes of Riverdale said Thursday he hasnt made a final decision on consolidation, but he sees some benefits and is leaning toward voting to move to stage three to gather more information.

He wants to be sure a merger would benefit DPPD customers and employees, and that the long-term gains outweigh the other issues. Theres no doubt there will be heartburn. There always is with these kinds of decisions, Wietjes said.

CNPPID Board President Dave Rowe of Johnson Lake believes a merger offers endless opportunities in savings for customers, future job opportunities, economic development and quality of life issues.

Wed be fully integrated, he said, bringing water into the area from Wyoming, storing it, and releasing it as needed for power production, irrigation, groundwater recharge, recreation and environmental benefits, while selling energy directly to customers.

This is not about today, Rowe added. This is about the future.
A state conservation officer killed a young mountain lion last week after it was accidentally caught by a trap near the Missouri River in northeast Nebraska.

The 8- to 9-month-old male was too injured to be saved, said Sam Wilson, furbearer and carnivore program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Its the second mountain lion kitten found in the area in the past few months. Last fall, an abandoned 4- to 6-month-old male was rescued, rehabilitated and sent to the zoo in Scottsbluff.

Based on their ages and the location, the two could be part of the same litter, Wilson said, but DNA testing will confirm whether theyre related. And they could be two of the three kittens captured by a landowners trail camera last summer, along with their mother.

Before that, Nebraska's only known mountain lion breeding populations were in the Niobrara River valley, Wildcat Hills and Pine Ridge regions  though solo animals have been spotted throughout the state, including on the edges of Lincoln late last year.

The lion killed last week was found in a trap near Maskell, in Dixon County, according to Ponca Public Schools, which posted Facebook photos of the conservation officer showing it to students.

The trap was set legally and the trapper reported it to Game and Parks after finding the animal, so he wont face any legal consequences, said Duane Arp, assistant administrator of the commissions law enforcement division.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7254 or psalter@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSPeterSalter
Greetings from your State Capitol. Again, during this legislative session there has been a great deal of media coverage about the Legislatures efforts to reduce the property tax burden. A bill debated this week, LB 986, is touted as a property tax relief proposal and is similar to LB 408 from last years session. The premise of LB 986 argues school districts are overspending, which is a false narrative in our part of Nebraska.

LB 986 proposes to impose additional levy limits on locally elected school boards, even though there is undisputed evidence that those boards are staying within existing limits. Further, I believe it is offensive to make a general assumption that school boards are overspending. I am reminded that the same people that elect our local officials also elected me.

Each year that Ive been in office, I have supported every measure that allocated state funds to directly reduce property taxes. Property tax reduction efforts were accomplished through the states budget last year, which I supported. The amount of state funds used to reduce property taxes now totals $1.45 billion over the next two years. That amounts to about 15% of the states budget directed to reduce property tax.

Property taxes are levied and collected by local governments. The state is prohibited from levying property taxes, so the only way the Legislature can address property tax reduction is to direct state funds, generated from sales and income taxes, to the cause.

In 2007, the Legislature created the property tax credit fund with $105 million from the state. The property tax credit fund will now direct $613 million over the next two years to direct property tax reduction. In addition, the Legislature passed a measure two years ago that was termed the grand compromise, which created another program funded through sales and income taxes. That fund is used to pay for an income tax credit to property owners for a portion of the property taxes paid.

In addition, the Nebraska Homestead Exemption provides an estimated $200 million in property tax reductions.

Finally, an estimated $80 million in new revenue will also be directed to reducing property taxes through money generated from the tax on gambling. That tax was enacted through the gaming initiatives approved by voters a few years ago. Additional state funds that reduce the property tax burden come through the states school funding formula.

Contact Sen. Matt Williams: 402-471-2642 or mwilliams@leg.ne.gov.
Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

President Bidens trip to New York this week was the highlight of a necessary and carefully orchestrated show of force by state, federal, and local politicians  all Democrats  who are increasingly anxious about being blamed for a national surge in street violence. In their haste to get crime under control, the pols made extravagant efforts to assure skeptical members of their base that a crackdown can take place without crushing or canceling the rights and liberty of low-income New Yorkers.

The key, we heard over and over again, is to have cops work in tandem with community-based violence interrupters  credible messengers from troubled communities who have the savvy and connections to quietly intervene at critical moments and persuade gang members, dope dealers, and other weapon-carriers not to resort to violence. But this campaign also runs the risk of investing our hopes (and not enough money) in efforts that will disappoint us all  and worse, leave too many New York neighborhoods exposed to violence.

Ive asked the Congress to provide $200 million to invest in community violence intervention programs as well  they work; they work  where community members with credibility work directly with people that are most likely to commit crimes or be victims of gun crimes, Biden said at police headquarters on Thursday. And they work.

But do they? The evidence in New York and elsewhere suggests a few programs have done impressive work over the short term (a year or two). But the groups are sparse, underfunded, and engaged in a type of effort that cant easily be measured, managed, or scaled up. Jeffrey Butts, a researcher at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who has researched interrupter programs calls the research on their effectiveness mixed, incomplete, and very difficult to do.

Community-based violence interruption began in the 1990s when Gary Slutkin, a Chicago-based medical doctor, noticed that street shootings tended to spread and cluster like viruses, and therefore might successfully be tamped down using a public health approach. After nearly two decades of refinement, the core strategy remains the same: recruit and train outreach workers  many of whom are former gang members with street cred  and have them intervene at critical moments to persuade young men to forego the use of beatings, murder, and retaliation to settle disputes. What begins as a case-by-case break in violent feuds eventually creates new norms and behavior.

In many individual cases, the strategy has worked miraculously well  at least in the short term. Targeted hotspots in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and other cities saw steep drops in shootings following the introduction of interrupters. The model has also been replicated in Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Honduras, and other countries  with mixed results. And in at least one U.S. city, Pittsburgh, violence actually went up.

Bidens visit to New York alongside Attorney General Merrick Garland, Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and the citys district attorneys nonetheless cemented the mainstreaming of violence interruption (or crisis management, as many speakers put it) as a national strategy.

As has been mentioned over and over again, gun violence is a public health crisis, said Andre Mitchell, the leader of Man Up!, a violence interruption group based in East New York, at a later press conference held at City Hall. Gun violence, as we know it, as we treat it in the crisis management system, is a disease. Its the type of disease, just like COVID, its contagious, it passes from person to person. And if its left untreated, it will ruin everything in its way.

Mitchell also noted that his group and others like it have never had sufficient funding to meet their ambitious goals.

Weve been doing as best as we can with the least amount of funding that weve been able to receive thus far, Mitchell said. And believe it or not, with that least amount of funding, we have been making significant strides. Were reducing gun violence in the target area where we have our boots on the ground.

Thats absolutely accurate  interrupters have done the best they could, in limited areas with too little funding. (Mitchells group raised and spent about $3.8 million in 2018, according to public filings). That also serves as a warning. After the politicians have departed  Biden, eager to turn around his sagging poll numbers, Hochul running for re-election, Adams making good on his central campaign promise  the interrupters will have to do difficult, often dangerous work that the politicians have oversold to the public as a miracle cure.

This is a half a billion dollars of proven strategies, and we know it will reduce crime, Biden said. But the vast majority of the money he was talking about will go for additional cops, gun-interception task forces, and other traditional measures. State and city governments have whole teams of full-time grant-writers revved up to compete for the money.

New Yorks violence-interruption programs, by contrast, still need money, guidance, and training in professional management so they can grow into a network of well-resourced, sustainable institutions capable of truly breaking the addiction to criminal violence that is destroying so many communities. Until and unless that happens, claims by politicians that theyve discovered the magic cure should be taken with a grain of salt.

This post has been updated.
The sign may be spelled differently, but the doors are back open at Ma Fias Ristorante in Opelika, now going by the name Maffias Italian Restaurant and under new management with a new Sicilian-inspired menu after a soft opening Friday.

Its 100% authentic Italian, said Nick Plava, the new owner. My mom is Italian and my uncle is Italian. I dont know about anything that was here before  but I dont think were going to use anything that even looks or tastes like what was here before.

Plava, an Albanian restaurateur with an 18-year history of running other Italian restaurants in Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, took ownership of the property after it lay dormant for the past year and a half after the former Ma Fias closed in July 2020 and never reopened.

This place was actually online for lease, so thats how I ended up with it, Plava said. Weve got nothing to do with the previous owners  I dont even know the previous owners and I dont know their menu.

He moved to Opelika to reinvigorate the restaurant and said hes delighted by the citys downtown streetscapes and sidewalk patios, including the one outside his newfound business.

They remind me of back home big-time, especially with outside seating areas (because) everybody here has an outside seating area, Plava said. Back home, every coffee shop or every restaurant has at least two or three tables outside.

Plava said he hopes to usher in not just dishes people know and love but more nonstandard fare, too.

We have a lot of food everybody knows when you mention Italian like lasagna, spaghetti and chicken parmigiana, he said. We have really good veal dishes or seafoods  (like) salmon and red snapper. Our menu is really extensive; we have everything.

The menu also includes Neapolitan foods to tie the menu together and create a list of some of what Plava said is the best southern Italy has to offer. Plavas favorite item from the menu is a veal piccata entree.

Thats a fresh veal scallopini as well as thin-sliced veal and it is sauteed on white lemon sauce, he explained. Its served with pasta as well, and its really nice.

From Tuesday-Friday between 11 a.m.-3 p.m., customers can take advantage of $9 lunch specials that include lasagna, manicotti and other plates. Some $12 dinner specials are planned as well.

Plava said the Opelika Chamber of Commerce is hosting a grand opening for Maffias on Feb. 7 but that business has been steady and positive in the meantime.

I dont take a look at who comes in my door  but what they tell me when they leave, Plava said. Every table Ive had so far had good words about my food. More than 50% of people that have walked in here said theyd come back and let people know and they are excited about it.

Maffias Italian Restaurant is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Updates on the reimagined restaurant and its new menu can be found online on Facebook.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Hartford, CT - 1/30/20 - Richard J. Colangelo Jr., a candidate for Chief State's Attorney, is interviewed by members of the Division of Criminal Justice Committee (not pictured) Thursday at the Legislative Office Building. Colangelo Jr. currently serves as State's Attorney in Stamford and Norwalk. (Brad Horrigan/The Hartford Courant)

Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo stuck quietly to his office Friday after a tumultuous week during which the governor called for his removal and the Criminal Justice Commission, to which he reports, began discussing how to replace him.

Colangelo, who has been the states top prosecutor since his appointment to head the Division of Criminal Justice in February 2020, has been under intense pressure to leave office since Wednesday, when a report commissioned by the governors office questioned his credibility about a patronage appointment that has attracted the interest of a federal grand jury investigation of two major state spending programs.

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The Criminal Justice Commission, which appointed Colangelo and has sole power over the position, scheduled a meeting for Wednesday with lawyers from the state Attorney Generals office to review the laws and regulations governing removal of the chief states attorney, a constitutional officer who cannot simply be dismissed. The commission was created as a quasi-independent agency in the hope of insulating criminal prosecutions from political influence.

Among other things, a formal charge would have to be brought and Colangelo would be summoned to a hearing at which he could present witnesses on his behalf.

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Colangelo has not spoken publicly about his plan  whether to resign or fight before the commission to remain in office. He did not return a call and a spokeswoman for his office declined comment. Associates said he has considered his options.

It is a sad day for everyone involved, said former Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane, who preceded Colangelo in office.

That pressure to resign comes from a lengthy report commissioned by Lamont that questions Colangelos credibility in explaining how he came to hire Anastasia Diamantis, the daughter of politically-influential former Lamont budget officer Konstantinos Diamantis  at the same time Colangelo was lobbying Diamantis for what would have amounted to pay raises for himself and his senior staff.

Colangelo has said he was pressing Diamantis to correct long-standing pay-scale irregularities in the Division of Criminal Justice that left some junior prosecutors paid more than their bosses.

Former U.S. Attorney Stanley A. Twardy Jr., who wrote the report after a six-week investigation, bluntly questioned whether Colangelo was credible in his account of how he happened to meet Anastasia Diamantis at a social event, how he immediately offered her a job and how she came to be hired. Other witnesses questioned by Twardy disputed Colangelos account.

Based on the available evidence, we do not find credible the largely consistent accounts of Mr. Colangelo, Anastasia, and Mr. Diamantis concerning how Mr. Colangelo and Anastasia first met. Our conclusion that those individuals lack credibility concerning the straightforward question of how Mr. Colangelo and Anastasia first met casts doubt on the integrity of the circumstances surrounding Anastasias hiring with the Division, the report says.

Just minutes before releasing the highly critical and much anticipated report on Colangelo on Wednesday, the Lamont administration acknowledged that the U.S. Attorneys office had empaneled a grand jury to investigate two major state spending programs formerly under Diamantis control  a state pier refurbishment in New London and the state program that finances school construction. The timing of the disclosure of the grand jury investigation left it overwhelmed by the report about Colangelo.

Five Things You Need To Know Daily We're providing the latest coronavirus coverage in Connecticut each weekday morning. >

At the time Colangelo hired Anastasia Diamantis, she had a part-time job with a construction consultant that worked on multi-million dollar school construction projects largely financed by the state with her fathers approval.

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Lamont let Diamantis go in late October, days after learning of the grand jury investigation. He hired Twardy to investigate the hiring by Colangelo of Anastasia Diamantis on Dec. 15.

Lamont demanded Colangelos dismissal in uncharacteristically strident language a day after making Twardys report public.

When it comes to [Richard] Colangelo, I dont hire him, Lamont said at a press event. I dont fire him. But if I did hed be gone.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont after it was reported that federal authorities investigating two major state spending and construction programs. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant)

I have zero tolerance for this type of ethical malfeasance, the governor said. Im appalled and outraged at the breach of public faith. I want to hear from them (commissioners) exactly what were doing hiring and holding people accountable.

Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald, chairman of the Criminal Justice Commission, declined to discuss Colangelos future Friday. But a day earlier, he suggested Colangelo should go.

The findings in the report are quite startling and raise profoundly serious questions about whether the Chief States Attorney can continue to discharge the duties of the constitutional office, said McDonald, who voted to appoint Colangelo two years ago.
Multimedia Reporter

Staff writer Harry Funk, a professional journalist for three-plus decades, has been on the staff of The Almanac since 2015. He has a bachelors degree in journalism and master of business administration, both from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Washington, PA (15301)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 67F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 48F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
I watched this and the puppet master and was completely sucked into both. I need recommendations for something new to binge in the same vein as these!





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have you seen "tickled"?

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Seconded! "Tickled" is off the freaking walls

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Dirty John is in the same vain - there's the netflix show about his crazy ass and a bunch of true crime docs.

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The Puppet Master was wild. That ladys dad was fucking badass.

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"the imposter" is the best version of these docs

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The consequences of the man in puppet master were very severe for everyone involved. I hope the families will all get proper justice one day, or just have happy lives. Those students wasted so many years of their life for a lie, how horrible. Its crazy how easily manipulated the human brain can be. Like, I wonder how I would react to someone doing the same thing to me.



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Seconding what others have said about Tickled and Imposter. Here's some other titles:



Abducted in Plain Sight (Netflix) but content warning for CSA



The Way Down (HBO)

Mommy Dead and Dearest (not a documentary but a true crime adaptation) (HBO)

The Vow (HBO)



LuLaRich (Amazon Prime)



Baby God

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (I feel like this used to be/might still be on HBO?) -- also, you can listen to the original journalist/author's more up-to-date podcast "Bad Blood"



Onision: In Real Life (discovery+) although this one has its own wild ass controversy



This one's a podcast but Dr. Death, especially the first season



Edited at 2022-02-06 11:00 am (UTC)

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I want to check this out for sure

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The fact that the police wouldnt help the defrauded women and he barely spent time in prison and back to his old tricks proves that nowhere in this world is safe for women. This whole thing was wild. Especially the twist with the mother of his child. I felt so bad for the women. Cecile getting in a private jet and travelling with him within an hour of meeting him was really naive of her. None of these women deserved this.

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I feel so disgusted after having seen this documentary.



He is out doing the exact same thing, as a free man, and he has learned absolutely nothing. This world is so fucked because of people like him: these men who live these lives and fuck everyone over and ruin lives. He should get the death penalty tbfh hes worse on par with a murderer in my opinion

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hope Tilda Swinton is in it

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Why did I read that as Tilda Swinton

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I did the same. I was confused for a good two minutes trying to figure out who Tilda Swinton conned 

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lmao i thought it was a nickname for her or smth

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loved her in narnia

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Now is the time to remind people that if money comes up within a few months of knowing someone it's a scam. I feel sorry for the first lady because he really tricked her; he asked for a 25k loan from her and promptly paid her back within a month. That way, she felt more comfortable giving him large amounts of cash.

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The first lady seemed more naive than most considering she got on a private jet with a stranger within hours of knowing him. For all she knew, he could have been taking her to Epsteins island.

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The puppet master doc was insane omg

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lol I'm watching this now



Is this fucker really not in jail??? I can't



Edited at 2022-02-05 02:26 am (UTC)

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his story last night was him in a rolls royce phantom with his new israeli model gf! https://www.instagram.com/kate_konlin/ truly wild

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Hope he dies soon 

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I stalked his Instagram after watching the documentary cause it made me so angry. I cant believe he got away with it.

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He deserves the death penalty

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what the fuck. how is he getting money now? So some woman who knows about all this shit is willingly paying him money maybe because she is actually delusional? I don't know how else he would be funding his lifestyle without him meeting someone who really is just a sucker for it. Because they have to know the truth about him, surely. Maybe an old woman is giving him money and he is using that on others. idk. sigh.

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I thought it was a woman scamming men and got excited 

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ur thinking of queenpins

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I'd watch that!!!

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Trust no fucking man. Period.

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Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

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Really sentence is 15 months and served only 5? Lawd. There is no justice in this world.

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There is no justice in this world.



Not for women, there isn't.

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The title is so 30 Rock. I can practically hear Jenna Maroney announcing this as her newest project after the Rural Juror.

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The United States is looking to capitalize on the geopolitical turbulence, sending more and more LNG to Europe.

Rising tensions in Ukraine could add further upward pressure on the already-tight market in the coming months.

Gas prices have recovered from a January slump following the shutdown of a key European pipeline.

Gas prices have recovered from a mini-slump this month after flows in the Yamal-Europe pipeline were halted in both directions.



UK Natural Gas prices have risen to 3.3 percent to 1.87 per therm, after weeks of stagnation, while the Dutch TTF Futures benchmark has enjoyed a similar three percent bump to 78.50 per megawatt hour.



Prices spiked after data from German network operator Gascade showed that flows on the Yamal-Europe pipeline were suspended.



Flows had moved eastwards towards Russia since December 21, piling further pressure on European supplies.



While flows have now stopped moving away from Europe, the pause has dashed last nights hopes of more exports into the continent.



Gazprom booked transit capacity for eight hours on Tuesday evening, and the pipeline even recorded an hour of western flows, before coming to a standstill in both directions.

Prices have dipped since the December peak, but could be revived following the latest news of turbulence on a key pipeline (Source: ICE Dutch TTF Futures)

The route provides one-sixth of Russias gas supplies into Europe and Turkey, and has come under increased media scrutiny and persistent tensions between the Kremlin and the West over the future of Ukraine.



Since the start of the year, over 100,000 Russian troops have massed near the border of traditional gas-transit nation Ukraine, raising fears of an invasion.



The International Energy Agency has previously accused Russia of deliberately withholding gas to help to drive prices to record levels and put pressure on Europe to approve the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double its exports into Germany and minimise Ukraines role in the energy network.



Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed accusations last year as politically motivated blather.



Related: Exxon, Chevron Eye Major Boost In Permian Oil Production

Moscow is still waiting for Germanys regulators to approve the link, while the EU has now paused its own separate approval process for the pipeline amid compliance concerns.

Prices recover from Januarys slump as EU manages energy crisis

Gas markets dipped last month after reaching record levels in December, with prices soaring to over 4 per therm in the run-up to Christmas.



The US has been boosting the trading blocs liquified natural gas (LNG) supplies, while the continent further benefitted from a revival in renewables amid windier weather.



Ron Smith, BCS Global Markets told City A.M. the weather has been very co-operative over recent weeks, with both wind and unseasonal patches of warmth driving down gas demand.



He said: In January, Europe had some above-average winds and above-average temperatures. While the temperatures are more important than the winds they both play an effect these days."

The continent has been the top destination for US supplies for two months running, according to the latest reports from Refinitiv.

About two-thirds of U.S. LNG volumes went to Europe last month, compared to 61 percent in December, while the EUs facilities for LNG conversion have risen from 51 percent to 75 percent of capacity over the past month.



Henri Patricot, equity research director at UBS, was optimistic that Europe had managed the worst of the gas market turbulence this winter

He said: Inventory levels are still much lower than usual but the gap versus average has not widened. We are of course gradually getting closer to the end of the winter so the risk of an extreme scenario for gas storage diminished.



Nevertheless, the latest reports about the EUs energy reliance on Russia are fairly definitive, meaning that macro-factors such as rising geopolitical tensions remain a potential factor.



Bruegel believes the EU would only be able to temporarily cope without Russia supplies, while Stifel has warned that the UKs wholesale prices could quadruple if Russian flows were disrupted by sanctions or conflict in the region.

By CityAM

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have signed a new deal under which the Russian gas giant will deliver natural gas to China via the Far Eastern route, Gazprom said on Friday as China and Russia are strengthening their energy cooperation.

Gazprom and CNPC signed a long-term Sales and Purchase Agreement for natural gas to be supplied via the Far Eastern route, which will boost the amount of Russian gas supplies to China by 10 billion cubic meters annually, the Russian gas giant said on Friday.

The signing of this document is an important step towards further strengthening the mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China in the gas sector, said Gazprom, which expects total Russian pipeline gas supply to China to reach 48 billion cubic meters per year, including deliveries via the Power of Siberia gas trunk line.

The agreement for the new pipeline, expected to be operational within three years, will be settled in euros, an industry source in Beijing told Reuters.

Russia is already sending natural gas via pipeline to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline, which became operational at the end of 2019.

This is already a second contract to be signed for Russian gas supplies to China, and it is indicative of the exceptionally strong mutual trust and partnership between our countries and companies. Our Chinese partners from CNPC have already seen for themselves that Gazprom is a reliable gas supplier, Gazproms CEO Alexey Miller said, commenting on the deal announced on Friday.

While Russia is bolstering its energy ties with China, it continues to be at odds with the West over Ukraine, while Gazproms gas exports to Europe have plunged in recent months.

Despite record-high natural gas production, Russia has not been sending much above its contractual obligations to Europe this winter season.

At the same time, the United States and the EU are scouring the world for additional LNG supply that could be sent to Europe in case the Russia-Ukraine crisis escalates into a conflict.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Simu Liu "exaggerated" his martial arts skills to star in 'Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings'.

The 32-year-old actor played the central character in the 2021 Marvel movie, but he's confessed to embellishing his talents in order to land the coveted role.

During a discussion with Ariana DeBose for Variety's 'Actors on Actors' series, he explained: "When I got the part, they asked me about my martial arts background and experience, which of course I exaggerated because I wanted the job really badly."

In response, Ariana said: "You bluffed your way into the part - I love it!"

Simu subsequently explained he'd "done some work as an on-again, off-again stuntman" - but he considered himself to be more of a dancer than a martial artist.

He said: "If were honest, I think I was more of a dancer than I ever was a martial artist."

Last year, Simu admitted being Marvel's first Asian lead felt "very, very momentous".

The movie star felt very proud to become the first actor of Asian descent to lead a Marvel Studios film, describing it as an "incredible moment".

Simu - who was born in China, but emigrated to Canada at the age of five - said: "It is such an incredible moment. Very, very momentous. You know, I never had a superhero to look up to in that way growing up..."

Simu starred in the movie alongside the likes of Awkwafina, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu and Benedict Wong, and he admitted that some of the cast members are now among his "closest friends".

He shared: "I can honestly say - and this is not, like, a bit or a soundbite - I came out of this with six or seven of the people that I call my closest friends today. It was really just so many people going through the same thing and understanding the importance of this movie and what it will mean to so many people."

Originally published on celebretainment.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
The Glastonbury businessman on the states short list of suppliers for N95 masks and at-home COVID-19 tests once admitted to misappropriating more than $1.8 million from his companys pension fund and then failed to pay off the fine for 12 years, according to federal court records and tax liens.

State officials said they were aware of the federal investigation into the pension fund of Jeffrey Barlows former company when they signed an $18 million purchase order last month with his company, Jack Rubenstein CT LLC, to procure desperately needed at-home COVID-19 tests as the omicron variant began its surge in Connecticut.

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Barlow never produced the tests, however, leaving Gov. Ned Lamont and other top officials scrambling for another solution.

Gov. Ned Lamont announces the arrival of 426,000 home COVID-19 tests as well as N95 masks at the state commodities warehouse in New Britain on Dec. 31 for distribution to cities and towns. Photo by Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant (Cloe Poisson / Special to the Courant)

This was the second time the state did business with Barlow. The first time was early in the pandemic, when Barlow used his connections as an importer of cell phone parts and toy cars to procure N95 masks from China.

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Barlow has no criminal history, but federal court records and tax liens filed in Glastonbury show that he had been investigated by the IRS and the FBI in New Haven from 2007 until 2019.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Administrative Services, which certified Barlows company as a state vendor in March 2020, acknowledged the agency did not conduct a background check on Barlow or his company at the time because the state was in the throes of a public health emergency, and state officials were scouring the globe for personal protective equipment as COVID deaths, particularly in nursing homes, started to multiply.

The procurement team does basic research on contractors even when we procure quickly, said Lora Rae Anderson, DAS spokeswoman. This information regarding his offense from 2007 was known. It did not pose a risk to public health and safety, nor taxpayer dollars, as no payment would be disbursed without receiving the product. Ensuring our residents have access to tools to stop the spread of a deadly virus remains our highest priority.

Anderson said state law doesnt require the agency to do background checks on brokers that were used during the pandemic.

We are not required to complete background checks on those we enter into purchase orders with in order to procure tests and PPE, Anderson said. The State provides a wide variety of products and services, and this is a policy discussion we would be happy to have understanding that every field is different.

There is no evidence that Barlow did anything fraudulent in trying to procure the at-home tests. Lamont and other state officials have only said that misrepresentations were made to state officials.

We understand he believed he could get tests and was unable to get them by the promised date, as many have suffered supply chain issues during this time, Anderson said. We dont have full visibility to where the tests went, but regardless, no taxpayer funds were lost, and we were able to pivot to another supplier who started delivering tests two days later than planned.

When it came time to look for at-home testing kits, DAS didnt send out a request for proposals because it was a time sensitive issue and instead contacted vendors it had used previously.

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The DAS Procurement team reached out to selected suppliers who had successfully provided PPE items earlier in response to the pandemic, Anderson said. Jack Rubenstein & Company was one of those suppliers.

The state has since received and distributed millions of at-home test kits. Some of them came from CVS, which helped the Lamont administration by diverting more than a half million tests to Connecticut that were supposed to go elsewhere.

In response to questions about his past legal issues, Barlow texted a message to the CT Mirror, saying, that matter was resolved many years ago and as such I have no comment as no current relevance due to being in excess of 10 years ago.

While Lamont never mentioned Jack Rubenstein CT LLC or Barlow by name, he did say, when asked, that the state would work with the broker again despite the failure to deliver in December.

The state signed another purchase order with Barlow on Jan. 11, agreeing to pay him $2.46 million to deliver about 250,000 antigen at-home test kits.

It appears that Barlow has delivered some of that order. On Jan. 13, the state wired him $2.3 million.

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Meanwhile, experts in exporting and business said the state needs to have some standards, and they questioned why the state wouldnt require even a basic background check of potential vendors.

You could certainly argue its an emergency situation, one we seem to have been in for two years now, but there has to be some level of minimal standards that you adhere to, no matter what the situation, before you make a deal for the state government, said Victor R. Rodriguez, chairman of the Legal Studies & Political Science Department at the University of New Haven.

Douglas Stein, a Chicago-based PPE exporter, said testing kits have become the new commodity for an enormous underbelly of nefarious characters both in the United States and abroad following N95 masks and nitrile gloves. Stein was speaking generally about brokers, not specifically about Barlow, whom he doesnt know.

Stein is a member of the PPE Fraud Coalition, a group of business owners who monitor possible fraudulent PPE being shipped to this country.

It has continued to surprise me how easy it has been for some brokers or wholesalers to make it past state buyers without any background checks being done, Stein said. The idea that someone could say that they could get the state 3 million test kits in a few days or even a week is just preposterous, given the limited supply and overwhelming demand right now.

Missing funds and IRS liens

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Barlows legal troubles began in 2003 when an investigator from the U.S. Department of Labor received a complaint about money possibly missing from the pension fund for the employees of Macristy Industries Inc., a New Britain-based company owned by Barlows family since 1972. It was shuttered in 2008.

The government eventually filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court in New Haven accusing Barlow of transferring about $1.8 million from the pension fund to keep the business operating. The consent judgment that resolved the DOL case indicated that he returned $1.1 million to the pension plan and also paid an additional $1 million to settle the case, court records show.

Barlow also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $200,000, but when he failed to pay all of it, the labor department referred the case to federal officials in New Haven, who filed a second civil case alleging that Barlow fraudulently transferred his Glastonbury home to his wife so it couldnt be attached to any claim against him by the federal government.

In a consent order, Barlow agreed to pay the federal government $500 a month until the remaining balance of his civil penalty, about $58,000, was repaid, according to court records.

We can confirm that he made payments to the satisfaction of our office and the DOL, and our offices collection case was closed in September 2019, said Thomas Carson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in New Haven.

The IRS also investigated why Barlow hadnt paid federal taxes from 2008 to 2011, records show.

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The IRS eventually filed two tax liens alleging that Barlow hadnt paid $779,056 in back taxes, according to records filed with the Glastonbury Town Clerks office.

Barlow paid the IRS debt by 2016, records show.

Chance meeting

It was apparently a chance meeting that led Barlows new company, Jack Rubenstein CT LLC, to become a state vendor.

Rubenstein, which imported items from China until the pandemic hit in early 2020, was formed in 2010.

It was authorized by DAS as a state vendor on March 20, 2020, according to state records. Its first three checks for delivering PPE, for $326,000, were cut on April 25, according to the state Comptrollers office.

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Barlow told the Tulane University alumni magazine in an interview that a state employee responsible for supplying hospitals saw him at the docks and approached him after noticing his capability to obtain hard-to-acquire equipment.

Barlow told the magazine that chance meeting led to a $2.5 million contract to supply much-needed hospital gowns.

As COVID infections spread across Connecticut in the spring of 2020, Gov. Lamont declared a state of emergency and waived many contract regulations.

As the state scrambled to obtain more PPE for health care workers, the DAS procurement team was handling hundreds of calls trying to decipher which proposals were real and which were potential scams.

Barlow was one of the vendors eventually certified to do business with the state.

Throughout 2020, Barlow supplied nearly $15 million worth of PPE to the state, including N95 masks and hospital gowns, state records show.

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Better off picking up the phone

Two years later, as the spread of the omicron variant coincided with the holidays, state officials realized they needed to quickly  and dramatically  increase testing availability.

With long lines at testing centers frustrating residents, a shortage of tests and delays getting test results becoming more prevalent, state officials looked to the at-home testing kit market to alleviate the backlog.

So they turned to Barlow again and agreed to pay him more than $18 million for what were supposed to be 1.5 million iHealth test kits. The purchase order was approved on Dec. 26; the next day Lamont held a press conference to announce the testing initiative.

Connecticut is going to be at the front of the line, and we will have 3 million tests available by the end of this week, Lamont said at a Dec. 27 press conference announcing the test kit purchase.

This puts us ahead of the curve, the governor said.

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But three days later, Lamont stood outside the East Hartford Fire Department and announced the tests werent coming to Connecticut after all.

Without mentioning Barlow by name, Lamont said someone had misrepresented to state officials that the tests were destined for Connecticut.

There are a lot of brokers in this game. There were a lot of people putting money on the table, Lamont said. Its not like Federal Express where they say its going to be delivered at 10 oclock the next morning and if its not there, you get your money back.

The state did not lose any money on the deal with Barlow, a point that state officials have made several times. Barlow was only to be paid for what he delivered, which in this case was nothing.

Stinging from the test kit debacle, Lamont turned to CVS for help, and the company delivered about 500,000 test kits to the state overnight. The Connecticut National Guard and state emergency management officials have since bought more than 1 million test kits, some of which are still arriving.

Stein said he doesnt understand why Lamont didnt do the same thing with iHealth or Abbott Laboratories that he did with his CVS connections.

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The governor would have been better off picking up the phone himself and calling iHealth and negotiating his own deal, Stein said. The demand has outstripped supply so much mostly because the government and big companies like Walmart and CVS are buying them all  theres a 30-day wait for orders, and thats why theres no way any broker could have kept that promise.

Dave Altimari is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (ctmirror.org). Copyright 2022  The Connecticut Mirror.
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP)  Ontarios Conservative premier called Friday for demonstrators to end the occupation of Ottawa, and police are sending 150 officers to the parts of the city most affected by the protest against COVID-19 mandates that has been going on for days.

Embattled Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly gave no indication when the protest would end, and police expect it to ramp up again this weekend, when protests are also planned in Toronto and Quebec City.

Its not a protest anymore. Its become an occupation, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. Its time for this to come to an end.

Ford said the province is very close to getting back to normal and protests are a constitutional right, but said an occupation is unacceptable.

Sloly acknowledged trust has been impacted as Ottawa residents are furious with the blaring horns, traffic gridlock and harassment theyve faced. Many complain police have done little and they call it an occupation.

If we knew that it was going to seep into the neighborhoods we would have deployed more resources into those neighborhoods, Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell said. Weve listened to our community. They are upset, they are fearful.

Thousands of protesters railing against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions descended on the capital last weekend, deliberately blocking traffic around Parliament Hill. Police estimate about 250 remain, but Bell said they expect 300 to 400 more trucks this weekend and more than 1,000 protesters on foot. He said up to 1,000 counterprotesters are expected as well.

The freedom truck convoy has attracted support from former U.S. President Donald Trump and the opposition federal Conservative Party in Canada. But one federal Conservative Party lawmaker broke with his party and said the protest needs to end.

I spent the week undergoing the Siege of Ottawa, Conservative lawmaker Pierre Paul-Hus tweeted. I ask that we clear the streets and that we stop this occupation controlled by radicals and anarchist groups.

Many Canadians were outraged after some protesters urinated and parked on the National War Memorial. One danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A number carried signs and flags with swastikas. Some compared vaccine mandates to fascism.

Protesters have said they wont leave until all mandates and COVID-19 restrictions are gone. They are also calling for the removal of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government, though it is responsible for few of the measures, most of which were put in place by provincial governments.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance, a federation representing truckers across the country, has estimated that 85% of truckers in Canada are vaccinated. It opposes the protest.

Some of the demonstrators are protesting a rule that took effect Jan. 15 requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully immunized against the coronavirus. The U.S. has the same rule for truckers entering the U.S.
Have you ever thought about getting away from it all and trying your hand as an Alaskan longline fisherman?

Now is your chance.

Alaska Longline Fishermans Association (ALFA) is currently taking applications for its crew training program.

The program is an effort to attract younger entrants into an industry where the average fishermans age is 50. The goal is to initiate trainees to the ins and outs of commercial fishing while also emphasizing sustainable practices.

ALFA can arrange short-term placement (between a day and a week) or longer-term ones (weeks, months, or more.)

The wild life of Alaskas small-boat salmon fishers Wild-caught Alaskan salmon are no easy catch, but Alaskans Own is doing so and going a step further by promoting healthy oceans and fisher advocacy.

Since 2015, ALFA has placed over 100 apprentices on local fishing vessels in southeast Alaska.

The crew training program is not ALFAs first effort at ensuring the long-term sustainability of their industry. In 2010 ALFA brought together a group of commercial fishermen to create Alaskans Own, a not-for-profit community-supported fishery. The organization helps make Alaskan seafood more accessible to Alaskans while also making the industry more enduringly sound, through fair wages and by supporting ecosystem conservation projects.

If you are ready to trade in your laptop for a pair of fishing boots and join a crew, find out more here, or apply.
Wealthy college applicants submit SAT and ACT scores at a higher rate than their lower-income peers even as many colleges  even the most selective  have made such tests optional.

Some 53% of students in the wealthiest households submitted this school year, according to data from the Common Application, the non-profit behind the standardized application form. By contrast, only 39% of the poorest did so.

Figures broken out by socioeconomic status demonstrate that more work is necessary to effectively engage and support students from across the countrys diverse communities in the college admissions process, researchers wrote in a report issued last week. The report reflects applications for the admission cycle through Jan. 17.

Yet as glaring as the differences are, the data show that, overall, test submissions among the rich and poor are declining from the 2019-2020 school year  78% of the wealthiest sent scores during that term, while 71% of the lowest income students did. The difference between the submitters grew over two years.

Colleges across the U.S. have made the requirement for standardized tests optional in part to level the playing field for lower-income students who may not have the same kind of access to test centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The tests have also been long criticized for favoring richer students who can afford tutoring.

Applications among first-generation students  those whose parents didnt receive bachelors degrees  grew by 20% from two years prior. And, poorer students are taking up on offers not to send scores. Among recipients of fee waivers, a proxy for income, 36% who received them sent in scores for 2021-22.

The Common Application saw a dramatic decline in the number of schools that asked for SAT or ACT scores this year. Only 5% of about 850 schools that are members of the organization requested the scores, compared to 55% in 2019.

While schools have said students dont need to submit scores, its still not clear how test results are being used in admission decisions, and what percentage of admitted students sent in scores, said Jenny Rickard, executive director of the Common App and a former admissions chief at Bryn Mawr College.

Harvard, Yale and Princeton universities, for example, declined to provide data to Bloomberg last week about the number of test takers who entered their current freshman classes or were admitted in the early application round in December. Harvard last month said tests will be optional for several more years for students in eighth grade and that they wont be penalized for not submitting them.

Rickard urged schools to release such data. College admissions have suffered from a lack of transparency, she said. This is the moment for institutions to be transparent. Students are already trying to figure out whether they need to take the test.

Still, applicants from public or private schools with more resources will likely continue to sit for the exams, said Matthew DeGreeff, dean of college counseling at Middlesex, a boarding school in Concord, Massachusetts.

Testing can only help you, it cant hurt you, said DeGreeff, a former admissions officer at Harvard. It can position you well as a candidate.
HENRICO  A Virginia police officer has been indicted on a voluntary manslaughter charge in the shooting death of a man after a car crash in November, a county prosecutor said Friday.

Henrico County Police Officer Timothy Grant Million III was released on an unsecured bond after his initial court appearance on Friday.

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Million was the first officer to respond to the scene after Tony Elliot Singleton, 53, of Norfolk, crashed his vehicle and it rolled over, Henrico Countys Commonwealths Attorney Shannon Taylor said. Other officers were at the scene of the Nov. 6 crash on Interstate 64 when the shooting occurred, but Million was the only officer who fired at Singleton, according to Taylor. She said Singleton was white.

The prosecutor said the grand jury that indicted Million on Thursday heard testimony from a witness who saw what appeared to be a knife handle in Singleton's waistband. A knife was found in Singleton's possession, according to Taylor.

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The charge we have here today is reflective of an action where one may have observed something and overreacted to a situation," she said.

Million's attorney, Andrew Meyer, said he was taken aback by the indictment.

We are sure that once the facts come out, the shooting will be shown to be justified and my client will be cleared," Meyer said.

Circuit Court Chief Judge Judge L.A. Harris ordered Million released on an unsecured bond after his initial court appearance on Friday. Millions next court appearance is set for Feb. 28. Court records do not list his race.

The voluntary manslaughter charge carries a minimum sentence of one year imprisonment and a maximum of 10 years.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a passenger in Singletons car was injured in the crash.

WWBT-TV reports that Million, a Henrico County police officer since March 2018, has been placed on leave without pay.
MINNEAPOLIS  The pews were rocking at Holy Trinity on a recent Sunday as worshipers from the Minnesota Swahili Christian Congregation sang and danced beneath the lofty, dark-wood-trimmed ceilings and lively stained-glass windows.

Established in the 1920s, the magnificent house of worship once hosted one of the largest Lutheran congregations in the country but has dwindled to just 200 regular Sunday worshippers today. To remain vibrant, the founding congregation has increasingly opened its historic doors to serve a variety of community needs, from the Swahili-language services to functioning as a makeshift emergency medical center during protests after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

"In the last two years, it's become even clearer to me that the Spirit has been guiding us in places where we never imagined going on our own," said Ingrid Rasmussen, Holy Trinity's lead pastor.

Across the U.S., historic urban churches built decades ago to accommodate hundreds or thousands of worshippers and bulging Sunday school classes have struggled with shrinking flocks and rising preservation costs. Many are finding new ways to use their buildings that let them keep those sacred places viable while serving the neighborhoods they've anchored for decades.

In Minneapolis, landmark churches have hosted everything from food pantries and Finnish language classes to tai-chi practices and group discussions on reparations. Elsewhere in the country, they've rented space for events or programs like preschools, bringing in much-needed revenue, and also made their buildings available for free to community group gatherings as diverse as nutrition clinics and arts workshops.

Historic religious buildings are not just civic and cultural landmarks but crucial social centers, with non-congregants making up an estimated 90% of the people they serve, according to Bob Jaeger, president of Partners for Sacred Places. The nonprofit helps religious institutions nationwide make plans and raise money to repurpose their spaces for a different era, and Jaeger sees plenty of room for more to be done in that area.

"Congregations have enormous civic value but are often underused," he said.

Surveys show the United States keeps growing more secular, with overall membership and churchgoing on the decline. Fewer souls in the pews means less money coming in to pay for staffing, upkeep and programs, forcing many smaller congregations to sell their buildings.

The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated those problems by further shrinking attendance. It has also heightened the need for food, housing, job and educational ministries among both the faithful and broader society.

That's especially relevant for lower-income and minority neighborhoods where faith-based informal networks are often more trusted than government authorities.

The century-old Church of the Incarnation, a predominantly Spanish-speaking Catholic parish in Minneapolis, renovated its garage to host a sort of community minimarket where the 1,600 households who rely on the church for food can get free groceries and other vital goods. On a frigid Sunday, a steady stream of families came to pick up donated coats and sweaters, as well as 10-lb. bags of chicken that stayed frozen despite sitting in the direct sun for hours by the steps outside the sanctuary.

Incarnation has remodeled the basement and used it to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics that drew "tons" of people, according to Victor Guillen, a church member of three decades who oversees maintenance and volunteered on the renovation.

Religious buildings with surplus space are also providing cash-strapped community groups with a place to hold their own gatherings, something that's particularly important in cities where property values and rents are high.

Neighborhood Church in Atlanta's leafy Candler Park neighborhood was born in the mid-2010s out of the merger of two United Methodist congregations. Proceeds from the sale of the larger church building went to finance a renovation of the smaller one, a structure from the 1930s, redesigned to minimize Christian imagery so it would better serve the diverse neighborhood, co-pastors Andy and Anjie Woodworth said.

Today it hosts not only the congregation but two voting precincts and, when the pandemic permits, the activities of more than a dozen groups that share the church's inclusive values, from Scouting troops to advocates for the rights of transgender people of color.

The small, aging congregation of Coppin Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church on Chicago's South Side is another that has increasingly turned outward to the community. Membership has shrunk to about one-tenth of what it was in the 1960s, so Coppin has been struggling to pay for needed upkeep to the nearly century-old building and its artwork, including two murals in the sanctuary.

Through the Coppin Community Center, which provides food and family outreach programs in its adjacent youth center, the congregation has succeeded in attracting grants and growing its service ministry, said Frankye Parham, who directs Coppin's Christian education and its community center.

The church is working on developing a new teen ministry at the request of neighborhood youth who sought Coppin out as a "safe haven" from violence and other social ills.

"The traditional ways don't work today. We need to talk about different things that the community deals with," said Robert Parham, Frankye's husband, who first attended Coppin more than 50 years ago and is now a trustee.

In some cities, using religious buildings for non-worship purposes like homeless shelters has run up against zoning rules and brought conflict with municipal authorities. But faith leaders have often been successful in arguing that such ministries are essential to their mission and community.

"Each faith has texts that compel why to do this," said Randi Roth, executive director of Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul, Minnesota, where the group has been working with the city planner on zoning code amendments. "But for all, it brings to life the words they read in prayer."
A 30-year-old Omaha man has been charged with first-degree arson in connection with a New Years Eve house fire.

Firefighters were called to a house fire at 3018 Larimore Ave. at about 7 p.m. Dec. 31, according to an arrest affidavit. Three female occupants were in the home at the time.

The man arrived about 10 minutes before the call was placed and attempted to gain entry to the house, according to the affidavit. He was denied entry due to past violence toward one of the occupants.

The man became verbally upset after being denied entry, according to the affidavit. Video obtained by police shows the man arriving at the house on foot, standing on the porch and igniting an object, followed by a flash and a large fire. Police found a large gas can on the porch, according to the affidavit.

The occupants attempted to leave through the front door, but it would not open. With help from neighbors, they forced open the back door and escaped. The affidavit claims that it would have been impossible to exit out of the front door due to extensive damage.

The suspect has a lengthy criminal history, including a recent conviction for domestic assault of a pregnant woman, according to court records.

He appeared in Douglas County Court on Friday and is being held on $75,000 bail. He is scheduled to be back in court March 4 for a preliminary hearing.

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A majority of Nebraska State Board of Education members signaled Friday theyre not willing to give up on writing health education standards for Nebraska schools.

More than two dozen testifiers urged board members to junk the effort permanently, but the board voted to reject a motion from board member Kirk Penner to do that.

Penner was the only vote in favor.

The controversial school health education standards have been on ice since Sept. 3 when board members, facing a groundswell of opposition, postponed their development indefinitely.

That left open the possibility of reviving the process. That looks likely at some point based on several board actions.

The board on Friday also voted 7-1, with Penner voting no, to oppose State Sen. Joni Albrechts bill that would prohibit the board from writing health education standards. If LB 768 became law, then the board would be restricted to writing standards only in core academic areas of math, science, social studies, reading and writing.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing Feb. 15 before the Education Committee.

Also at the meeting, an ad hoc committee of the board delivered its findings and recommendations on how to improve the standards development process, which several board members have blamed as a factor in last years failed adoption.

Among the recommendations is that the state board adopt a policy stating it will continue to adopt standards in all subject areas  including health.

The committee is also calling for hiring a consultant to review and make recommendations on the standards development process. The consultant would look at topics including the role and qualifications of subject matter experts, the review and consensus process of the writing team, and the purpose, opportunities and timing of public input.

Last March, the Nebraska Department of Education made public draft health and sex education standards that were both comprehensive in scope and inclusive of diverse genders and sexual orientations.

Kindergartners, for example, were to learn about cohabitating and same-gender families. First graders were to learn about gender identity and gender stereotypes, and older kids about anal, oral and vaginal sex.

The proposal, while praised by advocates of LGBTQ youths, met with opposition from parents, Catholic and family advocacy groups, lawmakers, the governor and dozens of school districts.

Penner, whom Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed to the board in December, argued Friday that the board should leave health education decisions to local school boards, parents and medical professionals.

Penners motion called for the board to permanently reject state development of health education standards.

The board also rejected a proposed policy he offered that would have prevented the Nebraska Department of Education from providing local districts with resources on sensitive topics such as sex education, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Board member Deborah Neary said local school officials asked the board to write health standards.

She said the state education board must consider the views of all parents, not just the ones who show up to testify against the standards.

There are a lot of parents out there who are telling me something different than what Im hearing in this room, Neary said.

Parents in her Omaha district and across the state tell her they want standards that teach kids about healthy relationships and pregnancy prevention and that acknowledge and support LBGTQ youths, she said.

Penner said the board spent 10 months of trying to jam some of this stuff down kids throats yet members still dont understand that parents want to control what their kids learn about sex education, sexual orientation and gender identity.

He said the board should deal with issues of a teacher shortage and core academics.

Lets do what were good at, Penner said. Why do we have to keep going back to the sex of our little kids?

Board member Patti Gubbels said sex education was only a part of the proposed standards, which she said would not be mandates but would provide guidance for local districts.

I believe there were eight different strands, she said.

There were one or two that the majority of the public objected to, Gubbels said. So what that tells me is there are things in those drafts that were meaningful, that made sense to people.

Board member Jacquelyn Morrison said she believes education is a way to get rid of the stigma over mental health, to identify problems present in communities and help teachers with some of the behavioral problems they are facing.

The proposed health standards addressed depression, anxiety and other issues, she said.

That is something I cant give up on, she said. As much as we talk about a kid should eat an apple or an orange, we should be talking about how to keep them mentally healthy as well.

Though Penners efforts to derail the standards failed, he made it clear he will continue to use his seat to raise issues.

At Fridays meeting, he also raised concerns about the content of books in school libraries.

Penner read aloud several sexually explicit passages from books he said were on the shelves of some Nebraska school libraries.

He said local districts have a right to put those books in the library, but is it right?

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin signs executive orders in the Governors conference room at the Capitol on Jan. 15, hours after he was inaugurated. (Steve Helber/AP)

An Arlington County Circuit Court judge issued a temporary injunction Friday, suspending Gov. Glenn Youngkins executive order that sought to end schools mandates on wearing masks.

Youngkin issued the order Jan. 15, his first day in office, allowing parents to choose whether their children wear masks to school. Several school boards in the commonwealth defied the order, and roughly one week later, seven filed suit claiming the order violates state law and that Youngkin infringed on the school boards authority as stated in the Virginia Constitution. Hamptons school board is one of the plaintiffs.

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In a motion filed last week, the boards asked the court to issue a temporary injunction to restore the status quo for the remaining school year.

The single issue before the Court is whether the Governor, via his emergency powers, can override the decision of local school boards delegated to them under SB 1303, Judge Louise DiMatteo wrote in a memorandum opinion. On this pivotal point, the Court concludes that the Governor cannot.

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DiMatteos opinion also says that under SB 1303, school boards and the Virginia Department of Education hold the authority to update COVID-19 protocol. The law, which has been cited numerous times to maintain universal masking in schools, requires schools to remain open five days a week following federal guidance in mitigation strategies to the highest extent. It expires in August.

The opinion explained Youngkin cannot make school boards ignore the General Assemblys deference to (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidance and exert his power over school boards to determine what those mitigation strategies should be.

Youngkins office expects to appeal the decision, Macaulay Porter, the governors press secretary said in a Twitter post.

Its about parents knowing whats best for their childs health, (and) opting-out should there be a mask mandate.

Sierra Jenkins, 229-462-8896, sierra.jenkins@virginiamedia.com
In a blizzard of pretrial briefs Friday, Rep. Jeff Fortenberrys attorneys are seeking to have the congressmans full statement to the FBI played for jurors  both to show the repetitive questioning of government agents and the idea that Fortenberry was simply confused, rather than lying to agents.

Attorneys for the embattled Fortenberry, 60, also want to call an expert to testify to the fallibility of memory, especially in older adults. And his defense team wants to delve into the purported political leanings of the lead prosecutor.

Prosecutors fired back against all of those motions ahead of a hearing scheduled for Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. of Los Angeles. They said Fortenberrys memory expert would offer nothing more than common-sense observations that people already know about recall.

And, they said, insisting that prosecutors play all of Fortenberrys statements to federal agents  instead of just the operative portions in which they say he lied  invades the U.S. governments right to present its case how it wants.

Prosecutors also blanched at the defenses suggestions that lead prosecutor Mack Jenkins may have had political reasons to go after Fortenberry. Prosecutors say such an assertion is nonsense  arguing that Fortenberry is an obscure congressman from Nebraska and noting that the campaign donor in question donated to Democrats and Republicans alike.

The congressman is set to go to trial later this year  no date has been set, although attorneys are looking at mid-March  on charges that he lied to authorities about his knowledge of the source of conduit contributions to his campaign.

The indictment has resulted in Fortenberry, a Republican, now facing multiple GOP challengers, including State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk. State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln is running on the Democratic side, as is Jazari Kual of Lincoln.

Fortenberry, who has represented eastern Nebraskas 1st District since 2005, is charged with three felonies  two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of seeking to conceal the source of $30,000 in conduit political contributions from a 2016 California fundraiser.

The money originated with Gilbert Chagoury, a Paris-based Nigerian, who purportedly directed the donations to Fortenberry because of a shared interest in protecting Christians from persecution in the Middle East. It is illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. political campaigns.

One of the charges grew out of a July 2019 interview in Washington in which Jenkins, an assistant U.S. attorney based in Los Angeles, asked some of the questions posed to Fortenberry.

Prosecutors allege that Fortenberry lied during that interview, and an earlier interview at his Lincoln home, about the origin of the $30,000. They claim that Fortenberry had been informed that the money probably came from Chagoury during a 2018 phone call from the organizer of the California fundraiser, who by then was cooperating with the FBI.

Fortenberry and his lawyers, meanwhile, have maintained that the congressman was set up by the FBI and that he couldnt recall details of the 2018 call.

In turn, Fortenberrys defense team on Friday asked the judge to require the prosecution to play in full Fortenberrys statement to agents.

This includes Fortenberrys statements about the startling timing and manner in which (FBI) Special Agent (Todd) Carter approached him at his home on a Saturday night and subjected Fortenberry to confusing and repetitive questions. The defense said Fortenberry repeatedly explained that he did not have a clear recollection of the events.

Youre forcing my memory, Fortenberry said at one point.

The defense is also seeking to keep out testimony from two key witnesses for the prosecution. A campaign consultant, Alexandra Kendrick, relayed to Fortenberry that the 2016 fundraiser had the potential for illegal campaign contributions because of the donors cultural background, according to prosecutors.

The defense also wants to keep out testimony from Toufic Baaklini, a Fortenberry friend and one of the people alleged to have passed the billionaire Chagourys money to the Los Angeles donors to Fortenberry.

Fortenberrys defense team downplayed the congressmans relationship with Baaklini.

No member of Congress would plausibly commit a felony to help a mere acquaintance or even a somewhat loosely connected friend, defense attorney John Littrell wrote.

Prosecutors said Baaklini is central to the case to show that Fortenberry wasnt confused but was in fact concerned about the source of donations at the fundraiser. They say Baaklini is expected to testify that approximately one week after the 2016 campaign fundraiser, Fortenberry asked Baaklini if there was anything wrong with the fundraiser because most of the donations came from members of one family.

The defense also wants to call a professor to testify as to possible reasons Fortenberry told the FBI that he couldnt recall whether he was told the source of the campaign money. The expert will testify that memory fidelity and accuracy tend to decline as we get older.

Without the benefit of ... expert testimony, jurors may assume that ... Fortenberry must have lied to the government, Littrell wrote.

The defense also wants to argue that Jenkins, the lead prosecutor, was resolved to punish Fortenberry because he thought that Fortenberry had lied to him.

That led to this argument from the defense: Although Jenkins bias against Republicans is explicit, his bias against Congressman Fortenberry may not be. Jenkins may not even be aware of it ... Jenkins has a strong reputation for integrity and may well have believed that every decision he made in this case was driven by an impartial search for the truth. But jurors would be entitled to conclude that Jenkins actual or implicit bias influenced his decision-making in this case.

Prosecutors called that argument absurd. They noted that Chagoury gave to both Republicans and Democrats and said Fortenberry is not a prominent politician in (California) or otherwise widely known outside of his district.

While defendant tries hard to proclaim this case is infected by politics, it is he who keeps injecting it, prosecutors wrote. The defendant and his counsel continuously seek to charge his case with politics, make defendants political affiliation the focus, and otherwise attack the motives of the prosecution team  none of which are relevant to any legal or factual defense.

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After discovering that some uncool cats had created a Twitter account impersonating her campaign, Democratic Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Carol Blood received help from one of the stars of the Netflix series Tiger King to shut down the account.

Blood said she recently got help from Carole Baskin, whose online greeting hey all you cool cats and kittens became a meme in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Tiger King exploded in popularity. The deceitful Twitter account used Baskins image as a profile photo.

Blood, a state legislator and the only Democrat so far in the governors race, views the account as part of a broader, troubling trend of negative campaigning in state politics.

We live in a world of Us vs. Them, she said. And I think its wrong that any of the parties  and not just the Republican Party  when they participate in that narrative, then they just make politics more divisive, make campaigns more divisive.

The fake account appeared when Blood announced her candidacy for governor, she said, as did other fake social media accounts. Baskin is the CEO of Big Cat Rescue and was the target of a murder-for-hire scheme at the center of Tiger King, which debuted in 2020.

The account used a convincing username (@BloodForGov, while her official campaign account is @Blood4G), and a recent tweet from the account featured a photo lifted from Bloods official account, according to screenshots shared by Blood. She said tweets from the account were misleading about her positions and her campaign.

The account directed people to vote Nov. 9, one day after Election Day.

Theyre purposely putting out misinformation, she said. Some people who support her candidacy accidentally followed the fake account first, she added.

Blood accused members of the Nebraska GOP of having a track record of clandestine campaigning methods in a statement about the ordeal this week. She stopped short of tying the account directly to the party in an interview with The World-Herald but said she thinks that, at the very least, the party encouraged it.

She said her campaign tracked the Twitter accounts IP address and has an idea of where it came from.

According to screenshots, the account linked to a website featuring a negative ad targeting Blood. A disclaimer on the ad says it was paid for by the Nebraska GOP, and a link on the page labeled pitch in to help defeat radical leftists leads to a fundraising page for the party.

In a statement Friday, state GOP Executive Director Taylor Gage said he was not aware of the genesis of the website or the deactivated Twitter account but added that the Nebraska Republican Party strongly opposes liberal Carol Bloods bid for governor.

Blood doesnt think that the fundraising link is a coincidence.

She said she and others reported the account to no avail. Then she contacted Baskin about the use of her image last weekend, she said. Baskin contacted Twitter, and the account was suspended, according to Blood.

On Sunday, Baskin responded to a tweet from the now-defunct account: This account has been reported to Twitter for using my photo without my permission for their smear campaign against someone I dont even know.

Blood cited legal concerns about using Baskins image. She also said the account appears to be part of an overall shift toward dirty politics. Blood mentioned a 2020 legislative race in southeast Nebraska that got especially heated and involved accusations of racism and lies. Janet Palmtag, a Nebraska City real estate agent who lost that race to Sen. Julie Slama, has sued the state GOP for defamation.

I dont get negative, and I dont think Ive ever had a campaign where my opponents didnt go negative and off the rails, Blood said. And this is a really good example.

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Jazari Kual says those representing Nebraska in Washington, D.C., should look more like the people being served.

Thats why hes running for Congress.

Kual is seeking Nebraskas 1st District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has been represented by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry since 2005. Kual entered the race as a Democrat and will face State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks in the primary election May 10.

Fortenberry is being challenged by several other Republicans, including Sen. Mike Flood, in whats expected to be a fiercely fought primary.

Kual, whose family in 1995 immigrated to the U.S. as refugees from what is now recognized as South Sudan, was born in St. Louis. He has lived in Lincoln since he was 5 years old.

The 26-year-old is a journalism student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He said he plans to graduate next spring.

Kual first gained local recognition over the summer of 2020 for filming the protests in Lincoln and Omaha spurred by the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Kual said he ultimately decided last year to run for Congress because he was disappointed in Fortenberrys votes on legislation addressing police brutality and the pandemic.

Fortenberry voted against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in June 2020.

I know most Nebraskans are interested in some type of responsible action here. But, as one police chief wrote to me, if this version of police reform passes, he could no longer be a police officer, Fortenberry said in a statement addressing his vote.

Fortenberry also voted no on the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021 and missed the vote on the CASH Act in December 2020, which would have increased stimulus payments to $2,000, because he was in quarantine, but later said he would have voted no.

Kual is a co-founder of LNK Freedges, a hunger relief organization in Lincoln. He said he also volunteers with other local organizations.

Kual said statements Fortenberry made around the time of the missed CASH Act vote  including one where he said he favored more targeted relief  made the congressman seem out of touch.

Fortenberry has consistently won reelection by a comfortable margin, including in 2020 when he received nearly 60% of the vote over a Democratic opponent.

One of Kuals main issues is addressing climate change, something he thinks his competitors havent addressed enough.

We have to take action now, and if we dont, then were not going to have a future, were not gonna have a Nebraska that has clean air, he said.

Kuals other campaign priorities include Medicare for all, veteran support, criminal justice reform, affordable college tuition and recognizing housing and food as a human right.

What makes me different from all these other candidates is every single thing that Im running on has had a personal effect on me, he said. Its affected me in a way so deeply that affects my livelihood, and I see how its affecting our community.

As a political newcomer, Kual said he thinks he offers a different perspective from the other candidates.

I feel we really have to break the cycle of just wealthy, established politicians and attorneys in Congress, because I dont think thats what the Founding Fathers intended, he said. Its not fair to the rest of the people they are supposed to be representing.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said she is excited to see competition in the Democratic primary.

I think Jazari brings a really unique perspective around immigrants and focusing on immigration, and how do we keep young people in our state and how do we bring young people to our state, she said.

Kual said he isnt sure if hell pursue any other political offices in the future. For now, his long-term focus is pursuing journalism.

Kual said he has heard from multiple Nebraskans who have just turned 18 that he will be the first person for whom they will vote.

Its really inspiring to me, he said. My whole goal is to inspire young people to get involved.

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Teacher training

In reference to the article Would-be teachers back end to skills test, (Feb. 1), is the test required to get into a teacher training program in Nebraska really that tough to pass? Or are our high schools not being tough enough on our students in making them learn the basic skills required to pass such a test? Id be curious to see some examples of questions from this test. Perhaps the World-Herald could publish some of them so we can see whats so difficult for our high school graduates to make it into a teacher prep program. Quite frankly, if you cant pass a test to get into a teacher prep program, Im not sure Id want you teaching my children.

Dean Hayes, Bellevue

Reproductive freedom

I am writing in response to Sen. Megan Hunts legislative push to expand Nebraskans access to safe and legal abortion, an effort that actually aligns with the values of Nebraskans, a majority of whom support keeping the decision of when, how and if to start a family between a person and their doctor.

Senator Hunt is proposing a repeal of a state restriction that forces Nebraskans with private insurance to purchase additional coverage for abortion care, in addition to a carryover bill from last year that does away with a ban on telemedicine abortions. She is also seeking to expand the qualified providers who can provide abortion care.

While abortion remains legal in the U.S. and Nebraska, its a right that is already inaccessible to some because of the medically unnecessary restrictions and barriers that Nebraska state senators have erected over the years to push reproductive health care out of reach for the constituents they serve.

These dangerous policies are more likely to significantly deepen already gaping health care inequities that exist among marginalized communities, including people with low incomes, individuals in rural areas, and communities of color. Nebraska is categorized as hostile to reproductive rights, and its estimated that more than 198,000 Nebraska women age 20-44 are in need of publicly funded contraceptive services and supplies, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Nebraskans care deeply about privacy, bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, which includes life decisions about whether and when to become a parent. Thats why we need to stand up to ensure everyone has access to care and can exercise their fundamental rights.

Mike OSullivan, Omaha

Mask information

Thank you for publishing the mask chart on the front page of the Jan. 15 edition of the newspaper. The top left corner of the chart really contains the most important information: two unmasked persons who stay at least 6 feet from each other are safe for about 15 minutes. Lets say 10 minutes out of abundance of caution. That also presumes that one of them is even actually contagious at the time of the encounter.

Hopefully each member of the public (and the medical community as well) will use this information to evaluate the proximity and duration of their typical personal encounters. Then perhaps we can tone down the hysteria and can come back to some sense of reality about how likely a person is to be truly exposed to COVID-19.

Teresa Merrick, Bellevue

Divisive problems

Pete Ricketts has spoken out against critical race theory (CRT) calling it Marxist, communist and divisive.

What CRT does is ask the hard questions. Why do African Americans suffer from high rates poverty and imprisonment? Why are they more likely to drop out of school or be shot by a policeman? Why do these oppressive disparities exist despite all humans being 99.9% genetically alike?

These are the problems that truly divide us.

Jim Elsener, Lincoln

Gubernatorial candidates

Do gubernatorial candidates Herbster and Pillen have anything better to discuss besides having or not having a family? How about a discussion on taxes, healthcare, infrastructure projects? Does either candidate have any proactive plans to help Nebraskans? Their whining about nonessential issues is quite tiresome.

Neither is a viable candidate.

Time to take a look at candidate Carol Blood, who has not engaged in vague-worded, gun-toting commercials, and who has concrete ideas on health, education, infrastructure and economic plans.

Put someone who in the governors office who will get things done.

Carol Gottsch, Omaha

Streetcar question

I wouldnt say that I am, anti-streetcar at this point; simply that I still have some questions. Primarily this one: I have been to Kansas City many times and have seen their streetcar set up. Since the streetcars run in the same traffic lanes as cars and buses, why not just use the buses, which are much cheaper than the over-$100 million price tag of the street cars? Just wondering.

Dave Reeble, Elkhorn

Library thoughts

Omaha Mayor Jean Stotherts plans to demolish Omahas splendid Main Library  which the City of Omaha owns  and relocate it to a building on 14th and Jones is farce and a terrible mistake. The entire idea is a transparent land grab from the citizens of Omaha .

Back in the 1950s, Omaha was mortified when we won a satirical contest for having one of the worst central libraries in America. It took 20 years to plan, design and build the beautiful and majestic W.D. Clark Public Library, which opened in March 1977. The Omaha World-Herald Foundation, the First National Bank, the United States Bank, Library Board President Milton R. Abrahams and Mrs. W. Dale Clark were all instrumental in bringing our dream to life. Our central library stands tall and proud when compared to others all over the Midwest. Leave your hands off our W. Dale Clark Library!

Gary N. Ford, Omaha

Faith and vaccine

Some persons who choose not to receive vaccinations for protection against COVID-19 hold religious convictions for their resistance and believe that to receive a vaccination is placing ones trust in science instead of God to protect them from the virus or to heal them if they get sick.

I am very mindful of Gods healing gift. Our bodies are created with the amazing ability to heal, whether it is a cut finger or a virus. That healing is indeed a gift from the Creator.

But my faith also leads me to believe that medical science is a gift from God that can assist the natural ability of the body to protect itself from disease and to heal. Its not a matter of believing in science to heal us or in God to heal us. Both are amazing gifts and I am grateful.

My faith conviction is that God has gifted medical science with the ability to develop a vaccine so that our bodies can be more resistant to the COVID-19 virus with a greater ability to heal if a breakthrough happens. This does not mean I am placing my faith in science instead of God. Rather, my faith in God is enhanced even further with the sense that God uses many avenues for healing.

Rev. Don Bredthauer, Omaha

Building trade

Has anyone thought that maybe the City of Omaha should trade the W. Dale Clark building for the Mutual of Omaha building on the southside of Farnam Street? This would be a great location for a new central library. It would be on the streetcar line, plus it could be developed as a great addition for the Midtown community.

As part of the deal/trade, Mutual would be responsible for repurposing the building into the new library building, thus saving the city millions in construction costs, plus the 10-year lease on a location that will see little usage.

Theodore B. Dennis, Omaha

Bidens first year

The Jan. 19 AP recap of Bidens first year in office left out major issues facing our country:

Immigration: Bidens open border policy resulting in almost two million apprehensions.

Energy Policy: Kudos to progress being made in solar and wind power, but they have not yet replaced gas for our cars or heat for our homes.

Afghanistan: No mention of the senseless killings of 13 fallen soldiers or the drone killing of 10 innocent civilians, including seven children caused by the botched withdrawal.

Cheryl Bartek, Omaha

Karen Otts, Omaha

Ted Pfeifer, Gretna

Voter ID

We hear so much about voter suppression from politicians and news outlets. I have not heard any specific examples of these claims. It would seem that if you say the same thing often enough and loud enough, it makes it seem true. It is like hearing something in an echo chamber. One thing I have heard concerns requiring legal voters to show some form of ID. How do you argue against this requirement when 80% of the public supports it?

Ginger Gosch, Omaha

Name calling

Trump called the police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt a disgrace and an out-of-control dope. I wonder if he came up with those phrases while admiring himself in the mirror.

Jim Bilek, Bennington
BLOOMINGTON  Coming up at 3 p.m. Wednesday is a virtual public forum on the McLean County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan.

A committee comprising 13 communities in McLean County, plus two school districts, Heartland Community College, Carle BroMenn Medical Center, six firefighting agencies and the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District, has been collaborating on the proposal, which lists specific actions and projects to abate damages from severe weather and other hazardous events.

The complete outline of mitigation tasks will be published Feb. 9 on the McLean County Emergency Management Agency's webpage, along with a comment survey. The comment period will stay open for two weeks, through Feb. 23.

Those interested in attending the virtual meeting should call the county EMA office at 309-888-5020, or Andrea Bostwick-Campbell with the American Environmental Corp. at 217-585-9517 ext. 9. Interested parties can also email Bostwick-Campbell at abostwick@aecspfld.com.

McLean County EMA Acting Director Cathy Beck said Bostwick will explain at the Wednesday meeting the process the committee has gone through, and how community leaders provided input on the plan's draft. Bostwick will also review the projects being proposed.

"People will have an idea of what we're hoping to get approved, and where we have true mitigation projects," Beck said. "There are lots of things out there that can be done to improve things, but they're not mitigation by definition."

Beck said mayors, police and fire chiefs, public works officials, town clerks and county officials help develop the Illinois Capability Assessment and Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment every two years before updating their Emergency Operations Plan. Those leaders call on their experience, knowledge and training to determine the biggest risks to the county.

Bostwick spent a lot of time compiling data from those leaders, Beck said, which includes their requested mitigation actions. She added Bostwick's firm is experienced at getting the plans approved by the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Pantagraph previously reported drafts of the plan included sewer projects in Normal and Bloomington.

One project that could be approved, Beck said, is the widening of culverts by roads prone to flooding, or increasing the number of drains or drain sizes by those same roads.

Another task would help communities and school districts hold events to provide printed materials and information on how to prepare for hazards. Beck said tips could include preparing emergency kits or having a backup sump pump on hand.

Beck's office also submitted requests for a backup system that actives severe weather sirens, plus a backup generator for the Emergency Operations Center.

The point of the plan is to "protect the county, our residents and our structures," Beck said.

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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The group calling itself the Laquan 9 gathered at a South Loop neighborhood church Friday to reflect on their message and what happened during their Thursday arrests.

The morning news conference at the Quinn Chapel AME Church came a day after Jason Van Dyke, the former Chicago police officer who fatally shot Laquan McDonald, was released from prison.

Eight members, taking turns, vowed to keep protesting police misconduct and police brutality and said they will continue to bring attention to police reform.

Why does it require a viral consumption of outrage and Black suffering in order to shame and embarrass the criminal justice system into accountability? said congressional candidate Kina Collins. We cannot get justice for Laquan McDonald because the only just thing would be if he was alive and breathing, and we cant get that. So what we are asking for is accountability metrics particularly and primarily through our federal government.

The five women and four men arrested included community organizer William Calloway and fellow organizers: former mayoral candidate JaMal Green; Collins; Justin Blake, uncle of Jacob Blake who in 2020 was shot by police in Kenosha; Amber Leaks; Dave Power; Nataki Rhodes; Cate Readling and Cassandra Greer-Lee.

Blake was the only one not at the news conference.

They were charged with misdemeanor civil contempt for violating the chief judges order governing demonstrations at the Dirksen Federal Building, according to Elorm Blake, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service in Chicago. Readling was also accused of recording the protest in the lobby of the courthouse, which is prohibited.

Calloway said the group was in custody for probably a few hours before appearing before a federal judge Thursday night. They were released, and all nine are due back in court Tuesday.

Calloway said their situation reminded him of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African American high schoolers who protested racial segregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, public schools in 1957. This, along with it being the first week of Black History Month, inspired the group to call itself the Laquan 9.

It was Black men and Black women, like Dr. King, Diane Nash and so many more that have laid out a blueprint for us to fight for civil rights and to fight for it even if it costs us our freedom, and thats the message that we want to send not just to our city but to our nation and to our federal government, that we are African Americans and with our allies that are non-Black, we are willing to sacrifice our freedom in the name of justice, Calloway said.

On Thursday afternoon, protesters gathered across the street from Federal Plaza downtown calling for Van Dyke to face federal charges. Participants included the Rev. Jesse Jackson and McDonalds grandmother, Tracie Hunter.

While most of the protesters were outside, some were inside with a couple of McDonalds family members, including his grandmother and aunt, Tanisha Hunter. They were inside to lend their support to a letter that was handed into U.S. Attorney John Lauschs office signed by several community leaders and organizations calling for Van Dyke to face additional charges for McDonalds murder.

While some people came back outside, about 15, chose to stay in the lobby of the Dirksen building, which closes at 6 p.m. At one point, those who were inside locked arms and stood by the windows facing the crowd outside and began to chant. One of them, Calloway, said the group was very peaceful but refused to leave until we thought our voices were heard. Around 5 p.m., the group inside was escorted out of the lobby by U.S. marshals, and the nine were taken into custody.

Van Dyke, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2018 for fatally shooting McDonald, was released from prison just after midnight Thursday after spending about three years behind bars.

The shooting marked a pivot in the citys history and policing, sparking reform efforts and a federal investigation. A dashcam video that captured the fatal shooting was made public only after a journalist made a FOIA request and later sued after being denied. A judge ordered the video to be released a year after the shooting.

The video showed McDonald, who was walking away from officers while holding a knife, as Van Dyke fired 16 shots into him, many as he was on the ground. But it also showed a jarring contrast between the police and Fraternal Order of Polices narrative of the shooting and what actually happened.

In 2018, Van Dyke became the first officer to be found guilty of murder for an on-duty shooting in about half a century.

Chicago Tribunes Paige Fry contributed.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn.  A man who shot and killed four people at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018 was found guilty on four counts of first-degree murder Friday by a jury that rejected his insanity defense.

Travis Reinking, 33, did not dispute the details of the shooting, which was caught on surveillance video and witnessed by numerous people.

Naked save for a green jacket, Reinking opened fire inside the restaurant just after 3:20 a.m. on April 22, 2018, killing Taurean Sanderlin, 29; Joey Perez, 20; Akilah Dasilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21. He fled after restaurant patron James Shaw Jr. wrestled his assault-style rifle away from him, triggering a manhunt.

Reinking looked in the direction of his parents, sitting in the gallery, after the jury read the first of 16 guilty verdicts, but otherwise showed minimal reaction. Meanwhile, survivors of the shooting and family members sitting across the aisle audibly gasped, crying and hugging as they left the courtroom.

True justice is having my son here," Dasilva's mother, Shaundelle Brooks, told reporters after the verdict. This is the closest (thing) to true justice.

The jury will reconvene on Saturday to hear victim impact statements and decide whether Reinking will spend the rest of his life in prison or will have the possibility of parole. Brooks said she believes he should not be allowed parole.

Evidence presented during the trial showed Reinking had schizophrenia and had suffered delusions for years, believing that unknown people were tormenting him. He contacted law enforcement several times to report that he was being threatened, stalked and harassed. In July 2017, he was detained by the Secret Service after he ventured unarmed into a restricted area on the White House grounds and demanded to meet with then-President Donald Trump.

His behavior was so alarming that state police in Illinois, where he lived at the time, revoked Reinkings state firearms owner identification. But that only meant he had to turn over his guns to someone else with valid identification. Reinking surrendered the guns to his father, who later returned them to his son.

Since law enforcement declined to take his delusions seriously, Reinking began to feel that they and other random people were part of a conspiracy against him, psychologists testified at trial. Shortly before the attack, he believed that someone had drugged him, broken into his apartment and raped him. Reinking told psychologists that while praying about what to do, he received a command from God to go to the Waffle House and shoot three people.

To prove Reinking was not guilty by reason of insanity, defense attorneys had to show not only that he suffered from a severe mental illness, but also that the illness left him unable to understand the wrongfulness of his actions.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Reinking was calm and cooperative after his arrest, able to understand and respond to commands. Although Reinking was naked when he walked from the crime scene, when he was captured nearly two days later, he was dressed and carrying a backpack loaded with water bottles, sunscreen, a pistol, ammunition, Bible and several silver bars. And they mentioned he had asked to talk to an attorney after his arrest.

Davidson County Assistant District Attorney General Ronald Dowdy suggested that Reinking was acting out of revenge. He noted that days before the shooting, Reinking stole a BMW from a dealership. Reinking wrote in a journal about plans to drive to Colorado, describing a life in which he would hang out with friends, smoke marijuana, hike in the mountains and repossess cars and houses so that he would not have to work, Dowdy said.

After police took the BMW back the next day, he wrote, This time I would have to punish them by taking something they couldnt take back, some of their own lives, the prosecutor said.

He got upset, and so he drove to that Waffle House angry, because he wanted to exact the same kind of pain and suffering that he felt, on others, Dowdy said during closing arguments.

Prosecutor Jan Norman also emphasized Reinkings own account of the shooting: He said that after killing Perez, I felt like I was going to throw up because this was something God told me to do but it felt evil.

The jury on Friday also convicted Reinking on four counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts of unlawful employment of a firearm during commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony. In addition to the four people he killed, he seriously wounded Sharita Henderson and Shantia Waggoner. Kayla Shaw and James Shaw Jr., who are not related, suffered lesser injuries.

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Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday defended his support for sweeping criminal justice reforms he signed into law last year and dismissed GOP candidate Richard Irvins accusation that it played a role in law enforcement officer deaths as unfounded political exaggeration.

Richard Irvin is exaggerating because he doesnt really understand the law. It seems like if youre running for governor, you ought to understand the law. The law that hes referring to is one that mostly doesnt go into effect until next year, Pritzker said of Irvin, the mayor of Aurora and one of five Republicans running for governor.

He also misunderstands what that law is about. It would keep people in prison who could otherwise afford to get out of prison. These could be very violent criminals. And it allows people who are nonviolent criminals who may be in jail for a petty offense, and just dont have $100, to get themselves out of jail, the first-term governor said.

Pritzkers comments, made at an unrelated Chicago news conference, came a day after Irvin used his first series of media interviews since announcing his candidacy Jan. 17 to contend the criminal justice law Pritzker signed a year ago had led to increased outbreaks of violent crime and had a role in the deaths of eight law enforcement officers.

Eight police officers have been killed in the line of duty since that bill has been signed, Irvin said. Of course signing that bill affects crime in this state.

Many of the laws provisions, including one Irvin cited that does away with cash bail, take effect next year. But Irvin said the law was emboldening criminals though it has largely not gone into effect.

The criminals know its coming, Irvin said.

Pritzker said on Friday that The reality of the matter is that were protecting people by enacting this law.

There are many more things that we need to do to fight crime, he said. Weve got to make sure were investing in the things that police need. Were investing in the things that communities need to lift themselves up.

Republicans have sought to use outbreaks of violent crime, along with the signing of the criminal justice reform law, to portray Democrats as soft on crime. The GOP is particularly pushing the message in the suburbs, which had traditionally been Republican strongholds but have recently favored Democrats.

Pritzker said he supported strong sentences against people who attack or kill a police officer and bristled at Irvins criticism.

I attend the funerals of police officers. I talk to family members in the wake of the deaths of their loved one who was a first responder, Pritzker said. So, no one needs to tell me about the seriousness of the attack that has taken place on a police officer because I feel it, I talk to those people, unfortunately, too regularly. But its also one of the important duties of being governor.

Pritzker made his comments as another of his prospective Republican opponents, businessman Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg, named Kathleen Murphy as his running mate. Sullivan needed to name a lieutenant governor candidate to circulate candidacy petitions for the June 28 primary ballot because candidates for governor and lieutenant governor must run as a team.

Murphy is a longtime aide and media partner of former state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, working in Ives unsuccessful campaigns for Congress last year and for the GOP nomination for governor in 2018.

In April last year, Murphy acknowledged plagiarizing a Chicago Tribune story about mail-in voting in an Ives congressional fundraising email, calling it an oversight.

More recently, Murphy and Ives have been partners in a political outreach group called Breakthrough Ideas that has lately focused on organizing protests at suburban school boards over state masking requirements.

The group also has featured Murphy and Ives on conservative politically oriented podcasts. In a podcast hosted by Murphy, she connected the famed Chicago political phrase We dont want nobody that nobody sent to Albert Mikva. The phrase became part of the citys lexicon thanks to the late congressman, federal judge and White House counsel Abner Mikva, who heard it from a ward heeler when he sought an early political job.

With Murphys addition, all five GOP contenders have running mates. Irvins is state Rep. Avery Bourne of Morrisonville; Bull Valley businessman Gary Rabine has Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Aaron Del Mar; state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia has former suburban right-wing radio talk show host Stephanie Trussell; and former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo has McHenry County Board member Carolyn Schofield of Crystal Lake.

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SPRINGFIELD  Students at scores of districts across the state may be freed from wearing a mask in the classroom, with an Illinois judge ruling Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzkers COVID-19 mandate was authorized illegally.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a request from attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt the governors executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools, finding that the measures are beyond the governors authority and deprive students of due process.

"This court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken, not only on this state but throughout the nation and globe," Grischow wrote in a ruling that affects 146 Illinois school districts, including the public school system in Chicago. "Nonetheless, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the boundaries of the authority granted under the Constitution."

Pritzker had harsh words for the judge's decision and quickly urged the state's attorney general's office to appeal, suggesting the ruling could spark another surge in the virus and force schools to close their doors and revert to online classes.

"The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities  and this may force schools to go remote," Pritzker said in a statement. "This shows yet again that the mask mandate and school exclusion protocols are essential tools to keep schools open and everyone safe."

Attorney General Kwame Raoul agreed with Pritzker that the ruling would make it more difficult to protect students and school employees from the virus, and said he would appeal.

"This decision sends the message that all students do not have the same right to safely access schools and classrooms in Illinois, particularly if they have disabilities or other health concerns," Raoul said in a statement.

The ruling "prioritizes a relatively small group of plaintiffs who refuse to follow widely-accepted science over the rights of other students, faculty and staff to enter schools without the fear of contracting a virus that has claimed the lives of more than 31,000 Illinois residents  or taking that virus home to their loved ones," Raoul said.

In her ruling, Judge Grischow agreed with the parents and teachers who argued that only local health departments, and not the governor or school districts, have the authority to require such measures. She also agreed with parents who argued that the state cannot require districts to force staffers to get vaccinated or test weekly "without first providing them due process of law."

The restraining order prevents the state from ordering school districts to require students involved in the lawsuit to wear masks if they object, except during the terms of lawful order of quarantine issued from their respective health department. The order also prevents the state from requiring school districts to force school employees who sued to get vaccinated or test weekly if they object, without first providing them due process of law.

Grischow denied DeVores request that the lawsuits be given class certification, which if granted, would have extended the ruling to all students at the nearly 170 school districts named in the two lawsuits  one filed against 146 school districts, and a second filed by school employees against 21 school districts.

Although she denied class certification, Grischow pointed out in a footnote to the decision that she had declared the emergency rules at issue from the Illinois Department of Health and Illinois School Board of Education void. Thus, non-named Plaintiffs and School Districts throughout this State may govern themselves accordingly, she wrote.

The judges ruling means that any school district that attempts to enforce the mask requirement against any student whose parents joined the lawsuit would be held in contempt of court, according to DeVore, who said parents who want the ruling to apply to their children can join the lawsuit.

Illinois' school mask mandate has been in place since early August 2021, just before many students returned to the classroom amid a surge in cases and hospitalizations fueled by the Delta variant.

But it met near-immediate resistance, with more than 50 school districts across the state being placed on probation by the Illinois State Board of Education in late August for defying the mandate. Most eventually came into compliance.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of parents in 146 school districts in Macoupin County in mid-October last year. It was later moved to Grischow's courtroom in Sangamon County.

The state's two major teachers unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, criticized the ruling in statements Friday evening.

This decision has the potential to shut our schools down, effectively closing our school buildings and perhaps being potent enough to stop in person learning altogether," said IEA President Kathi Griffin.

IFT President Dan Montgomery said the union will "insist that school districts statewide abide by existing agreements on health and safety."

It's not the first pandemic-related case Grischow has ruled on. In December 2020, she tossed out an earlier ruling made by a Clay County judge that said Pritzker did not have the authority to issue emergency orders beyond 30 days. That suit had been brought by state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, who is now a candidate for governor.

Pritzker told reporters earlier Friday that he was "very hopeful" that mask mandates could be removed soon given the rapid decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations following the state's omicron variant surge, though he attributed the drop to stringent mitigations such as indoor masking.

"I believe that we should remove masks as soon as we possibly can," Pritzker said. "I'm constantly listening to the doctors and scientists and encouraging them, 'when can we do this, what's the right time, what's the right way to do it.' And so, very hopeful we can make an announcement about that."

Lee Enterprises reporter Brenden Moore and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Although another Islamic State leader has been killed, the organization will endure in Iraq and Syria as long as the United States and its allies continue to substitute targeted killings for a more comprehensive counterterrorism strategy.

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the Islamic States leader, Abu Ibrahim Hashimi Qurayshi, had been taken off the battlefield near Idlib province in northwestern Syria. Believed to be in his mid-40s, Qurayshi had a $10 million bounty on his head at the time of his death. He had been tracked down to a safe house by U.S. Special Operations Forces and surrounded.

During the raid, which was designed to minimize civilian casualties, Qurayshi detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and several of his family members. It is of little surprise that Qurayshi would refuse to give himself up and kill his family instead of allowing them to surrender. After all, the ISIS leader was perhaps most notorious for his decision to endorse the abduction, enslavement and rape of Yazidi women and girls, earning him a reputation as a sociopath.

The raid on Qurayshi bore hallmarks of the operation that resulted in the death of his predecessor, longtime ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in October 2019. In that raid, which also occurred in northwestern Syria, al-Baghdadi blew himself up rather than be captured alive. Qurayshi, who was not nearly as well-known as Baghdadi, was forced to spend most of his time evading capture and was therefore unable or unwilling to release propaganda videos or audio recordings on a consistent basis.

But his lack of public profile should not obscure the fact that Qurayshi was a well-respected strategist, especially within the Islamic State. He was also intimately involved with helping to shape the Islamic States strategy. One of Qurayshis first messages to ISIS cadres was to free their imprisoned comrades.

Targeting terrorist leaders, also known as decapitation strikes, can provide tactical wins while never rising to the level of strategic victories. These operations are akin to a sugar high  temporarily satisfying but offering little sustenance over the long term. In other words, U.S. Special Operations Forces can conduct strikes against high-value terrorist targets in perpetuity without ever achieving a lasting impact on the groups organizational structure, financing, logistics or other components critical to a groups longevity and success.

Another issue in discerning what impact the death of Qurayshi will have is related to a military concept called intelligence gain/loss. This means asking tough questions about the costs versus benefits of an operation: Is the value of collecting information from an enemy target worth more than destroying the target?

After a decapitation strike, sometimes the next leader in line to head the group is even more ruthless and bloodthirsty than those who came before.

The next Islamic State leader could be someone relatively unknown, which will present the U.S. and its allies with a challenge in terms of intelligence collection and mapping his network. Yet this scenario would also pose a challenge for the Islamic State, particularly if the next leader is not someone with a reputation on par with previous leaders. Whoever comes next may not have the same level of credentials, which could lead to a generational rift within the group or create fissures and splintering between internal factions competing for resources and power.

When the franchise groups and provinces of transnational terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State and al-Qaida have previously been unable to communicate with core leadership for extended periods, these regional affiliates have focused more on local issues, jettisoning the global objectives often pushed by top leadership. Western countries benefit from a decapitation strike because it weakens the global networks most likely to plot attacks in Europe and the United States.

The Islamic States slogan is baqiya wa tatamad or remaining and expanding. Without a clearly articulated strategy on the part of the Biden administration, the cycle of decapitation strikes followed by terrorist revivals will continue indefinitely. As a result, the U.S. could very well find itself playing directly into the Islamic States hands, remaining in the Middle East, with no plan for what comes next in Syria.

Colin P. Clarke is director of policy and research at the Soufan Group and a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center.

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The fifth day of the Chinese New Year Today is the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, it is the time to meet the god of wealth, and break taboos. In the old days, there were many superstitious taboos from the first day to the fifth day of the Spring Festival, such as not cooking new food, do not use unlucky words, no needle and thread works, no cleaning, do not break things, etc. After the fifth day, these taboos were lifted, so it was called "Po Wu". Breaking all kinds of taboos on "Po Wu" is actually indicating: "Year" goes away, and there is no need for taboo. On the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, every family sets off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits and drive away the "bad luck" from their homes. At the same time, it is also the day for opening shops and offering sacrifices to the god of wealth. It is said that the god of wealth respects people's expectations for a happy life and a bright future. In the north of Anhui Province, people should not visit their relatives on that day, or they will bring bad luck to the people that they have visited. In terms of food, people are supposed to eat dumplings, but cooking with raw rice is not allowed. As the northerners prefer cooking wheaten food, dumplings become the indispensable food for the New Year.








Lubbock, TX (79409)

Today

Some clouds early. Mostly sunny skies along with windy conditions this afternoon. High 92F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low around 45F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, a New Mexico Democrat, suffered a stroke last week. Hes expected to make a full recovery and to return to Washington in a few weeks. Until then, the Democrats wont be at full strength, which is causing a fair amount of panic among some observers. After all, the party balance in the Senate is dead even, a 50-50 tie, with Democrats only holding their slim majority thanks to Vice President Kamala Harriss tie-breaking vote.

But this kind of situation does not call for freaking out. In fact, assuming the timeline is correct and that no other disruptions happen, its really not that big a deal for the Democrats floor majority.

The math is simple. So far this year, Harris has only broken ties 15 times, and four of those were nominations that required two votes. Thats a lot, historically speaking; the last vice president to have voted more times was Schuyler Colfax, and he had four years to do it (1869-1873). But even if there were another handful of cases where Republicans mightve forced a tie with full attendance, its not really that many compared to all the measures that Democrats have brought to the Senate floor. Theyve already taken 32 votes this year, after taking 528 last year. Some of those were due to the filibuster  on normal legislation, it takes 60 votes, rather than a simple majority, to defeat a filibuster, and Senate practice since 2009 has been to filibuster everything that can be filibustered. Missing Lujan is unlikely to matter much in those situations, although its possible that some bill will arise that can get exactly 10 Republicans along with all the Democrats and will therefore have to be postponed until hes back.

Then there are those bills that are exempt from normal filibuster rules and need only a simple majority. Harris provided the winning vote at one point for the big relief bill last February, which passed using reconciliation rules. The same rules would also apply to the large climate-health-care-and-more spending bill that is currently stalled in the Senate. But that bill has only 49 votes, not 50, and it doesnt seem likely that any new version that can attract the support of West Virginias Joe Manchin will turn up in the next few weeks.

Lujans absence is more likely to matter on nominations, where a simple majority is all it takes. Yet there have been exact ties on only eight of the more than 300 executive-branch and judicial nominations that have been confirmed during this Congress. Its true that there has been significant Republican opposition to nominations that once wouldve been routine. But that opposition is rarely unanimous, meaning that 49 Democratic votes is almost always enough.

Sure, Republicans couldve suddenly rallied together to disrupt things anyway, using Lujans illness as an opportunity. The first test, however, showed no sign of that  the Senate has moved forward on several nominations this week, before and after the news broke from New Mexico, with lopsided votes. Certainly, any nominations on which Republicans are united in opposition will have to be delayed. But given the huge backlog of nominees ready for Senate votes, thats unlikely to be a significant problem.

The record so far is a good reminder that even in this era of what seems like extreme polarization, straight party-line votes in the Senate only occur on a limited number of measures. Again, the filibuster has a lot to do with that; if 50 votes plus the vice president was all it took, Democrats wouldve advanced quite a few more bills and some of them would pass with the smallest possible majority. Yet even though the most conservative Democrats are more liberal than the most liberal Republicans, lots of measures either are moderate enough that theyll draw the votes of a few Republicans, or liberal enough that Manchin opposes them and therefore Democrats wont bring them up for a vote. And as contentious as nominations have become, only a fraction of them end up passing on party-line votes.

None of this is to say that polarization isnt important. Its probably the most important thing to know about Congress right now. But its not the only thing to know. And remember that both parties, especially Republicans in the minority, have strong incentives to emphasize and even exaggerate how large the gulf between them really is.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Friday left Ghana for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as the head of a Ghanaian delegation to attend the 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union.



The meeting of the African Heads of State, which will take place from February 5th to 6th February, 2022, is on the theme, Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development.



Whilst in Addis Ababa, President Akufo-Addo will present separate reports on AU Financial Institutions and on Gender and Development, in his capacity as AU Champion on Financial Institutions and AU Champion on Gender and Development, respectively.



He was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway; the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah; and officials of the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry.



The President will return to Ghana on Sunday, February 6, 20202.



Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will act in his stead.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Dr George Peprah, a physician specialist at the Takoradi hospital has said, Josephine Paanyin Simon, the fake pregnant woman, only visited the hospital for fertility tests and not antenatal.



"Her visit to our facility was for an oestrogen test for infertility assessment, we don't have records on her at the antenatal unit," Dr Peprah added.



Doctor George Peprah was answering questions from the counsel of the accused Mr Fiifi Buckman, during cross-examination in court on Friday.



The lawyer questioned whether the accused was taken through an oestrogen hormonal test at the hospital to check her fertility.



Dr Peprah explained that doctors usually did not take patients through oestrogen tests for fertility but rather for infertility assessment.



The lawyer said "What you are telling the court is not true. Because you do an oestrogen test to check fertility first before you check infertility in women" but the doctor answered in the negative which allowed the judge to adjourn the case to February 10, 2022.





Source: GNA









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Member of Parliament (MP) for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako Mensah has urged Ghanaians to rally behind the government to implement the contentious electronic levy, popularly known as e-levy.



The e-levy has been shot down by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and some Ghanaians as they refuse to accept it, arguing the levy will worsen the sufferings of the citizenry.



Approval of the e-levy remains hanging as the Majority and Minority members of Parliament cannot come to a consensus on voting for its implementation.



Speaking on Peace FM's morning show ''Kokrokoo'', Hon. Adomako Mensah built a defence for the e-levy by reiterating statements by his colleague MPs and members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) which suggest that it is the panacea for Ghana's economic problems.



Calling for more engagements between government and the public on the relevance of the e-levy, he said; ''Nobody has said Ghana will burn if the e-levy is not implemented. No! I'm sure, as I sit here, there is no government worker who is not being paid. The country is still moving on but if the e-levy is not implemented, no matter what it will distort the budget because we factored it into our budget calculations. I'm glad the engagement is ongoing; better late than never.''



He added; ''Ghana, yes, we have challenges but it's not an economy on its knees...As at now, yes, we have challenges. We agree that we have challenges. I believe very strongly that we can, as a country, on our own manage the situation internally and this is why the government is bringing out measures to generate revenue internally.''





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Former Deputy Information Minister under the Mahama administration, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has urged the government to rescind its decision to raise revenue for the country through the proposed e-levy.



Instead, he has advised government to cut down on its expenditure and invest the savings thereof into developing the country.



The e-levy, which this government touts as the panacea to all our problems is completely irrelevant as far as resolving the crisis we are in at the moment, is concerned, he said.



He made the assertions on Joy News Newsfile, on Saturday, February 5, 2022, where he accused the government of mismanaging the economy.



It is important to stress that the Ghanaian Economy currently is hanging by a thread and its no exaggeration to say that it has already collapsed.



The office of government machinery is receiving about GHC3.2 billion  over 500 million cedis more than they received last year. As I speak to you, our President likes to sit in a $14,000 an hour rented jet at a time when we have a Presidential jet that is fit for purpose. How can you live like an Arabian King, you will not listen to cries and pleas to cut down on this cost and you expect them to pay e-levy which will be taxing peoples savings and their capital? he asked.



He stated that two things have undermined Ghanas economy  unsustained debt overhang and a large budget deficit  of which both result from the decisions of the government.



He added that investors are no longer interested in lending money to the government due to a lack of faith that the country will be able to comply with the terms of payment.



Government creates the impression that once the e-levy is passed, theyll need something little in order to finance our development, but the crisis we are in is that this government does not have policy credibility, so investors no longer want to lend us anything in terms of financing or lending, he said.



The comment comes in the wake of town hall meetings by the government aimed at sensitising the government on the need to accept the e-levy. It also comes at a time when Ghanas Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has been downgraded by international rating agencies such as Fitch and Moody.



Fitch downgraded Ghanas IDR to B- from B with a negative outlook.



The downgrade of Ghanas IDRs and Negative Outlook reflect the sovereigns loss of access to international capital markets in the second half of 2021, following a pandemic-related [COVID-19] surge in government debt.



Moodys Investors Service (Moodys) also on Saturday, February 5, 2022, downgraded Ghanas long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3 and changed the outlook to stable from negative.



Moodys has also downgraded the senior unsecured MTN programme ratings to (P)Caa1 from (P)B3 and the backed senior unsecured debt rating to B3 from B1.



The downgrade to Caa1 reflects the increasingly difficult task the government faces in addressing its intertwined liquidity and debt challenges. Weak revenue generation constrains governments budget flexibility and tight funding conditions on international markets have forced the government to rely on costly debt with shorter maturity.



Moodys estimates that interest payments will absorb more than half the governments revenue over the foreseeable future, which is exceptionally high compared to peers at all rating levels. As a remedy, the government has proposed sharp fiscal consolidation and a switch to borrowings from external partners on more favourable terms.





Source: myjoyonline.com









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Dancehall musician, Charles Nii Armah Mensah, has waded into the controversial E-vey bill that has been trending for weeks in Ghana. According to him, the politicians, who are keen on implementing the electronic transaction tax, are not paying heed to the woes of Ghanaians.



The dancehall star added that the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) isnt working with Ghanaians but rather taking decisions irrespective of whether it will affect the citizens or not.



Forget everything. Sometimes the way you people dey run the country e dey pain me sey man no grow so man also go help the country. Now you dey make e look like if you come get power you go take any decision you want.



Yes E-levy is nice but create measures so the citizens dont complain and they will understand we are building the nation together. Work with us and think about human beings Why do you see people (citizens) as animals who cant take decisions? He queried.



In his recent Facebook-like video, Shatta Wale minced no words in complaining about how the E-levy will go a long way to affect the standards of living of people who are already struggling to cope with the current economy.



Shatta Wale stressed that, if the government had implemented measures and amenities that showcase positive intentions they have for Ghanaians, no one would have rebuked the E-levy bill.



We understand e levy is everywhere but in USA there are places where you can buy things with just one dollar it doesnt mean it has expired  its for the poor to also have access to things like food and clothing. Have our leaders done some for us or created that for us? Thats why when people go to America they dont want to return. The system works there, he said.



According to the Already hitmaker, most of the politicians in the country have secured their generations financially, hence they pay zero attention to the plight of the poor masses.



But here you just wake up and decide everything at parliament. You have secured your generations but have you thought about your classmate that was so intelligent and didnt get the opportunity you had? How will his parents survive when there is a decision like that? You people only think about how you will bring it out and get your money?



You hear the people complain and you are not paying attention and these are the same people who put their thumbs on paper to vote for president. It is sad.



Climaxing his assertion, Shatta Wale asked Ghanaians, especially the youth, to rise up for their country.



I want to tell Ghanaians something start holding yourself as a Ghanaian. And just keep singing the song Arise Ghana Youth for your Country. It is bad that certain decisions are being taken and we dont take them serious. If we are not serious in this country we will continue to suffer, he said. - VIDEO-



:

Source: youtube/adomonline









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The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a Wanted poster Friday for pastor Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) Church and spiritual adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte, who was earlier indicted by US prosecutors for sex trafficking.

The FBI posted a photo of Quiboloy, as well as two other members of the KJC church, and said that the controversial pastor is charged with Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, and Sex Trafficking of Children; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion; Conspiracy; Bulk Cash Smuggling.

Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the founder of a Philippines-based church, is wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders, the FBI wrote.

The FBI added that church members who proved to be successful at soliciting funds for the church allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.

The federal bureau further alleged that female members were recruited to work as personal assistants, or pastorals, for Quiboloy, with tasks that required the victims to prepare his meals, clean his residences, give him massages, and have sex with him  an activity that pastorals called night duty.'

Quiboloy was earlier slapped with sex trafficking charges in a 74-page indictment prepared by US prosecutors, where he allegedly ran a sex-trafficking operation with victims as young as 12, threatening them with eternal damnation and physical abuse if they did not comply with his demands.

The pastor, whose recent public appearances count praying over vice presidential aspirant Sara Duterte at the Marcos-Duterte caravan nationwide kickoff, was indicted by a federal grand jury in a California district court. A federal arrest warrant was issued in November.

READ: The #MarcosDuwag fiasco has a sequel, after Bongbong Marcos declines another presidential forum
William Clark, Map of Extent of Settlement in Mississippi Valley (1816). Credit: National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

A once-in-a-lifetime archival discovery reveals that a rare map hiding behind a false identity in Washington D.C. was the work of William Clark, the once revered but now increasingly controversial American explorer, Indian agent and territorial governor.

The sketch, newly reattributed, re-dated and painstakingly decoded by University of Cambridge historian Dr. Robert Lee exposes Clark's scheming at the heart of a pivotal moment in 19th-century American history. This event robbed indigenous Americans of land the size of Switzerland in what is now Missouri, and fuelled the expansion of slavery.

Dr. Robert Lee was scrolling through yet another microfilm from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C. when an intriguing mapfiled in the secretary of war's correspondence archive under the authorship of Captain Eli B. Clemsonstopped him in his tracks. Lee quickly noticed that the basic geography of the Osage treaty of 1808 depicted by the map clashed with accepted wisdom about that major cession of land.

In a new study, published today in the journal, William and Mary Quarterly, Lee argues that this map was actually drawn by William Clark, then governor of the Missouri Territory, and shows how he grafted 10.5 million acres of Sauk, Meskwaki, and Iowa territory onto the United States after the War of 1812 by reinterpreting the 1808 Osage treaty. This little-known land seizure violated the Treaty of Ghent with Great Britain, triggered a stampede of slaveholding emigrants, and reshaped Missouri's political boundaries.

Dr. Lee, an assistant professor of history and Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge, says:

"This astonishing map shows how William Clark leveraged the U.S.Indian treaty system to promote settler supremacy in the United States at a time when he's been praised for trying to protect Indigenous land from squatters. Now we can see just how scheming and disingenuous he really was."

The unsigned, undated map sketched in ink and pencil contains about fifty named features, roughly half of them rivers, the rest towns and settlements, mines, salt licks, springs, and boundary lines. There are also more than 150 unnamed features, most unidentified settlements along nondescript streams.

A handful of the landmarks prove that Captain Clemson cannot have drawn the mapLee believes this misattribution was made in the 19th centuryand that it can only be a settlement map William Clark composed in 1816, which historian Clarence Edwin Carter declared missing in 1951.

The map's style, spelling and symbols all point to Clark. But the most revealing feature is a line between the Arkansas and Red Rivers, which Clark described in the 1816 letter that accompanied the map before the two got separated.

With the real source identified, Dr. Lee was able to decode the surprising significance of another unlabelled line on the map: Clark personally orchestrated a little-known scheme to steal half of what is today the state of Missouri from its indigenous owners.

Lee says: "This stray line looks like the cartographic equivalent of a Freudian slip. It's the closest thing we have to an admission in Clark's own hand that he dispossessed the Sauks, Meskwakis, and Iowas of a huge tract of land to hasten settler supremacy in Missouri. Clark didn't discuss this plan in his 1816 letter and it remains largely unknown today despite playing an integral part in Missouri's colonization."

In 1815, after failing to purchase land north of the Missouri River from the Sauks, Meskwakis and Iowas, Clark withdrew recognition of their possession and asserted by proclamation that the United States had already bought this region from the Osages by treaty in 1808.

By taking it upon himself to redraw an Indian treaty line right after the War of 1812that unlabelled line on the mapClark secured an invasive squatter settlement and added millions of acres to the U.S. public domain in violation of the Treaty of Ghent. In doing so, he deliberately circumvented official orders to restore prewar Indian boundaries.

Lee says: "A naive interpretation might say he found a huge loophole in the Treaty of Ghent. A realistic one would say he broke it to seize a landmass triple the size of Connecticut."

"Clark's land grab worked by denying that his post-war interpretation of the Osage treaty was new. He carefully maintained the fiction that he had clarified an old boundary, not manufactured one. This plan worked so well that historians have tended to either believe him or overlooked the incident entirely."

Thousands of emigrants, many of them slaveholders, flocked in to take advantage and the settler population on the stolen lands skyrocketed. This influx drove Missouri toward statehood and drowned out the protests of the Sauks, Meskwakis, and Iowas.

Clark eventually cleared their title to the land on the cheaptreaties made in 1824 paid out less than half a cent an acre for the territory, which was already selling for 4 to 12 dollars per acre. For the Sauks, Meskwakis and Iowas, the land grab contributed to generations of hardship.

Over the course of his career, Clark is now thought to have links to the taking of 419 million acres of indigenous land, well over a third of the dominion claimed by the United States at the time of his death in 1838. Nevertheless, questions linger about whether he was a "sentimental imperialist," a hard-nosed proponent "of white settler imperialism and ethnic cleansing," or something in between.

That a publicly accessible map by William Clark has gone unnoticed for so long is extraordinary. Inspired by the fame of the Corps of Discoverythe core of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-6researchers have avidly sought out all things Clark-related. Since the late nineteenth century, Clark manuscripts have turned up in a trash heap in Kansas, an apartment in New York City, a basement in Washington, D.C., and attics in Minnesota and Kentucky. But the last original maps surfaced among private papers in Saint Paul in 1953.

Explore further Seeking cancer treatments in the ancestry of a class of enzymes responsible for killing cells

More information: R. Lee, '"A Better View of the Country": A Missouri Settlement Map by William Clark', William and Mary Quarterly (2022). R. Lee, '"A Better View of the Country": A Missouri Settlement Map by William Clark',(2022). DOI: 10.5309/willmaryquar.79.1.0000
Cyclone Batsirai is set to hit eastern Madagascar after passing Mauritius and La Reunion.

Cyclone Batsirai was expected to reach eastern Madagascar on Saturday, posing a "very serious threat" to millions with powerful winds and torrential rains set to batter the large Indian Ocean island.

Residents hunkered down before the storm's arrival and winds of more than 200 kilometres per hour (124 miles per hour) were forecast as it bore down on the country still recovering from the deadly Tropical Storm Ana in late January.

After passing Mauritius and drenching the French island of La Reunion for two days with torrential rain, Batsirai was about 250 kilometres east of Madagascar early Saturday, the Meteo-France weather agency said.

Batsirai should make landfall between late afternoon and evening Saturday as an intense tropical cyclone, "presenting a very serious threat to the area", the forecaster said in its morning bulletin Saturday.

The eye of the storm was forecast to cross the centre of the island overnight into Sunday, before leaving its western shores by Monday.

Winds could reach "more than 200 or even 250 km/h... at the point of impact" and waves could reach as high as 15 metres (50 feet), Meteo-France said.

The United Nations said it was ramping up its preparedness with aid agencies, placing rescue aircraft on standby and stockpiling humanitarian supplies.

Tropical Storm Ana killed 58 people and affected at least 131,000 more in Madagascar last month.

The impact of Batsirai on Madagascar is expected to be "considerable", Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian organisation OCHA, told reporters in Geneva Friday.

At least 131,000 people were affected by Ana across Madagascar in late January. At least 58 people were killed, mostly in the capital Antananarivo. The storm also hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, causing dozens of deaths.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) pointed to estimates from national authorities that some 595,000 people could risk being directly affected by Batsirai, and 150,000 more might be displaced due to new landslides and flooding.

"We are very nervous," Pasqualina Di Sirio, who heads the WFP's programme in Madagascar, told reporters by video-link from the Indian Ocean island.

Search and rescue teams on the island have been placed on alert and residents reinforced their homes.

Map showing path of cyclone Batsirai.

Sitting on top of his house, Tsarafidy Ben Ali, a 23-year-old coal seller, held down corrugated iron sheets on the roof with large bags filled with soil.

"The gusts of wind are going to be very strong. That's why we're reinforcing the roofs," he told AFP.

The storm poses a risk to at least 4.4 million people in one way or another, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

Explore further Thousands without power as cyclone winds hit Mauritius

 2022 AFP
Warren County reported the COVID-related death of a resident in their 70s on Friday.

The individual, who had not been vaccinated, lived at home prior to becoming sick, and died in the hospital.

Health Services and the Warren County Board of Supervisors offered condolences to loved ones of the resident in a news release.

Warren County added 78 new COVID infections on Friday. Over the last five days, there have been 347 new cases reported.

There were 17 COVID-related hospitalizations reported on Friday, which is two fewer than on Thursday. Of those hospitalizations, 13 are vaccinated.

According to the latest report, there are four Warren County residents who are critically ill, which is one less than on Thursday.

Health Services reported that there were 318 COVID-related hospitalizations throughout the Capital Region, which is seven less than Thursday.

The Warren County Office of Emergency Services announced that more than 3,500 COVID-19 home test kits have been received to be distributed to residents through their local town or city government representatives.

According to a news release from the county, the rapid test kits were received from New York state and will be made available for free. Rapid tests allow individuals to check if they have COVID in a fast manner without a visit to a testing clinic or medical practice.

Distribution locations are as follows:

Queensbury Town Hall

Glens Falls City Hall, test kits will be available on Tuesday and Wednesday, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Lake George Town Hall, starting Monday

Lake Luzerne Town Hall, residents seeking delivery can also contact Supervisor Gene Merlino at 518-696-2711

Horicon Town Hall

Chester Town Hall, Town Clerks Office, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Warrensburg Town Hall

Stony Creek Town Hall

Thurman Town Hall, check for availability

Bolton Town Hall, Town Clerks Office

Johnsburg Town Hall, by appointment only, call 518-251-2421

Hague Town Hall, check for availability

Residents who would like to receive kits, can contact their local town or city hall for details about availability. Testing kits will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Distributing these testing kits to municipalities to pass on to their residents will allow us another conduit to make sure individuals throughout the county have easy access to COVID-19 testing, an important aspect of slowing the spread of COVID-19, said Kevin Geraghty, Warrensburg town supervisor and chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

Queensbury at-large supervisors and Glens Falls ward supervisors will be coordinating distribution of allocations they will receive, according to a news release.

Health Services will hold vaccination clinics that are open to the public next week:

North Warren Central School, Monday, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Queensbury Union Free School District, Tuesday, 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Lake George Central School, Thursday, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

An additional clinic is planned at the Warren County Municipal Center on Tuesday. Registration links for all of these clinics can be found on the Warren County COVID hub.

Warren Countys vaccination rate stood at 74.5% on Friday, with 79.7% of the population having received at least one dose.

Statewide

Gov. Kathy Hochul reported that the seven-day average of cases continues to decline in all regions of the state.

There were 7,759 total positive case of COVID-19 on Friday out of 176,231 tests reported.

Weve made incredible progress in overcoming the winter surge in COVID cases because New Yorkers are doing the right thing and getting vaccinated, Hochul said in a news release.

Jay Mullen is a reporter for The Post-Star covering the city of Glens Falls, Warren County and crime and courts. You can reach him at (518) 742-3224 or jmullen@poststar.com.

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ATLANTA  Imagine a town clock that displays not the minutes and seconds that govern our lives, but time that moves faster or slower based on how fast rivers are running.

The Chattahoochee River and its tributaries flow through metropolitan Atlanta, but they hardly register for most people in the city  a disconnect that dismays Jonathon Keats. The San Francisco-based conceptual artist is on an extended stay in Georgia, where hes been devising ways of encouraging people to interact more with their natural environment.

His latest concept, Atlanta River Time, would enlist volunteers to go down to riverbanks and take measurements. Their collective effort, supported by conservation groups and U.S. Geological Survey data, would tell time in an entirely different way, displayed on a large municipal clock in downtown Atlanta that reflects the natural ebbs and flows of Georgias waterways.

Ideally, people will get into the water ... to observe and to consider the effects of the flow of water on the world as well as the causes of that flow, Keats told The Associated Press. As a way in which not only to reckon time, but to reckon how we live in the world.

Keats has led workshops since last fall to teach people how to use hand-made materials to chronicle flow rates. Now hes hoping to bring the river clock from thought experiment into reality.

Im envisioning a clock that is run by a mechanical system, run on a pendulum where there is an annual pilgrimage to the headwaters of the Chattahoochee and where a measurement is made by hand, Keats said. The flow rate is brought back to Atlanta, potentially (to) a clock thats situated in a standalone clock tower in Midtown, and the pendulum is physically adjusted on the basis of what is measured at the headwaters.

Why use waterways, when we have clocks, smart phones, computers and watches constantly telling us the time already?

Keats says he doesnt use a mobile phone, but hes thought a lot about such questions while tromping along Georgias red-clay riverbanks in boots and a corduroy jacket, wearing wispy blond hair down to his shoulders and spectacles that might have come from the 18th century.

All of this is a story that we can tell, and a story, like a stream, is a conduit, and is a conduit that allows us to that carry itself through a set of circumstances, and allows us to reflect on ourselves as a result of that  of that path that we take, Keats said.

The artists previous conceptual challenges included selling tracts of real estate in the theoretical extra dimensions of space-time, opening a photosynthetic restaurant that serves gourmet sunlight to plants, and mounting a millennium camera in a steeple at Amherst College that he said would chronicle climate change through a 1,000-year exposure of a mountain range. Keats positioned similar cameras at Lake Tahoe and Arizona State University.

Keats was invited to be the Artist in Residence at Serenbe, an exclusive development in Chattahoochee Hills just outside Atlanta, where between workshops, hes able to ponder the possibilities of water-based time from the deck of a rough-hewn cabin. His participants recently made bowls of clay and sewed log books of construction paper with colored yarn. Then they all trekked to South Fork Peachtree Creek and watched leaves float downstream while water ran through holes in their bowls.

Its a rudimentary way to measure flow rates, but Keats hopes it will encourage different perspectives on how humans interact with nature.

I believe that the rivers and streams and creeks in and around Atlanta are a natural resource that helps us to see ourselves in relation to the natural world more broadly, he said.
ATLANTIC CITY  People braved freezing temperatures Saturday morning from the convenience of their cars to get their COVID-19 shots at Atlantic Cape Community Colleges first drive-thru vaccine and booster clinic.

The clinic was presented by Atlantic Cape, the city, Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers, Johnsons Popcorn and Steel Pier.

With the increase in omicron cases, we wanted to do one more push to get students and the community to get vaccinated, said Victor Moreno, Atlantic Capes senior manager of campus operations and community outreach. We prepared for 200 to 300 people to get vaccinated.

As of Saturday morning, New Jersey had administered 13,510,156 doses of vaccine since December 2020, when shots first became available. About 6.4 million New Jerseyans are considered fully vaccinated. In Atlantic County, 362,977 doses of vaccine have been administered, and 172,521 people are considered fully vaccinated.

Saturdays clinic offered free Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as booster shots. It also offered COVID testing.

The clinic originally was to be held Jan. 29 but was postponed to Saturday due to last weekends blizzard.

Cars began arriving before the advertised 10 a.m. start. Signs and arrows posted on the front doors of the Worthington campus directed people to the steady line that wrapped around the building.

Volunteers and orange traffic cones organized cars into a single-file line.

Jeanette Caraballo, 53, said she doesnt go out much but was one of the first in line at the drive-thru to get her booster shot.

I want to be up to date so I can spend time with my family, said Caraballo, a city resident.

Incentives for getting a shot in the arm included a free customized bucket of Johnsons Popcorn for adults and a free all-day Steel Pier wristband for children.

It softens the blow and makes things a little more enjoyable for people, Moreno said.

Leo Bello, 35, of Egg Harbor Township, came to the clinic with his fiancee and daughter after his fiancee mentioned it to him a couple of days ago.

His daughter also wanted the free popcorn.

If you want to get back to normal and protect people that are vulnerable, you should get it, said Bello, who is traveling with his family to California in a couple weeks.

Steve Palumbo, 33, of Galloway Township, said he works many hours as an orthopedic physician assistant and came to the drive-thru clinic because it was convenient.

I didnt want to feel like trash on a Tuesday if I got my shot during the week, Palumbo said.

Contact Selena Vazquez: 609-272-7225 svazquez@pressofac.com

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MAYS LANDING  One of the three men charged in the assault of Irving Mayren-Guzman was ordered held until trial Friday, after a judge said video showed the three men punching and kicking the victim outside a Pleasantville strip club, even as he lay on the ground.

The body of Irving Mayren-Guzman, of Egg Harbor Township, was found in the marshes near Centerfolds Cabaret on Delilah Road on Jan. 25, two days after hed been reported missing by family.

At his detention hearing Friday morning, Jamaul Timberlake, 30, of Atlantic City, pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assaultat his detention hearing.

Brothers John Hands, 24, and Garnell Hands, 29, both of Pleasantville, had their detention hearings for the same charges postponed until Feb. 10.

The three men were arrested the evening of Jan. 26.

In a virtual detention hearing, Superior Court Judge W. Todd Miller ordered Timberlake to remain in jail. Miller said he based the decision on a combination of factors including the charges, Timberlakes juvenile history and the evidence against him.

Detention hearings for 3 arrested in Mayren-Guzman case set for Friday MAYS LANDING  A detention hearing was postponed Tuesday for one of three men charged with a

Miller said Timberlakes inability to control his anger or impulse while he pummeled the 19-year-old who lay helplessly on the ground potentially contributed to the death of the victim and that he was a threat to the community.

Timberlakes lawyer, John Stein, argued his client was a law-abiding citizen, not a flight risk, had a clean adult criminal record and was the father of four children.

Assistant Prosecutor Katrina Koemer said Timberlakes juvenile criminal record included sexual assault, conspiracy to commit sexual assault, registration as a sex offender at the age of 12 and six years at the Jamesburg Detention Center.

The prosecutor said the evidence included physical materials, body camera footage from Pleasantville police, multiple witness testimonies and surveillance from the bar itself from multiple angles.

The judge read from reports that the three men can be seen on video following Mayren-Guzman outside, after club security had escorted him out, and pummeling him by punching and kicking him in his face and body and continuing to do so after Mayren-Guzman fell to the ground.

About 3:30 a.m. Jan. 23, Mayren-Guzman was taken out of the club by security after an altercation inside the establishment, according to documents referenced at Fridays detention hearing.

Mayren-Guzman spent a lot of money, bought one lap dance and was severely intoxicated based on a urine sample, Miller said, reading from the police report.

Timberlake faces a maximum 20-year sentence if convicted on both charges. If Mayren-Guzmans death is ruled a homicide in the autopsy report, those charges could be upgraded.

Timberlake has seven days to appeal the courts decision.

Mayren-Guzmans family, friends and members of the community banded together after his death seeking Justice for Irving. The group has protested outside the strip club in freezing cold temperatures over the past two weeks seeking information from city and police officials and demanding the club be held accountable for what happened, including allowing an underage person into the club.

Pleasantville Mayor Judy Ward, who has met with the family to express her condolences and offer support, has said the Pleasantville Public Safety Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 23, during a City Council session, to consider revoking Centerfolds mercantile license. The meeting will be livestreamed.

Until then, the club will remain closed, according to a Facebook post with the official document of the public safety committees hearing on the El Pueblo Unido of Atlantic City.

Centerfolds has a history of violations with the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control dating to 2010, when the current owners began operating the club.

Violations included several complaints of lewd activity with audience participation in June 2010, with a $48,800 fine and a 100-day penalty levied by the ABC when the case was closed in 2014.

In 2014 and 2015, the club operators were charged with allowing lewd activity, lewd activity with audience participation, failure to make tax payment, contaminated bottles, employee lists not available or incomplete, failure to maintain/produce true books, and no current long/short license applications.

The case was closed in 2020, and the establishment could pay a $35,000 fine or accept an 82-day penalty.

The Press has made several attempts to reach Centerfolds management for comment.

Contact Selena Vazquez: 609-272-7225 svazquez@pressofac.com

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The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners may have a resolution ready for consideration Feb. 15 that addresses a child sex abuse case involving an Atlantic City School District substitute teacher, according to Commissioner Frank X. Balles.

Balles made the remarks Tuesday at the most recent board meeting, when several political activists and a foster mother again asked the Atlantic County commissioners to demand the state take further action on the Kayan Frazier case.

The group also made the request at a previous meeting.

Frazier pleaded guilty in February 2021 to one federal count of child exploitation involving sexual abuse and child pornography, and in July was sentenced to 20 years and one month in federal prison.

The group wants the board to pass a resolution demanding a state investigation of how the abuse happened, and how the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency hired Frazier as a caseworker after Frazier was fired from Atlantic City schools for inappropriate behavior with students outside of school hours.

They also asked that the resolution demand that state charges be brought against Frazier, to keep him in jail longer.

CWA endorses 9 in NJ congressional races

The Communications Workers of America announced endorsements for the 2022 congressional races in New Jersey on Friday, but did not endorse U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, or anyone running against him.

CWA, which mainly represents government workers, endorsed eight sitting Democratic members of Congress representing New Jersey. They are Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th; Donald Norcross, D-1st; Andy Kim, D-3rd; Frank Pallone, D-6th; Tom Malinowski, D-7th; Bill Pascrell, D-9th; Donald Payne Jr., D-10th; and Mikie Sherrill, D-11th.

The union also endorsed Rob Menendez for Congress in the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District. Menendez is the son of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

New Jersey is fortunate to have an impressive delegation of men and women who stand with working families and stand up for our Unions values, said Fran Ehret, CWA NJ state director. We enthusiastically back these pro-union candidates.

The CWA says it represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including more than 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries.

NJ GOP starts Give It Back campaign

State Senate Republicans have started a Tell Gov. Murphy to Give it Back! petition campaign, which as of Sunday had been signed more than 3,600 times.

Governor Murphy has taken too much from New Jerseyans since the start of the pandemic, the petition reads. (He) took an extra $3 billion in taxes from New Jerseyans that the State wasnt expecting and doesnt need. GIVE IT BACK!

It then accuses Murphy of taking power from the people and their elected legislators by granting himself emergency powers and ruling by executive order and says he took more, including parental rights through mask mandates for children.

REPORTER: Michelle Brunetti Post 609-841-2895 mpost@pressofac.com

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OCEAN CITY  Representatives of the planned Ocean Wind offshore wind farm will take public comment March 7 on the possible use of about 0.8 acres of city-owned parkland for its underground electric transmission lines.

The 1,100 megawatt farm is the first phase of Ocean Winds plans to build wind generation farms off the coast of southern New Jersey.

The affected properties are beach lots at the end of 35th Street (Block 611.11, Lots 137 and 145); a beach lot south of the first area (Block 3500, Lot 1 including riparian grant); and an area north of the Roosevelt Boulevard bridge (Block 3350.01, Lot 17).

Representatives of Ocean Wind will explain the diversion, and take comments, the company said. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

Ocean Wind this week filed a petition with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to acquire permanent rights-of-way and easements for an underground cable to move its energy across the city to the former B.L. England coal- and oil-fired electric plant in Upper Township. The site of the closed plant has the distribution lines needed to get the offshore wind power to consumers.

The lands are under state Green Acres restrictions, and the company may also have to file an application to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Ocean Wind applies to state BPU to move energy across Ocean City The company building an 1,100-megawatt offshore wind farm about 15 miles off Atlantic City f

Ocean City officials have opposed the wind farm, arguing the windmills about 15 miles off the coast will be visible from the beach and will damage the citys tourism industry.

I really dont have any response right now other than we will be assessing our options, City Council President Bill Barr said earlier this week when Ocean Wind filed with the BPU.

The next council meeting is Feb. 10, he said.

The project is part of the states plan to meet the goals of two orders from Gov. Phil Murphy. Executive Order 8 in 2018 set a goal of 3,500 megawatts of renewable energy by 2030, and Executive Order 92 in 2019 increased the goal to 7,500 megawatts by 2035.

Those planning to offer comments at the hearing may sign up to do so when registering or during the hearing.

The public may submit written comments for two weeks following the meeting. They must be submitted by March 21 to Tom Suthard at rsted Ocean Wind, 600 Atlantic Ave., Suite 2, Atlantic City, NJ 08401 or info@oceanwind.com.

A copy of any written comments must also be submitted to the Green Acres Program at either BLSSpubliccomments@dep.nj.gov with Ocean Wind in the subject line, or to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Green Acres Program, Bureau of Legal Services and Stewardship, 401 E. State St., 7th Floor, Mail Code 401-07B, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420, Attn: Ocean Wind Application.

More information about the project can be found at oceanwind.com.

To participate Members of the public may register for the event beginning Feb. 4 at vhb.zoom.us/j/83906689957?pwd=dFd4b0oxTW5qUEN6cDVLZFNIdlAzdz09 or go to zoom.us/join and enter Webinar ID: 839 0668 9957; Passcode: 349434. A dial-in option is available at 646-558-8656, Webinar ID: 839 0668 9957; Passcode: 349434.

REPORTER: Michelle Brunetti Post 609-841-2895 mpost@pressofac.com

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WASHINGTONRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) strongly condemns a sharp escalation of intimidation tactics by Russian authorities, which saw state media-monitoring agency Roskomnadzor overnight threaten to block eight RFE/RL websites serving audiences in Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asia unless they pulled down articles tied to corruption investigations by jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalnys team.

RFE/RL will not comply with these demands. Said President and CEO Jamie Fly, RFE/RL will not allow the Kremlin to dictate our editorial decisions. This is a blatant act of political censorship by a government apparently threatened by journalists who are merely reporting the truth."

Roskomnadzor sent more than 60 e-mail notifications giving RFE/RL 24 hours to remove content related to Navalny investigations from its two largest websites for Russian audiences  Radio Liberty and Current Time  as well as RFE/RL's Russian-language sites for Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, and local sites for Russia's Siberian, Volga-Ural, and Northwestern regions.

More than a dozen Russian publications, including the newspaper Novaya gazeta, as well as Dozhd television channel and Ekho Moskvy radio station, have received similar notices in recent days. Several decided to comply with the demands and removed the content. The move is the latest in a series of attacks against RFE/RL and other independent media and comes as RFE/RL has been extensively covering the unprecedented Russian military buildup for its audiences in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, rebutting Kremlin disinformation and exposing malign Russian activities.

In the past year, Roskomnadzor has issued 1,040 violations against RFE/RL that will result in fines of more than $13.4 million for its refusal to submit to the unjust and invasive content labeling provisions of Russias foreign agent law. RFE/RL continues to fight these fines in Russian court and has also filed suit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the law. In addition, 18 RFE/RL journalists have been designated as individual foreign agents.

On January 26, RFE/RLs Russian Service was fined 3 million rubles ($39,000) for the alleged public distribution of knowingly false information about the activities of the U.S.S.R. during World War II. In fact, the existence of the published material is backed by documents from Russian archives  and RFE/RL is being held liable for actions that are not punishable under Russian law. RFE/RL is appealing the fine, not least to help defend Russias shrinking space for press freedom.

In a sign that the crackdown on press freedom may yet intensify, President Putin in late January issued an order calling for the creation of a new register of toxic content.

About RFE/RL

RFE/RL relies on its networks of local reporters to provide accurate news and information to more than 37 million people every week in 27 languages and 23 countries where media freedom is restricted, or where a professional press has not fully developed. Its videos were viewed 7 billion times on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram/IGTV in FY2021. RFE/RL is an editorially independent media company funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

----

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Martins Zvaners in Washington (zvanersm@rferl.org, +1.202.457.6948)

Karin Maree in Prague (mareek@rferl.org, +420.221.122.074)
Iowa bars could be taken to court and held liable for shootings, assaults and riots committed by unruly patrons who spill out of their establishment into alleys, streets and adjacent property, under proposed legislation.

An Iowa House subcommittee advanced a bill last week being pushed by the city of Davenport to amend state law to help cities shut down nuisance bars for safety concerns.

City officials have requested lawmakers allow cities to bring a case before local district courts to abate public safety nuisances caused by alcohol establishments, rather than having to rely on the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.

Davenport tried several times to deny the now-shuttered Shenanigans Irish Pub at 303 W. 3rd St. a liquor license based on its public safety history but was overruled by the ABD, which is responsible for regulating and investigating complaints about alcohol establishments.

Police responded to more than 2,000 calls for service to the establishment over a three-year period before the bar shut down in December 2019.

The final straw was a large fight that broke out at the pub during which a gun was fired and a bullet went through the window of Macs Tavern, located across the street at 316 W. 3rd St., and narrowly missed a patron.

Yet, the bar was not closed because the state suspended its liquor license but rather because the landlord terminated its lease.

Going through local courts, which typically handle nuisance complaints in all other capacities, will bring parity to the process and, hopefully, swifter resolution, according to city officials.

"Had this amendment been in place at the time, the city of Davenport and local district courts could have been able to deal with this grave nuisance at a local level to address this violent behavior rapidly as opposed allowing the nuisance to continue for three years," city of Davenport officials wrote in a statement in support of the bill.

House Study Bill 633 would allow city and county attorneys to sue alcohol establishments for creating a serious threat to public safety and seek a temporary injunction before trial.

Licensed food establishments that sell alcohol, such as restaurants, would be exempt.

The bill states a public safety nuisance exists if "it is established by clear and convincing evidence that an owner, manager, employee, contemporaneous patron or guest of the licensed premises commits any of the following acts either on the premises or within 1,000 feet of the premises."

The acts include unlawful use of a firearm or offensive weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon or being the scene of a riot on three or more dates within a 12-month period.

Should a district court determine a threat to public safety exists, the court could temporarily close the business, revoke its alcohol license or require a change in business practice or operations. It could also require the owner post bond to keep the property open pending final resolution of the lawsuit.

Lobbyists for the city of Des Moines and Metropolitan Coalition have registered in support of the bill. The Iowa Restaurant Association, which represents Iowa's restaurant and beverage industry, is registered in opposition to the bill.

"The city of Davenport recognizes that there are concerns from the Restaurant Association about this amendment applying to food establishments," the city wrote in a statement. "The city acknowledges this public safety nuisance rarely, if ever, stem from food establishments, and after hearing these concerns, this amendment excludes restaurants and instead applies only to pure alcohol (bar) establishments."

State Rep. Rick Olson, D-Des Moines, a member of the House Public Safety subcommittee, raised concerns about holding establishments liable for activity that occurs beyond their property and clarifying which food establishments would be exempt.

"I think it has to be (limited) to the parking lot, something they control," Olson said.

He suggested lawmakers instead focus on amending the burden of proof required to revoke a beer, wine or liquor license before the ABD.

Davenport city officials argue current code limiting the prevention of illegal activity to the licensed premise, including the grounds and parking lot, allows owners to skirt responsibility by pushing fights and other illegal acts out their door onto other property.

"What this bill is doing is acknowledging that there may be patrons of an alcohol establishment  who drink and then maybe right outside the establishment, though not on the licensed premise, are creating a public safety nuisance," Sarah Ott, chief strategy officer for the city of Davenport, said after the hearing.

Ott, though, said the city is willing to look at a different radius, "if that is what helps get this passed." The city originally proposed within 1,500 feet for a licensed premise.

Similar efforts have failed to gain traction in the Iowa Legislature in previous years over concerns and objections from Iowa's restaurant and beverage industry.

Subcommittee chairman Rep. Ross Paustian, R-Walcott, who brought the bill forward, said he planned to work with lobbyists and lawmakers to amend the legislation to make it more palatable, including reducing or redefining areas for which bars would be responsible for the conduct of employees and patrons.

Paustian called it "ridiculous" that a bar could generate more than 2,000 calls for service over a three-year period and still hold onto its license.

"We don't need that kind of an establishment in the city," he said. "I'm going to work to keep it moving and see where it goes from there."

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Students at scores of districts across the state may be freed from wearing a mask in the classroom, with an Illinois judge ruling Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzkers COVID-19 mandate was authorized illegally.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a request from attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt the governors executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools, finding that the measures are beyond the governors authority and deprive students of due process.

This court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken, not only on this State, but throughout the nation and globe, Grischow wrote in the decision. Nonetheless, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the boundaries of the authority granted under the Constitution.

Pritzker issued a statement late Friday saying he asked the attorney generals office for an immediate appeal of the decision.

The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities  and this may force schools to go remote, Pritzker said.

In her ruling, the judge sided with parents who allege that students who object to wearing masks or being excluded from school for being a COVID-19 close contact are entitled to due process, and that such measures are a form of modified quarantine that can only be required by the local health department.

The (Illinois Department of Health) is limited by law to delegating its authority only to certified local health departments and has not been authorized by the Legislature to delegate any of its authority to any other body of government, including school districts, she wrote.

The restraining order prevents the state from ordering school districts to require students involved in the lawsuit to wear masks if they object, except during the terms of lawful order of quarantine issued from their respective health department. The order also prevents the state from requiring school districts to force school employees who sued to get vaccinated or test weekly if they object, without first providing them due process of law.

Grischow denied DeVores request that the lawsuits be given class certification, which if granted, would have extended the ruling to all students at the nearly 170 school districts named in the two lawsuits  one filed against 146 school districts, and a second filed by school employees against 21 school districts.

Although she denied class certification, Judge Grischow pointed out in a footnote to the decision that she had declared the emergency rules at issue from the Illinois Department of Health and Illinois School Board of Education void. Thus, non-named Plaintiffs and School Districts throughout this State may govern themselves accordingly, she wrote.

The judges ruling means that any school district that attempts to enforce the mask requirement against any student whose parents joined the lawsuit would be held in contempt of court, according to DeVore, who said parents who want the ruling to apply to their children can join the lawsuit.

DeVore, an outspoken critic of Pritzkers handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, has long argued that the school mask mandate and other mitigation strategies the governor has declared by executive order could not be enforced unless they were formally approved by the General Assembly.

I dont pretend to understand the political complexities at Chicago Public Schools, but I do know the law cant be disregarded, and youve got a judge who upheld the law as its written, DeVore said shortly after Judge Grischow issued the ruling.

CPS officials were not immediately available for comment Friday.

But in a recent parent message, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said if the temporary restraining order was granted, it would require that CPS stop the enforcement of certain current health and safety protocols, including the wearing of masks.

If a TRO is issued, CPS will continue to fight against this lawsuit and immediately file for a stay asking that the judges order not be enforced while we appeal the courts decision, Martinez said.

Whatever happens with these lawsuits, CPS will strongly encourage all students and staff to continue wearing masks as they have successfully done throughout the school year, Martinez said.

We are confident that the vast majority of our school communities will do exactly this, because it is in all of our best interests to stay safe, he said, adding: We feel confident that any change would likely be temporary. We would hope to quickly return to implementing all of the proven protocols that we know are keeping staff and students safe, including the wearing of masks.

At Arlington Heights School District 25, which was named in the school employees lawsuit, officials said late Friday that the district is reviewing the judges ruling and will reach out to our staff and our community when we have further information.

Many Illinois school districts have said that regardless of the outcome, they will continue to strongly encourage students and staff to follow the states masking guidelines and other COVID-19 protocols.

The judges decision brought relief to parents like Shannon Adcock, a Naperville mother of three, and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Indian Prairie School District 204.

We had a victory for liberty today, and the kids will finally be able to go to school mask-free, said Adcock, the president of the parents group Awake Illinois.

This is a legitimate due process ruling, and youre going to see a lot of families pushing back now, Adcock said.

Steve Lucie, a farmer and former longtime school board member with Warsaw School District 316, said his involvement in upending the governors school mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigations started at his kitchen table with a few farmers and neighbors.

This ruling is euphoric for all of these parents, and mostly for the kids, Lucie said.

Some people arent ready for this, which I understand, but its been our stance all along that parents need to make that choice on their own, he said.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the states school board were not immediately available for comment on Friday.

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The Easter Bunny was representing the prosecution in several hundred Polk County criminal cases.At least thats what Iowa Courts Online, the court systems official, statewide web-based repository of court records, indicated for most of April.On April 4, the online docket sheets for hundreds of Polk County cases  primarily misdemeanors and drunken-driving cases  were revised to indicate the prosecution of those cases had been transferred from one particular assistant county attorney, Kailey Gray, to another prosecutor in the county attorneys office by the name of Easter Santa Bunny.And thats where the cases remained as of Thursday morning.Bret Lucas, an assistant county attorney, said Thursday the situation stemmed from a recent realignment of cases within the county attorneys office. Gray took over a colleagues cases, and Iowa Courts Online accurately reflects the transfer of those cases. But Grays old cases, he said, were transferred to the Easter Bunny until all of the work on the digital case transfer could be completed.We had contacted the Judicial Branch and they worked with their information technology department to facilitate the mass transfer of cases, Lucas said. Apparently, the Judicial Branch and the IT department decided to put that placeholder in there because, obviously, no one else would have that name.  So they were all aware of that, and it sounds like they must still be in the middle of that transfer process.Stacy Curtis, a supervisor for the criminal division of the Polk County Clerk of Courts Office, said the references to the Easter Bunny should not be visible to the public either through a name search or in the docket sheets for the individual cases. She said the office took extra steps to make sure members of the public didnt see any reference to the Easter Bunny and only clerks, lawyers, judges and others with higher security clearance could see it. It appears that the opposite may have occurred, as the Easter Bunny references could be seen by members of the public who werent even logged into the site.This has been a nightmare for me, Curtis said. We moved everything from Kaylie to the Easter Bunny, and those should have all been cleaned up so you wouldnt be able to see that.Many of the cases that were publicly assigned to the Easter Bunny are open, active cases, but hundreds of others are dormant, though not technically closed because of probationary sentences that have yet to be completed or fines that have yet to be paid.The only practical effect of the Easter Bunny designation is that some defendants may see that information online and not know who to contact at the county attorneys office about their case.After being contacted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch on Thursday, court officials were working to erase from the website any mention of the Easter Bunny, and by late afternoon it appeared they had succeeded.Santa bailed out by RudolphThe Easter Bunny cases are not the only criminal matters listed on the court systems official website to have featured nonexistent lawyers or defendants. In what appear to be training exercises for clerical staff, fictitious test cases are sometimes created and then posted to the public website but never removed.For example, a December 1997 case shows Santa Claus being convicted of felony burglary and kidnapping, with a charge of assault on a peace officer dismissed by the court. The court records indicate a sentence of 999 years in prison was imposed.As part of that same test case, the court imposed a no-contact order prohibiting Santa from having any contact with Mickey Mouse. Santas bail  listed as one million bucks in a possible punning reference to Santas reindeer  is stated to have been posted by Rudolph.In 2014, Santa Claus was charged with second-degree robbery in Scott County, according to the Iowa Courts Online site. Although theres no record of a conviction in that case, Claus right to carry a gun was revoked.The court systems website also shows that in 2014, Mickey Mouse filed a small claims case against Donald Duck in Marion County.For more information, visit iowacapitaldispatch.com.
SPRINGFIELD  When Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivered his combined budget and state of the state address Wednesday, one phrase in particular stood out: spelunking for misery.

Contrary to those folks who spend their time orbiting Illinois politics just spelunking for misery, our state has a lot to be proud of, Pritzker said, calling out Republicans critical of his  and, by extension, Democratic legislative supermajorities  stewardship of the state.

The phrase later took on a life of its own as a Twitter hashtag used by top Pritzker officials to dismiss these criticisms, arguing that Republicans would rather look for the negative than accept the positive.

The speech, in a sense, can be considered the opening salvo to Pritzker's reelection campaign, with the governor taking full advantage of unexpectedly-good budget numbers while offering a passionate defense of his sometimes-controversial legislative record just nine months ahead of facing voters.

Pritzker touted major initiatives passed during his first three years in office, including $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital program and the Clean and Equitable Jobs Act, which aims to move the state towards 100% renewable energy by 2050.

At the same time, he pushed back on Republican calls to repeal Democratic legislative wins such as the landmark criminal justice reform law  known as the SAFE-T Act  and several pro-choice initiatives meant to ensure abortion access if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

At a time when politicians in some places have dipped their toes into the waters of sedition, or pulled chairs up for the ghosts of Jim Crow ... or are telling women you have to take your reproductive health choices back to the 1950s ... this government in this state said not here, Pritzker said.

In fact, three Republican gubernatorial candidates vying to take on Pritzker sent their speech "reaction" comments either before it started or while it was still being delivered.

It is no surprise that the Tax-Hiker-In-Chief is attempting to rewrite history today to mislead Illinois voters in an election year with gimmicks that rely on a disappearing federal bailout," said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, offering the statement 15 minutes into Pritzker's speech.

Businessman Gary Rabine, in a statement sent minutes before the speech was delivered, said that "we witnessed how out of touch" Pritzker is with the people of Illinois, saying that "a one-time bailout from the federal government does not equate with sound fiscal management."

Venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, in a statement sent before Pritzker finished, called the governor's proposal for nearly $1 billion in one-time tax relief as "classic election year bait-and-switch budgeting."

State Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, released a statement after the governor's speech, said that "we need serious reforms in Springfield that arent reliant on federal bailouts."

Pritzker, preemptively rebutting the claims to be made by his opponents, said "the same tired old characters who are always so desperate to bad-mouth Illinois will falsely attribute our fiscal success to the federal American Rescue Plan Act. As usual, theyre wrong."

Pritzker's speech and the Republican responses illustrate some of the likely battle lines as campaign season kicks into high gear.

Republicans have accused Pritzker of wanting to raise income taxes, pointing to his previous support for changing the state's flat tax structure to a graduated rate, which failed at the ballot box in 2020.

Though Pritzker proposed raising taxes on the wealthiest state residents, Republicans have long said that the proposal would have opened the door to higher rates for everyone.

And another clear campaign issue is crime, with Republicans attributing the rise in crime across the state to the the SAFE-T Act, a law signed by Pritzker last year that will eventually eliminate cash bail and require all police officers to wear body cameras among other changes. Most of its provisions haven't taken effect yet.

Republicans have called for the law's repeal, but Pritzker said that will not happen. He also announced more funds for public safety in his budget, including appropriating $250 million for community-based violence prevention initiatives.

"Crime is a complex and multi-faceted problem to tackle, and its cynical and counter-productive to simply shout 'lock them up' while providing fewer resources to the people and programs that prevent crime in the first place," Pritzker said.

Legislative Democrats have also promised a package dealing with the rise in crime, especially as it pertains to petty theft and carjackings.

Still, Republicans are expected to continue pushing for the SAFE-T Act's repeal and have also released their own proposals for addressing the rise in crime. It will likely continue to be a prominent campaign issue in 2022.

But the battle lines were drawn in Pritzker's address.

Going into the campaign season, Pritzker and his team have reason to swagger. State coffers, buoyed by billions in federal stimulus funds and tax revenues that have been significantly boosted by robust U.S. economic growth, are flush with cash not seen in more than a quarter-century.

The governor's office is now projecting a $1.7 billion surplus for the current fiscal year and a surplus in Pritzker's proposed fiscal year 2023 budget, which would begin July 1.

Such budget flexibility has allowed Pritzker's administration to pay down state pension debt and unpaid bills all while proposing election year tax relief of nearly $1 billion.

Pritzker's positive outlook is contrasted with a more grim Republican view, which the governor dubbed spelunking for misery.

Illinois voters will get to choose which view they believe to be reality in November.

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ROME  U.S. President Joe Biden joined Pope Francis and a leading Sunni imam on Friday in calling for greater global cooperation to fight the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other world crises on the second anniversary of a landmark Christian-Muslim peace initiative.

The Vatican released a statement from Biden marking the International Day of Human Fraternity, a U.N.-designated celebration of interfaith and multicultural understanding inspired by a landmark document signed on Feb. 4, 2019, in Abu Dhabi by Francis and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyeb, the imam of the Al-Azhar center for Sunni learning in Cairo.

The document called for greater mutual understanding and solidarity to confront the problems facing the world. With the backing of the United Arab Emirates, the initiative has gone on to create a high-level commission to spread the message, and Friday's anniversary celebration included a video message from Francis that was also translated into Hebrew.

In his statement, Biden said "for too long, the narrowed view that our shared prosperity is a zero-sum game has festered  the view that for one person to succeed, another has to fail..." Such a view, he said, had led to conflicts and crises that are today too big for one nation or people to solve.

"They require us to speak with one another in open dialogue to promote tolerance, inclusion and understanding," he said.

Biden, a Catholic, met with Francis in October in a lengthy audience that touched on climate change, poverty and the pandemic.

"We all live under the same heaven, independently of where and how we live, the color of our skin, religion, social group, sex, age, economic conditions, or our state of health. All of us are different yet equal, and this time of pandemic has shown that clearly," Francis said in his message.

El-Tayyib, for his part, issued a message greeting "my dear brother" Francis and called him "the incessantly courageous companion on the path of fraternity and peace."

"We have embarked on this path in the hope for a new world that is free of wars and conflicts, where the fearful are reassured, the poor sustained, the vulnerable protected and justice administered," he said.

While such objectives are "unacceptable for warmongers" he said "the road of peace is predestined for all the believers in God."

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A Davenport man on probation out of Winnebago County, Illinois, is charged with robbing the Hilltop Grocery on Tuesday in Davenport.

Franklin Deangelos Mangruem Jr., 33, is charged with one count of second-degree robbery. The charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Donnie Pridemore, at 10:59 p.m. Tuesday, officers were sent to the Hilltop Grocery, 1312 Harrison St.

Mangruem, a regular customer at the store, had been inside the business and then left. He returned a short time later with a mask over his face, but the employee still recognized him by his clothing, voice, demeanor and markings on the visible part of his face.

Mangruem selected a few items including a bottle of Hennessy liquor. The entire bill totaled $61.81.

Mangruem then attempted to pay for the items with two different credit cards, both of which were rejected.

When it was clear that neither of the cards would work, Mangruem attempted to grab the items and run from the store. The employee was able to wrest the bottle of liquor from Mangruem.

Mangruem then stood at the counter knocking over jars of candy and other merchandise and shouting threats at the employee, including telling the employee that he had a gun and was going to shoot him.

As the employee was calling police, Mangruem left the store. The entire incident was captured on the stores surveillance camera.

Officers examined the receipt from the second failed transaction that showed that it was a Visa card with the last four digits being 2332.

Early Friday, Mangruem went back to the store. The employee called police. As officers were arriving Mangruem was attempting to leave the area. He was wearing the same clothing he had worn the night of the robbery.

Officers seized the Visa credit card that had the last four digits of 2332 from Mangruem.

Mangruem was booked into the Scott County Jail at 12:25 a.m. Friday. He was being held Friday night on a bond of $10,000, cash or surety, for the robbery charge.

He also was being held on a $1,000 cash-only bond on a charge of failing to appear in Scott County District Court on a charge of possession of a controlled substance-first offense-marijuana, a serious misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year.

Mangruem is also awaiting trial on simple misdemeanor charges of public intoxication, interference with official acts and disorderly conduct, fighting, each of which carries a jail sentence of up to 30 days, from an incident in November.

A preliminary hearing on the robbery charge is scheduled for Feb. 11 in Scott County District Court.

During a hearing Feb. 23, 2021, in Winnebago County Circuit Court, Mangruem pleaded guilty to a charge of threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony under Illinois law that carries a prison sentence of 2-5 years. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of resisting a peace officer, a Class 4 felony that carries a prison sentence of 1-3 years.

Mangruem was sentenced to two years on probation, which remains active, according to Winnebago County Circuit Court electronic records.

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Davenport Police arrested a parolee from the Iowa Department of Corrections early Friday after he allegedly fired a gun at someone in the 5300 block of North Linwood Avenue.

Rodney Lawrence Hanneman, whose address is listed in Moline on Scott County District Court electronic records, is charged with one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon. The charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

Hanneman also is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Martin Gonzalez, at 3:29 a.m. Friday, officers were sent to investigate a disturbance at 5312 N. Linwood Ave.

In his affidavit, Gonzalez said Hanneman had sent messages to the victim to go outside to meet with him. The victim walked outside his residence and was confronted by Hanneman, who was sitting in the drivers seat of a brown GMC van with Illinois plates. The victim told police that Hanneman had a black pistol in his left hand that was hanging out the drivers side window while they spoke.

The victim told police that Hanneman was upset with him and pointed the gun at him, with Hanneman stating he was going to kill the victim.

Hanneman then started driving north away from the residence. Hanneman then stopped the vehicle and fired the gun. The victim told police he saw the muzzle flash and heard the gunshot.

During the incident, a witness inside the victims residence watched what was happening and was on the phone with the Scott County Emergency Communications Center when the shot was fired.

Hanneman then left but was quickly located by police. The victim gave a positive identification of Hanneman.

Inside the van officers seized a spent 9mm casing.

Hanneman was booked into the Scott County Jail at 6:18 a.m. Friday. During a first appearance on the charges in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Stephen Wing set a preliminary hearing date for Feb. 24.

Wing then released Hanneman from jail without a bond, placing him under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections until trial.

Hanneman already is on parole from the Iowa Department of Corrections as of April 29, 2020. He is on parole as a habitual offender until Dec. 26, 2023, according to Iowa Department of Corrections electronic records.

According to Scott County District Court electronic records, on May 24, 2017, a Scott County jury convicted Hanneman of second-degree theft for stealing a Yamaha motorcycle valued at $3,800 on Feb. 17, 2017. The charge is a Class D felony that normally carries a prison sentence of five years. However, the Scott County Attorneys Office prosecuted Hanneman as a habitual offender.

On July 16, 2017, Scott County District Judge Henry Latham sentenced Hanneman to a prison sentence not to exceed 15 years, ordering Hanneman to serve a minimum of three years before parole could be granted.

Hannemans conviction was upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court.

Hanneman was on probation in Scott County at the time he stole the motorcycle. On May 11, 2015, he pleaded guilty to stealing $5,000 worth of Jeep Wrangler tires on Jan. 18, 2013. Latham sentenced him to three years on probation.

On June 29, 2015, Hanneman was accused of violating his probation. District Judge Nancy Tabor sentenced Hanneman to 60 days in jail and returned him to probation.

He violated his probation again on Feb. 17, 2017, when he stole the motorcycle. Latham revoked his probation and sentenced him to a five-year prison term to run concurrent with the 15-year sentence.

In 2013, Hanneman pleaded guilty in Rock Island County Circuit Court to a charge of burglary and was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

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DES MOINES  Eight Iowa school districts including Davenport, are violating a judicial order by not reinstating face mask requirements, the American Civil Liberties Unions state chapter asserted in a letter sent Friday to those districts.

The eight districts  Ankeny, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Decorah, Denver, Johnston, Linn-Mar and Waterloo  should have mask requirements to protect the students with disabilities who filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that prohibited face mask requirements in schools, the ACLU said.

On Jan. 25, a federal appeals court ruled the plaintiffs  families whose children have disabilities from across 10 Iowa school districts  should receive immediate relief from the new state law because those students health would be placed in danger in a school without a face mask requirement. The appeals ruling agreed with a lower court order that the parents deserved an injunction against the law being enforced since it violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act but said the injunction should not have automatically been made to apply to every district in the state.

Since the initial ruling, only Des Moines and Iowa City, which also are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, have implemented face mask requirements, the ACLU said. The eight districts that received letters Friday have not, the ACLU said.

Based on the legal force of the 8th Circuits opinion, we are asking these eight schools to restore their mask mandates immediately because they are still necessary for our clients children to go to school safely during this time, ACLU of Iowa legal director Rita Bettis Austen said in a statement.

Failing to require masking when it is necessary as a reasonable accommodation forces our clients to choose between their childrens health and their education.

The Linn-Mar, Davenport and Council Bluffs school districts said Friday they would not comment on the letter, and the Waterloo school district did not respond to requests seeking comment.

The ACLUs letters ask the districts to respond within a week and states that, if districts do not respond, the plaintiffs will consider further legal action. Bettis Austen, during a news conference Friday, said the ACLU did not forecast litigation strategy.

Its really a misreading of the 8th Circuit (appeals court) decision to view it as a green light to lift those masking requirements when theyre required in order for kids with disabilities to be able to go to school safely on equal terms with their peers, Bettis Austen said.

This is about enforcing existing anti-discrimination protections for kids to go to school and that they have a right to go to school on the same basis of their peers without discrimination, Bettis Austen added. One of the functions of discrimination protections is to ensure that individuals who are part of a minority have their rights protected when a majority may be interested in violating those rights. We wouldnt have these anti-discrimination protections if they werent necessary.

The letters address only districts to which a plaintiff in the lawsuit attends. The ACLU said its interpretation of the Jan. 25 ruling was that any district must make similar accommodations for students with disabilities. And Bettis Austen said the ACLU might take action against other schools in the future.

The rights of those children are also important to us, Bettis Austen said.

The Linn-Mar Community School District stopped requiring students, staff and visitors to schools to wear a mask Jan. 3. In September, the school board had voted to require masks for students in prekindergarten through sixth grade  a requirement that remained in effect until a COVID-19 vaccine was widely available for children.

Kevin Fry, Linn-Mar communication director, said Friday the district has no comment on the ACLU letter. The district declined to comment on questions from The Gazette asking if officials plan to reinstate a mask mandate or if it will be a discussion item for the school board at its next meeting on Feb. 14.

A mask requirement remains for students, staff and visitors in the Iowa City Community School District. Because the district is continuing to require masks, it did not receive a letter from the ACLU.

Grace King of The Gazette contributed to this report.

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CHICAGO  As Drew Peterson's appeals against his murder conviction repeatedly failed, it seemed the former suburban Chicago police sergeant might fade from the news.

But a decade after a jury convicted him in the slaying of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, Peterson has been given something from the judge who sentenced him to 38 years in prison: Another day in court.

Will County Judge Edward Burmila is scheduled Monday to consider Peterson's hand-printed motion sent from an Indiana prison to vacate his conviction after determining he had presented a gist of a constitutional claim.

WHAT ARE PETERSON'S ARGUMENTS?

Peterson says his attorney, Joel Brodsky, was ineffective. He argues that Brodsky gave bad advice, such as urging him not to testify and threatening to quit if he did. He paints Brodsky as a publicity hound.

He also says Will County States Attorney James Glasgow was an overzealous and unethical prosecutor who intimidated witnesses. Peterson also blames Hollywood, arguing that a movie starring Rob Lowe portrayed him in a very negative light" in the eyes of the jury.

Finally, Peterson says he was the victim of hearsay evidence that should never have been presented to jurors. Peterson was the first criminal defendant in Illinois history to be tried after Glasgow helped push through a law dubbed Drew's Law. It allowed Savio and Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, who disappeared in 2007, to speak from their graves" via people who testified that both women told them things that implicated Peterson in the killing.

COULD ANY OF IT HELP PETERSON?

Much of what Peterson argues has already been shot down by judges and courts.

They have dispatched the argument that Brodsky was ineffective. And the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the use of hearsay testimony by Savio and Stacy Peterson  whom Drew Peterson is suspected of killing though he has not been charged in her death  did not violate his constitutional right to confront his accusers. The court found there was evidence that Peterson killed them to prevent their testimony.

Attorneys say that means Peterson must have something new to say.

Anything hes already raised, he cant raise that post-conviction unless hes found something new or there is something he didnt know or couldnt have known before, said Terry Ekl, a prominent Chicago-area defense attorney who is not involved in the case.

Legal experts and one former member of Peterson's legal team said the argument that Glasgow intimidated witnesses is new and if evidence shows it happened  something Glasgow's office denies  it might help the former Bolingbrook police sergeant. But attorney Joe Lopez, who was on the legal team, said Peterson will have to produce evidence.

While the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear Peterson's appeal once, Phil Turner, a former federal prosecutor who isn't involved with the case, said there's a chance the high court might want to hear his arguments concerning the prosecutor.

"That issue has some substance, Turner said. If they frame that right, they might have a shot.

WHAT'S NEXT?

When Burmila agreed to hear more from Peterson, he appointed an attorney and an investigator from the local public defender's office to assist him. The attorney could ask for more time to investigate when the case returns to court Monday  a request that Lopez and Ekl expect the judge to grant.

Burmila could then agree to an evidentiary hearing, meaning people who Peterson contends were threatened or Glasgow himself could take the witness stand, Ekl said.

Brodsky and Peterson could also be called to testify, which might be problematic for Peterson. Brodksy would almost certainly be asked if he threatened to quit the case if Peterson testified at trial. Brodsky was careful with his words when he told The Associated Press that he would be forced to explain why he didn't want Peterson to testify.

Does Drew really want to do that?" he asked.

Peterson would also be confronted with his own statement to Burmila at trial that the decision not to testify was his. Ekl suggested that Peterson, a veteran police officer, would have a tough time selling that argument.

He's not a 16-year-old kid, Ekl said.

He could also be confronted with his own actions. If Brodsky wanted publicity, so, it appeared, did Peterson. Through all the publicity stunts, beginning with a Win a Date with Drew contest the two floated, Peterson seemed like a willing and even gleeful participant.

COULD PETERSON WALK FREE SOON?

Nope.

Such appeals are long shots. Besides, Peterson provided no proof in his motion, which he wrote by himself from prison.

Even if he's successful, there is this: A few years after Peterson was convicted of murder he was found guilty of plotting to kill Glasgow. The sentence in that case was 40 years in prison  two more than he got for killing his ex-wife  to begin on the completion of his current sentence.

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For the past two years, The Salvation Army of the Black Hills has teamed up with Riddles Jewelry to encourage volunteers to sign up to ring bells for the Red Kettle Campaign.

Every bell ringer who completed a two-hour shift during the campaign was entered into a drawing to win a diamond pendant necklace valued at $900, courtesy of Riddles Jewelry.

Nancy Fisher, who volunteered at Family Fare in Baken Park in Rapid City, is the 2021 winner. While receiving the necklace on Friday, she said that she and her husband retired in 2021 and decided to ring bells for the first time.

"We had so much fun doing it that we kept signing up for more opportunities to get out there," she said Friday. "I encourage anybody to do that because it is so much fun. You see people you know and it's just a good little social mixer, also."

Fisher said it's important for people to get out and volunteer, particularly the younger generation. She said she would love to see families ring the bell together. She said people can expect to see her and her husband being bell ringers again.

Every day, there are 28 volunteer bell ringer positions to fill for the holiday season starting on Black Friday through Christmas Eve throughout Rapid City and the Black Hills.

To date, The Salvation Army has met its $438,000 goal for our 2021 Hope Marches On campaign, said Major Jerry ONeil, The Salvation Army Black Hills Area Coordinator. He said Friday that they reached about $445,000.

We are very pleased with donations and couldnt have reached this without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers," he said. "When you volunteer to ring bells, you help improve and even save lives. The money dropped in a red kettle goes right back into our local community. By volunteering even just two hours of your time, enough money is raised to feed a family of four for an entire week.

In addition, funds are used to provide toys for children, and used throughout the year to provide other basic financial and material assistance of food, clothing, household items, utility assistance, and more to those in our community in need.

The Salvation Army of the Black Hills helped 4,120 people in need during the holidays. With the support of donors and partners, the organization distributed 1,174 food boxes along with 13,075 toys and gifts for children.

To volunteer at a red kettle, visit registertoring.com. Christmas wouldnt be complete without the Angel Tree program with Christmas trees in local businesses covered in paper Angel tags, labeled with a child's wants and needs. To get involved and to see what opportunities are available, contact Angie Mason, Event & Volunteer Coordinator at 605-342-0982 or email angie.mason@usc.salvationarmy.org.

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For Sonya Bilocerkowycz, the act of storytelling can serve as a connecting thread. She recalls the bond she experienced with her grandmother  a bond that propelled her to find out as much about what happened to her great grandfather as she could.

She wanted to be able to tell his story. And her grandmothers story. And her own.

I was extremely close with my grandmother, Bilocerkowycz said in a telephone interview. I spent every summer with her in her house in Chicago. I think I needed to know where she had come from.

Her grandmother  or Busia, as she called her  came to the United States from Ukraine and lived in Chicago when Bilocerkowycz was growing up. She knew that in a western Ukrainian village, something mysterious and tragic had happened to Busia's father. One day, strange men showed up at Busias house and took her father away. She never saw him again, Bilocerkowycz writes early in her book, On Our Way Home from the Revolution.

Bilocerkowycz noticed that her grandmothers stories about her past, including about her father  or Bilocerkowyczs great grandfather  were not always complete.

There were always these holes, these gaps in the narrative, she said.

Those sorts of gaps, she explained, helped to induce her own search and her own storytelling.

Bilocerkowycz grew up in Rapid City and graduated from St. Thomas More High School in 2007. Her writing has soared since her graduation, particularly in the essay form. And now, the National Endowment for the Arts has announced that Bilocerkowycz is among 35 writers selected to receive a Creative Writing Fellowship of $25,000 for fiscal year 2022.

Her 2019 book On Our Way Home from the Revolution earned the Gournay Prize for a debut essay collection, as her website notes, and shes published many essays and other literary works in journals throughout the country. Shes a senior editor for the journal, Speculative Nonfiction.

Bilocerkowycz has served as a Fulbright Fellow in Belarus, as an educational recruiter in the Republic of Georgia, and as an instructor at Ukrainian Catholic University in L'viv, in western Ukraine. She earned her Master of Fine Arts at Ohio State University, and she now teaches creative writing at SUNY Geneseo.

She was born in Dayton, Ohio and lived there for the first two years of her life. When her parents divorced, she moved to Seattle with her mother. By the age of 4 she was living in Rapid City. Her stepfathers work brought the family here, she explained, and she lived in Rapid City until she was 18 years old and on the cusp of her college studies at the University of Dayton.

I still consider Rapid City home, she said, noting that her mother still lives here.

Bilocerkowycz mentioned writers such as Joan Didion and Jon Krakauer as powerful forces drawing her to nonfiction. She also described a wonderful mentor: Lina Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, her thesis advisor at Ohio State University.

She helped me to understand the power of the essay form, Bilocerkowycz said.

Bilocerkowycz cited teachers whod left strong impressions at St. Thomas More High School, as well. She recalled Ann Trucano, who taught her in two high school English classes.

Trucano described Bilocerkowycz as persistently curious in her learning and scrupulous in her efforts to edit and improve her writing. Trucano said that Bilocerkowycz tended to ask lots of probing questions.

She was very perceptive in her readings, and always wanted to go deeper, said Trucano, now retired after 18 years of teaching in the Rapid City Catholic School System. As an English teacher, thats exactly what you want (students) to do. When you get those kinds of kids, its contagious.

As Bilocerkowycz considers the prominent role Ukraine plays in the news today, shes seeing events unfolding that, as she knows, grow from deep roots.

I think it is important for observers to understand that this is not something that just sprang up in 2021, that Ukraine has been dealing with a constant Russian threat since 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, she said, adding that the history reaches far beyond that event, as well.

For many decades before that, Moscow has been an imperial force in the region, and Ukraine has been a site of resistance to colonization, she said.

Bilocerkowycz contemplated some possible reasons lurking behind the tension.

Ukraine has chosen to embrace things like free elections, a free press, and these other democratic features that we recognize, she said. And while those processes have been admittedly very messy at times, and progress hasnt always been linear, there is this real sincere and earnest commitment to democracy among Ukrainian citizens. And because hes an authoritarian leader, this makes (Russian President Vladimir) Putin very nervous because democratic gains in neighboring states really challenge the structure of his own regime.

Bilocerkowycz finds the essay form to be a potent way to explore the personal and the historical  often intimately intertwined. Shes lauded the work of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whom she described in her book On Our Way Home from the Revolution as a fierce critic of the Kremlin  murdered in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building in 2006.

Bilocerkowycz has noted that her own writing generally takes a different sort of shape, in the form of a literary or personal essay. She said she reflects a great deal on the etymology of the word essay, which comes from the French word essayer, meaning to try.

Thats something I love about the essay form, she said. Every time I sit down to essay  I really consider it a verb  Im trying to communicate something. Im trying to understand something. Its an attempt to communicate or understand, and that doesnt necessarily mean its going to be successful.

That spirit of quest, at once filled with ambition and humility, is something she invites readers to experience as well. Toward the end of On Our Way Home from the Revolution, she explained, she describes documents she discovers that change the image shed had of her great-grandfathers life. She lets the reader absorb both her early impressions and then the changes she recounts later.

I bring the reader along to understand this man in one way, she said, and then have the rug pulled out from the reader in the same way it was pulled out from me.

With help from the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, Bilocerkowyczs writing continues.

I am in the early stages of a new book project, she said. With the support from the National Endowment from the Arts, Im writing furiously.

But the subject of that work will stay in the shadows, for now.

Im not quite ready, she said with a chuckle, to say other words at this moment.

To learn more about Bilocerkowycz, people can visit https://www.sonyabilo.com/.

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Wendy Janke, a Licensed Practical Nurse at Lead-Deadwood Clinic, has received the DAISY Award. A national program, the award is presented to nurses who go above and beyond for their patients and community. She was nominated by a patient.

The patient wrote, My husband and I have been patients at the clinic for a number of years. The many encounters we have had with Wendy have without exception been positive. As a retired nurse, I was very concerned about what kind of health care we would find when we moved to this area 10 years ago. We have received exceptional care at the clinic, and Wendy plays a big role in that care delivery. She is thoughtful and sensitive to our health care needs. Wendy is a knowledgeable, caring, upbeat nurse. I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job.

The DAISY Award recognizes the outstanding professionalism and compassion that nurses bring to patients and families every day. It was established by the DAISY Foundation in California in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33 of an autoimmune disease.

DAISY is an acronym for diseases attacking the immune system. Nurses in Rapid City are selected 12 times a year for this recognition. Nurses are also honored in Custer, Lead-Deadwood, Spearfish and Sturgis. Visit monument.health/daisy to nominate someone.

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HYDERABAD: Though the name of the department is prisons and correctional services, the convicts lodged in prisons across the state do not seem to have the least inclination to correct themselves, if the rising number of repeat offenders is anything to go by.

Several instances of habitual offenders have been witnessed in the last one year, wherein the police caught the individuals just days after their release from the jail. Social activists opine that prisons and jails are places to waste of taxpayers money if they are not doing the basic job.

Lack of rehabilitation and counselling facilities in the prisons department forces the prisoners to choose the path of crime even after being freed from jail, opine psychologists. A majority of these repeat offenders are anxious about their future outside jail. When they meet others, and have a lot of free time inside the prison, they end up sketching crimes, said a senior officer from the city police.

On January 27, the Meerpet police arrested a burglar who was released from jail on January 7 for stealing gold and silver ornaments and gadgets worth Rs 13.10 lakh. On January 26, central crime station (CCS) LB Nagar team caught a 32-year-old man, who was released in May 2021 after being involved in 20 burglary cases, and seized Rs 1.11 lakh of stolen property from him.

In another case, the Hyderabad police nabbed Chidirika Aravind, who was arrested and jailed several times as he has been actively committing house burglaries since 2017 during every bail. After his last arrest in February 2020 by the LB Nagar police and post his release in July 2020, he worked with several companies in the service industries and from October 2021 till January 13, he committed burglaries in the limits of SR Nagar and Sanathnagar police stations and stole a bike from Madhapur.

To eradicate organised crime, we must have an organised reformation process, said Yamuna Pathak, a research scholar, and social activist. It is called a correctional facility but nothing of that sort is being done here. The basic ideology is to correct the criminals behaviour and we need to have a psychologist and counsellor to do that job. A psychologist sits and talks about what made them do what they did and also delves on their upbringing. Do we have case studies of these criminals? There is no such evaluation and introspection process and no fact sheet is being maintained. There is absolutely zero evaluation, she said.

Mindset of convicts, especially in grave offenses, should be dealt with delicately and a procedural approach is needed to reform them, according to Dr. Priyanka M., a psychologist. It is always the circumstances and the past, be it upbringing, trauma or environment which change an individual. The department needs to come up with a refined model wherein a person entering a jail should be told about his mistakes and changed as a person rather than being shut in and left out, said the doctor.

Meanwhile, former director general of prisons, Vinoy Kumar Singh, said, Incidentally, the prisons department in Telangana lacks a government appointed psychologist or counsellor.

When asked about the rise of repeat offenders, the current incharge of Telangana State Prisons and Correctional center, Jitender IPS said, "Yes, some exceptions will always be there. Generally speaking recidivism rate is very low in Telangana compared to other states.
I am a native South Dakotan and support Governor Noem and her efforts as do the vast majority of South Dakota voters. She has put South Dakota on the map nationally and it's, frankly, about time.

This male conservative Republican is also frustrated with Noem. Her personal need to be in a national spotlight and focused on pleasing national figures and organizations leaves us SD residents wanting for new, local leadership.

So Gov. Noems bill on abortion didnt even get a hearing? Unheard of. Come on Reps., at least hear her out.

Could our governor, legislators and local municipalities please consider something constructive to everyone in South Dakota besides the "transgender issues" and campground expansion? How about considering eliminating the regressive tax on groceries with all the surplus money they are trying to spend.

Is the speed limit through the gap 45 or 50 mph?

All the new construction and record building permits add to the tax base, but they still feel the need to jack up us poor people.

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Not surprising given that the attention of rodeo fans quickly gravitates to the bucking chutes, rough stock events were the feature attraction in Friday nights second performance of Rodeo Rapid City at Summit Arena. And while bucking livestock, bronc or bull, make for excitement, Fridays world class field of competitors heightened the action.

Lane McGehee, a 24-year-old bareback rider from Victoria, Texas excited the crowd early with a back-bumping 85-point ride aboard Summit Rodeos Hillbilly to move into second overall on the leaderboard behind Garrett Shadbolt (89-point effort on Thursday night.

I was on that horse once in Gooding (Idaho), and she actually kicked so hard out of the chute, she kind of hurt herself, McGehee said. Man, I was excited to have her drawn here at this great big rodeo. She got out here and I felt her buck and I just did what I prepare for. Ive picked up a couple of wins already this year and Im moving up slowly and hoping for the best.

Having recently completed in Fort Worth (and advanced to Wednesdays Wildcat round), McGehee is hustling back to see his friend Kaycee Feild (a six-time world champ and perhaps the GOAT bareback rider) compete in the finals.

Jayco Roper, last years Rodeo Rapid City bareback champion, made a return appearance of sorts  last years win was in the Barnett Arena next door  hoping to defend the bareback title won last year. In the midst of a lengthy dry spell and unranked in 2022, Roper was hoping to recapture some of last years magic. Not to be as the 20-year-old Oklahoma cowboy failed to close the deal aboard New Frontiers Live Auction.

The saddle bronc field included five of South Dakotas best bronc riders and a four NFR qualifiers as well including Allen Boore, winner of last Saturdays Xtreme Bronc event continued the assault on the leaderboard.

A Canadian cowboy was the best of the lot on Friday night as Kolby Wanchuk (Sherwood Park, Alberta) and moved to the top of the leaderboard. And rode two bucking horses to make it happen.

Awarded a re-ride when his first bronc performed poorly, Wanchuk spurred Burch Rodeos Holy Moccasin to an 83.5-point ride.

I watched my traveling partner, Sage Newman, get on him last year and make a heck of a ride so I was pretty excited to see what I had for the re-ride. I didnt know him too well but he dang sure came out and bucked tonight and let me show off and have some fun, said Wanchuk who is coming off a big win at the National Western in Denver this month. Things are feeling pretty good and Im getting some good draws so things are going good.

The Friday night rodeo closed with another rough stock big number and leaderboard change as bull riding Garrett Wickett (Battle Creek, Nebraska), the last man out of the chute, closed out the performance with an 84-point ride.

I dont remember much of it, Wickett said. I think he went left. The bull had been to the Prairie Circuit Finals in Duncan, Oklahoma and a buddy of mine who was here tonight said what he was, and it turned out that he did the opposite of what he was supposed to do. After that, it just felt good and I just kept riding and riding. I couldnt hear a whistle at all and it felt like it was eight seconds and I tried to get off him.

Prior to Wicketts winning ride, the bull had pitched a shutout including de-seating Josh Frost, the No. 1 ranked bull rider in 2022 PRCA world standings.

Dalton Wright (Keene, North Dakota) drew high expectations, a New Frontier Rodeo rank bull that Jr. Stratford rode to a Barnett Arena record last year though was unable to cover the big bucking, rank bull.

The rough stock assault on to one leaderboard in the timed event end of the arena as Dallen McIntire (Thayer, Iowa), became the new leader in tie-down roping. Quick on the ground, McIntire trussed his calf in 8.1-seconds.

The 2022 edition of Rodeo Rapid City PRCA rodeo concludes on Saturday with two performances, a matinee at 1:30 p.m. and the finale at 7:30 p.m. Freestyle bullfighting follows each performance.

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I have a few issues I wish to discuss, the rejection of the Black Hills Special Services Cooperative contract, the banning of books, and vowing personal action against school staff.

First, the BHSS contract, why are you not renewing something that greatly helps the underserved and at risk population of Rapid City? With this vote and the vote against the ELL grant this fall, it seems the board is very against the poor and at risk population. Also, how can it be approved with only two out of seven voting yes? I understand two members were absent but that is not even close to the majority.

Mr. Doney, why did you abstain? As your constituents, we deserve our members to actually participate or at least offer a valid reason why they are abstaining.

Mrs. Thomas, you have voted every year to approve this contact, no questions asked. What is different this year? Also, as a Board member and especially as the President, it is your job to read and understand the agenda before the meetings. Rejecting something because you didnt take the time to understand it is unprofessional and honestly makes the board look dysfunctional. Its embarrassing to the city as a whole.

Please approve the contract, the services provided are invaluable.

On to the conversation about the books. How can you allow a person from the general public to accuse staff of manipulation by simply doing their job and having books stocked? They also discussed grooming with thinly veiled hints the staff member was grooming. That appears to be slander and the Board allowed it and supported it. The library should be stocked with books of all backgrounds, beliefs, subjects, etc, that is the point of the library. Banning books is what fascist and authoritarian dictators have done in the past.

I thought freedom of choice was key.

Mr. Doney broke procedures to speak on a personal note about the topic. That is not allowed. It is also appalling that Mr. Doney threaten to take action against a staff member for strictly doing their job. Complaints against staff should follow protocols and board members cannot promise action against the staff.

Please do not take personnel action against staff, especially if they are just doing their job. Please do not ban books. And please approve the BHSS contract.

Janel Wright is a longtime resident of Rapid City, a RCAS alum, and a mom of two children currently in the RCAS system.

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Waffle House shooter convicted of murder

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  A man who shot and killed four people at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018 was found guilty on four counts of first-degree murder Friday by a jury that rejected his insanity defense.

Travis Reinking, 33, did not dispute the details of the shooting, which was caught on surveillance video and witnessed by numerous people.

Naked save for a green jacket, Reinking opened fire inside the restaurant just after 3:20 a.m. on April 22, 2018, killing Taurean Sanderlin, 29; Joey Perez, 20; Akilah Dasilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21. He fled after restaurant patron James Shaw Jr. wrestled his assault-style rifle away from him, triggering a manhunt.

Avenatti convicted of stealing from Daniels

NEW YORK  Michael Avenatti was convicted Friday of cheating porn actor Stormy Daniels out of nearly $300,000 she was supposed to get for writing a book about an alleged tryst with former President Donald Trump.

Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Avenatti to surrender Monday to U.S. marshals in California. Avenatti has delayed serving a 2-year prison sentence for his 2020 conviction in an extortion case while waiting for the book trial and the retrial of a fraud case in a California federal court.

Pence: Trump wrong on reversing election

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday directly rebutted Donald Trumps false claims that Pence somehow could have overturned the results of the 2020 election.

In a speech to a gathering of the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence addressed Trumps intensifying efforts this week to advance the false narrative that, as vice president, he had the unilateral power to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.

President Trump is wrong, Pence said. I had no right to overturn the election. While Pence has previously defended his actions on Jan. 6 and said that he and Trump will likely never see eye to eye on what happened that day, the remarks Friday marked his most forceful rebuttal of Trump to date.

NYC mayor apologizes for using racial slur

NEW YORK  New York City Mayor Eric Adams apologized Friday after a 2019 video surfaced showing him using a racial slur for white people when talking about the New York Police Department.

The video, first reported by the New York Daily News, shows Adams, who is Black, speaking at a private event in December 2019, during the early stages of his mayoral run.

Speaking to a Harlem business group, Adams  a former New York City police officer  said, Every day in the police department, I kicked those crackers ass, man!  The line drew applause.

Adams was asked about the video at a news conference Friday and said he wanted to definitely apologize for his remarks and called them inappropriate. The mayor said the comment referred to his efforts to combat racism in the department.

Patrick Lynch, the head of the citys largest police union, put out a statement defending Adams. A few seconds of video will not define our relationship, said Lynch, who is white.
Three Richmond police detectives responded to Mosby Court two summers ago to assist fellow officers after a man had been shot to death and sporadic gunfire was erupting in parts of the public housing complex.

When they saw a line of vehicles speed away from the area, the detectives made a U-turn to follow one of the cars, thinking the vehicles occupants may have been involved in the mayhem. It nearly cost them their lives.

Numerous shots rang out and bullets were striking our vehicle, and I didnt know where they were coming from, Detective Edward Aeschlimann testified Friday in Richmond Circuit Court. Time seemed to slow down in that very moment, and I was just waiting for that bullet that was going to hit me.

One shot smashed through the windshield, narrowly missing the head of Detective Elmer Fernandez in the front passenger seat. Shards of glass cut his face and arms, drawing blood. He wasnt immediately sure whether he had been shot.

As soon as the bullets starting hitting glass, I just took cover in the passenger seat, Fernandez testified. If I didnt react the way I did, I wouldnt be here.

Said Aeschlimann: I was very fearful for Detective Fernandez. I saw he was injured in some capacity; I thought for sure he was shot.

Other rounds struck the front grill, the drivers side fender just in front of where Aeschlimann was sitting and one of the tires. Seven shots in total struck their car.

Pretty much by the grace of God were still here, Detective Henry Johnson testified. Because that night they were shooting at random cars. They didnt know who was in the car, or who they could have hit. Anybody could have died that night. We were just lucky.

Seventeen months after that harrowing night on Aug. 21, 2020, the last of the three young Richmond men who fired at the officers was sentenced to serve 7 years in prison. Jerad Wyche-Alexander, 21, was convicted last October after a bench trial of maliciously wounding Fernandez, using a firearm in wounding him, maliciously shooting at an occupied vehicle and discharging a firearm while in a car.

After listening to the officers testimony, retired Circuit Judge Beverly Snukals sentenced Wyche-Alexander to 33 years in prison with 26 years suspended  which exceeded the high end of state sentencing guidelines calculated for the defendant by four months.

The impact of this type of crime goes beyond just the victims in this case, Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Michael Hollomon told the court in urging an upward departure from the guidelines. It affects the community as a whole. It could have been a mother and three children that got shot. It was completely senseless and lawless.

Two of Wyche-Alexanders companions that night are already serving time. Circuit Judge Reilly Marchant found Anthony J. Slayton, 20, guilty of the same offenses after a bench trial on April 19. A month later, Marchant sentenced Slayton to 33 years in prison with 24 suspended, giving him nine to serve. The punishment was two years and nine months above the high end of state sentencing guidelines.

Then on June 15, Niggi Lequan Harris, 22, pleaded guilty to malicious wounding, use of a firearm and maliciously shooting into an occupied vehicle and was sentenced to 23 years in prison with 20 years suspended. A fourth charge of discharging a firearm from a vehicle was withdrawn in exchange for his plea. Harris was driving his companions the night of the shooting but there was no evidence he fired any shots, prosecutors said.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Katherine Groover, who co-prosecuted the defendants, provided this summary of evidence: After a young man was killed in Mosby Court earlier that night, Richmond police feared retaliation from friends of the victim. There had been feuding among parties living in Gilpin and Mosby courts, and police were concerned the fatal shooting would be attributed to one of the rival courts.

After receiving additional reports of shots being fired, police sent more officers to the area to investigate. Detectives Aeschlimann, Fernandez and Johnson were among those who responded. As they arrived, the officers saw three vehicles speeding quickly from the area, so they made a U-turn and began following. As they made the turn, a fourth car  occupied by Wyche-Alexander and his two companions  appeared and nearly struck the officers unmarked car.

Prosecutors believe the three wrongly assumed that the officers were their rivals, and so they immediately opened fire. The police had done nothing, there was no pursuit, there was no violence, Groover said. They had just made a quick U-turn behind these three cars and this Chevrolet Cruze [occupied by the three] appeared to be falling in line with them.

The front and rear passengers of the Cruze rolled down their windows, stuck firearms outside and began firing. The detectives radioed ahead to patrol units in the area that the Cruze was headed their way and theyre shooting at us. The patrol vehicles formed a roadblock and stopped all four vehicles as they drove down a hill.

During a search of the Cruze, the guns used in the shooting were found concealed under the front floorboard area where Slayton had been sitting.

The guns in the car were forensically matched to the cartridge casings recovered from the shooting, Hollomon told the court. There were two firearms recovered. One firearm fired four shots, the second firearm fired three shots. Multiple shots hit the [police vehicle]. So theyre all culpable.

When given the chance to address the court, Wyche-Alexander said he was sorry the shooting happened. Im glad the officers are OK , he said.
LaNita Poe, whose husband, Maurice, is incarcerated at the St. Brides Correctional Center in Chesapeake, said she was surprised to see news about some state lawmakers hoping to accelerate the timeline for legal sales of recreational marijuana in Virginia.

She and Maurice wondered if that would come with a second look at his sentence, where a series of marijuana charges while he was on probation stemming from other nonviolent drug-related counts resulted in a 10-year sentence.

The Poes are among hundreds of people in Virginia awaiting legislation from the General Assembly that could lead to release from or shortening of prison sentences for people convicted of marijuana-related crimes as the state moves to legalize the drug and create a new legal market.

Legislation moving tenuously through the House and the Senate, with the support of Democrats and Republicans, could offer that recalibration.

Resentencing for people incarcerated or on probation for marijuana-related crimes is one piece in the complicated, wide-ranging effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Virginia. What was a heated process among Democrats last year, when the party controlled both chambers of the legislature, is now an exercise in compromise between Democrats and Republicans.

Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, is leading efforts in the GOP-controlled House to adjust marijuana-related sentences. Coyner said in an interview that the state is wasting public resources by incarcerating people who would be free had the drug been legalized before they were sentenced.

As a state, we ended the prohibition in 2021 and yet were still wasting limited public resources, Coyner said. Thats not the best use of public dollars and space in our jails.

We want those folks to be out in the community, being productive.

Coyner introduced legislation that would allow a circuit court judge to hold a hearing and adjust a persons sentence  one bill would make those hearings automatic for anyone who qualifies, and another would require them to file a petition.

Neither of Coyners bills has been scheduled for a hearing. Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, who chairs the House courts panel, said in an interview that he did not believe the legislation should move forward alone.

He said he would wait to see how legislation to establish the new legal market and rework criminal penalties around marijuana played out before scheduling the resentencing bills for a hearing.

In January, days before the General Assembly session began, the Cannabis Oversight Commission voted to recommend accelerating retail sales from January 2024 to January 2023.

In the Senate, a bill from Sens. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, and Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, would allow circuit judges to re-examine the sentences of people convicted for marijuana-only crimes. People who were convicted of other felonies, and whose sentences may have been exacerbated by a marijuana conviction, would need to petition the Virginia Parole Board for resentencing.

Surovell said the approach, which was unveiled on Friday afternoon, would be less costly to the state, giving it a better chance at passage. Resentencing by the courts would be vastly more expensive, he said, though the state is still processing the fiscal impact of the proposal.

This issue is unfinished business, and it needs to be resolved, Surovell said. He said his and Lucas version of the resentencing measure would be part of the broader package from Senate Democrats to legalize marijuana.

The whole marijuana issue is a multiheaded species right now.

The Virginia Parole Board is made up of five members appointed by the governor. On his first day in office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivered on a key campaign promise to replace all five members who served under Gov. Ralph Northam, who had come under fire by Republicans for a series of release decisions.

The more conservative group Youngkin named includes Cheryl Nici-OConnell, a former Richmond police officer who appeared in a campaign ad for the governor, and Chadwick Dotson of Wise County, a former prosecutor and judge who last year sought the GOP nomination in a special election for the Senate seat of Ben Chafin, who died from COVID-19.

Its a compromise that gets us somewhere. I dont believe its a good compromise, but if we dont get something passed, no one will get a hearing, said Valerie Slater, the executive director of RISE for Youth, a criminal justice group that supports the Senate bill.

In an interview, Slater said a circuit court judge is the more appropriate place for resentencing requests because the parole boards purview is currently to determine if someone is rehabilitated enough to be released, not to recalibrate sentences. She said it would provide little to no path for appeals.

But to have not done anything, like last year, would have landed us with absolutely no opportunity for these individuals, who must get an opportunity to have their sentences looked at at this point, she said.

The Surovell and Lucas approach also got the support of other criminal justice groups, like Nolef Turns and the Virginia NAACP.

The Virginia Association of Commonwealths Attorneys opposes the bill. The group warned against reconsidering sentences for crimes like delivery of marijuana to prisoners and distributing at or near a school.

The committee should consider whether those are offenses for which retroactive action [is] to be considered, said Jim Hensley, who spoke on behalf of the association during a Senate panel on Friday.

In light of the legalization of marijuana, they involve conduct that goes beyond just marijuana possession, he said.

Hensley added that reconsidering sentences for people who were convicted of marijuana-related crimes along with other felonies opens the door to a huge number of people for reconsideration.

That broad pool has not been quantified. The pool of people convicted of charges related to marijuana only is between 400 and 500, Surovell said.

Gracie Burger, the state policy director of the Last Prisoner Project, a group advocating for resentencing reform, said all are deserving of a second look, in line with the spirit of equity with which Virginia launched into marijuana legalization.

The reason that prohibition was repealed is because, in part, there is data that shows enforcement and prosecution and particularly sentencing had rampant racial disparities, Burger said.

Sentences were meted out during a time of prohibition, at a time when sentencing was disparate across the state along racial and ethnic lines.

When Northam moved to legalize marijuana in Virginia, he said the state should focus on repairing the harm that resulted from the racially disparate enforcement of marijuana laws. That is still a concern for advocates and some lawmakers in regard to the legal market and the recalibration of penalties related to the drug.

The legislature is working through efforts to accelerate legal sales, and how to ensure that people who were affected by marijuana enforcement can profit from the new market.

On Thursday, a Senate Finance and Appropriations subcommittee rejected a proposal from Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, to eliminate the slated dedication of 30% of the revenue from a new tax on marijuana to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund.

Norment proposed to instead send the money to the general fund for lawmakers to spend.

The assembly created the fund last year to direct a portion of the money from the marijuana tax to initiatives to help predominantly minority communities that had been most harmed by past enforcement of laws against drug possession and distribution.

Marijuana Justice and other groups have warned that speeding up sales will give established businesses a leg up in the market as lawmakers appear poised to hasten sales with the goal of ensuring safe and regulated products are being sold across the state.

The Virginia Mercury recently reported that while marijuana sales remain illegal, many companies across different parts of the state carry products that contain delta-9 THC, the intoxicant in marijuana. Those businesses include a shop Lucas owns in Portsmouth.

Poe said she hopes that people who are incarcerated will not be left behind for another year as the state and businesses stand to profit.

Now that they want to legalize it for recreation faster, why continue to hold these people? Poe said. Itll be beneficial that the government recognizes the mistakes of the past and let these people go. The world is changing. The laws are changing.
Virginia Democrats are using their Senate majority to reject significant chunks of the GOP agenda and turn back attempts to undo legislation that became law under the previous two years of a majority Democratic legislature.

Despite last years Republican wins statewide and for control of the House of Delegates, Democrats are using their 21-19 edge in the Senate to stop GOP legislation on charter schools, the minimum wage, guns, social issues and some of Gov. Glenn Youngkins tax proposals.

We made generational progress over the last two years on a lot of issues, from access to health care, to education funding, to expanding voting, criminal justice reform, addressing climate change. And those are issues that are very important to us and are popular with Virginians, said Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, the Senate Democratic caucus secretary.

We expected the new administration and House Republicans to try to roll them back, but were standing firm to protect that progress.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, presides over the Senate and breaks tie votes. But more than a third of the way through the 2022 General Assembly session, she hasnt broken a single tie. As of now, if Republicans want to get anything to the governors desk, it generally needs to get approval of Senate Democrats.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, said Senate Minority Whip Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County. I dont see a lot of difference in what was happening in the Senate last year from what is happening in the Senate this year.

When it comes to bills that were priorities of the governor, bills that were priorities of the attorney general, they seem to draw the opposition of the Democrats pretty easily. ... A lot of the things that were putting forward are finding the same fate that they found last year and the year before.

Stanley said this is not surprising. But he said he was surprised at the strong resistance by Democrats to Youngkins choice for natural resources secretary, Andrew Wheeler, who will need General Assembly approval to remain on the job. Many Democrats want to reject his appointment because he tried to roll back environmental protections as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President Donald Trump. A fight over his nomination could come to the Senate floor on Monday.

Although many of his agenda items remain pending, heres a look at some of the items on Youngkins legislative agenda that Senate Democrats have already rejected:

Senators killed a bill aimed at streamlining state government regulations that Democrats feared would eliminate consumer protections.

Senators in the Commerce and Labor Committee killed a bill that would have repealed a 2020 law allowing localities to give employees the ability to collectively bargain for a contract.

Youngkin wants to rename the title of his Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to the Director of Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion. Democrats on the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee said no.

Even with one Democratic senator joining Republicans to support a bill that would have made it easier for charter schools to open in Virginia, Democrats on the Senate Education and Health Committee killed the proposal by a vote of 8-7.

The same committee voted 9-4 to reject a bill from Sen. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia Beach, that would ban the teaching of inherently divisive concepts in public schools. That bill, in keeping with an executive order from Youngkin, stemmed from GOP efforts to prevent school divisions from teaching students about systemic racism.

Although many of Youngkins tax proposals are awaiting action, Democrats rejected his proposal to require local governing bodies to take public actions up to a voter referendum if rising real estate assessments result in higher property taxes.

Youngkin wants to double the standard deduction on income taxes, but a Senate panel has recommended that be studied for a year before any decisions are made.

Im disappointed at the partisan politics that I see being played in the Senate, Youngkin told WTKR-TV in Hampton Roads on Friday. Virginians are tired of this. This is why I won  to actually get things done.

Senate Democrats also stopped a bill that would have repealed a requirement that local school districts adopt policies related to transgender students.

Looming later in the session: abortion. House Republicans are expected to pass legislation restricting abortion rights, and the Senate will be the decider.

pwilson@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6061 Twitter: @patrickmwilson Staff writers Mel Leonor and Michael Martz contributed to this report.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the country is robbing the future of its daughters by letting the hijab come in the way of their education.

Coming out in support of hijab-wearing Muslim girl students not allowed entry in educational institutes in Karnataka, he said the goddess Saraswati does not differentiate and gives knowledge to all.

"By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India.

Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn't differentiate. #SaraswatiPuja," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Saraswati is worshipped as the goddess of knowledge.

Saraswati Puja, also known as Basant Panchami, is one of the Hindu festivals that marks the arrival of spring. It is being celebrated in the country on Saturday.

The hijab row issue has snowballed into a major controversy in Karnataka.

The issue started in early January at the government girls' pre-university (PU) college in Udupi, where six students attended classes wearing headscarves in violation of the dress code in classrooms.

The college had allowed hijab on the campus but not inside the classrooms. The students protested against the directions, but they were barred to attend the classes. The girls continued their protest by sitting outside the classrooms for about a month.

One of the six protesting students at the college had moved the Karnataka High Court on January 31, seeking interim relief to attend classes wearing the hijab till the issue is settled.

The Udupi incident was followed at the pre-university college in Kundapur in the same district, with the authorities disallowing 28 Muslim girl students wearing hijabs from attending classes in the institute, citing a government direction. The girls protested against the order outside the classes as well.
Gov. Glenn Youngkins new email tip line for parents to cry foul anytime they believe something offensive is being taught in public schools is off to a heck of a start.

A Virginia Senate panel recently tabled a bill along party lines that was pegged to ban the teaching of inherently divisive concepts in schools. But amid the criticism and jokes over the past two weeks, reaction to the tip line has been harsh.

Critics have said the tip line promotes an us vs. them culture. That it reeks of totalitarianism. Some called it a snitch line. Others caution parents not to flood it with fake tips. The tip line appeared in pop culture, too, and was spoofed on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live.

With the states education budget mostly earmarked, does it make sense to add a taxpayer-funded administrative thorn in our teachers side, like a tip line, especially when there already are established channels for parents to participate?

Remember the parent-teacher association (or parent-teacher-student association)? It may sound like a quaint relic from a bygone era, but for 125 years, the PTA has been an effective way for parents to get involved with student learning. The PTA may forever be linked to the bake sale, but beyond that image, the Virginia PTAs record is well-documented.

As the states oldest nonpartisan student advocacy group, its ranks include 100,000 volunteer members (with more than 6,000 who are parents) actively working together and collaborating with schools. Its a setting where families are welcome and included in decisions impacting their childrens schools. The organizations goal is to ensure students have proper resources to be successful in schools, plus continued advocacy for their safety and welfare.

The VPTA wasnt asked for input on a tip line, which has stoked fear among teachers and has compounded the growing shortage Virginia already faces, its representatives say. A joint letter signed Thursday by several educational groups, including the VPTA, the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents and others called for Youngkin to immediately shut down the tip line.

This should not be parents against our wonderful educators, and [it] is divisive and unnecessary, VPTA president Pamela B. Croom said in an email. School boards already abide by the Code of Virginia providing policy with clear procedures for handling challenged controversial materials. 

While the pandemic has posed challenges for the VPTA, volunteers continue to create ties to their schools in fun, engaging and innovative ways, and they have been a conduit for information, Croom said. If some PTAs were unable to hold budgeted events, they donated funds to organizations within their community to support parents. PTA meetings are always open to everyone in the school community.

PTA recognizes parents as the first educators in the home and works to promote parents as partners in school, in order to create a critical bridge between home and school  because we know when families and schools work together, students succeed, Croom said.

Youngkins haste to make good on a campaign pledge also has caused confusion and consternation among educators. Questions such as whos reading these emails? and whats the government going to do with the information? are on many minds. Is the tip line just a fishing expedition to identify what people consider divisive?

Emails sent to the tip line already are being shared on social media and reflect a wide mix of praise and nonsense, according to the VEA, the union representing more than 40,000 educators. With the chatter, the tip line has begun to triangulate the mission for teachers.

VEA President James Fedderman says educators, through their training, learn how to unpack curriculum and how to unpack standards. They do the latter based on the individual learning styles and learning differences in their classrooms. Within those learning environments, teachers are expected to teach, and students are expected to learn.

They provide a classic, appropriate education based upon how those children can retain the information, Fedderman said of teachers. I just feel like that sort of creativity  its being trampled upon, because people are so scared to say the wrong thing that they could be reported.

Also absent from this tip line is a provision to give due process to a teacher who is cited.

The tip line doesnt give any sort of consequences. It doesnt give any sort of mechanism for what happens when they get information, Fedderman said. We know in Virginia that every educator is afforded due process, so youre just giving a tip and if you investigate, how do you give that teacher, that educator, due process, when you dont know all of the story?

Youngkins tip line also falls short with its reach to all parents. On the surface, it offers the simplicity of using email, but not everyone has access to broadband, email accounts, a computer or other device to send in a comment. So in effect, Youngkin is only appealing to those who have internet access, which continues to be a challenge across many communities in Virginia.

Perhaps the new governor is simply making good on a promise to give parents more say in curriculum, even if his plan is an intimidating hint educators need to be mindful  or else. His plan would lean toward adjudicating teachers, wasting time and resources.

Discussions about curriculum generally should be the purview of those trained to teach. Fedderman says parents are always welcome in the discussion, but he suggested that perhaps the governor or education secretary could create a test system to see if communication in schools is effective. The VPTA says it is already here as a bridge to bring parents, students and education leaders together.

Teachers already are trying to survive in a challenging environment, with COVID, masking debates and dwindling ranks. Using established resources provides stability in fluid times. Denying education to its fullest  including a broader perspective on history  is what this tip line threatens to do. It undermines the learning environment and short-changes our children.

 Lisa Vernon Sparks
BLACKSBURG  A student at Roanokes Patrick Henry High School died late Friday in a shooting at a downtown Blacksburg hookah lounge. Police took a man into custody for his slaying and for the wounding of four others.

In a statement issued Saturday night, Blacksburg police identified the person killed in the shooting as Isiah O. Robinson, 18. They said that six warrants have been issued for Jamel D. Flint, 24: for first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count of using a gun to commit a felony.

After 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, the Blacksburg police issued a statement saying Flint "has been taken into custody in Roanoke Virginia without incident."

Earlier in the evening, police said Flint was considered to be armed and dangerous. The Blacksburg police statement offered no explanation as to why the department waited almost 20 hours to disclose that an armed and dangerous suspect was at large.

Robinson, a linebacker and running back, was mourned in a Saturday night post on the Patrick Henry football team Twitter account. It included a picture of Robinson in his Patriots uniform with No. 3 on his chest. Isiah will be missed and our hearts and prayers go out to his family, football family and friends, the tweet said.

Roanoke schools issued a statement expressing sorrow and said counselors will be available Monday for students and staff at Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools. At the Adam Ward Basketball Classic in Roanoke County, officials held a moment of silence for a member of Patrick Henry High Schools football team who they said had died Friday.

The mass shooting near Virginia Tech drew widespread attention, with stories appearing in national news outlets.

Authorities did not release the name of those who were wounded but Tech President Tim Sands issued a statement saying that one of the people who was hurt was a student at the university.

According to two Blacksburg police news releases issued early Saturday, officers received a report at 11:53 p.m. Friday of shots fired in the Melody Hookah Lounge, located at 109 North Main St., a few blocks from Techs campus. The statements gave few details of the incident but said the wounded were taken to local hospitals.

The website for the Melody Hookah Lounge said that the business had been closed for a private event from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. Friday, reopening to the public after that.

Immediately after the shooting, Tech sent out a message through its alert system urging recipients to secure in place and remain inside. That warning was lifted at 3:18 a.m.

By then, few people were visible along a cold and windy Main Street except for investigators placing evidence markers and taking photographs along the sidewalk near the hookah lounge. Keeping watch was a team of heavily armed officers, and other officers with dogs. A section of Main Street near Roanoke Street remained closed for more than five hours.

On Saturday, no one answered the phone at Melody Hookah Lounge. The business released a brief statement on its Facebook page saying, We are deeply hurt and devastated of what happened Friday night, our condolences go to the families and friends of everyone who were affected. Moving forward we will add more precautions and regulations in place for this types of situations.

Downtown Blacksburg Inc. also posted a statement to Facebook: Late last night, a shooting occurred at a business in the heart of our Downtown. While the events of last night are still coming to light, there is no doubt our Downtown community has experienced a tragedy. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. The statement on Saturday added that some downtown businesses elected to close for the day, but that there was no official recommendation from law enforcement or the town.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., posted a statement on his Twitter page about the event: Incredibly saddened to see another act of gun violence in the Commonwealth this week. My heart is with the people of Blacksburg and the entire Virginia Tech community.

Tech President Sands called events like the shooting difficult and unsettling to all of us and expressed condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, and support to the wounded.

Frank Shushok Jr., vice president for student affairs at the university, issued an update on the student Saturday afternoon, saying he was out of surgery and seemed to be recovering. We are grateful for the outpouring of care and support directed to him, Shushok said.

Eugene Blue Cook, Patrick Henry High Schools girls basketball coach, on Saturday called Robinson a good spirit and just full of life. He said that over the past few years he had got to know Robinson, who was a classmate of Cooks children.

Cook said that he regularly sends encouraging texts to members of the Patriots football squad before games, but that he and Robinson kept up the text conversation after the season ended. It was just on Wednesday, Cook said, that Robinson texted to say that he had been accepted at a junior college.

Cook said he congratulated Robinson and told him Get out of Roanoke!

Cook said that he did not know any details of what happened in Blacksburg, but was sure the effects would be felt widely.

Patrick Henrys student body still is recovering from several student deaths in recent years, including that of 18-year-old football and basketball team member Kawuan Ray, who collapsed after a basketball practice in 2020, Cook said.

Ray died of natural causes. But with Robinson lost to a shooting, this is different, Cook said.

Blacksburg Police asked anyone with information to contact them at (540) 443-1400, or to call an anonymous tip line at (540) 961-1819 or email ciu@blacksburg.gov.

Staff writer Robert Anderson contributed to this report.

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FLOYD  Floyd County Lifesaving and First Aid Squad member 460, Roger Hollandsworth, died Jan. 27 at 64 years old, leaving behind a legacy of love, laughter and kindness, and a staple business: the Floyd Xpress Market.

Roger was one of Floyd Countys biggest fans and strongest supporters, having not only nurtured businesses, but also community events and neighbors. He was a member of the Rescue Squad for more than 40 years, and owned Floyd Xpress for 33 years.

More than a decade ago, Roger returned to Floyd from a trip to Georgia with a humble tale of heroism, having saved a choking woman at a Ruths Chris Steak House.

Fellow rescue squad member and writer, Don Johnson, reported in 2010: [W]hile waiting for their meals to be served, Roger heard someone behind him say shes choking. After 30 years with Floyd County Rescue Squad, without disturbing his dinner party, Roger instinctively slipped out of his chair and walked to a nearby table where people were obviously disturbed by a woman who was struggling to breathe.

He immediately recognized that she was not exchanging air and was growing pale. Introducing himself as a member of Floyd Countys volunteer rescue squad, Roger proceeded to perform abdominal thrusts (also known as the Heimlich Maneuver).

After four thrusts, a piece of steak was dislodged and she began to breathe again, Roger says, adding, it happened so quickly and quietly, hardly anyone else in the restaurant knew it had happened.

Less than eight hours after announcing Rogers passing Jan. 27, the Floyd Lifesaving and First Aid Squad announced Johnson, the organizations former vice president and photographer, had also died.

Don and his wife Donna, both life members, ran calls and contributed in so many ways to the squad, until recent years when Dons health began to decline, the group explained.

On Rogers passing, FCRS called Roger one of the best friends weve had. He has always been good to keep us laughing, as well as keep us all on our toes. Our hearts are very broken.

Other community members noted Rogers spirit is irreplaceable, and said, Hes truly been one of a kind.

His obituary notes Rogers dedication to supporting the Chance Harman Memorial Fund, and Brian Harman, who officiated Rogers funeral services, described Roger as a giver.

Roger helped everyone; he didnt discriminate, he said Jan. 31, emphasizing, Roger was a special man that cant and wont be replaced.

Services were held Feb. 1 at the Topeco Church of the Brethren. His obituary added, Roger was a casual type person and his family requests everyone dress casual for his service.

If we all had Roger Hollandsworths attitude this world would be a much better place, Harman said.

Rogers last call for Floyd Rescue was made from the graveside service Feb. 1 by Daniel Sommers.
BEDFORD  Two capital murder charges against a man accused of being part of the violent MS-13 street gang and taking part in the 2017 killing of a Lynchburg teen were amended Friday to two counts of aggravated murder.

Josue Moises Coreas-Ventura, 25, appeared Friday in Bedford County Circuit Court for a hearing with an interpreter by his side translating the proceedings. He pleaded guilty during the hearing to one count of gang participation and will be sentenced at a later date on that felony charge.

A jury trial is scheduled for Tuesday in Bedford Circuit Court on one of the aggravated murder counts against the defendant, which charges the killing of 17-year-old Raymond Wood occurred in commission of abduction for financial benefit, and a felony abduction charge, according to Bedford County Commonwealths Attorney Wes Nance.

The second count of aggravated murder, alleging the killing of two persons within three years, was separated from the other counts at the request of the defense during Fridays hearing, Nance said.

Nance declined to provide further details on that charge, but in 2017, the Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department announced Coreas-Ventura was arrested and charged with murder, along with four other people, in connection with the 2016 homicide of 18-year-old Cristian Antonio Villagran-Morales.

The charge is set to proceed to a March 1 docket call, at which time a trial date could be set.

While Coreas-Ventura no longer faces the death penalty as a result of the recent abolition of capital punishment in Virginia, an aggravated murder conviction could lead to a life sentence.

In trials of his co-defendants, evidence has identified Coreas-Ventura as a homeboy, or mid-ranking member of MS-13. He and other gang members were living around Lynchburg and buying marijuana from Wood, prosecutors have said, when they felt they were slighted by the teen after a purchase and subsequently got permission from higher-ranking gang members to kill him.

Wood was abducted from the front lawn of his Lynchburg home, according to evidence presented in connection with his death. Woods body was found off Roaring Run Road by a passing driver the night of March 27, 2017, prompting in-depth investigations that crossed state and national borders and marked the first time Central Virginia has seen such a high-stakes crime attributable to the gang.

Chris Kowalczuk, one of two attorneys representing Coreas-Ventura, during Fridays hearing before Judge James Updike referred to autopsy photos as gruesome and indicated the defense may raise objections to certain ones being used as evidence at Coreas-Venturas trial.

In November, two MS-13 gang members were found guilty in federal court of murder charges, having ordered other members to travel to Lynchburg and kill Wood, according to federal attorneys.

Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno and Miguel Angel Corea Diaz sat for a four-week jury trial in Maryland, where they had a home base for running gang operations, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release. Alvarado-Requeno controlled the Sailors clique within the gang, while Corea Diaz was its East Coast leader.

Both directed a squad of gang members to drive down and meet two other members whod been living in Lynchburg to kill Wood, according to a news release.

Five other men have been charged or convicted in Bedford County in connection with Woods killing.

Victor Arnoldo Rodas was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 55 years in February 2019 and Kevin Josue Soto Bonilla was found guilty of capital murder and received a life sentence in December 2019. Lisandro Antonio Posada-Vasquez has pleaded guilty to capital murder and is scheduled for sentencing March 15.

Juan Martin Hernandez has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder and was sentenced to two and a half years. Cristian Jose Sanchez Gomez, who has testified in trials, is scheduled for a March 8 jury trial in Bedford County Circuit Court on one count each of capital murder, which is expected to be amended; robbery; gang participation; and abduction for financial benefit.
Virginia Republicans are partying like its 1885.

Just in time for Black History Month, the GOP  by way of its apprentice governor and restored majority in the House of Delegates  is attempting a rerun of an era in state politics that Virginia repudiated over the past three years, largely because of a Democratic governors racial humiliation and the caught-on-camera death of a Black man in Minneapolis at the hands of police.

Because even in a suburban-dominated state more mid-Atlantic than Southern and in which the majority of people who live here are come-heres, what is new is old: 21st-century Republicans by deed and dogma are hearkening to the late 19th century, when Virginia did as it is doing now in partially restoring the GOP to power: angrily rejecting racial, social and cultural advances as too much, too soon.

This manifests itself in legislation that Gov. Glenn Youngkin and General Assembly Republicans are pushing to thwart Democratic reforms such as 45 days of unrestricted early voting and the use of drop boxes. Republicans also want to restore the requirement  ended by Democrats  that Virginians produce a photo ID before casting ballots. Never mind that these changes contributed to the GOP comeback in November, aided by record turnouts in red localities.

There also is a Republican push to junk a measure that kicks in this year: allowing Virginians to register and vote on the same day. Its been spiked in the Senate, the remaining, albeit tenuous, redoubt of Democratic authority. Those other Republican bills rolling back voting rights, assuming they clear the House, will likely perish in the Senate, with its one-seat Democratic majority.

More insidious, if only because its being considered concurrent with the annual month-long reflection on Black history: Republican bills that ban teaching Black history. Not all of it, Republicans argue, only parts deemed by the thought police, be they noisy parents or nosy politicians, to be inherently divisive  whatever that means. Senate Democrats have already consigned the bill to the ash heap of legislative history.

That loss, nonetheless, could be a win for its Senate sponsor, Republican Jen Kiggans of Virginia Beach. Shes running for Congress in Hampton Roads 2nd District, angling to challenge Democratic incumbent Elaine Luria. Kiggans has to get through the primary. Comporting herself as the culture warrior could reassure conservatives. Maybe thats what Kiggans meant in describing herself as a normal Republican in her kickoff video.

And speaking to her election-integrity bona fides  a must for Trump voters  Kiggans is carrying a measure that makes it tougher to harvest the graveyard vote. Her bill requiring registrars to purge the dead from voter rolls every week rather than monthly passed the Senate on a lopsided bipartisan vote. It now goes to the House.

Much of the Republicans attempted rollback on voting rights recalls an actual restoration of restrictions roughly 140 years ago by conservative Democrats.

In 1885, Virginia elected as governor Fitzhugh Lee, a Confederate cavalry general and nephew of Robert E. Lee. Fitzhugh Lee would be the first of 21 consecutive Democratic governors, nearly all dedicated to the old ways. That is, concentrating power in the hands of the few. Read: well-born conservative white guys, horrified that once-enslaved Black people and poor whites should have a say in Virginias affairs.

And they did.

It was a consequence of a rare moment: a brief burst of progress, attributed to an unlikely biracial coalition cobbled by a Rebel-turned-railroad tycoon and future U.S. senator, William Mahone. It put in place a reform government that would end the poll tax that denied the vote to most Black Virginians and working-class whites, and finance educational and social-service advances by trimming payments and interest on debts from the states pre-Civil War investments in roads, rails and canals.

The very un-Virginia initiative in 1882 that freed cash for public services was the handiwork of a legislator with a very Virginia name: Harrison Holt Riddleberger of Shenandoah County, historically, a hotbed of political moderation but now hot-red, producing the current House Speaker, Todd Gilbert.

Riddleberger was among the so-called Readjusters, named such because of their debt stance and who identified as Republicans, members of a pro-business, comparatively forward-thinking party synonymous with Abraham Lincoln, the end of slavery and saving the Union through the Civil War. Their dominance in Richmond, at its peak in the early 1880s, ended with internal divisions over Mahones refusal to include Blacks in the partys command structure and a broader public backlash over the Black political ascendancy.

This fueled the restoration of the Conservative Party, renamed the Democratic Party. The first step in its comeback was in 1883, when Democrats took back the General Assembly, in no small part because of white fury over a race riot in Danville just before the election. Perhaps there was an echo of this in Virginias statewide and House elections in 2021  a good year for the small-c, small-p conservative party: the GOP.

When the legislature convened in 1884, Democrats used their new numbers to enact new controls over the electorate. One ensured Democratic authority over the election apparatus by requiring local electoral overseers be picked by the legislature. Historians say this promoted fraud, ballot-box stuffing and, occasionally, bribery to keep Democrats adversaries from the polls. Most notably: Black Virginians loyal to the Republicans who had liberated them two decades earlier.

The poll tax, the most effective weapon for compressing the electorate and guaranteeing Democratic hegemony, would not be reinstated until 1902, when Virginia  along with other states in the Old Confederacy  adopted Jim Crow constitutions that disenfranchised Blacks and poor whites and fully restored racial segregation. The poll tax, in Virginia and elsewhere, endured until 1966. That year, it was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in two cases from Virginia.

Since then, the Supreme Court has shifted right, viewing voting rights issues with skepticism if not hostility. This compelled Virginia, under total Democratic sway from 2020 to 2022, to enact reforms and protections once included in federal law.

But for Republicans, emboldened by recent gains, its 1885 again.

Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or jschapiro@timesdispatch.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter, @RTDSchapiro. Listen to his analysis 7:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. Friday on Radio IQ, 89.7 FM in Richmond and 89.1 FM in Roanoke, and in Norfolk on WHRV, 89.5 FM.
The homicide spike: The big picture The headlines blared that homicides were up 31% in California in 2020. Thats true, but it doesnt tell the whole story. A long-range look at crime statistics, particularly homicide data, shows that the 2020 crime rate nationally and in California was still a fraction of its highs in the early 1990s, according to government statistics. The jump between 2019 and 2020 became a central aspect of the unsuccessful recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Republican Larry Elder, the leading vote-getter among Newsoms challengers, decried the soft-on-crime ethos that we see emanating from Sacramento and from many of our major cities. Kevin Faulconer, another Newsom challenger, said the rising crime rate forced major employers to pull out of San Francisco. In Kern County, the homicide rate per 100,000 people was 12.7 in 2020  the states highest  or about one for every 8,000 people. Statewide, the average homicide rate was 5.5. Some parts of California were able to suppress a spike in homicides. Monterey Countys homicide rate, once as high as 13.8 people per 100,000 in 2015, has dropped significantly, and in 2020 was lower than the statewide average at 3.2 per 100,000.

Someone She Knows In California, homicide victims and their relationship to their killers looks starkly different for women vs. men. For homicides of women in which police could identify a suspect, 84% were friends, acquaintances, family members or relatives of the women killed. Spouses specifically were suspected in 12% of homicides in which women were victims. Only 16% of suspects in the killings of women were strangers, according to the California Department of Justice. That wasnt true for men: More than 40% of suspects in the killings of men were strangers. A significant number of suspects in the homicides of both men and women had an unknown relationship to their victims, justice department figures show.

Gun deaths were dropping. Then, 2020 After three years of a decline, the number of homicides caused by firearms in 2020 hit its highest level in California in at least a decade. Statewide, 1,606 people were killed by guns in the first year of pandemic lockdowns, the most recent year for which data is available. It wasnt just the number of people killed. A higher percentage of people were killed by firearms in 2020 than in any year since at least 2011. Of those, nearly half were killed by a handgun. The number is almost certainly higher, since 23% of all firearm homicides reported by police did not specify or could not determine the type of firearm used.

Property crime and the pandemic Perhaps its no surprise that property crimes dipped significantly during the first year of the pandemic amid curfews and lockdown orders. In fact, 2020 was a historically low year for property crime, according to statistics reported by police departments and sheriffs offices to the California Department of Justice. It also shouldnt be a surprise that property crime returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 as restrictions eased. According to a separate analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California that tabulated four major cities preliminary crime data, property crime in 2021 was up in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco between Jan. 1, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2021. That followed a dip in which property crime in 2020 reached a six-decade low. While the specific factors driving fluctuations in crime numbers in the wake of the COVID health crisis are very difficult to determine, the data suggest that overall both violent and property crime are back to pre-pandemic levels, the institutes authors wrote. Among Californias five largest counties  Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino  property crime fell slightly from 2015 to 2019, with a pandemic dip beginning in March 2020. The same trend held true for Alameda and Sacramento counties in Northern California. A spate of smash-and-grab retail thefts in the Bay Area and Los Angeles in November and the burglarizing of Gov. Gavin Newsoms own wine shop in San Francisco drew headlines. Newsoms 2022 budget proposal included $300 million over three years to combat retail theft, most of it through grants to local law enforcement.

California hate crimes: Whos being targeted? Hate crimes were up in California in 2020, a year marked by lockdown orders but also a spate of nationally-reported incidents of anti-Asian bias. In 2020, 1,530 hate crimes were reported in California. Of those, 1,030 were rooted in racial bias. Nearly 70% of hate crimes reported as closed in 2020 were violent crimes. Of those, most were intimidation, simple assault or aggravated assault. Of all hate crimes reported as closed in 2020, the majority  67%  were directed against someones race, ethnicity or national origin. And of those crimes committed against racial and ethnic groups, the highest number of victims per capita were Black and Jewish people. Anti-Asian bias was the primary factor in 7% of those crimes. Asians make up 15% of Californians. By contrast, anti-Black bias was the primary factor in 33% of all hate crimes in 2020. Black people make up just 6.5% of Californias population, according to 2021 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Among hate crimes directed at someones race or ethnicity, Black people made up 50% of victims. According to the 2020 American Jewish Population Estimate from Brandeis University, 1.17 million Jewish people live in California. The same year, 120 anti-Jewish hate crimes were reported, according to the California Department of Justice.

Criminal complaints against police officers Since 2016, California has been publishing the number of criminal complaints made against law enforcement officers by the public and how many were sustained  or deemed to be true, by a preponderance of evidence. Before 2016, the Department of Justice only published statewide data without listing specific agencies. Now, four years of data show which departments received the most complaints, and at what rate they sustained those complaints. The data show that, since 2016, law enforcement agencies statewide sustained 7.6% of criminal complaints against their officers. But there were wide variations. For instance, in 2017, the Department of Corrections sustained 22% of complaints against its officers  nearly triple the statewide average. And in 2018, the Oakland Police Department also upheld criminal complaints against officers at a rate far outpacing the statewide average. The department has been under the supervision of an outside monitoring team and a federal judge since 2003, the result of a class action lawsuit settlement that accused Oakland police officers of beating residents and planting evidence. In California, each department is its own fiefdom, with its own rules and procedures for adjudicating complaints. Not surprisingly, the Los Angeles Police Department  one of the nations largest and the states most populous city  received the most complaints between 2016 and 2020. The department sustained those complaints at a rate of between 5% and 7%, which is below the statewide average.

How well are California cops clearing their cases? Every year, most law enforcement agencies in California publish the results of their year: the number of crimes reported to them, and the number of arrests they made. With a little math, this becomes their clearance rates. In 2020, the last year for which data is available, the total statewide clearance rate on non-fatal violent crimes was 45%, compared with 42% nationally. On homicides, clearance rates were 59% in California, compared with 54% nationally. But clearances for homicide cases varied wildly  from more than four arrests per five homicides investigated by the San Diego Police Department, to fewer than one in five by the Kern County Sheriffs Office. The Los Angeles Sheriffs Department made far more arrests per non-fatal violent incident than they did for homicides, driven primarily by higher arrests per rape and aggravated assault. The opposite was true of the Oakland Police Department, which made more than one arrest for every two homicides, but fewer than one arrest for every three violent crimes. Theres an important consideration to this data: The arrests are reported as clearances, but arrests are not convictions. A clearance doesnt necessarily mean a crime was solved or anyone was punished. Police also sometimes clear crimes by exceptional means. According to the FBI, this is when police have a suspect and enough evidence to make an arrest, but a circumstance outside the control of law enforcement stopped them  the suspect died, for instance, or the victim stopped cooperating.
FLORENCE, S.C.  The battle for the Republican nomination in the Seventh Congressional District could come down to incumbent Tom Rice and state Rep. Russell Fry.

Rice and Fry are the first- and third-largest fundraisers in the race and the second leading fundraiser, Graham Allen, has dropped out and endorsed Fry.

Information filed with the Federal Election Commission indicates that Rice has raised the most money in the race. As of Dec. 31, Rice had raised nearly $1.29 million, spent over $531,000 and had nearly $1.88 million in cash on hand.

Im extremely proud of the support Ive received in my re-election race, Rice said in a statement. The numbers today indicate South Carolinians remain proud of what weve delivered to the 7th District during my time in office. I am humbled and grateful to all my supporters for helping to demonstrate that honest, effective leadership is the way to go.

Rice, who has represented the district since it was recreated in 2012, is one of several Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump who have seen a boost in their fundraising. In 2020, Rice raised $1.42 million for the entire election cycle.

As of Sept. 30, the most recent available records, $452,550 of $1.12 million Rice had raised came from the Palmetto State. Other top fundraising states for him are California ($65,250), Florida ($43,400), New York ($39,750), Virginia ($29,500), Connecticut ($26,300) and Colorado ($25,000).

Rices vote to impeach the former president led to a slew of challengers for the Republican nomination including Fry and Allen.

Allen, a conservative media host and entrepreneur, issued a statement last Friday announcing that he was suspending his campaign for the seat after a conservative challenger with deep ties to the region emerged who can beat Rice. Allen added that he would be giving his support to the candidate endorsed by Trump.

Trump endorsed Fry on Tuesday.

Russell Fry, who is all in for the Palmetto State, has my Complete and Total Endorsement, Trump said in a statement. VOTE TOM RICE OUT NOW!

Fry, who represents Surfside Beach in the South Carolina House of Representatives, is the third-leading fundraiser in the campaign and unlike Allen or Rice, most of his money comes from the Palmetto State.

Information filed with the Federal Election Commission indicates that Fry had raised $351,277.50, spent $24,027,47 and had $327,250.03, the second-highest total behind Rice, on hand. As of Sept. 30, Fry had raised $222,086.66, of which $196,461 came from South Carolina.

Allen was the second-leading fundraiser in the quarter ending Dec. 31. He raised $827,725.17, spent $633,707.64 (the most in the race) and had $194,017.53 on hand.

Other top fundraisers for the Republican nomination are Horry County Schools Board Chairman Ken Richardson (raised $230,914.94, spent $190,068.51, had $40,846.43 on hand), Dr. Garrett Barton of Cheraw (raised $225,416.71, spent $93,564.61, had $131,852.10 on hand) and Hartsville businesswoman Barbara Arthur (raised $120,583.40, spent $9,474.74, had $111,108.66 on hand).

Three other candidates, Tom Dunn ($1,398.89 on hand), Mark Struthers McBride ($476.12 on hand) and Steve Reichart ($3,589.75 on hand) also reported fundraising activities for the quarter ending Dec. 31.

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State Congress president Revanth Reddy offers juice to TPCC SC Cell chief Preetam to break the hunger strike at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Friday.  DC Image/R. Pavan

HYDERABAD: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A. Revanth Reddy announced a massive agitation programme against Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for proposing a new Constitution for India.

Stating that Chandrashekar Raos comments on the Constitution could not be taken lightly, Revanth Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister was implementing a larger conspiracy hatched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stay in power for lifetime.

He announced that the frontal organisations of the Congress like the Youth Congress and SC, ST departments would lodge police complaints against Chandrashekar Rao in all police stations in Telangana on Saturday.

He said the Congress cadres, led by women leaders, would wash the statues of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar across the state with milk.

The PCC chief said that the Congress MPs from Telangana, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and himself would stage a day-long dharna on the Parliament premises on Monday.

Revanth Reddy was addressing the concluding session of 48-hour deeksha organised by the TPCC SC Cell at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday.

The PCC chief offered lime juice to SC Cell chairman Preetam and other leaders to break their 48-hour long fast. SC Cell national president Rajesh, SC Cell national president Rajeev Lilothia, CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, working presidents Dr J. Geetha Reddy, M. Anjan Kumar, PAC Convener Shabbir Ali, former union minister Balram Naik and other senior leaders were also present.

He said Modi and Chandrashekar Rao were influenced by the countries where democracy was transformed into dictatorship by changing the Constitutions.

Citing instances, he said in China, the retirement age for politicians was 68 years and a leader was not entitled to become President for more than two times. However, Xi Jinping modified the Constitution and declared himself a permanent President.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Republican officials meeting in Utah advanced a watered-down resolution Thursday that would formally censure GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their perceived disloyalty to former President Donald Trump but not seek to expel them from the party.

The resolution's passage through a subcommittee followed hours of hand-wringing over language that initially would have called on the House Republican Conference to oust Cheney and Kinzinger, the only Republicans on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The censure resolution is expected to be voted on Friday by all 168 Republican National Committee members at their winter meeting in Salt Lake City.

Keep scrolling for a ranking of Senate races in 2022

"We want to send a message that we're disapproving of their conduct. It's a middle ground," RNC member Harmeet Dhillon said, noting that the vote was unanimous.

"This is not about being anti-Trump. There are many anti-Trump Republicans that are not included in this resolution. These two took a specific action to defy party leadership," she added.

The effort to punish Cheney, of Wyoming, and Kinzinger, of Illinois, comes as party officials juggle preparation for this year's midterm elections, when control of Congress and 36 governorships are at stake, with planning for the 2024 presidential election. In Salt Lake City this week, they've discussed where to host their 2024 party convention and whether to compel their candidates not to participate in presidential debates, a cause important to Trump.

But the last-minute change to the resolution puts in question Trump's overarching influence on a party apparatus that has largely acquiesced to his wishes. The former president and other GOP members were incensed when Kinzinger and Cheney agreed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's invitation to join the Democratic-led House committee investigating the insurrection, giving the panel a veneer of bipartisan credibility.

The draft censure resolution accuses Kinzinger and Cheney of "participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse" and of "utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes."

It says the RNC will "immediately cease any and all support" of Kinzinger and Cheney as members of the party and says the RNC denounces "those who deliberately jeopardize victory in November." Read the full story here:

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Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Windy and becoming cloudy during the afternoon. A stray thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
A massive blaze has been extinguished following the explosion of an oil production vessel off the coast of Nigeria.

The vessel, which has the capacity for two million barrels of oil, burst into flames on Wednesday and belched thick, black smoke before it sank. The fate of the ten crew onboard remains unclear.

The vessel, which had been operating in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, is owned by Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL).

SEPCOL is prioritizing investigations with respect to their safety and security and has notified all relevant authorities about the development, Ikemefuna Okafor, CEO of the oil company, told AP.

The vessel has the ability to process up to 22,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Fleetmon.

Nigerian government regulators have launched a full-scale probe into the explosion to determine how much oil the vessel was carrying, and who it belongs to.

An industry source told Reuters that the vessel had about 50,000 barrels in storage.

The disaster once again turns the spotlight on the actions of the fossil fuel industry in Nigeria.

The Trinity Spirit, an oil production vessel, is able to carry 2 million barrels of oil (Twitter/Screengrab)

The country is now potentially facing its second environmental disaster in three months after a vast oil spill from a disused wellhead spewed the equivalent of 20,000 barrels a day into waterways in the town of Nembe for weeks.

The Nigerian government described that spill as being like Hiroshima after it devastated marine life, mangroves and water resources.

Diane Hoskins, from the ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana, said in a statement: The explosion of Trinity Spirit, an offshore production vessel, is horrifying for the crew on board and tragic for the local environment.

No offshore oil and gas operator can guarantee this wont happen. Despite repeated promises that spill disasters are rare, industry proves again and again that where they drill, they spill. This is the reality of the oil and gas industry and its time to end drilling for oil in our oceans.

The explosion of the Trinity Spirit is the fourth major oil disaster this year following incidents in Peru, Ecuador and Thailand.
Open letter calls for end to labour 'syndicates' in M'sia-Bangladesh deal

SPECIAL REPORT | Pressure is mounting on Putrajaya to end what has been described as a massive monopoly, exploitation and manipulation in the hiring of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia.

This is according to an anonymous open letter circulated to the media, which is accompanied by a cache of leaked information.

The letter, dated Jan 24, was addressed to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

There are no signatories to the open letter, but the information provided is believed to be leaked by whistleblowers from within Putrajaya.

The main contents, including official letters from the Home Ministry and Human Resources Ministry, matched original documents sighted by Malaysiakini and were verified by a source close to the government.

The documents include letters of intent and letters of acceptance issued by the government to IT solutions provider Bestinet Sdn Bhd and manpower recruitment agency Synerflux Sdn Bhd - two companies involved in managing processes involved in recruiting migrant workers.

Other documents are applications by Malaysian employers as well as approvals of work permits.

The open letter made references to recruitments conducted prior to 2018 and upcoming arrivals under the latest five-year Malaysia-Bangladesh agreement, alleging the revival of a politically connected syndicate and possible breaches of competition laws in both countries.

Like the Competition Act of Bangladesh 2012, Malaysia too has the Competition Act 2010 (Act 712) that is very much applicable in this (recruitment) matter," the letter reads.

The Competition Act 2010 strictly prohibits any horizontal or vertical agreements between enterprises that significantly prevent, restrict or distort competition in any market for goods and services.

Repeated statements by Human Resources Minister M Saravanan for 25 agencies that will be supported by 250 agencies is a clear violation of the Competition Act 2010, said the letters anonymous authors.

Story continues

Saravanan in a recent interview denied the existence of a syndicate or any monopoly in the appointment of Bangladesh recruitment agencies, contrary to concerns raised by the Bangladesh Association of International Recruitment Agencies (Baira) and migrant activists.

If we want a recruitment monopoly, we can just keep the 10 agencies on the ground as stipulated in the old MOU (memorandum of understanding). But, I increased it to 275 sub-agents. There is no monopoly, he told Malaysiakini.

The new arrangement will replace an initial three-year deal first negotiated in 2015 under Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, then home minister, to bring in 1.5 million Bangladeshi migrant workers.

'No formal contract'

A source close to the government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that neither Synerflux nor Bestinet had signed a formal agreement with the government after both companies received their letter of acceptance (LOA).

A massive syndication of 10 companies, now expanded to 25 because they have to look after more people, and all these are happening without a contract with the government, claimed the source.

The government cannot proceed with any project without signing a contract, said the source.

The source said the latest LOA issued to Bestinet - also attached to the open letter - was dated Jan 12, 2018, seven months before then human resources minister M Kulasegaran announced the suspension of its operations following allegations of the company's involvement in a recruitment scam that exploited Nepalese workers.

However, Kulasegaran told Parliament on Dec 5, 2019, that the allegations he originally made against Bestinet were found to be baseless.

Harapan took over Putrajaya from BN in 2018 after its 14th general election victory, following which Kulasegaran announced that the 1.5 million workers agreement would be placed under review.

Kulasegaran moved to suspend recruitments from Bangladesh carried out under Synerfluxs Foreign Workers Application System (SPPA) on Sept 1, 2018, before reinitiating bilateral negotiations with Bangladesh.

By then (2018), close to 300,000 Bangladeshi workers were hired through this syndicate and had to pay high fees of up to RM20,000 per person," the open letter says.

The syndicate was made up of only 10 agencies (out of 1,600 registered Bangladeshi agencies) which created a super monopoly and workers were subjected to various exploitations and manipulation.

A Home Ministry approval letter to Synerflux, dated Jan 23, 2017 - with a list of the 10 selected Bangladesh recruitment agencies - as well as the companys termination letter dated April 16, 2019, was attached to the open letter.

Synerfluxs termination letter cited a letter of intent (LOI) issued by the Home Ministry to the company on Aug 26, 2015, that stated, the government reserves the right to terminate or postpone implementation of the proposed project, or change its implementation either in scope or cost.

In this instance, the government will not be liable to any cost or expenditure incurred by Synerflux if the project was discontinued, according to the LOI, also attached to the open letter.

As for Bestinet, the source said no contract was similarly signed for operations of its Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS).

The system was previously used to manage workers from other source countries aside from Bangladesh and now remains in place for all new migrant workers recruitments.

In the past, an old but very well-known syndicate (Bestinet Sdn Bhd, Synerflux Sdn Bhd and associated companies/agencies) led by Aminul Islam, a Bangladeshi national who now holds a Malaysian national ID card, crippled and tainted the whole process, read the open letter.

An external representative for Bestinet told Malaysiakini the company is not in the position to comment on the allegations made in the open letter.

Media reports previously quoted Mohd Amin Abdul Nor as Bestinet Group CEO but Companies Commissions records listed Aminul Islam Abdul Nor, believed to be Amins real name, as one of the companys directors.

A check with Synerfluxs company records also found Aminul Islam Abdul Nor listed as a previous director, appointed on Nov 23, 2010, and resigned on July 5, 2015.

Aminul Islam Abdul Nor

In 2015, Bestinet had denied links with Synerflux in response to allegations in the wake of the companys appointment to manage the 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers.

Bestinet described FWCMS as an online, real-time holistic solution used by various stakeholders to improve efficiency and transparency in the entire process of management and recruitment of foreign workers.

Bangladesh media had in the past highlighted Amin's alleged role in controlling syndicates formed by selected agencies, but the company had denied direct involvement in recruiting migrant workers.

The syndication claims also involved alleged payments made by the agencies to be included in the approved list, as well as lobbies from well-connected individuals in Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Saravanan said Amin has no record of supplying migrant workers.

Based on records I have seen in the Human Resource Ministry - and we are working closely with the Home Ministry - this person Amin is just a system provider, owner of Bestinet and developer of FWCMS used by both ministries.

I dont know who has been spreading allegations (against Amin) but not anywhere has this man supplied foreign workers to Malaysia, not even a single worker, said Saravanan.

Saravanan, however, admitted there were individuals - including BN and MIC members with connections in Bangladesh - who had personally lobbied him for a stake in the recruitment process.

I am not entertaining anyone, the list (of agencies) comes from Bangladesh [...] From day one, I have decided I am not going to entertain any of these applications, said Saravanan, who is also MIC deputy president.

The minister is expected to table the proposal to involve 25 Bangladesh recruitment agencies at the cabinet meeting next week, according to sources.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced on Jan 28 that new applications by employers to hire migrant workers from Bangladesh are now open in stages.
What accent color is modern, versatile and fresh? Enter the color green. Green can easily blend with various styles and other colors. From traditional to modern styles, green can serve as your secret weapon.

What are some ways that green can be used in your space? Here are some top tips.

Dos

1. Do begin your color story with a shade of green.

2. Do choose an inspirational piece and build a color palette around it.

3. Do consider various ways to infuse color, such as artwork and toss pillows.

4. Do look for ways to bring in pops of color.

5. Do choose a shade of green based on the mood you wish to create.

Donts

1. Don't blend too many different tints, tones and shades of green in a small space.

2. Don't overwhelm. Use green in deliberate and purposeful ways.

3. Don't overlook opportunities to bring in large elements of green, such as oversized upholstered pieces.

4. Don't ignore unexpected ways to incorporate color, such as an accent wall and other overall wall color.

5. Don't overlook greenery as an opportunity to introduce green into a space.

(Cathy Hobbs, based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home staging expert with offices in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. Contact her at info@cathyhobbs.com or visit her website at cathyhobbs.com.)

2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man is accused of offering a 14-year-old girl $600 to come to his apartment, presumably to have sex with him.

Danny Beard, 66, was arrested Thursday and booked into the Woodbury County Jail on one count of enticing away a minor, a Class D felony. His bond was set at $10,000.

According to a complaint filed in Woodbury County District Court, the teen was familiar with Beard because he lived in the same apartment building as her grandmother. The girl said that Beard, who is called "Cowboy" because he dresses and looks like a cowboy, would call her "sweet thing," a name she did not like.

The girl said that on the evening of Nov. 14, she was walking from Cook Park to her grandmother's apartment and Beard pulled into the apartment complex parking lot and asked her what she was doing out so late. The girl responded she was going inside. Beard then asked, "You want to come with me?" The girl believed Beard wanted to have sex with her and refused to go with him. Beard then said, "I'll give you 500 (dollars)."

After saying no, the girl said Beard drove away quickly to park his pickup, and she ran the other way to get to the apartment door. She entered the apartment building, but struggled to enter the code to unlock the security door. According to the complaint, Beard entered the building and offered the girl $500 to come up to his apartment, then raised his offer to $600. The girl did not respond, but Beard unlocked the secure door and they entered the building. As they were walking, Beard commented that $600 was a lot of money. The girl went to her grandmother's apartment, and her grandmother filed a police report.

According to the complaint, Beard told an investigator that it was a case of mistaken identity and he had offered $100 or $200, but thought the girl was someone else he knew on the streets. Beard denied that his offer of money was for sex, but said it was for cleaning his apartment.

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SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man has been charged with holding his child and the child's mother at gunpoint in a motel and threatening to kill them.

Alden Miera, 35, was arrested Thursday on charges of domestic abuse assault and child endangerment, both aggravated misdemeanors, and false imprisonment, a serious misdemeanor.

According to court documents, Miera lured the woman and their juvenile child to the Elmdale Motel, 2200 U.S. Highway 75 N., on March 12 and then held them against their will, pointing a firearm at them both and threatening to kill them. A woman who was with Miera stood outside the room as a lookout and also helped keep the woman and juvenile inside the motel room.

Miera eventually left the room, and the woman called police, who arrived at the motel. Miera did not return.

An arrest warrant was issued in April for Miera, who also was wanted for other crimes and violations. He is being held on bonds totaling $50,000 for five cases.

He was previously wanted for violating his probation in two 2017 convictions for which he received a 15-year suspended prison sentence and three years' probation.

While on probation, he was charged in November 2020 with leading police on a high-speed chase and possessing methamphetamine. He was charged in a separate case for not showing up for trial on the charges from the chase.

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SIOUX CITY -- The number of new housing units added in Sioux City took a nosedive last year, compared to the previous record-breaking year, a newly released city report shows.

In 2021, a total of 103 housing units were built in Sioux City, according to annual figures released by the city late Thursday. That's about 80 percent fewer units than the 521 that were added in 2020, which was the most ever in a calendar year since the city began keeping those records.

In 2019, 363 housing permits were taken out with the city.

City leaders attributed last year's slump to pandemic-related factors, including a steep spike in the price of building materials and delays in receiving the more-expensive materials.

"We really think that the demand is there and the interest is there. What happened in 2021, basically the entire residential housing construction industry slowed down during the pandemic, due to several factors," said City Economic Development Director Marty Dougherty. "Construction materials are just really high. Everybody's looking for them to come down, and I don't think they've really come down too much, just yet."

Part of the reason 2020's numbers were so good by contrast, Dougherty said, was that many projects in that year were already in the works by the time the pandemic hit in March of that year, with materials ordered before prices soared in the wake of the global pandemic.

The new housing tallies of recent years, including the high-water mark of 2020, included a significant proportion of multi-family units.

Only about 21 percent of the permits in 2020 for new housing were single-family homes.

"We had a particularly high number of multi-family apartments being built in 2019 and 2020," Dougherty said of 2019 and 2020, which saw the start of several major apartment or condo projects, including the Davidson Building, District 42, 48 South, and The Summit at Sunnybrook Village.

But multi-family projects dried up last year, with single-family homes accounting for all of the 103 housing permits filed in 2021, according to city data.

The low to modest single-family construction came as homes on the local market stayed low, contributing to higher sales prices.

"If you look at today's market, like what's on the market for sale, existing housing units in Sioux City, single family -- it's a third to a half less than is typical," Dougherty said.

Dougherty struck an optimistic tone on the pace of housing development in the current year. Redevelopment is ongoing at the historic Badgerow and Benson buildings downtown and the former East Middle School, which when finished will contribute numerous housing units. As a result, there should be roughly 170 housing units added in the first six weeks of this year.

"We're actually already seeing a really strong year in 2022, even though we're only a month into it," Dougherty said.

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For instance, the party presidents of undivided Warangal district have to take up the issue of Centre denying Kazipet rail factory, funds to Kakatiya mega textile park, approval to Mamnoor airport, tribal university etc.  By arrangement

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) district units will be activated soon to take up agitation programmes at district-level against the BJP-led government's discrimination towards Telangana. Each district unit will take up specific issues concerning their district and go to the people to highlight the issues that were ignored by the BJP government and hold protest rallies.

TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, who declared an all-out war against the BJP government at the Centre after the Union Budget was announced on February 1, will hold a meeting of the newly-appointed district party presidents.

According to party sources, Chandrashekar Rao will guide the new district party presidents on the issues that need to be identified and highlighted in their respective districts and to undertake protest rallies. For instance, the party presidents of undivided Warangal district have to take up the issue of Centre denying Kazipet rail factory, funds to Kakatiya mega textile park, approval to Mamnoor airport, tribal university etc. Party presidents of undivided Karimnagar district have to take up issues of denying IIIT, IIM, handloom parks, textile parks etc. Likewise, specific issues for all districts will be identified and taken up for agitation programmes.

There were no district party wings for the TRS since 2017. Party president K. Chandrashekar Rao recently appointed presidents for all 33 districts. These 33 presidents are yet to take charge. They are expected to take charge after Chandrashekar Raos meeting in which he will guide them on the party's future course of action district-wise.

The construction of party offices in all districts have been completed and Chandrashekar Rao is set to inaugurate them in February and March. Chandrashekar Rao is expected to constitute party panels soon in all the districts and make them operational in the run up to the Assembly polls in December 2023.
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

Vice president doesn't have power to 'change the outcome' of elections

CLAIM: Vice President Mike Pence "did have the right to change the outcome" of the 2020 election but chose not to use it.

THE FACTS: The vice president has no power to unilaterally "change" or overturn the presidential election results of a state under the Constitution or any law, experts say.

While former President Donald Trump is no longer directly posting on Twitter or Facebook, a statement he issued on Sunday soon swirled on social media  falsely claiming that his former vice president "did have the right to change the outcome" of the 2020 election and that he "could have overturned" it. Trump pointed to a current effort in Congress to amend the Electoral Count Act, a law enacted in 1887 and amended in 1948, as purported proof for his assertion.

The role of the vice president in the counting of Electoral College votes is largely ceremonial, as The Associated Press has explained. The Constitution directs the president of the Senate to open the certificates of the election results from the states in the presence of the Senate and House and instructs that the votes "shall then be counted," said Garrett Epps, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Oregon. He noted that the vice president is not explicitly referenced. However, the vice president serves as president of the Senate; if absent, the senior most senator from the majority party serves in that role. That language indicates Congress  not just the president of the Senate  is to count the votes, Epps said, and doesn't afford the vice president any special power to overturn them. The Electoral Count Act does allow for an objection to a state's vote in writing if it is signed by a member of the House and a member of the Senate. If there is such a request, then the House and Senate meet in separate sessions to consider it. The objection is only sustained if both chambers agree to it by a simple majority vote. Legislators are indeed in talks to update that law.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins said in an interview on Sunday that she was "hopeful that we can come up with a bipartisan bill that will make very clear that the vice president's role is simply ministerial, that he has no ability to halt the count." Michael McConell, a law professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, said there are some ambiguities within the Electoral Count Act that could be shored up, including language referring to how Congress handles competing slates of electors from a state when the law says only those that are "regularly given" shall be counted. But none of the ambiguities could be reasonably interpreted as giving the vice president the power to unilaterally overturn an election's results, said McConell, a former federal appellate judge. He said there was no serious basis for that claim. Lawmakers are also proposing changes to the Electoral Count Act regarding the threshold required for members of Congress to raise objections to a state's electoral votes, and the grounds for raising such objections.

 Associated Press writer Angelo Fichera in Philadelphia contributed this report.

Trucks, crowds at Canada anti-vaccination protest exaggerated

CLAIM: Law enforcement officials in Canada report over 100,000 trucks and millions of people showed up last weekend in Ottawa for a vaccine mandate protest.

THE FACTS: No such estimates have been provided by the law enforcement agencies named in posts circulating on social media  the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police, representatives said.

As thousands of protesters gathered in Ottawa over the weekend to rally against vaccine mandates, numerous false claims about the event spread on social media. Some cited exaggerated crowd numbers, wrongly attributed to Canadian law enforcement, while others shared miscaptioned photos to erroneously suggest they showed the trucker demonstrations.

Posts circulating Saturday and Sunday stated: "The OPP have reported over 100,000 trucks in Ottawa, an estimated 2.3 million on foot and an 'abudance' of trucks parked in fields just outside of the city. RCMP reports over 130,000 trucks in the city and more than 20,000 parked in fields outside of the city." But the claims are false, spokespersons for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police told The Associated Press. "We are able to confirm that the RCMP did not issue any numbers publicly in relation to this," Stephanie Dumoulin, a spokesperson for the agency, wrote in an email to the AP. "These numbers did not come from the Ontario Provincial Police," Bill Dickson, a spokesperson for the department, confirmed in a separate email to the AP. "We have not released any numbers." Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly estimated there were about 8,000 people at the protest in the city on Saturday, according to Amy Gagnon, a spokesperson for the agency. Some protesters parked on the grounds of the National War Memorial and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Others carried signs and flags with swastikas and some used the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox to display an anti-vaccine statement, the AP reported. Some of the demonstrators were protesting a new rule that went into effect on Jan. 15 requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully immunized against the coronavirus. The U.S. has mandated the same requirement on truckers entering the country. The Canadian Trucking Alliance said a large number of the protesters had no connection to the trucking industry, adding they have a separate agenda to push. Other social media users this week shared a video of truckers taking part in the annual Feast of San Michele event in Turin, Italy, in 2021, but falsely claimed it showed Italian truckers mobilizing in support of the anti-vaccine protests in Canada on Jan. 28. Similarly, a 2019 photo of an unrelated protest in the Netherlands was misrepresented to incorrectly suggest it showed farmers blocking a freeway in solidarity with the Canadian protests.

 Associated Press writer Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed this report with additional reporting from Beatrice Dupuy in New York and Sophia Tulp in Atlanta.

Canadian prime minister remained in Ottawa area amid protests

CLAIM: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been "hiding out" in the U.S. as a convoy of truckers and protesters demonstrate against vaccine mandates in Ottawa.

THE FACTS: The prime minister's office confirmed to The Associated Press that Trudeau has not left Canada. Trudeau was also recorded giving a press conference in the Canadian capital region on Monday, the same day that some social media users falsely claimed he was in the U.S.

Additionally, public itineraries released by the prime minister's office show that he has remained near Ottawa, the capital of Canada, for more than a week.

But as thousands of protesters gathered in Canada's capital to protest vaccine mandates, masks and lockdowns, several social media users pushed the falsehood that Trudeau fled Canada for the U.S. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, amplified the idea on Monday, tweeting to his nearly 85,000 followers: "If Justin Trudeau is hiding in the United States, we should return him to Canada and make him face his own people immediately. No safe haven for fleeing COVID tyrants. #LiveFree #DeportTrudeau." Roy's tweet came hours after Trudeau had given a public address from the Ottawa area in which he called for unity and condemned acts of violence at the protests. The prime minister has been isolating at hom e in Ottawa since Thursday, after learning he had been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. On Monday, Trudeau announced he also tested positive for the virus. Canadian rules mandate that fully-vaccinated people who test positive must isolate at home for five days and until symptoms improve. People who test positive for COVID-19 are not permitted to travel. There's no evidence that Trudeau has recently traveled outside of Canada, either. Itineraries released by his office show that he was based in the Ottawa capital region for all of last week, and for most of January. A spokesperson for the prime minister's office confirmed the daily, public itineraries accurately reflect the locations provided and that Trudeau "did not and has not left Canada." A number of protesters have remained in the capital this week.

 Sophia Tulp

False claim spreads about Japanese ivermectin study, despite correction

CLAIM: A Japanese study "says ivermectin is effective against Omicron in phase III trial."

THE FACTS: While scientists continue to conduct research into the drug's use against COVID-19, the finding being cited refers to pre-clinical research  not a "phase III trial," which involves testing the drug on humans.

Social media users are sharing the false information about a Japanese company's research into using ivermectin to treat COVID-19, after Reuters published an erroneous headline Monday that it soon corrected. The inaccurate headline stated: "Japan's Kowa says ivermectin effective against Omicron in phase III trial." The story made it appear that the results broke significant new ground.

"Phase III" clinical trials are conducted on people. But the research done by Kowa Co. Ltd. was conducted in a lab. The report was based on an announcement from Kowa that said ivermectin showed "antiviral" effects against omicron and other variants in pre-clinical research. Kowa said in a statement to the AP that "the press release announced that ivermectin was effective against Omicron strain" in an "in vitro study (i.e. non-clinical study), not in the clinical study." The company said it was currently conducting a study on volunteers to further evaluate the effectiveness of ivermectin in treating COVID-19.

Reuters soon corrected its story and acknowledged the mistake. Its current headline reads: "Ivermectin shows 'antiviral effect' against COVID, Japanese company says."

But social media accounts continue to share the falsehood. Ivermectin is approved in the U.S. in tablet form to treat parasitic worms as well as a topical solution to treat external parasites. The drug is also available for animals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not authorized ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19. And a National Institutes of Health panel on COVID-19 treatment guidelines has said there is "insufficient evidence" to "recommend either for or against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19." A 2020 study in Australia found ivermectin inhibited the replication of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in a laboratory setting. But Dr. David Fajgenbaum, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who directs a database tracking research into treatments for COVID-19, said that showing a drug to be effective in lab tests on cells is a "starting point." Fajgenbaum said there have been 25 randomized controlled trials  a gold-standard for research  studying ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. The trials have collectively involved more than 2,000 patients, he said, and the results have been mixed. "In my opinion, there's a possibility of benefit, but given that so many trials have been done, if it clearly was effective you would expect that the majority of trials would show that it was effective," Fajgenbaum said. "If something works, then it should be a rare occurrence that a trial is done and it doesn't show that it works."

 Angelo Fichera

US congressman shares neo-Nazi's quote wrongly attributed to Voltaire

CLAIM: French philosopher Voltaire said: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize."

THE FACTS: Enlightenment-era writer Voltaire did not say this. The quote, which was paraphrased, comes from a 1993 radio broadcast by Kevin Alfred Strom, who has been identified as a neo-Nazi by organizations that monitor hate groups.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, shared the incorrectly attributed quote in a tweet Sunday to his more than 320,000 followers, with a caption criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert. The tweet contained a cartoon image along with the phrase: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize - Voltaire."

Massie, who has been critical of pandemic mask and vaccine mandates, said in the caption of the post: "You mustn't question Fauci, for he is science." Many social media users quickly pointed out that the quote was wrongly attributed to Voltaire. Still, it was shared more than 7,000 times, including by many believing the attribution was correct. As of Friday, Massie's tweet remained online and the congressman had not publicly commented on the error. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

The original quote from Strom, an American white nationalist and Holocaust denier, has been used previously online and paraphrased in a variety of ways. In a 1993 radio broadcast, Strom said: "To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?" according to an internet archive containing his full remarks. Despite the quote originating more than a hundred years after Voltaire's death in 1778, it has been repurposed and incorrectly attributed to him dozens of times. In 2019, actor John Cusack tweeted the quote before deleting the post and apologizing. Strom again took credit for the quote in a 2017 blog post in which he wrote: "My statement has become the stuff of Internet memes, quote collections, graphics, and motivational posters.  Trouble is, the quote is almost always attributed to the 18th-century French writer Voltaire, and not to me."

 Associated Press writer Sophia Tulp in Atlanta contributed this report.

No plan for fourth round of federal stimulus checks, despite claims

CLAIM: The IRS will issue a fourth round of stimulus checks to Americans in February 2022.

THE FACTS: While some states have created stimulus programs for their own residents, Congress has not approved any plans to issue another round of nationwide stimulus checks.

A spokesperson for the IRS confirmed that there have been three rounds of economic impact payments in total. Posts circulating widely on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube this week shared different versions of the baseless claim that a fourth round of federal stimulus checks was coming this month. One post on Facebook falsely claimed $2,000 checks would be deposited in bank accounts nationwide on Feb. 9, while a blog headline hinted many Americans may be eligible for $1,400 in relief in the near future.

Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers approved three rounds of stimulus payments to American households, up to $1,200 per person in March 2020, up to $600 per person in December 2020 and up to $1,400 per person in March 2021. But Congress, which would have to approve any new government spending for nationwide stimulus, has not to date authorized another wave of payments from the federal government. IRS spokesman Anthony Burke confirmed in an email that there were three rounds of economic impact payments, all of which were already paid.

Some advocates have urged the federal government to issue more direct payments to American households. In March, a group of 21 Democratic senators called for President Joe Biden to include recurring payments in his "Build Back Better" long-term economic plan. In May, asked about whether one of the bills in that plan could include a fourth round of direct payments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki punted back to Congress, saying, "We'll see what members of Congress propose, but those are not free." Meanwhile, some states have taken initiative to issue economic stimulus payments to their own residents. In California, for example, residents who have filed their 2020 tax returns and made less than $75,000 that year are eligible for payments through a "Golden State Stimulus" program. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

 Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report.

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When the Legislature overrode his veto to abolish the death penalty in Nebraska in 2015, Gov. Pete Ricketts invested his trust in voters  and $200,000 of his own money  in a petition drive to reestablish the death penalty.

The will of the people decided one of the weightiest issues a society can wrestle with.

But now, it appears, the governor and some lawmakers are less interested in the will and wisdom of the people.

Sen. Bruce Bostelman's LB1046 would strip power from the people and invest it in the governor to appoint a majority of the members of the state's two largest public power district boards.

Additionally, the governor would pick the CEO of the Nebraska Public Power District and the Omaha Public Power District.

Nationally, according to an Omaha World-Herald report, about 30% of public power board members are appointed.

Bostelman told the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee in a hearing last week, "Things are changing and there's huge challenges ahead. We need to have a different way of putting people with that working knowledge, that skill-set on the board."

If Bostelman's plan is to get even more qualified people on these boards, it's curious that the bill does nothing to detail necessary qualifications. Whether it's a lack of forethought or a lack of transparency, Bostelman's claim that he didn't want the bill to be overly directional rings hollow.

Simply putting one's self out there as a candidate and qualifying to be on a ballot provides a hurdle only cleared by people with a passion for the work. Serving at the pleasure of voters creates accountability to the real owners of public power.

This comes on the heels of an ongoing petition drive to abolish the elected state Board of Education where members represent regions and replace it with a department that answers to the governor.

And then there's Sen. Rob Clements' bill to remove local control of health policy in Lincoln and Lancaster County and turn it over to the state, like the rest of the state's health districts. Why wouldn't supporters of limited government go the other direction, supporting local control and governance on the lowest level possible?

It's a curious thing to see: A state filled with politicians worried about federal power grabs now seeking to grab power itself from the people. If legislators can't see the problem with this, then let's hope voters can the next time we elect lawmakers.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of the Surge, Slates newsletter ranking all of politics movers and shakers by Googling politics and working from there. This weeks first entry will be about Plato.





No one is really doing anything, so to speak, in the halls of power this week, as its beginning to be that time of the election year. So we look at a couple of Republican characters flapping around. Poor Ben Ray Lujan. Oh, and big payday opportunity for anyone in Chicagolandjust tell Rep. Marie Newman you might primary her.





But first, let us begin with an update about the guy who tried to steal an election a bit ago.
For a second year in a row, the Roanoke Valley Boat Show will not be coming to the Berglund Center later this month.

This year, the reasons have less to do with COVID-19 and are instead because of the ongoing short supply of new boats and personal water crafts available.

No one has enough inventory to have a show, said Virgil Naff, owner of Virgil Naff Powersports in Lynchburg and president of the Southwest Virginia Boat Dealers Association that puts on the boat show each year.

Each of the new boats and personal water crafts showcased at the boat show every year are available for purchase. Naff said there is not enough merchandise available for any of the boat dealers in the association to showcase at a show.

I dont have a single new machine I can put in a show, Naff said. His business sells PWCs as well as motorcycles and ATVs.

The high demand for boats and PWCs came about shortly after the start of the pandemic in 2020. Families saw boating as a safe, socially distanced activity.

An influx of new homeowners also began arriving at Smith Mountain Lake as working from home became the norm. In 2020, a 20 year high of 804 waterfront homes were sold at the lake.

Naff said his showroom is currently empty of any PWCs and new stock is becoming harder to come by. People coming in to buy a new PWC on the showroom floor is becoming more and more rare.

We are lucky to get one to sale, Naff said.

Since 2020, Naff said many of his sales come from people placing orders for a PWC and waiting months for it to arrive. If an order was placed this week, he said it would likely be June or July before a PWC would arrive.

Mark Mills, president of Webster Marine Center in Moneta, said the low supply and high demand for boats in the past two years has created a shift in how boats are sold. A majority of his sales are now done by people coming to the business or going to their website and picking out a boat and what features they would like included.

It is much more of an order first business now, Mills said.

In the past, Mills said they would have as many as 50 boats on display as early as May for potential buyers to choose from. Specially ordering boats only made up about 20% of their boat sales. Now it accounts for about 80% of sales, he said.

Anyone ordering boats can expect a bit of a wait, according to Mills. He said it could take as little as 5 months to up to a year for boats to arrive.

The cost has increased on some boats in the past two years. Mills said those increases are less to do with high demand and more to do with vendor supplies of items needed for boat manufacturing. When the price of fiberglass or other engine parts goes up, the overall cost of the boat will go up, he said.

Naff said the cost of some PWCs has increased 10% or more since 2020. Costs to ship PWCs or parts oversees has also greatly increased. Shipped items are facing major delays, he said. Some parts are taking months to arrive, slowing down work in his service department.

Both Naff and Mills said they would like the Southwest Virginia Boat Dealers Association to host the Roanoke Valley Boat Show once again in the future, but neither knew exactly when that may be. Expectations are that this high demand could continue for another year which could make a show in 2023 less likely.

I dont think it is going to end any time soon, Naff said.
Multiple caves with archeological finds are a rare discovery.

New caves, vessels, animal bones and human remains were found in the Liptov region in early 2022. (Source: Environment Ministry)

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Slovak cavers can claim another success following their discovery of 250 m of new corridors and halls in the Demanovska Ice Cave at the end of 2020.

On a January weekend walk in the woods, an employee of the Slovak Museum of Nature Protection and Speleology in Liptovsky Mikulas and his girlfriend came across a new cave. After a return to the place of discovery with his colleagues, they managed to find several other caves on a rock terrace in a limestone massif.

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The Environment Ministry, which published the news on January 24 on its website, even talks of a unique archaeological discovery in the north of central Slovakia.

The exact location of the caves has not been released.

Shards

It is not just caves that experts discovered, however. One of the caves provided them with valuable archaeological finds about 5,000 years old.

For instance, cavers found vessels of the Baden culture. This culture lived in central and south-eastern Europe around the third millennium BC.

Fragments of the vessels first need to be glued back together in order for experts to say what they actually are.

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Zuzana Simkova, who works at the Liptovsky Mikulas museum, told the Veda na Dosah science website in late January they only had written records from the 20th century mentioning similar finds linked to the Baden culture. These are mostly just mentions that a shard or a stone tool was found in a cave, she said.

The written records should relate to five caves in the Liptov area, Simkova added. That is why our discovery is so rare.

Skeletal remains

Cavers also found human remains and a large number of animal bones in the cave. They are believed to date to 3,000 BC.

These human remains were scattered around the cave, Simkova said.

Experts do not yet know why. Conservationists, archaeologists and anthropologists will now research what the discovered objects were used for and what ceremonies were held in the cave.

Read also:

Read also: Archaeologists unearthed a Germanic tomb 15 years ago. When will it be exhibited? Read more

So far this cave does not appear to have been for everyday use, Simkova told Veda na Dosah. The finds come from an age when people no longer lived in caves, she continued.

They could have used the caves in the event of danger, as underground burial grounds, or as places where they made human sacrifices to underground deities, for example.
Government Advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy with Employees Union leaders addresses the media conference after meeting in the PRC Struggle committee at Secretariat on Saturday, Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma is also seen. (Photo: DC)

VIJAYAWADA: Employees unions called off their proposed strike, scheduled from Monday, after arriving at an agreement with the government on the new Pay Revision Commission (PRC) provisions.

Leaders of the PRC Struggle Committee and the Cabinet sub-committee held talks for seven hours on the issues of interim relief (IR), house rent allowance (HRA) and city compensatory allowance (CCA) among others before reaching an amicable solution.

The government agreed to the implementation of a new PRC every five years, no recovery of IR, revision of HRA, a continuation of CCA and extension of PRC to the village and ward secretariat employees after completion of probation.

After the conclusion of the talks, the ministers briefed Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy who approved the fresh proposals.

The ministers committee of Botsa Satyanarayana, Buggana Rajendranath and Perni Venkataramaiah alias Nani and Chief Secretary Dr Sameer Sharma, government adviser Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy and senior officials participated in the talks attended by employee union leaders K.R. Suryanarayana, Bopparaju Venkateswarlu, Bandi Srinivasa Rao, P. Venkatrami Reddy and others in the Secretariat at Velagapudi.

Addressing a joint press meet late on Saturday, Ramakrishna Reddy said that talks were held in a healthy atmosphere. He explained that the PRC report would be provided to the employees' unions and associations.

He said that the government agreed to change the HRA slabs in accordance with the population. The additional quantum pension would be seven and 12 per cent to the pensioners. He said the difference between the interim relief and the new basic wage would not be recovered.

The proposal to follow the Central PRC had been cancelled, Ramakrishna Reddy said.
It is not just the common man who is feeling let down by finance minister Nirmala Sitharamans latest Budget which had little to offer to the middle classes as well as the marginalised sections. But Bharatiya Janata Party workers, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, are also unhappy because the Budget did not include any populist schemes, which would have helped the party in wooing voters in the upcoming elections. While Opposition leaders are relieved that the Narendra Modi government did not make any grand announcements, the BJP workers are privately complaining that they had assured the electorate during their campaign that the budget would fetch them a bag of goodies. But with the Budget offering little to the poll-bound states, glum-faced workers said they will now find it difficult to face the people and explain why they had been ignored. On the other hand, BJP insiders maintain, this was a deliberate move to underline Prime Minister Narendra Modis image of a strong and powerful leader who is not bogged down by electoral compulsions. This, it was pointed out, had become necessary after Mr Modis decision to scrap the three contentious farm laws posited him as a weak leader.

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After failing to make a mark in the last two elections, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary is gradually being accepted by the Jats in Western Uttar Pradesh as Chaudhary Charan Singhs political heir. Not only is he drawing big crowds, but any negative comments about him elicit a hostile reaction. For instance, a local BJP leader was shouted down by members of the Jat community when he attacked Jayant and said he was not one of them since his wife did not belong to the same community. This incident took place at a recent meeting called by the local BJP leaders, and attended by Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Baliyan, to woo the Jat community. Though the Jats are not complaining that Jayant had married outside his community, they do have a wish list for Charan Singhs grandson. One, they would prefer that he did not wear jeans during his visits to Western UP; two, they would like to see him travel by road and not by helicopter so he can connect better with the electorate; and three, they wanted him to contest from the Chaprauli, his grandfathers constituency.

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Former Congress president Rahul Gandhis declaration that the party will name a chief minister in Punjab could create a problem for the party in Uttarakhand. Former chief minister Harish Rawat, who is leading the Congress campaign in the hill state, will obviously want the leadership to do the same in Uttarakhand as well. It is no secret that Mr Rawat sees himself as the best candidate for the top job and is keen that the Congress clarify matters at the earliest. Congress insiders maintain there is a possibility that Mr Rawat may miss the bus as the leadership (read Rahul Gandhi) would prefer a younger person for the chief ministers post. In case Mr Rawat is overlooked, the veteran leader could well cross over to the Bharatiya Janata Party which would be willing to give him the chief ministers post if he can bring in enough legislators to form a government. It is an acknowledged fact that BJP leaders in Uttarakhand have been soft on Mr Rawat and have refrained from attacking him too harshly.

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Filmstar-turned-politician Sunny Deol, the Bharatiya Janata Partys MP from Gurdaspur, is apparently reluctant to campaign for his party in the ongoing Punjab election. Several local BJP leaders have requested Deol to campaign for the party, especially in the Majha belt, but the actor has failed to respond to their entreaties. Phone calls to his office elicit a stock reply that Deol is not keeping well. The actor is learned to have been influenced by his father, veteran actor Dharmendra who had come out in support of the protesting farmers during the agitation. While Dharmendras wife, BJPs Mathura MP had dismissed the farmers agitation, son Sunny Deol had attempted to play both sides. He had then come up with a convoluted explanation, saying he supported the Prime Minister and the farmers. Deol probably does not wish to be seen on the side of the party which remains unpopular with farmers even after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled back the controversial farm laws.

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Congress cadres in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have discovered two new star campaigners for the ongoing election. The leaders in demand are Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi. The Congress is not a major player in Uttar Pradesh but several party candidates have nevertheless put in requests for the two chief ministers to campaign for them. While Mr Channi caught everyones attention in recent months with his aam aadmi persona, Mr Baghel has been a regular presence in Assembly polls over the past two years. Though popular with the party cadre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is said to be unhappy with Mr Baghel ever since he flew down a group of MLAs to Delhi last September as a show of strength to thwart any move to replace him with his bete noire T.S. Singh Deo.
Belina and Linedrive Hanover shared the spotlight in series action on Friday night (Feb. 4) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, winning their respective finals of the Blizzard and Snowshoe.

Both series are for three and four-year-old pacers that were non-winners of two races or $30,000 lifetime as of October 31, 2021. Colts and geldings competed in the Snowshoe Series and their female counterparts faced off in the Blizzard.



After joining the Snowshoe Series with a dominating three-length victory in leg two, Linedrive Hanover went right back out and romped by eight in the $41,200 final as the heavy 1-5 favourite for driver James MacDonald.

Opening leg winner VP Rockin (Doug McNair) and Merito Hanover (Louis-Philippe Roy) traded turns on the lead through first-half fractions of :28.3 and :57.3 before Linedrive Hanover swept up from fifth with Saulsbrook Victor (Brett MacDonald), another round one champ, hot on his heels to three-quarters in 1:25.4. However, Linedrive Hanover gave that foe the cold shoulder as he opened up three lengths with an eighth of a mile to go and continued to pour it on down the lane. Winning in 1:53.3, Linedrive Hanover came within one-fifth of a second of his lifetime mark that he set a week ago. Saulsbrook Victor settled for second and Bettorbeflyin (Jody Jamieson), a winner in leg two of the series, finished third.

Trained by Tony Beaton, the four-year-old gelded son of Betting Line is now perfect in three races this year after making one start at two and missing his sophomore season. He more than doubled his career earnings with the victory, pushing his bankroll to nearly $40,000. Livedrive Hanover is owned by West Wins Stable, McKinlay & Fielding, J L Benson Stables Inc. and Mac Nichol.

He paid $2.40 to win.



Improving with each leg of the Blizzard Series, Roland Trudel's homebred mare Belina ended on top in the $37,600 final as she defeated 6-5 favourite Awesome Hill by two lengths in 1:55.2 for driver Sylvain Filion.

After three lead changes through fractions of :28.1, :57.2 and 1:26.4, Belina was stalking in sixth from third-over heading into the stretch. She launched four-wide off the cover of Awesome Hill (Doug McNair) and out-sprinted the favourite home with a :27.4 final frame. Addictivebehaviour (Austin Sorrie) edged out Pull Me Through (Paul MacDonell) in a photo for show.

Belina is a four-year-old daughter of Sunshine Beach out of the Bettors Delight mare Jimbelina, who Filion partnered with for a runner-up finish in the 2017 final of the Blizzard Series and the mare finished third racing in Friday's nightcap. Belina notched her first victory of the year from five starts and boosted her bankroll to $66,140 after winning three of 14 races in her debut season in 2021 for trainer Jean Tourigny.

Belina paid $7.20 to win as the 5-2 second choice.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.


The Leadership Scotts Bluff class traveled to Lincoln earlier this week, their first such trip since 2020.

The whole purpose of the trip is for them to see that our governor and our state senators are accessible, said Karen Anderson, executive director of the Scottsbluff/Gering United Chamber of Commerce. ... A politician puts his or her pants on one leg and a time. Theyre no different than you or I. Each of us could be a senator, you just never know it.

This year, she and 20 members of Leadership Scotts Bluff Class XXXII made the seven-hour journey to Lincoln. They were accompanied by Deb Cottier of the Northwest Nebraska Development Corporation and 10 members of Leadership Chadron. the two groups have traveled together every other year for the last 10 years.

The Scotts Bluff group has also teamed up with classes from Sidney, Ogallala and Alliance in the past. Having two groups travel together helps them grow closer and learn new things.

It really exposes them to whats going on in their community, Anderson said. And the thing I love is that youre kind of in your own bubble and you might not cross paths with a lot of people. Well now youre in a class with 25 people, then you end up going to a bus for 14 hours. You get to know the people...you learn what everyone elses talent is, and you probably never would have met them otherwise.

Leadership has branches nationwide. The groups goal is to raise individuals of all ages to their fullest potential and create leaders of the future. Anderson has visited state capitals more than two dozen times with Leadership groups. She said her favorite part is seeing someone experience the legislative process for the very first time.

Last year, there was no trip; there was no Leadership Scotts Bluff class. It was cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic, but now its back at full strength.

The trip kicked off on Tuesday, Feb. 1, with the Scotts Bluff and Chadron groups convening in Bridgeport at 7:15 a.m. After a few sightseeing stops to eat and stretch their legs, they arrived in Lincoln at 4 p.m. and met with Governor Pete Ricketts for a tour of the Governors Residence. Ricketts spent an hour showing the group around and answering questions.

The next day, they viewed a legislative session with State Senator John Stinner from District 48. Stinner is just beaming because he doesnt have people who come down very often, so he loves it when we come down, Anderson said. (And) were exposing 31 people, the majority of whom have never been there before, to see the process.

Afterwards, the group met with the director of the Nebraska Department of Transportation, John Selmer.

They have the opportunity in a fairly small setting to ask the Director of Transportation anything they want of him, Deb Cottier of the Chadron group said. Such unprecedented opportunities, she noted, make the Lincoln trips the highlight of every year. Many questions asked of Selmer regarded the Heartland Expressway, which helped sponsor the trip.

The Chadron and Scotts Bluff classes then lunched with their state representatives: Stinner and Sen. Tom Brewer of District 43.

Its really kind of fun to listen to them present and theyll play off of one another because Stinner has expertise in appropriations, and Brewer more so with governance...I think its an eye opener for young leaders, Anderson said. Several Leadership alumni have gone on to have storied political careers, including the current mayor of Gering and some former Scottsbluff mayors.

The final event that Wednesday was a tour of the Nebraska Capitol Building. The group was supposed to tour the Nebraska Supreme Court as well, but the court was in session. With that, two days of touring the states political powerhouses came to a close.

People tend to not like politics, Anderson said, but you have to pay attention to whats going on.

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LINCOLN  Nebraskas corrections director made an urgent pitch Thursday to spend $270 million on a replacement for the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, saying the facility has outlived its useful life and is ill-serving the state and those locked up inside.

The inadequacies of the penitentiary are too many to name, Corrections Director Scott Frakes said. The issues range from poor plumbing to security limitations to less-than-ideal facilities for treatment. That makes now the time to decommission the facility and replace it, he said.

With planning dollars appropriated by state lawmakers last year, Frakes said the Department of Corrections is making contact with landowners in Omaha, Lincoln and Fremont to secure potential options for the site, with one option nearly complete.

Replacing the penitentiary is something that cannot wait, Frakes told members of the Legislatures budget-writing committee.

But a host of justice advocates, family members of incarcerated Nebraskans and others spoke out against adding any new beds to the states prison system. They said the key to ending Nebraskas chronic prison overcrowding is reforming the states criminal justice system so that fewer Nebraskans are incarcerated.

You have built and built and built and built, said Danielle Conrad of the ACLU of Nebraska. If you continue down that same direction, it will bankrupt us from a moral and fiscal perspective.

Conrad also blasted the department for scouting potential prison sites before lawmakers have approved building it.

They are picking out drapes before youve approved the mortgage, she told senators.

State Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, revealed that the committee currently has funding for the prison in its preliminary blueprint budget.

But Stinner and other senators also expressed concerns about the trajectory of the prison budget and projections for more inmate growth in the future. He said the committee also has $15 million set aside for the types of reforms that are reducing recidivism and prisoner numbers in most other states across the country.

The penitentiary is old, and it is probably at the end of its usable life, but you are not addressing the overcrowding problem, Stinner told Frakes. I think its time for us to pause and relook at what we are doing in all corners of corrections.

On a related matter, Frakes said hefty new raises planned for corrections staff are already making a dent in severe understaffing that has left many state prisons on lockdown several days a week, with inmates confined to their cells.

Frakes said that in the two months since raises of up to 40% were announced, the department has had 700 new applicants and completed 283 new hires. The department also had only 17 resignations in January, a fraction of the monthly numbers seen last year.

State lawmakers are grappling with how best to address the most overcrowded and fastest-growing prison system in the nation. The states prison population grew 16% from 2010 to 2020, even as all but a handful of states saw prison populations decline.

Lawmakers are considering Gov. Pete Ricketts bid for a new 1,500-bed prison alongside possible reforms to the states criminal justice system. A state working group released a report last month containing almost two dozen policy ideas that could reduce recidivism and incarceration.

Ricketts, who was part of the group, has said that changes to the justice system and building the new prison are not at odds and that both can improve public safety.

While the State Penitentiary has been at its current site in south Lincoln for 150 years, and Ricketts often refers to it as a crumbling 150-year-old facility, the actual structure is much newer than that, with all but one housing unit built since 1981.

Still, the condition of the aging facility came under the spotlight in October when leaking pipes forced officials to shut off running water for almost two days.

When Frakes first pitched the idea of a new prison at the end of 2020, it would have been a stand-alone new prison to address overcrowding. But he is now offering it as a replacement for the 1,300-bed penitentiary, which would close if the new facility opens as planned in 2025.

Frakes offered more details of the penitentiarys condition Thursday. He noted a recent engineering study that found that it would cost $220 million to bring the facility up to a usable level to house inmates into the future.

The consultant study said if the facility were to continue to be used, six of the eight current housing units would need to be demolished and rebuilt. Frakes said trying to securely rebuild a prison while it is still holding inmates would be a challenge.

Frakes also said the new prison would increase safety and security and offer improved space for the type of programming that can help prisoners succeed upon release.

I have no desire to grow the number of people incarcerated, he said. But the people who need to be incarcerated, I want them to have good, healthy places for that to occur.

Nebraskas prisons currently hold almost 50% more inmates than they were designed to hold. While the new facility would add only 200 net beds, Frakes said it would make a big dent in calculations of overcrowding because the new beds would be built to current standards. The systems design capacity would increase by 700 beds.

Add in other beds set to be added at another facility in Lincoln, Frakes said, and overcrowding would be reduced to less than 25% over design capacity  the level at which the state is officially under an overcrowding emergency.

Conversely, he said, not moving ahead with the facility would leave the state in a worse position.

The new prison was backed by the union representing correctional workers and by the Omaha police union.

Anthony Conner, president of the Omaha police union, said Nebraska has a lower incarceration rate and the lowest number of prison beds per capita compared with surrounding states.

We clearly have a capacity problem, not an incarceration problem, he said.

But Diane Amdor of Nebraska Appleseed challenged the notion that Nebraska has an underbuilt prison system. While Nebraska has a lower incarceration rate than most states, the U.S. locks up more of its people than any country in the world.

We over-incarcerate to a lesser degree than other states, she said.

Several opponents said the state would be better off spending the money on efforts to combat the poverty, substance abuse and mental health problems that cause so many to land in prison in the first place.

We are frustrated to be footing the bill for a failing system that is in urgent need of comprehensive reform, said Carol Dennison of the League of Women Voters of Nebraska.

I believe we can break those cycles, said Teela Mickles, founder of Compassion In Action, an Omaha nonprofit that helps inmates and their families. Building bigger prisons is not the answer.

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A new energy company is planning to move into Longview. If it gets approved, it would become one of Washingtons largest sites turning old food into clean natural gas.

In January, the Longview City Council approved a $2 million sale of four lots in the Mint Farm Industrial Park to Divert Inc. The lots are the same ones where Pacific Coast Fertilizer had planned to build a $1 billion ammonia fertilizer plant. In the summer of 2020, the company, which was in the middle of the permitting process and had not yet begun construction, cited the economic downturn related to the pandemic as the reason for suspending its plans.

Diverts proposed plan for the site is a 15-acre biogas production facility that would be fueled with food waste from hundreds of Pacific Northwest grocery stores. In the presentation to the City Council, the biogas plant was estimated to be a $40 million investment and would create at least 50 jobs.

A researcher from Washington State University said current sites using anaerobic digestion to make biogas are almost entirely at wastewater treatment plants and dairies. Using food waste would be a new wrinkle on a fairly well-established technology.

Our hope is that this facility serves as a model and spurs additional investment in the surrounding communities to provide a path to additional landfill diversion for nutrient and energy rich products, Divert Chief Executive Officer Ryan Begin told The Daily News through email.

Plenty of food waste can be converted into energy by this process. A 2021 study by the Washington Department of Ecology found organic waste was the single largest category of items in the states waste system, making up 23% of all refuse. Edible food waste was the most prevalent single material, accounting for more than 6% of the total waste in the study.

With the pained recent history of energy companies attempting to move into Longview and Cowlitz County, the hope is a greener gas option would have an easier time getting environmental clearance and earning approval from Washingtons state government.

It really seems to meet what the governors requisites are for what he wants to see in the state, Longviews Community Development Director Ann Rivers said. It made sense to encourage that discussion and promote Longview as a good site for this.

Making energy out of food waste

Anaerobic digestion can be thought of as a contained form of composting.

The comparison came from Georgine Yorgey, associate director of Washington State Universitys Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources. She and other researchers at the center are working to develop processes that would improve and expand renewable energy options, including anaerobic digestion.

Yorgey said the digestion process typically involves two types of microbe communities. The first breaks the provided waste into basic compounds, while the second eats the new compounds and produces methane and carbon dioxide. When that process happens in a closed facility called a digester, the methane and other waste gases can be converted into fuel instead of escaping into the atmosphere.

Once youre done purifying it, its similar to the gas you get from fossil fuels but it can be much more beneficial from an environmental perspective, Yorgey said.

Since 2013, Divert has partnered with Kroger to run a massive gas production facility in Compton, California. A Los Angeles Times story from the systems launch said the gas production was fueled by more than 350 grocery stores from southern California and provided 13 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

The facility in Longview would rely on even more grocery stores. Divert Vice President Craig Davis told the Longview City Council the preliminary plan was to bring in food waste from 650 grocery stores across Washington and Oregon.

That doesnt mean hundreds of more trucks traveling to the Mint Farm every day. The same trucks that bring fresh food to participating grocery stores would return to the regional hubs with food that cant be donated or sold. From there, the food waste will be consolidated into sealed bins and loaded onto a single truck bound for Longview. Begin estimated the facility would receive about 15 truckloads of food daily.

Diverts leaders are optimistic that they will run into fewer environmental permitting hurdles than other proposed energy projects because of the renewable aspects. The Compton facility received a carbon intensity score of negative 80 from California regulators. Begin told The Daily News that the early expectation was for the Longview facility to be in the same ballpark.

When we consider our impact, we look at the full lifecycle, including all emissions from sources directly involved in the operation. Our entire operation has a strong net carbon negative impact on the environment, Begin said through email.

Next steps and concerns about Diverts plan

Diane Dick was part of the group of local environmental activists who opposed the ammonia fertilizer plant that was proposed for the Mint Farm. Dick said she doesnt know enough about Diverts plans to say if they are a great replacement but she has plenty of questions.

She criticized the Longview City Councils immediate approval of the sale during its Jan. 13 meeting, which meant there was no preliminary public hearing. More than anything, she was unsure if Divert has the track record to produce gas at the scale planned for Longview.

Outside of the Compton facility, public accounts of similar projects by Divert are limited. The gas from the Compton plant also was being used on-site to power engines for the distribution center. In Longview, the company has said its plan is to provide the gas directly into existing natural gas pipelines for public use.

As far as operating a digester to reinsert biogas back into a distribution line, theyve never done that before, Dick said.

The economic challenge was an issue Yorgey brought up as a reason biogas hadnt yet become a larger piece of Washingtons renewable energy portfolio. To compete with the affordability of solar and hydropower, gas digesters generally need to either operate at a small scale, like the on-site digesters at wastewater treatment plants, or on a very large scale.

Another concern is making sure the bacteria can handle the wide variety of foods that would be coming in from grocery stores.

You cant feed dairy cattle whatever you want. And you cant necessarily feed a microbe colony whatever you want. The process can be upset because the nitrogen level is too high or the pH is wrong, Yorgey said.

Rivers said there will be more thorough public comment and vetting processes as the plant goes through the environmental certification process. Begin said that Diverts goal was to complete the permitting and construction process by the end of 2023.

Rivers said she and other city officials, including Mayor MaryAlice Wallis, plan to visit the Divert facilities in California to get a sense of what the completed facility would look like.

Ill be looking at it like a neighbor. What does the site smell like? What is the discharge like? Rivers said.

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Two Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue firefighters retired in 2022 with a combined 76 years with the department.

Dave Headley and Greg Helem joined the Kelso-based department as volunteers in the 1980s before transitioning to full-time employment. Both retired after a lifetime of service at the end of January 2022  Headley after 41 years and Helem after 35.

Working in the fire service has been a great journey, Headley said.

Volunteer to staff

Headley began volunteering for Cowlitz 2 in 1980 and Helem started volunteering for the Columbia Heights station in 1987, says the department.

Headley helped open the Kelso station in the mid-1980s. He said he saw the department grow from an all-volunteer unit with only a few hundred calls a year, to a department with employees that responded to more than 5,000 calls last year.

The department started to hire crew around 1984, said Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Chief Scott Neves. Headley was hired full time in 1989 and Helem in 1997. Today, Cowlitz 2 serves about 34,000 people in about 152 square miles in the city of Kelso and unincorporated parts of Longview.

Headley and Helem held several department roles over the decades. Headley worked as a captain for two years in the early 2000s and a driver and operator for the majority of his career. Neves said Headley oversaw the fire truck training and maintenance. Helem was an EMT, paramedic and leader on the departments wildland mobilization team.

Each has seen local well-known disasters.

Headley was on site for the 1991 Phyls Furniture Center fire in Kelso and the 2001 fire on the railroad trestle owned by Weyerhaeuser, according to the department. Helem was deployed to wildland fires almost every year since serving as engine boss, say Cowlitz 2 officials, including one in Leavenworth, Washington, where he was one of the initial first responders to be sent by the state.

Firefighting lineage

Neves said both men were instrumental to the department  Headley for training drivers and Helem for training emergency medical providers and firefighters. Headleys commitment to the department has helped craft it to what it is today, Neves said, and Helem has personally saved numerous lives.

It is hard to capture the impact that a person has had on the community, Neves said.

Fighting fires is in Headleys and Helems blood. Headleys brother is retired Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Assistant Chief Alan Headley, who now serves as an elected commissioner for the department. Helem worked on shipboard fires while in the Navy. His father also was a firefighter in the military and his uncle was an Everett Fire Department captain.

Each received several life-saving awards throughout their careers. Helem also received six service awards, including firefighter and EMS responder of the year, which the department said was voted on by his peers.

Retirement for both longtime firefighters will include traveling and catching up on hobbies. Headley plans to earn his Federal Aviation Administration certification to fly drones for photography, and Helem plans to kayak and hike.

I will miss the fun times at the station, Headley said. This has been another family for many years.

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A group of Woodland students and community members protested the states mask mandate Friday.

About 80 students from fifth to eighth grade participated in an organized protest outside the middle school Friday morning, said Eric Jacobson, communications manager for Woodland Public Schools. A group of parents and community members also were outside the school with signs against the mandate, he said.

The administration invited students inside because it was cold, told them they could go to class if they would wear a mask or could stay unmasked in the library, Jacobson said.

A handful of students who protested outside the high school also were invited inside, and some remained on the sidewalk, Jacobson said.

According to Woodland School District policy, peaceful demonstrations at school are permissible but must be held in designated places and at designated times to not disrupt classes or other activities.

School staff provided addresses for Gov. Jay Inslee, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler and State Superintendent Chris Reykdal for students in the library to write letters regarding the mandate, Jacobson said. A majority wrote letters and could then work on classwork or homework, he said.

About 10 to 20 middle school students went to class after first period, Jacobson said. Students were provided water and lunch in the library and could leave to go to the bathroom if they wore a mask, he said. Some students chose to go home around noon and others remained in the library the rest of the school day, Jacobson said.

Fewer than five kids were disciplined because of rude and disruptive behavior, Jacobson said. Students who were peaceful were not disciplined, he said.

We dont discipline when it comes to lawful protests because it is a part of learning, Jacobson said. But if they do yell at teachers, or it starts to exit that respectful protest, thats when disciplinary action is taken.

Washington state requires all school personnel, visitors and students to wear a mask at school when indoors. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will withhold funds from districts that willfully fail to comply with mask and employee vaccine mandates.

COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets, and evidence shows that wearing a mask reduces an infected persons chance of spreading the virus to others, according to the state Department of Health.

Health officials and school districts have said masking, distancing and other measures have prevented COVID-19 cases from spreading in schools.

About 10 people protested against students wearing masks Tuesday afternoon outside Castle Rock Elementary School.

Dozens of secondary students at Pe Ell School, in Lewis County, staged a walkout to protest the states mask mandate on Tuesday, the Centralia Chronicle reported.

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